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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…

Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan believes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can offer Liverpool a new dimension when fully fit.

What’s the word?

The former Arsenal midfielder put in an impressive performance during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United, after coming off the bench and almost scoring the winner as his left-footed shot from distance went just the wrong side of the post.

The 26-year-old has only started twice in the Premier League this season but has made four appearances from the bench in the top flight too as manager Jurgen Klopp eases him back into the team. Oxlade-Chamberlain sustained multiple ligament damage against Roma in the Champions League two seasons ago which saw him miss the majority of the 2018/19 campaign.

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan was pleased with what he saw from the Englishman and feels that he is ahead of Adam Lallana in the pecking order.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “Lallana looked lively enough but he’s not the one who impressed me,” he said. “Lallana doesn’t have the electricity that Oxlade-Chamberlain has on the ball.

“He can go past opponents with pace, carry the ball forward from midfield to attack, and burst into the box to score goals.

“He’s starting to look sharp after that horrible injury and I predict big things from him this season. He’s young and hungry and has the quality to be a Premier League superstar.

“A fully fit Oxlade-Chamberlain is a massive boost to the squad.”

Critical asset

Since returning from his horrific injury towards the back end of last season, Oxlade-Chamberlain has been working hard to get himself back into the Liverpool side.

The former Arsenal man signed for the Champions League holders from the Gunners for £35m in 2017 and has scored five goals and conjured up seven assists during that time.

Watch a Liverpool fan discover the internet and get a nasty surprise in the video below…

Oxlade-Chamberlain has gained some supporters along the way including former Everton midfielder Leon Osman, and credited him for his adaptation into Klopp’s style of play which has added more quality in the central positions, per Sky Sports, via The Boot Room.

The £120,000-a-week star has a big season ahead and could establish himself as a regular first-team starter at Anfield. However, Klopp did issue a warning at the beginning of the season that the 26-year-old must be patient as the midfielder is desperate to play regularly for Liverpool.

Whelan is right when he says he can bring a lot to Klopp’s team. After a tough second season at Anfield, it is down to Oxlade-Chamberlain himself to convince the German manager that he is ready to start regularly.

Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to the performance of rumoured summer target Nicolas Pepe, who had a nightmare evening at Old Trafford on Monday night.

Ah, Manchester United vs Arsenal, always one of the great football rivlaries… or not.

Monday’s clash between the two sides was a perfect symbol of where both clubs currently stand, with both managers clearly focused more on not losing the match than on winning it.

Scott McTominay and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were the standout performers, but one man who didn’t play up to par was £72m summer signing Pepe.

The Gunners winger has just one goal so far this season, and on Monday night he was hooked after 73 minutes with 74% pass accuracy, a whopping five unsuccessful touches, no key passes and just one successful dribble, per WhoScored.

Liverpool were linked with the Ivory Coast international this summer, with French journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi claiming on Twitter that Jurgen Klopp did indeed want the winger.

Fans are now praising Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards for not completing a deal for Pepe though, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

With an alarming array of reds and yellows and barely any greens, Manchester United’s form guide makes for very, very poor viewing.It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the mesmerising flurry of form experienced by the 20-time champions of England when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was first appointed caretaker manager in December was more a result of relieving the crushing weight of Jose Mourinho’s relentless negativity than it was the former Molde manager’s tactical knowhow.Under Solskjaer, United have suffered their worst start to a season in over 30 years and are currently 12th in the Premier League, just two points above the relegation zone. They have not won away from Old Trafford in domestic competition since February and have failed to score more than one goal in any game since the opening day of the season, and with last term’s staunchest defenders Liverpool as their next game, we don’t see their dreadful record improving anytime soon.Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Since being appointed on a permanent basis, Solskjaer has registered a win percentage of just 24 per cent – which breaks down into five wins, seven draws and nine losses. United have also conceded 27 goals in that time and scored just 18 themselves. Boring and ineffective doesn’t quite cut it.

However, as Ed Woodward announces that patience is required as the club try to recapture their former glory, which seems a very long way off, there’s little evidence to suggest that the board will be taking the same course of action we’d typically expect when any manager underperforms. But is this right? Can we really expect a repeat of Sir Alex Ferguson’s iconic turnaround?

talkSPORT had their say on the situation…

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The possibility of Jack Clarke returning to Tottenham seems to be growing as the weeks go by.

Football London have previously reported that Spurs have a recall option in the terms of his loan contract and they provided another update this week on how his loan in west Yorkshire was going.

They stated that he could return if his parent club believe things aren’t working out for the youngster. Understandably the north London side are eager for him to play senior football but that hasn’t happened so he could be set to return quicker than initially expected.

Discussing whether it might happen on Twitter, Leeds fans didn’t seem to be too bothered by the prospect he could depart.

A couple of supporters claimed that the 18-year-old was a waste of time. Another simply urged Leeds to get rid of the youngster.

A further individual commented that a move back to Tottenham would be best for all parties as one noted that Clarke just wasn’t interested.

The teenager has only played two times for the first-team in 2019/20 but was subjected to playing at right wing-back against Salford and was then dragged off at half time in the League Cup versus Stoke.

Here’s the best of the debate.

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Take a minute to drink it all in.

How do you even go about explaining a photo of Ben Foster dressed as a clown in cycling gear holding two dinner ladies in his arms?

It sounds ridiculous when you read it, but the more you look at it, the sillier it gets.

Watch Watford Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Why is the woman’s hand so close to Foster’s crotch? Why is he dressed as a clown? Why isn’t his jacket zipped up?

There are so many questions to ask about this image, but unfortunately, they may never be answered.

Luckily, Foster has assured supporters that the gear he is sporting will be sold in the club shop in the near future, and while the goalkeeper reckons it will sell out quickly, we can’t see many Watford fans queuing up to buy this piece of merchandise.

[ad_pod ]According to the deputy news editor at The Guardian, Ed Aarons, on his official Twitter account, West Ham United have agreed terms with Chelsea to sign striker Michy Batshuayi on loan until the end of the season, but they face competition from La Liga outfit Real Betis who also have an agreement in place.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Aarons says that the Hammers have moved a step closer to bringing the Belgium international across the capital to the London Stadium, but that they still have some potential hurdles in their way to get a deal over the line before Thursday’s deadline.

The reliable journalist says that Betis want to keep the 25-year-old in Spain following his unsuccessful spell with Valencia in the first-half of the current campaign, and that barring a late bid from Everton the attacker will soon decide where his future lies.

Sky Sports reported on Wednesday that he Irons were considering making an approach for Batshuayi, who Valencia are looking to offload and cut short his loan spell seeing as he hasn’t played for them since January 8.

Would he be a good signing?

He certainly could be, yes.

While the Belgian has struggled to hold down a regular spot in Chelsea’s starting XI when he hasn’t been away on loan, his record of 19 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions, as per Transfermarkt, isn’t too shabby given the majority of those outings came from the substitutes’ bench.

Similarly, he also scored nine goals in 14 matches during a loan spell with Borussia Dortmund last term, according to Transfermarkt, to prove how clinical he can be in front of goal.

With the likes of Javier Hernandez, Lucas Perez and Andy Carroll struggling for goals and Marko Arnautovic suffering an injury against Wolves on Tuesday night, although it might not be as bad as first feared according to The Telegraph, the 25-year-old would be a much-welcomed addition to the frontline before the window slams shut.

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…

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Lots of Tottenham fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was revealed by news outlet Conclusion that Giovani Lo Celso would not be featuring for Argentina against Mexico, and would instead be returning to the club after picking up a groin injury.

The summer signing from Real Betis was withdrawn midway through his country’s last outing against Chile due to an issue with his groin – an injury which he himself played down – but Conclusion reports that it has been enough to see him return to north London for treatment.

Lo Celso is yet to start a game for Spurs since his arrival from Real Betis, making just three appearances from the bench so far equalling a total of 44 minutes combined.

It seems as if some of the Spurs fans below aren’t very happy with the news.

One said that he’s ‘absolutely sick’ of hearing news like this, whilst another made the somewhat reactionary statement that Spurs’ season is over following Lo Celso’s injury.

Let’s take a look at some more of the reaction from Tottenham fans on Twitter…

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Crystal Palace confirmed on Saturday morning that youngster Adler Nascimento has signed professional terms with the club.

As to be expected, a number of Eagles fans have been reacting to the off-field news on social media.

Nascimento arrived at the club’s academy ranks over the summer from Championship side Peterborough United, where he made his professional debut at the age of 16 last May.

The Eagles reportedly forked out an initial £531,000 for his services, with the Portuguese teenager already making nine appearances for Palace’s under-18 side this season.

Nascimento has seemingly done enough to catch the eye in those games, despite starting on only three occasions, and he has penned professional terms at Selhurst Park.

Palace fans react

The Eagles’ official Twitter channel retweeted the club’s academy post regarding Nascimento’s contract on Saturday.

Here is what these Palace supporters had to say in reply, with one labelling it as ‘class news’ and another calling him an ‘absolute beast’.

“Bout time”

Credit: @James_cpfc06

“We must rate him big time”

Credit: @liamb0117

“This guy on Football Manager is an absolute beast”

Credit: @Wheddsta

“Class news but wouldn’t been worried if he didn’t after signing for £500k ”

Credit: @CPFC_Cal

“Well done”

Credit: @keithwhitfieldk

“That’s class”

Credit: @cpfc_sean

In other news: ‘Outrage’ – Many Crystal Palace fans react to club’s ‘pathetic’ update

Everton will invite Niko Kovac and Rudi Garcia to make ‘presentations’ to their decision-makers, according to The Mirror’s David Maddock. 

The duo will be given the chance to pitch to Farhad Moshiri and Alisher Usmanov as the search for Rafael Benitez’s permanent successor continues.

Moshiri and Usmanov held talks with Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira in Monaco last weekend, and his appointment looked ‘imminent’ before concerned board members talked them out of what they considered a ‘knee-jerk’ decision.

The lowdown on Kovac and Garcia

Kovac would probably be best known as a former manager of Bayern Munich. He earned that job after taking fellow Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt from relegation territory to the top half, and won a league-and-cup double with the Bavarians in his first season before he was sacked the following year.

He most recently worked at AS Monaco in France, where he would have faced Garcia’s Lyon.

Garcia left the Stade Gerland at the end of the 2020/21 season, having won 56.4% of his games in charge.

For context, the last permanent Everton manager to better his record of 1.88 points per game was Howard Kendall.

Fan feed The Toffee Blues relayed the news about Kovac and Garcia, and here’s what supporters made of it.

These Everton fans love Kovac/Garcia news

“This is great to see”

Credit: @P_Fortenberry_

“Now we’re talking”

Credit: @BenAston13

“Please God, just shortlist it to these 2”

Credit: @matti_bigley

“That’s better”

Credit: @onceablue76

“Thank God. Two actual proper candidates”

Credit: @kieran_balmer

“MANIFESTING”

Credit: @fourboars

In other news, fans were left fuming over this injury news.

Leeds United are stuck in a horrendous rut right now and if they don’t improve in the January transfer window, Marcelo Bielsa could lose his job with the Whites staring down the barrel of a potential relegation from the top-flight.

An added problem for Victor Orta and co is that the winter market is usually a tough one for Leeds to negotiate in with the famed Jean-Kevin Augustin move the nadir of the Spaniard’s work since arriving in Yorkshire.

What’s the word?

One area that Leeds desperately need to improve in heading into the New Year is in the middle of the park.

Kalvin Phillips enters 2022 injured while Mateusz Klich is desperately out of form too.

One player that they could sign is Macedonia international Ejif Elmas. That’s according to Talha Arslan via The Express who claim that Leeds are prepared to bid £15.3m for the Napoli midfielder.

However, that may fall some way short of the Italian club’s estimation of the 22-year-old with CIES valuing him at a mighty £59.2m.

The new Alioski

The comparisons with livewire and former Leeds player, Gjanni Alioski, are all too obvious.

For starters, they both hail from Macedonia, and secondly, they are both goal scoring wide players.

Although Elmas is capable of playing in the middle of the park too, he is a rampant threat when afforded the opportunity to play down the left flank, an area of the pitch that Alioski thrived in for Leeds.

The 29-year-old scored 22 goals and registered 19 assists while in Yorkshire but was never the most consistent of players.

That being said, he was a mainstay under Bielsa for years and developed nicely from an attacking winger into a full-back.

Elmas wouldn’t necessarily make the same transition but his ability to play in a multitude of positions, specifically in the centre of midfield, makes him an appealing proposition this winter.

However, his ability to score goals, like Alioski, is also a major plus point.

The North Macedonia international has bagged six times for Napoli this term while creating three goals for his teammates too.

Speaking about him in April, his agent commented: “I think Napoli have a jewel. A young footballer, a leader of his national team who often scores goals.”

With that sort of attacking threat in mind, he’d be a wise addition from the Leeds hierarchy this term and in the process, Bielsa could just discover his next Alioski; a vibrant and versatile attacking threat from Macedonia.

AND in other news, Orta can finally axe Leeds flop who left Bielsa “furious” by signing 28-goal “rocket”…