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According to Calciomercato, Manchester United have joined the race to sign RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg.

What’s the Story?

Reports in Italy are suggesting that Manchester United will turn to RB Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg as an alternative to Ivan Perisic. The article from Calciomercato states that the Swedish international is seen as an easier player to land than Perisic, whose parent club Inter are refusing to let go without a fight.

Forsberg, who is valued at £18.7million by Transfermarkt has the same agent as recent Manchester United signing Victor Lindelof and would reportedly be available for around £44million.

How good was Forsberg last season?

Like many of the players on the books at RB Leipzig, Forsberg performed above all expectations last season. The 25-year-old featured 31 times for the Bundesliga newcomers in all competitions last season and was a revelation, netting eight times and contributing with an incredible 19 assists.

The attacking midfielder has also featured 13 times for Sweden in the past 12 months, scoring four goals in the process.

Forsberg’s incredible assists record comes as no surprise. The key strengths in his game are his delivery from wide areas and sublime passing ability from an attacking midfield area.

Would Forsberg be a good signing for Manchester United?

While Forsberg isn’t the kind of high-calibre name that Manchested United fans may have been expecting this summer, there is no doubt that the 25-year-old is a serious talent. In fact, there is little difference in ability between Forsberg and United’s long-term target Ivan Perisic.

According to Sky Sports, Chelsea will step up their efforts to sign Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after completing a deal for Alvaro Morata.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Sky Sports say that after sealing a club-record move for Morata on Friday, Blues boss Antonio Conte is ready to switch his attentions to Oxlade-Chamberlain as he looks to strengthen in the wing-back positions.

Aside from perhaps Cesar Azpilicueta, Victor Moses has little competition for the right wing-back slot and with the club returning to the group stages of the Champions League next term, they certainly need more depth.

A move for the Gunners star would make sense as he has just a year left on his contract, and despite Arsene Wenger previously saying he is confident that the 23-year-old will stay at the Emirates, Sky Sports say that he has told the Frenchman that he has no interest in signing the extension he has been offered.

How did Oxlade-Chamberlain do last season?

The England international has struggled to find his best position in the team since moving to Arsenal from Southampton six years ago, and the 23-year-old will be frustrated at the lack of progression he has made in his career.

He did make 45 appearances in all competitions for Gunners last term though, scoring six goals and providing a further 11 assists.

Oxlade-Chamberlain also impressed in the right wing-back position and made the spot his own in the latter stages of the campaign when Wenger changed systems, and those performances will have caught the eye of Conte.

Would he be a good signing for Chelsea?

He certainly would be, and his arrival would also weaken a direct rival.

Oxlade-Chamberlain would provide great competition for Moses in the right-wing back spot but his versatility means that he would be able to cover a number of other positions too – a useful tool in what is sure to be a busy and tough season.

At 23 years of age and with a lot to prove in his career still, it would be a no-brainer for Chelsea to target the Three Lions star if he has no intention of signing a new deal with Arsenal, while he could also be available for a reduced price as he has just one year remaining on his current deal.

According to reports in The Mirror, Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi is a €40m (approximately £36m) target for French side Lille before the transfer window slams shut at the end of this month.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Mirror says that the Ligue 1 outfit’s manager Marcelo Bielsa – who managed Batshuayi during the duo’s time together with Marseille – is ready to end the striker’s Chelsea nightmare and sign him for £36m.

The 23-year-old joined the Blues in a £33m deal from the Marseille last summer and he and the supporters would have hoped that he could make a big impression following an impressive campaign with L’OM.

However, Antonio Conte preferred Diego Costa over the Belgium international and he made just one Premier League start throughout the whole of the previous season, playing just 235 minutes in total in the top flight.

Batshuayi may have expected more opportunities this term with Costa set to leave, but despite starting against Burnley on the opening day he already looks to be behind new boy Alvaro Morata in the pecking order, while he also scored an own goal in the win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

How did Batshuayi do last season?

He may have played just 702 minutes of first team football, but the 23-year-old certainly showed some glimpses of his ability and the reason Chelsea shelled out for him last summer.

The Belgium international scored nine goals and provided three assists during that time on the pitch – not too bad when you consider that most of his outings came off of the substitutes’ bench.

Why has he struggled to impress Conte?

It’s difficult to say, but the Italian sees him in training every day and must be sure that he is making the right decision.

The arrival of Morata from Real Madrid this summer isn’t likely to improve Batshuayi’s mood in a World Cup year either, as he will be aware that he is once again the second-choice striker even though he should get more minutes on the pitch because of the club’s return to the group stages of the Champions League.

What’s the verdict, then?

Well, there seems to be little doubt that Chelsea and Batshuayi may decide that a move is right should the Blues receive an acceptable offer for the 23-year-old, but it remains to be seen whether Lille will offer around £36m considering their current club-record signing Thiago Maia cost €14m (approximately £12.8m) earlier this summer.

After a frustrating summer, it’s fair to say that Liverpool fans didn’t panic – though they might well have been entitled to at various points. In the end, it all seems to have worked out rather well.

At the start of the summer, a left-back, a centre-back, a defensive midfielder and a pacey winger were needed at Anfield. But even though Mohamed Salah arrived early in the window, as Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita sagas raged on, it seemed like less than ideal preparation for the new season. Especially as a tough draw against Hoffenheim in the Champions League play-off round necessitated a speedy start.

Instead, the signing of Andrew Robertson from Hull City seemed underwhelming, and Alberto Moreno’s appearance as the apparent first-choice left-back for the Watford and Hoffenheim games seemed to signal a club who hadn’t really strengthened as they might have done.

The reason, though, may well have been that play-off itself: teams who can’t 100% guarantee Champions League football often have to wait until they can to attract the players they want. And that means leaving transfer dealings later than they might usually like.

And so, this deadline day, Liverpool now look in a much better position. Van Dijk may still arrive, whilst Thomas Lemar is touted as a potential signing which could be made today. But the most likely to happen is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, for whom Liverpool have reportedly agreed a £40m fee with Arsenal.

This represents a different kind of signing, though. Of all the players needed at Anfield this summer, Chamberlain possibly fits into the ‘pacey winger’ category, but they’ve already signed Salah and the England international himself isn’t keen on playing in that position. He’s not a player who relishes running in behind, despite his pace and skill on the ball. He’s a player who likes the ball to feet and options ahead of him.

Strangely, though, Chamberlain seems to float around the positions these days. He wants to play in the centre of midfield, but he wasn’t trusted in there by Arsene Wenger, and with the form of Emre Can, the seniority of Jordan Henderson and the brilliance of Georginio Wijnaldum, you get the feeling that Chamberlain would struggle for minutes in the centre of the pitch. Just as Adam Lallana and even Philippe Coutinho might find it hard to crowbar their way into the midfield three when back up to full-fitness / finished with tantrums.

That means that Chamberlain’s role at Liverpool looks more like that of James Milner’s than anyone else’s.

Perhaps the stat that bears this out the most is that the Arsenal man has scored just nine league goals in his time at the club. That’s a terrible return if you consider Chamberlain to be an attacker – the winger-forward that most people think that he is. But it’s a fairly unsurprising return if you think of him as a creative central midfielder whose pace and athleticism saw him stuck on the wing in the mistaken belief that his attributes were best suited to that role.

But what Chamberlain will give, then, is a diversity within the squad, the ability to come on and give something different, or to combine his athleticism with a role which suits his more technical talents. Because whilst he certainly is a physically gifted player, he does see a pass, and he can be good on the ball. And in that way, perhaps he’s best suited to the sort of game that Jurgen Klopp likes to play: fast-paced, press-heavy and creative. He’s the perfect central midfielder for a counter-attacking team, for example. And against teams where you think you’ll dominate more, he does have the ability to unlock defences by running at them – something Liverpool missed greatly when Sadio Mane was missing.

The price tag that comes with the player might seem a steep, and it certainly is a high price to pay for a player with Chamberlain’s record, but there’s still a potential that’s untapped, and when you look at his attributes, Liverpool’s high-intensity play coupled with the fact that they’ll face plenty of stubborn defences in slow-paced games where it’s attack v defence this season might just suit him down to the ground.

It has been a little over 7 years since Roy Hodgson was handed the Liverpool job. And 7 years later, after a torrid time at Anfield, an average stint at West Brom and a disastrous England reign, the 70-year-old is set to replace Frank De Boer as the new man in charge at Crystal Palace.

Now it is fair to say that Hodgson has received his fair share of unwarranted jibes from football fans and the media alike. His career has been marked with a number of very positive seasons in management.

However, unfortunately for the Croydon-born boss, his CV will forever be marked with his England catastrophes and a stint at Liverpool most remembered for the inexplicable signings of the likes of Paul Konchesky and Raul Meireles.

And while Palace fans may be looking for some reassuring words at this time, they certainly won’t be offered any by Liverpool fans, who can only offer dire warnings to the South London club.

Chelsea finally said goodbye to Diego Costa when the controversial striker agreed a deal with Atletico Madrid earlier this week.The pressure was ramped up on Alvaro Morata following the Spaniard’s departure, but he more than delivered by scoring his first Chelsea hat-trick on Saturday afternoon.The former Real Madrid star ran riot against Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium, while Pedro also got on the scoresheet.Morata now has six Premier League goals and two assists to his name following the striker’s move from the Bernabeu in the summer.The 24-year-old cannot take all the credit, though, as it seems that he is being helped along by fellow Spaniard Cesar Azpilicueta.As Squawka reveals, the defender has created four of Morata’s goals so far this season.

It is safe to say that the fans have embraced this partnership, with some claiming that the duo have taken over from Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas.

Even Morata showed gratitude towards Azpilicueta when he delivered his post-match thoughts on Twitter.

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is keen to open talks with manager Rafael Benitez about extending his contract, according to The Times.

What’s the word?

The Spaniard’s future has been a talking point for months, despite his current deal not expiring until the end of next season.

Benitez made it clear in the summer that he was unhappy with the club’s transfer activity, but he decided to stay put and lead the Magpies’ charge in the Premier League.

Now, The Times report that Ashley has invited Benitez for dinner to explain his plans regarding a new contract and to repair any damage caused to their working relationship.

The publication claims that the ex-Liverpool manager will make a decision about his future at Newcastle after he has listened to what Ashley has to say.

Could he stay?

Benitez did not walk away in the summer, even though he was visibly frustrated with the lack of transfers.

However, the 57-year-old has had issues with owners before – Liverpool’s former duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett – which has led to his departure.

This means that Ashley will have to do everything in his means to prove to Benitez that the club has a plan moving forward.

Newcastle need the Spaniard more than he needs them, and arguably a lot will depend on where the North-East outfit finish this season – that’s if the manager stays until the end.

Liverpool vs Manchester United will likely be the most-watched Premier League fixture this season and the Northwest derby remains the most historically significant rivalry in English football. It’s the headline act of the most commercially successful top flight the beautiful game has to offer, yet Saturday’s instalment provided anything but the excitement, entertainment and drama the Premier League has become synonymous with.

In theory, Liverpool vs Manchester United should be the Premier League’s billboard, encircled with flashing multi-coloured lightbulbs like a porn star’s mirror, enticing even more followers to the English game. But if you showed Saturday’s 12.30pm kickoff to a Bundesliga, La Liga or Serie A fanatic in hope of persuading them to jump ship, they’d think the Premier League vessel was sinking into the abyss.

In reality, the Premier League is arguably the healthiest it’s ever been, barring perhaps the European dominance of the mid-2000s. Six clubs have the talent, the resources and the managers to win the title in any given season and the competition between the rest of the division is so fierce, at least one of the rank and file is ready to take advantage whenever the big hitters aren’t up to the task – as we saw from Leicester City a few years ago.

A Champions League winner in Rafa Benitez is managing a club who were in the Championship last season – that’s how vibrant the English game is right now.

Of course, we’ve seen plenty of underwhelming Northwest derbies before. In fact, it’s traditionally anticlimactic in terms of quality and goals. Their 51 meetings in the Premier League to date have produced an average of 2.5 goals per game – the average from 2009/10 onwards in the English top flight has been just shy of 2.8.

But the Anfield clash on Saturday, just the third scoreless draw ever between the two clubs in the Premier League, was particularly poor for the lack of ambition shown by both sides in a fixture so intrinsic to their respective seasons, that stems to the very core of the English game.

Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho should both hang their heads in shame, and not just because both decided to pin the blame on the opposite number when journalists quizzed the reasons behind such an unmemorable affair. Klopp complained Mourinho only ever came to Anfield with the intention of leaving with a single point; Mourinho argued his side couldn’t impose themselves on the game offensively because Klopp refused to sub off one of his three hardworking midfielders.

“They played 90 minutes with (Emre) Can, (Jordan) Henderson and (Georginio) Wijnaldum and I thought playing at home, seven points behind us, they are going to change. They never did. They changed man-for-man in attack. They kept their three midfield players in the centre of the pitch and I had no chance to answer.”

The pathetic residue it boils down to is quite simply; we couldn’t attack because they weren’t attacking. That’s the joint explanation from two managers widely revered as amongst the best of their generation, who’ve won league titles and European titles, who aim to better at least two of the big six by qualifying for the Champions League as a bare minimum this season, who’ve spent roughly £473million on new players during their current appointments.

“I think Man United came here for the point and they got it. We wanted three points and didn’t get it. I’m sure if we played like this, you could not do this at Liverpool. Obviously for Man United it is OK. It’s quite difficult when a top-class team like Man United has that defensive approach. You’re not going to get 20 chances.”

They know how to go about their respective season aims better than I do and come the end of the campaign, at least one of the two might see that as a decent point in the final tallies. But both managers have passed up an opportunity to win a match that would have significantly altered the balance of power in the Premier League table in their favour, simply because it’s easier and safer to draw than lay down a haymaker so early in the season.

Instead, both managers and both teams shadow-boxed for twelve rounds, waiting for the judges to rule it a no contest, as if there was a tacit agreement to walk away with one point apiece.

Some would argue that’s inevitable with such high stakes on the line and a manager of Mourinho’s pragmatic calibre involved – in fact, we saw the exact same result during last season’s infamously dull ‘Red Monday’. But there was an instrumental difference this time around; both teams were there for the taking, both teams have been built closer towards their managers’ images than they were twelve months ago and both men in the dugouts had reasons to go for victory which far exceeded their justifications for a draw that didn’t just disappoint because of the scoreline, but because of the unambitious, cautious and negative mentality shown throughout.

Manchester United visited a side who had only conceded less goals than bottom-placed Crystal Palace and Watford before this weekend, who have won just one game across all competitions since August and who had their vibrant frontline significantly weakened by the international break. Sadio Mane was injured playing for Senegal, while Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah travelled to the other side of the world and back again.

A team that intends to win this season’s title, had already scored seven goals in three away games and  had the front-runner in the Golden Boot race before last weekend spearheading the forward line should approach such an encounter looking to exploit a clearly vulnerable defence, confident they won’t be caught out by a reduced attack.

Instead, United played the entire match with ten men behind the ball, mostly in their own half. They had 38% possession, just six attempts at goal and the aforementioned Golden Boot contender, Romelu Lukaku, touched the ball just ten times in Liverpool’s half.

Klopp shouldn’t be getting off lightly either though. United may have set up only slightly less defensively than last season’s encounter at Anfield but Liverpool were still the home side and barring the typical red rush we’ve become accustomed to seeing from them in the first half an hour of games, Klopp’s side did very little to truly test a team that quickly made it clear they didn’t want to take part in a multi-goal thriller.

All of Klopp’s substitutions came in the final twelve minutes and none changed the structure of the team. As much as Klopp complains, he didn’t make any decisions to genuinely change the dynamics of the match and he let Mourinho leave with a point. That is despite the fact United were arguably even more weakened than Liverpool heading into Saturday, with Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Marcus Rashford and Eric Bailly all injured, and were yet to test themselves against any of the big six so far this season.

It was an opportunity to embarrass United, to put their scintillating start to the season in a new context of being mere flat-track bullying (the average 2016/17 league position of United’s opponents during the first seven games was just 11th place), to punish a weakened team and to claim a victory over bitter historic rivals that would have not only boosted Liverpool psychologically but also moved them to just two points behind the Red Devils in the table. Klopp didn’t simply fail to take that chance as his players dwindled and toiled – he actively refused to.

It’s the same case with Mourinho, who seemed to leave Anfield under the impression the result suited him far better. The Portuguese has made a career from taking a point against major rivals on the road and spinning them into victories, but on a weekend in which Manchester City obliterated Stoke 7-2 to go two points clear at the Premier League’s summit, a scoreless affair on Merseyside was anything but a win.

It’s left United trailing a team playing better football, who will almost certainly beat them on goal difference and who have already beaten two of the big six, including a win over reigning champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The impact of those games could be huge this season; with the big six likely to be in a league of their own and the top few creating another mini-league within that, the title could well come down who does best out of those closest to them in the table.

In many ways, the game highlighted the difference between City and United’s title credentials at this moment in time. One team are aiming to escape big away days with a point, hoping their rivals will eventually mess up – the other are determined to carve up everything in their path indiscriminately. Liverpool, meanwhile, create their own paradox; they want to be a big club, but don’t take the chance to act like one when it comes along.

In truth, that was a poor point for both teams, one that doesn’t serve either particularly well, and one that embarrasses what’s meant to be the best top flight package in the game today. The biggest game in English football shown last on Match of the Day. That tells its own story of how dire it truly was.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s move to Manchester United in summer 2016 caused quite the stir after he’d scored 23 goals and tallied up a similar number of assists during his final season at Borussia Dortmund.

But we’re still waiting for that rip-roaring Black-Yellows attacker to truly turn up at Old Trafford. Mkhitaryan took most of 2016/17 to earn himself a regular role in the first team and despite starting the new campaign strongly, his form has once again dipped in recent weeks.

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In fact, Mkhitaryan has scored just once in the Premier League since August, while he’s failed to add to the five assists he amassed during the opening month of the season.

But United can’t afford any passengers when they take on Tottenham at Old Trafford in Saturday’s 12.30pm kickoff, so we asked Red Devils supporters earlier this week whether the 28-year-old should be in the starting XI.

According to our poll, though, 76% of United fans are willing to give Mkhitaryan another chance against Spurs. But some improvement will surely be needed if the speedy attacker is to have a positive impact on the match.

According to reports in The Independent, Everton have had an approach for Watford boss Marco Silva rejected as they look to step up their search for a new manager, although the 40-year-old would be keen to talk to them about the role.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Independent says that the Toffees turned their attention to Silva as they finally look to appoint Ronald Koeman’s successor, but the Hornets have rejected their approach as they don’t want to lose the Portuguese boss halfway through the season.

The Independent says that the former Hull City chief would be interested in having discussions with the Merseyside outfit though, and it remains to be seen if he could push to leave Watford in the coming days.

The report adds that the Hertfordshire-based outfit now believe the matter is closed because Silva doesn’t have a release clause, meaning Everton would need to offer a lucrative compensation package that Watford wouldn’t be able to reject in order to get their man.

Why do Everton want him?

Silva came close to saving Hull City from relegation last season having taken the reins when they were bottom of the table in January, while he has made an impressive start to the campaign with Watford.

The 40-year-old made some impressive additions during the summer – like Richarlison and Kiko Fermenia – while his side have registered impressive wins away against Bournemouth, Southampton and Swansea, and a victory against Arsenal at Vicarage Road.

The Portuguese boss seems to be tactically aware and can get the best out of his players, and that is always an attractive trait for any manager.

Would he be a good appointment?

He certainly would be.

Silva looks to have a very bright future in management ahead of him and he would get Everton playing some attacking football – Watford have scored 17 goals in 11 Premier League games this term compared to the Toffees’ 10.

However, a 6-0 defeat at home to Manchester City and three straight top flight defeats – including surrendering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat against the Merseyside outfit before the international break – may be a slight cause for concern.

What’s the verdict, then?

Well, unless Everton are ready to offer the big bucks it seems as though their chase for Silva won’t prove to be fruitful with Watford standing strong, and they will be forced to look elsewhere for Koeman’s successor.