Liverpool attracted plenty of plaudits from fans and football figures alike during Sunday’s impressive 4-0 win over Arsenal.‘Match of the Day’ anchor Gary Lineker was one of many who liked what he saw at Anfield, and he made it known on Twitter.Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge all got on the scoresheet as Jurgen Klopp’s men ripped a lacklustre Arsenal team apart.Behind the scenes, there is still uncertainty over Philippe Coutinho’s Liverpool future, with Barcelona still circling, but the Merseyside club have reiterated numerous times that the Brazilian is not for sale.The Reds have faced criticism in the early stages of this season for the state of their defence, but with regard to their attacking threat, they have been scintillating.Coutinho has not played a single game yet in this campaign due to a back injury and illness, but Liverpool have managed to take seven points from a possible nine in the Premier League.The team were also able to overcome Hoffenheim across two legs to secure a place in the group stage of the Champions League.If Coutinho does end up staying on Merseyside for the season, then he will of course strengthen the setup, but during Liverpool’s rout over Arsenal on Sunday, Lineker joked that the playmaker may struggle to get a game.

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has become somewhat of a forgotten man at the Emirates due to his injury woes.

The Spaniard has not played competitively since October when he suffered an Achilles problem during a Champions League match against Ludogorets Razgrad.

It took a while for the Gunners’ medical team to find the root of the problem, and Cazorla underwent a handful of operations before beginning his recovery.

Manager Arsene Wenger was unable to bring back the midfielder before the end of the season, but judging from the player’s Instagram account, he could make an appearance in the current campaign.

The 32-year-old took to social media to post a video of himself doing squats, which would have pleased many Arsenal supporters.

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Before the Spaniard was struck down with injury, he was performing well in the Premier League, scoring two goals and creating two assists in eight appearances.

Given that he has been on the sidelines for so long, there will be question marks over whether Cazorla will have the same impact when he returns to the pitch, but having him available will be an extra boost for Wenger and his team.

According to The Sun, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is preparing a spectacular move for Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez.

What’s the story?

Sanchez was strongly linked with a move to Manchester City on transfer deadline day, but Arsenal ultimately refused to sell the Chilean after failing to secure a replacement.

The 28-year-old has returned to the Arsenal fold in recent weeks after a difficult summer, but after starting in the Europa League last week, he was back on the bench for Sunday’s Premier League clash at Arsenal.

It had been thought that Man City would return with an offer during the January transfer window, but according to The Sun, Man United are currently putting a plan in motion to convince the former Barcelona attacker to move to Old Trafford.

The report claims that the Red Devils will offer a £25m signing-on fee to a player that will be a free agent at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

Would Sanchez want United move?

Sanchez’s unhappiness at Arsenal stems from the club’s failure to challenge for major trophies since the attacker joined the club in the summer of 2011.

The Chilean, who is valued at £60m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has scored 73 times in 147 appearances for the Gunners, but only has two FA Cups and one Community Shield to show for his troubles.

Arsenal have also struggled in the Premier League this season, but the same cannot be said for Man United, who are currently joint-top of the table alongside Man City.

The chance to work with Jose Mourinho would surely be attractive for Sanchez, while Man United would be able to match Man City when it comes to wages.

For now, Sanchez will continue to plug away at Arsenal, but it is almost certain that the attacker will not sign a new contract at the Emirates, and Man United are seemingly waiting in the wings as the 20-time English champions look to add another star to their front-line.

With David Luiz suspended following a sending off against Arsenal, Antonio Conte faces a selection dilemma in defence ahead of Chelsea’s huge Premier League clash with Manchester City in Saturday’s 5.30pm kickoff.

The Brazilian is not only the ideal candidate for the central role through his speed, physicality and ability to bring the ball into midfield, but he’s also arguably Chelsea’s most experienced defender, having frequently featured in the Champions League and reached a World Cup semi-final with his country.

The logical consequence would be to call upon the similar experience of Chelsea captain Gary Cahill, who wasn’t included in the starting XI for the Blues’ last Premier League clash with Stoke City but did feature from the off against Atletico Madrid in midweek.

However, the 57-cap England man, who Transfermarkt value at £14.4million, appears to be behind Antonio Rudiger in the pecking order at this moment in time, so we asked Chelsea fans earlier this week whether Cahill or the German international should start against City.

And despite Cahill’s clear importance in the dressing room, 67% of Chelsea fans who took our poll would rather see Rudiger in Conte’s XI on Saturday. That may seem a harsh decision considering how proven Cahill is, but it does make sense; after all, Rudiger is more comfortable on the ball and Chelsea’s back three looks set to be pressed heavily by City’s pacey attack this weekend.

Former England attacker Paul Merson has told Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate to select West Ham United’s Andy Carroll for the 2018 World Cup.

England booked their spot in next summer’s tournament courtesy of a 1-0 win over Slovenia in their penultimate qualification match on Thursday night.

Merson has picked the 23-man squad that he feels should travel to Russia, and there are a couple of surprise names in the selection.

The former 21-time England international has said that Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford should travel as three of the forward options, and has packed Carroll as the fourth over the likes of Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Jermain Defoe.

Carroll has only just returned to action following another lay-off, but Merson has claimed that the 28-year-old would provide England with a different option next summer.

Merson told Sky Sports:

“My first three picks pick themselves, but my fourth will surprise a few. Mark my words, we will not pass a team off the pitch at the World Cup so we need someone who provides a different option, and that’s where Carroll comes in.

“If we’re chasing the game we can pump the ball up to Carroll and there will be drama, trust me.”

Carroll has scored twice in nine appearances for England, but has not represented his national team since 2012.

Sheffield Wednesday are going through a tough spell having lost four of their last five Championship games.

After losing to Preston North End on the opening day of the season, the Owls went on a seven-game unbeaten run.

When they faced rivals Sheffield United, though, the tide began to turn as Carlos Carvalhal’s team lost 4-2 at Hillsborough.

Defeats to Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers and Derby County followed, with a 3-0 win over Leeds United sandwiched in between.

The outcome of their recent results has placed the team 16th in the division, 13 points adrift of current leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers and six below the playoff places.

The season is just 13 games old, but there is a disgruntled atmosphere among Sheffield Wednesday’s fans and many are growing increasingly frustrated with the manager.

Ahead of Saturday’s home match against Barnsley, Carvalhal told the media that he was happy with the team’s performance in their recent defeat to Derby.

The Portuguese coach also felt optimistic about the club getting back on track.

The fans, though, are not in agreement with him…

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Aston Villa could move up to fifth in the Championship table with a win against Preston North End at Deepdale on Wednesday night, and Villa fans want Mile Jedinak to start.The 33-year-old has spent the majority of the campaign on the sidelines because of a groin injury he picked up earlier in 2017, but he made just his second appearance of the season for the Midlands outfit as a second-half substitute in the goalless draw against arch-rivals Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Sunday.Now the Australia international could be in contention for a spot in the starting XI against the Lilywhites, although he faces competition from the likes of Glenn Whelan, Josh Onomah and Conor Hourihane to do that.Aston Villa supporters were quick to have their say on the fans’ favourite via social media, and while some simply said they would “bring in Jedinak”, others think if he starts “we at least draw”.Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Plenty of football fans tend to have issues with their club chairmen and owners, particularly when it comes to how much money is spent in transfer windows.

A number of Tottenham Hotspur supporters, though, are more than happy with Daniel Levy pulling the strings.

The chairman has been part of the North London outfit since 2001 and has built up quite the reputation for himself.

Levy is known to be very shrewd when it comes to transfer deals, and certainly will not back down.

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The sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in 2013 was a long process, which ended with Tottenham pocketing a then-world record fee of £85m.

Spurs also received around £50m from Manchester City for Kyle Walker in the summer transfer window.

Two of Tottenham’s biggest stars – Harry Kane and Dele Alli – came cheap considering that the former came through the academy and the latter joined from MK Dons for an initial £5m fee.

With the club preparing to move into a state-of-the-art new stadium next season and the team seriously challenging for honours, Levy is onside with most of the fans, although there are some that are unhappy with his methods.

After the club announced via their official website that their chief had received the CEO of the Year award at the Football Business Awards, supporters were quick to send congratulatory messages.

Saturday’s Premier League match between Manchester United and Brighton at Old Trafford was a laboured affair for the hosts.Chris Hughton’s visiting side looked solid in defence as for the most part they managed to keep the Red Devils at bay.In the end, Jose Mourinho’s men came away with all three points thanks to Ashley Young, whose shot ended up in the back of the net.It was the only goal of the lacklustre match, but it was hugely important as United moved to within five points of league leaders Manchester City.Young thought that he had scored his first goal in 18 months, but the strike was registered as an own goal from Lewis Dunk.After the match, the United winger took to Twitter to insist that he deserved the goal due to his recent barren run.

Anthony Martial, who has scored seven goals in all competitions for United so far, was quick to mock his teammate.

As reported by The Express, Manchester United are interested in signing Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic next summer.

What’s the story?

United have been no strangers to gigantic transfer in recent years with both Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku arriving at Old Trafford in deals approaching £100m.

Now they’re ready to go a step beyond again to secure one of Europe’s most exciting midfield prospects.

That’s according to The Express, who say Jose Mourinho is preparing a £95m move for Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

The paper say that the Red Devils boss has sent scouts to watch the midfielder in action recently and has been impressed enough that he is looking to bring the Serbian international to Old Trafford next summer.

The report also reckons he’s a much sought after player with the likes of Manchester City and Juventus also showing an interest.

Worth that kind of money?

These days, to get the truly elite level of player, you are paying for potential as much as proven track record and while the reported £95m is an enormous amount of money, Milinkovic-Savic is undoubtedly one of the most exciting midfielders on the continent.

Still just 22 years of age, last season he was a stand-out for Lazio, scoring seven and creating 10 assists. This season so far he’s already scored five goals, further demonstrating he’s a player who likes to make an impact in the final third as much as providing a defensive contribution.

A midfield all-rounder, he could be the perfect partner for the likes of Paul Pogba, or even be deployed in a more advanced role.

There’s no guarantees when you spend a huge fee on a young talent, but if Man United don’t sign this young star, then another giant club will likely beat them to it.

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