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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… 

Shortly after Aaron Wan-Bissaka arrived at Manchester United earlier in the summer, his interview with the club’s official website gave an intriguing insight into his mind-set when he takes to the pitch. This is a man who prides himself on being an elite defender, snuffing out opposition wingers, and being an impenetrable obstacle.

“I love tackles, man. I want to come out with the most tackles from each game; that’s my aim. I’m not really happy when I come out of a game without many tackles. At the same time, when I look back at it, it doesn’t mean anything negative, necessarily – it might mean that the winger’s not confident to keep on coming at me, for me to have the chance to tackle him.”

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And true to his word, the 21-year-old has been a brick wall in terms of his defending in the Premier League this season. He has already completed 47 tackles – just six less than Wilfred Ndidi in first place, despite missing two games in the top-flight. But that desire to impose his will on his opponent back-fired spectacularly for the Red Devils when they took on Bournemouth at the weekend.

In the game’s defining moment on Saturday, a clipped ball into the box was chested down by former United man Josh King. The Norway international had his back to goal at this point, and there didn’t appear to be any immediate danger per se. But Wan-Bissaka’s determination to win every ball – a trait that is admirable in most instances – actually caused him to make a mistake.

The England U21 international looked to come on the blindside of the Cherries forward and pinch the ball off him. Instead, it made up King’s mind and forced him to make a decision to turn away from him, rather than simply lay the ball off to the edge of the area. The 27-year-old promptly swivelled, fired home, and handed Bournemouth all three points.

The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…

The rest of Wan-Bissaka’s game was similarly rash and disappointing, losing possession 19 times and completing just two of his eight attempted long balls. So whilst he has been so impressive so far this campaign, his performance on Saturday showed he still has a lot to learn.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have hailed Heung-Min Son after the club commemorated his 200th appearance for the club.

The South Korea international brought up the anniversary during the club’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

During those appearances, the 27-year-old has netted 72 goals in total and also provided 39 assists; 44 of those goals came in the Premier League, from 138 outings.

And Spurs’ official Twitter account posted a tweet on Wednesday celebrating the attacker’s contribution since his move to north London.

Of course, he joined the club in 2015 after a two-year spell at Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, with the north London club paying a reported £22m for his signature.

And supporters have taken the chance to wax lyrical about Son, who has already been in fine form this term, netting five times and registering three assists in all competitions.

Take a look at the best of the reaction from fans on Twitter below!

It was a disappointing result for Rangers against Hearts of Midlothian.

With Celtic hammering Ross County 6-0 on Saturday, the Gers needed a victory against the Jam Tarts to move back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table. However, they could only manage a 1-1 draw, and they only got that after Alfredo Morelos had levelled following their opponents’ opener in the first half. They now sit second in the table on goal difference.

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There were plenty of displays that were lacking, but right-back James Tavernier’s was particularly disappointing. The 27-year-old was at fault for Hearts’ goal and other than that, he did not manage to reach his usual high standards.

His display did not go unnoticed by the Ibrox outfit’s supporters, and they were quick to slam his performance. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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

A setback, but not a disaster.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Samba Sow picked up a hamstring problem in the victory over Brentford before the international break.

Speaking on the injury, Forest boss Sabri f said they may lose him ‘for a bit’, although he couldn’t give a more accurate time frame.

Whilst the international break will take care of some of the time he’s going to be out, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth talking about who could potentially replace him in the Forest line-up.

Just in case it is either worse than first imagined, or it is the type of problem that could end up being a recurring issue for Sow further down the road, let’s explore the options.

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On the chalkboard

The biggest factor in replacing Sow is working out who can replace him in terms of his defensive work. Sow is averaging 4.2 tackles per game, as well as 2.1 interceptions and 0.6 blocks.

As has been touched on in a previous edition of the Chalkboard series, Alfa Semedo has found game time rather hard to come by because of the impressive form of Sow.

Given that he has operated predominantly as a defensive midfielder throughout his career it wouldn’t be out of the realm to push him into that slot.

Although he’s going to have to show more of a willingness to put in a tackle, 1.3 per game isn’t going to do a lot of good.

Find out which stadiums fans have nominated for the worst atmosphere in football in the video below…

Another interesting figure that could come in handy is journeyman John Bostock.

The midfielder has bounced around a lot during his career, but he’ll have to return to the sort of form he was putting in when he was at Bursaspor when he averaged 2.5 tackles per game, which will put him ahead of Semedo when it comes to that department.

Perhaps the most intriguing option in all of this is Sow’s current partner in defensive midfield Ben Watson.

He has been putting in the most effort when it comes to the defensive side of the game, averaging 2.5 tackles per game and 1.5 interceptions, which puts him above both Bostock and Semedo. Therefore, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest he should just carry on what he’s doing.

Going with just Watson could require a change in formation from 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 and although Watson has worked well in a partnership, at the age of 34 it can be argued that he wouldn’t have the legs to hold down the fort all on his own.

Consequently, that would make it tough for Lamouch to replace Sow.

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… 

Some Liverpool fans have been critical of Mohamed Salah’s recent performances, but his statistics against Leicester tell a different story.

Salah has become a victim of his own success. The Egypt international scored a ridiculous 44 goals in his first season at Anfield, and has racked up 77 goals and 32 assists in all competitions for the club since his arrival.

Because of that insane production level, the 27 year-old is now criticised any time he doesn’t get on the score-sheet or provide a goal, and some Reds fans have bashed his recent form.

However, Liverpool’s Egyptian King actually put in a very good display when the Foxes came to town this weekend, racking up a 7.2 rating on Sofascore, which was only bettered by four players on the pitch.

Per Sofascore, Salah completed every dribble he attempted, carving out opportunities for himself and mustering five shots at goal, although three of those were blocked. He was fouled the most of anyone on the pitch (four) – the defenders just couldn’t deal with him.

He was also a quality source of chances for his teammates, completing 75% of his passes despite attempting mostly forward, incisive balls, including three key passes, one of which was a lovely piece of link-up play that ended with Sadio Mane shooting just wide.

The £34m man didn’t stop there though, harassing the visiting defenders constantly, winning eight out of 12 duels. To put that into perspective, Mane won eight out of 17, Roberto Firmino won just four out of nine, while Virgil van Dijk won eight out of ten.

Salah did lose possession 13 times, but that is a completely reasonable number for an attacking player. Mane surrendered the ball 14 times, Firmino 12, while full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold combined for a whopping 71 losses of possession.

So, if Salah was “abysmal” and “wasteful” then so were his strike partners, so were the famed Liverpool full-back duo, and so was pretty much every player on the pitch.

You’d be hard pushed to find another player who could rack up three key passes, three dribbles, five shots and eight duels in a match and receive calls to be benched.

Lots of Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was revealed that Gary Cahill had won the club’s Player of the Month award for September.

The 61-cap England international played every minute of the action last month, helping the Eagles pick up four points from games against Tottenham, Wolves and Norwich, keeping one clean sheet in the process.

Palace were moments away from making that two, although conceded a 95th minute equaliser against Wolves.

Cahill has shone since signing on a free transfer after leaving Chelsea, helping Palace take 11 points from their first seven games, just one point off 4th-place Arsenal – does a Champions League spot beckon for the south Londoners?

Probably not.

Nevertheless, Cahill has been brilliant and he deserves the award.

One fan doesn’t agree, however, saying that Vicente Guaita was “robbed”, although the rest of the responses are kinder to the 33-year-old.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

This Saturday evening we have a real treat on the menu in La Liga. Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano and that clash just might be decided in the middle of the park.

On the chalkboard

Real Madrid will be making a short trip across the capital and meeting their city rivals, Atletico Madrid, in one of the first big derbies of the ongoing campaign.

As it currently stands, it will be a clash between first and third-placed teams in Spain and the victory for either would be huge at this point in the season.

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But looking at the personnel and the squad both giants have at their disposal, whoever wins the battle for supremacy in midfield just might go on to win the whole game.

With that in mind, Toni Kroos’ clash against Koke is looking likely to be a key battle come Saturday night.

The midfield generals

Real Madrid’s 29-year-old German maestro has really been blowing hot and cold so far this season.

Even though he was harshly criticised recently, Kroos managed a masterful performance against Osasuna which proved that when he’s on his best, not many can go toe to toe with him.

And Los Blancos will certainly need him to be at his best against Atletico Madrid’s own general in midfield – Koke.

The 27-year-old has so far tallied one assist in the ongoing campaign but has also registered 2.7 key passes and 0.5 shots per game in La Liga. Kroos is also not far behind. In fact, he edges Koke out in both with 3.3 key passes and 2.2 shots per game.

The Spaniard, however, makes more interceptions per game with his 1.5 outshining Kroos’ 0.8. As far as tackling goes, the situation is once again pretty close and there’s just a slight margin between the two midfielders.

Koke has averaged 1.3 tackles while Kroos is on two per game but the former is definitely harder to dribble past with that only happening once per game on average so far. The German, however, has been dribbled past 1.5 times per game.

Judging purely by the stats, it looks like Real Madrid just might have a small advantage going into the game but the venue should also not be disregarded.

Atletico Madrid’s home, the Wanda Metropolitano, is definitely not an easy fortress to conquer as Diego Simeone’s men are yet to be defeated there across all competitions in the 2019/20 season.

If, however, the Galacticos manage to dominate the middle of the park, they just might stand a chance of changing that.

Steven Gerrard has a key decision to make over the future of Rangers winger Brandon Barker… 

What happened?

According to Rangers News, the 24-year-old was expected to leave Ibrox on loan before the end of the summer transfer window.

He is out of contract at the end of the season and Football Insider reported that the club told him he could find a loan move or permanent exit on deadline day.

The winger failed to secure a deadline day switch and is now in limbo at Ibrox, having been left out of the Gers’ Europa League squad and not being in Gerrard’s current Premiership plans.

Gerrard faces decision on Barker

Gerrard is now in a position where he needs to take charge and make a crucial decision regarding what to do with Barker. It would be a waste to see the winger kicking his heels and doing nothing until January, so the Rangers boss needs to decide whether he wants to allow him to play for the B team and/or first team or have him do nothing for four months.

Rangers B have an SPFL Trust Trophy clash against Ayr United on Wednesday and Barker is eligible to feature in the game. Gerrard must allow the 24-year-old to feature in it in order to gain some match fitness and show that he has the quality to be a first team option further down the line.

His performance in this game, if he is allowed to play, could determine what happens with him between now and January. Given that he is out of contract next summer, January will be the club’s final chance to recoup some money for the former Manchester City man and giving him some game-time leading up to the transfer window could drum up some interest in his services.

Commenting on Barker and Jordan Jones previously, Gerrard hailed the pair as exciting players who can provide quality in the final third.

He said: “Last year I didn’t feel we had enough in the final third. The idea this year was to build a squad with exciting players who can open the door in different ways.

“Jordan Jones and Brandon Barker open the door in one-v-one situations then provide crosses or cut in to score goals.”

This shows that Gerrard had faith in Barker at the start of his career at Ibrox and maybe he could still have the potential to be a success. He scored three goals and provided four assists in 22 games on loan at Oxford last season, having scored twice in 10 Premiership matches during the first half of the campaign for Rangers.

Giving him a few opportunities in the league between now and January could be worthwhile for the Gers for multiple reasons. Firstly, it allows him to show that he has improved since the start of last season and it could open the door for him to work his way into Gerrard’s plans, but it also gives interested clubs a recent set of performances to analyse and make decisions upon – potentially helping him to secure a transfer.

AND in other news, Rangers flop has seen value soar by 203% since leaving Ibrox, he deserved more time…

While Aston Villa have found their undisputed number one goalkeeper in Emiliano Martinez, the Argentine may not have been the man in between the sticks at Villa Park had another talented shot-stopper not been sold by the club.

Pierluigi Gollini signed for Villa back in the summer of 2016 when Roberto Di Matteo was in charge, and the then-Villa boss made it clear that they had made a major statement of intent with his signing.

Di Matteo insisted: “We have managed to sign him despite the fact he was being chased by a number of top sides and that is a great sign. He’s a young man but has plenty of experience and I’m sure he’ll prove to be an excellent signing for the club.”

However, things didn’t quite work out the way that he or the club would have wanted.

In the end, Gollini managed just 20 appearances in total for Villa, before Steve Bruce made the decision to let him leave the club permanently for just £3.5m back in the summer of 2018.

Since then, the Italian has transformed his career, becoming first-choice shot-stopper at Atalanta and being a part of the side which got to the Champions League quarter-finals a couple of seasons ago.

Gollini’s name cropped up in the summer transfer window after Spurs signed him as competition for Hugo Lloris, and with the Frenchman entering the twilight years of his career, there’s every chance that the former Villa man could overtake him in goal.

According to Transfermarkt, his market value has shot up to £15.3m, more than quadruple what the Midlands club sold him for three years ago.

While Martinez has firmly established himself as the main man in goals for Villa, Gollini could perhaps have had that role in Dean Smith’s side, and of course for the fraction of the £20m for which they ended up signing the Argentine.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa made an approach for this star…

Sheffield United players Jack Robinson and Vinicius Souza showed the wrong kind of fight against Wolves, as they scrapped among themselves.

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• Blades locked in scrap for survival
• Emotions have boiled over at times
• Feuding team-mates escaped punishment

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Blades, who are battling to avoid relegation out of the Premier League, fell behind at Molineux to an effort from Pablo Sarabia. They have leaked goals at an alarming rate of late, with emotions understandably boiling over at times.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Rather than take that frustration out on opponents, with the right brand of spirit being shown, Robinson and Souza squared up to each other in the West Midlands. Words were exchanged as Sheffield United moved into position at a goal kick.

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  After some finger pointing, the pair then get into each other’s face, with Souza the first to throw his arms out in the direction of a club colleague. Shoves were then shared, before Blades captain Anel Ahmedhodzic stepped in.