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It has been a fantastic start to Slaven Bilic’s reign as West Brom manager.

The Croatian joined the Baggies before the start of the current campaign following the departure of Darren Moore as the Midlands club began their push for promotion to the Premier League.

And so far, they appear to on the right track, topping the Championship table and having lost just one of their opening 11 matches of the season.

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September, in particular, was a good month, with the team going unbeaten. They first earned a 1-1 draw at recently relegated Fulham, before beating Huddersfield, who also dropped down from the top flight last term, 4-2. They then capped off the month by beating QPR 2-0 away from home.

Such has been their impressive form, Bilic was nominated for the division’s Manager of the Month award along with Sabri Lamouchi, Garry Monk and Alex Neil.

However, in the end, Lamouchi won, which did not go down too well with the West Brom supporters.

They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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

Under the management of Mark Warburton, Queens Park Rangers have started their 2019/20 Championship campaign in strong form to emerge as contenders for the play-offs, and the performances of Nahki Wells will be giving the west London side faith that they really can return to the promised land of the Premier League.

The R’s have scored 18 goals so far in the current campaign, the joint-fourth highest of all teams in the division, and central to the club’s goalscoring record has been Wells – the Bermuda international who has scored six goals.

Wells’ goalscoring prowess, combined with Jordan Hugill’s six strikes, is propelling the club towards the realms of the play-offs, but it is Wells who is catching the eye with his clinical performances.

Whilst Wells and Hugill have both scored six league goals, Wells has done so having played just 519 minutes in the league, compared to Hugill’s 852 minutes.

The 29-year-old is also taking more shots in the box, averaging one every 34.6 minutes, while Hugill is taking a shot from inside the penalty area every 47.3 minutes in the league.

Wells is playing a hugely important role for Warburton’s side in 2019/20 – not only scoring goals but doing so at a ridiculously clinical rate, holding the best minutes-per-goal (87) of any striker in the Championship to have scored more than three goals.

If the striker is able to continue scoring at this remarkable efficiency, then the west London outfit could truly be in with a chance of returning to the English top-flight and ending a six-year absence in the process.

Arsenal fans have been left fuming after Unai Emery revealed that the club could have signed Fabinho before he joined Liverpool.Per The Independent, the former PSG boss said that “his name was on the table†as the Gunners looked for new signings after his arrival.

Emery also says that he tracked the ex-AS Monaco star during his time in France.

Of course, he ended up completing a £43.7m move to Anfield in 2018 and played a key role in the club’s Champions League triumph last season, playing in all but two games; both of which came against Red Star Belgrade.

Supporters, have expressed their disappointment with the revelation, with a number of them believing that it could even have a demotivating effect on other members of the squad, most notably Lucas Torreira, the defensive midfielder.

Indeed, Torreira moved to the Gunners in the same summer that Fabinho moved to the Reds, suggesting that Emery may have preferred the Brazilian to the Uruguayan, who has made just two Premier League starts this campaign.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

Aston Villa take a break from league action later this evening as they welcome local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers to Villa Park in the Carabao Cup.

Both teams know that a victory would advance them into the quarter-finals of the competition and to within a touching distance of a shot at silverware – but will that influence team selection?

Dean Smith’s men go into this one on the back of their first defeat in three matches, handed to them by Manchester City, who Wolves beat before the international break. It ended a run of back-to-back victories for the first time this campaign.

We already know that skipper Jack Grealish will be absent through injury, so here are the changes the 48-year-old is likely to make…

Smith has rotated his starting XI in both ventures into this tournament when thrashing Crewe Alexandra 6-1 and beating a youthful Brighton & Hove Albion.

So it seems plausible that he’ll do the same with only three players expected to remain.

Those will be goalkeeper Tom Heaton, who has been talking about this tie in the media this week, Douglas Luiz and Trezeguet.

With no Grealish or Jota, Anwar El Ghazi is sure to be recalled to play while Keinan Davis gets an opportunity to lead the line, considering he’s quite highly-rated amongst the Villa staff with assistant coach Richard O’Kelly claiming ‘he’s got some potential.’

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Luiz is another who keeps his place as John McGinn earns a well-deserved rest having been called upon late for that Brighton game due to Henri Lansbury’s injury, but the 29-year-old should be fit to play this one.

The entire back four is likely to change with several of Smith’s fringe players getting a start with the likes of Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels getting a rest in favour of Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Aston Villa’s run of three Premier League matches without defeat came to a probable end at the weekend as reigning champions Manchester City eased to victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Dean Smith’s men went into the break with honours even, but within 20 seconds of the second half, Raheem Sterling handed the home side the lead before David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan rounded off a 3-0 victory.

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Though, City did finish the match with ten men as Fernandinho received a second yellow card with less than three minutes remaining.

Villa slipped down to 15th, but do have a three-point cushion from the relegation zone – but their afternoon could have been much worse.

If anything, Pep Guardiola’s side deserved more from the game, considering they registered a total of 26 shots and 63% possession.

And if that doesn’t tell you the scoreline was in favour of Villa, then it could quite easily have been at least 5-0, had City’s attackers made the most of Bjorn Engels’ errors at the back.

Per SofaScore, the summer signing failed to register a single tackle, won just one of his aerial duels, and lost possession eight times. It was a rare bad day at the office for the Belgian – or was it?

Understat’s xG model suggests that Villa should be third-last for goals conceded if teams had converted more chances against them, and given that the 25-year-old has featured in every game, he’s been part of the problem.

Aston Villa’s summer signings’ performances so far this season are rated in the video below…

Villa have leaked three goals against the three elite opposition they’ve faced this season, with Liverpool to come too – the opening day against Tottenham, against a ten-man Arsenal and last Saturday.

This suggests that Smith’s signings at the back, most namely Engels, have failed to struggle with the quality on offer in the Premier League, which is why he’s probably playing at Villa Park each week and not for his dream club (L’Equipe via the Daily Mirror), the Gunners, who could probably do with him themselves.

West Bromwich Albion moved to the top of the Championship table with a 2-0 win over Stoke City on Monday night.Matt Phillips made the breakthrough in the eighth minute of the contest before Hal Robson-Kanu netted a second from the penalty spot in the 69th minute.It was Grady Diangana who set Phillips up for the opening goal, whilst the on-loan West Ham United attacker also won his team’s penalty during an impressive performance.Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…The 21-year-old was seemingly deemed surplus to requirements this term at West Ham and was subsequently allowed to join the Baggies on loan during the summer.Diangana has now contributed four goals and four assists in 13 Championship appearances during the 2019/20 campaign.Under Slaven Bilic, WBA are currently the team to catch in the second tier.And the club’s supporters absolutely loved what they saw from Diangana during his 90 minutes on the field at Stoke.A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Always nice to have some plans in place.

As things stand, Harlee Dean is set to be suspended for the Blues’ upcoming game with Fulham and possibly beyond having been sent off in the game against Cardiff City last Saturday.

Whilst the club said that they would appeal the decision, Pep Clotet and his men need to get themselves in position to replace the captain, and they aren’t short of options.

However there is one player that the fans believe should take Dean’s place, and that’s young Chelsea loanee Jake Clarke-Salter.

The defender has found minutes incredibly hard to come by this season, with his only appearance in the league coming in the defeat to Wigan Athletic back at the start of October.

And whilst he wasn’t on the right side of that result, fans believed that he deserves a second chance and this Saturday’s match would be the perfect opportunity for him to show fans what, if anything, they’re missing.

Ever wondered how modern day skills would cope with the world’s oldest football? Find out in the video below…

Debating who should replace the 28-year-old, here’s what a host of supporters said.

The question is, will Clotet listen to the fans on this occasion?

Aston Villa defender Matt Targett is set to return to first-team training this week after injury (via avfc.co.uk).

The former Southampton left-back was forced off in their recent Premier League fixture against Wolves due to concussion.

As mentioned Targett was withdrawn against Wolves with concussion after playing for 45 minutes (Transfermarkt).

The 24-year-old was replaced by Neil Taylor, and up until Wednesday had not been involved in first-team training.

However, the club have now confirmed that he is set to return later in the week and in line with the return to play protocols in the aftermath of a head injury he will be eased back into sessions (avfc.co.uk).

With Dean Smith’s side not in action until the 25th November due to an international break, it gives Targett plenty of time to recover and he should be able to face Newcastle United in the club’s next outing.

This is great news for Aston Villa, as Targett has been very impressive since breaking into the starting 11.

Having begun the campaign on the bench, the ex-Fulham loanee has started the Villans’ last six Premier League outings (Transfermarkt). Indeed, as per WhoScored, the former Southampton man averages the most crosses per game of anyone in the Villa squad with 0.8 per game, while his 1.8 interceptions (the second-highest average in the squad) could be crucial in helping Smith’s side launch counter-attacks.

Whilst Villa haven’t kept a clean sheet in that time, the 24-year-old has contributed in an attacking sense and has already registered one goal and one assist despite being a full-back.

Aston Villa fans, how impressed have you been with Matt Targett so far this season? Let us know in the comments below…

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

Allan Saint-Maximin is so far proving a shrewd purchase and his stats would suggest that he is up there with the best in the Premier League.

On the chalkboard

Still only 22, there was a lot of pressure placed on the Frenchman’s shoulders when he arrived in the north-east, much of that due to his icreasing reputation in France, but mostly due to his transfer fee of £16.5m.

Despite some players often taking a while to adjust, Saint-Maximin hasn’t wasted any time in showing what he has to offer, and in recent games he has been key to Newcastle picking up points.

He may be goalless still, somehow, but his blistering pace and brilliant dribbling ability causes problems for most opponents, while he also had a big hand in DeAndre Yedlin’s equaliser against Bournemouth last week.

Such is his ability, he ranks joint-second in the Premier League for successful dribbles completed, with 3.6, a total level with Wolves’ Adama Traore, but short of Wilfried Zaha’s high standards.

To be in the company of such players is a credit to his confidence and his trickery, and if he keeps it up he will be a key outlet for the Magpies attack.

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End product

Saint-Maximin, like Miguel Almiron, has struggled to find the back of the net this season, and it’s not for a lack of trying.

In recent games he has had countless opportunities where it seemed easier to score than miss, but he continues to let himself down, and it could be of concern for Bruce if he wasn’t so effective in other areas of his game.

His skilfull dribbling ability allows him to take on the opposition with ease, often creating a lot of space for his teammates in the opposition’s half, and time and time again the former Nice player has been able to provide chances for those around him.

As a result, from open play he has made the second-most chances of any player outside of the ‘top-six’ clubs, with two per game, placing only behind Jack Grealish whose form has led to talk of an England call-up. That shows how good Saint-Maximin has been.

Often tricky wingers disappoint with their decision-making and final ball, but not the Frenchman. His all-round play has already made him a valuable member of the team, and won him plaudits from Alan Shearer, who included him in his Team of the Week not long ago.

If Saint-Maximin continues to play as he is, and get off the mark in terms of goals, then he will likely soon be a fan favourite at St James’ Park.

Liverpool fans are once again heaping praise on their midfield magician Fabinho. The love for the Brazilian this time comes after it was revealed he has been given a few nicknames at the club following his incredible performances so far.It has been told that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp refers to the midfielder as ‘Dyson’. When asked about this tag Fabinho told Liverpool.com: “A few people call me this! Between us players, I’m more known as Flaco but they’re cool nicknames.”Now, many Liverpool supporters have expressed their love for the 26-year-old and added a bunch of nicknames to his repertoire. One fan called him “The General”, as another follower called him “Fab the fabulous”. One of the other supporters referred to him as “Fabby long legs” because of his incredible ability to get around the Anfield pitch.This season, the £43.7m man has truly established himself as one of the best around. His average of 1.2 key passes and 2.4 tackles per game have shown his fantastic ability in putting a shift in across the pitch.The former Monaco man did, of course, also score that magnificent opening goal in the vital clash with Manchester City.

Here’s what some Liverpool fans have had to say about their midfield maestro…