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Southampton will be looking to end their poor run of form in the Premier League when they travel to Elland Road to face Leeds United on Tuesday night, and one way in which Ralph Hasenhuttl can turn his side’s fortunes around is by restoring Stuart Armstrong to the starting lineup.

The Scottish international, who reportedly earns £50k per week at Southampton, missed the draw with Chelsea, with the Austrian manager suggesting that it was one game too many for the midfielder, but it looks as if he is in contention to return on Tuesday evening.

Although the Saints halted their run of defeats with a draw against Chelsea at St Mary’s in the absence of Armstrong, his recent performances have been excellent, and he deserves to start against Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

The 28-year-old’s work rate and tenacity in midfield mean that he could also have a big impact on the game from a defensive point of view, especially as he would most likely be up against one of Leeds’ most dangerous attacking players in Jack Harrison should he feature on the right-hand side of Southampton’s midfield at Elland Road.

The on-loan Manchester City man has contributed six goals and four assists in the Premier League this season, averaging a solid 6.96 rating, which ranks him as Leeds’ joint-fifth best performer in the top-flight, so it seems clear that he will be a danger to Southampton on Tuesday.

Therefore, restoring Armstrong to the Southampton lineup could be a smart move by Hasenhuttl, as the Scot has impressed with his tackling and interception numbers this season, despite playing as a winger.

We also saw in the game against Wolves recently how effective he can be from an attacking point of view, as he dribbled past several opponents before providing a perfect cross for Danny Ings to score, and it is his offensive contributions that arguably give him the edge over Moussa Djenepo, who has struggled for goals and assists since arriving from Standard Liege.

Therefore, if Armstrong is fit to make the squad on Tuesday night, then Hasenhuttl must consider starting him on the wing, as he could hold the key to the Saints earning their first Premier League win since early January.

And, in other news… Moussa Djenepo will be worried if Saints sign £15m wonderkid this summer

When Sunderland travel away from the northeast under Lee Johnson, they appear to be a formidable force.

Their 1-0 win over Ipswich means that Lee Johnson is yet to taste defeat on the road since taking over The Mackems.

Although they need to improve at the Stadium of Light, it will bring them enormous confidence that they can go away and defeat fellow promotion hopefuls. Their 4-0 win over Lincoln was eye-catching but their ability to grind out a 1-0 victory at Ipswich should also be applauded.

Of course, they were helped by the red card to Ipswich’s Kayden Jackson who was given his marching orders after an appalling challenge on Bailey Wright, but they were good value for their win despite that.

Charlie Wyke was once again in the right place at the right time as he took his League One tally for the campaign to 12 strikes as he got the only goal of the game. The tall striker has been indomitable in recent weeks and is finding the net with superb regularity.

Though, it was arguably his supplier that was Johnson’s true hero on Tuesday night. Max Power delivered an inch-perfect cross that Wyke was able to get on the end of to prod the ball home.

Since moving to right-back, Power has defined his own surname. He is a force on the flanks and uses tremendous energy to get up and down. He linked well with Aiden O’Brien, particularly for the goal.

The winger beat his man and then put the ball into the path of the rampaging Power who provided the cross.

Coincidentally, that was just one of four balls into the area – two of which were successful. For context, his completion rate was better than anyone in the entire Mackems squad.

He was also keen to get on the ball and the very fact he touched it on 122 occasions goes to show what a threat the right-back was. Power had 66 more touches than the highest haul registered by an Ipswich player and managed 31 more touches than the next best for the Black Cats.

His influence was mighty, winning more aerial duels (3) than anyone besides Bailey Wright and Jordan Willis for Sunderland. Josh Scowen, meanwhile, was the only person to win more ground duels (4) than Power (3).

This was an all-action display but we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, he delivered a similar showing against Port Vale in the Papa John’s Trophy a few weeks ago.

This, however, was a far more important game with promotion aspirations on the line and Power delivered the goods.

AND in other news, Sunderland must swoop for 20 y/o gem who terrorised £44m worth of talent last month…

Ilkay Gundogan has been voted the GMS Fans’ Premier League Player of the Month for January. In a poll run by fan engagement experts Snack Media, the midfielder took 24% of the vote after scoring five goals and making 10 dribbles. Burnley’s Nick Pope was in second place with 20%. 

In the first of five votes carried out over seven days via Snack’s digital and social networks, the 5 foot 11 German’s performances clearly struck a chord with Premier League fans up and down the country. 

The full list of contenders from the final shortlist polled as follows: 

• Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City) – 24% 
• Nick Pope (Burnley) – 20% 
• Paul Pogba (Manchester United) – 18% 
• Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) – 15% 
• Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – 13% 
• Craig Dawson (West Ham) – 11% 

The Championship vote opens at 11 am on Monday 8th February. To vote go to: 

http://bit.ly/36EBNZ6   

Just what must Allan Saint-Maximin be thinking? The Newcastle star has been one of the very few bright spots for the Magpies over the past year or so, and was duly rewarded with a bumper new contract earlier in the summer, despite only being at St James’ Park for one season.

At times it really has been the Frenchman versus the rest, and on Saturday afternoon against Chelsea, the winger had a disappointing display, which only served to highlight just how much the Tyneside club have relied upon him for some inspiration.

As per Sofascore, he lost possession 13 times over the course of the game, and had just one shot on goal, whilst even that was off target. And with Chelsea dominating possession, the winger could only manage 14 passes, and failed to deliver a single accurate cross.

Eventually, whether it was because of his poor performance or just that he felt like the Magpies weren’t going to get anything from the game and wanted to save him from injury, Bruce hooked him after 74 minutes.

Nobody can fault for Saint-Maximin for at least trying to get things going, but you couldn’t help but feel that he was being held back by his manager’s game-plan and his teammates’ lack of quality.

But the longer Bruce’s defensive-minded tactics continue, the more frustrated Saint-Maximin will become. And if the French ace packs his bags and leaves St James’ Park, then there’ll be only man to point the finger at.

Whilst summer signing Konstantinos Tsimikas was never likely to be a regular in Liverpool’s first-team whilst Andy Robertson is fit and firing, Reds fans will have been expecting a lot more from the Greek international compared to what he has shown so far.

The left-back, who joined from Olympiakos in the summer transfer window, made just his second start for the Merseyside club in their 2-0 defeat against Atalanta on Wednesday evening.

The 24-year-old’s only other appearance of note was in the 7-2 win against Lincoln City, where he was perhaps unlikely to be tested as much in what proved to be a comfortable win against League One opposition.

Considering Liverpool had beaten Gian Piero Gasperini’s side 5-0 away from home in the reverse fixture, a lot of Reds fans will have surely been expecting a comfortable victory at Anfield but it was far from it, as the Serie A side claimed all three points in Group D thanks to goals from Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens.

Jurgen Klopp will surely have been disappointed with the performance of Tsimikas in the defeat, with the Greek international replaced by Robertson shortly after the hour-mark.

As per SofaScore, the defender earned a 6.3 rating for his display against Atalanta, which was the joint-worst of any player on the pitch.

It was a disappointing display both attacking and defensively, as when he received the ball high up the pitch, he was very wasteful, with none of his four crosses finding a Liverpool shirt, whilst none of his long balls were accurate.

The former Olympiakos man recorded a pass accuracy rate of 78%, with 29/37 of his passes finding their mark.

He also struggled to win duels against the Italian opposition, as he was successful in just three of his nine ground duels on the evening.

When you compare this horror-show to Robertson’s superb display against Leicester City recently, which was excellent from both a defensive and attacking point of view (he set up Diogo Jota’s goal and helped keep a clean sheet), it seems as if Tsimikas is a long way off replicating the sort of performances the £67.5m-rated man has regularly produced since joining the club.

Whilst it may be too early to write Tsimikas off completely, the early signs are certainly not good.

And, in other news… Liverpool made an inexcusable error in selling “superb” centre-back

Many Everton fans have been discussing an update about Lucas Digne that recently emerged on social media.

The Times’ correspondent Paul Joyce has recently reported that the Toffees are now preparing to offer the left-back a new contract. An article written by the journalist has claimed that this is an attempt from Everton to ward off potential suitors for the Frenchman amidst reports linking him with a move. The defender is expected to get improved terms in the new deal and Everton are hoping he will sign the deal after he was linked with a move to Manchester City (as per the Times).

Digne is currently out injured and could be out well into the New Year too, but Carlo Ancelotti has already revealed that his rehab is going very well indeed (as per the Times). Digne is currently valued at £29.70m.

Digne arrived at Goodison Park from Barcelona in the summer of 2018 for a fee of £18 million. Since arriving at the club, he has made 87 appearances in all competitions for the Toffees while picking up 17 assists and a total of five goals (as per Transfermarkt).

Many Everton fans were raving about this update and they took to Twitter to make their opinion clear about Digne’s potential new deal.

What did Everton fans make of this update about Digne?

In other news, many Everton fans have been talking about the club’s links with a move for Sami Khedira – read more about it here.

David Gold and David Sullivan will have left a sour taste in the mouths of many West Ham United supporters for their slack efforts to strengthen David Moyes’ squad this summer, but can show their intent with the capture of AFC Bournemouth’s Joshua King.

What’s the word?

According to The Telegraph, West Ham have begun talks with Bournemouth and King over a potential £10million deal to take the forward from the Vitality Stadium against rival interest from West Bromwich Albion.

King is eager to secure a move to a Premier League side following the Cherries’ relegation last season, having established himself as a top-flight player with 48 goals and 15 assists over the past five campaigns.

The window remains open for Premier League sides to do business with EFL clubs until October 16, which Irons boss Moyes is keen to explore after Felipe Anderson’s loan move to FC Porto and Grady Diangana’s departure for West Brom left him with a lack of options.

Baggies boss Slaven Bilic is also keen on King following news that striker Hal Robson-Kanu will require surgery on his broken arm, while Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur had considered signing the 28-year-old earlier in the summer.

King missed the start of the 2020/21 season for new manager Jason Tindall through an injury sustained whilst on international duty, but the £45,000-per-week 2021-free agent has since struggled to earn game time on the south coast with just 23 minutes to his name across all competitions thus far.

An ambitious signing from the EFL

King could serve as a late signal of intent by the West Ham ownership of Gold and Sullivan as the former Manchester United trainee and January target is one of the top talents still on the market now that the international window has closed.

The Oslo-born forward struck six goals and penned four assists whilst Bournemouth were relegated last season despite starting just 24 of 26 appearances, with successful strikes against the Red Devils and Chelsea that secured a vital win and draw that kept the Cherries in the survival race until the final seconds.

He further created four big chances that were not converted and spurned three himself, whilst averaging 0.8 shots, 1.2 key balls, 5.9 duels won and 2.0 successful dribbles a game, per SofaScore.

King is also a player with great ambition, having stated desires to become Norway’s all-time leading goalscorer and eclipse the 33 goal tally of Jorgen Juve set between 1928 and 1937, despite only having 17 to his name from 48 appearances heading into Thursday night’s UEFA Euros qualifier against Serbia.

Now that West Ham can only shop in the English Football League for late reinforcements, GSB could do a lot worse than court King for £10m.

AND in other news, GSB’s floundering in the transfer market ensured West Ham failed in a late pursuit of a £30million target.

Earlier this week we discussed how Steven Gerrard should start Glasgow Rangers ace Ianis Hagi against Standard Liege in the Europa League so that the 21-year-old gains valuable experience in his football career, but there’s a certain player in particular we forgot to mention who should be in contention to start at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne too.

Jermain Defoe was surprisingly omitted from the Europa League squad to make room for Bongani Zungu due to a lack of homegrown players. Whilst some may argue that the 29-cap South Africa international is just making up the numbers, as Gerrard was full of praise for his midfield after the Gers romped to a 2-0 win over their arch-rivals Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the season, we think that he could be given his first-team debut on Thursday night.

Glen Kamara put in a tremendous performance at Celtic Park, as he won seven out of nine ground duels whilst neutralising the attacking threat of Celtic wing-back Jeremie Frimpong, so he could be rested for the Europa League clash.

And ex-Ibrox midfielder Neil Murray seems to agree, saying: “The manager has another big decision to make for the Liege game and you could see Kamara missing out if he switches it up.

“You hope that healthy competition, where no players are guaranteed to play in that midfield, keeps everyone on their toes.”

If Kamara does indeed drop out, then this will create space for the South African to slot into place alongside Ryan Kent, who is almost certain to start, as he has made 13 appearances for the Light Blues this season so far.

In any case, competition for places is important, so Zungu should be given the chance to show what he can do. He was denied the chance to feature in the Old Firm derby after being forced to quarantine due to coronavirus restrictions in Scotland.

Once hailed as a “special talent” by Flavio Meireles, the sporting director from Vitoria de Guimaraes, the 28-year-old made 21 appearances in Ligue 1 for Amiens last season, whilst he made one clearance and more than one tackle per game, via WhoScored.

By comparison, Kamara is only averaging 0.7 tackles per game in the Scottish Premiership this season, as per WhoScored.

We don’t envy the tough decision at all, that’s for sure. What better way for Zungu to make a good impression than by making a statement in the European competition? One thing is for sure, it’ll be interesting to see if and when he will make his debut for the Gers. All eyes will be watching.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must take a gamble on long-term target Jack Wilshere…

Southampton were reported to have made a bid for Sampdoria defender Omar Colley during the summer transfer window and they look to have now been handed a boost in their potential hopes of signing the centre-back in January, with the Serie A side now reportedly open to selling him.

It was suggested during the summer that the Saints were planning to bid €15 million (£13.4 million) for the Gambian defender but a move to the South Coast club never materialised.

However, Calcionews24 have now suggested that Blucerchiati are now open to selling the defender, as he has been relegated to the bench in recent weeks.

The 28-year-old has made just two appearances in Serie A so far this season, in which he put in mixed displays, earning a disappointing 6.05 rating in the 3-0 defeat against Juventus, whilst a goal in a 3-2 defeat against Benevento earned him a much more impressive 7.41 rating (per WhoScored).

Southampton’s centre-backs have been impressive so far this season, with Jan Vestergaard currently the club’s third-best performer in the Premier League, having averaged a superb 7.29 rating (per WhoScored). The Dane’s rejuvenation in recent weeks does make you wonder if Colley would still be a useful addition for Hasenhuttl.

Jan Bednarek has also impressed, having averaged a solid 6.84 rating across eight Premier League appearances, suggesting that it would be difficult for Colley to break up that current partnership.

While Jack Stephens has struggled at times this season, with the 26-year-old’s 6.40 average rating from his four top-flight appearances perhaps something for Hasenhuttl to worry about, he provides able back-up, while the club are still yet to see a glimpse of summer buy Mohamed Salisu.

WhoScored suggests that Colley’s strengths are aerial duels and interceptions, whilst he has no significant weaknesses, so perhaps he could be compared to former Saints man Virgil van Dijk, who has established himself as one of the world’s best defenders since joining Liverpool for £75 million.

That said, having kept four Premier League clean sheets already this term, maybe the south coast outfit should have other priorities if they want to buy in January.

One of Tottenham Hotspur’s priorities this summer should be finding a new striker to provide valuable support to Harry Kane and perhaps the solution can be found in Spain…

What’s the word?

According to Mundo Deportivo, Spurs have been closely following the progress of Real Betis frontman Loren Moron, who an unnamed Premier League team has recently bid €12m (£10.7m) for.

It’s claimed that the 26-year-old has a release clause of €50m (£44.5m) but the La Liga outfit would accept bids of around €20m (£18m) for his signature this summer.

Arsenal, Sheffield United, West Ham and Newcastle United have all been mooted with interest in the Spaniard too.

Forget Wilson

With Spurs being told to pay a whopping £30m for relegated star Callum Wilson, a move for Moron would make a lot more sense, especially as he’s proven to be more prolific than the Englishman this season.

Per WhoScored, the Betis ace delivered ten goals and three assists from just 21 appearances, averaging 1.4 shots and 1.2 aerial duels won per game.

Former Barcelona head coach Quique Setien hailed the striker as a “really good player” with “many qualities” whilst La Liga Analysis note how his excellent movement off-the-ball allows him to be a poacher inside the box.

Although he’s not a traditional number nine like Kane, there are some similarities as he can also drop deep to open up space for the wingers to cut inside, something that Spurs can do quite well.

The 6 foot 2 forward can be the man to finally replace Fernando Llorente in north London and he’ll cost half the price of someone who’s just been relegated from the top-flight.

Daniel Levy must sanction the £18m move before one of their rivals clinches him.

AND in other news, Spurs could have dream midfield duo with £20m arrival