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Aston Villa stormed to a 4-2 win over Birmingham in the Second City Derby at the weekend and go into their game against Nottingham Forest on a three-game winning stroke. 

Under Smith, Villa have become one of the most dangerous sides in the league and are now in touching distance of the playoff positions.

At the weekend, Dean Smith was forced to withdraw Henri Lansbury and Albert Adomah who both picked up knocks.

Frustratingly for Smith, Lansbury had only come on as a second-half substitute and only managed eight minutes before coming off.

Adomah, who got the assist for Jack Grealish’s header, played 65 minutes before being replaced for Yannick Bolasie. Ahead of their game against fellow playoff contenders Nottingham Forest, both Adomah and Lansbury will miss the game tomorrow night according to The Nottingham Forest.

The Breakdown

Adomah hasn’t quite managed to replicate his form from last season and had only recently begun to show signs of getting back to his best.

He does still remain a key player but in his absence, Smith will have to turn to Bolasie. The talented winger has played 11 games this season, all coming from the bench.

The former Crystal Palace winger was signed on loan this season and has been recovering from a long-term injury. At his best, he is an incredible talent and could well be a huge player in taking Villa up the table.

Under Smith, Bolasie could form a devastating attack with Tammy Abraham and Jack Grealish.

What do you think Villa fans? 

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West Ham United have had plenty of talented youth players in their ranks over the years.

Xande Silva has only been part of the fold at the London Stadium since August following his move from Vitoria Guimaraes, but he has been making an impression in the academy ranks.

The 21-year-old has netted seven goals this season, and two of those came on Monday night for the Under-23s.

Silva has been on the sidelines for the past two months with a hamstring injury, but he made a quick impact upon his return.

Over the course of 50 minutes, the youngster nabbed two goals in a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in their Premier League 2 clash.

The Portuguese ace is yet to get his first-team chance under manager Manuel Pellegrini, but after his performance for the development squad, many fans have called on the Chilean coach to give Silva an opportunity to shine in the Premier League.

Check out the video below to see Playmaker FC’s American Soccer Fan give his take on all six ‘field goals’ in West Ham v Burnley…

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Loads of Newcastle fans have been reacting to Friday’s big transfer rumour, as reports claim they are eyeing Nottingham Forest sensation Joe Lolley.

According to The Mirror (16:42), Newcastle and Fulham are both eyeing a move for Lolley, who scored one and assisted four in Forest’s incredible 5-5 draw against Aston Villa on Wednesday.

The 26 year-old joined Aitor Karanka’s side for just £450,000 back in January, and has found some superb form this season, scoring seven goals in all competitions.

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The report claims Forest want to keep the versatile attacker, but their hand could be forced by the fact that brought in a whopping 17 players this summer.

Newcastle of course have struggled to create chances and score goals all season, although they have won their last three matches.

Ayoze Perez in particular has had a poor start to the campaign, and Lolley’s end product is far superior to the Spaniard.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are split on moving for the Championship starlet…

Nottingham Forest had put together a solid run of form before losing to Preston North End at the weekend. 

Aitor Karanka’s side have been one of the more consistent sides in the league and had only lost three games this season. Forest currently sit seventh in the table, two points off Middlesbrough and have one of the best defences in the league.

Moreover, with Lewis Grabban up front, Forest have the in-form striker in the league with 14 goals.

Grabban has formed a solid partnership with key man, Joe Lolley who according to Football Insider, is set to sign a new deal with the club.

The Breakdown

Lolley has scored seven goals while creating seven and has been a star of the Championship season. Such has been his form that he’s apparently attracted interest from Premier League clubs such as Watford, Cardiff and Championship West Bromwich Albion.

The midfielder joined the club from Huddersfield in January and has a contract that currently runs until 2022. With Forest targeting the Premier League, signing one of their best players to a new deal is great news for the fans.

Capable of playing in any of the three forward positions behind the striker, Lolley has the ability to not only take players on but also pick a pass as seen by his superb assist tally.

As it stands, he’s one of the best in the league and if Forest can sign him to a new long-term deal, it would represent a move that is only going to pay dividends in the future.

Thought Nottingham Forest fans? 

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Steven Gerrard would be foolish not to target Aston Villa midfielder Henri Lansbury in a January loan swoop having lost Ovie Ejaria.

What’s the word?

Ejaria is back in Liverpool now, having cut short his Ibrox loan spell after becoming unsettled north of the border and deleting all reference of the club from his social media accounts.

Gerrard held talks with the 21-year-old last Friday in hopes of resurrecting the midfielder’s potential Rangers career, but the Anfield icon was unable to convince the player to stay. Some suggestions about the player pointed to Ejaria struggling to adapt to the physical nature of the Scottish Premiership.

Sky Sports News quoted the Gers boss on the situation: “Am I disappointed he’s gone? Yes. Do I think it’s the right decision? No, because I think he had an incredible opportunity here.”

Having lost a figure that featured 21 times for Rangers, Gerrard has admitted fresh, talented faces will need to be signed in January, and one option he should consider is Aston Villa’s Lansbury.

Playmaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he often received racist abuse after North London Derbies – Check out the video below…

Why move for Lansbury?

The 28-year-old has featured just twice for the Villans so far this season, having picked up a hamstring injury upon his return from exile under Steve Bruce.

When he moved to Villa Park for £2.75million at the start of 2017, it should have been the next grand stage of his career after proving to be a goal-creating and scoring threat from midfield at Nottingham Forest.

It never took off in the same manner, unfortunately, and he soon fell out of favour. A clean slate upon Dean Smith’s arrival brought about his return to the first-team, until an injury took away his chance to show his worth once more.

Smith, though, remained impressed with his work ethic behind the scenes, stating: “He’s been doing really well and has played in a few behind-closed-doors games for us. He’s been pushing to get on and did well when he did.”

If Gerrard was to make a move, it would need to be on a temporary basis due to the Arsenal product’s significant £40,000-a-week wage. He would, however, benefit from the measured mind of the 28-year-old, who can pick apart opponents and get the most from his attacking colleagues.

Let us know if you’d welcome Henri Lansbury at Ibrox in our poll below…

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Crystal Palace travel to the Etihad Stadium this weekend in the hope that they will inflict an only second Premier League defeat of the season to Manchester City, but they will surely fail to present a challenge to the champions if Roy Hodgson sticks with a bland 4-4-2.

On the chalkboard

The Eagles recorded their first win without Wilfried Zaha since September 2016 – a 3-2 victory over Sunderland – last weekend as they took all three points from a gritty battle with Leicester, courtesy of a super Luka Milivojevic strike, but their biggest test yet is set to come on Saturday.

City have emerged victorious in seven of their last eight clashes with Palace, including two 5-o wins in 2017, but the visitors will be hoping that they can repeat last time’s result: a tense 0-0 draw would surely be fine by the Selhurst Park faithful.

Hodgson has been lining up with a classic 4-4-2 this season without an orthodox striker but Palace’s predictable build up will surely be nullified by the City press, so what can the 71-year-old do to give his side their best chance of success?

Keep faith in Kelly

Martin Kelly was voted man of the match against the Foxes as he filled in comfortably for the suspended James Tomkins, who will now be back for this weekend’s round of fixtures – both should start against Pep Guardiola’s men.

Ability to quickly switch between defensive solidity and attacking threat will be paramount for any kind of result against City – no team in the world can outplay the Cityzens on their day so the Eagles’ opportunities, if any, will surely come on the counter.

A five-man defence accommodates for Kelly, Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho, while wing-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Patrick van Aanholt have the pace and stamina to get up and down the flank all day long – they will be crucial in offering width to a midfield three of Milivojevic, Cheikhou Kouyate and Max Meyer.

Shifting Meyer into a more central role behind the two strikers would enable him to have a more direct impact on his side’s creation, while the industrious Milivojevic and Kouyate would provide defensive cover.

Expect Andros Townsend and Zaha to continue their unorthodox partnership regardless, as Jordan Ayew and Alexander Sorloth have looked apathetic all season. As enticing as this set-up seems, it will surely be too bold a change for Hodgson to make so we could see a drubbing if the former England boss refuses to make any tactical tweaks.

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A large majority of the Liverpool fans that voted in our recent poll think that Alberto Moreno’s Liverpool career is over and that he should leave the club in January.

The 26-year-old is out of contract in the summer and is out of favour with Jurgen Klopp, who clearly trusts midfielder James Milner as cover at full-back more than the Spaniard.

There is little doubt that Moreno is a threat when he gets forward from left-back, but in the Premier League his defending has been extremely suspect and clearly Reds fans don’t want to see him offered a new deal, as 84 per cent of those that answered our poll said that his Liverpool career was over.

Given that he was signed for a reasonably hefty £12m from Sevilla back in 2014 though, the Liverpool board would surely hope to offload him for at least a small fee in January to avoid losing him on a free.

Check out the full results below.

Leicester City supporters have been in high spirits in recent times after seeing their team get back to winning ways in the Premier League on New Year’s Day.

Claude Puel’s men went into their clash with stuttering Everton at Goodison Park off the back of a surprise 1-0 home defeat to Cardiff City in their previous league encounter, and thus seeking to bounce back with victory against Marco Silva’s Toffees on Tuesday. And they did just that as a Jamie Vardy strike 13 minutes into the second half was the difference in a pretty drab affair on Merseyside, with that 1-0 success moving the Foxes up to seventh place in the Premier League table.

As such, there have been many delighted Leicester fans up and down the country in recent times, with several unsurprisingly lauding the efforts of striker Vardy for netting the crucial winner against the Toffees on Tuesday.

That was the Englishman’s seventh Premier League goal of what has been a decent season for the 31-year-old to further highlight just how reliant the Foxes remain on the striker, with their next top-scoring striker this term Kelechi Iheanacho with a paltry two goals to his name.

And while Vardy proved to be the match-winner against Silva’s struggling Everton on Tuesday, it was Ricardo Pereira, who played the 31-year-old through to net on 58 minutes, who was the real hero in Leicester’s victory at Goodison Park.

The 25-year-old has made quite the impact at the King Power Stadium following his move from Porto during the summer in making a starting berth his own under Puel, appearing in all but three of their Premier League matches this season, with Tuesday seeing him record his third assist for the Foxes.

Be it at right back, wing back, or indeed further forward down either the left or the right, the Portugal international has proven to be an absolute revelation for the Midlands outfit this season, and Tuesday was another example of what an outstanding acquisition he is continuing to be after producing another stellar display.

Be it completing a team-high seven dribbles over the course of the 90 minutes (as per WhoScored), which is very much indicative of the huge amount of confidence he currently has in his ability, or indeed winning three of the aerial duels he contested, Pereira made a big impact both on and indeed off the ball for the visitors.

And he even played his part defensively as well as Puel’s side kept a seventh clean sheet of the campaign on Tuesday, with the 25-year-old winning all four of the tackles he attempted during the match, at the same time making a handful of clearances and interceptions to suggest that he was regularly in the right place at the right time to snuff out Everton’s attack.

As such, while Vardy will likely get the plaudits for netting the all-important solitary goal against the Toffees, it was the exploits of £18 million-rated Pereira (as per Transfermarkt) which suggest that he was the real hero behind Leicester’s win at Goodison Park.

Leicester fans… what do you think? Let us know!

According to the BBC, Marko Arnautović’s brother, Danijel, has said the West Ham striker wants to move to China to “challenge for titles”. 

While The Hammers have said that the Austrian is not for sale, there is a feeling that this may be one of the sagas of the transfer window that will not end.

With that in mind, these are two signings that The Hammers could make should Arnautović leave:

Michy Batshuayi

Michy Batshuayi is a player that is on the periphery of the Chelsea squad but cannot break in. Subsequently, he was loaned to La Liga outfit Valencia this season, hoping to emulate the barnstorming season he had in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund last season, but it has not gone well at all, and he was recalled yesterday.

Although it is unlikely that he will play for Chelsea, West Ham could be the perfect place for him, as he is a powerful, well-rounded striker that has a similar physical presence to Arnautović. What’s better is that the Belgian is probably a more natural finisher, and has an acute sense of where to be at the right time to be on the scoresheet.

With the likes of Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass behind him, the 25-year-old Batshuayi will get a lot of service to showcase his talents.

Olivier Giroud

In terms on natural goal scorers in the Premier League, Frenchman Olivier Giroud needs no introduction. The World Cup winner is not blessed with pace, dribbling neither, but he does know how to score more than many.

Ultimately, that is what West Ham will want, and Giroud will want as much game time as possible now that he is 32, and he is not exactly a favourite under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, West Ham could get him very cheaply, and The Blues will be keen to sell.

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Southampton fell to a disappointing penalty shootout defeat to Derby County on Wednesday evening, and Liverpool fans were quick to have their say on in-form winger Nathan Redmond’s display.

The Saints raced into a 2-0 lead after the break with half-time substitute Redmond netting the second with a brilliant dink over the Rams goalkeeper.

However, the winger’s influence faded as the game wore on and he missed a great late chance to win the game for the hosts after the surrendered a two-goal lead, as the game went to extra-time.

That half-an-hour passed without any more goals, and Redmond eventually missed the decisive penalty in the shootout as Frank Lampard’s side progressed to the fourth round.

The performance was a disappointing one from Redmond, who was linked with Liverpool when he was a Birmingham City player, but given how many players have made the switch from St Mary’s to Anfield in the past he may well still be on their radar.

Reds fans were split on the performance of the winger; some believe he would be an excellent budget signing, while others felt he struggled in a major way against lower-league opposition.

FFC’s James Jones has identified the one thing that could cost Liverpool the title. Find out what it is in the video below…