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Ben Woodburn’s next steps could end up being a defining moment in his Liverpool career amid reports from Goal that the club are considering recalling the youngster from his loan spell at Sheffield United.

What’s the word?

After catching the eye last season on both the domestic and international stage, Woodburn was sent on loan by the Reds in the summer.

The reason behind the 19-year-old’s switch to Sheffield United was to gain regular minutes at a competitive level.

Woodburn has been knocking on the door at Anfield having scored 19 goals and registering eight assists in 25 outings for the Under-23s.

However, at senior level he has only played 11 times for Liverpool, scoring one goal in the process.

Unfortunately for the 5ft 9in teenager, his time in Sheffield has not been hugely beneficial given that he has played 28 minutes of competitive action.

According to Goal, the Merseyside outfit are considering recalling Woodburn from his loan in January.

What next for the teen?

Even though the attack-minded starlet is in the early stages of his career, this next move could be crucial to whether he makes it or flops.

Liverpool will have to decide whether to keep him in the development squad for the rest of the season or search for another loan club in the winter window.

Check out Playmaker FC’s Joe Street’s unfiltered take on Wayne Rooney’s England legacy in the video below…

For Woodburn, it would be more beneficial for him to join another club, preferably a mid-table Championship outfit who are unlikely to be challenging for promotion.

That way, the Wales international will get some much-needed minutes in a tough division.

If Woodburn ends up staying at Anfield for the remainder of the season, there is nothing to say that he will not be able to have a successful loan spell in the 2019-20 campaign, but there is always a danger that his momentum will be lost.

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There were many shocked faces when Everton splashed around £40m on signing Richarlison from Watford in the summer.

The 21-year-old had only been known to English football fans for a year due to his time at Vicarage Road.

However, Everton boss Marco Silva was very familiar with the winger having worked with the youngster at Watford.

Not everyone was convinced by the price tag, but Richarlison swiftly became an important part of the team.

In total, the winger has played 11 games in all competitions, but more recently he has been used up front due to the lack of firepower from the club’s strikers.

On Tuesday night, Richarlison came on as an early substitute for Brazil after Neymar went off injured and he went on to score in the friendly against Cameroon.

Check out the harsh words the Playmaker FC squad had to say about Wayne Rooney’s England career in the video below

The goal is his third this season for Brazil and his ninth overall for club and country.

On Reddit, plenty of Everton fans posted their reactions to Richarlison’s latest hit.

Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.Comment from discussion Richarlison goal for Brazil. Header off a corner.

Unai Emery has made a superb start to life at Arsenal as after a tough start to the season The Gunners have put together a run of 16-games unbeaten. 

Following an incredibly disappointing season last year, it was essential that Arsenal not only appointed the right manager for the job but made some solid signings to strengthen the squad.

Although it’s early, it seems as though Emery was the wise choice by Arsenal but if The Gunners want to get back into the top-four places, they must reinvest in the squad in January.

The two key areas that must be strengthened are in defence and also on the wing. According to The Sun, Arsenal are ready to bid £15 million for Brentford defender Ezri Konsa.

The Breakdown

The 21-year-old defender was signed from Charlton over the summer and has been one of the more impressive players at Brentford this season.

Although they signed Sokratis Papastathopoulos over the summer, Arsenal need to sort out their long-term future at centreback.

Rob Holding has looked increasingly assured at the back but his fellow defensive partner, Shkodran Mustafi still looks as though he could make a mistake at any given moment.

Mustafi is a constant liability and Arsenal need to replace him with a younger and more promising defender that can lead the club towards the top four and the title.

Arsenal have improved massively under Emery but at the back, they still need to add some quality and replace the woeful Mustafi.

Arsenal fans, what do you think? 

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Arsenal produced a fine performance on Sunday to overcome Tottenham Hotspur by a 4-2 scoreline at the Emirates Stadium. Unai Emery will be delighted to have triumphed so emphatically in his first north London derby as the Arsenal boss, and he deserves plenty of credit for the victory which was won off the back of his tactical masterstrokes.

On the chalkboard

Emery persisted with the 3-4-3 formation he had introduced last time out against Bournemouth. He also named the same starting XI, despite the face that his side had struggled for cohesion against the Cherries.

The wing-back formation, though, allows for Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac to push forward aggressively, without leaving their team defensively vulnerable. 

Playmaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas which Arsenal players would get into the Tottenham team ahead of the North London Derby – Check out the video below…

With this license to attack, the Gunners duo become a key part of the attack, and allow Emery’s side to overwhelm the opposition defence.

Not only did Emery design a system to enhance his squad’s strengths, he was also proactive in realising its flaws and making the necessary changes. 

Making changes

At half-time, with the hosts 2-1 down, Emery replaced Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan with Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette. Ramsey went on to provide two assists, whilst Lacazette scored the goal that put the Gunners back in front.

Spurs boss, Mauricio Pochettino, for his part, waited until the 78th minute to make his first change, at which point his side were 4-2 down, the home side were buoyant and the game had gone.

Emery acted fast to put his team in the ascendancy, and considering the Gunners lead the Premier League in terms of second half goals scored this season, the impact of his changes was no anomaly. 

Between his tactical set-up and his substitutions, Emery deserves as much credit for Arsenal’s triumph as any player on the pitch. 

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Nottingham Forest slipped out of the Championship play-off positions and saw their five-match unbeaten run ended as they lost 1-0 against Preston North End at the City Ground on Saturday, and manager Aitor Karanka should sign Burnley’s Tom Heaton in January to solve one of his side’s biggest issues.

What’s the word, then?

Well, despite the fact that the Reds look to be promotion contenders under the Spaniard, many Forest fans still remain unconvinced by Costel Pantilimon between the sticks.

The 31-year-old is one of the tallest players in world football standing at 6ft 8in tall, and has played every minute of their league campaign to date.

However, the Romania international has struggled at times – including being beaten too easily by Luke Nchema’s cross for Lewis Moult’s close-range winner at the weekend – and back-up Luke Steele doesn’t appear to be providing much strong competition behind him.

Why sign Heaton?

The 32-year-old was the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper at Burnley just a couple of years ago, but now he potentially finds himself as Sean Dyche’s third-choice option at Turf Moor.

The England international found himself behind fellow Three Lions teammate Nick Pope before the 26-year-old suffered a serious shoulder injury in July, and he has since found himself behind summer addition Joe Hart in the pecking order with all of his minutes this term coming either in the Europa League or the Carabao Cup.

Heaton is highly experienced and has proved what a good stopper he is in the past though, and with a January exit – either on loan or permanently – looking to be a real possibility, Karanka must move in a deal that would significantly boost his team’s promotion hopes in the remaining months of the campaign.

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Manchester United have just two fit centre-backs for the trip to Anfield this Sunday. Only Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are available for the game against the Premier League leaders, with Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo and Victor Lindelof all missing through injury.

Jose Mourinho played the aforementioned pair in Valencia on Wednesday night as his side battled for top spot in their Champions League group, but the duo performed incompetently as United fell to a 2-1 defeat to the Spanish side.

Jones in particular had a horror show. The former Blackburn defender scored a comical own-goal and looked calamitous throughout – the Red Devils’ supporters who watched on in horror were certainly not impressed and will hope the 26-year-old doesn’t start against the Reds.

Having said that, we did in fact ask United supporters who they would like to see in the centre of defence against Jurgen Klopp’s side, with midfielder Nemanja Matic presumably an option there if Mourinho wants to use him.

Coincidentally, a huge 65% of those who voted said that they would like to see the Serbian drop into defence alongside the Ivorian international Bailly, as shown by the results below…

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Tottenham Hotspur play host to Burnley in the Premier League at Wembley on Saturday following the jubilation of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League on Tuesday night, after their 1-1 draw with Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

Domestically, Spurs look to be well in the title race as well as they trail leaders Liverpool by just six points following Manchester City’s defeat to Chelsea last weekend, and the Reds play host to Manchester United at Anfield on Saturday which could potentially hand Mauricio Pochettino’s men the opportunity to close the gap even further if they get the three points against the lowly Clarets.

On the chalkboard

Ahead of the visit to Barcelona, Pochettino decided to rest Harry Kane from the starting XI for the trip to Leicester City last weekend, and the risk paid off as Lucas Moura shone up top in his absence with Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli getting on the score-sheet in a 2-0 win.

While the Argentine manager doesn’t seem to have any confidence in Fernando Llorente to start, he appears to be more than happy to start Lucas or Son in place of Kane when needed, and with the former only coming on as a substitute against Barca he should be relatively fresh when Sean Dyche’s men visit north London on Saturday.

Should he take the risk again?

He should, yes.

While it is a risk to leave your main goal threat out in any game, and while some supporters may prefer to leave him out against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup this week instead to boost their Premier League title hopes, Tottenham have the firepower in their squad to get the victory they want on Saturday.

Furthermore, Burnley have only scored six goals and picked up five points in their eight top flight matches on the road so far this term, and should the Clarets keep things tight for the majority of the game then Pochettino would always have the option to bring Kane on to try and get the goal they need.

Spurs have a big opportunity to be well involved in the Premier League title race right now, but ensuring Kane doesn’t burn out must also be a priority and he should be rested for matches like this one.

Playmaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas lifts the lid on the North London Derby’s famous 4-4 – Check out the video below…

Newcastle United fans have taken to Twitter in outrage after Mohamed Salah appeared to dive against them in their 4-0 Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

The Egyptian doubled the Reds’ lead shortly after half-time when he went down under the challenge of Paul Dummett, who laid a hand on Salah’s shoulder which the 26-year-old used as an invitation to hit the deck.

Topically, the awarding of the penalty seemed to be a soft one, as Dummett looked to withdraw his hand before any significant contact worthy of pulling the former Roma man to the floor happened.

The moment really crushed any hopes of a second-half fightback from the Magpies, and will have instantly ruined Rafa Benitez’s half-time team talk as the Tynesiders slip further into a relegation battle.

Understandably, Newcastle supporters were livid at the decision which cost their side dear, and took to Twitter to voice their anger at the prolific Liverpool goalscorer as a result…

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy scored the winning goal for his side in the 1-0 victory against Everton at Goodison Park on Tuesday, and Liverpool fans on Twitter reacted by urging their club to sign the 31-year-old.

In a poor game on Merseyside, the England international proved to be the difference as he produced an angled finish past Jordan Pickford following a mistake by Michael Keane, taking his tally for the season to seven Premier League goals.

Even though he turns 32 next week, there is no doubt that the speedy attacker could do a job for a club like Liverpool – either in the starting XI against lower Prermier League opposition or from the substitutes’ bench – and he could fancy a shot at winning another top-flight title.

Liverpool supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the Foxes forward, and while one said “definitely chuck in a bid for Vardy”, another said “he would be a really good back up to Firmino/Salah”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Has Alisson been Liverpool’s most important signing of the season? Check out the video below to find out why Jurgen Klopp thinks so…

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Southampton have officially confirmed that defender Alfie Jones has been recalled from a loan spell with Scottish outfit St Mirren. The Premier League club have stated that the 21-year-old will “have the chance to impress the new boss having returned to the south coast.”

On the chalkboard

If Jones has been recalled in order to become a member of the first team then that is a bold call on the part of Ralph Hasenhuttl, but also one that ought to be applauded and that could ultimately pay off for the German coach. With transfer funds likely to be tight at St Mary’s Stadium, finding an internal solution to the Saints’ lack of defensive depth would be a smart move.

American Soccer Fan is back! You should check out the video below but Southampton fans should look away now…

Hasenhuttl certainly needs to address the lack of quality centre-back depth currently available to him. The Saints boss doesn’t seem to trust Wesley Hoedt either, which shrinks his options even further.

A smart, surprising solution

Jones is deserving of this chance to make a mark for his parent club. The Bristol-born defender has impressed in the Scottish Premiership this season, making fourteen appearances and scoring one goal.

With the January transfer window currently open, many Southampton fans may have been expecting Hasenhuttl to take to the market in order to bolster his defensive ranks. However, Jones could prove to be a surprise solution to this squad deficiency, freeing up the budget to be spent elsewhere.

If this is indeed Hasenhuttl’s plan then it is a gamble, but certainly one that deserves to pay off.