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Arsenal are on a great run, and Unai Emery deserves a lot of credit for turning things around. They lost a few big games earlier in the season, and though they’re far from perfect, Arsenal are clearly improving as a team. However, Emery can only do so much with the squad at his disposal. 

Despite huge quality in the attack, there is no denying that Arsenal’s defence needs work. Between Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Beilein and others, it says a lot that none of Arsenal’s current crop of defenders would find a role at teams like Liverpool, Man City or Chelsea.

Improving this area of the field must be a priority for Arsenal, then, and perhaps looking at one of their rivals for inspiration could be the best course of action. Indeed, whilst Emery could look abroad, signing someone from the Premier League would require far less risk, and the’s one player at Chelsea that could be a perfect fit – Gary Cahill, who is rarely featuring at Stamford Bridge these days.

Now, fans will immediately look at Cahill and view him as a negative acquisition. He’s rarely garnered a strong reputation, and at 32-years-old, he certainly wouldn’t be a long-term solution. However, if you actually watch Cahill he play, it’s fair to say that he’s been severely underrated over the years.

After all, the Englishman has been a regular at Chelsea for several seasons, and he’s displayed many of the qualities that Arsenal lack. He’s a strong, robust defender, and standing at a whopping 6ft4, he’s a real menacing force in the air. Furthermore, he’s a natural leader, and Arsenal have lacked that over the years – with their defence struggling to impress.

Indeed, Cahill’s quality is best emphasised by looking at his trophy case. Indeed, Cahill has won more medals than most of the Arsenal squad combined, and that says a lot. Rarely has he played a bit-part role throughout these successes, too, given that he was a regular starter throughout title-winning Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League campaigns. You don’t become a regular for so long at the highest level during such a successful period without being a talented defender, make no mistake.

He’s lost his place at Chelsea, but that’s likely down to his lack of technical quality. Certainly, the Englishman isn’t the best with his feet, but he more than makes up for that with his aerial play, consistency and leadership – and that’s what Arsenal lack right now.

Arsenal fans – thoughtS?

Let us know below!

Aston Villa supporters have been pretty despondent in recent times after seeing their side suffer a second Championship defeat of the season at the weekend. 

Steve Bruce’s men went into their meeting with in-form Sheffield Wednesday off the back of beating Rotherham United 2-0 in their previous league encounter, and thus seeking back-to-back wins for just the second time this season. Yet the Villans were unable to do so as goals from Marco Matias and Steven Fletcher either side of a stunning John McGinn strike sealed a 2-1 success for Jos Luhukay’s Owls, thus prompting boos from several home supporters at the final whistle.

As such, there have been many disappointed and angry Villa fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have taken to Twitter in recent times to demand the club get rid of manager Bruce.

And those supporters are spot on that the club simply have to make the big change very soon indeed, as it’s clear that things aren’t quite right at Villa Park under the former Hull City boss.

Ultimately, one shouldn’t forget the job Bruce did last season in leading the Midlands giants to a fourth place finish in the Championship, although they still ultimately fell short of their expectations by failing to win promotion back to the Premier League, losing 1-0 to Fulham in the play-off final at Wembley.

And with concerns over the style of play and the manager’s unwillingness to give young players a chance, Bruce really needed to start the current season well in a bid to get supporters back onside – but that hasn’t really happened.

Yes, it has been by no means a disastrous first few months for Villa, but they haven’t pulled down any trees either in winning just three of their opening nine league games, and with two of those coming in their first two matches, their recent run of form has been particularly poor indeed.

Add in an embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat at the hands of League One side Burton Albion at the rear end of last month, and things really have been woeful at Villa Park in the last few weeks – and the buck ultimately stops with the manager.

Yes, his record throughout his career in getting promoted with Birmingham City and Hull demands respect and maybe he is the right man to lead Villa back to the top-flight, but one senses that he missed his opportunity last year in losing out in the play-offs.

And the Villans’ recent form in winning just one of their last eight games in all competitions, alongside the relatively drab football they have playing, means that those Villa supporters calling for Bruce’s departure are absolutely right to do so.

Villa fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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Chelsea will entertain Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the late kick-off on Saturday, with both sides heading into the match seeking to preserve their unbeaten starts to the Premier League campaign.

These are two familiar foes, having contested many iconic bouts over the years in the English top flight. However, by the weekend both sides are likely to be sick of the sight of each other having just met in a midweek EFL Cup clash at Anfield.

The Blues emerged victorious on Liverpool’s home patch on Wednesday, thanks to a dazzling solo strike by Eden Hazard. Following their elimination from the cup competition, Jurgen Klopp’s men will be intent on inflicting their revenge upon Chelsea in Saturday’s encounter.

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The Reds certainly have the firepower to win at the Bridge. In their fabled attacking trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool have a strike force capable of unpicking any defence in the land. However, brilliant as this front three may be, they’re not unstoppable. It won’t be easy, but there are measures that Maurizio Sarri can put in place to limit the damage that Firmino, Mane and Salah can inflict upon his side.

The first thing that Chelsea must do is restrict the opposition attacking contingent’s supply lines. Liverpool’s key creative midfielders – particularly James Milner – excel in picking out the runs and movements of the forwards ahead of them. Chelsea’s own forwards and midfielders must therefore be disciplined and vigilant in closing down and harrying the Liverpool suppliers. 

Chelsea’s likely midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho possess enough mobility and positional sense to be able to effectively shut down the Liverpool midfielders and close off their passing lanes. This will cause Klopp’s front three to have to drop ever deeper in order to get possession, which limits the threat they can pose in Chelsea’s defensive third.

Forcing the Liverpool attackers to drop deep or take up unfamiliar positions does not entirely eliminate their threat. However, Chelsea can do exactly that by maintaining possession of the ball for themselves. Of course, the Reds boast a remarkably effective pressing technique and work tirelessly as a unit to pressurise their opponents in possession. That being said, Chelsea’s ability to play keep-ball amongst themselves if probably only bettered in the division by Manchester City.

Jorginho is a pass master, as he demonstrated last time out against West Ham when he smashed the Premier League record for passes completed by an individual player in a single match. The Blues as a team recorded 72% of the possession against the Hammers. They must strive to achieve similar levels of dominance against Liverpool, too. The home advantage ought to aid them somewhat in this endeavour.

Keeping the ball and being dogged in cutting off Liverpool’s supply lines is particularly crucial in the opening period of this match. No side has scored more first half goals than Liverpool so far this season and they are also yet to concede in the opening 45 minutes of any league match. Klopp’s side have long been renowned for exploding out of the traps and being utterly relentless in the opening stages of games, and things are clearly no different this season.

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If Chelsea can weather this inevitable early storm – and they’ll need their midfield to strangle the centre of the park and assert their dominance from the off to do so – then they stand an excellent chance of turning the tide of the match in their favour as time goes on.

Finally, Sarri must give specific instructions to each of his full-backs – almost certain to be Marcos Alonso on the left flank and Cesar Azpilicueta taking up the right-hand berth – as to how to cope with Liverpool’s front three. Of course, all of Chelsea’s defenders must turn in magnificent performances to stave off their opponents, but in this case, the roles the wide defenders play will be crucial.

Chelsea’s full-backs will have to be diligent in their marking but constantly alert to the fact that Liverpool’s front three interchange positions frequently. Vigilant awareness of who and what is happening in the spaces around them will be vital to the Chelsea full-backs not being bypassed by the manoeuvrings of Liverpool’s potent trio.

Of course, this means that Alonso and Azpilicueta may have to curb their attacking instincts significantly too. The full-backs being reticent in going forwards will unavoidably reduce the amount of sustained pressure that Chelsea can apply to Liverpool’s own rearguard, in this instance however, that is the necessary price of maintaining a solid defence.

If Chelsea can prove successful in keeping Liverpool’s forwards quiet then, as they proved midweek, they possess the individual brilliance in the likes of Hazard to snatch something at the other end.

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Loads of Rangers fans have been giving their verdict on Sunday’s superb win, and they’re absolutely loving summer signing Jon Flanagan.

Rangers smashed the title race wide open on Sunday, crushing Hearts 3-1 at Ibrox.

The Gers raced out to a 3-0 lead courtesy of goals from Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Scott Arfield, and a second-half consolation from Jimmy Dunne wasn’t enough to make a difference.

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While fans are all heaping praise on Morelos’ red-hot form, Daniel Candeias’ never-ending pressing and Kent’s magical wing play, Flanagan is getting plenty of plaudits as well.

The ex-Liverpool youngster hasn’t been perfect since arriving at Ibrox, but he has found his feet in the last few games and fans are loving his no-nonsense style of defending.

For once, the referee actually allowed quite a lot of tough-tackling incidents to go in the clash against Hearts, and Flanagan was right in his element.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Swansea fans on Twitter couldn’t quite believe their second goal in the 3-2 loss to Ipswich, as Bersant Celina finished off an incredible team goal against his former club that had started in their own six-yard box.

It was clearly a weekend for impressive team goals, and Swansea’s could certainly rival Aaron Ramsey’s in Arsenal’s 5-1 drubbing of Fulham in the Premier League.

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You can find more on this and other stories via the Swansea City News page.

Graham Potter’s side were 2-1 down with just over 10 minutes to go at the Liberty Stadium when club-captain Leroy Fer brought the ball down in his own box and turned to pass back to goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

Swansea then worked the ball wide and back into midfield, where Fer and substitute Barrie McKay both made excellent turns to ensure the pace of the counter-attack was too quick for Ipswich to regroup. Celina then picked up the ball on the halfway line and drove at the heart of the defence before firing a low shot past Dean Gerken.

Unfortunately for Swans fans, Trevoh Chalobah’s goal five minutes later consigned them to defeat, but many still expressed their delight with the brilliantly worked goal. Check out some of the best tweets below.

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Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to Saturday’s setback at Blackburn, and they’re fuming with the troubles at set pieces.

Leeds fell to their second league defeat under Marcelo Bielsa on Saturday, and fans are fuming with the basic errors their team made at Ewood Park.

There were some real moments of “Bielsa-ball” during the 2-1 defeat, and Mateusz Klich’s goal came from some excellent build-up play, but basic mistakes cost the Whites once again.

Danny Graham gave the hosts the lead all too easily in the opening stages, nodding home from a corner with just two minutes gone.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”308991″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Fixture in Focus West Ham v Tottenham”]

Klich equalised before half time, but Darragh Lenihan headed home the winner 20 minutes from time from another set piece.

Fans are understandably fuming with their side’s inability to defend basic set pieces, and there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Some are bashing Bielsa, while plenty are calling for Bailey Peacock-Farrell to lose his place.

Either way, you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Trent Alexander-Arnold has made a significant rise through the ranks at Liverpool over the past two years.

The 20-year-old has become a regular in Jurgen Klopp’s squad and after sitting out the last two matches, he returned to the team for Wednesday’s visit of Champions League opponents Red Star Belgrade.

The England international played the full 90 minutes as Liverpool earned a convincing 4-0 victory at Anfield.

Alexander-Arnold has made the right-back spot his own, and he caught the wider football community’s eye last season in performances against Manchester City and Roma in the Champions League.

The youngster’s lack of fear against elite opposition despite his age is a quality that has endeared himself to the Liverpool following.

The right-back has no intention of walking away from Anfield, but if rival clubs were to make a bid, they would likely have to table a hefty fee.

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In today’s market, a 20-year-old playing at the top level can warrant a big figure, and according to the results of our poll, the majority of fans believe that Alexander-Arnold is worth more than £35m.

With another week of Champions League and Europa League fixtures over, attention once again turns to the Premier League for Gameweek 10!

FPL bosses would have been paying close attention to the midweek fixtures, hoping that their players didn’t pick up any injuries ahead of another busy weekend of Premier League action.

Considering this is the tenth week of the league, FPL bosses will start to work out who their best players are and probably thinking about using that first wildcard of the season.

Maybe it’s time for a whole re-shuffle or maybe just a tinker?

Whatever you do, make sure you go through all our tips for this weekend, we’ve picked at least three players from each area of the pitch for your consideration.

Ederson – £5.7m

Ederson has a tricky fixture against Tottenham at Wembley on Monday night, but it is his upcoming fixtures that FPL bosses need to be aware of.

Even if he fails to keep a six successive clean sheet this week, after Tottenham, City’s next five fixtures include Southampton, West Ham and Bournemouth.

Rui Patricio – £4.6m

Patricio will be hoping that last week’s 2-0 loss to Watford was a small blip in his impressive start to his Premier League season.

The Portuguese number one faces Brighton away this week, a team that has struggled to score goals and are likely to be without Glenn Murray.

Mathew Ryan – £4.5m

Although Brighton maybe struggling going forward, their goalkeeper Matt Ryan has made sure that they at least keeping clean sheets at the back.

Back-to-back clean sheets against West Ham and Newcastle mean the Australian will be going into this weekend with great confidence.

After Wolves, the Seagulls next six games are against Everton, Cardiff, Leicester, Huddersfield and Crystal Palace.

Matt Doherty  – £4.8m

The Wolves defender has gained a lot of admirers in the last few weeks, thanks to two goals and an assist.

Like Patricio, Doherty will be hoping to get back to scoring big FPL points this weekend.

Harry Maguire – £5.5m

Leicester face West Ham this weekend at the King Power with an aim to get back to winning ways after two straight defeats.

If Maguire can stop Marko Arnautovic, it is likely he will keep a clean sheet on Saturday.

After West Ham, the Foxes have Cardiff, Burnley, Brighton and Watford.

 Shane Duffy – £4.5m

In order for Matt Ryan to keep clean sheets for Brighton, Shane Duffy has had to been in decent form himself at the centre of defence.

Always a threat at corners and set-pieces, he can score a few too.

Eden Hazard – £11.4m

Injured or not, you need to take a serious look into Eden Hazard this week.

The Belgian is in top form for the Blues and after being left out of the Europa League game in midweek, Sarri will bring him straight back in, if fit.

Roberto Pereyra  – £6.2m

Pereyra has been an ever present in Watford’s side and it seems when Watford play well, he gets big FPL points.

With the Hornets hosting Huddersfield this week followed by Newcastle and Southampton, the midfielder could be in for some decent points.

Andre Schurrle – £6.0 million

Fulham may not be enjoying themselves in the Premier League of late, but one player has stood out.

German midfielder Andre Schurrle scored a brilliant goal last week at Cardiff in their 4-2 defeat, he’s cheap and they play Bournemouth at home this weekend.

Fulham’s desperation to stop the rot could help  or hinder them!

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This week Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli signed a new long-term contract with the North London outfit.

It was welcome news for the club’s faithful following confirmation that their new stadium will not be ready until next year.

Since moving to Spurs from MK Dons in 2015, Alli has become a key Premier League player and full-fledged international, but it could have been so different had he joined Liverpool.

The Merseyside outfit were thought to be keen on snapping up the then-teenager, but he chose Tottenham instead.

Alli can play behind the striker, in a more central midfield role or on the left-hand side – a versatility that would suit Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.

However, the Merseyside outfit have numerous midfield options after recruiting Fabinho and Naby Keita in the summer.

Plus, the trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane is unlikely to be broken up.

With that in mind, would there be a place for Alli if he was currently at Liverpool?

Let us know by voting below.

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On paper, everything is pretty much going to plan for Liverpool as they remain in the Premier League title race and sit at the top of Group C in the Champions League.

However, something has been lacking in the team’s performances of late, and they are a far cry from the side that ripped apart opposition defences last season.

Ironically, the part of the pitch that has been a big problem for years – the defence – has been their saving grace so far.

On Tuesday night, though, it was a different story as Virgil van Dijk and his centre-back partner Joel Matip suffered lapses in judgement against Red Star Belgrade.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were favourites to take all three points from their Champions League opponents in Serbia, but in the end they were beaten 2-0.

Almost every player under-performed, and the midfield in particular failed to make an impact.

Klopp lined up with Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner and Adam Lallana, but it is likely that he will make some changes for this weekend’s league game against Fulham.

Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson are on their way back to fitness, but perhaps the match is suited to summer signing Fabinho?

The Brazilian, who scored 31 goals and registered 21 assists in 233 appearances for Monaco, has had a mixed start to his Liverpool career.

The defensive midfielder impressed against Red Star at Anfield and Cardiff City, but he was overrun in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

Should Klopp give him another chance against Fulham, or should he select a different option?

Let us know by voting below.