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Jose Mourinho will be looking to get back to winning ways when his Tottenham Hotspur side travel to Sheffield United this afternoon in the Premier League.

The north London outfit failed to keep hold of a one-goal lead once again earlier in the week as Fulham punished their profligacy, repeating an all too familiar trend which has seen Spurs also drop points against Wolves, Newcastle and Palace.

Now they face a rock-bottom Blades side at Bramall Lane, who come into the game on the back of their first win of the campaign after they defeated Newcastle 1-0 on Tuesday night.

With Spurs facing an eight-day rest following this encounter, we’re likely to see a strong side named, so with that in mind, we’re predicting as many as three changes from midweek.

Here’s our predicted lineup as well as the latest team and injury news…

Mourinho is blessed by the fact that he has a full squad of players to choose from barring, Giovani Lo Celso, who remains on the treatment table for the remainder of January, at least.

There’s one alteration to the backline as Davinson Sanchez is axed for Toby Alderweireld. The £27m-rated Belgian colossus was a surprise exclusion from the starting XI at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday, despite only playing 45 minutes in the Marine cup tie.

Sanchez was caught napping for the goal and whilst Joe Rodon could be considered, it seems likely that the 31-year-old comes back in to add much-needed stability. He’ll partner Eric Dier with Sergio Reguilon, Serge Aurier and Hugo Lloris all remaining.

In midfield, we could see Moussa Sissoko back in his natural central role alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, whilst there’s a big decision to make over Tanguy Ndombele.

He again failed to complete a full 90-minute match – something he’s yet to do in the Premier League this season – and given the short turnaround since midweek, he may not be risked from the off.

There was also a lack of creativity throughout the second half with Spurs managing 41 fewer passes than the visitors, so there could be a shock start for Dele Alli after he impressed up in Liverpool.

It means Harry Winks is also dropped, along with the French midfielder.

Mourinho is also able to welcome back Steven Bergwijn from illness and he’s surely going to come straight back in after Sissoko’s inclusion at right-wing against Fulham.

He’ll get the nod over Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale.

AND in other news, Mourinho must ruthlessly axe £30m Spurs star once slammed as a “disgrace”…

West Brom manager Sam Allardyce is reportedly eyeing a reunion with one of his former players this January transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to the Sunday Mirror [10/01, page 72], the Baggies could want Bordeaux striker Josh Maja on a loan deal for the rest of the season.

It’s claimed that the Midlands outfit could sign him permanently in the summer should they keep their top-flight status, which right now looks to be in serious jeopardy.

Maja was a 17-year-old rookie at Sunderland when Big Sam was in charge back in 2015/16.

Shades of Berahino?

The need for a new striker at the Hawthorns has increased tenfold in recent weeks.

Allardyce’s side already ranked among the Premier League’s worst attacks having scored just 11 goals in 17 outings – only better than two other teams in the division.

And now they have moved on Charlie Austin, who has rejoined former club QPR on loan, despite the devastating injury blow to summer signing Karlan Grant, who is now out for the next six weeks at least.

Against Blackpool in the FA Cup on Saturday, the 66-year-old had to deploy a strikerless formation which saw Matheus Pereira act as a false nine – they were subsequently knocked out, so it clearly didn’t go to plan.

The 22-year-old, who earns a reported £57k-per-week, could be an interesting solution to this nightmare.

Maja enjoyed a very decent run in Ligue 1 last term, bagging six goals, primarily from the bench as 15 of his 21 appearances were as a substitute, though this season, he’s not been able to replicate such form with just two goals in 11 starts, per WhoScored.

Despite the way he acrimoniously departed the Black Cats in 2018, the young striker still received many plaudits from his time at the club – former boss Jack Ross lauded him “fantastic” to work with on and off the pitch, whilst his ex-Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa dubbed him a “scorer” with “sharp and strong qualities.”

At 5 foot 11, he’s the exact same fit and profile of former Albion frontman Saido Berahino, especially as Jermain Defoe mentored him at the Stadium of Light – a player who Victor Anichebe compared to the controversial striker in 2013.

Two years later, Berahino bagged 14 goals in 38 games for West Brom in the top-flight, Allardyce would surely love to see Maja come in and replicate such form.

Once dubbed a “unique talent” by local Sunderland journalist Phil Smith, Maja could be a bargain solution to Big Sam’s increasing problems.

AND in other news, Allardyce must axe £38k-p/w disaster after another pathetic display…

There are no easy games in the Premier League and West Brom have it all to do if they are to drastically turn around their plight this season.

Sam Allardyce’s men now head to defending champions Liverpool looking for only their second win of the current campaign.

In the 66-year-old’s first game in charge, the Baggies were thrashed 3-0 by arch-rivals Aston Villa, and now they face an almighty task at Anfield.

Albion have suspensions and injuries to deal with, so it will be interesting to see how Big Sam lines up the squad this afternoon.

Here’s the XI we’re predicting as the division’s leaders host second from bottom…

There could be as many as four changes as Allardyce looks to spark a reaction today.

In goal, Sam Johnstone keeps his place as do the majority of the back four barring Dara O’Shea, who makes way for PL veteran Branislav Ivanovic.

Club captain Jake Livermore is suspended for this match after receiving his marching orders for a lunge on Jack Grealish last weekend, so there’s a change afoot in midfield.

Romaine Sawyers and Chelsea loan sensation Conor Gallagher could partner each other with Matheus Pereira returning from his own suspension to take an advanced place in the engine room.

Whilst in the attack, only Matty Phillips keeps his place at right-wing.

It means Karlan Grant is axed for Charlie Austin up top, and Grady Diangana also drops to the bench in favour of the £9m-rated Callum Robinson on the left flank.

The likes of Sam Field, Hal Robson-Kanu, Kyle Bartley and Conor Townsend are all still out through injury.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Sam Allardyce tipped to sign former West Ham star in January swoop…

Manchester City secured their place in the Champions League knockout stages with a 0-0 draw against Porto on Tuesday night but Pep Guardiola will still surely be frustrated that his side weren’t able to secure a win in Portugal.

His side’s profligacy in front of goal was perhaps the main reason why the Citizens weren’t able to earn all three points, with Ferran Torres one of the main culprits.

The Spanish winger, who joined from Valencia during the summer, endured a terrible night at Estadio do Dragao, which may convince Guardiola that the youngster shouldn’t be played as a striker again in future matches.

As per SofaScore, Torres earned a 6.5 rating for his display, with only Raheem Sterling rated lower of the Manchester City players who started the game.

During his time on the pitch, which totalled 71 minutes, he had just 15 touches of the ball and could complete just five out of nine passes, suggesting that the game completely passed him by and he was able to have very little impact.

However, he was still able to miss one big chance and lose possession five times during the game meaning that the few times he did have the ball, he was extremely wasteful with it.

It was no surprise therefore that Guardiola substituted Torres with around 20 minutes remaining, and his replacement Gabriel Jesus was able to have a much more telling influence on the game, having just two fewer touches than the Spaniard did, despite being on the pitch for significantly less time.

The Brazilian also saw a late goal disallowed due to a VAR offside call but looked dangerous when he came on, which may be enough to suggest that he should start ahead of Torres up front in future matches.

You can understand why Guardiola opted to start the 20-year-old, after his impressive performance in the reverse fixture, which led to him praising his performance in the 3-1 win, saying:

“It was an incredible combination from Phil [Foden] and Ferran [Torres].

“Ferran has an incredible sense of goal. The most satisfying thing was the way they came in. Always the people who come from the bench are so important.”

The £40.5 million-rated Spanish international will have to put in a much-improved performance next time out if he wants to keep his place in Guardiola’s side, however, with the Citizens set to face struggling Fulham at home on Saturday.

And, in other news… Manchester City missed out on a “big talent” in 2018, he was ready to join

Things are just beginning to look up if you’re a Newcastle United fan.

After a dreadful and timid display at home to Manchester United eventually saw them lose 4-1, the Magpies have enjoyed a couple of very impressive results in the Premier League.

First, Steve Bruce’s side rescued a very creditable point away at notoriously hard to play Wolves at Molineux, before picking up a huge 2-1 win against this season’s high-fliers Everton.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

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With in-form Southampton their next challenge in the top-flight, there’s a real chance Newcastle could end up in the top four by the end of Friday night, if – and it’s a big if – they can beat Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

Below is a look at just how the Magpies could potentially line up.

With Martin Dubravka still no closer to making his return to the starting line-up thanks to injury, Karl Darlow will continue in between the sticks for the Magpies.

In front of him, Bruce will no doubt continue with the same back-five that served him so well in that clash against Everton, with very little reason to make changes there.

The two big decisions that the Newcastle boss will have to make comes further forward. Both Isaac Hayden and Ryan Fraser came on as substitutes in that win over the Toffees, and will surely be pushing for a start this time around against Southampton.

Sean Longstaff’s inspired performance on his return from injury may however have convinced Bruce that he should be kept in the starting eleven, meaning Hayden will have to settle for a place on the bench.

Miguel Almiron on the other hand, is surely in danger of losing his place, especially given Fraser’s contribution to Wilson’s second goal, which proved to be the match-winner of course thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late strike.

That could see Bruce field a very exciting, and pacy, front-three of Fraser, Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson.

Predicted XI: Darlow; Murphy, Schar, Lascelles, Fernandez, Lewis; Longstaff, Hendrick; Saint-Maximin, Wilson, Fraser.

Once all is said and done, it will be difficult to call Stewart Donald’s reign at Sunderland a success.

Of course, they could still achieve promotion with the businessman enjoying a minority stake in the club, but if they do go up now, it’ll be up to Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus to take the plaudits.

It’s unsurprising that it’s ending like this. After all, he has done little to prove supporters in the north-east that he deserves their support.

Donald is in charge of a glistening list of operations and the club’s facilities best every single team in the division – that involves the academy too.

The facilities at the Academy of Light are Premier League quality but all too often, especially under the Donald era, we’ve seen their best young prospects up sticks and leave.

From the more experienced George Honeyman to the supremely talented Josh Maja and Joel Asoro, they have all departed.

But we’ve also seen players yet to make their first-team breakthroughs looking for new clubs because of a lack of progress at Sunderland. It’s a long list of names, one that includes Luca Stephenson, Sam Greenwood, Luke Hewitson, Morten Spencer, Joe Hugill and Logan Pye.

Clearly, something hasn’t quite clicked at academy level.

However, there are now attempts to strengthen it and they look like they’ll be doing it in impressive style by bringing a Premier League academy quality player to their club.

That’s because this week, Sunderland handed Rayan Clarke his first minutes for their U23 team. The teenager was released by Tottenham in the summer and has been looking for a club ever since.

A man with one assist to his name in Premier League 2 already this season, he then took his goal contributions to two goals in two games by netting from the bench for the Black Cats’ academy side on Monday.

Coincidentally, he outshone a certain Aiden McGeady, someone he replaced just after the hour mark after the Irishman had failed to score.

But who does Clarke remind us most of? Well, it has to be Asoro, someone who departed the Stadium of Light for Swansea City in 2018.

The talented attacker can play all across the front line just like Clarke, with both proving they are incredibly valuable assets in terms of their versatility. The duo are also tricky livewires capable of beating their man with ingenuity and trickery.

Despite playing more games out wide, it’s the Sunderland trialist who has a better record as a youth player though.

In 23 competitive league outings for Sunderland’s academy, Asoro found the back of the net on just three occasions. Clarke, however, has registered six goals in 29 appearances for Spurs’ U18 side.

Throughout youth level, the 19-year-old has been impressive and at Sunderland, he’d have a fantastic chance of making a first-team breakthrough if he pens terms.

Who knows, he could well have a greater chance of succeeding in the north-east than Asoro, someone who was evidently left frustrated by the tired regime.

If there is one pro to still being in League One, it’s that academy products have a greater chance of minutes than they did when Sunderland was a Premier League side.

Meanwhile, Sunderland’s prospective new owner is already on the verge of a HUGE mistake…

After signing from Lyon in the final few weeks of the summer transfer window, it’s been no surprise to see Aston Villa manager Dean Smith look to try and slowly ease Bertrand Traore into first-team action.

The Burkina Faso international has played just four times, with the majority of his action coming in the Carabao Cup – the winger has seen just nine minutes of Premier League football thus far for his new club, with a couple of very short cameos against the likes of Fulham and Liverpool.

But with the international break now over, Smith must surely be tempted to throw his big-money signing into his starting line-up, even despite seeing Villa thump Liverpool 7-2 last time out.

Speaking at the announcement of Traore’s signing, Smith said: “We’re delighted that Bertrand has chosen to come to Villa. He’s a player with immense talent who will really enhance our attacking options.”

With Leicester deploying a back-three in these first weeks of the new campaign, Traore’s ability to beat players one-and-one could be crucial to ensuring Villa don’t leave Ollie Watkins isolated and starved of service.

The former Lyon star averaged a very impressive 1.6 shots, 1.1 key passes and 1.4 dribbles per game for the French side last season, and the X-factor that he possesses could give Villa an out-ball on Sunday night.

In terms of average possession per game, Leicester rank fourth in the entire division with 55.2%. Brendan Rodgers has got his side looking to dominate the ball, so having a pacy outlet like Traore could be the kind of difference-maker that tilts the tie in Villa’s favour.

The pace and movement of a front-three of Traore, Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish could cause havoc on the counter-attack, with the former’s directness and willingness to take players on being a potential game-changer.

Smith must surely consider starting his summer signing on Sunday.

And in other news, Villa must beat the competition to sign this EFL star.

Arsenal ended their summer transfer window with a bang by activating Thomas Partey’s £45m release clause and they squeezed him through late on deadline day.

Amongst all of the drama, it quickly emerged that the club wouldn’t be making a move for Lyon’s box-to-box playmaker Houssem Aouar, which could prove to be a costly decision as Mikel Arteta lacks extra creativity through the middle.

The Gunners’ no.10 Mesut Ozil is a forgotten man at London Colney as he’s been named as a shock absentee from their Europa League squad this week whilst there’s only so much you can ask Dani Ceballos to do.

Perhaps, at least until January, Arteta could dip into the club’s promising academy set-up for backup and there’s one name that stands out like a sore thumb – Charlie Patino.

Named in this year’s ‘Next Generation’ list on the Guardian, the 16-year-old has been lauded as a “generational talent” capable of reaching the very top.

Patino was poached from Luton Town aged just 11, thus resulting in lofty comparisons to Jack Wilshere, who was handed an Arsenal debut at 16 by Arsene Wenger.

Maybe the young sensation could become Arteta’s version of the former England maestro.

“With my knowledge of players coming through the Academy, I truely feel that Charlie is the best I have seen; even better than Jack Wilshere”

John Williamson to Gunnerstown.

It’s claimed that some believe Patino can dictate the game further forward in a number ten role, drawing similarities to Man City’s Phil Foden – a player coached by Arteta during his time under Pep Guardiola.

And the shrewd Gunners chief is evidently already a fan as the youngster has already trained with the first-team as recently as last month. He’s also set to be promoted to the U23 squad before the summer, so that should provide further encouragement over his potential.

With so many fixtures to deal with this campaign, we could well see Patino make the step up earlier than anticipated. He’d be the next Hale End talent to feature, following in the footsteps of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah.

AND in other news, How Arteta can fit Thomas Partey into his starting XI after dramatic deadline day swoop…

Aston Villa appear to have had the last laugh despite seeing former goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini now play for Champions League side Atalanta.

What’s the story?

The club signed the Italian shot-stopper back in the summer of 2016 when Roberto Di Matteo was in charge, and the then Villa boss made it clear that they had made a major statement of intent with his signing.

Di Matteo insisted: “We have managed to sign him despite the fact he was being chased by a number of top sides and that is a great sign. He’s a young man but has plenty of experience and I’m sure he’ll prove to be an excellent signing for the club.”

The Greatest Bargains in Premier League history – How much did they cost?

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In the end, Gollini managed just 20 appearances in total for Villa, before Steve Bruce made the decision to let him leave the club permanently for just £3.75m. Whilst things have worked out for him back in Italy, Villa shouldn’t feel too regretful now.

Emi Martinez’s arrival

Make no mistake about it, prior to the summer transfer window, Gollini’s exit would surely have been looked at by Villa with a sense of regret and ‘what if’.

The Italian has established himself as the number one goalkeeper for Atalanta who stunned sides across Europe by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, before eventually losing to Paris Saint-Germain.

A cruciate ligament injury has kept him out of action for the start of this season, but with 41 appearances across all competitions in the previous campaign, there’s no doubting he will reclaim his spot in between the sticks.

But whilst Gollini has impressed, Villa have solved their goalkeeping conundrum with their summer move for Emiliano Martinez. The massive Argentine arrived off the back of a FA Cup and Community Shield victories with the Gunners, and has helped his new club keep the best defensive record in the Premier League with just two goals conceded.

What was initially a massive Bruce blunder in letting Gollini go, has now seen Villa enjoy the last laugh, with Martinez set to form the backbone of their side for the next few years to come.

Hands up if you saw that performance coming after the dismal opening day defeat to Newcastle?

West Ham finally got their Premier League campaign up and running with a superb 4-0 win over Wolves at the London Stadium on Sunday night, with goals from Jarrod Bowen (2), Sebastien Haller and an own goal from Raul Jimenez ensuring they got their first points of the season.

But whilst Bowen capped a fine individual performance with a brace – including an excellent run and finish for his first goal – it was Michail Antonio who set the tone for the Hammers and arguably stole the show.

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As per Sofascore, he won a mammoth 14 duels on Sunday which was a game-high, whilst he was also the most fouled player on the pitch, earning five free-kicks.

The 30-year-old never stopped fighting for the cause, and despite having to come up against Wolves’ back-three of Roman Saiss, Conor Coady and Wily Boly, he ran them ragged – the centre-back trio recorded a match rating of 6.2 or less.

Despite having a thankless task and often being asked to do a one-man job as the lone front-man, Antonio rose to the challenge with aplomb.

Even though he lost possession 21 times, it wasn’t for a lack of effort or ability, instead more an indicator of the kind of risks he was willing to take whenever he had the ball – it was no surprise that by the end of the game, his total of six completed dribbles were the highest of any Hammers ace.

So whilst Bowen may be the one to take all the headlines in the aftermath of a stunning victory, Antonio’s display was the epitome of everything that West Ham did well on the night.