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Wednesday night marks Barcelona’s third Champions League clash in the ongoing 2019/20 campaign.

The first two games were filled with mixed success.

Their curtain-raiser against Borussia Dortmund did not really yield an impressive performance from the Catalan giants as they barely got away with a goalless draw at Signal Iduna Park.

That display was definitely a worrying sign for the Blaugrana and despite going down early in the game following that one, this time against Inter Milan at the Camp Nou, they managed to turn things around and tally their first victory of the group stages against the Italian team.

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Even though that puts them in a decent position moving forward, it also gives them a clear chance of practically sealing the deal with a similar showing against their Wednesday night opposition, Slavia Prague.

Of course, on paper, it definitely looks like one of the easiest fixtures in the group.

After all, the Czech team can barely go toe to toe with the likes of Borussia Dortmund or the Nerazzurri and even less so with the giant of modern football that is Barcelona.

But regardless of that, this game is definitely starting to look like a banana skin game for the Catalans more than anything else.

They are rising in form, having beaten Eibar on the road just last weekend and overtaking Real Madrid in the La Liga standings in the process. Not only that, but they are unbeaten in their last five games across all competitions, keeping a clean sheet in the last two and scoring a total of 13 goals along the way.

By all accounts, the Barcelona Slavia Prague are hosting on Wednesday seem like an entirely different beast from the Barcelona we were watching at the very beginning of the ongoing campaign.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Morale should definitely be high at this point and usually, when that happens, performances also tend to get a significant boost.

After all, it’s all in the head, isn’t it?

But this particular game is much more important than initially meets the eye.

And sure, after already dealing with both Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan, the match against Slavia Prague doesn’t look like the most appetising fixture the group has to offer.

Their upcoming hosts will be acutely aware that they are the favourites to finish at the bottom of this group of death. For that very reason, there is nothing for them to lose tonight.

If Barcelona don’t take this clash seriously, they could regret it quite quickly.

Even though they did beat Inter Milan in their second fixture of the campaign, anything other than a victory in Prague would leave them with just one win after three games to their names; by all accounts, hardly an ideal situation.

And we should also not forget that this is the very same team that nearly sealed a victory over the Nerazzurri at the San Siro in their second Champions League fixture, but a late equaliser salvaged a point for the Italians.

Seeing how Barcelona struggled with Antonio Conte’s men in the first place, an upset in Prague is well within the realms of possibility.

But victory on Wednesday would put Blaugrana into a very promising position in this group.

So much more is on the line here in Prague than initially meets the eye.

Getting the three points and going all-in for them opens the door for smooth sailing for the Catalans.

But it all starts with jumping over the banana skin and playing their cards right.

Let’s see whether they can do that or not.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast ahead of the London Football Awards, Tony Cottee revealed who he would rather play with from his former clubs, choosing between Sebastien Haller, Jamie Vardy and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The former England international’s spells at West Ham, Leicester City and Everton came in an era where a striker would often have a partner, rather than being alone at the top of the pitch.

While he showed plenty of appreciation for Vardy, Cottee eventually went with Haller, due to compatibility: “You’ve got to look at who would be best suited for me to play alongside. I probably would pick Haller, because I think I was sort of a similar player to Vardy in terms of playing on the shoulder and being a goal scorer.”

He did also give some consideration to Calvert-Lewin, but in the end was unable to look past the Frenchman: “I think Calvin-Lewin can play in all three positions – left side centre forward, centre forward and right side centre forward – so I think in terms of me developing a partnership, bearing in mind I played in an era where you always played with someone then, I would certainly pick Haller as my preferred choice.”

It is easy to see how a partnership between Cottee and Haller could work, acting as a typical little and large combination that used to be commonplace in the English game.

In Haller’s nine Premier League games this season, he has scored four goals and got an assist, but more important for Cottee would be the link-up play, as he has averaged 7.1 aerial duels won and 1.1 key passes per game, as per WhoScored.

This would have been brilliant service for Cottee, who managed 23 goals in one season for the Hammers, as per Sporting Heroes.

Tony Cottee was speaking as a judge on The London Football Awards, due to take place on 5th March 2020 at Camden’s Roundhouse. Tickets are available from https://

londonfootballawards.org.

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

QPR’s performance against Brentford on Monday evening proved one thing – they desperately miss Jordan Hugill when he isn’t in the team.

Indeed, the R’s didn’t look as in control as they won just 35 per cent of their aerial duels without the man who single-handedly wins 3.5 per game.

The striker missed the game against the Bees due to a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the R’s previous match.

It seems that Hugill will be put straight back into the first team, and anyone who knows anything about Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics knows that this means only one thing.

3-3-1-3

Bielsa will most likely opt to use his patented 3-3-1-3 formation this weekend against the London club as the Rs are likely to line up with two strikers.

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The Argentine uses this system so that his centre-backs don’t get overloaded when playing against two forwards, but it will also have implications further up the pitch.

Indeed, one man may have one more of a chance to flourish in a preferable role.

Costa’s chance

This represents another chance for Helder Costa to make an impact in a more advanced role.

In the 3-3-1-3 the Portuguese is able to operate as a more traditional winger than in the 4-1-4-1, and that suits him to a tee.

We mastered the trick in the video below in 8 attempts… could you do better?

Bielsa has previously speculated that Costa doesn’t flourish in the 4-1-4-1 due to the fact that he is always looking to use his pace and power, and he’s able to use those attributes while playing as a winger – rather than as a deep right midfielder.

Of late, he’s been struggling significantly. The £10.8m-rated man has taken pelters from the supporters and is yet to contribute to a single goal since he began starting in the league.

This may be Costa’s last chance to impress as Pablo Hernandez edges ever closer to returning from injury, but with the Spaniard unlikely to be 100% fit for this weekend’s game it’s a great chance for the Wolves loanee to make an impact against one of the worst defences in the Championship.

He simply has to take advantage.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

It was only really a matter of time before these discussions started to crop up.

There’s only so long you can go as a ‘smaller club’ before talks begin about your best personnel being pinched by other clubs. Tony Cascarino believes that it isn’t the players that Sheffield United should be worried about losing, but rather their manager Chris Wilder.

What’s he said?

Speaking on the Weekend Sports Breakfast on Talksport, Cascarino spoke about how he believed the Sheffield United boss should be in contention for a much bigger side, such as Manchester United and Arsenal:

“I don’t like to do this, but I sometimes think, Man Utd job, Arsenal job, Chrissy Wilder? Absolutely. And yet loads of people out there, there’d be a snobbery around football that’d go ‘Allegri or a Mourinho’, and I’m like no, I’d rather go for Chrissy Wilder”.

Find out which Premier League newcomer is a future England boss in the making in the video below…

Improbable, but not impossible.

It’s well known that Wilder is a fan of the club, but that shouldn’t instantly mean that he is guaranteed to stay at Bramall Lane until he retires or is pushed out the door by the owners.

Neil Warnock is another one who was a famed Blades fan, and he decided to call it quits when they were relegated back in 2007, so just because they’re a fan doesn’t mean that they’re immune from wanting to jump ship if the time suits them.

That’s why it’s up to Sheffield United, if they truly believe that he is someone that can take them forward, to really show how much they appreciate him and value him.

He signed a new contract with them in the summer, but that was before their incredible start to the season and before he was being talked about for the bigger jobs in the division.

It might seem bonkers to do so, but it may be worth sitting down and negotiating a new contract even though it’s less than four months since he signed the last one. At least that way, if his head does get turned, they’ll at least be able to get themselves extremely well compensated for whichever club ends up going after him.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas believes Everton’s visit to St Mary’s could bring the curtain down on Marco Silva’s reign as the Toffees boss.

What did he say?

Silva has been under pressure in recent weeks and could be facing a defining fixture on Saturday. The club now sit 17th in the table and their clash with 18th place Southampton could potentially go some way to determining the futures of both managers.

Should the Blues lose on the south coast, Nicholas suggested it could be Silva’s final game as Everton boss.

The Scot said in his Sky Sports predictions: “Southampton have come back a little bit in terms of credibility. They have not played badly in the two games against Man City for which they gained credibility, but what did they get? Nothing.

“It got rid of the embarrassment and anger, whereas Everton are still so vulnerable away from home.

“Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond will carry a threat, but this could be Marco Silva’s last game in charge if he loses – I think David Moyes would be a target if it goes badly for Everton.”

Ominous sign

There is a possibility that as we reach December, Everton could be second from bottom. A loss to Southampton would just about keep them above the drop zone, but if they lost to Norwich soon after, Silva could be embarrassed.

These next two games are simply must-wins for the Everton boss. Perhaps he is already on borrowed time as it is, but more dropped points would surely be too much to justify his stay on Merseyside any longer.

After these two fixtures, the Blues face off with Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City within 30 days.

In truth, based on their current form it is tough to see them claiming many points from those games, so it’s no surprise Nicholas can see the end looming for Silva ahead of a huge clash for both sides.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson has nothing but respect for the club’s attacking star Richarlison.

The Iceland international has praised the Brazilian for the manner in which he has adapted to the English game following a difficult upbringing.

What did he say?

Richarlison seems to have finally kick-started his season this past month, with some impressive performances.

The 22-year-old has scored twice and assisted once in his past five games for Everton.

Prior to this, the attacker went five games without any sort of direct involvement in a goal.

Sigurdsson told evertonfc.com: “He comes from a different lifestyle.

“He’s very tough, he had a very tough upbringing, probably tougher than most people could handle, so personally I’ve got nothing but respect for him for the way he’s come through to get to where he is today.

“He gets on with it. He gets kicked a lot.

“He’s been fantastic for the Club since he’s been here,” Sigurdsson said.

“He works very hard. He’s one of those players who gets kicked.

“He’s not a Brazilian who just wants the ball and doesn’t do his job, he’s very good defensively and he works very hard and he scores goals.”

The best could be yet to come

The Brazilian left his homeland to join Watford back in 2017 for £11m, with little known about him back then.

A year later, he had become so highly regarded that he secured a £50m move to Goodison Park off the back of an eye-catching maiden campaign in English football.

In that first campaign, Richarlison bagged five goals and four assists and helped keep Watford in the top-flight. However, his first season on Merseyside was where he really proved his worth by scoring 13 league goals – the joint-most for Everton.

Now, once again, the versatile player is leading the charts and continuing to be of great importance to Marco Silva.

The former Fluminense star has three league goals and is constantly showing how well he has adapted to the English game.

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… 

The international break gives club fans the perfect opportunity to take a break from all the hustle and bustle of the Premier League and instead watch the best players in the world represent their countries.

From an England point of view, it has already been a successful week. They beat Montenegro 7-0 on Thursday to secure their qualification for Euro 2020. They aren’t the first team to do so, however.

Italy nailed down their place at the tournament during their previous fixture against Greece. However, from a Liverpool point of view, their match against Bosnia and Herzogovina tonight is still worth a watch considering Lorenzo Insigne should be playing.

The 28-year-old is said to be a Reds target next summer, according to reports via Rai Sport) and he could steal the show tonight.

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Napoli have had a difficult season this term. They currently lie seventh in the Serie A table and are already a huge 13 points off the top of the table. However, the £58.5m-valued star – as per Transfermarkt – has still made a promising start to the campaign.

He has three goals and four assists in the Italian top tier, which puts him third and joint-first amongst his teammates respectively. In the Champions League, he has been even more impressive, scoring once and providing an assist in two starts. His 4.3 successful dribbles per match in that competition is the third-highest of all players across the 32 teams.

Against Bosnia, he should line-up on the left-wing. That was where he featured against them in the first match between these two, which was arguably his best performance in recent memory for the Azzurri. As Italy squeezed past the Zmajevi 2-1, he scored and provided the assist for the other strike.

In that first match, he faced Darko Todorovic, who played at right-back, but it is actually 31-year-old Zoran Kvrzic who has played the last two games. The former is currently on loan at 2.Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel, whilst the latter plies his trade with HNK Rijeka. No matter who is opposite him, Insigne has more than enough quality to cause them problems.

As such, it should be a good opportunity to see exactly what the forward can do going forward. Liverpool fans could well be watching a future Red if they do.

Most football fans hate the international break, and Juventus supporters are no different.

In fact, right now, there might not be a fanbase more infuriated by it. In a short space of time, they have seen two key players in Miralem Pjanic and Alex Sandro pick up injuries while representing Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brazil respectively.

According to Globoesporte (via Football Italia), the latter has picked up a thigh injury, a thigh injury Juventus will hope is not a serious one.

Sandro is a fine footballer and, looking at some of the other options in Juventus’ squad, adequate cover is arguably hard to find.

It is no wonder why Maurizio Sarri was linked with a move for his former player at Chelsea, Emerson.

The Italy international has been a bit of a revelation for the Blues this season, thriving under Frank Lampard while showing his rival for that left-back spot Marcos Alonso how it is done.

Once a Juventus target before Sarri had even arrived at the Allianz Stadium, Emerson looks like the complete modern-day full-back. He is quick, can dribble, makes himself available for the overlap and is by no means the worst tackler.

It does not have to be the Brazilian-born defender, but Juventus should undoubtedly consider recruiting a player of his ilk once January arrives.

Juventus fans, should the club try to sign another left-back in January? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Wolves transfer policy over the last 18 months has witnessed quite dramatic shifts.

Ahead of a return to the top-flight in 2018, the Midlands outfit targeted some hefty additions in order to ensure they were ready for the demands of the Premier League.

They landed Adama Traore for what was a club-record fee at the time of £18m. Joao Moutinho walked through the doors, joining from Monaco. while Jonny and Raul Jimenez were later made permanent additions too.

The latter once again broke their transfer record but as he and Leander Dendoncker officially signed permanent terms in the summer, Nuno Santo and the hierarchy at Wolves decided that a more low-key approach would be wise.

Instead of targeting players to impact the first XI, they signed individuals who they hope will have a far greater impact in the future. This was Wolves’ succession plan. If one player leaves then another from within the club takes their place – that’s according to Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell.

Speaking in an interview with Express & Star recently, he said: “That clear plan was to look at young talent with high potential. We wanted to add more balance.”

And indeed that’s what they did, bringing in the likes of Pedro Neto and Meritan Shabani, as well as adding Bruno Jordao and Flavio Cristovao to their ranks.

However, another player in a similar age bracket and stage of their career could join in January. The young talent in question is Reading’s Danny Loader.

Wolves had a deal in place for the teenager last summer before it fell through but Football League World now understands they will re-launch their efforts to bring him to Molineux.

At the age of 19, the forward has his whole career in front of him and even though it could be tough to dislodge Jimenez, Diogo Jota and Patrick Cutrone, he’s someone with clear potential.

Thelwell also noted this week: “We are succession planning all the time to make sure that we have players that are ready for if we lose somebody, or transfer somebody or if we want to support somebody.”

Signing a young individual like Loader would clearly benefit this plan and even despite his limited game time in 2019/20, playing just four times in the Championship, it would be a low-risk addition that would suit the club’s newfound philosophy.

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

According to Bundesliga expert Kevin Hatchard on talkSPORT, Tottenham Hotspur are keeping tabs on Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Nubel, and Jose Mourinho must bring him to north London.

What’s the word, then?

Well, speaking on talkSPORT Hatchard revealed that he’d heard that Spurs are watching the Gelsenkirchen-based club’s captain, who has a “Neuer vibe about him”.

As things stand both Michel Vorm and Hugo Lloris are injured with Paulo Gazzaniga filling in between the sticks, but with the former duo getting no younger it wouldn’t be too surprising if Spurs decided to look for a potential new number one sooner rather than later.

Indeed, according to Football Insider Lloris fears that he could be one of the casualties of the Mourinho era, and we said that we believe he is right to be worried.

Nubel a good target?

He certainly looks like he is.

The fact that the 6 foot 4 colossus only recently turned 23 years of age and is the captain of the Bundesliga club speaks volumes – especially as a goalkeeper.

Of course he could follow in Lloris’ footsteps in that regard, but Tottenham would benefit from having another leader in their ranks as they look to achieve their big aims.

It isn’t only the fact he is their skipper which is impressive either, considering he has also been compared to Bayern Munich legend Manuel Neuer.

That is high praise indeed given the 33-year-old has won everything – the World Cup, the Champions League and countless Bundesliga titles, as well as individual honours.

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In addition, given some of Lloris’ mistakes over the course of the last year or so and the fact he doesn’t seem overly confident with the ball at his feet – as shown in September when he dawdled on the ball and gifted Southampton’s Danny Ings a goal – the addition of Nubel could be a God-send, either to provide competition for Gazzaniga or overtake him should the France international be cast aside.

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The German has even been described as having “extraordinary footballing ability” by Klaus Thomforde, Germany’s U21 goalkeeper coach, via Bundesliga.com, which suggests he still has a massive future ahead of him.

At 23 years of age that is certainly the case, and Tottenham must look to boost their goalkeeping options by bringing him to the club.

In other Spurs news, Jose Mourinho’s comments on one Pochettino favourite have left Tottenham fans predicting an exit…