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Liverpool head to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to face an in-form Arsenal side in the Premier League. The Reds will likely need to take all three points back to Anfield in order to keep pace with the holders and current title favourites Manchester City.

Jurgen Klopp’s side face no easy task in taking on the Gunners though, who have been resurgent under the charge of new boss Unai Emery and are currently enjoying a thirteen-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. The north London outfit’s home record is also particularly impressive.

Liverpool’s job gets even bigger when the appointment of Andre Marriner is taken into account. The referee will likely allow a free flowing game but his leniency with sides taking a more physical approach may well play into the hosts’ hands.

Out of 17 officials to have presided over a top flight match so far this season, Marriner ranks 15th in terms of fouls awarded per game, averaging just 19.22 a match. By contrast, Roger East has averaged 26 fouls per game so far. 

What’s more, the 47-year-old is not averse to letting robust challenges go. Marriner ranks 12th in terms of fouls per tackle, averaging 0.6 fouls per challenge. With Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira likely to be paired up together in midfield for the home side they ought to be relishing the opportunity to get stuck into their opponents in order to break their rhythm.

With Emery’s side likely to employ an aggressive game plan, especially in order to snuff out any emerging counter-attacks quickly, they’ll also be encouraged by Marriner’s relative reluctance to show yellow cards. His average of 2.89 yellow cards per match sees him rank 13th out of the 17, while Craig Pawson leads the way on 4.43 yellows per game.

We aren’t particularly likely to see a penalty on Saturday either, with Marriner on average only awarding spot kicks 0.22 times per game this season – seeing him rank 10th out of the 17. We are, however, likely to see a free flowing, aggressive game that should prove to be a real Premier League spectacle.

One final bit of good news for the Gunners is the fact that the home side have emerged victorious in 44% of the matches that Marriner has overseen so far this season, whilst the away side have only had three points to celebrate 33% of the time. All that being said, Arsenal will still have to be at their very best to secure a result against the Reds.

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Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to some comments from Danny Murphy, as the ex-Red said Dele Alli was right to choose North London over Merseyside.

It’s well documented that Liverpool tried to sign Alli back in 2015, but the MK Dons wonderkid of course joined Tottenham instead.

Alli grew up idolising Steven Gerrard, and many Reds’ fans have often regretted missing out on the England international.

While his form has dipped slightly this season, the 22-year-old is still one of the best goalscoring midfielders in the world, racking up nearly 50 goals in 148 appearances for Spurs.

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Alli signed a new contract this week that is set to keep him at Tottenham until 2024, and lots of Liverpool fans have been reacting to Murphy’s comments.

“I like Dele Alli, he’s top drawer,” Murphy said. “Let’s give Spurs some credit here, they’ve given him a platform every week to progress as a young lad coming out of the lower leagues.

“If he had gone to Liverpool, which he nearly did, I’m not sure he would have played as many games.

“Yeah (credit Pochettino) working with him on the training pitch, the club in terms of going we’re gonna go get him, get him, get a manager who is going to invest in the youngsters and obviously work with him on the training pitch, spot on.”

Jurgen Klopp has his own reputation for building young players into superstars, and the Anfield faithful aren’t too happy with Murphy’s comments.

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

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According to a recent Football FanCast poll, a huge majority of Aston Villa fans want the club to sign Tammy Abraham on a permanent deal in the January transfer window.

Former boss Steve Bruce pulled off something of a coup when he secured the season-long loan deal for the Chelsea striker on deadline day of the summer transfer window, but new manager Dean Smith could make a huge statement by signing the 21-year-old permanently in the upcoming window.

It is quite clear that all of Chelsea’s huge loan crop are for sale if a club can pay the necessary the right fee, and after a turbulent summer it would now also seem that Villa’s new owners, Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, are ready to pump money into the squad in order to achieve promotion.

Things are not going quite to plan so far this season though with the Villans sitting in 14th place in the Championship, but a few good results or a big-money signing can certainly fire a team up the tightly contested table.

Abraham, who is valued at £9m by Transfermarkt, has already netted four times in 10 Championship games for the Villans, and while on loan in the division with Bristol City for the 2016/17 season he bagged an extremely impressive 23 league goals.

Check out the full results of our poll below.

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Issa Diop has been a hit with the West Ham United fans since making the move to the London Stadium in the summer transfer window.

Diop was part of Manuel Pellegrini’s spending spree during the summer, with the 21-year-old arriving at West Ham following a strong season with Toulouse.

The defender has taken impressively to Premier League football, and even drew praise from Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho earlier this season.

As expected, Diop has been named in France’s Under-21 squad for their upcoming internationals against Croatia Under-21s and Spain Under-21s.

The West Ham fans have been reacting to the news on social media, and it would be fair to say that a number think he should be in the senior squad.

France have a serious amount of talent in central defence at the moment, but the West Ham supporters feel that Diop is good enough to be selected, even at this relatively early stage of his career.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction from the West Ham fans can be seen below:

According to a recent report from The Daily Telegraph, Stoke City are eyeing up a January move for striker Che Adams. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Championship outfit Birmingham City and has done so since leaving Sheffield United back in 2016, with his fine form this season for Garry Monk’s men clearly attracting interest from potential suitors ahead of the winter window.

And that’s because reports suggest that Potters boss Gary Rowett, the man who signed Adams for Birmingham little over two years ago, is seeking to reunite with the 22-year-old at the bet365 Stadium, with the 44-year-old needing to raid his ex-employers for the missing piece in his Stoke promotion jigsaw.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Stoke’s relegation from the top-flight last season came as something of a surprise given they had enjoyed ten successive years in the top tier prior to their demise, yet it also meant that they went into this term as one of the hot favourites for promotion.

And under the highly-rated Rowett, who did a fine job at Birmingham and led Derby County to the play-offs last season, expectations were high, only for the Potters to seriously struggle so far this term in winning just five of their 17 matches.

And one of their biggest problems has been going forward, with the Staffordshire-based outfit netting just 19 times in their opening 17 Championship matches, just two goals of which have come in their last five games.

And in netting more than one goal in a game on just six occasions so far this season, it’s plainly obvious that if Rowett is to oversee a promotion charge this term, he is going to need further reinforcements up top – Adams would be the ideal man for the job.

The 22-year-old is already embarking upon his best goal-scoring season in his Birmingham career this time round having netted eight goals in just 17 appearances for the Blues, including the winner against Stoke last month as well as a mightily impressive hat-trick in their 3-3 draw with Hull little under a fortnight ago.

And with nine goals for the Midlands club last term, as well as seven in his first campaign at the club in 2016/17, it’s pretty clear that Adams has proven his worth in the second tier in recent seasons, but he now appears to be playing the best football of his career under Blues chief Monk.

And such has been his consistently high-level displays, it’s clear that he would go some way to helping a Stoke side that are somewhat struggling in front of goal – Adams’ tally of eight goals would see him three clear at the top of the Potters’ goal-scoring charts.

And if Rowett’s side are serious about challenging for promotion this season, they are already six points adrift of the top six, they have to be more potent in front of goal – Adams would give them that potency.

As such, a Rowett raid on his ex-employers for the 22-year-old would seriously strengthen a Stoke side seeking to bounce straight back up to the Premier League this time round – Adams represents the missing piece in his promotion jigsaw.

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

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Norwich fans have taken to Twitter to react after Emiliano Buendia stole the show as they watched their side run riot over Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, smashing the Swans by four goals to one.

The Canaries are now two points clear at the top of the Championship table ahead of Middlesbrough, and the victory in south Wales was Daniel Farke’s side’s sixth on the trot – only Paris Saint-Germain can match that league form over the same time period.

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Whilst the usual suspect in Teemu Pukki ran things up top and got yet another goal this season – his 11th strike so far this campaign – one man stood out amongst every other player on the pitch; 21-year-old Buendia.

The Argentine grabbed his third goal of the season in the rout and was named Man of the Match – the youngster now has three goals and three assists in 12 league starts so far this season.

As a result of his eye-catching display, Norwich fans took to Twitter to laud their rising star…

Manchester United lost more ground on the Premier League top four following a goalless draw against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

United couldn’t find a way past Wayne Hennessey in the Palace net with Romelu Lukaku having an effort ruled out for offside. The Eagles had chances of their own, but neither side were able to break the deadlock. The result means United have won just three of their nine games at Old Trafford this season and their lack of quality going forward will be deeply concerning for Jose Mourinho.

Lukaku once again failed to find the back of the net; the Belgian is without a goal since mid-September while Anthony Martial rarely looked threatening. The Red Devils are now seven points behind Chelsea in fourth and a massive 14 points behind rivals Manchester City already. Mourinho has plenty of work to do in the January window to improve their fortunes.

The perfect addition to get the goals flowing again could be Barcelona winger – Ousmane Dembele. Valued at £72m by Transfermarkt, the World Cup winner was recruited by the Spanish champions to replace Neymar who left in a record-breaking deal to PSG. Dembele’s progress was hampered by injuries, and his lack of first-team football has reportedly led to the youngster asking for a transfer in the upcoming window.

A fresh start in the Premier League could be just what the 21-year-old needs to rediscover the form that made him one of the most courted players in world football a few seasons ago. Dembele possesses blistering pace and expert dribbling ability which would make him a nightmare for defenders to deal with. Comfortable on either foot, his unpredictability is arguably his biggest asset.

The youngster has the quality to bring the best out of Lukaku in the United attack and help the ex-Everton man return to his brilliant best. This move should be a no-brainer.

Manchester United fans, thoughts?

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Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react delightedly after they witnessed their side snatch a late winner against Everton, and then witnessed boss Jurgen Klopp invade the pitch in celebration.

A sliced effort from Virgil van Dijk in the dying seconds almost came down with snow on it before landing dangerously close to Jordan Pickford’s goal, where the Everton man then tipped the ball back into play when it really should’ve gone the other way.

Forgotten man Divock Origi was on hand to nod the ball in – his third goal in three Merseyside derby appearances – prompting wild scenes from everywhere inside Anfield. Apart from the away end of course.

No celebration was more wild than that of Klopp, however. The German stormed the Anfield turf in jubilation, where he then embraced his keeper Alisson Becker before running back to his technical area with a huge grin on his face, and Reds’ fans loved it…

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Sometimes, when Dele Alli’s in the mood, there’s just nothing the opposition can do. The 22-year-old is a big game player and when he gets going there is simply no stopping him. Last night was one of those games for the young England prodigy as he was named as the man of the match against Leicester for his part in the Lilywhites’ 2-0 away win.

In truth, the Foxes offered very little in the way of an attacking threat and without Jamie Vardy, they looked blunt going forward. However, the same could not be said of the away team. Harry Kane missed the clash as Mauricio Pochettino cast one eye to the huge Champions League clash against Barcelona on Tuesday, but he wasn’t missed at all as an attacking trio of Alli, Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura did the business as the King Power Stadium.

The next game that the Lilywhites face is away at Barcelona, as previously mentioned, and after the Catalan giants clubbed Spurs at Wembley the fans are hopeful of getting a result in Spain. This time around, though, Alli will be fit to face Barcelona and after he missed the first clash he’ll be desperate to get into Ernesto Valverde’s side. It was Alli last season who stuck two past Real Madrid at Wembley as the North London side downed Los Blancos 3-1, and if he can repeat that against the other half of El Classico then he’ll be a Spurs hero already, aged just 22.

You can read the Lilywhites’ verdict on Alli’s display here:

Tottenham fans everywhere loved seeing Alii at his best and will just hope that he’s saved some for Tuesday.

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Rangers fans have had mixed thoughts regarding their on-loan midfielder Lassana Coulibaly. At the start of his Gers career having signed from Angers, some of the Ibrox faithful were impressed by the Malian’s decent early displays.

The 22-year-old’s form hit a dip, however, after returning from an injury, which appears to have knocked him out of his groove – his woeful performance in the must-win game against Rapid Vienna was perhaps the tipping point for most Rangers fans who were not happy with his display.

Coulibaly’s time with the Scottish giants is set to end once the season is complete, where he will then be returning to his parent club back in Ligue 1.

However, we recently asked Rangers fans if they’d like to see the out-of-sorts midfielder sign for the club on a permanent deal in the summer transfer window.

In what was a tight vote, 52% of those who partook said that they don’t want to see Coulibaly become a permanent figure at the club, as shown by the results below…