Plenty of Leicester fans agreed with Brendan Rodgers’ decision to substitute Kelechi Iheanacho before half-time as the Foxes’ eight-match winning run in the Premier League came to an end.

The 23-year-old striker was involved in a controversial incident during the 1-1 draw against Norwich at the King Power Stadium, with his manager taking him off shortly afterwards.

Shortly after Teemu Pukki had given the visitors the lead, Iheanacho didn’t return the ball to the Canaries after a throw-in when they had kicked the ball out of play to allow for treatment for a stricken player. [via Daily Mail]

After being tripped by Christopher Zimmerman outside the penalty area, he “rolled around like he’d been shot”, in the words of the Daily Mail’s Joe Bernstein. The incident infuriated a few Norwich players and they angrily surrounded the Leicester striker, whose face was grabbed by Todd Cantwell in the aftermath.

Rodgers promptly took the decision to take Iheanacho off in the 39th minute and replace him with Demarai Gray (as per Sky Sports), a call that met with approval from these Leicester fans on Twitter, with some feeling that it was as much a tactical change as a reaction to the aforementioned incident:

Do you think Rodgers was right to take off Iheanacho when he did or did the manager act too hastily? Have your say by commenting below!

One of nine live Amazon Prime Video Premier League matches on Boxing Day will see two teams at opposite ends of the table meet up.

Challenging for the UEFA Champions League places and impressing in their first season under club legend Frank Lampard, despite a little wobble of late, are Chelsea.

The visitors to west London Southampton find themselves embroiled in yet another relegation battle, regardless of the fact that they now have a more fashionable manager in charge in the form of Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Watch Chelsea vs Southampton Live and Free with Amazon Prime on Boxing Day

All signs point to the Blues overcoming the side that were humiliated 9-0 by Leicester City on home turf back in late October.

But the demands of the festive period can do strange things to players and in football, anything can happen – you only need to look at the Pensioners’ recent shock home defeats to struggling West Ham and Bournemouth for evidence of that.

How to watch Chelsea vs Southampton on Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime Video will be showing this match live in the UK in 4K Ultra HD as part of their historic deal to broadcast 60 live Premier League games over the 2019/2020, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons.

Viewers wanting to watch it, providing they aren’t already Prime Video customers who will only have to go onto their chosen devices to see the action from Stamford Bridge and any other Premier League ground on the day, will just need to take out a Prime Video subscription which only costs £7.99 per month or £79 for the year and comes with a 30-day free trial, available to cancel at any time.

The coverage has earned its fair share of plaudits so far, including for its goals-as-they-go-in Goals Centre feature, the ability to turn off commentary in favour of stadium atmosphere, the chance to watch three encounters simultaneously, and an impressive array of pundits and commentators.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have reacted to a report claiming that manager Jose Mourinho is keen to sign two players in the January transfer window.

Per The Daily Telegraph, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss is keen to bring in defensive cover as well as support to striker Harry Kane.

A number of supporters are less than confident about the prospect of bringing in any reinforcements in the winter window.

Mourinho has yet to oversee a transfer window during his time as Spurs manager and it remains to be seen if he will get his wish.

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

Nevertheless, a number of fans seem to agree that more than just two players are needed.

Indeed, some have called on the club to invest heavily and bring in significant reinforcements.

First, though, Spurs have an FA Cup tie to negotiate.

They face Middlesbrough this weekend as they look to finally win their first piece of silverware since 2008.

Meanwhile, one Spurs ace was in terrible form against Southampton. 

Speaking on talkSPORT, former Liverpool ace Danny Murphy has delivered stinging criticism of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tactics at Manchester United.

What did he say?

The Red Devils have endured a difficult first half of the campaign thus far, finding themselves five points off the top four and with some particularly disappointing defeats to their name too. United have fallen to the likes of Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Watford this season, whilst they also fell short to rivals Arsenal on New Year’s Day.

And now, Murphy has questioned whether Solskjaer has the necessary quality to lead the Red Devils, despite acknowledging that he did well to hold Liverpool to a draw earlier in the campaign.

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He said: “It’s a difficult one in terms of how much blame to put on the manager, because there are games where he’s done well. They are the only team this season to get any points off Liverpool and the way he set them up (in that game) worked. United were the better team until Liverpool changed in the second half. Liverpool had to change to adapt to Man United. It was really clever from Ole.

“But too often he’s getting it wrong; there have been some really poor results and performances from Manchester United this season. Sometimes I think he’s out of his depth and they’ve got to bring someone in who has the capabilities and experience to manage Manchester United.”

Test of credentials

United’s campaign this season has been the absolute epitome of a Jekyll and Hyde team. One moment they can be brushing aside Premier League champions Manchester City, and the next minute, they can be falling to a club battling relegation like Watford.

Mourinho’s produced some incredible footballing stars – how much do you know about them?

It’s that inconsistency that will be incredibly frustrating, with the Red Devils earning impressive results against the top-flight’s big boys, and enduring disappointing draws and defeats to the lesser lights. If Solskjaer is to receive criticism for when United end up losing, then surely he must be given a whole load of credit for beating the likes of City, Tottenham and Chelsea?

With this being the Norwegian’s first full campaign in charge of the club, perhaps judgement on his credentials be reserved for the end of the season.

Meanwhile, this Man Utd target’s big-game mentality is exactly what they need.

Footballers are known for their lavish lifestyles, fast cars, big trips to the casino and superhero status among fans.

To get to these privileges, they have had to sacrifice a lot of their childhood to train frequently, stay focused and eat healthily. They were the kids kicking a ball after dark with scraped knees rather than the ones playing video games each night.

Yet, there is a chance that video games may improve footballing participation and performance. Due to improved cognitive ability, and increased engagement at grassroots level, playing video games may actually benefit football. So, are those team FIFA sessions actually improving performance?

The Reputation of Video Games

Playing video games often has a bad reputation to cause violence, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. In fact, the list of problems goes further than these issues to psychological, behavioural and emotional problems. Plus there is the issue of gambling in video games, which has led to ES Sports having concerns with FIFA’s In Game currency.

Earlier this year, China decided to impose restrictions on video gaming in an effort to reduce video game addiction in the country. Under 18s are not allowed to game between 10pm and 8am and they can only game for 90 mins on a weekday and three hours on a weekend.

China is not a huge footballing nation and their youth gaming culture is arguably the biggest in the world. If they were a footballing nation, this move may be a detrimental one. It has been found that video gaming does benefit the footballing community at a professional and grassroots level.

Video Games Benefiting the Pros

Nobody seems to question the speed at which professional football is now played. Cognitive speed is now one of the most important attributes of the game, along with pass accuracy, stamina, strength and the rest of it. This has led some professional teams to ask the question of how they can train cognitive speed – and the answer is video gaming.

Thinking Fast and Slow is a book by academic by Daniel Kahneman. It tells us of how our brain has two cognitive systems. One is quick and automated and the other is slow and not. It is the first system that footballers need to improve and by playing video games at high speeds that require us to automate decisions quickly. It is thought that they can improve the same automated decisions on the pitch.

Video Games for Grassroots Sport Engagement

The idea that video games could be the catalyst for an improved active lifestyle among children would sound far-fetched to researchers who have spent years proving that it leads to obesity and such. However, using video games as a model for coaching has been proven to improve engagement with football.

If coaches deliver sessions with the principles of gaming in mind, such as having a superpower where a player cannot be tackled for the first five seconds they have the ball (the “power” could be awarded to different players throughout the game), then it could improve engagement within real sport. This gamifying of football is a new idea – but could be revolutionary in childrens’ sport.

Leeds United’s transfer window isn’t exactly going well.

Angus Kinnear stated that the plan this month was to get business done early. Yet here we are, over halfway through the window and no one has come through the door.

It’s not for a lack of effort though as United have been trying to get a deal done for Che Adams.

This week a new name was added to the list of targets we know about as Phil Hay confirmed that the Whites had enquired about Andre Gray, but they had been knocked back.

Fortunately, that may not be the end of Leeds’ pursuit of the Watford man.

What’s been said then?

The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent was hosting a Q&A session on the site, and one fan questioned him about the current striker targets as well as asking him to name the forward from Europe he tweeted about earlier this week.

“No names on that front. They obviously like Adams and they made an enquiry to Watford about Andre Gray (but were initially told no). Gray might be one to watch because I could see that situation changing. He’s on a very hefty wage though. There’ll be talk of Dwight Gayle too, inevitably, but he’s injured. Almost everything they’re looking at is initial loan with an obligation to buy in the summer. Most targets are in the Premier League,” Hay replied.

Can’t wait around

The Gray situation may change in the coming weeks, but Leeds can’t afford to dawdle while waiting for circumstances to change.

Of course, Leeds would be foolish to not at least keep an eye on what is happening with the Watford forward as he won the Championship Player of the Year award last time he was in this division. However, they can’t rely on the Hornets changing their minds or else they could be left short-changed come the end of the window.

The Yorkshire club should still have their fingers in other pies, and fortunately, it seems they do as they’re still locked in negotiations for Adams and Gayle is another target.

In other news, one young star at Leeds may not have a future at Elland Road.

Tottenham Hotspur star Christian Eriksen is closing in on a move away from the club.

The Denmark international, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is wanted by Inter Milan this month, per sources, as they attempt to negotiate a cut-price deal for a player who will be available for nothing in the summer.

It is possible, of course, that they are attempting to head off possible interest from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Eriksen may well have already played his last game for the club, then.

Jose Mourinho has picked him to start against both Liverpool and Middlesbrough across the past week and supporters roundly booed him after his substitution against the Reds at the weekend.

He has remained heavily involved in first-team affairs this season, nevertheless, making 26 appearances in all competitions and scoring three goals while also providing three assists.

One has to ask the question, then: Will he be missed?

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

A selection of Football FanCast writers has endeavoured to answer that question…

James Beavis

“Will Christian Eriksen be missed? He’s the one who’s been missing ever since the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign, so no he won’t.

“Three goals and three assists in 26 appearances in all competitions for a player of his quality tells you all you need to know about his mindset this season, and it has been pretty clear that he has wanted out through his performances on the pitch.

“Spurs are entering a new era under Jose Mourinho and a refresh is needed in certain areas of the squad, and that means bringing in some fresh blood for the likes of Eriksen in order to move the north London outfit forward again.

“Tottenham will be just fine with Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and Giovani Lo Celso in the attacking positions behind Harry Kane for now, and won’t miss a player who hasn’t been influential at all in recent months anyway.

“All in all, Eriksen will be missed as much as Vincent Janssen, who departed last summer having scored six goals in 42 games for Spurs.”

Charles Jones

“I don’t think Christian Eriksen’s absence would be felt this season if he left the club for Inter this month.

“The Dane simply hasn’t been at the races all term, and his departure may allow some new talent to flourish, such as Lo Celso who looked incredibly bright when scoring against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

“Eriksen’s form has seriously dipped and his head just doesn’t seem to be in it anymore. Where he used to take games by the scruff of the neck he’s just lumbering around the park not making much happen, and his measly six-goal contributions this season tell that story.

“He’s gone in the summer anyway, so a clean break this month with a fee attached makes a lot of sense.

“It’s a shame, but Eriksen’s final months of a Spurs player have completely dented his reputation, and I’m not sure anyone will miss him.”

Lewis Blain

“The saga surrounding Christian Eriksen is one that ultimately has to end. It has rumbled on far too long, to the point that he’s now putting his legacy at the club in jeopardy… if he hasn’t already.

“Will Spurs miss him? If he was the player seen in the last four to five seasons in North London, then yes. The Dane bagged ten goals but only provided two assists during the 2014/15 Premier League campaign but went on to score at least six times while contributing at least 11 assists for every season since, per Transfermarkt.

“But fans just haven’t seen that from him in quite some time now, which is possibly down to his desire to leave the club. Spurs simply won’t miss a player whose head isn’t in it, a player that is struggling to prove why he should even warrant any sort of major transfer fee – three goals and three assists is a poor return this term.

“Lo Celso is the future at the club, give him a chance in his absence and Jose Mourinho and Spurs will soon see the difference.”

Meanwhile, a new club have entered the race for the Denmark international. 

Tottenham picked up their first win in five league matches by beating Norwich 2-1, with a number of players stepping up to the plate in order to ensure they ended the game with all three points.

Spurs are still trying to find some consistency under Jose Mourinho but the Portuguese boss has already been instrumental in the improvement of some players, most notably Dele Alli and Serge Aurier.

The England international has made eight goal contributions in 12 league games under Mourinho, and both he and Aurier teamed up to score Spurs’ opener against the Canaries, with the right-back registering his seventh assist of the season in all competitions.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold is the only other right-back in the league with more, making 11 assists for Liverpool, and fans have taken time to applaud the Ivory Coast international, who has had his fair share of criticism this term.

As one supporter points out there is always room for improvement for the 27-year-old, but if he can take confidence from the way he is playing then he may be able to maintain his current standard.

His career path at Spurs has been similar to that of Moussa Sissoko, who was named Tottenham Legends’ Player of the Year in the last campaign following two seasons in which he made a combined 23 league starts.

One fan has mentioned the Frenchman in comparison to Aurier, with the general sentiment that the defender has improved since Mourinho arrived.

However, not everyone is won over just yet. There is a reason why the former PSG player has had his detractors over the course of the campaign and it seems that he will need to show consistency over a longer period of time in order to prove that he is good enough to play regularly.

Calling all Tottenham fans: How much do you really know about Spurs’ new hero? Find out below…

Elsewhere, Tottenham supporters have been discussing the latest intriguing transfer development taking place in North London…

Whilst Arsenal have endured a difficult season from a defensive point of view – the Gunners have already conceded 34 goals in the Premier League – their unfortunate luck with injuries has certainly played a part in that.

The north London side have had to make do without the likes of Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac, amongst others, for a considerable amount of time this season.

It was therefore no surprise to see the Gunners complete a loan swoop for Flamengo centre-back Pablo Mari, and now, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, they are looking to complete a similar move for Southampton’s Cedric.

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Ornstein claims Arsenal are hoping to sign him on loan until the end of the season, and that it will put them in “pole position” to make it permanent when he becomes a free agent in the summer.

After hearing about the report, Arsenal fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the matter, with a couple taking issue with the fact Cedric is currently injured.

Another couple of fans took aim at the board in particular, with one supporter even calling for them to be fired.

Some fans meanwhile discussed Ornstein’s claim that Southampton will be getting about £5m for the loan move.

Talk about trying to do some bargain deals in the January transfer window. Having missed out on Champions League football for yet another year this season, finances are no doubt tight at the Emirates. As a result, it’s been no surprise to see them shopping in the loan market this month.

Quickfire Quiz: How much do you know about Arsenal’s history in the January transfer window?

Having completed a deal for Mari, the Gunners could once again be making a shrewd move by finalising a swoop for Cedric. The Southampton man is Premier League proven with 120 appearances to his name in the competition. The north Londoners are doing some smart business, despite what some fans of the side may think.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s swoop for Pablo Mari can help unlock the true potential of this Arsene Wenger signing.

David Gold, along with David Sullivan and Karren Brady, has been a very unpopular figure at West Ham United.

It’s safe to say the relationship between the fans and board has been fractious – supporters are currently planning a televised black balloon protest against them while one fan was recently banned for wearing a ‘GSB OUT’ shirt when they were a flag bearer.

This comes with the club currently sitting in the relegation zone, ahead of a tough seven-game run of fixtures where they face many of the Premier League’s top sides.

It’s currently looking very bleak for them, but fans won’t have been looking to their owners for words of comfort, due to the lack of trust they have in them.

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However, they will also have been hoping to avoid comments that would anger them further, though Gold has produced exactly that.

The first part that has enraged fans is the fact that he’s been quoted by Sky Sports as saying: “I know exactly what Ed’s experienced. I’ve experienced it four or five times myself”.

This comes after Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward had flares thrown over his property’s front fence by hooded fans.

This led to West Ham supporters aiming criticism at Gold, as well as the rest of the hierarchy.

In addition, he was quoted by The Mirror as saying: “I’ve not received a penny in ­salary or expenses from West Ham in 10 years. I know of ­owners or chief executives that are earning £3million a year… and more.”

As Sam Inkersole points out, he has made £18.6m back on interest from the loan that he provided the club, which many would argue makes up for the lack of a salary – and some.

Just to add salt to any West Ham wounds, he came out with an outrageous statement, comparing the club’s current fortunes to his childhood: “When I was a boy as a fan, all I remember is a football club in the old second division, all my young life it was in the old second division.

Is life under Gold and Sullivan really that bad? Maybe this quiz will change your minds, West Ham fans…

“At least it’s in the Premier League now. OK, we’ve got a few problems now, but overall we’re moving upwards.”

With all of the above in mind, it’s safe to say that fans were far from pleased with him.

Meanwhile, West Ham fans have been reacting to reports of a potential takeover.