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Leicester City are eyeing a move for in-form Rennes forward Martin Terrier, with journalist Graeme Bailey sharing news on the in-demand Ligue 1 star.

The Lowdown: Leicester flying again…

Despite the Foxes’ recent 1-0 defeat to Premier League champions Manchester City, it’s safe to say that an air of optimism has returned to the King Power Stadium in recent weeks.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have lost just two of their last six top-flight matches whilst picking up crucial victories against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Wolves. The Foxes have also kept four clean sheets in their last six whilst also conceding just three times in total, not to mention scoring an impressive 11 goals at the other end.

Their resolute display against Man City at the weekend was only undone by a superb free kick from Belgium superstar Kevin De Bruyne, and going by their latest showings, Leicester could fancy their chances of avoiding the drop.

The Latest: Leicester eye Terrier swoop…

As per 90min and reporter Graeme Bailey, who says there are ‘few better players in Europe’ than Terrier right now, Leicester are among a host of clubs to have scouted the forward recently.

Foxes officials have apparently ran the rule over Rennes’ star man, with the Midlands club taking an interest alongside many of their top-flight rivals.

The Verdict: One to watch…

The 25-year-old is in electric form right now and could certainly be one to watch heading into the winter, and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that France head coach Didier Deschamps could consider the player for his 2022 World Cup squad.

As per WhoScored, Terrier stands out as Rennes’ top scorer and best player by average match rating, while he also tops their charts for most attempts at goal per 90 (three).

Dubbed ‘sublime’ by members of the press, the winger’s recent meteoric rise looks to have grabbed the attention of Leicester, and numerous others.

Tottenham Hotspur made it back-to-back Premier League defeats on Sunday afternoon, having suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of a resurgent Newcastle United side following what was another unconvincing display from Antonio Conte’s men.

Just a matter of days after their limp showing at Old Trafford against Manchester United, the north Londoners again came unstuck against the Magpies, having been undone by first-half goals from Callum Wilson and the in-form Miguel Amiron, who bagged his sixth league goal of the campaign.

A header from the ever-reliable Harry Kane – who now boasts a stunning haul of ten top-flight strikes so far this term – had given Spurs hope of a comeback against Eddie Howe’s men, although the home side were ultimately unable to produce much of a rally as they stumbled their way to defeat.

A key villain in that disappointing affair for the Lilywhites had been that of centre-back Davinson Sanchez, with the Colombian international having failed to deliver after taking the place of the stricken Cristian Romero in the backline.

The 26-year-old was “desperately poor” on the day – in the words of Sky Sports reporter Ben Grounds (Live Blog, 23/10/2022, 17:41), having been particularly wasteful in possession, squandering the ball on ten occasions from his 50 touches.

The £65k-per-week flop – who cost the club an eye-watering £42m fee back in 2017 – also failed to complete any of his four long balls, while also proving something of a liability in a defensive sense, having won just two of his six aerial duels.

On what was just his fifth league start of the season, the former Ajax man proved just why he has largely played second fiddle during Conte’s tenure to date, with his match rating of 6.6, as per SofaScore, having been the joint-second worst of any of his starting teammates against the Tynesiders.

The £25.2m-rated man was also notably criticised by the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick in his post-match player ratings piece, awarding the 50-cap dud a 5/10 rating, while also stating: ‘Uncomfortable when pressed and touch was sloppy. No surprise he was rusty but rarely comfortable when asked to play out.’

On the basis of that display, Sanchez – who has proven something of a costly mistake for owner Daniel Levy – will be lucky to retain his place for Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Sporting CP, having only served to amplify the setback of losing Romero to injury.

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Dennis Cirkin back to north London in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Sun, who claim that, despite having sold the left-back to Sunderland as recently as the summer of 2021, Fabio Paratici is now interested in activating a £6m clause to bring the 20-year-old back to north London.

The report goes on to state that Brentford are also tracking the England U20 international, as Thomas Frank believes the full-back could be a long-term replacement for Rico Henry – should the 25-year-old defender leave the Gtech Community Stadium.

Paratici can amend Nuno’s mistake

Considering just how highly rated Cirkin was at Tottenham prior to his sale under the management of Nuno Espirito Santo last year – with Jose Mourinho stating his belief that the 20-year-old was a “kid with a lot of quality” during his time in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – it is not difficult to see why Paratici would be keen to bring the left-back home.

Indeed, the £1.8m-rated defender highly impressed over his 37 League One appearances in 2021/22, helping his side keep nine clean sheets, providing two assists and creating two big chances, as well as making an average of 1.8 tackles, one interception, 2.5 clearances and winning 58% of his duels per game – playing a key role in the Black Cats’ promotion to the Championship.

The £3.4k-per-week talent has continued this fine form over his nine second-tier fixtures so far this season, having already scored one goal, registered one assist, created one big chance and helped his side keep two clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 1.4 tackles, 2.7 clearances and winning 5.8 duels – at a success rate of 56% – per game.

These returns have seen the player who Josh Bunting dubbed “immense” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.92, currently ranking him as Tony Mowbray’s ninth-best performer in the Championship – with the defender helping the ninth-placed Mackems get off to a fantastic start to life back in the second-tier.

As such, while it is true that Antonio Conte currently has the options of Ryan Sessegnon and Ivan Perisic at left-wing back, as well as Destiny Udogie joining the club at the end of the season after the completion of his loan spell at Udinese, it is nevertheless clear for all to see that Cirkin would be well worth bringing back to the club for a figure of just £6m.

Indeed, even if the England youth international would not go on to become a first-team regular under the 53-year-old Italian, should he continue his fine form in the Championship this season, Paratici would more than likely be able to move the full-back on for a considerably larger fee than £6m – something that would amend Nuno’s big mistake in moving Cirkin on.

Sunderland return to action in the Championship this afternoon as they take on fellow newly-promoted side Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light.

Tony Mowbray’s side are on a run of four games without a win in the division and are currently sitting 13th in the table after 13 matches.

The Black Cats lost 2-1 away to Swansea last time out and have only scored once in their last three games, whilst having to deal without having a natural number nine available due to the injuries to Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms.

They now come up against a Wigan side who are two points and four places ahead of them in the table but will be without captain Corry Evans for the game after he picked up his fifth booking of the campaign against the Swans.

His suspension leaves a position in the middle of the park up for grabs and Mowbray could spark Sunderland into life by unleashing Edouard Michut from the start.

The Frenchman arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer and the manager recently praised him after a performance for the U21s, saying: 

“My dilemmas really are around, do we replace Corry with a real technician? So if you saw the U21 games on Monday night against Leeds United, Edouard Michut showed what a lovely footballer is, passing the ball between the lines. He was competitive in the game and I think he covered 13 kilometres as well.”

These comments indicate that the Black Cats boss is a fan of the 19-year-old and Evans’ absence provides him with an opportunity to unleash the young gem.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig previously claimed that the dynamo has “natural football IQ” and once described him as being “highly technical and creative”. This suggests that he has the vision and intelligence to open up opposition defences, which is something Evans – who has created 0.3 chances per game – is not adept at.

On the other side of the game, Michut is not a lightweight who will be easily bullied by the opposition. He made his Championship debut against Blackpool earlier this month and made four tackles and interceptions combined in 14 minutes, whilst also winning 100% (1/1) of his aerial battles.

Therefore, the Frenchman – who provided one assist in 70 minutes of Ligue 1 action for PSG last term – could spark life into Sunderland’s recently dim attack by getting on the ball and making things happen in midfield, whilst remaining strong out of possession and not being a liability from a physical point of view.

Southampton are keeping tabs on Celtic winger Jota as the club plan a move to bring him to St. Mary’s next summer, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Jota’s career

Since arriving at the Scottish giants in 2021, the 23-year-old has impressed in a green-and-white Hoops shirt.

Just last year in his first season at Celtic, the former U21 Portugal international bagged seven goals and eight assists in 24 Premiership appearances.

So far this season, Jota has maintained his electric start to life at Celtic Park, having produced four goals and five assists in the side’s opening nine top-flight fixtures.

Furthermore, the attacker also recently netted in the Champions League as the Hoops fell short in a 3-1 defeat to RB Leipzig.

The Latest: Southampton news

According to a report by Football Insider, Southampton will continue to keep tabs on Jota this season as they plan on making a move for the Celtic star next summer.

Saints scouts have reportedly been very impressed by the former Benfica wide man, and consequently they have shared glowing reports to the south-coast club’s recruitment team.

As a result, Jota has been added to Southampton’s list of attackers who have the potential to make the leap to the Premier League.

The Verdict: Huge talent

When looking at Jota’s underlying stats, it is easy to see why Southampton believe the winger could make the step up to perform at the highest level in the English top-flight.

As per FBRef, compared with positional peers across Europe over the past year, the 23-year-old ranks in the top two percent for expected goals assisted and in the top four percent for non-penalty goals and non-penalty expected goals plus expected goals assisted.

Having been hailed as a ‘phenomenal player’ by former Rangers manager Alex McLeish, Jota certainly has the talent to make an impression at St. Mary’s.

Therefore, having earnt statistical comparisons to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son, this would be a brilliant addition for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad.

The Rangers Review journalist Jonny McFarlane was left criticising the performance of James Tavernier as Glasgow Rangers lost 2-0 at Liverpool on Tuesday night.

The Lowdown: Three losses

The defeat at Anfield means that the Ibrox outfit have now lost all three of their opening games in the UEFA Champions League group stages, and so face a huge uphill battle to qualify for the knockout rounds or even the drop to the Europa League.

Goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah were more than enough to give the hosts all three points on the night, and so Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team know that they probably need to get something out of the return fixture if they are to qualify.

The Latest: Tavernier criticised

Taking to Twitter, McFarlane criticised Tavernier’s performance in particular, claiming that he was having an ‘absolute nightmare’:

“Tavernier is having an absolute nightmare here.”

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The Verdict: Not his best

Considering that Tavernier was the Gers’ best-performing player in Europe last season, he certainly was not at his best against Liverpool.

The right-back lost four of his duels, and also failed to record a single dribble, key pass or cross, losing possession of the ball a total of 21 times, the most of any outfield Light Blues player (SofaScore).

As captain, Tavernier’s nervousness perhaps spread across the rest of the team, which meant that they struggled to find any rhythm or composure on the ball.

Leeds United midfielder Adam Forshaw will miss the Whites’ Premier League clash against Aston Villa this weekend, journalist Phil Hay has confirmed.

The Lowdown: Leeds host Aston Villa

Jesse Marsch’s side are back in league action after the international break, welcoming Steven Gerrard’s Villa to Elland Road for a Sunday afternoon showdown.

Leeds sit 11th in the table after six matches, winning, drawing and losing twice apiece so far, and this should be viewed as a very winnable fixture against a team who aren’t at their best, sitting four places behind the Yorkshire club.

Injuries continue to hamper the Whites, though, with Archie Gray and Stuart Dallas among those currently sidelined.

The Latest: Forshaw ruled out

Forshaw is another Leeds man who will miss Sunday’s clash, and taking to Twitter, Hay relayed an update from Marsch as to why the midfielder would be absent this weekend.

The reporter tweeted:

“Marsch starting on injuries: Forshaw has a twisted ankle and will miss the weekend. Archie Gray has a fractured toe, out for another couple of weeks. Dallas still working his way back. Everyone else is available.”

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The Verdict: Constant injury setbacks

Forshaw’s career has been hampered severely by injuries in recent times, with the 31-year-old missing almost two years of action with a serious hip problem between 2019 and 2021.

Other issues have also affected him badly, including a fractured kneecap towards the end of last season, and this current update is just the latest in a series of setbacks for the 30-year-old.

The hope is that Forshaw – who has been restricted to three substitute appearances in the current league campaign – will be back soon, considering that this particular injury doesn’t sound serious, but it is hard to rely on him staying fit for a prolonged period given his unfortunate history in that regard.

Steven Gerrard made the bold decision to keep Cameron Archer at Aston Villa during the summer but his lack of first-team action suggests it might have been a big mistake by the Villa boss.

The 19-year-old academy graduate enjoyed a superb breakthrough campaign last season, first catching the eye with four goals in the League Cup for Villa’s first team, including a hat-trick in a win against Barrow.

He was sent on loan to Preston North End in the Championship and continued his impressive form in the second tier, hitting seven goals in just 20 appearances for the Lancashire club, taking his tally to 15 goals in 56 senior appearances.

Manager Ryan Lowe was full of praise for the young striker’s impact in the second tier, saying:

“Cameron has got an abundance of talent.

“It is getting him in the right places, I don’t want him coming short all the time, I want him to be on the shoulder, sniffing around, being proactive, not reactive.

“His quality levels are fantastic, he’s bullish, strong, he can roll, he has got that little burst of pace too.”

Archer’s fine form would continue during the summer, as he managed four goals in just four outings for England U21s, and it all seemed set for the 20-year-old to have a big 2022/23 campaign.

Gerrard confirmed during the summer that Archer would remain with the first team and was expected to challenge the likes of Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings for a starting role.

However, that hasn’t come to fruition, as despite Villa’s poor start to the season, the academy graduate has featured in just 17 minutes of action this term, making three appearances from the bench.

Even against lower league opposition in the League Cup, Archer was afforded just eight minutes of playing time, and this lack of first-team action is surely harming his potential, as he wasn’t called up to the England U21 squad for the current international break.

It makes little sense that Archer is warming the bench when he was attracting so much Championship interest during the summer and Gerrard looks to have made another blunder in keeping him at the club without giving him any real chances.

West Bromwich Albion were heavily linked across the summer with Reading striker Lucas Joao, and the Portuguese star could have represented an important coup given their reliance on Karlan Grant to score all the goals.

Reports late in the window suggested the Baggies had made a move to sign the Royals marksman, but that seemed to fall through and Steve Bruce was left scrambling to sign Salford City striker Brandon Thomas-Asante last minute.

Had he managed to sign Joao instead however, despite the latter’s fine start to life at the Hawthorns, perhaps his side would not be in as much peril as they currently are.

West Brom sit in 20th, with just one win from nine Championship games. This marks abysmal form for a side that had dreams of a promotion push. Things are yet to get easier too, as tomorrow they travel to second-placed Norwich City.

A big issue with their season has been their toothless nature. This was foreseen after their January signing Daryl Dike was ruled out until after the World Cup.

He was not replaced in the summer, and now Bruce’s side have scored 14 goals in nine appearances. However, five of those goals came in one game against Hull City, which papers over the cracks somewhat.

Joao already has three goals this season in just six appearances, including a match-winning brace in his side’s 2-1 win over Stoke City.

He has proven his credentials as a match winner, something which West Brom are clearly lacking.

Grant also has three league goals, but in nine matches instead. To add competition for his place would surely have forced better performances out of the 24-year-old, and if not then the lethal Joao could have taken his place.

In fact, he has been a consistent Championship goal scorer all across his 213 appearances. He has scored 67 times and chipped in with a further 27 assists.

With Paul Ince having labelled the 29-year-old a “great finisher”, it somewhat mocks the Baggies as that is exactly what they need. Against Birmingham City, they had 66% possession and 18 shots, yet still ran out 3-2 losers.

Joao is exactly the type of player they needed, but they let him get away and are paying the price because of it.

West Ham United recorded yet another victory in the Europa Conference League last night, continuing their 100% record with a fine 3-2 win in Denmark.

Although their opponent Silkeborg staged a late comeback after leading first, the Hammers held on well to ensure they were not embarrassed.

There were a number of standout performers for David Moyes, with summer signing Gianluca Scamacca netting alongside Craig Dawson who returned to the side following an injury.

However, the one man who went under the radar for his classy workmanlike performance beside Declan Rice was Manuel Lanzini, who boasted an impressive 7.0 SofaScore rating.

Not only was he a fantastic presence in the engine room, with 80 touches, but he also dispatched coolly from the spot to open the scoring.

He adapted well to his slightly deeper role and acted as the metronome from which the Irons built their entire game. He averaged a pass accuracy of 94% and was 100% successful with his dribbling too.

Not only was he consistent, but he also produced a high quality of creation as he also gave two key passes during the game.

It was an all-around perfect performance from the midfielder, who allowed Rice to uphold more of the defensive work whilst he controlled the game.

His ability to do that as well as score sees him further support the claim that he is one of West Ham’s “mercurial gems,” as described by journalist Daniel Storey.

On a day when it was expected for Lucas Paqueta to star, starting just his second game since signing in the summer, it was the tried and tested Argentine who stole the show and reminded fans just why he has been around for so long.

The Brazilian offered just a 6.6 rating by SofaScore and struggled at times to get into the match. The exact opposite of the time Lanzini had.

Having signed permanently in 2016 for just £9m, he has more than paid that off with his contribution to the club. However, with mature performances like this, he proves that age will not be the deciding factor in his inevitable decline.