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Marcus Tavernier: The Key to Bournemouth’s Survival?
After starting the season with a 2-0 win against Aston Villa, Bournemouth were consummately pulled apart by Manchester City in a 4-0 defeat before losing 3-0 to Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium, narrowly edging Norwich on penalties in the EFL Cup after drawing 2-2, before losing 9-0 to Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, a defeat…
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Matheus Cunha: The Answer to Manchester United’s Goalscoring Woes?
Manchester United’s interest in Matheus Cunha won’t come as a surprise to those familiar with the Brazilian. That said, neither will Atletico Madrid’s reluctance to part with their versatile forward. Born in the coastal city of João Pessoa, the 23-year-old has followed a unique path to La Liga, transferring from Curitiba’s academy to FC…
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Dean Henderson: England’s Future #1 in Goal?
Not only have his goalkeeping heroics endeared himself to the City Ground faithful already, but Dean Henderson’s character and leadership have shone through in severing ties with Manchester United to seek first-team football. It is this that potentially places the shot-stopper tantalisingly close to a place in the World Cup squad. It’s been a rocky…
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Player Analysis: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
There is a new star in Naples: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. When Napoli lost Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens this past summer, it was hard to imagine where the creativity and goals would come from for Napoli. Even harder to imagine that a 21-year-old from Georgia could possibly be the answer. Napoli were linked with Khvicha…
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Jayson Molumby: Once Ball-Winner, Now Ball-Shepherd for West Bromwich Albion
Brave, resilient, industrious. Not many players possess such uncoachable assets, let alone at the age of only 18. Those were the attributes that encouraged Chris Hughton to hand Jayson Molumby his Brighton and Hove Albion debut back in 2017, where he played 90 minutes in a Carabao Cup second-round victory over Barnet. The midfielder…
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Diogo Costa: The Present and Future of Portugal’s Goalkeeper Position
There are few goalkeepers who at the age of 22 – start for their nation, hold the number 1 spot at their boyhood club, experience Champions League football and win five domestic trophies. There are few goalkeepers like the present and future of Porto and Portugal, Diogo Meireles da Costa. Diogo Costa is unarguably…
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Chris Richards: Crystal Palace’s American Defender
If signing the right player was easy, every club would do it all the time. But it is not. Recruitment at the highest level of the sport is fraught with pitfalls at every turn, starting with talent identification and culminating in deal negotiation. It therefore should not come as a surprise that many elite…
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Player Analysis: Daniele Verde
Despite being 26 years of age, Italian winger Daniele Verde has experienced quite a journey throughout his career, having featured for no less than eight different football clubs. The Naples native came through the Roma youth system before being loaned out to a few clubs around Italy, and then he spent time abroad, playing…
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Five Players Who Have Impressed in the 2022/23 Season’s Opening Weeks
1. Ilias Chair (QPR) I watched Ilais Chair live at The Valley against Charlton last week and was very impressed by him and enjoyed watching him in other games I have watched on TV this season. Although it’s been a mixed bag for Michael Beale so far in terms of results, Chair will be…
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Player Analysis: Benjamin Šeško
RB Leipzig have signed four strikers since August 2020 and their form has ranged from underwhelming to complete failure, but their latest recruit could be the first to break the duck. That’s not referring to the return of Timo Werner either, the man who prompted the £40m-plus spent on Alexander Sorloth, Hee-chan Hwang, Andre…
