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Bailey Peacock-Farrell is not concerned that his decision to switch Leeds United for Burnley will backfire, because the chance to secure a Premier League transfer was too good of an opportunity to refuse, as told to The Times.

The Northern Ireland international had been on the Whites’ books since 2013 (TransferMarkt), but opted to leave the Elland Road outfit in August after it became clear that assurances of first-team football would not be on the cards any time soon with Marcelo Bielsa favouring Kiko Casilla (Yorkshire Evening Post).

Peacock-Farrell is now facing yet another stretch waiting to be awarded minutes between the posts after joining Burnley for £2.5million (BBC), as his arrival at Turf Moor as the replacement for Tom Heaton – who joined Aston Villa – saw the 22-year-old go from Casilla’s understudy at Leeds to third choice under Sean Dyche.

The jump from Championship football to Premier League status has somewhat been negated by this, as the Darlington-born shot-stopper is behind one-time England international Nick Pope and long-time Three Lions number one Joe Hart.

The Times note that many saw this as a reason to question his decision to quit the Whites, but Peacock-Farrell has explained his thought process behind his decision.

“It was a jump that I wasn’t expecting to make so soon, but it came about and I couldn’t turn it down,” Peacock-Farrell said. “I’m really happy to be there. I’m enjoying the day in, day out training and working with two experienced and very good goalkeepers in front of me.

“Nick Pope has been called into the England squad and Joe Hart was England number one for a long time, won the Golden Glove in the Premier League and played a ridiculous amount of top-flight games. I’ll learn a lot from them and believe it is a place where I can grow.”

Only time will tell if Peacock-Farrell made the right decision in quitting Leeds to become a third-choice goalkeeper at a Premier League club, but the Northern Ireland international’s explanation would suggest he did not feel he would develop in the same manner had he opted to remain Casilla’s number two.

On the other hand, opting to take a place on the bench over fighting for the number one jersey can just as easily hamper his progress, as he now needs both men ahead of him in Dyche’s pecking order to endure a poor run of form – or injuries – to even be in contention for consideration, let alone selection.

Leeds fans, would you have preferred to have seen Peacock-Farrell replace Casilla your number one this season instead of selling the now Burnley goalkeeper? Let us know in the comments below…

By their high standards, the beginning of the 2019/20 season has not really been so rosy for Barcelona.

Needless to say, they are used to winning on a consistent basis yet, so far, they’ve only tasted victory once in the first three fixtures of the new campaign. And Ernesto Valverde has also had some problems when picking his preferred lineup.

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Of course, a big part of that was also caused by various injuries that somewhat messed with his plans.

Earlier this week AS claimed that Barcelona officials are optimistic that both Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi can feature in the clash, while a post on the club’s official Twitter page showing the former back on the training pitch has provided reason to suggest he’s pushing for a start. No such luck for Messi, it seems.

With all of that being said, here’s the predicted starting XI for Barcelona in a match that William Hill has them as favourites:

The goalkeeper spot picks itself as there is no chance that we’re going to see anyone else in that position other than Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The same can be said for almost the entire backline.

Jordi Alba, Clement Lenglet and Gerard Pique are definite starters and have been for quite a long time. The only question mark is the right-back position but Nelson Semedo has started every game so far and it’s fair to assume he’ll start the next one as well despite a pretty poor showing in the clash against Osasuna.

The midfield and forward lines are exactly where the situation gets a bit more tricky. Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong pick themselves and we’re bound to see them both play on Saturday. The third spot, however, is still a mystery.

But given how good he was in the last game and how he completely changed Barcelona’s fortunes back then in Pamplona, we’re going to go out on a limb and say Valverde starts Arthur Melo alongside the Dutchman and the Spaniard.

Finally, the front three. Antoine Griezmann and Carles Perez will surely start since both Messi and Ousmane Dembele are still missing. But the question remains: will Valverde actually play Suarez straight after recovering from injury?

And while the question of whether he actually should is a story for another time, leaving the Uruguayan on the bench seems rather unlikely for the Ant, so we’re slotting him into the starting XI and using our Totesports promo code 2019 for him as first scorer, pushing Griezmann to the left.

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They may not be playing in the same league anymore, but the rivalry between Aston Villa and Birmingham City holds no bounds, and this latest update will only aggravate things further.

The ‘Second City’ derby as it is also known is one of the fiercer duels in English football and their last meeting back in March was hugely controversial for all the wrong reasons.

Villa came out on top in a 1-0 victory at St Andrew’s Park thanks to a Jack Grealish strike in the 67th minute, but earlier in the match, the visiting skipper was on the receiving end of a blow from a member of the home support.

In just the tenth minute a Birmingham fan entered the field of play to punch Grealish from behind. He was jailed and fined following the controversial moment.

Now the club have been given a penalty themselves after an independent regulatory commission ruled that they will have to pay £42,500 as a result.

This news hasn’t gone down well with several of the Villa fanbase as they feel the fine was far too lenient considering the severity of the incident.

One said the punishment seems ‘wholly inadequate’ while ‘pathetic’ and ‘shocking’ were just two other words used to describe it.

Another supporter claimed it should have been used as an example as it effectively tells people that assaulting a player has a pretty small consequence.

You can read more of the reaction below:

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Some Tottenham fans have taken to Twitter to reminisce about their former midfielder Mousa Dembele, following a 2-1 defeat to Leicester at the King Power Stadium.

The Belgium international left the north Londoners back in January for the Chinese Super League, citing his desire to try something different and his ‘open-mindedness’ as reasons for his departure.

Dembele’s contract was due to expire in the summer, so Spurs sanctioned the £11m deal in order to recoup a transfer fee.

However, since his exit, Mauricio Pochettino’s side haven’t won an away game in the Premier League, and currently find themselves outside of the top four having won two, drawn two and lost two in their first six games of the season.

One fan below said that he’s “convinced” Spurs would’ve won the Champions League if the 32-year-old stayed, while another simply said that they “miss him so much”.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

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Loads of Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter would like to see RB Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann as their next manager if Mauricio Pochettino leaves, with the north London outfit’s poor run of performances and results continuing on Tuesday night.

The Argentine would have been looking for his team to bounce back having lost leads in successive away matches against Olympiacos and Leicester City on the road, but instead they failed to find the net against League Two Colchester United in 90 minutes.

The game went to penalties and misses from Christian Eriksen and Lucas Moura proved crucial as the hosts ran out 4-3 winners, to dump their top flight opponents out and advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Meanwhile, Nagelsmann has only been with Leizpig a few months following a successful spell with Hoffenheim, but he has already made an impact and the German side currently top the Bundesliga standings ahead of Bayern Munich.

Interestingly, the coach is just 32 years of age but his tender years haven’t stopped him leading Hoffenheim into the Champions League in the past, while his current employers also beat Benfica away last week in Europe’s elite club competition.

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Spurs supporters certainly seem convinced about him, with one labelling him as “young and hungry, like Poch was at the start”, and another individual saying he is “the only man who can succeed Poch”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

As their goal-scoring struggles continue to get exposed this season, Manchester United quite naturally have been linked with numerous strikers in recent weeks.

Reports have claimed the Red Devils are targeting a potential move for Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson and Juventus’ Mario Mandzukic, whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has publicly admitted the club’s next signing will be a centre-forward.

One man who was in their grasp, but was let go, is Brighton prospect Aaron Connolly. Sky Sports have previously reported the 19-year-old was on trial at Old Trafford before joining the Seagulls, and that United were monitoring his development.

Well, on Saturday afternoon against Tottenham, the Republic of Ireland U21 international well and truly showed why it was a major mistake for the Red Devils to not sign him up.

The teenager bagged himself a brace against Spurs and was a real live-wire throughout the game, having six shots at goal and ending the match with an impressive 8.8 rating as per Sofascore.

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After seeing his display, United fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts about the forward.

Many supporters of the Manchester side hailed the 19-year-old’s performance, and insisted he is already better than Marcus Rashford.

One fan in particular even remarked Connolly “played like a young Rooney” in the clash against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

After the defeat to Burnley, Everton fans have erupted into a meltdown on Twitter, as their club dropped into the relegation zone, and taking much of this heat is the director of football Marcel Brands.

Two seasons prior to Brands’ takeover, the club were in the same league position to what they are now, as Ronaldo Koeman spent an incredible £259m during his time in charge of the Toffees but fought relegation early on in 2017-18.

Because of such a drastic net spend, yet poor results, Brands replaced Steve Walsh in the role to make the club “better and more equipped to challenge the top teams,” said Farhad Moshiri. Since then, the Dutchman has found the squad to be in a similar situation before he took over, having still splashed close to £200m.

Brands has indeed spent £197.73m and with Moshiri’s desire to play in the Champions League, the former PSV director of football has begun to take a lot of heat from the fans.

Back in his homeland, the 56-year-old has been successful in this role, winning three Eredivisie titles and one KNVB Cup during eight years at PSV Eindhoven, whilst helping win AZ Alkmaar’s second-ever league title in 2008 alongside Louis van Gaal.

In truth, the Dutchman has splashed the cash well, however, with Richarlison bagging 13 league goals last campaign, whilst Lucas Digne won the Player of the Year for the club. Although, despite this, the fans still believe there are major holes to be filled in the squad.

Here’s what they have had to say…

Wolverhampton Wanderers pulled off one of the results of the season on Sunday afternoon as they recorded a 2-0 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Adama Traore will take the majority of the headlines due to his excellent brace.

However, the performance of Willy Boly at the heart of the defence made a huge impression on the Wolves supporters.

According to WhoScored, the 28-year-old won five aerial duels during a stunning display as part of a back three.

On Saturday night, The Sun reported that Arsenal had their eye on the central defender, who has spent the last three seasons at Molineux.

And the Gunners are bound to have been impressed with his latest performance as Nuno’s side picked up a stunning three points at the home of the Premier League champions.

It would be fair to say that the Wolves fans were running out of superlatives to describe his performance on Sunday.

But a selection of their comments on his display can be seen below:

Liverpool’s 100% winning start to the 2019/20 Premier League season has rightfully seen them gain plaudits for reaching the summit of the league table, but one former Merseyside player has heaped praise on one of the club’s star performers in the current campaign.

Jamie Carragher, who made over 500 appearances for the Reds alongside winning the Champions League, has singled out Senegalese forward Sadio Mane for his performances so far in 2019/20 and has even stated that the 27-year-old is his favourite player at the club.

Carragher has also stated he believes Mane is amongst the elite in world football after the forward helped Liverpool lift the 2019 Champions League whilst also playing a crucial role in the club’s domestic campaign that saw them fall fractionally short to Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.

Mane will be hoping to help his side go one step further in the league this year, and Carragher’s praise of the forward points to a player who is likely to continue to play a pivotal role in Liverpool’s domestic and European aspirations in the current campaign.

Charlton Athletic have commenced their 2019/20 Championship campaign in strong form to rise to 10th in the table after achieving promotion from League One last season.

A recent international call-up for Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher to England’s U21 side had excited some of the club’s fanbase, with his call up looking like just reward for what has been an eye-catching opening to his season-long spell.

Despite the call-up, U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd opted not to start Gallagher in either of his side’s games against Slovenia and Austria, limiting the Addicks midfielder to just 31 minutes of game-time in his first trip away with the Young Lions squad, with a 4 minute cameo against the latter coming just days after a 27 minute run out against the former.

The midfielder has scored four goals and registered one assist in 11 Championship appearances for Charlton this season, and his loan spell from Stamford Bridge is proving to be fruitful for both the player and Lee Bowyer’s side.

Boothroyd unquestionably has a plethora of talent at his disposal within the England U21 ranks, but given Gallagher’s form and the fact he has proven his ability in the Championship, this international break would have provided an excellent opportunity for the 19-year-old to showcase his ability on the international stage.

After receiving the call-up, Gallagher’s first trip away with the U21 side could have presented the perfect opportunity for the in-form midfielder to make his first start in an England shirt, but it appears more is needed. 

If the Charlton man continues to impress in the Championship, then Boothroyd may have no choice but to give the 19-year-old his first start for the U21s in the Young Lions’ next international fixture against Albania in November.