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[ad_pod ]We’ve come a long way from the days of tabloids bashing Raheem Sterling for just about anything and crowds from around the country inexplicably booing him.The witchhunt is all but over for the man who incited such hatred for what we can only assume to be his decision to wave goodbye to the nation’s sweetheart, Liverpool, and join the club people seem to love to hate, Manchester City.Indeed, the pitchforks and torches have been exchanged for party poppers and glow sticks as everyone in the industry now kisses the Manchester City winger’s feet and praises him for what he is: an extremely talented player, better than Neymar even, according to some.Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Sterling was mesmerising during the recently completed international break. A goal and an assist against Bulgaria was followed up by an equally impressive performance against Kosovo, which saw him claim a further goal and two assists.

Considering England now have such a talented squad, it takes something to be considered “the” most important player. But that’s exactly what Chris Sutton believes Raheem Sterling is…

Quite a blunt analysis, but we get what he’s trying to say.

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New contracts are seemingly at the height of Leeds’ priorities at the moment after it was confirmed that Kalvin Phillips was set to sign a new deal.

Renewed terms could also be on the table for Stuart Dallas considering he’s out of contract at the end of the season.

The Northern Irishman spoke to Yorkshire Evening Post at the weekend, claiming his future was in Leeds’ hands as he discussed a potential new deal.

He said: “I’m in the last year of my contract so let’s see what happens. It’s something that’s in the clubs hands, we’ll see.”

The quotes seemed to excite Leeds fans who decided to throw support behind the 28-year-old with many suggesting he deserved a new deal.

One supporter claimed that he was much improved under Marcelo Bielsa as a further individual said it was a no-brainer for the club to get it done.

Another fan labelled Dallas as one of the most honest players going, claiming he was a credit to Leeds.

The versatile performer signed for the Whites in 2015 and has had a blistering start to the new campaign.

He scored against Stoke a few weeks ago and is averaging a match rating of 7.09, per WhoScored.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Lucas Digne has been one of Everton’s best performers so far this campaign but his failure to produce against Bournemouth was a key reason why they succumbed to defeat.

Everton were lacklustre in attack on Sunday and, for all their possession, they had just five shots on target.

As usual, Digne provided an outlet down the left-flank throughout, but he was wasteful too often, and the Toffees cannot expect to pick up points away from home if they lack a clinical edge in the final third.

Prior to Sunday, the Frenchman had contributed three assists in five games, and although he cannot be relied upon to be the sole creative outlet, he can be expected to provide dangerous crosses.

It wasn’t like he didn’t get in the positions either. According to Whoscored, the left-back had 12 crossing attempts, yet just two found a teammate. One did reach Richarlison and the Brazilian perhaps should have turned the ball in, but it is still a very poor return from Digne and one which ultimately counted against them.

That wasn’t the only area in which the former Barcelona player was wasteful. He achieved a pass accuracy rate of just 68%, and from six attempts only succeded with one pass into the final third, which goes some way in explaining Everton’s lack of threat going forward.

The 2018/19 Everton Player of the Year possesses technical skill, so such errors are quite unforgivable in a side still looking for their first Premier League away win of the season.

He did show some positives, however, and for the Richarlison chance did very well to take the ball past Jack Stacey in what was one of his two successful dribbles, showing good intelligence and a crossing range to play the ball in from the byline.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Defensively he was not at fault for any of the goals, either, so deserves recognition for that. In fact, things could have been worse if not for his four interceptions, and on the whole he managed to keep Harry Wilson quiet – causing him to be substituted early in the second half.

By contrast, he failed to make a single tackle throughout the match, but having achieved an average of two tackles per match prior to Sunday it is not an area of concern.

If he can return to his best at the opposite end of the pitch, he should continue to create chances for his teammates.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

The trip to Sheffield Wednesday could provide Everton with a much-needed confidence boost if they get the win, but to do so they will need to be at their best in front of goal.

On the chalkboard

Marco Silva’s side have struggled to score at times this season, with five goals in six league games, and the Owls have been tough to break down too, so it could be a frustrating evening for the Toffees.

Garry Monk, who has been in charge for only two games, has conceded once since taking up the reigns, adding to the six Wednesday had conceded under Lee Bullen, and the defensive additions of Moses Odubajo and Julian Borner have been key to that improvement.

By contrast the Toffees have leaked goals too easily, with set-pieces often proving their undoing, whilst in attack a failure from Silva to name a consistent starting XI has prevented players from gelling.

An example of that was his decision to take Dominic Calvert-Lewin out of the side to face his former team despite scoring in the previous match against Bournemouth – with the Portuguese manager seemingly intent on rotating him with Moise Kean.

If that happens, Calvert-Lewin should be in line to start at Hillsborough, and his match-up against Borner could decide the outcome of the tie.

The Everton striker has struggled in front of goal so far, with just one goal to show for his efforts.

However, his header against Bournemouth was a snapshot into a key attribute of the 22-year-old, and his effectiveness in the air could be key for his team on Tuesday.

It was missed against Sheffield United on Saturday, with the team producing seven successful crosses out of 40, and given he boasts an average of 4.6 aerial duels won per game, as per WhoScored, he should be a handful for Borner.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The centre-back doesn’t match Calvert-Lewin in that regard, but he has been accomplished in other aspects since arriving in England this summer.

His average clearances and interceptions suggest he may be able to contain the Everton man, who has been lacklustre with the ball, on the ground, and if he fails to perform above his usual standard then his team could struggle on the goal front once again.

Calvert-Lewin’s stats suggest that if he can’t provide an aerial threat he will be largely ineffective, and therefore if the Owls defence marks him closely, Borner and Co should be able to keep a tight lid on the Everton attack.

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Still gutted over yesterday but we go again ?⚫️⚔️
A post shared by John Lundstram (@johnlunny7) on Sep 29, 2019 at 4:39am PDT

John Egan and John Lundstram both expressed how gutted they were with Saturday’s result, but they didn’t dwell on it as they said next week is now the target.

That’s exactly the type of mindset players need to have to be successful at this level, and the fact that Egan and Lundstrum both think like that bodes well for the Blades’ survival chances.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

QPR midfielder Dominic Ball has spoken to the media following the 2-0 loss to West Brom on Saturday, and his words are full of sense, maturity and realism.

The 24-year-old – signed on a free transfer back in the summer after leaving Rotherham – has emerged as a key cog in Mark Warburton’s side in a defensive midfield role, and has specifically helped the duo of Eberechi Eze and Ilias Chair thrive ahead of him.

Ball has made five Championship starts so far this term, and is a player who Mark Warburton knows well having worked with the 57-year-old at Watford and Rangers.

What did he say?

Ball told The Kilburn Times: “Going up against West Brom, I think we can critically analyse ourselves and say ‘you know what, we’re not there yet, we’ve got to improve in a lot of areas’ and that’s what we’ll be doing in training this week.

“I think we’ve had a very good season so far. As a team we still know we’ve not had a 100% performance.

“We’re still a new team, we’re still developing and finding out about each other.”

Sensible comments full of perspective 

It’s very easy in modern day football to go overboard after a loss and feel like everything is all doom and gloom.

Contrastingly, Ball’s comments have seen him take a metaphorical step back, analyse the context of the situation and give a sensible assessment on where QPR are at right now – there really is no need to panic, at all.

Put it this way. The R’s are still pretty much in the infancy of Warburton’s reign, and signed a number of new players in the summer – the drawing board was well and truly ripped up in the summer and replaced with a new one.

Because of that, things will need time to gel – it hasn’t even been all that bad, with the Londoners winning four Championship games on the trot before losing against Slaven Bilic’s side.

It’s easy to get carried away after going on such an impressive run so early into a new manager’s tenure, but with a player as level-headed as Ball in the side, one would assume that no-one in that QPR squad is going to get lost amongst the clouds this season.

Plenty of Liverpool fans have given their verdict on the links to Dominik Szoboszlai.

The collective blood pressure on the red half of Merseyside has probably increased ten-fold this week, as Jurgen Klopp’s men made life difficult for themselves against Red Bull Salzburg.

One thing to come out of the game though was that the likes of Szoboszlai, Takumi Minamino, Hwang Hee-chan and of course Erling Haaland highlighted their reputation as some of the most talented but lesser-known players in Europe’s top-tier competition.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Szoboszlai has now been linked with a move to Anfield, though they reportedly face competition from the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan and Arsenal.

The report claims those teams, along with the Reds, were watching his display intently at Anfield on Wednesday.

Fans aren’t overly fond of the rumours though, with many pointing to Minamino and Haaland as the men they would prefer to sign.

One fan has also raised the concern that it would be difficult to craft a chant for the 18 year-old, who has five Hungary caps already.

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

England cricketer James Anderson has linked up with Manchester City as he attempts to recover from a career-threatening injury.

BBC reported that the 37-year-old fast bowler will train at the Premier League champions’ Etihad Campus as he seeks to bounce back from a calf problem and realise his ambition of playing into his 40s.

Manchester City-focused Twitter channel @City_Xtra conveyed the news to its followers, many of whom resorted to humour with their reactions.

Manchester City have had injury concerns of their own, particularly in defence, where Aymeric Laporte is in the early stages of a layoff that will continue into 2020 following a knee injury sustained against Brighton, as reported by The Guardian.

His centre-back colleague John Stones has been out injured since mid-September but is expected to return to action after the international break, according to Manchester Evening News.

Left-back Benjamin Mendy was sidelined for the defeat against Wolves on Sunday with a hamstring injury and has missed large chunks of the last two seasons through various injuries, as noted by TransferMarkt.

These Manchester City fans took to Twitter to have their say on Anderson’s link-up with the club:

What’s your take on Anderson training at Manchester City’s facilities? Let us know your views by commenting below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Virgil van Dijk is often a dependable figure for Liverpool, but he showed on Thursday just why he is captain of his country with an assured performance against Northern Ireland.

He didn’t have a lot to do for most of the night from a defensive perspective, with Northern Ireland opting to contain the Dutch attack, but he put in a convincing display nonetheless.

As well as dominating Kyle Lafferty, he also led by example, and when he found his team trailing with 15 minutes remaining he stood up and led by example.

His manager, Ronald Koeman, described his players as “fighting machines” pre-match, and van Dijk epitomised that sentiment, battling to win the ball for his side throughout whilst motivating his players to earn a crucial win.

Without his influence it is possible the Netherlands wouldn’t have found the goals needed to maintain their place at the top of Group C, with Northern Ireland and Germany breathing down their necks.

In typical van Dijk fashion, he was adept with and without the ball, making good use of his wide range of passing to try and put his side on the front foot.

According to SofaScore he completed 11 long passes, finding his teammates in good positions which allowed his teammates to mount pressure on the visitors, which ultimately wore them down and allowed the Dutch to score three late goals.

Watch a Liverpool fan discover the internet and get a nasty surprise in the video below…

His pass accuracy was of high quality throughout which was important given the amount of possession and territory his team had.

It is an aspect of his game which has been consistent for the Reds and fans will likely be pleased by the fact he has maintained his performance, with a big trip to Old Trafford coming up next.

Defensively he was a colossus as always, and but for some lapse concentration by his defensive partner, Matthijs de Ligt, Northern Ireland wouldn’t have got a look in.

His 17/19 duels won epitomised his dogged attitude but also his brilliant execution in making sure he won the ball, with two tackles won underlining his ability to retrieve the ball.

Adrian is currently going through arguably the best spell of his career.The Spanish goalkeeper has been Liverpool’s number one for the past couple of months due to an injury to Alisson, and has won all eight league fixtures he has played in and helped crown the Reds as Super Cup champions.Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, the stopper arrived in Liverpool as a bit of a hero already, due to an iconic moment he had against Everton a few years back while playing for West Ham.

The Hammers tweeted the video of Adrian’s penalty goal against the Toffees on Thursday as a throwback post, and the stopper clearly has fond memories of that moment.

As If Liverpool fans couldn’t love the Spaniard any more after his heroics this season, they can now gloat about the time he mugged off Everton by throwing his gloves off before taking the spot-kick.

The replies to the Spaniard’s tweet shows that the Anfield faithful are already relishing in this moment and we’re sure that this will be brought up ahead of the next Merseyside derby.