Sitting in third place following their 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at the King Power yesterday, Manchester City now find themselves seven points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool in the title race.

With a long way still to go, though, Pep Guardiola has warned Jurgen Klopp’s side about the pressure that comes with being at the top.

The Breakdown

“From January, February last season people said, ‘The Premier League is over’. To live with that is not easy,” Guardiola told Sky Sports in reference to when Manchester City were leading the pack this time last year.

“One month ago people said about [the match against] Liverpool and before [then] we had three or four games. Football is that you are able to win a lot of games and you are able to lose a lot of games. When I was at Barcelona for one period I lost four games in a row.”

At this stage of the season and considering recent results, Guardiola’s comments can easily be taken for the Spaniard trying to play mind games and crank up the pressure, especially with a humongous clash against Liverpool at the Etihad fast-approaching.

And if that is what he is indeed doing, then it bodes extremely well for Liverpool, who appear to have rattled the current champions and their coach with their stunning form so far this season.

Liverpool supporters know better than most that anything can happen but, following these recent comments from a shaken Guardiola, things seem to be going even better than planned for the Reds.

Tottenham failed to a sign a single player during the summer window but should be opening their chequebook in 2019.

Spurs remain in the Premier League title race despite their recent defeat to Wolves, a feat even more commendable considering Mauricio Pochettino did not sign anyone during the summer window. While Tottenham’s performances have been brilliant thus far, new additions in the January window could provide the boost they need to catch Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the standings.

It’s difficult to improve on the Spurs starting eleven which has looked devastating at times throughout the current campaign. Instead, Pochettino should target youngsters who can still have a role in the first-team but will be considered one for the future.

The ideal target would be Marseille wonderkid – Boubacar Kamara. Valued at £9m by Transfermarkt, the 18-year-old was promoted to the first-team last year after successfully graduating from the club’s youth academy. After making a handful of appearances last season, the youngster has enjoyed a crucial role in the starting line up this season, featuring in 13 Ligue 1 games already – only three 18-year-olds have made more appearances than Kamara in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

Kamara is an excellent defender who is strong in the tackle, reads the game well, and dominates in the air. The Frenchman epitomises a modern-day defender, displaying a wonderful range of passing from the back. His abilities with the ball at his feet means Kamara has often been utilised as a defensive midfielder, meaning he would add another quality option at the heart of the Spurs midfield.

With the right guidance, Kamara could develop into a world-class defender. Given Pochettino’s excellent reputation for working with youth players – Tottenham would be the perfect home.

Tottenham fans, thoughts?

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Riyad Mahrez was on the scoresheet in Manchester City’s 7-0 win over Rotherham United in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

The 27-year-old has now scored eight times in 29 appearances for City following a move from Leicester City in last summer’s transfer window.

Mahrez has only managed two assists in 19 Premier League appearances this season, however, which is a fairly disappointing return.

The Algeria international – on £200k a week – might have been on the scoresheet against Rotherham on Sunday, but the City fans were not pleased with him.

Indeed, many took to social media both during and after the Rotherham clash to criticise the attacker, with some claiming that the club should not have signed him.

Mahrez has perhaps fallen just below the standard expected of him, although eight goals at this stage of the campaign is still a decent enough return.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the City fans can be seen below:

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According to The Evening Standard’s transfer page, Fulham are willing to offer Liverpool £15m for out of favour striker Divock Origi. 

The Belgian has made just one start for The Reds this season, as manager Jürgen Klopp clearly does not favour him ahead of Roberton Firmino and Daniel Sturridge.

Therefore, an offer of £15m would seem quite enticing to Liverpool fans, as that is a reasonable amount of money for a player that is not integral to the squad.

However, by letting the 23-year-old leave, Liverpool could find themselves in a position later in the season comparable to what they are going through with their defence currently.

The Reds currently have only one fit centre-back in their first team, Virgil van Dijk, and were forced to field Fabinho in that position at the weekend, as this proves to be their most testing period of the season.

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Seeing as Liverpool have already sold Dominic Solanke to Bournemouth this month, they do not want to find themselves in a crisis should one of Firmino or Sturridge get injured. Given the injury-prone nature of Sturridge, The Reds should be prepared for anything.

Furthermore, as Liverpool hope to progress in the Champions League, they may want a bit more flexibility for squad rotation to allow some of their star players to be rested in the league. Of course, that does not mean that Origi will start up front at Old Trafford for Liverpool, but perhaps in games against the lesser teams in the league, the Belgian could prove to be a valuable asset.

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West Ham could be without Marko Arnautovic for the next few games as the speculation surrounding his future drags on, but Manuel Pellegrini must learn from his mistakes at Bournemouth and switch his stand-in striker.

On the chalkboard

Arnautovic was not included in the West Ham squad to face Bournemouth amid interest in his services from a Chinese club – as reported by BBC Sport – although London Evening Standard claim he could yet stay in East London.

With the controversy surrounding the talisman’s future looming large, Pellegrini chose Andy Carroll to lead the line at Bournemouth, and the England international missed an absolute sitter to cap off a truly woeful performance.

If Pellegrini and the club are insistent on keeping Arnautovic away from the pitch during this period of uncertainty, then the boss simply must forget about Carroll and hand Michail Antonio the nod up front instead.

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The best of a bad bunch

Antonio is not a natural striker, but the 28 year-old has played up front briefly for Pellegrini and Slaven Bilic before. In total, he’s featured as a centre-forward 20 times for the Hammers, according to Transfermarkt.

His pace, physicality and tireless movement in behind will run defenders ragged, allowing more space for the likes of Samir Nasri and Felipe Anderson to exploit.

Antonio has scored three times and added four assists in all competitions this season, per Transfermarkt. He is faster and less wasteful than Carroll, better at holding the ball up and bringing others into play than Javier Hernandez, and let’s not even get started on Lucas Perez.

Boost for Snodgrass

Of course, moving Antonio up front would open up a space on the right wing, which could equate to good news for Robert Snodgrass.

The Scottish international put in three consecutive man of the match performances before Christmas, as per Whoscored’s ratings, and his only reward has been a move to the bench – seemingly slumping behind Nasri in the pecking order.

With Anderson and Nasri providing the creativity and flair elsewhere, Snodgrass’ work rate, defensive help and excellent crossing could bring the perfect balance to that right hand side, allowing Pablo Zabaleta to bomb forward on the overlap.

So, West Ham fans, would you stick Antonio up front until the striker issue is resolved? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…

The Marko Arnautovic saga looks destined to run on at West Ham United until the end of February, with the club seemingly reluctant to offload their talisman for both footballing and financial reasons. 

West Ham fans need little introducing to Arnuatovic’s quality and they remain acutely aware of the need to keep him at the club this month, but the saga’s jarring refusal to drift into media obscurity will undoubtedly be leading some disgruntled supporters to call for his departure.

In a footballing sense, the Hammers are stronger than they were when Dimitri Payet left in the January window two years ago. The French playmaker left a void in the midfield which couldn’t be filled by members of the then current squad but, with Felipe Anderson now gliding across the turf at the London Stadium, a mid-season departure for Arnautovic would not leave Manuel Pellegrini too short of flair and nous in the final-third.

However, the financial aspect of the sale will also be giving the club’s hierarchy plenty to think about in the coming weeks. According to Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge, who was speaking on Sky Sports’ Transfer Talk podcast on Tuesday, the terms of the deal which saw Arnautovic swap Stoke City for West Ham will guarantee the Potters a slice of the profits in the event of the Austrian’s departure, and that could well be influencing their refusal to accept the recent £35 million offer.

“One thing that we need to say here is that there is a 20% deal so Stoke – obviously they were the selling club from West Ham – they would receive 20% from West Ham’s profit they would make on Arnautovic.

“Let’s face it: there are so many reasons here why West Ham do not want to sell their star player this month.”

On the basis that Arnautovic signed for West Ham for £20 million (potentially rising to £25 million) and a £35 million sale would earn them £10-£15 million in profit, Stoke City would only be entitled to £2-£3 million following that potential deal.

In reality, that is not too much of a bullet for David Gold and David Sullivan to bite as opposed to the £7 million they would lose if Stoke had secured a 20% clause on the transfer fee of any future sale.

That the Hammers managed to sign Arnautovic with a clause which will only see them surrender a small portion of the profit – rather than the overall price – is a testament to the shrewdness of the 2017 deal.

At this moment in time, the awareness of the clause forcing West Ham to give up 20% of their profit to Stoke will only be subtly influencing the club’s stance on Arnautovic, but it’s certainly a factor which will be playing on the minds of the key decision makers during a tedious period for the club.

West Ham fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

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According to Football Insider, Middlesbrough have opened talks with Hull City over a potential deal for Kamil Grosicki before the transfer window closes.

What’s the story?

It would certainly be no surprise if Boro boss Tony Pulis is keen to boost his attack before the January transfer window closes for business, given his side has only scored 31 goals in 28 league games so far this term.

That said, Boro are still going quite well in the Championship this season, with a total of 47 points leaving them in fifth position.

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Only four teams have scored fewer Championship goals than Boro this term, however, which is incredible when considering their spot in the table.

According to Football Insider, Pulis views Grosicki as the perfect player to boost his options in the final third and a deal could go through on Thursday.

That said, Football Insider also claims that Monaco are also considering an approach for the 30-year-old before the deadline.

Would Grosicki be a good signing?

In short, yes. If Boro can secure the attacker’s services for a reasonable price then the deal is an absolute no-brainer for the promotion hopefuls.

Grosicki has scored four times and registered six assists, as per Transfemarkt, in 22 Championship appearances this term, whilst he has either scored or assisted on 30 occasions in his 76 appearances for the Tigers.

Grosicki is also a 64-time Poland international and has proved his class at Championship level over the last couple of seasons.

Boro have to improve their output in the final third of the field if they are to make a serious challenge for promotion this season.

And a move for Grosicki before the January transfer window closes would put the team in a very good position heading into the final few months of the campaign.

Unai Emery must prioritise signing a new left-back when the summer transfer window opens in a few months time.

The Spaniard has been forced to use Granit Xhaka at the back at times with Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac struggling with injuries. Emery seems unconvinced that the Bosnian international has the quality to be the starting left-back at the Emirates and will target a new left-sided defender when the window reopens according to reports in the Sun. He will be handed just £45m to strengthen his ranks but the sale of fringe players will add to his budget.

One man the Gunners could target is RB Leipzig prospect – Marcelo Saracchi.

Valued at just £12.6m by Transfermarkt, the Uruguayan is a new arrival at the club, joining in the summer from River Plate for just £10m. The defender has been hugely impressive during his short spell at the club, becoming a mainstay in the back four. Saracchi has performed well enough in the Bundesliga to make Arsenal scouts sit up and take notice.

The 20-year-old is an excellent defender who would add some much-needed stability to Emery’s back line. As well as his defensive prowess, Saracchi loves to bomb forward and contribute to the attack. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proving to be a massive success in the Premier League, his talents would be elevated by adding the Uruguay international to the left flank.

Still improving and developing with every game, the youngster would flourish under a world-class coach like Emery. After adapting to life in England, he would prove to be an excellent addition to the squad.

Arsenal fans, thoughts?

[ad_pod ]Newcastle United have identified two potential replacements for Rafael Benitez, per The Times.The Magpies are, per the aforementioned report, aware that Benitez could leave the club at the end of the season, when his contract expires.Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been placed on a shortlist to replace the Spaniard if he does choose to depart, along with former Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner.Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…Wagner left the club last month as the Terriers languished in the relegation zone, while Rodgers has a contract with the Scottish giants until 2021 and is chasing yet another domestic treble.Newcastle, meanwhile, have spent this season fighting off relegation. The Magpies face Wolves on Monday evening as they look to pull away from the drop zone.And fans are not happy with the links to Rodgers and Wagner, insisting that the club should do everything they can to ensure that Benitez stays at St. James’ Park for the foreseeable future.

Lee Bowyer has admitted that Lyle Taylor has rejected the offer of a contract extension at Charlton Athletic, as reported by London News Online.

Less than 48 hours after the 29-year-old took to Twitter claiming an offer hadn’t been made, Bowyer was quoted as saying: “Lyle has been offered a contract and he declined it. It’s his choice if he wants to sign it or not.

“We’ve offered him a good contract. Roland [Duchatelet] offered him what we think is a good contract.”

Following this admission, there seems to be every possibility that the Montserrat international could end up leaving, whether that is in January or the summer.

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With that in mind, it is vital that the Addicks manager is able to find a way of winning games without Taylor at his disposal.

Charlton got off to a flying start in the Championship this campaign, tasting victory in four of their opening six games, drawing the other two.

This came during a period in which Taylor was prolific, scoring five goals and assisting one more.

While there have been various other injuries for Charlton to contend with, it is no coincidence that the Addicks’ form dropped considerably as soon as he was out of action, winning just two of the next 13 games.

Even with Taylor slowly returning to the fold, playing 75 minutes across three substitute appearances, Bowyer’s side has managed just one draw.

The striker was also an integral player last season, making 35 goal contributions in League One and the play-offs.

There is a very realistic chance that he will have left The Valley by the start of next season if he refuses to sign a new contract and the club receives some tempting offers, so a solution needs to be found regarding how to play without him.

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This could come from playing with one leading striker rather than two and focusing on becoming a solid unit, or there could be an attempt made to find somebody who can play a similar role to the one he has fulfilled – though that will arguably be a difficult task without spending large amounts.

Whatever the solution is, Bowyer simply must find it if Charlton are to stay and thrive in the Championship without their talismanic striker.

In other news, a Charlton attacker has offered a reminder of how useful they can be.