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West Ham United will be hoping to return to winning ways once Premier League action resumes this weekend, with the Hammers currently languishing in the relegation zone having picked up just four points from their opening seven games.

That measly return ensures it is the club’s joint-worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 2016/17 season, while only during the 1973/74 season have the east Londoners registered fewer points (three) at the same stage.

The club’s most recent meeting came in familiar surroundings for David Moyes at Goodison Park, with the former Everton boss seeing his old side run out 1-0 winners courtesy of a Neal Maupay stunner, ensuring that the visitors have now lost eight of their last ten league away games.

Thankfully, the London Stadium outfit will be on home soil against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, with the encounter offering the chance to leapfrog Bruno Lage’s men and move out of the drop zone.

To ensure victory, Moyes may well need to make alterations from a side that has been so distinctly underwhelming in recent weeks, with one notable casualty surely that of the struggling Tomas Soucek, with the Czech Republic international having come under fire so far this term.

The 27-year-old has started all seven league games so far this term alongside skipper Declan Rice, although has scored just once and failed to register a single assist, with his tepid form having seen him branded “awful” by journalist Alan Rzepa.

Such worrying displays were also evident last term for the £67k-per-week colossus, as he has struggled both in and out of possession over the past year, notably ranking in just the bottom 18% for pass completion among those in his position across Europe’s top five leagues, as well as only in the bottom 35% for tackles made.

While he remains a threat in the air due to his towering 6 foot 4 frame – ranking in the top 2% for aerial duels won – the £40.5m-rated man seemingly has little else going for him at present, following a summer which had brought uncertainty over his future amid a reported breakdown in contract negotiations.

Despite his woes, the 52-cap brute remains a regular fixture of the side due to the potential lack of a genuine alternative – with the club having missed out on Amadou Onana over the summer for instance – with journalist Paul Brown perhaps rightly suggesting that it is a “bit too cosy and safe for him.”

Although not a high-profile name, there is a clear replacement for Soucek in the Hammers ranks in the form of Flynn Downes, with it time to hand the boyhood fan a start in the league with the 23-year-old having largely been on the periphery since his £12m move from Swansea City.

The youngster had made just a solitary substitute appearance in the league thus far this term, while he’s featured in three of the Europa Conference League games to date – including qualifiers – albeit having only started one of those.

It could potentially be another case where such a “special” talent – as lauded by one source – is signed by Moyes only to then be simply resigned to the bench, with that having been the case for loanee Alex Kral last term who was bizarrely overlooked for effectively the entire season.

In the case of Downes, the Englishman may not offer the same imposing presence in midfield as that of Soucek, although he is seemingly far more comfortable in possession, having recorded a pass accuracy of 93% in 37 games in the Championship last term, in contrast to his current teammate who had a pass accuracy of just 77% during the 2021/22 campaign.

With the latter man having also underwhelmed for his country against Portugal at the weekend – being branded ‘useless’ by the Czech media – it could well be an ideal time for the new signing to finally get his first league start for the club against Wolves on Saturday evening.

Leeds United have been handed a potential early boost ahead of their Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace on Sunday.

What’s the latest?

In comments cited by the Yorkshire Evening Post, Patrick Vieira revealed that Joachim Andersen missed his side’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday afternoon as a result of a calf injury picked up in training the day prior.

The 46-year-old also went on to state that Nathaniel Clyne – who was forced off in the first half after colliding with Thiago Silva – was immediately sent to hospital following his withdrawal from the match.

Regarding the right-back’s knock, Vieira said: “I didn’t have the chance to speak with the doctor yet. The thing I know is that he went straight away to the hospital.”

The former France international then added on the centre-back’s current condition: “He trained with us [on Friday] morning and he felt something on his calf. That’s why he wasn’t involved [on Saturday].”

Good news for Marsch

Considering how important a part of the Palace side both Andersen and Clyne have been so far this season, Vieira’s suggestion that the defensive duo could be doubts for the visit of Leeds this weekend is undoubtedly good news for Jesse Marsch and his side.

Indeed, Andersen has been incredibly important for the Eagles since signing and has demonstrated as much this term in their six Premier League fixtures so far.

The £26m-rated centre-back has been in imperious form, helping his side keep one clean sheet and scoring one goal, as well as making an average of 1.7 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 9.8 clearances and winning 6.0 duels – at a success rate of 71% – per game.

These returns have seen the Denmark international average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.38, not only ranking him as Palace’s best performer in the league but also as the 17th-best player in the top flight as a whole in 2022/23.

Furthermore, the Dane was able to keep a certain Kylian Mbappe quiet over the international break, forming part of a defence that kept a shut out in a stunning 2-0 win.

As for Clyne’s six league fixtures this term, the 31-year-old full-back has made an average of 1.3 tackles, 0.7 interceptions, 0.5 key passes and winning 2.2 duels – at a success rate of 54% – per game.

As such, should either Andersen or Clyne be ruled out of Sunday’s meeting, it is clear to see that it would come as a huge boost to the Whites’ chances of taking all three points back to Elland Road – a result Marsch will be desperate for in order to bring an end to his side’s current four-match winless streak.

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to end their post-break slump when they travel to the south coast to face Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League this evening.

Antonio Conte’s side were held to a goalless draw by Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Tuesday night, just a few days after their 3-1 defeat to arch-rivals Arsenal.

The Italian’s frontline has faltered with Heung-min Son, in particular, struggling to refind his form of 2021/22.

Aside from a hat-trick cameo from the bench in the whitewash of then-basement boys Leicester City, the South Korean international has only provided one assist in his other ten appearances, via Transfermarkt.

That’s one direct contribution every 211 minutes, well below his more-impressive career average at the club of a goal or assist every 110 minutes.

Son was arguably Conte’s most important player last season, having delivered 23 goals and nine assists across 35 league appearances, which was six more contributions than Harry Kane as he outranked the Englishman in both regards.

There’s no denying that the 29-year-old – who was once dubbed a “machine” by one former teammate – has been out of sorts for much of the season so far, as evident by his WhoScored ratings of 6.31 vs Chelsea, 6.46 vs Nottingham Forest, 5.92 vs West Ham United and 6.3 against the Gunners.

It now leaves Conte with a conundrum as Son is the sort of player that can usually turn it on at any moment, though we’ve only really seen it once in 11 outings.

The 53-year-old hinted at a tweak in the system during a recent press conference and if fellow wide man Dejan Kulusevski isn’t back from injury, then it would make sense to go to a 3-5-2 and for Son to be axed.

As ruthless as it would be – after all the £22m man has been a shining light over many, many years – Conte must be bold and drop the struggling South Korean if he’s to turn their attacking fortunes around against the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium tonight.

If anything, it could ignite a flame just as it did in the triumph over the Foxes right before the international break.

AND in other news, Conte’s “important” £30m “non-stop machine” is proving to be his next Hazard…

Southampton’s academy has produced untold amounts of talent, many of which were siphoned off to bigger clubs.

It is almost like a circle of life now with how they continue to churn out stars only to have them poached, where they almost always go on to achieve bigger and better things.

One such example is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who did not go straight to Liverpool, but eventually made his way there as many from St Mary’s often do.

Sold for £15m to Arsenal in 2011, this marked a sensational fee for a 17-year-old.

However, the fact that he had ten goals and ten assists in 43 games for the Saints at that age suggested that he was truly destined for greatness.

Although many might argue he never properly fulfilled his star-bound potential, he achieved some pretty special feats across his career.

He scored 20 times in nearly 200 appearances for the Gunners, ending up with three FA Cups for his troubles.

It was not a sensational return but was certainly solid enough to denote the move as a success.

However, his transfer to Liverpool is what will really leave fans on the south coast somewhat regretting the decision all those years ago to sanction his departure.

The Reds forked out what seemed like an astronomical £35m fee for his services, and although injuries again halted his Anfield career, he has won nearly every trophy available to him now including a Premier League and Champions League.

Again a return of 17 goals and 15 assists is nothing special across 133 appearances, but his trophy cabinet is indicative of a fine player with the quality to contribute to all of these titles.

Journalist and avid Liverpool supporter Ben Webb predicted an “explosive” season for the 29-year-old back in 2019, just before they would go on to win their first league title since 1990.

He certainly was an explosive player, with his ability to pick the ball up and drive from midfield likely the reason he was so sought after.

Whilst he never seemed to recapture his form as a teenager at Southampton, his mere presence in these exceptional sides has meant that he will retire one day wholly satisfied with his extensive list of silverware.

He also featured 35 times for England, scoring seven times, including a famous goal at the Maracana against Brazil.

It is a shame he never did fulfil his touted potential, although for Saints fans it might have added insult to injury, as he has gone on to achieve insane amounts of triumph whilst his former club have been largely marooned in mid-table.

New West Brom manager Carlos Corberan ‘will bring at least one of his lieutenants in’ when it comes to backroom staff changes, according to Lewis Cox.

The Lowdown: Corberan announced

The Baggies finally ended their hunt for a new manager by announcing Corberan as the club’s new head coach on Tuesday evening.

The former Huddersfield and Olympiacos boss signed a two-and-a-year-deal in the Midlands and looks set to take charge of his first fixture on Saturday lunchtime against Sheffield United.

James Morrison and Gary Walsh will remain at the club to work alongside Corberan, but it looks as if the manager will play a role in further off-field additions.

The Latest: Cox’s claim

Cox shared news following Corberan’s appointment that Morrison and Walsh will remain at The Hawthorns.

One West Brom supporter replied suggesting that the pair should have moved on and a new-look coaching team brought in, to which the journalist said:

“It will be new-look, tbf. Carlos Corberan will bring at least one of his lieutenants in.”

The Verdict: Exciting news

Corberan takes over a West Brom side who are just two points off the bottom of the Championship, so it’s exciting to know that he will be bringing in at least one backroom staff member to The Hawthorns.

An off-field reshuffle appears to be needed following a disappointing 12 months at the club, and hopefully, Corberan will be the man to oversee that and take the Baggies up the division.

Who knows, the Spaniard may even bring in more than one coaching staff member, with Morrison and Walsh possibly taking a backseat role, but Cox is adamant there will be at least one arriving.

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a ‘big boost’ after learning that Richarlison’s injury is not as serious as first featured, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Conte’s positive update

The forward was forced off the pitch with a calf problem during the 2-0 Premier League victory over Everton last weekend and was seen leaving the stadium on crutches and in tears, sparking fears that he might be ruled out of the World Cup.

However, Antonio Conte later confirmed that the 25-year-old’s injury isn’t a long-term one and that he should be available to go and represent Brazil in Qatar.

The Latest: O’Rourke’s comments

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O’Rourke reacted to the positive news on Richarlison and was happy to hear that the Tottenham star won’t be sidelined for a significant amount of time.

He said: “It’s a big relief for Spurs that the injury to Richarlison was not serious and I’m sure the player himself, obviously once he gets back to fitness, will be keen to get some game-time under his belt to head into the World Cup in peak condition.

“It’s a big boost for Tottenham and a big boost for the player.”

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The Verdict: Massive lift

Spurs hearing that Richarlison is likely to feature in the top flight before the World Cup break will give them a huge lift, especially having seen the impact he has made since his arrival over the summer.

The striker has so far made five goal contributions in 13 appearances across all competitions and has created a formidable trio with Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min in the final third.

Dejan Kulusevski also being ruled out will give Conte a selection headache for the next couple of weeks, so he will be hoping that both the Swede and Richarlison make a swift return to action.

Glasgow Rangers face a crucial tie against Napoli in their penultimate Champions League fixture in Naples this evening.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst must lead his side to an unlikely victory and hope Liverpool secure a win against Ajax in order to have any hope of securing third place in the group and a spot in the Europa League knockout round.

A woeful 1-1 draw against Livingston at the weekend – despite having 24 shots in total – hasn’t exactly boosted the confidence ahead of a match against the Serie A leaders.

With the Dutchman likely to make changes, we at Football FanCast predict the starting XI that will take the field under the floodlights in Italy…

Rangers predicted XI vs Napoli

Allan McGregor will retain his place in goal, with the 40-year-old shot-stopper having impressed against Napoli last time out – saving two penalties in the reverse tie at Ibrox back in September.

The back four will remain unchanged from the Livingston match on Saturday. James Tavernier and Borna Barisic will occupy their usual positions at right and left back respectively, with Ben Davies and Leon King – available after coming off sick at halftime on the weekend – forming the heart of the Light Blues’ defence.

John Lundstram and 37-year-old Steven Davis will operate in the Rangers engine room for the third game in succession.

Fashion Sakala – who was dubbed “impressive” by journalist Josh Bunting in their tie against Liverpool – will start on the right wing, with Ryan Kent – who made seven key passes on Saturday and assisted Lundstram’s equaliser against Livingston – starting on the left wing as usual. Malik Tillman will play just off the lone centre-forward.

Van Bronckhorst will drop “standout” striker Antonio Colak following an uncharacteristically poor performance on Saturday – in which he only had one shot on target from seven attempts – for Colombian Alfredo Morelos.

This means there are two changes in total from the weekend and the Dutchman will be hoping they can somehow pull off a miraculous result tonight.

West Ham United went into Thursday night’s Europa Conference League meeting with FCSB safe in the knowledge that they had already secured top spot in the Group B standings, something that allowed David Moyes to name a heavily rotated starting XI at the Arena Națională.

The 59-year-old handed first-team debuts to 18-year-old centre-forward Divin Mubama and 16-year-old Oliver Scarles, while 22-year-old midfielder Conor Coventry was also handed a rare start and the likes of Kaelan Casey, Harrison Ashby, Kamarai Swyer, Keenan Appiah-Forson and Freddie Potts were brought on from the bench.

However, despite fielding an extremely young side, the Hammers managed to maintain their 100% record in European football this season, with two goals from Pablo Fornals and an own goal from Joyskim Dawa Tchakonte seeing the Premier League side run out comfortable 3-0 winners over their Romanian opposition.

And, while the Spaniard’s brace will likely steal the headlines on Friday morning, it was undoubtedly the show-running performance of left wing-back Scarles that was most eye-catching on the night.

Indeed, over the course of his 90 minutes on the pitch, the England U17 international was a continuous threat on the left, enjoying 77 touches of the ball, completing 41 of his 51 attempted passes, finding his man with one of his nine attempted crosses and two of his three attempted long balls, making two key passes and creating one big chance for his side.

The defender also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making four tackles, one interception and one clearance, as well as winning four of his seven duels – a success rate of 57%.

These metrics saw the “dangerous” – in the words of Josh Bunting – 16-year-old earn an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.1, while football.london’s Jonty Colman awarded the youngster a match-topping eight in his own player ratings, as well as stating of the left-back’s display:

“Ollie Scarles became the sixth youngest player in West Ham history when starting at left wing-back, with the 16-year-old given a full debut in the absence of Aaron Cresswell and Emerson.

“Really impressed in the first half, providing good energy and crosses from the left side, creating a good first-half chance for fellow debutant and teenager Divin Mubama, shortly after teeing up Fornals in similar fashion.

“Deservedly the star man, pretty much everything Moyes could ask for in that position. Really attacking, with crosses leading to chances, including the move for Fornals’ second. So close to a debut goal as well and he would have deserved it too.”

As such, while he is still only 16 years of age, it would very much appear as if Scarles is an enormous talent for the future, with his show-running performance on Thursday night unlikely to be the last time West Ham supporters see the academy prospect in Moyes’ starting XI over the remainder of the season.

After their relegation from the Premier League in 2021, West Bromwich Albion valued Sam Johnstone at £20m, but the Baggies could only watch on as he left on a free transfer the following summer.

The shot-stopper made the move to the Hawthorns in 2018, joining from Manchester United in a deal worth £6.5m after impressing in the Championship with Midlands rivals Aston Villa.

Johnstone would go on to make 167 appearances for the club, in which he conceded 216 goals and kept 45 clean sheets, with his performances certainly catching the eye in the 2020/21 campaign despite relegation from the top flight, with Gary Lineker labelling him “unbelievable” after some impressive saves.

The Preston-born goalkeeper earned a call-up to the England squad and West Brom were determined to make a big profit on him, despite his contract being set to expire in 2022.

Amid interest from West Ham United and old side Manchester United, with Johnstone no doubt to remain in the top flight after making a name for himself in the top division, West Brom demanded £20m for his services.

Unfortunately, that price proved to be too high for any interested parties, as the Hammers saw a £10m bid rejected, and he would remain in the Championship with the Baggies, making 36 appearances in the 2021/22 campaign as they endured a disappointing 10th place finish.

Johnstone was never going to extend his contract at the Hawthorns after such an underwhelming campaign and was free to move to the Premier League upon the expiry of his contract.

He would join Crystal Palace and while he is yet to usurp Vicente Guaita as the no.1 choice at Selhurst Park, making just one appearance so far, it seems likely that he will step up as the main man in between the sticks in Patrick Vieira’s side once the 35-year-old Spaniard moves on.

Had West Brom not been so greedy and demanded such a high fee for Johnstone, then they could have sold him to the Premier League and used the money to improve the squad, rather than losing such a talented player for nothing.

Leeds United are seemingly eyeing a January move for Borussia Dortmund left-back Raphael Guerreiro, according to reports.

What’s the word?

That’s according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who had the following to say to GIVEMESPORT on a potential deal:

“I think he would be a huge upgrade for Leeds at left-back, which has been a real problem position for them for the last couple of seasons. 

“If they’re able to lure Raphael Guerreiro to Elland Road, I think it’d be a real coup for the club.”

The exciting asset had also drawn interest from Manchester City in the summer, outlining his credentials as a fine option for the Whites.

Huge coup

The 28-year-old maestro – who has been named in Portugal’s official squad for the upcoming World Cup – has earned praise for his consistently impressive performances in Germany over the past few years, having scored 37 and assisted 39 from defence.

That form under various bosses boasts a consistency seldom seen around Elland Road in recent years, during what has been a tumultuous time for the club.

The 56-cap star has continued to impress this season despite his side’s poor form, with six goal contributions already detailing him as one of the standout players for the Black and Yellows.

His versatility is also outlined as a huge factor in his marketability, with his former sporting director Michael Zorc labelling the £81k-per-week star “a great footballer”

Bringing in such a high-profile recruit would mark a huge coup for Jesse Marsch, as noted earlier by O’Rourke, and could finally spell the end for the wholly disappointing tenure of Junior Firpo. 

The 26-year-old flop had moved to Yorkshire billed as an athletic full-back with a desire to stay on the front foot and coming from Barcelona he had great recommendations.

In recent seasons under both Marcelo Bielsa and Marsch the 26-year-old’s performances have instead sparked vast amounts of criticism and questions about his place in the team.

The defender was notably described as lacking “defensive awareness” by former Leeds goalkeeper Paddy Kenny before he answered his own damning question about Firpo’s future: “Is he good enough for Leeds and to wear that shirt? No, I don’t think he is.”

Boasting European pedigree far beyond anything already at the club, and creativity again better than most, there is no doubt that tempting him to Leeds would mark a sensational piece of business as they once again look to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap.