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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…

It’s about getting the balance right.

And Nottingham Forest’s game against Luton Town will be a good way to test one of the oldest questions in sport. Which is better? Rest or rust?

Well one former Forest player is firmly on one side of the debate, at least he is given the current run of form that Sabri Lamouchi’s men find themselves in at the moment. Kenny Burns is very much part of the ‘rust’ part of the discussion.

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What’s he said?

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Burns said that the postponement of the Reading game came at the worst possible time for Sabri Lamouchi and his men:

“If we’d been winning, maybe they’d have deserved a day off. But at the minute there’s things we need to work on. We’ve not really turned up since the international break. It came at a bad time for us – killed our momentum.

“I can’t say I’m looking forward to the Luton game this weekend. I would have been a few weeks ago, but our form just makes me a bit worried.”

Should form come into the debate?

Would it really have made a difference if Forest had come into the game off the back of a couple of victories?

As we discussed previously on FFC, the biggest beneficiaries of the Reading game being called off are the players that are currently going through injuries, as it gives them a week of recovery without having to miss any of the actual games.

Check out Matchday with Max’s latest Nottingham Forest vlog in the video below…

But on the subject of momentum, the way that Forest were performing beforehand shouldn’t come into the equation.

Whilst Burns may not like the fact that the players didn’t get a chance to sort out their recent form, surely the postponement just gives them the chance to essentially play Luton Town at a much higher tempo off the back of the additional rest and overwhelm them.

Surely that would be the plan whether they were in a good spell of form or not?

Just as a side note, last week Luton boss Graeme Jones had complaints about Birmingham City getting an extra day’s rest ahead of their game at St Andrew’s, I wonder if he’s going to have similar complaints this weekend if Lamouchi’s men do come out on top?

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has defended Ivory Coast compatriot Nicolas Pepe after an underwhelming start to life in the Premier League for the £72m summer signing from Lille.

What’s the word?

Arsenal broke their transfer record to sign Pepe from the Ligue 1 outfit, but so far the 24-year-old has scored just one Premier League goal in the 2019/20 campaign.

The Ivorian, who scored 22 goals and registered 11 assists during the 2018/19 season, has struggled to adapt to life in the English top-flight, but his teammate and Palace forward Zaha has backed the 24-year-old to show the ability that attracted Arsenal’s interest in bringing him to The Emirates.

“I see the social media, I see everything and it’s a thing where he needs time. He’s come from another league, he’s young,” Zaha told the BBC (via Daily Star).

“There’s this price tag that he has not put on himself, people have put that on him because of his performances, so you’ve got to give him time for him to reproduce that, it’s not going to come like that.

“I have got nothing but faith in him, I’ve got confidence that he will produce the same thing that he did before, because we both play for Ivory Coast, I’ve seen the talent he’s got, but not everyone sees it.”

Patience required for £72m Pepe

Zaha’s passionate defence of his international teammate could arguably be rooted in his own personal experiences of struggling with the transition to the demands of a top-six Premier League side, after the forward secured a £15m transfer to Manchester United in 2013 only to move back to Palace in 2015 for a fee as low as £3m.

The 27-year-old’s steady ascent having returned to south London illuminates how players whose game is based on flair, trickery and a decisive end product is rarely a straightforward process; there will be bumps in the road and scrutiny will be relentless.

Zaha and Pepe’s playing styles are similar, and given their experience of having played together with Ivory Coast, the Palace forward clearly believes that Pepe is capable of defying the “social media” critics, as alluded to by Zaha.

There can be no doubting Pepe’s abilities after such an impressive spell in Ligue 1 with Lille, and Zaha’s passionate defence of his international colleague is likely to fuel the Arsenal man’s confidence as he bids to find form and propel the Gunners into the realms of Champions League qualification.

Despite grabbing a goal and putting in one of his finest performances to date, Marcus Rashford found himself on the wrong end of a Graeme Souness tirade after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against rivals Liverpool.

Souness’ main point of contention is that the 21-year-old, who made his way through United’s academy system, simply doesn’t cut it as a world-class no.9, which is probably a fair assessment given he’s recorded just two goals in open play so far this term.

Two of the four he’s scored in 2019/20 have come from the penalty spot.

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“He’s not the finished article right now,” the former Liverpool manager said. “He’s not scored enough goals in the Premier League to say Man United can hang their hat on him being the man who’s going to take them back. He needs help.”

Neville, on the other hand, is quick to point out the development of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane as examples of what can happen if a club show some faith in their talent.

United made the decision to not recruit replacements for Inter Milan-bound Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku in the summer transfer window, opting instead to stick with Daniel James, Anthony Martial and our man in question, Rashford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have netted an average 0.72 goals per game in all competitions since they battered Chelsea on the opening day of the season.

Following Sunday’s game, Gary Neville and Souness got into a heated debate over Rashford’s future at Old Trafford…

Poor Solskjaer has to deal with this nightmare debate every time he goes to make a team selection.

[ad_pod ]Opportunities in football are few and far between.This is never more true than in the life of a second choice goalkeeper.Liverpool’s Adrian probably never envisioned himself making more than a couple of domestic cup appearances for the Reds this season, but after an injury to Alisson, he’s been thrust into the first-team.Despite not being the first choice for Liverpool, he’s done a stellar job these past few weeks, making some incredible saves and winning every league game he’s been involved in.And he clearly knows how fortunate he is to get such an opportunity, as he took to social media to share a quote that perfectly encapsulates his Anfield career thus far.

“Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act.†The quote from Paulo Coelho certainly rings true in Adrian’s case, as he’s finally gotten his chance to shine at a top club, and he hasn’t wasted it.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He accompanied the quote with an image of him saving a close-range shot from Tammy Abraham.

It’s unlikely that Adrian is going to be the first-choice when Alisson is back from injury, but the fact that he’s performed so well in the Brazilian’s absence will certainly mean that Jurgen Klopp has more faith in him going forward.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Marco Silva declared that signing a striker was a top priority for him this summer, but according to Italian outlet CalcioMercato he may have missed out on his number one target, Rafael Leao.

What’s the story?

The signing of Moise Kean looked to fill the goalless void at Goodison Park but his failure to adapt means the Toffees may rue the fact that they were unable to lure Leao to the Premier League.

Instead, the 20-year-old opted to join Milan, for whom he already has a goal and assist in four league games, proving why he is well regarded as a promising young player.

It is believed that Everton were keen to sign the Portuguese and even offered more than the Italian club did, and perhaps if they had acted earlier – before Milan registered their interest – then he could now be wearing the number 27 shirt instead of Kean.

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Given the praise of his former coach at Sporting Lisbon, Tiago Fernandes, and Kean’s lack of form, Everton may wish to turn back time, particularly if he lives up to the comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Rafael is a special player for me, he always will be. I met him when he was just 12-13 years old … only Cristiano Ronaldo at Sporting had his talent at that age, I guarantee you.

“At Sporting I had the pleasure of working with many promising youngsters, but Rafael Leao is undoubtedly the best footballer I have ever had.”

– Tiago Fernandes

Missed opportunity

Whilst Leao and Kean are in a similar place in regard to their future potential, the advantage the Milan striker has over the Toffees striker is the fact he had already experienced and adjusted a different country and a new league to what he was used to.

He had played in Portugal before making the switch to Lille, where he scored eight goals last season in 24 league appearances.

Everton reportedly offered more money to Lille than the Italian giants did, but if they had increased their offer to the player they may have done enough to persuade him to join, and given his potential it may have been a risk worth taking.

Added to that, he has on occasion featured on the wing for Milan, and his versatility could have suited Everton well and offered Silva an alternative to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, and therefore possibly have made the Toffees more unpredictable in attack.

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Christian Eriksen’s performances are increasingly pointing towards a permanent move away from Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

Another flat performance against Chelsea

When the creative hub ticks the entire attacking dynamic changes. Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva have both struggled to find their rhythm for Manchester City of late, Pablo Hernandez is lacking the nous which has defined the majority of his season at Leeds United and Eriksen has also fallen flat at Spurs.

The Wednesday night clash against Chelsea underlined the diminishing standard of his recent performances. The Denmark international’s pass accuracy of just 70.6% was considerably the lowest of any player in Pochettino’s starting XI.

Impulse would force more sympathetic onlookers to suggest that his wastefulness was merely a natural consequence of his desire to slice open the opposition. That is, after all, his primary objective on the field of play.

But that defence cannot stand its ground against the statistics: Eriksen failed to make a single key pass in the whole game.

The BBC’s chief sports writer, Phil McNulty, described Eriksen as ‘on the margins’ against Chelsea, and that’s probably a touch on the generous side.

The most alarming takeaway from the fixture was not the single performance in isolation, it was that Eriksen’s no-show was true to recent form. He did score and provide an assist against Leicester City earlier this month, granted, but those two moments aside he struggled to operate with the same zest and flair which is typically associated with the 27-year-old.

Real Madrid bound?

It’s no coincidence that Eriksen’s form has taken a considerable dip since the turn of the year. According to The Independent, Real Madrid made the initial steps to prise Tottenham’s crown jewel away from north London at the beginning of January, with a summer deal being mooted by the respected journalist Miguel Delaney.

With less than 18 months left on Eriksen’s current deal, it would appear that there is a substantial weight of credibility behind these reports, and his lacklustre form since the turn of the year would also suggest that his head has been turned.

Something does not seem quite right with the dynamic number ten, and the fact a downturn in form has coincided with reports linking him with a move to Los Blancos is absolutely no coincidence.

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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… 

Wolves were emphatically defeated on their own patch on Saturday afternoon as Frank Lampard’s Chelsea came to town and ran riot at Molineux.

Tammy Abraham’s hat-trick contributed to a 5-2 victory which pushed Wolves closer to the base of the Premier League table.

Nuno Santo and his men have been impressive in the Europa League, winning all six of their matches on their way to qualifying for the group stages but so far they’ve faltered domestically.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Their woes in the league have gone from bad to worse after this latest showing and it was the performance from their captain that emphasised just how poor they really were.

Conor Coady is usually Santo’s reliable ball-playing defender at the heart of defence. He’s the captain, leader and often the root of the attack. He averaged a passing success rate of 84.3% last season, per WhoScored.

But on Saturday he was just not at the races. The 26-year-old failed to register an interception or a block in the match and only managed two tackles as his poor season in the Premier League rumbled on.

Coady is averaging a rating of just 6.17 from their opening five matches, which only goalkeeper Rui Patricio has worse than of all the players to play four or more games.

His numbers are down from last season – when he averaged 0.8 interceptions and 0.7 blocks per game – and the fact he failed to make a single interception or block against Chelsea is particularly poor.

Being the ball-playing defender in the heart of the three-man defence, Coady is usually spot on with his passing, but he managed a dire long ball accuracy rate of 42.8%, meaning it is likely that he consistently invited the pressure back on his side as he was barely able to find another player in a gold and black shirt.

The performance from the captain just wasn’t good enough and certainly not at the level you’d require to succeed in the Premier League.

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Leeds United are interested in signing Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino on loan before Monday’s deadline.

The Lowdown: Leeds linked with Minamino move

The Whites are running out of time to make any January additions but one player who could still potentially arrive is the Japan international attacker.

Indeed, Minamino has been linked with a move to Elland Road in recent days, with Liverpool’s incoming signing of Luis Diaz putting him further down the pecking order.

A new update has now emerged, suggesting Leeds could turn to the Reds playmaker in the next 24 hours due to stalling talks for Brenden Aaronson.

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The Latest: New update emerges

According to The Daily Mail, the Whites are looking to sign Minamino on loan until the end of the season, providing Marcelo Bielsa with another body in attack.

With Leeds’ move for Aaronson reportedly at an ‘impasse’, the Liverpool man is being looked at this month instead.

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The Verdict: Perfect alternative

Minamino has struggled to make the grade at Liverpool, only managing 49 appearances since arriving from RB Salzburg two years ago, with more illustrious names keeping him out of the team.

He is a talented footballer who could be a shrewd signing by Leeds however, with a loan deal now making perfect sense. Phil Hay has confirmed the Whites are willing to wait until the summer to sign Aaronson, so should Minamino fail to impress in a temporary stint, they can simply replace him with the American once the season ends.

Minamino has been hailed as ‘outstanding’ by Jurgen Klopp – having netted six times in all competitions this season, so he should be able to provide that extra bit of creativity and end product Leeds are currently missing until they can try again for Aaronson.

The Japan starlet would give Bielsa the added firepower that he needs between now and May, especially with Patrick Bamford still sidelined.

In other news, a journalist has confirmed some interest in one Leeds hero. Find out who it is here.

Newcastle United are sure to be in the market to improve their squad in the summer as PIF look to take the team to the next level in the Premier League.

Instead of battling against relegation, the Saudi Arabian consortium will surely want to see the club competing further up the table.

To do this, they may need to invest in the team and one player who would be a sublime signing is Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He has been touted with a switch to St. James’ Park, with the Toffees valuing him at around £60m, and Newcastle can find their Andy Carroll 2.0 in a deal for the forward.

The England international has already impressed a Toon legend, with Alan Shearer hailing his “magnificent” aerial ability, and Brazilian attacker Richarlison claimed that he is a “nightmare” to play against.

Shearer said he’s superb in the air and this is certainly reflected in his stats. He has won 3.2 aerial battles or more per game in each Premier League season for the Toffees since the 2017/18 campaign. This includes 5.0 per match in 2019/20 and 4.5 or more per game in the last two terms in the top-flight for Everton.

Carroll has averaged 5.8 aerial battles won per game throughout his career, which suggests that Calvert-Lewin’s peak of 5.0 per match puts him in a similar bracket to the Geordie giant aerially. Both players are capable of being a target for their team to hit in the air and this is a useful quality to have as they can help to alleviate pressure on the side by winning headers to retain possession or force the defence back instead of allowing the opposition to push higher up.

The Magpies academy product has scored 54 goals in the Premier League, with 24 headers, 22 with his left foot and six with his right. Calvert-Lewin, meanwhile, has 43 strikes in the competition, with 18 headers, 20 with his right foot and five with his left.

This shows that they are both similar types of strikers in terms of what they offer on and off the ball. Both of them equally excel at scoring with their head and their preferred foot, whilst they are also able to use their aerial strength to help their teams out in general play.

These statistics also prove that Calvert-Lewin knows how to score goals in the Premier League. He is a proven top-flight forward, just as the now-West Brom man was earlier in his career. Thus, Newcastle must bring him in to be their new English talisman at the top end of the pitch; Carroll 2.0 if you will.

AND in other news, Sold at £108k, now worth £10.8m: NUFC had howler on gem who proved Benitez “all wrong”…

Crystal Palace have not made any official bids or opened talks with any potential signings this month so far, and that includes the view of securing permanent deals for their current loan players too, with one, in particular, becoming a doubt for securing a longer stay at the club.

What’s the word?

Sky Sports journalist, Michael Bridge, has revealed that the Eagles are “nowhere near” the clause that forces them into signing striker, Jean-Philippe Mateta, on a permanent deal at the club.

Bridge told GIVEMESPORT:

“The deal at the moment with buying Mateta in terms of how many games he’s played for Palace, they’re nowhere near it. So, they’re under no pressure with that at the moment.”

Mateta has been linked already with a move away from the club during the current transfer windows, as it was reported that his parent club, Mainz, were ready to recall the player for him to go back out on loan to Saint Etienne, but it was then further reported that Palace blocked the move.

Fans may be fuming

With Christian Benteke reportedly on the move to Burnley after an offer was made for him over the weekend, Palace fans will surely be rather puzzled and angered to see further unsettlement in their forward line, especially when the side is picking up more draws than wins at the moment with nine draws on the board in the Premier League this season.

Thus, they clearly need to take more goal-scoring opportunities and shipping on two offensive options in one window would be a strange way of doing that.

The 24-year-old Frenchman has only made 15 appearances for the club so far during his 18 month loan spell that started in January 2020 scoring three goals in just 589 minutes played over the last year. That is hardly mind-boggling but if they let him leave alongside Benteke, it would severely hamper Vieira’s options.

Eagles fans are keen for the striker to stay at the South London club, with many taking to Twitter to offer their opinion on his future at the club, one fan even tweeted: “Mateta needs to stay #cpfc.”

Vieira will need to make an important decision on the future of his forward line, with the club also linked to signing Eddie Nketiah and interest from other clubs for the signing of Benteke, the French manager will need to assess his options and work out if Mateta fits into his future plans for the club.

Despite not playing, there is an argument to make that the Eagles would be better off keeping him for the second part of the campaign.

In other news: Vieira could finally axe Benteke to sign Nketiah