If Brighton are to survive their first ever season in the Premier League, defensive resilience will be essential. The Seagulls have already exceeded the expectations of some to claim seven points from their first seven games, but Chris Hughton will be more than aware his side lack the attacking quality to try and outscore their opponents every weekend.

After losing their first two games of the season by a 2-0 scoreline, Brighton have shown improvements defensively in recent weeks – in fact, their last five outings have seen just five goals conceded and two clean sheets claimed against Watford and Newcastle – and centre-back Shane Duffy has played a crucial part.

He’s been a real rock at the back for Brighton and it was a similar case in Ireland’s all-or-nothing World Cup qualifier against Wales last night, the 25-year-old arguably the Man of the Match in a rear-guard performance that saw Martin O’Neill’s boys shut out the Dragons and take a huge goal on the break through James McClean.

Duffy completed a staggering 19 clearances last night – the most of any player on the pitch – alongside three tackles, three interceptions and one block, while winning eight aerial duels. Aside from McClean, he was the biggest threat to Wayne Hennessey conceding as well; twice popping up at set pieces to produce an effort at goal.

If Duffy can maintain that form at the heart of Brighton’s defence for the remainder of the campaign, the south coast outfit will fancy their chances of beating the Premier League’s drop zone. He will, however, face far more talented attacks than Wales’ before the 2017/18 campaign comes to a close.

Southampton have struggled for consistency this season having recorded three wins, four draws and three defeats in the Premier League.

After sealing a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, the Saints travelled to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton at the weekend, hoping for their first back-to-back wins of the campaign.

The match started off well for Mauricio Pellegrino’s side as Steven Davis put the team a goal to the good inside the first seven minutes.

The goal came from James Ward-Prowse’s free kick, which hammered off the crossbar and into the path of Davis for the rebound.

The coastal club were unable to hold on to their lead, though, as Glenn Murray found an equaliser seven minutes into the second half and the visitors were unable to respond.

Southampton are now unbeaten in their last three league outings, picking up five points from a possible nine.

Ward-Prowse and Wesley Hoedt gave their reactions to the result after the game, and the fans had plenty to say.

The West Ham United board have never been able to get all the fans onside.

Co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan have been heavily criticised by the club’s following over the years.

Transfer activity and the East London outfit’s controversial move to the London Stadium have been among the topics raised by angry West Ham supporters.

The powers that be made a big change at the club earlier this week by sacking Slaven Bilic and hiring David Moyes, who had disappointing spells in charge of Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland after leaving Everton in 2013.

A large majority of supporters were against the appointment, but now that the Scotsman is in the role, most have decided to give their backing.

Gold took to Twitter on Thursday urging for the club’s following to get behind the new leader, whose first game will be agains Watford on November 19.

The responses to the chairmen’s message were not hugely positive, with many launching criticism at the businessman.

Leeds United failed to build on their win against Middlesbrough on Sunday as they were beaten 4-1 by Championship table-toppers Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Wednesday night, and Whites fans weren’t impressed with Andy Lonergan’s performance.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper has started the last seven league games between the sticks after Felix Wiedwald was dropped earlier in the campaign, but he has now conceded 13 goals in that time keeping just the one clean sheet.

Lonergan perhaps may feel he should have done better with Barry Douglas’ 15th-minute free-kick, while he also got a hand to Ivan Cavaleiro’s goal that put the hosts 2-0 up.

His difficult night was summed up when he brought down Leo Bonatini in the penalty area late on after parrying an effort back into danger, with Helder Costa converting the spot-kick.

Leeds supporters were quick to have their say on his showing via social media, and while a few labelled him “hopeless”, one went a step further and said he “shouldn’t play for Leeds again”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Tottenham Hotspur were supposed to challenge for the Premier League title this season, but they are already an incredible 18 points behind league leaders Manchester City.

Indeed, Spurs have slipped to sixth position in the table in recent weeks after winning just one of their last six in the Premier League.

They will enter Saturday’s home game against Stoke City having failed to win in their last four in England’s top flight – suffering two defeats in the process.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are unbeaten at Wembley in the Premier League since August, but they have drawn with Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion on home soil this season.

The London club are the favourites to overcome Stoke on Saturday afternoon, but it would be fair to say that the supporters are not convinced.

Tottenham’s official Twitter account tried to get the fans going with a video of the team’s 4-0 win over Stoke at White Hart Lane last season. However, the supporters were extremely unimpressed with the social media activity.

A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be found below:

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Stand-in Everton boss Craig Shakespeare has claimed that Ademola Lookman has the potential to be ‘an important player’ for the Toffees.

Lookman scored twice on Thursday night as Everton recorded a 3-0 win over Apollon Limassol in their final Europa League group game.

The 20-year-old was part of a youthful Toffees XI led by Shakespeare, who took charge of the Merseyside outfit due to head coach Sam Allardyce staying in England to attend a pre-arranged medical appointment.

Lookman has only scored once in the Premier League since arriving from Charlton Athletic in January, but the youngster showed his credentials in Cyprus.

Shakespeare has now backed the England Under-21 international to kick on after his European brace.

Shakespeare told reporters:

“He can be an important player but he is only young. He showed his ability.”

Lookman came through the youth system at Charlton before making the move to Everton – signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Toffees. It is understood that various add-ons could eventually take his transfer fee to £11m.

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Manchester United fans are crucifying Pep Guardiola, as reports suggest Manchester City could offload Oleksandr Zinchenko to Wolves this summer.

According to Sky Sports, Wolves have made a club-record £16m offer for Zinchenko, and City are willing to let the youngster leave.

Although he spent most of last season playing as a left back, the 21 year-old is best as an attacking midfielder, and the potential arrival of Riyad Mahrez could threaten his playing time.

The move for Mahrez alongside the return to fitness of Benjamin Mendy means Zinchenko could find it difficult to see the pitch in any position, and United fans are destroying Pep on Twitter.

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The Red Devils have often felt Jose Mourinho gets harshly treated by the media and rival fans, as you can’t go five minutes on social media without seeing a joke about Mourinho ruining attacking talents.

Well, Zinchenko looks like a really promising young attacking talent, and Pep’s decision to move him to left back and now potentially sell him to make room for a mega money signing is irking United fans.

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You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, look away now Pep…

It’s not been a great summer so far for Newcastle fans in the Transfer Tavern. 

A lot has been rumoured about who Newcastle may potentially bring in but so far, only Ki Sung-yeung and the impressive Martin Dubravka have been added to the squad. If Newcastle have any hope of climbing into the European spots, Mike Ashley needs to dip into his transfer wallet and spend some money.

Recently The Sun (h/t HITC) has linked the Magpies with a move for Aston Villa winger, Albert Adomah.

The Breakdown

A loan move for Kenedy has been rumoured, while Benitez is also keen on a move for former Newcastle man, Andros Townsend. While both deals may come through eventually, Newcastle need to sign new players and quickly. With the transfer window closing on August 9, clubs are running out of time to sign players.

Considering the financial difficulties Aston Villa are going through right now, a move for Albert Adomah might just be more plausible than first thought. The 30-year-old was outstanding for Steve Bruce last year, scoring 14 goals and five assists and could well be available for a cut-price deal which may satisfy Mike Ashley.

Newcastle are in desperate need of some help going forward. The Magpies really struggled to score last season and Adomah would certainly help that cause. While some may point to his age as a potential spanner in any potential deal, Newcastle can’t afford to be picky when it comes to signing new players. A cut-price deal for a consistent performer is a move Newcastle need to make.

Would you be happy with this Newcastle fans? 

Tottenham Hotspur’s second-striker conundrum has plagued the club in recent years as the likes of Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente have struggled to play the bit-part role which has been expected of them. 

There are similarities to be drawn between Janssen and Llorente: both are players who have never relied on pace to succeed in their footballing careers, but that factor has served to stagnate their development at Spurs.

Whilst playing the role of Harry Kane’s understudy, both of the aforementioned players have failed miserably to step into his shoes when called upon, despite their relative success prior to joining the club.

The main problem for both players relates to Harry Kane’s brilliance; Tottenham are a team who thrive with Kane at the spearhead of the attack, so Pochettino has been reluctant to introduce either Janssen or Llorente when his first-choice centre-forward has been fit and ready to play.

There is only one obvious solution to the problem: to sign a versatile attacker who can play in multiple roles within Pochettino’s free-flowing system.

Indeed, there are plenty of players in European football who are able to play at centre-forward and within other positions across an attacking midfield-three.

Son Heung-min, for example, adapted excellently to a centre-forward role last season when Kane suffered an injury, proving that the presence of a natural centre-forward is far from necessary within Tottenham’s squad.

Although Daniel Levy will be eager to hold off on securing the signings of any new players until Toby Alderweireld and Mousa Dembele provide some clarity with regards to their futures, he should be willing to finance the acquisition of a new attacking player to solve a major club problem this summer.

With that in mind, here are two players who Tottenham should target to support Kane in his centre-forward duties next season…

Marko Arnautovic has spent the vast majority of his career cutting inside from the left-wing, but he practically saved West Ham from relegation all by himself last season at the spearhead of their attack.

Combining brute power with flair and determination, Arnautovic was a menace for the Hammers in the final-third and he finished the season with 11 goals and 6 assists to show for his efforts from just 31 appearances in the top-flight.

Following a summer spending spree which has seen 7 players arrive at the London Stadium, talkSPORT believe that West Ham are open to offers for the Austrian this summer, so the opportunity is certainly there for Tottenham to sign him up this summer.

Arnautovic thoroughly justified his price-tag last season with his commendable performances in a lone-striker role and, considering he possesses ability to play out-wide or in a number ten role, he could be the perfect solution to Tottenham’s attacking problem.

Like Arnautovic, Mertens made his name in European football for his blistering speed in an inside-left position, but in recent seasons he has successfully adapted to a centre-forward position.

Under Maurizio Sarri’s leadership Mertens bagged 22 goals and provided 12 assists from 49 appearances last season, but his manager’s decision to join Chelsea could encourage him to make a move to the Premier League.

At 31-years-of-age Mertens will not represent the best value for money, but on the evidence of his performances for both Napoli and the Belgium national side in a variety of attacking positions, he would be well worth forking out for this summer.

Having been linked with many already this summer, it’s obvious that a striker is at the top of Leeds United’s summer shopping list.

Abel Hernandez, Jordan Hugill, Matej Vydra and Felipe Caicedo have all been mentioned in connection with a potential switch to Elland Road by various sources. So far though, no arrivals appear close to being confirmed. 

Bielsa’s hunt for a new frontman is clearly continuing, and the new Leeds boss may want to turn to the French market in order to consider a move for Lille’s Yassine Benzia.

The Breakdown

For all of the hype and promise of his youth, Benzia’s career has stalled somewhat in recent years. 

As a 17-year-old, Benzia was dubbed the new Karim Benzema by Le 10 Sport, and was prolific in the France youth international set up before later switching his allegiance to Algeria. Following his move to Lille in 2015 though, Benzia has failed to develop as expected.

As a Lille player, he went over a year without a goal, and even since breaking that duck he has been far from prolific.

The best thing for Benzia, to get his career back on track, could well be a move. Leeds United should roll the dice on the 23-year-old as he is a very talented attacker who still has all the attributes to become a top striker. 

The slight step down in level that would come with a switch to the Championship could be what it takes to get Benzia firing again.

Bielsa is capable of getting the best out of struggling players, and if he could repeat that trick with this young forward then he’d have one of the most technically gifted and naturally talented strikers in the second tier on his hands.