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Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier has shared his verdict on Marco Silva’s tactics, after Everton were beaten 1-0 at Burnley thanks to a goal scored from a corner kick routine.

Defending set-pieces has been a regular plight of the Blues under the tenure of Silva, with the Toffees conceding a league-high 16 goals from dead-ball situations excluding penalties last season, per WhoScored data.

After eight games in the current campaign, things are looking uncomfortably similar for the Goodison Park natives, as Saturday’s trip to Turf Moor saw Everton once again beaten from a set-piece routine, when Jeff Hendrick fired home the only goal of the day in the 72nd minute to further punish Silva’s 10-man side.

It was the fifth goal Everton have seen hit their net this term from a free-kick or corner routine, which accounts for 38 per cent of the total strikes netted against Jordan Pickford thus far.

Losing at Burnley left Everton sat above the relegation zone come full-time, with one point all that is separating the Blues from last season’s Championship winners Norwich City, and a win for Newcastle United against Manchester United on Sunday will see that Everton end the weekend inside the bottom three.

For former Southampton star Le Tissier, the tactical shape favoured by Silva when defending corners is causing him particular concern, and leaves Everton in a worrisome position.

“This is a really worrying time for Everton,” Le Tissier stated on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (October 5, 17:29). “I have never been a fan of zonal marking. I much prefer players to take responsibility, get a man and if that man scores, you know where to point the finger.

“I’m sure there’s lots of research been done as to why people do use zonal marking, but no manner of statistics will ever back up what I felt like on a football pitch.

“It was a simple corner, which they almost got done by in the first-half. Corner to the back post, Hendrick’s right ’round the back, no one marking him, nearly scored from it the first-half, [Everton] didn’t learn from it at all, second corner [of the] second-half and this time he volleys it into the roof of the net.”

While Le Tissier points to zonal marking being the route cause of Everton’s struggles, it is a system, perhaps, favoured by many sides around the world thanks to its structured nature of handing certain players, certain responsibilities and areas they must cover should an opposing player enter them.

It can be argued that this awards the attacking team an advantage as their players can get a run on a defender, and benefit from that should they be forced into an aerial battle for possession, but with Everton’s goal conceded at Burnley, the issue was more through players not tracking Hendrick’s run, which left the Clarets midfielder with space to operate in.

Had one of Silva’s preferred defenders kept track of the 27-year-old, or intercepted the ball while in flight, they may not have left Turf Moor empty-handed and mounted more pressure on their head coach’s position.

Everton fans, is Silva the man to turn things around, or will he not be favoured a second chance for a second season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…

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…

Time isn’t necessarily running out for him, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t start thinking about his future.

Given the current log-jam that is in front of 18-year-old Liam McCarron, with the likes of Pablo Hernandez, Jack Harrison and Helder Costa all having more seniority than him, it’s unlikely that he’s going to get a lot of game time at Elland Road this season, especially if he isn’t playing regularly for the U23s either.

Even Eddie Nketiah has dabbled with time on the wing as well, so that could make his chances even harder.

However, with Harrison and Nketiah’s loans, and Pablo Hernandez’s contract all expiring at the end of the season, competition going into the 2020/21 season is set to be a little sparser.

But there’s only so much he can be doing as part of the club’s U23s.

There needs to be a point where he can prove that he can cut it against senior sides as well.

Given that his contract runs out in 2022, he still has some time to show that he can have a career at Elland Road, but there may be a chance to help his career if he takes a little detour.

This is why he needs to be banging on Marcelo Bielsa’s door at the next opportunity and demanding to be sent out on loan, to put him in the best position to compete for one of the spots that will be available next season.

Whilst he is only 18, that hasn’t stopped Bielsa putting faith in young players before, in fact that’s how Jack Clarke managed to get his move to Spurs, by impressing off the back of his 25 appearances in the team last season.

Thogden ranks all 24 Championship away kits in the video below…

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Jamie Shackleton has started to make inroads into the squad this campaign too, so it’s not as if he has to wait forever to get his chance if he can make something of it.

The youngster has already played 16 times at senior level in League Two so is clearly ready for more exposure but that doesn’t look likely at Leeds in 2019/20, especially if hat-trick scorer from pre-season, Ryan Edmondson, can’t even get a chance.

McCarron needs to give himself the best opportunity to make something happen, and that’s not going to come if he continues to just ride things out with the U23 team.

He needs to be brave and start asking for chances, rather than waiting for them to happen.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

For one reason or another 18-year-old Mateusz Bogusz has been rarely seen this season.

In fact, since he walked through the doors at Thorp Arch last term, he’s barely had a fighting chance to stake a claim to Marcelo Bielsa.

Having rejected interest from the Premier League and Brighton to sign for Leeds, the midfielder clearly has enormous talent but barring a solitary Carabao Cup appearance, opportunities have been few and far between.

However, a performance for Poland’s U21 side over the international break should have grabbed Marcelo Bielsa’s attention.

On the chalkboard

Bogusz is usually a central player and it’s from that role that he starred in over pre-season, netting a fine strike versus Western Sydney Wanderers.

The teenager made an impressive impact and had fans raving over his potential but we’re yet to see any real glimpses of that in competitive action.

He has the ability to play as an attacking midfielder or slightly deeper in the fray but it was from a wide position where he thrived on Tuesday night.

Playing on the left-wing, Bogusz netted a close-range strike and put in a lively performance that saw his country beat Serbia U21s 1-0.

The display showed his versatility, something that might well benefit him going forward. After all, competition for places in the middle of the pitch seems to be a lot fiercer than in a wide role.

Why are Leeds fans the best in the country? Find out in the video below…

Leeds’ are blessed with a number of promising central players, ranging from Jamie Shackleton and Alfie McCalmont to Robbie Gotts and Bogusz himself.

However, there might well be a vacancy on the flanks in the future. Jack Clarke could well return to Tottenham in January while Pablo Hernandez’s contract is up at the end of the season.

Having made such a big impression from a wide role this week, it’s something that must be at the back of Bielsa’s mind going forward.

Bogusz earned huge praise from his international manager for his display too. Czeslaw Michniewicz told reporters: “Probably not many people in Poland have heard about Mateusz Bogusz, he is three years younger than his oldest colleagues, and he played fantastic in Bialystok against Estonia.

“He is at a similar level as (Poland international) Sebastian Szymanski in his previous youth. He has great talent.”

It was a glowing appraisal for the teenager who has now proven that he has what it takes out wide and in the middle.

Amidst the massive transfer saga surrounding Romelu Lukaku’s future in the summer, Manchester United looked on course to be sealing a major coup when it seemed like they would be getting Paulo Dybala.

The Argentina international was at the centre of talks involving Juventus, as the Italian side looked to negotiate a possible swap deal involving the 25-year-old and Lukaku.

However, issues over his wages scuppered any chance of a potential move to Old Trafford for Dybala, whilst Lukaku made his way to Juventus’ rivals Inter on transfer deadline day.

Still with the Bianconeri, Dybala reminded everyone of his abilities by scoring a match-winning brace against Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday night in the Champions League.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And, after seeing his heroic performance, United fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the man they were close to signing in the summer.

Many supporters of the Manchester side voiced their regret at missing out on the talented forward, with one fan in particular saying they couldn’t believe they bottled their chance at signing him.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

Although Southampton’s summer transfer window saw the club sign Che Adams from Birmingham City in a £15m deal, the form of another striker at St Mary’s is driving forward Ralph Hasenhüttl’s vision for the Saints in 2019/20.

Danny Ings, 27, arrived at the club on loan in 2018, but injuries have curtailed the striker’s ability to regularly start, with the former Liverpool man making 24 league appearances in the 2018/19 campaign.

Although Ings scored seven goals and registered three assists during his debut season on the south coast, so far in 2019/20 the striker has scored four goals in just nine Premier League appearances, whilst also registering an assist.

This impressive form has led to Hasenhüttl dropping summer signing Adams, with the former Birmingham man resigned to the bench for the last three games.

Yet pleasingly for the Saints’ Austrian boss, Ings has justified his manager’s decision to start him for three successive league games – the first time he has done so in 2019/20, and three consecutive goalscoring appearances alongside a brace in the Carabao Cup against Portsmouth points to a striker who is in imperious form and is consequently repaying his manager’s faith.

Although Jurgen Klopp’s decision to let Ings leave Anfield was more than understandable given the quality of the Reds’ frontline in the form of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, the 27-year-old is currently displaying the qualities that sparked Liverpool’s interest in acquiring his services from Burnley in 2015.

With injuries such a well-documented pitfall of the striker’s career to date – with two spells out of over 200 days – if Ings is able to maintain his fitness levels and continue both starting and scoring for the Saints, then Liverpool may just rue letting go a forward who presently looks an upgrade on the attacking replacements at Anfield such as Divock Origi.

The 2019/20 campaign will be vital for Ings in ensuring he can rediscover the form that saw him earn a senior cap with England in 2015, but for now, Hasenhüttl will be delighted at the goalscoring performances that his striker is delivering; even if it is at the expense of the club’s summer signing Adams.

Birmingham City moved to within one point of the playoffs with a victory at St Andrew’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Pep Clotet’s men sealed a 2-1 victory over Luton Town after striker Lukas Jutkewicz headed home the winner eight minutes from time.

Left wing-back Kristian Pederson had handed the home side the lead right before half-time when he met fellow wing-back Maxime Colin’s cross with the final kick off the first half.

Watch Birmingham City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But Harry Cornick robbed the goalscorer of the ball to equalise with just over 20 minutes remaining in the match.

The Blues now sit 11th with just three points separating them from third place, so that only goes to show just how tight the division is this year.

Following the match, Marc Roberts took to Twitter to share his thoughts, who received his plaudits in return from sections of the Birmingham faithful.

One supporter hailed him as ‘Mr. Consistent’ having previously been the team’s scapegoat. His manager is undoubtedly inclined to agree given the fact he’s played all but one Championship game this campaign.

Another fan claimed he was ‘solid as a rock’ while a further member of the St Andrew’s crowd believed he was so outstanding that he has to be worth at least £3.5m now.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has stated that Manchester City are still the favourites for the Premier League title, despite Liverpool sitting top and six points clear.

What did he say?

City are battling with the Reds once again, having just pipped them by a point to the league title last year. However, the European champions have continued their breathtaking form from last season and remain the only unbeaten side in the division.

Although, despite proving to be the dominant force so far, Merson still believes the champions are the favourites to keep the trophy. He told Sky Sports (as cited by the Daily Express): “It was a big result against Tottenham having also come back against Man Utd to draw 1-1.

“They were also behind against Tottenham and on their day and when they’ve got all their players fit, Spurs are a good team, but Liverpool came back there again.

“That’s four points they’ve won from behind in two hard games so they’re ticking the boxes of champions at the moment.

“But it’s still in Man City’s hands because if they beat Liverpool twice, they’ll win the league and that’s how good this Man City team is as well.

“For me, if I was Liverpool and drew at home to Man City in a few weeks, I’d be doing cartwheels.

“That means then that Liverpool would have to lose three or four games until the end of the season not to win the league because Man City are going to lose one or two and if they do, that means Liverpool can lose another couple on top of that.

“So it’s a massive game coming up in a couple of weeks.”

History on their side

It is tough to disagree with Merson when you consider the events that unfolded last year. Liverpool opened up a five-point lead over City after 24 games last season. However, a handful of draws after the turn of the year combined with a defeat against City themselves eventually clawed Pep Guardiola’s men back to the top.

Despite finishing on 97 points, the Reds fell short after looking like clinching their first Premier League title, similar to what happened in 2013-14. Back then, Brendan Rogers’ men led by three points with three games to go and looked certain to win the title. However, the infamous Steven Gerrard slip and the disastrous 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace ensured City once again pipped Liverpool to the title.

Regardless, things do look different this time around, and the showdown between the two on November 10th is going to be something special.

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…

You don’t need to be a genius to realise that Southampton’s season so far has been abysmal.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have won just two of their 11 Premier League games, drawing two and losing seven – the second-most amount of defeats out of any team in the top-flight this term.

They have also conceded the most amount of goals with 27 concessions in 11 games, while they have also scored just ten goals themselves – the third-least in the division.

Despite all of that, perhaps the bleakest realisation of the campaign could arrive on Saturday.

If Southampton lose to the Toffees at St Mary’s this weekend, they will be sat on the exact same number of points as they were at this stage of last season under Mark Hughes’ guidance.

After the 12th Premier League game of the 2018/19 season, the Saints sat 17th following a 1-1 draw with Watford, a game that prompted furious post-match interviews from both Hughes and Charlie Austin following a mistake from referee Simon Hooper.

This is extremely worrying for Southampton.

It just goes to prove that, even after a new managerial appointment and two marquee big-money arrivals in the form of Che Adams and Moussa Djenepo, there may be next to no actual progress from the Saints.

In last season’s instance, Hughes was sacked just two games later after a draw with Manchester United, which highlights the situation that Hasenhuttl finds himself in at St Mary’s.

To see almost no progress be made in 12 months must be pretty demoralising for the former RB Leipzig boss, his playing staff, the coaches, the owners and, most importantly, the supporters, who may feel groundhog day emotions at St Mary’s if Marco Silva’s side run out victorious this weekend.

Even if the Saints do come away with the three points, it is a sad state of affairs to see such little progress be made and sums up where the south coast outfit are right now.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Arsenal’s latest result against Vitoria in the Europa League has seen the club and manager Unai Emery receive considerable criticism from a number of the club’s fanbase.

However, the latest comments from summer signing Kieran Tierney are likely to serve as a source of optimism ahead of a crucial run of fixtures for the north London side.

What did he say?

Speaking to the official club website after Arsenal’s match with Vitoria, the Scot had the following to say:

“We know there is a lot going on that people are talking about. But we just need to forget about all that and concentrate on us, concentrate on bouncing back and concentrate on giving the fans something to cheer about.”

Are Arsenal capable of redeeming their 2019/20 campaign?

The arrival of Tierney in the summer transfer window from Celtic was promising as they went about rebuilding their defence in Emery’s second season in charge at the club, but a spate of inconsistent performances have prevented the club from gaining any form of momentum.

Incidents including Granit Xhaka’s exchange with fans in the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace have seen considerable controversy arise around the club, with the Switzerland international having been stripped off the captaincy.

Therefore it is vital that the concentration that Tierney touches upon is present in Arsenal’s remainder of the 2019/20 campaign, but the Gunners will be faced with a testing fixture this Saturday when they face Brendan Rodgers’ men at the King Power Stadium.

Coming up against an in-form side at Leicester away from home will be a true test of Arsenal’s ability to cope with pressure, especially considering the surfacing of reports that Emery has just one month left to save his job at The Emirates.

The left-back will be hoping to play a significant part in any improvement at Arsenal after having started the last two league games, and fans of the north London side will be looking for a positive result against the Foxes in a bid to revitalise their 2019/20 campaign.

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…

Tottenham Hotspur have sorely missed Erik Lamela.

The Argentine was a regular fixture in the team at the start of the season, making seven starts in the Premier League, against the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal.

His final appearance came against Red Star but a thigh injury sustained in training ruled him out of the clash with Liverpool and he has since been absent, missing the draws with Everton and Sheffield United.

This is really the story of the 25-cap Argentine’s career.

Since his move to north London from Roma and including this season, Lamela has missed 88 games through injury, with one setback lasting over a year.

And yet Spurs have missed his relentless energy.

Per WhoScored, he has scored twice and registered one assist in the league this season but he also averages 1.4 tackles per game, 1.2 fouls, 1.6 key passes, 1.3 shots and a pass accuracy of 84.1%.

He is not as subtle as Christian Eriksen, nor is he as powerful as Dele Alli, but there is a pitbull-esque quality to Lamela. He routinely sets the tone at the top of the pitch, pressing the defence and attempting to win the ball back.

And that is without mentioning the fact that he can fill a gap on the right-hand side of the pitch, something he’s done twice already this season.

That becomes most evident when one considers that Giovani Lo Celso, Son Heung-Min and Eriksen have been played on the right in his absence. Two of those are playmakers and one is a left winger.

While Spurs have endured a difficult start to the season, the absence of Lamela has clearly stung.

It remains to be seen when Lamela will return to action – his injury history suggests it could be against West Ham, or it could be next season – but it is certain that he will bring with him a dynamism that Spurs have been lacking.

Until then, they will continue to miss the 27-year-old.