TouchlineFootball

  TALKING POINTS AS MANCHESTER CITY WIN AGAINST DEFIANT BRENTFORD -Mihir Mehta -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo Via: theguardian.com  Manchester City extended their lead to 8 points at the top of the Premier League table with yet another win, this time over Brentford. This latest victory brings City’s winning streak to 10 straight games. The Cityzens have been absolutely dazzling lately, and it does not seem like they will have any challengers for the Premier League crown. However, this is not to say that they simply rolled over Brentford: the Bees put up a valiant fight against City’s machine. 1.     1.   PHIL FODEN. ENGLAND’S MOST PROMISING? Phil Foden is absolutely living up to the hype generated around him as one of England’s leaders of the next generation. The youngster has been excellent on the left side of City’s attack, racking up 5 goals and 3 assists in just 13 games. His relatively low playing time has been a mixture of injuries and so-called “Pep...

  BOXING DAY FIRECRACKER - Mihir Mehta -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo via: sportco.io Leaders Manchester City took on Leicester City in a 9-goal thriller at the Etihad on Boxing Day. City dominated the first half, and they were 4-0 up within the first half hour. The game began to look suspiciously as if it was being played on FIFA instead of on the pitch, when Leicester roared back with 3 goals after a tactical switch from Brendan Rodgers after the introduction of Timothy Castagne in the space of 10 minutes. The last thing you want to do in that situation is concede a sloppy goal from a corner, with Aymeric Laporte heading in. Raheem Sterling tapped in from four yards out after yet another corner, sealing the game once and for all.  1. Striker? What striker? City’s lack of a true number nine was one of the main talking points at the start of the season, but it now seems those fears were unfounded. City have scored 50 goals, tied-top for the most goals scored. Their dynamic ...

  WHO NEEDS WHAT FROM THE WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW - Mitansh Kagalwala Photo via: skysports.com It's that time of the year again. Christmas trees, ornaments, mistletoe, New Year's countdown, and, of course, the Winter transfer window. We've finally entered that one-week stretch from Christmas to New Year's Eve, and with most of the world on holiday, transfer speculation among Europe's elite clubs has really taken off. Several teams will look for reinforcements in January, even more so with the looming threat of another league postponement due to Covid, and a crunched schedule.  The January transfer window is perhaps the most crucial time of the season, with teams allowed to sign players for a month and fill gaps in their squads. Good signings lead to success and trophies, while bad ones end up as a waste of money. Speculation is already rife, with several high profile transfers all but complete. Ferran Torres is basically a Barcelona player at this point, and Kylian M...

  RANKING THE BEST ENGLISH YOUNGSTERS-PART TWO (10-1) -Samarth Purohit and Mitansh Kagalwala Photo Via: 433 (on facebook.com) Continuing from the first part of our article ranking the top 20 English youngsters (which you can find on our site) aged 24 years old or younger. In the first part, we ranked numbers 11 to 20, and in this article we'll be counting down our top 10.  10. Reece James: James has cemented his place as Chelsea's star man this season, outscoring most of their forwards and midfielders from right back, and has stepped up his game this season to be instrumental to Chelsea's title hopes. His versatility could also be useful to England, with Tuchel occasionally deploying him at holding midfield. However, he will have to fight Trent Alexander-Arnold for a spot on the right side of defence. 9. Bukayo Saka: Into the top 9, Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka has essentially carried Arsenal’s attack on occasion, and has had stand up performances for England already. Whil...

  RANKING THE BEST ENGLISH YOUNGSTERS-PART ONE (20 to 11) - Samarth Purohit -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo Via: thefootballlovers.com The rise of English youngsters, like Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho among others, has led to a so-called second "golden generation" that is perhaps only rivalled by the Spanish youngsters playing in Barcelona. This England team reached the final of Euro 2020 and are touted as favourites for Qatar 2022. In this article we look at the top 20 English talents 24 years old or younger. It is a testament to the quality of English youngsters that we had to separate this article into two different posts. The bar for English talent is so high that we had to exclude some excellent players, such as Conor Gallagher, Rhian Brewster and Joe Willock, from the top 20 entirely.  So, here are, in our opinion, the top 20 English youngsters, 24 years or younger:  20. Aaron Wan Bissaka: A traditional fullback with good 1 on 1 defensive abiliti...

  CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS -Mitansh Kagalwala Photo Via: businessupturn.com   We’ve finally reached that point of the Champions League where the qualifications to the next stage are decided, seedings are determined, and we’re ready to kick back for a two-month long break till February. The only thing left before UCL action comes to a halt is a highly-awaited Round of 16 draw, where the knockout match-ups are determined. The draw took place on the 13 th of December in Nyon, and boy, was it fun. Continuing in the vein of a dramatic group stage, the UCL draw had to be redone, after Manchester United were drawn against Villareal (one of their group stage opponents), and then excluded from the drawing for Atletico Madrid’s opponents. Nevertheless, we finally know which teams will face off, and with the away goals rule scrapped, some huge and exciting match-ups await us, come February. RULES OF THE DRAW: The UEFA draw for the Round of 16 has certain rules:...

TALKING POINTS FROM GERRARD'S RETURN TO ANFIELD   -Parth Pabaru -Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala Photo via: lfcglobe.co.uk Liverpool returned to Premier League action at Anfield after becoming the first English side to finish the Champions League Group Stage with a 100% winning record. They faced a tricky Aston Villa side, coached by new manager and former-Liverpool captain and legend Steven Gerrard. Aston Villa were under a turnaround of sorts, under Gerrard, looking several times more solid at the back since the arrival of the ex-Liverpool man. At the end of a tense game, Liverpool emerged victorious thanks to a Mo Salah (who else?) penalty. In this article, we take a look at some of the talking points from Stevie G's return home:  1.    THE ROLE OF THE WING BACKS- Trent alexander arnold and Andrew Robertson have been key to Liverpool's recent successes. Whipping in cross after cross, they caused havoc in the Villa penalty box but were shut out most of the time by some...