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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…

As the saying goes, it’s a marathon not a sprint. And for Manchester City, that’s exactly the mantra that should be running through their heads day-in and day-out. Liverpool’s flawless start to the current Premier League campaign has been nothing short of outstanding, considering they have played Arsenal and Chelsea already in their first eight games.

Pep Guardiola’s side meanwhile, appearing to be doing their best impression of Jekyll and Hyde. Able to smash Watford 8-0, and then fall 2-0 to a struggling Wolves. Chalk and cheese really. It all means the Citizens already find themselves eight points adrift of Liverpool in the race for the title, and after seeing how neck-and-neck things were last year, it doesn’t bode too well for a comeback.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

But whilst the signs appear to be against them, City do have one thing the Reds do not. Experience. The know-how of grinding your way for the full 38 games, and digging out victories in the most difficult of times. Whilst Jurgen Klopp ended his own personal trophy hoodoo at Anfield by clinching the Champions League last season, their best efforts at winning their first league title in more than a couple of decades has fallen short.

Despite the departure of Vincent Kompany, City boast a squall full of talent who have played major roles in their back-to-back Premier League triumphs. Whether it’s players in the first-team like Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, or less high-profile players like Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Etihad side are brimming with title-winning experience.

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It’s an intangible aspect of football that cannot be understated or overlooked. They have been around the proverbial block, and seen everything there is to see. Make no mistake about it, the pressure is truly on Liverpool, not City. Klopp’s men will have to contend with the idea of knowing this is their best shot at ending their Premier League drought, and that could prove to be a major burden on their shoulders.

Football is just as much about the mental aspect of the game, as it is to do with the feet. And City’s recent experiences gives them the upper hand over their rivals. In that age-old fable between the hare and the tortoise, it was the latter that came out on top. Slow and steady wins the race, and Guardiola’s side know that better than anyone else.

Tottenham Hotspur forward Heung-min Son could be open to a move to Italy in the near future, according to his agent. 

Speaking to Radio Marte, with quotes taken from a report by Calciomercato, Son’s agent Thies Bleimeister refused to rule out a move for his player, specifically, a move to Napoli.

“Son to Napoli? Why not?” asked Bliemeister. “Never say never in football. He likes Italy. So who knows what will happen one day.” he said.

The South Korean star has been an integral member of the squad for Spurs in the last few seasons and played a vital role as Mauricio Pochettino’s men made it to the Champions League final last season.

Son appeared just shy of 60 times last season for Spurs and returned an impressive goal haul to repay that faith shown in him, as he rattled in 21 goals across all competitions.

The forward has proved himself to be a key player for Spurs ever since moving to the Premier League, and his stats back up just how crucial he is to the cause for Mauricio Pochettino’s men. Indeed, he has made 136 Premier League appearances in a Spurs shirt, contributing directly to an impressive 65 goals in that time.

Spurs do not need this sort of talk at the moment, given their form on the field is nothing short of disastrous.

Losing players of the quality of Son is the last thing the club needs, and barring the likes of Harry Kane, the South Korean is arguably their most important player in terms of attacking, given his goals and assist count since being with the club.

Hopefully, for Spurs fans, this is just agent talk and nothing will actually come of it.

Spurs fans, could you really see Son leaving? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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…

Tottenham have struggled recently and though their problems primarily lie in defence, certain players have underperformed going forward too.

Despite their form dropping off a cliff, Spurs still have 18 goals in 11 games, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, in particular, looking sharp on occasion.

Some fans believe the problem lies with those playing behind them, with many hopeful that Christian Eriksen leaves, such is their animosity towards him and the way he’s playing – with one goal and one assist in 11 appearances.

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Instead, many want Lucas Moura to be given a chance, but that may not provide the solution to Tottenham’s problems either.

Mauricio Pochettino has been reluctant to start the Brazilian so far this campaign, preferring to use the impact of his pace off the bench, providing his attack with a different element when necessary.

It is a strategy which some supporters are confused by, but a look at his expected goals explains the Argentine’s selection, with the £36m-rated Lucas often failing to find the target from chances he should have put away, according to the statistics.

In that regard he is Tottenham’s biggest culprit, and if Spurs are to challenge for the top four Pochettino needs dependable players, hence his frequent omissions from the starting line-up this season, playing just 425 minutes of football.

His pace has its uses, but aside from his stunning hat-trick in the Champions League final, he has often been found wanting in the final third.

Since signing he only has 18 goals and seven assists in 69 appearances for the club, and therefore doesn’t compare with Son or Kane, or with players who play for Spurs’ league rivals.

The positive is that the 27-year-old should know it is an area of weakness in his game, and one which he should work hard on in order to show Pochettino his determination to improve.

This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.

There was only one natural right-back in the Crystal Palace squad after Aaron Wan-Bissaka departed, a certain Joel Ward. The 29-year-old only featured seven times in the league in the 2018/19 season thanks to the former’s terrific form, so perhaps the idea of him replacing a man who had just been sold for big money seemed a little optimistic.

Still, eight league games on and Palace haven’t buckled without the youngster. In fact, the Eagles have started terrifically, recording 14 points from their opening eight matches – winning four, drawing two and losing two.

Ward was brought to the club for just £400k (per the club’s official website, via Web Archive) back in 2012 and has since been on quite the ride with the Eagles. In his first season, he was a vital figure in the club’s surprise promotion from the Championship, he has represented the club in an FA Cup Final, and is also in the history books as Palace’s most ever capped Premier League player.

His commitment to the club hasn’t gone unnoticed. This time last week, chairman Steve Parish said that the former Portsmouth man epitomises everything about the club.

The Palace supremo said (via Football.London): “Joel Ward to me epitomises everything we have got in the football club. You can spend £45m on a striker, or £42m on a left-sided player, or £27m on a right-sided player, as it was at the weekend [against West Ham], but Joel Ward was £400,000 from Portsmouth.

“And is there a better servant to the club at the moment?

“People talk about giving 100 per cent, and has anyone ever seen Joel Ward give anything other than everything? To me, he is absolutely everything about Crystal Palace.”

Frankly, it’s hard to argue with Parish.

Ward stayed true to Palace despite being put on the back-burner for a year, coming up trumps again when his team has needed him. It could have been very easy for the player to throw his toys out of the pram and leave the club after he was made the second choice pretty much instantly after Wan-Bissaka had to step up for him when he was injured during the 17/18 season.

Now in his eighth year at the club, Joel Ward is doing what Joel Ward does: churning out consistent performances while putting his body on the line every week. So far this campaign, he has been one of the better players at the club without really standing out. Indeed, he has played every league game this season for Palace with the sixth-highest average rating in the whole squad (6.88, according to WhoScored), as well as the most amount of tackles per game and interceptions per game, with 2.9 and 2.3 respectively.

Considering £400k has earned Palace 226 appearances over eight seasons, there is no doubt that Palace will feel like they have got their money’s worth.

Are you a fan of Joel Ward? Join the discussion by commenting 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… 

He might come across as a Swiss Army Knife, but it looks like he might be missing a couple of tools.

Given the recent injuries to Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton, there has had to be a couple of tweaks to the team setup. As a result of these, Stuart Dallas has been moved out of his right-back position that he started off the season in and been shifted into a central midfield role instead.

Dallas comes across as a great utility player, someone who can fit into a number of different positions given the amount he’s had to play throughout his career. But as a central midfielder, he’s just not cutting the mustard.

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On the chalkboard

Dallas has always been more effective out wide, whether that be as a winger or a full-back. In fact, if you look at where his goals involvements have come when he’s been playing for Leeds, all of his assists have come when he was playing out on the left-wing, and all of his goals have come from the flanks.

Whilst he may be cut out to fill in multiple positions on the pitch, he just isn’t creative enough when it comes to playing central midfield, and that is holding himself and Leeds back.

He averages a 74.3% pass completion rate through his career, when you compare that to the other midfielders like Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich, both of them are pushing north of 80%.

For him to play in the middle, the £1.8m-rated utility man needs to be far more careful in possession.

The injuries to Cooper and Shackleton should have been a chance for Marcelo Bielsa to try out some new players in their respective roles.

However, he should have gone for players who are more natural in those spots, like bringing young Mateusz Bogusz or Robbie Gotts into midfield, rather than shoe-horning someone who just isn’t effective there.

Hopefully this Dallas experiment won’t be carrying on much longer, or it could end up with Leeds dropping more than the five points they have already from Millwall and Preston.

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after a summer transfer target for the club in Ollie Watkins hit two goals for Brentford against QPR on Monday evening.

The 23-year-old was the subject of interest from the Eagles back in the summer, and the south Londoners even submitted an £11m bid for the forward – Palace’s offer came after they were believed to be circling Watkins back in 2018 as well.

Eventually, the 5 foot 11 attacker signed a new four-year contract with the Bees.

Watkins has been in fine form for the Championship side so far this term, scoring 10 goals in 14 starts – he is behind only 11-goal Aleksandar Mitrovic in the scoring ranks.

Some Palace fans on Twitter had already been speaking about Watkins earlier this season after he scored a hat-trick against Barnsley, and they have been drawn back to their keyboards after the same player scored twice in Monday’s west London derby.

Let’s take a look at what the Palace supporters on Twitter had to say…

Arsenal will have to pick themselves up fast following their 2-2 draw at home against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Despite being 2-0 up, the Gunners somehow contrived to come away from the match with just a point, with the result now putting them four points behind Chelsea in fourth spot. In the last eight league matches, the Emirates Stadium outfit have just two wins.

Arsenal fans have started to turn on Unai Emery, find out who they’d rather have in charge in the video below…

The unsavoury Granit Xhaka incident, where he directed an expletive towards the stands after he had been booed leaving the field, grabbed the headlines.

The Gunners will need to regroup before they face Liverpool in the League Cup on Wednesday.

It could have been worse for Unai Emery and co on Sunday had it not been for Matteo Guendouzi.

With Wilfried Zaha breaking with pace, the man they signed for £8m in 2018 fouled the Ivory Coast international.

The former Lorient man said of the incident: “I had to foul Zaha at the end, otherwise he is through on goal on his own. I’m the last defender but I’m far from our goal as well. I had to do it.”

The club’s supporters were clearly delighted with the comments. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Everton fans on Twitter made their feelings very clear after watching the first half of their game against Tottenham.

You’ve got to say that the first 45 minutes at Goodison Park were extremely dull, but fortunately, the game picked up a little bit in the second half.

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You know a game is boring when the BBC say there is not much to report at half-time, and the reaction from the fans at the interval tells you all you need to know.

It’s bad enough that the Toffees are finding it hard to pick up any points, but it’s even worse when the football on show is so uninspiring.

Luckily, the game ignited in the second half with two goals and a grandstand finish that saw the Toffees pushing the London club to the limit.

It certainly seems as if these fans spoke too soon when calling the game boring, but after that first-half performance, you can hardly blame them.

Here’s what the Goodison Park faithful had to say on Twitter…

Manchester City fans are more than happy to see the return of defensive midfielder Rodri. The Spaniard has been on the sidelines since he came off with a hamstring issue against Atalanta towards the end of October.

As reported by Tyrone Marshall of the Manchester Evening News, the 23-year-old returned to training on Tuesday. did some ball work and stretched before he went back indoors. However, it is important to note that Rodri did not complete a full training session and only did some ball work and had a stretch before leaving the pitch, as Marshall confirmed.

Rodri signed for City in the recent window for a club record fee of £62.6m, and the former Atletico Madrid man has since gone on to be a great addition to the squad. The versatile player has pitched in with a goal and averaged a rating of 7.54 in the Premier League so far.

Fans are rightfully buzzing with his potential return and one supporter said, “we need this guy” for the Liverpool match, with another fan simply asking “am I dreaming”.

It will be a welcome return to Pep Guardiola’s team, as Aymeric Laporte and Oleksandr Zinchenko remain sidelined. Also, Nicolas Otamendi’s recent form has been poor, with the Argentine playing a hand in the losses to Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the past two months.

Here’s what some fans have had to say about Rodri’s return to training…

TalkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino has labelled Arsenal as ‘soft’ following the team’s weekend defeat to Leicester City – because a number of players wore gloves.

Winter may be approaching, but that was no excuse for Arsenal’s performance on the night, according to Cascarino, who criticised the Gunners’ showing as they were beaten at the King Power Stadium by Brendan Rodgers’ high-flying side.

It was a damning result for the Gunners, which left them nine points adrift of their opponents and behind newly promoted Sheffield United on goal difference, which has now dipped below zero following James Maddison’s late clincher.

Speaking on TalkSPORT, Cascarino held no punches.

He said: “They made mistakes, misplaced passes, they’re a soft team; a number of them, don’t get me wrong, wearing gloves – I think there were four Arsenal players who had gloves on.

“I know [Jamie Vardy] wore gloves yesterday, but I don’t question his attitude. I question the attitude of a lot of Arsenal players.

“This season they’ve gone through 12 Premier League games, they’ve won four. Their goals against column is worse than their goals for column. Everything about this Arsenal team is a team that I think needs ripping apart in some ways.

“I think there’s just a soft belly to Arsenal Football Club.”

While Cascarino is within perfectly good reason to lambast Arsenal for their performance on Saturday, his decision to criticise players’ preference to protect their extremities from an early winter chill sidesteps the issue a little.

As brought up by co-host Georgie Bingham, the fact that goalscorer Jamie Vardy wore gloves even dismisses his silly jibe from a factual point of view.

With protective clothing clearly not the problem for Arsenal, the Gunners may be soft after easily crumbling in the second half to a fourth league game without victory.

That said, the Gunners may be approaching the point of seeking more creative solutions to their troubles after falling further behind in the race for a Champions League place.

Arsenal fans, what is the Gunners’ main issue at present? Let us know in the comments below!