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Nottingham Forest lost only their second league match in their last nine games on Tuesday evening, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Luton Town.

The loss came courtesy of a 64th minute goal from Hatters’ midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe but the outcome could have been a lot different had Glenn Murray not turned in a shocking performance at the City Ground.

The former Brighton and Hove Albion striker played the full 90 minutes for Forest, earning the lowest WhoScored rating of the entire home side’s starting XI; just 6.06.

Throughout the game, Chris Hughton’s men managed to create a number of chances, taking 19 shots in all, with Murray providing six of those. However, he only managed to hit the target once with those attempts.

Despite winning five aerial duels, Murray’s all-round play flattered to deceive and was a huge factor behind the hosts losing the game.

Only substitutes Sammy Ameobi, Lyle Taylor and Alex Mighten had fewer touches than the striker’s 32.

Even when he did receive the ball, the 37-year-old was simply not able to do anything with it.

He could only produce a poor pass accuracy of 46.7%, which is worse than Luton goalkeeper Simo Sluga’s rate of 48.2%. It all meant that he could only complete a shocking 15 passes throughout the 90 minutes.

His poor showing did not end there though, with Murray racking up six unsuccessful touches in the game – more than any other player on the pitch.

With Forest reportedly paying the hitman as much as £30,000 per week in wages, it would be fair to assume that they were expecting a lot more from the former Premier League striker.

He will certainly have to improve upon his dire performance against Luton if he is to remain in the Forest starting XI under Chris Hughton.

AND in other news, take a look at how we evaluated Anthony Knockaert’s performance against Derby County last week…

Many Manchester United fans were left to slam the display of Fred in their 0-0 away draw at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men really struggled to break the South London club down at all and in the end had to settle for a point, which meant that they lost further ground on their local rivals Manchester City in the title race and will now surely be looking more over their shoulders than in front of them.

Fred’s performance in particular flattered to deceive several members of the Old Trafford faithful, as the central midfield player lost out on no fewer than eight of his duels in the game, while also failing to record a single clearance and losing possession of the ball eight times, earning him a quite measly 6.6 overall rating on Sofascore, the second-lowest out of any of his teammates to have started the match.

Manchester United fan reaction to Fred display

These Red Devils slammed his performance on Twitter, with one MUFC supporter saying that the Brazil international was ‘poor’ while another claimed he is ‘one of the worst players’ in the team:

“Fred is one of the worst players in the @ManUtd team. He cannot pass or shoot. To think we had midfielders like Scholes, Carrick and Keane and now we rely on Fred and Matic. I would rather we lose a game 1-0 but have ten shots on goal. This park the bus tactic is sickening #MUFC”

Credit: @mojodurbs

“You could see Rashford especially get frustrated playing in front of Fred and Matic because they offered absolutely nothing to the forward players. Zero service all night. Way too safe. Which is their job. It’s the attributes they have. They just shouldn’t be #mufc starting CMs.”

Credit: @Kyles_Page

“Fred was awful and not for the first time but why wait 75 minutes when it was clear from the first half? We do the same things and expect different results. Einstein’s definition of insanity is proving true #mufc”

Credit: @thereddevilway

“One of the worst collective performances I can remember in the Bruno era. Marcus, Fred & Bruno particularly off it. Henderson and Bailly probably the only players who were up to the standards tonight #MUFC #CRYMUN”

Credit: @BenrubiLiam

“United are dropping more points then leaking tap l have say there was no creative in United team apart from Bruno. Needs some help. Fred was poor again but no one mentions it he’s not good enough #mufc”

Credit: @mahadnur93

“I AM SICK OF #FRED… THAT’S A BRAZILIAN WHO CANNOT PASS OR SHOOT #MUFC need to move these players”

Credit: @SebastienRault5

In other news, find out whose display against Palace was also slammed here!

Many Aston Villa fans are over the moon after seeing an image of striker Wesley looking like he is back to full training with the squad.

It was the club who posted the image of the striker on Twitter, supported with the caption ‘Wesley has got that #FridayFeeling!’

Villa have been hopeful that he will return early in 2021 as there is currently a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Ollie Watkins. Fellow striker Keinan Davis has not scored a goal in the top flight and Watkins, at times, has been the only recognised striker currently available for selection.

It has been sad to see the sheer length of time the Brazilian has been out. He has been injured for over a year now and this has meant the player has already missed no less than 49 games (Transfermarkt). Hopefully this image means that the player will be close to a return, and he will add some great depth to the Villa squad and could be a vital asset in making sure the club finish in the top ten this season.

Here is how Villa fans reacted to the news:

“Finally, Wesley back! so good to see again!”

Credit: @HonVictorLeo1

“Can’t wait to see him back on the pitch. Beast! He was starting to look like the real deal when he got injured.”

Credit: @drumonline

“Go on Wes!”

Credit: @DL1992_

“WESSSS”

Credit: @LukeKing_

“Great to see him back.”

Credit: @chrisincov2

“Wow”

Credit: @JoeAVFC

In other news, Villa fans reacted to the latest injury update provided by Gregg Evans!

Southampton lost pace in the race for the top four spots in the Premier League as they were beaten 2-0 by Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday night.

The Saints rarely looked like scoring against Brendan Rodgers’ side as they missed Danny Ings up front, but it was perhaps the performance of Kyle Walker-Peters that will have disappointed Ralph Hasenhuttl the most.

The right-back has been superb for the South Coast club since joining on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur during the summer, averaging a solid 7.03 rating for his performances in the Premier League.

For his performance at Leicester, however, the 23-year-old would earn a disappointing 6.44 rating, which was his third-worst rating of the season so far, emphasising that he was nowhere near his best against the Foxes.

During the 90 minutes, the former Spurs man won just eight of his 15 duels, resulting in an overall success rate of just 53%. This is a sharp decline from his last appearance in the 1-0 win against Liverpool, where he won 11/16 duels.

During the game against Leicester, Walker-Peters struggled from a defensive point of view too, as he made no clearances, no interceptions and just one tackle, compared to the seven clearances, one interception and six tackles he made against Liverpool.

It was also a sloppy performance when you consider the defender’s passing against the Foxes, as he gave away possession on 25 occasions, compared to the 12 times he lost the ball against Liverpool.

The Englishman also completed just 31/46 of his attempted passes, resulting in a less than impressive success rate of 67%, which is some way below his season average of 80.7%, emphasising that this was simply not the defender’s night.

To compile his misery, Walker-Peters’ direct opponent winger, Harvey Barnes, would pick up an 8.05 rating for his display, his best rating in any league game this season, as he got the better of the Saints full-back throughout the game before sealing the three points with a late goal.

It is clear that the Saints defender was nowhere near his best against Leicester on Saturday night, which will surely frustrate Hasenhuttl, as it was a huge opportunity for his side to move back into the top-four spots with a win. Hopefully for Walker-Peters and Southampton, this was just a blip on an otherwise impressive season.

And, in other news… 20 touches, 8 passes: Southampton ace badly let Ralph down with an absent display

It’s fair to say that under Stewart Donald, Sunderland’s transfer strategy hasn’t been particularly great.

They’ve lost a host of academy stars including the likes of George Honeyman and Josh Maja, while the recruitment has been rather shambolic. Thus, supporters will be hoping that new owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is far more adept in the market.

Of course, the brunt of transfers will now be sorted out by Kristjaan Speakman but it will be up to the owner to provide the funds and then green light any move.

One of their first assignments will be to sign someone capable of stretching the play and scoring goals. Certainly, that’s what new manager Lee Johnson wants in his side.

The tip of the iceberg in terms of Donald’s recruitment was Will Grigg, someone capable of stretching teams but unfortunately not forthcoming in terms of goals. The Black Cats signed him for £4m in January 2019 but just months later missed out on a sublime free transfer.

The player in question is Lawrence Shankland, a striker now plying his trade for Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership. The Scotland international admits that Sunderland watched him in action but for some reason, a deal wasn’t offered.

That was a colossal mistake from Donald because with the Mackems struggling for goals, all of their problems would have been solved with Shankland.

The 25-year-old is as natural as they come in front of goal and surely would have set the Stadium of Light on fire. In the last two years, he has scored 65 goals, bagging 34 in 2018/19 and then following that up with 28 last term.

He only has three goals this season but if he’d found that sort of prior form in the north-east, promotion surely would have been on the cards.

After all, Grigg has only scored eight in his entire Sunderland stay – Shankland is clearly better at this point in their respective careers.

Of course, we’re looking at this in hindsight, but it was clearly a huge howler not to offer him a contract when he was a free agent in the summer of 2019.

AND in other news, Speakman can find another Semenyo if SAFC swoop for £6k-p/w gem with “lots of pace”…

Steve Bruce has confirmed Martin Dubravka will make his return from injury in Newcastle United’s FA Cup tie with Arsenal, but will be without Jamal Lewis and Ryan Fraser at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Toon are chasing only their second win over the Gunners since 2010 after losing 14 of their past 17 meetings with the north London side, who boast an imperious FA Cup record having scored in 31 of their last 32 fixtures in the competition.

Mikel Arteta’s side, who won the oldest national football tournament last season, have also found the back of the net exactly two times in each of their last five FA Cup ties and rediscovered their form this term, highlighting the scale of the task Bruce and his defenders face this weekend.

So, with a trip to an Arsenal side who have won their last three fixtures coming on Saturday night, here’s a predicted line-up Bruce could favour in search of an end to Newcastle’s six-game winless streak…

Dubravka is yet to play a single minute of football this season after sustaining a heel injury in pre-season, but Bruce has confirmed the Slovakia international will replace Karl Darlow between the sticks in north London.

Lewis will not take to the pitch at the Emirates Stadium after he and Fraser were ruled out through injury, but Jamaal Lascelles is in contention for his first outing since November after recovering from coronavirus.

Ciaran Clark has started Newcastle’s last nine fixtures across all competitions and will expect to see his run continue on Saturday beside Fabian Schar and DeAndre Yedlin, after Federico Fernandez proved the weakest link in central defence against Leicester City last time out.

Sean and Matty Longstaff endured a troublesome afternoon in the engine room at home to Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes and would count themselves lucky to start alongside one another at Arsenal, where Bruce will have Isaac Hayden available again.

Hayden missed the Leicester clash through suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Liverpool, and will likely start at the Emirates next to Joelinton after the Brazilian did well on the left-wing in defending from the front last weekend.

Miguel Almiron also worked hard to help defensively against Leicester but the £42,000-per-week Paraguayan offered little with one off-target shot, no key passes or successful tackles to his name, per WhoScored, and will likely be replaced by Jacob Murphy in north London.

Bruce may consider handing Callum Wilson a rest at Arsenal with the 28-year-old playing 1,358 minutes across all competitions this term, but would face questions over whether Dwight Gayle or Andy Carroll can lead the line on Saturday night.

AND in other news, Steve Bruce has no alternative but to perform a U-turn and tie a £4.5m-rated Newcastle star down with a new deal now…

Southampton were amongst the favourites to sign Jarrod Bowen from Hull City in 2019 and considering the winger’s impressive form with West Ham since joining, it could definitely be argued that the Saints made a mistake in not signing him.

The South Coast club were heavily linked with a move for the 23-year-old, rated then at £15m, in the summer of 2019, after his impressive performances with Hull City in the Championship, but he would end up joining the Hammers in January of this year in a £20 million plus deal.

It was no surprise that the young winger was attracting the interest of Premier League sides during his time in the Championship, as he contributed 22 goals in the second division in 2018/19, before notching 16 goals in the 2019/20 season before his January move to West Ham.

He has continued his impressive form with the East London club, having contributed five goals and six assists in 26 appearances for the club.

This season, in particular, has seen him catch the eye, as he has averaged a solid 6.83 rating for his performances in the top-flight, having contributed four goals and two assists in the opening 13 games, helping David Moyes’ side to eighth position in the Premier League ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

This sees him rated higher than both Nathan Redmond and Moussa Djenepo, who the Saints would sign, potentially instead of Bowen, in the summer of 2019.

It could definitely be argued that Southampton are somewhat reliant on Danny Ings and Che Adams as the goalscorers in their squad, so Hasenhuttl will surely be disappointed that the South Coast club weren’t able to complete a deal for Bowen, as he has consistently shown his goalscoring ability in both the Premier League and the Championship.

The winger’s teammate at West Ham, Robert Snodgrass, was full of praise for the winger earlier this year, saying:

“First and foremost, Jarrod is a great kid, and he wants to learn. He wants to be better.

“He’s already building relationships with full-backs, strikers, and midfield men running in behind – it’s what’s got him there – so now it’s just little cute things he can add to his game to become a mainstay in the Premier League.

“He’s got all the attributes to do so and he’s got the right attitude. West Ham have got a terrific player.”

Bowen’s value has increased to £25.2 million during his time with the Hammers and if he continues to impress, and perhaps earns a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad, then you imagine his value will only increase further, so it could definitely be argued that Southampton made a mistake in not signing him in 2019.

And, in other news… Hasenhuttl mistake: Saints should put faith in Long upgrade they can “have a lot of fun with” …

Despite a late fightback, Fulham fell to a 3-2 defeat against Everton at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon.

A double from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and one from Abdoulaye Doucoure were enough to earn the Toffees all three points, despite goals from Bobby Reid and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, whilst Ivan Cavaleiro also missed a penalty for the hosts.

One man whose performance will have disappointed Scott Parker is left-back Antonee Robinson.

As per SofaScore, the USA international lost possession 21 times, which was the joint-most of any Fulham player on the pitch, along with Ademola Lookman.

The former Wigan Athletic man also posted a fairly poor pass accuracy rate of 76%, with just 44/58 of his attempted passes finding their mark.

He struggled to cope with Alex Iwobi’s direct running on the right-hand side, with the Nigerian getting the better of him on a number of occasions during the match.

Although the left-back, who earns £60k-per-week at Fulham, has made a fairly positive start to his life with the Cottagers, having averaged a solid 6.90 rating for his performances in the Premier League, he has earned disappointing match ratings in both of Fulham’s last two matches.

Parker’s side have also kept just one clean sheet in the Premier League so far this season, and it looked as if they might ship a lot more than the three they did against Everton, particularly in the first half.

Although this cannot be attributed to Robinson completely, perhaps the Fulham manager should consider starting Joe Bryan there in their next fixture, as defending does not seem to be the 23-year-old’s strength.

Either way, Robinson will have to improve on this performance against Everton in the future if he wants to keep his place in the team, as the Cottagers face another tough game in their next fixture, as they travel to the King Power Stadium to face high-flying Leicester City.

Leeds United face Aston Villa for the first time since the 2018/19 season on Friday, and nobody should need reminding what happened the last time these two sides faced off.

If you are in need of a little refresher, Leeds’ last game against the Villans was one of the most controversial games of 2019 with Mateusz Klich scoring a goal while Jonathan Kodjia was down injured before Marcelo Bielsa instructed his players to allow the Midlands outfit to walk the ball into the net unopposed.

However, what is often forgotten about this game is Anwar El Ghazi’s red card and Patrick Bamford’s retrospective ban for deceiving an official.

Dean Smith had some choice words for Bamford after the game calling the incident ‘farcical’ and saying that Bamford should be ashamed of the part he played in getting the Villa man sent off.

Friday is Bamford’s first chance to make Smith eat his words and show him the best side of his game, and it’s something that he should keep in mind to get him revved up for this fixture.

Professional athletes shouldn’t need extra motivation aside from winning the game to help them perform at their best, but anyone who listened to Michael Jordan throughout The Last Dance on Netflix over the summer will tell you that elite sportsmen can find an extra gear and a competitive edge by using these sort of personal vendettas to fuel their fire.

Smith’s words after that game were personal and Bamford should have those in mind ahead of this fixture.

Bamford should be ready to make Smith regret ever calling his professionalism into question and the best way to do that is to bang in a couple of goals past Emi Martinez and consign Aston Villa to their first defeat of the season.

The Leeds striker has been in great form this season netting three goals in his first five games, and he should be in the perfect mindset to add to that tally this weekend.

Fingers crossed Bamford can show Villa exactly what he’s about on Friday evening.

Southampton have been willing to allow either Angus Gunn or Fraser Forster to leave the club before the end of the transfer window, but the pair’s wages have been a stumbling block.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has been keen to allow one of his back up goalkeeping options to leave the club, with Alex McCarthy firmly established as the club’s first-choice between the sticks. However, it could be that it will be fourth choice stopper Harry Lewis who is allowed to leave on loan, as per the Daily Mail.

Hasenhuttl facing choice over Saints number two

The Saints have been in talks over the prospect of allowing either of one of their main back up keepers to leave the club before the window shuts, as per the Daily Mail. Forster spent last season out on loan at Celtic helping them pick up their ninth successive league title. Gunn, meanwhile, has seen himself drop down the pecking order despite starting last term as number one.

Southampton were considering making a swoop for Stoke City’s Jack Butland in a move which could have seen Gunn head in the other direction. It now seems unlikely that deal will go ahead with time running out before the window slams shut, as per the Daily Mail.

Although, Gunn could still potentially move to the Potters if Butland’s move to Crystal Palace goes through, as per The Athletic reporter Dan Sheldon.

Forster still has two-years remaining on his £70,000-a-week deal, per Spotrac, and he has been the Saints’ number two behind McCarthy so far this term. Gunn, meanwhile, still has three years left to run on his deal worth around £40,000-a-week, per Spotrac. Those wages have put off some potential suitors.

Gunn and Forster too good to be sitting on the side-lines

Gunn was once called up by England ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while Forster has been capped six times by the Three Lions. That type of pedigree suggests both are too good to be stuck as third or second choices behind McCarthy.

For Gunn in particular after being labelled as a player with a ‘big future’ by Hasenhuttl to be now third choice is a major blow. However, he did concede 2.5 goals per game in the Premier League last term (via Sofascore). The 24-year-old would potentially benefit from a move to Stoke if it can go through before the deadline.

Saints fans, who should be the backup behind McCarthy? Let us know your thoughts below!