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Fulham were one of the most active teams in the country on international deadline day, and with just days to go in the domestic window it once again looks as though there will be a flurry of activity at Craven Cottage – and you can understand why.

The London outfit sit bottom of the Premier League after four games, and there is certainly room for improvement in a number of key areas. Luckily it seems as though the higher-ups at the club are well aware of these issues as the transfer links are coming thick and fast.

Here’s how we think Fulham may line-up after the domestic deadline.

Interestingly, we’ve tipped Fulham to stick with a back four for now, but with Scott Parker experimenting with a back five in recent weeks, don’t be too surprised to see that switch at some point.

The defence looks slightly different from what we have seen so far this season, but one thing that remains the same is Alphonse Areola retaining his spot between the sticks.

We have tipped Antonee Robinson to usurp Joe Bryan at left-back, while Terence Kongolo could take Tim Ream’s spot at centre-back after it was reported that he was having a medical.

Joachim Andersen links up with former Lyon teammate Kenny Tete to make up the rest of the back four.

The midfield pivot we’ve selected features Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa and Harrison Reed playing in the deeper roles, but don’t discount Mario Lemina, Tom Cairney or Jean-Michael Seri getting chances in the near future.

Going forward there’s a completely new look. We’ve tipped the Whites to land Said Benrahma after they were linked with a move by David Ornstein just hours before West Ham’s swoop was rumoured to be on the rocks, while Ademola Lookman and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also earn starting roles.

There are no prizes for guessing who starts up front as Aleksandar Mitrovic spearheads the attack.

Unfortunately, incomings aren’t the only thing expected at Craven Cottage in the coming days.

Indeed, there is no space in our team for either Michael Hector or Anthony Knockaert with QPR and Nottingham Forest both attempting to broker loan deals before the deadline, and we’re building our XI with those deals in mind.

The North London Derby is upon us as Jose Mourinho’s side welcome Arsenal to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Once upon a time, this match would be one of high stakes, with both teams challenging for a top-four finish. However, such has been the decline of both clubs this season, this fixture in one being played with both sides languishing in mid-table, with only an outside chance of taking one of the Europa League places that are on offer this season.

This is a Premier League fixture that normally delivers goals and entertains the neutral, but if Mourinho’s charges continue to park the bus as they have during their last two outings, then we may be set for a dreary affair.

Form

Whilst Tottenham have rediscovered their abilities to keep a clean sheet, the goals have dried up completely as Mourinho’s more pragmatic approach has impacted the fluidity of Spurs’ attacking play.

Despite only one defeat since the Premier League restart – a 3-1 capitulation against Sheffield United – they haven’t looked convincing at all. Arsenal, on the other hand, after a shaky start, have been growing in confidence and Mikel Arteta’s side are starting to gel, although they didn’t get the result their performance deserved against Leicester City at the Emirates earlier this week.

The Gunners will be relishing their first visit to their bitter rival’s new stadium, such is the fragility of Spurs at present.

They may also believe they have the bonus of Michael Oliver as referee; the official who has been responsible for two controversial VAR decisions that have gone against Tottenham in recent weeks.

Team news

Eric Dier remains suspended following his four-match ban from the FA, whilst Juan Foyth and Japhet Tanganga remain out injured.

Arsenal have Bernd Leno, Gabriel Martinelli out with knee injuries and Nicolas Pepe remains a doubt over a personal issue, but the Gunners hope to welcome back Mesut Ozil to their squad following a back problem.

How to watch

Spurs v Arsenal kicks off at 16:30 UTC at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and will be broadcast live Sky Sports, while fans can also live stream football online.

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a boost at the expense of Bayern Munich in the race to sign Max Aarons from Norwich City this summer, according to reports. 

Serge Aurier could leave north London with two years remaining on his current contract, which would leave Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho short of options at right-back.

While the Spurs boss does not have a bottomless pit of cash at his disposal, he will have money to spend in the summer.

Spurs have been pursuing Aarons for several months, although they appeared to suffer a setback after Bayern Munich emerged as shock contenders. However, according to German magazine Kicker, as per @TranSPURS, Aarons is expected to reject the Bundesliga champions as he would prefer to stay in the Premier League.

The 20-year-old has emerged with his reputation intact despite the Canaries’ relegation from the English top flight.

The five-cap England under-21 international defender is eager to remain in his homeland after attracting attention from a number of potential suitors in a blow for Bayern, who were prepared to offer him the chance to compete with Hans-Dieter Flick’s first-choice right-back Benjamin Pavard.

Sources told ESPN that Mourinho likes the Englishman and is willing to give him the opportunity to prove himself in north London. Daniel Farke’s side are still demanding £30m for their academy graduate, although Spurs are ready to resume their charm offensive in the summer.

Although Aurier has received a higher WhoScored rating than Aarons this season, his conduct has come under intense scrutiny since the Premier League restart, and the Canaries star has averaged more blocks per game and drawn more fouls.

If the Ivorian leaves north London, Aarons is surely the ideal replacement. Given his young age, he still has plenty of time to develop as a player, and he could turn out to be a shrewd investment in the future if he is allowed to test himself on a regular basis. Even in the event that a transfer doesn’t work out as planned, he could still be a valuable asset if Spurs were to subsequently sell him on.

Tottenham fans, should Levy sign Aarons this summer? Let us know in the comments below!

The Mirror’s Simon Bird has delivered an intriguing claim to Newcastle United supporters this week on why their Saudi-backed takeover is likely to go through.

Speaking on the ‘Everything is Black and White’ podcast, he said:

“The objections raised will have been anticipated – they have a highly-paid expert PR team on the bid.

“They will have an argument to hit back at the Premier League everytime.

“It’s a complicated one for the Premier League to deal with.

“It’s so far down the line, I don’t think the Premier League will block it. They will have to find a way around the image of approving it.”

It is fast approaching two months since the Magpies’ prospective new owners submitted their bid to the Premier League for approval and the longer the process has gone on, the more doubt has crept into sections of the St James’ Park faithful.

Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund is set to take 80% ownership of the northeast outfit with the remaining 20% going to Amanda Staveley, who is likely to be the face of the board, and the Reuben brothers.

A report from the World Trade Organisation, via the Guardian, has put the whole deal in ‘serious doubt’ due to the state’s involvement in pirate streaming service beoutQ.

Think you’re a big Magpies fan? Can you name these former players by looking at their careers? Go on, give it a go…

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However, Bird believes that the consortium has employed the very best PR team, thus resulting in them having an argument to counter what the PL has to say every time.

He goes on to add that he doesn’t believe they will block it, which is majorly positive news.

AND in other news, Newcastle fans lay into Richard Keys after takeover comments…

Manchester United have already made the first moves ahead of the 2020/21 season by signing Odion Ighalo.

The Nigerian has impressed the club he supported as a boy since he arrived on loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January, scoring four goals in eight appearances so far. Ighalo’s performances have earned him a new contract extension which will keep him at Old Trafford until 2021.

United were in the process of planning for a squad overhaul prior to the nationwide lockdown being imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic (ESPN). Even so, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has remained defiant and reports emerged earlier this week that the Red Devils are keen on signing Corentin Tolisso in the summer.

According to RMC Sport [via Get French Football News], United have asked former Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Antero Henrique to intervene on their behalf.

The ex-PSG chief has been holding talks with Tolisso’s entourage since February as he tries to gauge where the Frenchman will end up next. He is widely credited with being the mastermind behind the deals to bring Neymar and Kylian Mbappe to the Parc des Princes (talkSPORT).

The 25-year-old has made 13 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring one goal and creating two assists, but has only made 0.7 tackles per game this season (WhoScored).

RMC Sport reporter Mohamed Bouhafsi claimed that Ed Woodward has been in discussions with the French international’s representatives as Bayern Munich are prepared to offload him for at least €35m, which works out at about £31m.

While Solskjaer has made it clear that he wants to bring in a new centre-midfielder as part of his plans for a long-term rebuild, it is difficult to believe Tolisso is the right type of player that the Norwegian is seeking.

Indeed, his career has been plagued by persistent injuries up until now and he has only played 941 minutes of football so far in the 2019/20 season.

Although the £31m-valued star is a versatile player capable of filling in at the back or in the midfield, this would be an expensive gamble which, based on his fortunes of recent months, wouldn’t seem likely to pay off.

United fans, should Ed Woodward sign Corentin Tolisso in the summer? Let us know by commenting below!

Luke Edwards of The Telegraph has provided an update on Newcastle’s takeover talks, claiming that those trying to buy the club are “dreaming†if they think they can use Sports Direct’s falling share prices to low-ball Mike Ashley.The Toon Army are desperate for Ashley to leave St. James’ Park, and reports have suggested the latest takeover rumours are more concrete than ever before.

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The Telegraph claimed earlier this week that paperwork has been filed to the Premier League over a potential deal, and The Daily Mail have also revealed that Ashley is happy to finally cash in if the right offer arrives.

However, Edwards has chimed in with what appears to be a shot at the potential buyers, fronted by Amanda Staveley, insisting she should already know exactly what Ashley wants.

Edwards reveals that Staveley claimed to have made three bids back in December 2017 which were rejected due to the structure of the payments as well as the fee itself. He also claims it is “silly†to be haggling over the price if the deal is indeed backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Fans will have to wait to find out the extent of the current takeover rumours, but there certainly seems to be way too much smoke for there to be no fire.

Southampton football club has been a conveyor belt for talent for as long as I can remember, whether it through their academy, or players that they simply have nurtured and then historically sold on to the bigger clubs in England.

It must be incredibly frustrating being a Saints fan seeing the likes of Bale, Walcott, Lallana and Oxlade-Chamberlain, to name a few, spend a few years being developed only to be sold off when the big money comes calling. On top of that, the likes of Mane and Van Dijk – arguably two of the best players in the Premier League right now – all had their grounding in English football at St Marys.

What a team they could have had but money talks, unfortunately.

We have compiled a quiz this Easter Weekend to see how much Saints fans know and remember about their famous academy graduates? Was Oxlade-Chamberlain considered a bigger talent than Bale coming through the ranks?

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… 

There has been a lot of discussion recently at QPR about Mark Warburton’s style of play, and one player who has shown he fits his philosophy is Luke Amos, who is deserving of more game time.

The R’s boss spoke recently about his unwavering belief that playing out from the back is the best method to achieve success, and Amos would enable that to work more than certain other midfielders at the club.

So far this season there has been considerable rotation in the middle, with Warburton seemingly still yet to find a formula which makes QPR commanding on the ball, and resolute in defence off it.

That’s why a five-at-the-back system has been used in recent games with the defensive-minded Dominic Ball often featuring – Geoff Cameron is another who can fulfil that type of role.

Neither player matches Amos’ ability in possession, though, and that means the manager has a dilemma on his hands, and whether he can risk playing the Tottenham loan man given his team’s terrible defensive record.

They have now conceded 30 goals in 16 league games, nine of those coming in the five games Amos has started, but the 22-year-old showed against Middlesbrough, and for much of the season, that there are few weaknesses in his game.

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QPR looked more rigid against Boro and only conceded due to individual mistakes that Amos, who has featured for just 384 minutes in the Championship this term, could do very little about.

While the defensive midfielder is quite limited in an attacking capacity, as per WhoScored, he has proved effective at times, and if he was given a run of games he would have the chance to reach his best level.

So far the only consecutive games he has played came at the beginning of the season, but he has still managed a relatively impressive return of 1.5 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game.

Perhaps more important is his pass accuracy, since that is key to the way Warburton wants to play. His 83% success rate ranks him sixth in the QPR squad, ahead of players like Cameron and Josh Scowen.

As a result, he is deserving of a more regular run in the team, and with his manager’s faith and guidance he could be very helpful in reducing the number of mistakes the R’s produce.

Leeds take on Luton on Saturday but it is a fixture which may come a little too soon for two key players, although Stuart Dallas is available.

Eddie Nketiah has been missing in recent weeks, last featuring at the end of October, whereas Liam Cooper sustained a groin injury in the last match against Blackburn – the same problem that kept him on the sidelines a few weeks earlier against Millwall.

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There is a chance he could aggravate the tear once again if he returns to action too soon, and that is a fear some Leeds supporters have.

With Ben White at the back it is unlikely Marcelo Bielsa or fans will be too concerned by the captain’s absence, and given Luton occupy 21st place in the table it is a very winnable game with or without their skipper.

The absence of Nketiah is a little more troubling as he provides a very useful option off the bench when the Whites are in need of a goal, and though his return is anticipated soon, it is likely he will miss out given Phil Hay’s suggestion.

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Here is some of the reaction to the injury update.

The Daily Mail has reported that Tottenham Hotspur remain keen on Sporting Lisbon attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes ahead of the January transfer window, and Spurs fans have been discussing the link on Twitter.

The north London outfit saw a bid for the Portugal international rejected during the summer, and if the recent Daily Mail report is to be believed then they are still keen on bringing him to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The 25-year-old has certainly started the 2019/20 campaign in impressive form, scoring seven goals and providing a further five assists in 11 appearances for the Portuguese giants, also captaining them.

Should Fernandes end up signing he could well be a replacement for Christian Eriksen, who appears to be on his way out of the club as he continues to reject all of the contract offers he’s been given.

Tottenham supporters have been discussing the most recent link to the attacker here, and one individual said “I’d sacrifice Lucas for him”, while another believes he is a “high possibility”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…