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Leeds’ striker position has been the topic of a number of debates ever since this season started.

Eddie Nketiah continues to perform, and Patrick Bamford continues to fluff his lines in front of goal.

The Whites only managed to pick up a draw against Preston North End on Tuesday evening, but they could have very easily won it if Bamford had his shooting boots on.

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His poor finishing was the exclamation point on what was an all-round poor evening for the former Middlesbrough man, and a look at his stats after the game shows just how bad he was.

The main point of concern is obviously Bamford’s inability to hit the target with his shots.

Six efforts came and went from the 26-year-old, yet the goalkeeper wasn’t tested by any of them.

Check out the real life version of FIFA 20’s Volta Football in the video below…

It’s not as if these were potshots from 30 or 40 yards either, these were efforts that many strikers in the Championship would have a great chance of scoring from.

This isn’t a new phenomenon either as it’s now eight matches since Bamford found the net.

However, there is always the argument that his game is about so much more than just goals, but we didn’t get to see that at Deepdale.

The striker was barely involved in the game having just 26 touches, and he made just one key pass – the least out of any of the Whites’ outfield players barring Leeds’ two centre-backs. Therefore, it’s not just his finishing let him down.

While there is great value in having Eddie Nketiah on the bench and bringing him on for Bamford late on, if the 26-year-old is going to perform like this when he does start it may be time for Bielsa to start looking at some different options upfront.

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 second international break of the season is finally coming to an end as the Championship season resumes this weekend.

Slaven Bilic’s West Brom face a trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon looking to continue their fine form into the festive period.

They currently top the table after 11 games as their 4-2 victory over Cardiff City last time out saw them overcome the first defeat of their season, which came just days earlier to Leeds United.

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The Croatian manager may even be able to call upon one of last season’s influential players after he made a return from injury on Monday afternoon.

On the chalkboard

Ahmed Hegazi featured for the full 90 minutes for the Egypt national team as they defeated Botswana 1-0, and the 28-year-old played a vital role.

Firstly, he kept a clean sheet on his first start since undergoing surgery for a persistent ankle problem, but he also provided an accurate long-ball pass to Mahmoud Alaa, who then whipped in a cross for Hamdy Fathi to slot home late on in the match.

The centre-back had featured for the Baggies’ U23 squad a few weeks ago, but this was his first real taste of competitive football action, and he may have just proven his fitness in doing so.

This should serve as a warning to Kyle Bartley, who has been quite an inconsistent figure in the Albion squad so far this season.

Against Blackburn Rovers, the 29-year-old was particularly error-prone, as the Express & Star pointed out in their match report of the game by saying: “In a mistake that mirrored last season’s woes at the back, Kyle Bartley played a poor pass in field to Romaine Sawyers, who was tackled on the edge of his own box before Bradley Dack swept the ball home.”

When comparing Hegazi’s 40 Championship appearances to Bartley’s start to the season, you start to see that the Egyptian may be the man to help put a stop to their defensive woes.

West Brom have kept just one clean sheet in 11 matches.

Via WhoScored, Hegazi averaged more clearances (6.1) and blocks (1.3) per game while conceding fewer fouls than Bartley at 0.8 per match.

It appears that a switch in defence could be inevitable – certainly if Bilic wants to stop leaking goals, as that could well be the difference between finishing top and having to fight it out in the playoffs.

This week Aston Villa are celebrating the one year anniversary of Dean Smith’s appointment as their manager.

This has led to a lot of reflection on the past 12 months, and eventually, the question was put to the gaffer about which goal was his favourite since taking over.

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The former Brentford boss had a lot to choose from as the Villans have scored 92 goals in 48 games since his appointment, but in the end, he decided on two strikes that he couldn’t quite choose between.

It should come as no surprise that one of Smith’s favourite goals was Alan Hutton’s incredible solo effort against Birmingham City.

The right-back uncharacteristically went on a marauding run from his own half before slotting past Lee Camp to put Villa 4-2 up against their fiercest rivals.

The other finish that Smith considered was Jack Grealish’s effort against Rotherham.

The Villa captain netted a fantastic strike against the Millers while the Villans were down to ten men, and Smith believes that his goal swung the game in his side’s favour.

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Loads of Tottenham Hotspur fans are relieved their club didn’t sign one-time target Jack Grealish following his performance in Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw against West Ham United on Monday night.

Spurs have long been linked with a move for the 24-year-old, who signed a new five-year contract with the Midlands outfit 12 months ago, with a report in The Daily Express as recently as March saying they were keen, but a transfer has never materialised.

Villa captain Grealish played an influential role in his team winning promotion to the Premier League back in May, but he wasn’t at his best against the Irons earlier this week – especially later on in the second half when he made some poor decisions on the ball against 10 men.

Supporters of the north London outfit watching on clearly weren’t impressed with what they saw from the midfielder, and took to the popular social media platform to reveal they were happy Daniel Levy never ended up completing a deal for the Villan.

While one individual described him as “bang average”, another believes Tottenham “dodged a bullet”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

After getting back to winning ways against Leicester on Saturday, Manchester United open up their Europa League campaign with a clash against Ukrainian side Astana on Thursday night.

It may not have the same glitz and glamour of the Champions League, but the competition still has plenty of advantages, not least of which is the opportunity for younger players to make their mark.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have plenty of up-and-coming talents just waiting on the side-lines, and the clash against Astana is surely the perfect moment for the United boss to unleash them. And with that in mind, here’s a look at how the Red Devils could potentially line up on Thursday.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Solskjaer confirmed the side’s number two goalkeeper, Sergio Romero, would get the nod ahead of David de Gea. In front of him, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof’s fledgling partnership will be given a rest, with the United boss confirming Axel Tuanzebe will be given a rare start. Alongside him, Phil Jones could make his return from the wilderness for a rare appearance too.

Fred’s impressive cameo against Leicester is enough to get himself a place in the starting eleven, whilst Nemanja Matic has been pretty vocal about his desire to play more this season. Experience in the middle of the park is a must.

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United fans could be most excited about the kind of players Solskjaer chooses to use in the attacking positions. Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood were two of the stars of the club’s pre-season tour over the course of the summer, and the Europa League no doubt represents their best chance of first-team football.

Solskjaer has already confirmed Greenwood will start from the off, and there will no doubt be hope for someone like Chong to follow his academy teammate into the line-up too.

And with Anthony Martial still having not recovered from his injury, Marcus Rashford looks set for another chance in the number nine role. It may not be a side completely dominated by youngsters, but the likes of Chong and Greenwood would help make for an exciting team should Solskjaer decide to throw them in.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Samuel Umtiti’s Barcelona career has unfortunately taken a swift tumble. Ever since his career was disrupted by serious knee problems, the great Frenchman’s game time has diminished greatly.

And with the news that he has once again been sidelined, maybe the time has finally arrived for Jean-Clair Todibo to assume a bigger role within the Blaugrana squad.

But Umtiti hasn’t always plagued by these fitness problems. It all started in 2018 with his first serious knee injury and since then the Frenchman has refused to have surgery to fix the issue, instead opting for alternative treatments.

And it seems that that decision has come back to haunt him as he hasn’t been able to completely shake the injury ever since.

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To make things even worse, Umtiti has also been struck by the infamous “FIFA virus” and suffered another setback during his outing with France just recently. This time, though, it’s his foot that’s proven problematic rather than his knee.

With all those injury problems, Barcelona might have a real conundrum to face but, luckily, there is still someone who can take over from Umtiti and finally make a big step up.

And it wouldn’t be the first time they tampered with the pecking order in their defence. Ever since Umtiti’s injuries have come to light, Barcelona have reshuffled the cards at centre-back. At first, Umtiti and Gerard Pique were the two designated starters but soon Clement Lenglet took over from Umtiti as the 25-year-old started experiencing issues with his knee.

But even with that being said, Umtiti was still the third-choice centre-back and, as such, he played 14 games last season in La Liga and started a total of 13 of those. Todibo, on the other hand, only played two in 2018/19 – the only two games in his Barcelona career so far.

His lack of opportunities made it clear that he would be limited to the role of fourth choice centre-back. It was a rather weird move by Barcelona, who were betting on an injury-prone player rather than putting some trust into the young 19-year-old talent.

Back then there still may have been some lingering optimism regarding Umtiti’s issues but now, with yet another injury coming his way, it is time to start investing into Todibo instead.

Having such a talented player rotting on the bench because of Umtiti should not be acceptable. If the former Lyon enforcer was fit and firing on all cylinders, then there would be no dispute at all.

But with the situation being as it currently is and Umtiti unfortunately spending more time in the stands than on the pitch, Blaugrana might want to reshuffle the deck once again.

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Sheffield Wednesday head into the international break with quite the dilemma if reports are to be believed.

On Tuesday evening, Sky Sports claimed the club were in advanced talks with Lincoln City boss Danny Cowley and his assistant, brother Nicky, over becoming their permanent manager.

Currently, the club have had Lee Bullen in caretaker charge for a third spell after Steve Bruce left on the eve of the new season last month.

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Earlier in the week, Tony Pulis had been linked to the job by The Sun, but it appears that Cowley could be a serious contender to the post.

The 40-year-old rejected a move to Huddersfield in order to continue his journey at the Imps, so it remains to be seen whether or not he will actually become the Owls’ new boss.

This is how Wednesday could lineup under Cowley:

In four years at the club, the Cowley’s have guided Lincoln to two promotions as well as an EFL Trophy – playing very much the same brand of football throughout.

They believe in their philosophy and stick to it.

The formation most used by the management team is a 4-4-1-1 which utilises a lone target man in attack with a deep-lying forward playing just off him, and it is something that the Owls do have at their disposal with both Steven Fletcher and Fernando Forestieri being able to occupy those two spots.

Cowley also likes his team to play out from the back so it could see Sam Hutchinson drop into defence having played in midfield this season because he averages a passing success rate of 83.5% which is higher than Tom Lees (72.8%), whilst Julian Borner is likely to play alongside him (83.7%).

Jacob Murphy can play the inside forward role on the left-flank, averaging 2.2 shots per game as well as 2.6 dribbles, per WhoScored. He’s also scored one goal in four starts this season.

On the other side, Adam Reach can become the more traditional winger, whipping in crosses for the target man – he averages 0.8 per game and has already recorded one assist this season.

It would appear that Wednesday have all the tools needed to suit a Cowley system, meaning the lack of a transfer window shouldn’t be too much of an issue. It’s just if he can make the next step up, a considerable step up at that.

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[ad_pod ]Alfredo Morelos wasted no time in his first start of the new season by scoring a hat-trick against St. Joseph’s, and the Rangers fans are absolutely buzzing.His treble was added to by Jermain Defoe (twice) and Joe Aribo to give Rangers a 6-0 win against the Gibraltans.The Europa League first-round qualifier was a breeze for Steven Gerrard’s men as they came away with a 10-0 aggregate win.Morelos was on top form at Ibrox and looks well on his way to replicating the 30 goals he got last term for the Gers. The only thing stopping the Colombian from getting to that tally again could be his departure from the club, which has been hinted at by several reports.The 23-year-old has been a target of Newcastle United, as first reported by Spanish outlet Don Balon, while Crystal Palace and West Ham have also been linked.Gerrard has done little to quash these rumours by saying it would take “a really big offer” to tempt him to part with his star striker.Here’s what the Rangers fans said on Twitter about their hat-trick hero.

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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…

Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan has urged Leeds to experiment with two of their forward players heading into the new season.

What’s he said?

As Leeds embark on their mini pre-season tour of Australia, two members of the squad who could find themselves vying for the same spot in Marcelo Bielsa’s side are Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford.

The former has been linked with a move away but is among the travelling party for pre-season despite the likes of Helder Costa and Jack Clarke missing out.

Both Roofe and Bamford started together against York in the Whites’ friendly last week and it’s a tactic that has sparked Whelan into urging Leeds to experiment with the pair.

Talking to Football Insider, he revealed how they could do it, commenting:

“This is where you experiment, isn’t it? We didn’t see it much last season because of injuries to the two of them.

“This is where you figure out what you’re going to play, what formation. I very much doubt he’s going to change his thinking but can you put Kemar Roofe in a number 10? That’s something worth thinking about, can he play behind Bamford and play off him?”

Can they do it?

Last season Leeds were extremely unfortunate to lose Bamford for such a lengthy period of time. Per Transfermarkt, he missed 22 games through injury whilst Roofe was forced to sit on the treatment table for six matches too.

As a result, the pair of them failed to actually play alongside each other on too many occasions.

Yet, if Leeds can get both of them fit and firing properly next term it will without a doubt ensure they have a better chance of achieving promotion.

In 2018/19, Tyler Roberts and Mateusz Klich were preferred behind the striker but, as Whelan says, this is the ideal time to now experiment with what they’ve got.

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The fact only 16 squad members have travelled to Australia means there should be a greater license to play the pair of them together, and experimenting with Roofe in behind Bamford could be on the cards given Klich hasn’t travelled.

It could also prepare them for a potential departure if the Pole joins Burnley, a club he was the subject of interest from over the weekend.

Roofe scored 15 goals last term, cementing himself as one of the biggest threats in the side.

Moving him from his favoured position up front could seem foolish on paper, but if it gets both him and Bamford scoring at the same time, it could be game-changing for Bielsa.

كشفت صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية أسماء المتورطين المحتملين من نادي برشلونة في أزمة تسريب عقد مهاجم وقائد الفريق الأول لكرة القدم، ليونيل ميسي، عبر صحيفة “آل موندو”.

وكانت إذاعة “راك 1” الكتالونية قد أكدت على أن ميسي بصدد مقاضاة الصحيفة التي نشرت تفاصيل عقده الرسمي مع برشلونة الذي بدأ في عام 2017 وحتى نهاية الموسم الحالي والذي يتقاضى الأرجنتيني فيه 555 مليون يورو على تلك الفترة. (طالع التفاصيل)

وبحسب صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية أن محاميي ميسي يدرسون إمكانية مقاضاة ثلاثة أشخاص وهم جوسيب ماريا بارتوميو، أوسكار جراو (الرئيس التنفيذي السابق) وكارليس توسكيتس (رئيس برشلونة الحالي) بالإضافة إلى شخصين آخرين.

ويشكك المحامون الخاصون بالأرجنتيني في بعض الأشخاص وعلى رأسهم بارتوميو رئيس برشلونة السابق، والذين في استطاعتهم الوصول لعقد ميسي بكل سهولة داخل النادي الكتالوني.

الجدير بالذكر أن برشلونة قد أصدر بيانًا منذ قليل حول رفع قضية ضد صحيفة “آل موندو” الإسبانية بسبب تسريب وثيقة رسمية.