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Southampton welcome Fulham to St Mary’s on Tuesday evening in what will be the Saints’ first taste of Carabao Cup action this season, and it could well be a tougher game than it looks on paper.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men recorded their first victory of the season last time out against Brighton, but the Cottagers have also enjoyed a decent start to the campaign under Scott Parker with three wins out of five in the Championship.

The tie will hand Hasenhuttl the chance to get a few fringe players some game time, so let’s take a look at who we think the Austrian will select in his starting lineup…

A much changed lineup from the one that started against the Seagulls, but Hasenhuttl cannot waste this opportunity to get some players up to speed.

We think the former RB Leipzig boss should hand Alex McCarthy a first start of the season.

Ahead of the 29-year-old stopper it would be good to see how summer signing Kevin Danso fares in his natural centre-back position – the loanee played at left-back against Brighton.

Ryan Bertrand was dropped for that game, so he should be handed a chance to prove himself again whilst it would be wise to get Cedric Soares some match fitness under his belt.

Ahead of the midfield two who started against Brighton, we think four players should be given their first starts of the campaign.

£15m summer signing Moussa Djenepo scored his first goal for the club with a screamer at the Amex after coming off the bench, whilst Sofiane Boufal also grabbed an assist in that game as a substitute – both men deserve to start against Fulham on the back of their impressive cameos.

Stuart Armstrong has made two appearances from the bench this term but would benefit from a first start as the likes of Che Adams and Nathan Redmond are rested.

Michael Obafemi, 19, who has one appearance so far this term, should be handed a start to see if he can impress.

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Ryan Kent looks set to depart to Rangers in a deadline day move which is being viewed as a positive by some Liverpool fans.

Rangers have targeted the 23-year-old for much of the summer after he impressed manager Steven Gerrard in his loan spell at Ibrox last season.

According to The Daily Record, the two clubs have agreed a fee of £7m, which would mean a significant reduction in price for the midfielder, whom Liverpool had previously valued at £12m.

He did well on loan in Scotland last season, contributing six goals and 10 assists in 43 appearances for Rangers, but his failure to make a senior appearance for the Reds indicates that he is deemed not good enough by Jurgen Klopp, which is why some fans are presumably happy with the deal.

The development in transfer talks will be greeted well by Kent, who told Sky Sports News that his heart was set on a move to the Glasgow club this summer, as he looks for first-team football.

Here is some of the reaction from Liverpool fans, who are pleased with the club for conducting what they view as a good piece of business.

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Lots of Celtic fans have been responding to a tweet from Odsonne Edouard, who appears to be desperate to get back into action for his club.

‘French Eddy’ is fast becoming the ultimate fan favourite at Parkhead. Not only has he racked up six goals and five assists this season in 11 games, he loves a goal against arch-rivals Rangers and his all-round game is improving too.

He has taken his good form into the international break, scoring twice for France’s under-21 side last week, but that isn’t stopping him for yearning for club action, joining in on a club tweet counting down the days until the Hoops are back.

After Celtic tweeted that it is just five days until they take on Hamilton in SPL action, the youngster responded with an emoji implying he too is staring at the clock waiting for the real football to start back up again.

International football can be tiresome for fans, especially Scotland fans, and loads of the Parkhead faithful have rushed to the replies to shower their striker with praise.

Take a look at some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Liverpool have four wins from four in the Premier League this season and so far Jurgen Klopp has found the right balance.

The Reds have typically been in goalscoring form whilst keeping things tight at the back, whilst a midweek trip to Turkey for the Super Cup was well managed, as it didn’t hinder their league form.

The return from injury of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez has helped to bolster the squad but despite that Klopp was still happy that some of his players had the rest of an international break over the last two weeks.

He plans to use that to his advantage over the coming weeks, a period in which Liverpool have seven fixtures in 22 days, which includes trips to Naples and Stamford Bridge.

Known for his gegenpressing style, the German has been able to maintain his players’ fitness levels by moving away from the high press this season, and it hasn’t come as a detriment to the side.

Opta have recorded, as reported by Sky Sports, that Liverpool have made 60 pressed sequences so far this term, which ranks them sixth in the Premier League behind teams such as Burnley and Southampton, which may come as a surprise.

That may be partly due to opponents preferring to sit deeper, knowing they can be exploited by the pace of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.

Arsenal were one example of that. The Reds made 585 passes against the Gunners, pinning them down in their own final third for much of the first half before finding a breakthrough via a quality delivery from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

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Liverpool’s full-backs have given them a different dynamic and a goalscoring threat out wide, as evidenced by their combined total of 29 assists last season.

Failing that, Klopp’s players are also effective through the middle. His front three of Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino have averaged 2.5, 2.3, and 0.8 key passes per game this season, even without the use of a high press.

Liverpool’s more balanced, less-intense approach is working, and it should help to prevent players suffering from fatigue in the latter stages of the season, and as long as their attackers can find a way to break teams down, they won’t have to rely on forcing mistakes to score goals.

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Lots of Manchester United fans have taken to Twitter to complain about Marcus Rashford, following the striker’s poor performance in the 2-0 loss to West Ham.

The 34-cap England international played 60 minutes of the game before going off with an injury – the 21-year-old didn’t have a single shot during his time on the pitch.

Rashford also found himself dispossessed twice and ran offside once against the Hammers, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side looking toothless against Manuel Pellegrini’s men in attack.

Rashford has struggled so far this season, scoring just three league goals with two of them being from the penalty spot – he also missed the target with an effort from 12 yards against Crystal Palace.

One fan below brandished the academy graduate as “another Welbeck”, while another said that he can’t see the United No.10 picking himself up from his poor form at any point.

Let’s take a look at some more Twitter reaction from the unhappy United fans…

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Ryan Fredericks has not always had the easiest of rides from the West Ham United fans.

Indeed, just last month, a number took to social media to criticise the defender’s performance in the team’s 3-1 win over Watford.

However, head coach Manuel Pellegrini has kept faith with the 26-year-old, who has started all six of West Ham’s Premier League matches this season.

Fredericks had to be replaced in the latter stages of Sunday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United at the London Stadium through injury, but the defender’s performance certainly made a positive impression on the club’s supporters.

The Englishman’s form last season was underwhelming – contributing just one goal and zero assists in 15 Premier League appearances.

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Fredericks does appear to be slowly winning over the West Ham fans, however, judging by their reaction on social media to his latest outing against the Red Devils.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

[ad_pod ]Some Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to drool over Martin Kelly and Gary Cahill’s partnership at centre-back, following the 2-0 win over Norwich.The win means that the Eagles are unbeaten in four games at Selhurst Park so far this season, and the two England international’s colossal performances at the back were key in keeping that run going against the Canaries.Kelly, like Cahill, completed one tackle, while also making three clearances and one block.Cahill – who was signed on a free transfer back in the summer – complemented his partner well with two interceptions and two clearances, while also making one block.

With Mamadou Sakho’s fitness lacking consistency so far this term and James Tomkins still yet to make his comeback from injury, Kelly and Cahill are stepping up during a time where arguably the south Londoners’ two best centre-backs are missing.

Let’s take a look at some of the tweets from the clearly impressed Palace fans…

According to The Telegraph, it is ‘business as usual’ at Tottenham Hotspur and manager Mauricio Pochettino retains the full support of chairman Daniel Levy despite a frustrating start to the season.

The pressure on the Argentine was ramped up following the shock 7-2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich on Tuesday – the first time they have conceded that many goals at home in a competitive fixture in their history.

It followed on from disappointing performances against Olympiacos, Leicester City and Colchester United – who knocked them out of the Carabao Cup – while they were also beaten at their new stadium by Newcastle United, who were thrashed 5-0 on their travels against Leicester at the weekend.

Nevertheless, The Telegraph report that the 47-year-old will continue to receive the full support of Levy, who is confident he can turn things around and qualify from their Champions League group, and secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Verdict

Tuesday night may have been a shock and Pochettino has got quite a few decisions wrong so far this season, but he has also been working in difficult circumstances given the contract situations of some of the players who have been so key for him over the years.

Things aren’t great at the moment, but the former Southampton boss has surely earned the time to turn things around given how far he has brought the north London club forward since his appointment in 2014.

That said, a poor performance and result against Brighton on Saturday could be interesting.

Tottenham have reportedly held talks over the possibility of recalling Jack Clarke from his loan at Leeds, and Spurs fans hope it means he will get a chance in the first-team.

However, Football Insider suggest that the club’s plan is to loan him elsewhere with the aim to get more game time than he is currently, having only played 115 minutes at Elland Road this term.

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That means there is a risk of him stagnating and not developing under Marcelo Bielsa in the way Spurs would have wished, having signed him from the Whites for £11.5m this summer on the basis that he will develop into a top-level player.

Many fans think he is worthy of being brought back and placed in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad straight away due to the current underperformance of the team.

That could be a good option for Spurs given the numerous youngsters who have improved under the Argentine, including Harry Winks who is a regular fixture in the starting XI these days, but given their current predicament they may feel it is not the right environment for a new young player to cut his teeth.

Here is some of the reaction of supporters calling for Clarke to be given a first-team opportunity.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Sun, Manchester United are preparing to “step up” their interest in Leicester duo James Maddison and Ben Chilwell.

What’s the word?

The Red Devils signed just three players over the course of the summer transfer window, bringing in Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side’s struggles this season have only heightened claims of the club needing to strengthen in the near future, and now, The Sun suggest Maguire’s former teammates are firmly on United’s radar.

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

The report adds that a source had said “they fit all the right requirements and criteria in terms of quality and keeping an English core which is important”.

New look

A double swoop for Maddison and Chilwell would essentially give United a completely new half of a team compared to last season, and the duo fit into the approach of signing predominantly young, British-based players. On-the-pitch, the pair have shown they are more than good enough to compete in the Premier League, helping Brendan Rodgers’ side into fourth in the the table this season.

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But more than what the players themselves could bring to the table, the sense of direction and long-term planning in signing the duo would be the main source of encouragement for the United faithful. Gary Neville has exposed some of the club’s failings in recent seasons, with the mish-mash recruitment policy under different managers leaving a stinking mess.

But after securing the signings of James, Wan-Bissaka and Maguire in the summer, Woodward could finally redeem himself by completing a double swoop for Maddison and Chilwell. It would show the Old Trafford fan-base that he does have a vision in place, and is keen to back Solskjaer with the players that he wants.

He has come under intense flak by pundits and fans alike in the past, but if he can pull this off, then he may begin to win some people over.