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Marco Silva has suggested that Moise Kean is set to stay on the Everton bench for a while longer, as reported by The Telegraph.

Everton signed Kean from Juventus for an initial £25.1m this summer, as reported by BBC Sport, but he hasn’t started either of the Toffees’ two matches so far this season.

He was quoted as saying: “JP [Jean-Philippe Gbamin] is a 23-year-old player with experience, and he has to adapt fast to the way of thinking because it is faster in the Premier League.

“With Kean it is really different, we are talking about a really young player. Last season he started about five matches at a high level, so we have to give this time to him to learn. He can help the team in specific moments, and then we work with him to get him ready.”

Kean started five Serie A matches for Juventus last season, coming on as a substitute eight times, scoring six goals, as per WhoScored.

So far this season he has come on as a substitute in both of Everton’s Premier League matches, amassing a total of 39 minutes.

That is, of course, very little time for anyone to make an impact in a new team and league – so far he has averaged 1.5 dribbles and has been fouled 1 time per games, while he hasn’t misplaced a pass yet.

It seems as though Kean will need to be patient in his pursuit of regular minutes at Everton, as Silva looks to nurture the Italian into someone he feels is ready to lead the line as well as get the goals.

The 19-year-old’s time will surely come though and, looking at some of the raw stats above as well as his impress record at Juventus, it’s not hard to imagine him taking it.

How many goals do you see the young Italian bagging this season? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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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 Manchester City’s official club website, Shaun Wright-Phillips has tipped Raheem Sterling to bag 30 goals this season.

What did he say?

Sterling enjoyed an impressive campaign last season, registering an incredible 25 goals and 18 assists in 51 games across all competitions.

The England international appears to have taken that hot form into the current season, netting a hat-trick against West Ham in the opening Premier League game before adding another against Tottenham.

Now, Wright-Phillips has backed the winger to develop even more and hailed his improved end product.

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He said: “He’s outstanding. He’s a delight to watch, always plays with a smile on his face and does what City fans love – works hard, fights for the club and under Pep he’s grown so much.

“People always talk about his end product and now you just expect him to have 15 assists a season. It’s looking like he could hit 30 goals this season and I hope he does.”

Burden

Following Leroy Sane’s unfortunate injury, the burden on Sterling to get more goals and assists this season has increased ten-fold. The 24-year-old has duly obliged so far, starting this campaign in electric fashion, averaging an incredible five shots per game.

Whilst expectations should be tempered with it being so early on in the season, Sterling’s style of goals are unlikely to diminish. The winger is beginning to score an abundance of tap-ins or close range finishes, and it is a testament to his excellent movement and positioning inside the box.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

At 24, the former Liverpool star still has plenty more room to grow and that will only be an ominous sight for teams around the Premier League. Having already scored four in two, getting to 30 with 36 games remaining certainly seems within reach.

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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…

Writing in his column for The Daily Telegraph, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has voiced his concerns about the effect Sadio Mane’s possible fatigue could have on the Reds’ Premier League title challenge.

What did he say?

The Senegal international made it to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations with his country, but returned to training earlier than expected and has featured in all three of Liverpool’s opening games.

However, Carragher has now admitted he is worried Mane could suffer from burnout, and wondered just how much danger that could put the side’s title chances in.

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He wrote: “Mane has become so important that Klopp is understandably reluctant to leave him out and let him have a proper rest. He has played in 53 club games since the start of the 2018-19 season. Of all the forwards throughout the entire Premier League, only Salah has played more than his 4,515 minutes.

“His (Klopp) use of Mane, unfortunately already suggests that Liverpool’s squad is not strong enough in the attacking positions. Mane himself has said that tiredness is only mental and that he has never had a holiday that lasts longer than 20 days since joining Red Bull Salzburg in 2012.

“I truly hope he is right but you cannot keep defying your body and my big worry is that there will be a drop off without a carefully scheduled rest. How Liverpool absorb either scenario could very well decide whether another Premier League challenge can be sustained.”

A bitter blow

Even a half-fit Sadio Mane would probably make Klopp’s starting eleven. The Senegalese star is a bundle of energy, and offers so much pace and trickery from out wide that there is such a significant drop-off in quality to the players who come in for him.

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

The Reds are undoubtedly in an incredibly difficult position. Manchester City have already shown in recent seasons how relentless they are, and any slip-up will be taken advantage of. If Klopp decides he needs to rest Mane, then he is hurting his team’s chances of picking up three points. Continue to play him however, and he risks exposing the winger to an injury that could rule him out for a significant period of time.

Depending on how the Champions League group stages pan out, the Liverpool boss’ best bet may be to rest the 27-year-old in those games. After all, it’s now the Premier League that the Merseyside club are hunting down.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur’s bid for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes has been revealed by the Portuguese club’s president, Frederico Varandes, per the club’s official website.

What’s the word?

Spurs were heavily linked with a move for the Portugal international in the summer transfer window.

In 2018/19, Fernandes enjoyed an exceptional season, scoring 32 goals in all competitions and registering 18 assists.

An exceptional attacking midfielder, he has already scored twice and registered four assists this season, though Spurs ended up signing Giovani Lo Celso from Real Betis instead of the 24-year-old.

And Varandes has now revealed how Spurs’ offer was structured.

He said: “We managed to maintain Sporting CP’s greatest sporting value, Bruno Fernandes, and we were able give greater balance and solutions (to the squad). So we think this group is more competitive, has more solutions and has more quality than last season.

“It was ‘impossible’ to retain Bruno Fernandes, but we did it.

“We prepared for his sale by putting a fair price on his worth, and we had bids, but only a Tottenham offer that was €45m (£40.3m) plus €20m (£17.9m) in bonuses – winning the English League and the Champions League. Finding these goals difficult, I understood not to accept.”

A cheeky bid

Sporting were only ever going to get £40.3m for Fernandes.

Spurs are unlikely to topple Manchester City or Liverpool any time soon, such is their financial might and astonishing quality of their playing squads.

Yes, the club reached the Champions League final last season but it remains to be seen if that was a miracle or if it can be repeated.

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Tabling such a bid made sense, of course, with Spurs attempting to spread the cost of his signing.

But Sporting were not willing to have the wool pulled over their eyes; they were right to snub Spurs’ advances.

They may never have another chance to bring Fernandes into the club.

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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…

Writing in The Daily Mirror, Stan Collymore has suggested Marcus Rashford risks becoming the new Theo Walcott if he doesn’t nail down a position in the near future.

What did he say?

The England international has previously admitted to favouring the number nine role, but has often been deployed from the left-hand side in his time with Manchester United.

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Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate re-opened the debate over Rashford’s best position after the game against Bulgaria, and now, Collymore has insisted the time has come for the 21-year-old to define what he is.

He said: “If Marcus Rashford isn’t careful then, sooner rather than later, he is going to find himself cast as the modern-day Theo Walcott. Someone who isn’t seen as an out-and-out winger or straight-up No.9 but a Jack of all trades as a forward and master of none.

“That’s why now is the perfect time for him to decide whether that’s the way he wants to go. Or would he rather be a player who lives or dies as a No.9.

“If he’s happy to play anywhere if it means being an England regular then that’s his call. But if that is the case over the next five to 10 years then I worry about the negative impact such a decision could have on his club career because of the message it sends. There’s no way Rashford can toddle off with England every few months and play out wide and then go back to Old Trafford and play like Ruud van Nistelrooy. So there’s a potential problem brewing for him.”

Jack of all trades

Being as versatile as Rashford is, there are always going to be times where he gets shunted out of his preferred role in order to accommodate one of his teammates. As Collymore says, it may be the perfect time however for the United academy product to take a stand.

If Southgate intends to use Harry Kane as England’s out-and-out centre-forward and only sees Rashford as someone to use off the flanks, then it may be in the latter’s best interests to put his foot down.

Making a definitive statement that he is a number nine would allow him to hone his craft far more effectively than if he were to stand by his versatility. This promises to be a crucial juncture in the 21-year-old’s career, and it’s important he thinks of the long-term rewards rather than the short-term pain of possibly sitting behind Kane for a while.

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Barcelona had a very good weekend in La Liga.

The Catalan giants welcomed Valencia to the Camp Nou on Saturday and won 5-2, taking all three points comfortably.

While many of the Blaugrana’s players were impressive in the encounter, Frenkie De Jong and Arthur Melo turned in particularly eye-catching performances.

The former netted a goal and an assist while the latter bagged an assist himself.

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Barcelona shared some pre-game footage of the tandem warming up with some ridiculous long-range passing skills, and it didn’t take long for the fans to notice it.

Loads of them swarmed Twitter with compliments and they were drooling over the footage, comparing De Jong and Melo to Xavi and Andres Iniesta, the midfield duo that was at the centre of Pep Guardiola’s excellent Barca side that won three La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies.

One fan demanded that they start every single game for Barcelona, as well, from here on in.

You can see some of the reactions in the tweets down below.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Watford came from behind to snatch a point from Arsenal’s hands on Sunday afternoon as defensive errors left the Gunners rueing yet again from the same old mistakes.

Snapshot

A first-half brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had Arsenal looking the likely victors at the break, even if the goals had come slightly against the run of play.

Unai Emery’s persistence to play the ball out from the back cost them the first goal as Sokratis fumbled a pass straight into the path of Tom Cleverley, who calmly fired past Bernd Leno.

Then with less than ten minutes to go, David Luiz felled Roberto Pereyra just inside the area after the attacking midfielder had left the Brazilian well beaten.

He duly stepped up to take the penalty and slotted home with aplomb.

Watford recorded 31 shots in the match, ten of which were on target and 13 arrived in the final half an hour or so – when the Gunners boss made a key change.

Off the Bench

In the 67th minute of the match, Emery decided to withdraw Matteo Guendouzi for Lucas Torreira to try and shore things up defensively.

At that stage in the match, the visitors were slightly on top with 52.9% possession.

But this change effectively saw Arsenal invite the pressure on, forcing their defence into mistakes – in the final 23 minutes, Watford recorded 69.6% possession and managed 13 more shots.

The added impetus and persistence in closing down from Watford led to Sokratis’ error which handed them one goal back, and it only got worse from there as Luiz was caught lazily sticking a leg out to concede the penalty.

Guendouzi is quite often the man to come deep and start the next phase of the game, but he also likes to get up the pitch, something Torreira doesn’t do so much and, because no Arsenal midfielder was forcing the hosts back,  Watford’s midfielders were able to dominate the final stages.

Dani Ceballos had also been taken off less than ten minutes earlier, so any significant threat from midfield was nullified because of the decisions made by the Gunners boss.

Arsenal may well have been able to hang on at 2-1 had they stuck with more attacking influence in the middle of midfield as their defence, in theory, wouldn’t have had to face a barrage of pressure.

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It proved to be another nervy weekend for Arsenal supporters.

Against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, the Gunners were pushed to their very limit and almost came away from the game with nothing at all.

In the end, they somehow got their hands on all three points thanks to late goals from Calum Chambers and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but it was far from an easy ride.

Craig Burley was covering the game for ESPN FC, and he predicted that supporters of the north London club should expect many more games like this:

Although Gunners supporters won’t like it, Burley is probably right. So far this season, they have already seen 21 goals in their first six matches, which is an average of 3.5 per game. The Premier League average is 2.93, meaning that fans of Unai Emery’s side get value for money, even if that sometimes comes from the opposition.

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In the last two games, they have seen three goals in the last 10 minutes, and in most of the fixtures they have played this term, the results could have gone either way. They were 2-0 down against Tottenham, before clawing their way back to 2-2, whilst they were on the opposite end of a comeback against Watford. Against the Villans, they were both 1-0 and 2-1 down before fighting their way to victory. Even against Eintracht Frankfurt, they were only 1-0 up until two late goals from Bukayo Saka and Aubameyang gave the scoreline an artificial gloss.

It is great viewing for neutrals, but you get the feeling Emery and the fans would rather see a boring 2-0 victory every week. Indeed, that would give them far more chance of qualification for next year’s Champions League but as per Burley’s prediction, it seems Arsenal’s season will resemble more a Helter-Skelter than a Sunday drive.

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As a player, Xavi Hernandez was one of the best midfielders to grace the game.

Across his career, the 39-year-old made over 800 appearances for Barcelona and Al Sadd and won a whole host of trophies, including the Champions League on four separate occasions.

For Spain, it could be argued his record was even more impressive. He earned 133 caps for La Roja and won the World Cup once, as well as the European Championships twice.

He retired earlier this year and made his first foray into management with Al Sadd. It seems that he would be open to managing Arsenal in the future, though.

He told Sky Sports in an interview on Monday: “Obviously if I had to choose, I would choose a big team, [Manchester] City or United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham. Also, [Jurgen] Klopp and [Mauricio] Pochettino and Unai Emery, many people who have gone there are doing an extraordinary job.”

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It would certainly be interesting to see the former conductor of the Barcelona midfield step into the dugout at the Emirates Stadium.

The club’s supporters are amongst the most vocal, as we all know, and they have been taking to Twitter to share their thoughts. You can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Wolves are back in Europa League action tonight as they make the trip to Turkey to face a Besiktas side who too have had their domestic struggles.

Nuno Santo’s men go into the fixture having picked up their first win of the season against Watford last weekend while the Black Eagles sit third from bottom in the Super Lig after winning just one of their six league matches.

Both teams were also defeated in the opening game of the group stage as Braga managed to nick a 1-0 win at Molineux and Besiktas collapsed in injury time to hand Slovan Bratislava a 4-2 victory.

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Wolves were without Diogo Jota against the Hornets and Nuno has since confirmed that the 22-year-old forward will remain absent through injury.

So, who will replace him tonight and will anyone else be a surprise inclusion at Vodaphone Park?

Much of the side should remain the same considering Wolves managed to pick up their first win of the Premier League season on Saturday.

That would mean Romain Saiss keeps his spot at left centre-back with Willy Boly moving over to the right-hand side.

Matt Doherty also keeps his place after being awarded the Man of the Match award by WhoScored for his goalscoring performance against Watford.

He formed a nice partnership with Adama Traore, who moved into his old right forward position.

Another player who looked the part was Pedro Neto – despite being withdrawn after just 57 minutes – he should be given another chance to prove his worth in attack, especially in Jota’s absence.

The only change in the side may come in midfield as Ruben Neves regains his spot next to Joao Moutinho – Belgian midfielder Leander Dendoncker was favoured over the Portuguese anchorman at the weekend.

Patrick Cutrone started the Braga game and with Raul Jimenez lacking a goal in his last four games, Nuno faces a tough decision.

Although he is most likely to side with the Mexican striker.