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It goes without saying that Liverpool are obviously one of the best teams in England, and their achievements in reaching the final of both the Europa League and the Champions League in recent years suggests that they can be considered as one of the best in Europe.

However, as their inability to win either of those finals shows, the Reds still have gaps in their teams that prevent them from clearing that final hurdle, and weaknesses that Europe’s current elite sides will look to target.

Where do their weaknesses lie?

Jurgen Klopp’s side have arguably one of the best attacking trios in world football, with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah causing havoc for opposition defences for what seems like almost every week of the footballing calendar.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Their midfield isn’t too shabby either, with the ever impressive Gini Wijnaldum playing a starring role alongside Fabinho, whilst Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri can also be called upon.

So, you may think this next part is a strange statement given the fact that the Reds sit atop of the Premier League clean sheet table this season with 13 to their name – however, it is in defence that the Merseyside-based team are often let down.

What’s wrong with it and how can it be solved?

When everyone is fit, the backline is fairly solid. Virgil van Dijk is obviously the main man at the back, whilst Andrew Robertson is emerging as one of, if not the best left-back in Europe. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s position at right-back is uncontested for now, so it is van Dijk’s partner at centre-back in Joe Gomez that needs upgrading.

Since arriving at the club from Charlton back in 2015, the England international has missed 505 days out through injury, which is simply astonishing.

For a player as important as him, as seen by both Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren’s struggles to replace him this season, his injury problems are too frequent for Liverpool to be able to depend on him.

It may cost a lot, perhaps even more than the world-record £75m fee spent on van Dijk, but the Reds must ensure they land Napoli colossus Kalidou Koulibaly before any of their rivals pick him up.

The Senegalese international centre-back is an unerringly dominant presence at the back, but is immeasurably composed and effective on the ball – he has the lot, and Liverpool need to sign him even if it is the only purchase they make in the summer.

Rangers are six points behind rivals Celtic in the race for the Scottish Premiership despite defeating Aberdeen last week.

The Gers closed the gap over Christmas but Brendan Rodgers’ side have been in top gear during 2019. Catching their rivals will be extremely tough but there is plenty of football still to be played which will give Steven Gerrard’s side plenty of hope. The former Liverpool captain will be hoping to take advantage of Celtic’s participation in the Europa League during the run in.

Regardless of whether they lift the title or not, no one can deny that Gerrard has made a decent start to life in management at Ibrox. The majority of his signings have proven to be inspired additions, none more so than Liverpool’s Ryan Kent.

Valued at just £1.58m by Transfermarkt, the 22-year-old was sent to Scotland by Jurgen Klopp to link up with the Anfield legend after spending half of last season with Freiburg in the Bundesliga. Despite struggling in Germany, the youngster has finally found his feet in the SPFL. Kent has impressed greatly, netting five goals and registering three assists in just 16 league appearances.

When the transfer window reopens in the summer, Gerrard should be doing all he can to make his stay at Ibrox permanent. It’s unlikely that Kent will replace Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino in the Liverpool starting eleven with Xherdan Shaqiri providing cover on the bench. The Englishman needs regular football to aid his development meaning the Reds shouldn’t stand in his way of departing Merseyside.

Kent is still developing and improving – Rangers fans may have only seen a glimpse of what the winger is truly capable of.

Rangers fans, thoughts?

Before West Ham United faced Chelsea, Pablo Fornals had been seriously underwhelming in a claret and blue shirt.

The Spain international often looked scared when he had the ball at his feet and could usually be found playing the ball backwards, searching for the safe option, rather than trying to create.

That wariness was reflected by his returns in the final third, as the 23-year-old had failed to produce a single goal or assist in 12 Premier League appearances.

It was he who got the assist for the goal against Frank Lampard’s side though, when he received the ball from Felipe Anderson and laid it off to Aaron Cresswell, who did the rest.

During those celebrations, Fornals threw his arms up in the air and looked overjoyed, as if the burden of his drought had been lifted.

At the time, FFC displayed the opinion that this could provide the Spaniard with the boost he needed to go out and express himself – it seems as though that has been the case.

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He has looked far more confident on the ball, going forward with it at his feet and attempting to make things happen, rather than taking the safe option.

This has paid off for both him and the team, as the creative midfielder has registered three assists from his last four games, including the one against Chelsea.

The second of those came from a well-placed dinked cross into the box against Arsenal, allowing Angelo Ogbonna to get in ahead of Granit Xhaka and head home via a deflection.

With the whole team having been underwhelming during the 2-0 loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he was unable to make an impact.

However, he made up for that against Southampton, when his intelligent header set up Sebastien Haller, for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.

Did he really play for us?! No West Ham fan has managed to name all of these obscure Irons signings….

Fornals has definitely undergone a transformation in recent weeks, something that will be seriously encouraging for Manuel Pellegrini and West Ham.

In other news, FFC has suggested that one West Ham man was back to his best against Southampton.

Social media can be a treacherous place for a football club should they have been on the receiving end of a bad result, however there are certain ways of being able to avoid upsetting the fanbase. But, it appears Queen Park Rangers failed to do that with their latest post.

Fans would have already been angered by the embarrassing heavy 5-3 defeat to Barnsley on Saturday afternoon (BBC), but one particular tweet would have sent many of their angry emotions into overdrive.

Indeed, there may have been a sense of expectation and, perhaps a degree of confidence that Mark Warburton’s side would be able to overcome the Championship’s rock-bottom side, especially considering the west London outfit’s recent form – however, that appeared to go out the window almost immediately after the first whistle.

The trip to Yorkshire may not have been the easiest for fans to make or the quickest in the world to do, so some would have likely wanted to have been acknowledged for making that journey to support their club.

Although QPR did that, whoever runs their social media decided to use the phrase: ‘You lot”. It’s safe to say it did not go down too well with many, if anyone, on Twitter.

Here are just some of their reactions…

QPR fans, what did you make of the performance from the club? Let us know below!

According to Football Insider, Manchester City and Everton are both interested in signing Athletic Bilbao centre-back Unai Nunez, and new Toffees boss Carlo Ancelotti would show his pulling power by beating the Premier League champions to the Spaniard.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Football Insider report that the Citizens have joined English top flight rivals Arsenal and the Toffees, as well as Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, in being keen on the 22-year-old.

The report says the aforementioned trio have made regular checks on the defender this term, and he is said to have a release clause of £25.7m written into his contract.

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The one-cap Spain international has actually found first-team opportunities hard to come by this term playing just 584 minutes across all competitions, as per Transfermarkt, but he has made 58 outings in total for Bilbao during his career.

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Coup for Everton?

He certainly would be.

The 22-year-old may have found chances limited so far this term, but he has still impressed when he has been on the pitch.

For example, he helped Bilbao keep clean sheets against Barcelona and Real Madrid – the latter was last weekend at the Bernabeu – in 90-minute La Liga outings, which is no mean feat considering the calibre of attacker he was coming up against in those two fixtures.

The fact he has been recognised for his senior team also shows he is well thought of, as does the interest from huge clubs like Man City and Bayern.

Looking at his WhoScored stats in the Spanish top flight in 2019/20, there are two in particular that stand out – the average 2.5 aerial duels he wins per game, and the 5.3 clearances he makes.

Can you score at least 80% on this Ultimate Premier League Quiz? Test your knowledge now…

This is clearly a centre-back with a growing reputation and with a bright future ahead of him, and if Everton can win the race to sign him for what is an attractive looking fee in the modern era, it would show the pulling power Ancelotti is already bringing to Goodison Park.

In other Everton news, Ancelotti already looks to have had a decisive impact on one 26-year-old’s future at Goodison Park…

Despite Manchester United’s resurgence in recent weeks, it appears the club are intent on making some reinforcements. The Red Devils enjoyed a relatively impressive month of December, which saw them pick up fine victories over the likes of Tottenham and Manchester City.

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A slip-up to Watford was promptly brushed aside with morale-boosting wins over Newcastle and Burnley to round off the month, and they are now looking to add to their triumphs off-the-pitch too. And according to The Sun, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have lined up Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to help boost their attacking options after they saw Erling Braut Haaland move to Borussia Dortmund.

No clues: Can you name the Man Utd result purely based on these images? Give it a go now…

The report claims that Calvert-Lewin has “risen to the top” of United’s wish-list for the summer, and that he would potentially cost the club £50m. After hearing their club’s links to the forward, fans of the Manchester side took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the possible swoop.

A couple of fans felt the interest in Calvert-Lewin is far too reactionary, and that his good form in recent weeks – he has netted five in his last five – has contributed to the rumours, and urged the club not to make a move for him.

Some fans were quick to insist the Red Devils would simply be better off placing their faith in their abundance of youth talents, with one supporter in particular suggesting they would prefer it if they promoted 18-year-old Largie Ramazani.

With the form that he is in, it is understandable to see why Calvert-Lewin may be of major interest to United. And after all, being only 22 and British, he fits into what the Red Devils are seemingly looking for in the transfer market based on their business last summer. If the striker can keep delivering over the coming weeks and months, then a move may not be as bad as these fans of the Manchester side initially think it might be.

Meanwhile, Manchester United may have proven one thing after grinding out a victory over Burnley.

Leeds are set to play against Premier League opposition in a competitive game for the first time since Marcelo Bielsa’s appointment on Monday evening as they travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal in the FA Cup.

The Whites have been knocking on the door of the top-flight since the Argentine arrived, despite their squad containing a similar core of players to the team that finished 13th the season before the 64-year-old took charge at Elland Road.

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Of course, despite their commanding league position in the Championship, there are some questions around the Premier League credentials of some of United’s players, but this could be a chance to test them.

If the Whites go up, they’ll have money to spend as the cash windfall from the top-flight’s TV deal is incredibly lucrative, but Bielsa may want to use this match as an opportunity to have a look at which players need replacing if Leeds go up.

The likes of Kalvin Phillips and Kiko Casilla probably don’t need this type of test as they’ve shown enough to cement a starting spot in the Premier League, with Casilla winning three Champions Leagues and Phillips being the subject of £40m interest from top sides.

However, players such as Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Mateusz Klich might be players Bielsa wants to see feature against one of the best the country has to offer.

The three aforementioned names have all been brilliant for Leeds over the past two seasons. Cooper was named in the PFA team of the Year while Ayling contributed to eight goals in 2018/19. Klich, meanwhile, took his tally to 19.

However, they’ve rarely, if ever, had the chance to play against talent of Arsenal’s calibre.

There’s every chance that these Championship veterans could flop once they get to the big leagues, and Bielsa has a chance of seeing that on Monday rather than finding out the hard way in August.

In other news, Phil Hay has provided a negative update on Leeds’ pursuit of Che Adams.

Southampton fans have taken to Twitter to react after The Athletic’s Leeds correspondent Phil Hay revealed the latest news on Che Adams’ potential move to Elland Road.Hay details that, despite Ralph Hasenhuttl wanting the striker to stay, Southampton’s hierarchy are more open to allowing the 23-year-old to depart St Mary’s if Leeds pay a £1m loan fee as well as an obligation to buy Adams for ‘more than £10m’ at the end of the season.

“Hasenhuttl wants Adams to stay, saying on Friday that Southampton would “need him in the second half of the seasonâ€, but The Athletic understands Southampton’s hierarchy are more open to letting Adams go, for a loan fee of £1 million and an obligation to sign Adams permanently for more than £10 million at the end of the season. Leeds are ready to meet those demands and Adams, who is keen to take the move to Elland Road, has been considering forcing the issue himself by informing Hasenhuttl of his desire to leave.”

As aforesaid, Hasenhuttl wants the forward – who cost Southampton £15m back in the summer – to stay and said that he “needs every player”. However, it appears that those at boardroom level on the south coast have different ideas to the Austrian if Marcelo Bielsa’s side meet their requirements.

Hay also adds that Leeds are ready to meet Southampton’s demands, and that Adams – who is keen on the move – has considered forcing the issue himself by informing Hasenhuttl of his desire to leave.

The former Birmingham striker netted 22 Championship goals last season, although he is yet to score in 19 appearances for the Saints and has just a single assist to show for his efforts this term.

Let’s see what the Southampton fans on Twitter thought of Hay’s update…

These two fans began the discussion by using two hard-hitting adjectives to describe Hay’s update – “mad” and “ridiculous”.

‘Babalex’ demanded that Adams is given time, but also added that, if he does end up leaving, it has to be for the “whole amount” that Southampton paid – so £15m.

Elsewhere, Robert said that this move “makes absolutely no sense at all for Southampton” while also mentioning that “Ralph loves the kid” and that Adams’ performances have improved lately even if he is yet to score.

Furthermore, Andrew stated that this news is “odd” and said that “surely” these rumours aren’t real – it seems as if this particular supporter is dumbfounded by Hay’s update.

How much do you remember about football in 2019? Our quiz will test your knowledge…

Lastly, “crazy” and “daft” were the adjectives on display from Pat and Raz respectively, who both seem shocked with this update.

Pat mentioned that Adams has only been at the club for six months, while our final fan Raz said that the Southampton No.10 “needs to be kept and coached” .

In other news, these Southampton fans have been discussing a “lazy” report linking this player to a “proper mess” of a club…

Plenty of Tottenham fans have made their feelings clear about the possibility of Christian Benteke playing for the club after The Telegraph reported that Spurs had been offered the chance to sign him, as shared by @HotspurRelated on Twitter.

With top scorer Harry Kane ruled out with injury until April, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is understood to be keen to reinforce his options up front, as per The Telegraph, who reported that they have been given the chance to sign the Belgian from Crystal Palace. The 29-year-old has failed to score in 16 appearances this season and has started just four league games in the current campaign, with a meagre tally of four Premier League goals since the start of the 2017/18 season (as per TransferMarkt).

For some Tottenham fans, a move for Benteke would have echoes of the signing of Louis Saha in 2012, with the Frenchman joining on a free transfer from Everton at 33 during the winter transfer window as then-Spurs boss Harry Redknapp sought attacking reinforcements (as per BBC). Saha ended up playing just 12 times for the club and left within six months.

These Tottenham supporters took to Twitter to express their opposition to any proposed move for Benteke, with one wryly believing that it is the kind of deal which chairman Daniel Levy would commission:

Do you think Tottenham should try to sign Benteke given Kane’s long-term injury or is the Belgian simply not good enough for Spurs? Have your say by commenting below!

Tottenham Hotspur fans are desperate for the club to sign a striker after their 0-0 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road.

Jose Mourinho’s men have been robbed of star striker Harry Kane, of course, with the Spurs boss confirming that he isn’t sure when the England international will make his return.

The big fat Tottenham quiz of 2019 – how much do you remember about the last year at Spurs?

There is no out-and-out striker available to replace him so Mourinho selected a front three comprising of Son Heung-Min, Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura.

However, they struggled to find a way through the defence selected by Nigel Pearson’s side, having a total of five shots on target.

And supporters are desperate for a proper striker to be signed.

This is stating the obvious, somewhat.

With Kane injured, Spurs have hit a brick wall in front of goal, with only three goals in their last four games across all competitions.

The only option Spurs currently have as a proper centre-forward is Troy Parrott, but he is just 17, and has yet to play a full game of senior football for the club.

Kane’s injury has sharpened the focus of supporters towards the lack of depth in the position.

Per FFC sources, a number of players have been offered to the club – from ex-Spurs man Fernando Llorente through to AC Milan’s Krzysztof Piatek – and one feels that Spurs will soon have to take the plunge and bring someone in.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has issued a major update on Giovani Lo Celso.