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Arsenal fans have leapt to the defence of Nicolas Pepe after his underwhelming start to life in north London.

Pepe, 24, joined the club from Lille in the summer for a club-record £72m and has yet to hit the heights that he did at the Hauts-de-France based outfit, even being heavily criticised by supporters for his display against Manchester United.

The Ivorian has scored just once in 10 outings in all competitions, netting from the penalty spot against Aston Villa, while he has provided a mere three assists.

After recognising his troublesome start, Pepe admitted that his confidence is low but also stated that he has no concerns in adapting quickly to the Premier League, per RMC (via the Metro).

Despite his slow start, supporters have leapt to Pepe’s defence as they acknowledge that he will need time to bed into his new surroundings in north London and in England’s top-flight.

Here you will find some of the best responses from Arsenal fans:

Soon it will be time for Real Madrid and PSG to lock horns in their group’s Champions League opener at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.It is a huge clash that will be a test for both sides, and even more so when we factor in all the injuries and suspensions both teams have under their belts going into the game.Real have a total of seven players unavailable for this game – five are injured, including Luka Modric and Marcelo, and two, Sergio Ramos and Nacho, are suspended.Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Their French rivals are in a similar shape with four players out injured, including stars like Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani.

And the news of the young forward officially missing the game at Parc des Princes has been greeted with a degree of relief for many Real fans around the globe.

Indeed, some believe that Real now absolutely have to win the game.

You can see some of their reactions in the tweets down below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Aston Villa will play their third game in just under seven days on Saturday as they welcome a stern Burnley side to Villa Park.

Dean Smith will yet again be looking for better fortunes in the Premier League as they have started the season with just one victory in six matches.

Last time out, they were disappointingly defeated by a ten-man Arsenal side despite the west Midlands outfit holding the lead twice, and obviously having that player advantage.

There are no easy games in the top-flight and that trend continues as ninth-placed Burnley make the trip from Lancashire on Saturday.

Sean Dyche’s men managed to keep Teemu Pukki quiet last weekend so it’s likely that their defence will hold the keys to whether Villa can pick up their second win of the season or not.

On the Chalkboard

Most notably, James Tarkowski, who is likely to be the most crucial figure in stopping Villa’s barren frontline from scoring.

Until the Arsenal match, the Villans had scored just four goals and the Gunners’ defence is up there with the worst in the league, having faced more shots than anyone else in Europe prior to kickoff, so too much shouldn’t be taken from the match on that basis.

Tarkowski is winning 4.3 aerial duels per game on average while also averaging a massive 4.2 clearances and 2.3 tackles per match, via WhoScored.

It’s pretty obvious to suggest that Smith will lineup with just the one striker, their only fit senior option too, in Wesley.

Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Their club-record man has netted twice this season, including a decent effort against Arsenal, but he will have to improve in other areas if he is going to have success against the 26-year-old.

Wesley has won just 1.7 aerial duels per game and also registers 2.3 unsuccessful touches per match too – something that the two-time England international should thrive off.

It’s the battle of two titans at Villa Park and who comes out on top could well decide the game.

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Tottenham Hotspur fans have hit out at right-back Kieran Trippier for his latest quotes on the club.

The England international has expressed his disappointment at his sale, insisting that he would have liked to remain in north London.

Per The Daily Telegraph, he said: “I had a conversation with the manager, a meeting with the chairman to see what my future was and I didn’t get the impression that they wanted to keep me. It is football. It happens.​

“I tried to speak to the chairman about it and I didn’t really get an answer. I spoke to the manager about his plans and I didn’t get a yes and I didn’t get a no. So, you get the impression.​

“It’s disappointing. I gave everything for the club and I wanted to stay, I had another couple of years left, but everything happens for a reason.”

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The defender made 38 appearances in all competitions last season, even playing the entire 90 minutes as Spurs lost the Champions League final to Liverpool in Madrid.

However, his season was characterised by a number of sloppy mistakes, namely a calamitous own goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

His sale netted the club £20m and, while they haven’t truly replaced him by buying another right-back, it appears that Kyle Walker-Peters is well-placed to take on the role, while Serge Aurier remains in north London.

And fans have lashed out at Trippier for his take on his exit.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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

According to The Sun, Bayern Munich will reignite their interest in Manchester City winger Leroy Sane in the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

The Germany international was the subject of intense transfer speculation earlier this summer amid a possible move to the Bundesliga.

However, the 23-year-old suffered a major blow when he fell victim to an ACL injury in the Community Shield clash against Liverpool.

Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Despite potentially being out until next spring, The Sun claim Bayern are intent on signing the German, and are hopeful City drop their reported £145m price tag due to his injury.

The report adds City are in “no mood” to let go him on the cheap, and that Pep Guardiola’s side have not given up hope of convincing Sane to sign a new long-term deal with the club.

Time to cash in

Prior to Sane’s injury, City were absolutely right in keeping hold of the flying German. After all, this is a man who racked up 16 goals and 18 assists across all competitions last season. But seeing him ruled out for the best part of this campaign, and with a big question mark hanging over him about whether he will return as the same player, Guardiola’s side should now lean into selling him.

If the Bavarian giants were to acquiesce to City’s demands of more than £100m for Sane, then that would represent excellent business. Guardiola has publicly admitted in recent weeks that they could not sign a new centre-back in the summer transfer window due to financial restraints. Cashing in on Sane for big money would give them more than enough ammunition to address that issue in the winter transfer window.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

For all of Sane’s incredible numbers since his arrival at City, there have been occasions where it has appeared Guardiola and the winger haven’t seen eye to eye. The 23-year-old’s injury may be the catalyst in prompting the Etihad outfit to finally let him go.

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Loads of Sheffield United fans have been reacting to their big deadline day signing, as Scott Hogan has joined the club on loan.

Hogan has joined the Blades on a temporary deal until the end of the season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

The 26 year-old has made just seven appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa this season, per Transfermarkt, due partly to the incredible goalscoring form of Tammy Abraham.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

While he hasn’t found the net in his limited playing time this season, Hogan’s work rate and versatility will be a huge boost for Chris Wilder.

The three-cap Irish international is of course primarily a centre forward, but he can play on the wings as well, and his tireless running down the channels and constant harrying of the opposition defenders will add another element to Wilder’s arsenal.

He will be an brilliantly shrewd signing if he can rediscover his Brentford form, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions to the signing down below…

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Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful that both Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial will be able to train with the club this week ahead of the trip to Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

Shaw was forced off in the first half of United’s 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

Martial, meanwhile, completed the full 90 minutes but picked up a late knock in the shock home loss for the 20-time English champions.

After the contest, Solskjaer told MUTV, as quoted by The Manchester Evening News, that he hoped neither injury was “too bad” and that the pair could return to training this week.

As expected, the United fans have been on social media having their say on the situation, and a number have expressed their concern at the thought of only having Mason Greenwood as back-up.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A selection of the Twitter reaction to the update can be seen below:

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With a loan move for Philippe Coutinho and a permanent deal for Lucas Digne already secured this month, Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard have been making no qualms in terms of flexing their finances and ability to attract players.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the window, one player that the Villans have been linked with in recent weeks that would certainly be an attractive prospect for Gerrard to have in his team and improve them is Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez.

Gomez joined Liverpool back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Charlton Athletic in a deal worth a reported fee of £3.5m.

Since then, the Englishman has made a total of 131 appearances across all competitions for the Merseyside club, winning the Premier League and Champions League along the way.

Labelled as an “unbelievable” player by fellow Reds defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gomez has found regular game time hard to come by this season, particularly in the Premier League with just three substitute appearances under his belt.

This suggests that should Villa make an approach to Gomez and his representatives this month over a potential deal, perhaps the promise of regular playing time under Gerrard’s guidance would be tempting for the defender.

From Villa’s point of view, they have a space in their squad for a player like the England international given how they recently said goodbye to Axel Tuanzebe after his loan deal was cut short by Manchester United.

Someone of Gomez’s calibre could well rival the likes of Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause for a place in the starting XI, thus sealing Gerrard a dream deal. He has already sealed one player who used to be at his former employers and bringing in another individual well known to him would surely be ideal, especially when it comes to building a working relationship.

Speaking of Mings, in a recent poll ran by Football FanCast, 66% of Villa fans think the England international is a liability for the team after his shaky performance in their 3-1 defeat against Chelsea, where he was at fault for Romelu Lukaku’s goal, further highlighting the need for a new defender to come in this month.

As for Gerrard, someone with obvious connections at Liverpool, it would undoubtedly be a dream move for him to have someone like Gomez in his side that has experience of playing at the top level under a manager such as Jurgen Klopp to potentially improve him even further.

Before the window closes, Villa should definitely test the waters to see if Gomez would be willing to make the move to the Midlands and if the Anfield outfit would be willing to let their £22.5m-rated centre-half go halfway through the season.

In other news: Imagine him & Coutinho: Gerrard can form scary AVFC duo with “clever” £43k-p/w gem – opinion

Even though Southampton have managed to rack up a respectable total of 25 goals scored in 21 Premier League games so far this season with the likes of Che Adams, Adam Armstrong and Armando Broja all contributing, the future of one of those players has been the centre of attention in recent weeks.

Despite only being on loan at Southampton for the season from fellow Premier League club Chelsea, there have been suggestions that Broja could look to stay at St. Mary’s beyond his current deal on a permanent basis.

Should the south coast club be unable to sign him permanently from Chelsea, one other player the Saints could look at that they have been linked with in the past that could be their next version of Broja as a young prospect being given the chance to announce himself on the big stage in the Premier League is RB Salzburg’s 20-year-old striker Chukwubuike Adamu.

With a total of 94 senior club appearances under his belt for Salzburg, FC Liefering and FC St. Gallen 1879, the youngster has managed to rack up a total of 38 goals and 16 assists along the way, highlighting his attacking capabilities.

This season has seen Adamu score three goals and provide two assists in 16 appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga as well as making an appearance in all of Salzburg’s Champions League group games, showing that the £3.6m-rated gem has experience of playing in a top competition against tough opposition.

In terms of a potential move to Southampton in the future, even though Adamu’s current contract at Salzburg isn’t set to expire until the summer of 2025, he could well be a good option for the Saints’ new owner Dragan Solak to target if they don’t end up securing Broja on a permanent deal.

Taking his young age into account, Adamu certainly has the time ahead of him to grow and develop his game to potentially turn into an exciting and useful squad option for Ralph Hasenhuttl in the Premier League.

Moving forward, with some time still left before the January transfer window closes and Broja’s future still undecided, Southampton could make an initial approach to Salzburg to see what the situation is with Adamu and if they’d be willing to make a potential deal for him in the future just in case.

In other news: Sky Sports journalist drops exciting Saints transfer update, Ralph would be delighted – opinion

Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick could sign a major upgrade on Harry Maguire with Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger.

What’s the story?

According to reports from Sky Deutschland (via Sport Witness), United are one of a number of top European sides who are chasing the Germany international.

It’s claimed that the likes of PSG and Bayern Munich have joined Real Madrid in the race to sign the central defender, and that Rangnick’s side have now emerged as an additional contender for his signature.

Better than Maguire

While Maguire may be established as a cornerstone of this United defence, Rudiger’s arrival would see the club land a genuine upgrade on the England international.

As per Whoscored, the £100k-per-week German has averaged an impressive 7.00 match rating over the course of the Premier League this season, which far betters Maguire’s measly 6.56.

And, when you look at the key underlying numbers, it’s easy to see why.

Rudiger averages almost double the number of interceptions that Maguire does, while he also boasts a far higher average number of passes and key passes per game – the kind of ball-playing centre-back that could thrive under Rangnick.

The Chelsea man also wins more offsides per game too, a pointer of how his pace and reading of the game is slightly superior to that of Maguire.

Rudiger’s performances for the Blues has earned rave reviews from a number of people, not least former United man Rio Ferdinand, who waxed lyrical about just how good he has been in the top-flight.

He said (via the Metro): “Look at Rudiger, he’s arguably, since Tuchel has been there (at Chelsea), been the best defender in the Premier League. Him or (Ruben) Dias in that time. He’s been unbelievable, he’s like an animal.”

And, speaking to BILD, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was similarly effusive in his praise, saying: “Toni has established himself exceptionally since the first day we arrived. He is an absolute leader and plays at an incredibly high level.”

The £31.5m-rated star could bring some proven Premier League experience and quality to this United back-line, and a real upgrade on Maguire.

Meanwhile, Man Utd must move for this Serie A midfielder…