Table of contents for 16 Oct 2018 in MATCH!

THE STORY… Arsenal haven’t announced the deal yet, but we’ve heard they’ve agreed to pay £15 million for Almiron and he’ll arrive in January! That transfer fee would make the star the most expensive player ever to leave MLS! PLAYING STYLE Almiron’s spent most of this season playing as a No.10 – just behind the striker. He’s got tons of pace and uses it to get into the box and link up with his fellow attackers – that’s why he’s got double figures for goals and assists! NEW RAMSEY? Aaron Ramsey won’t be signing a new deal at The Emirates, so Almiron can help replace the Wales playmaker. Rambo’s got loads of big goals from midfield, so Unai Emery would need more of that from the Paraguay star!…

DEADLY DRIBBLERS! These dribble kings have gone on more successful runs than anybody else! Last season, Hazard went on 40 successful runs more than any other Prem player – and he’s already ahead this year! The tricky Belgian just loves running with the ball. Hero! TOUGH TACKLERS! Attackers have a tricky time getting past these incredible tacklers! The second-most successful tackler in the PL in 2017-18 is currently the best in the new campaign! The Toffee is well effective at stopping his opponents in their tracks! SPEED MACHINES! These lightning-quick heroes have hit top speeds in the Prem this season! PASS MASTERS! More completed passes = footy domination, just ask these top ballers! Jorginho’s nickname should be ‘Pass-and-Move’, because that’s what he does all match! The quality passer’s adapted to…

ANDERSON FACTPACK! Club: West Ham Country: Brazil Age: 25 Position: Winger Boots: adidas Predator Did You Know? He won an Olympic Gold Medal with Brazil at Rio 2016! DOHERTY FACTPACK! Club: Wolves Country: Republic Of Ireland Age: 26 Position: Right-back Boots: Nike Hypervenom Did You Know? He’s been with the club since 2010! GUDMUNDSSON FACTPACK! Club: Burnley Country: Iceland Age: 27 Position: Winger Boots: Nike Mercurial Did You Know? He’s won over 65 caps for his country! HUGHES FACTPACK! Club: Watford Country: England Age: 23 Position: Midfielder Boots: Nike Tiempo Did You Know? He bases his style on Spain legend Xavi! KING FACTPACK! Club: Bournemouth Country: Norway Age: 26 Position: Forward Boots: adidas Glitch Did You Know? He signed for Man. United when he was 16! KOVACIC FACTPACK! Club: Chelsea…

THE SCENE... Man. United were absolutely flying ahead of their match at Chelsea in October 1999. Just a few months on from winning the treble, they were sitting at the top of the table, five points above The Blues, and hadn’t lost a league match in 29 games! THE TEAMS... WHAT HAPPENED? United fell apart! The Blues raced into the lead under 30 seconds after Taibi’s terrible error, and 15 minutes later it was 2-0. When Nicky Butt was given his marching orders shortly after, the game was dead, and Chelsea won 5-0! WHAT CAME NEXT? Goalkeeper Massimo Taibi never played for United again, but the club bounced back in style. They only lost two more Prem matches all season, got revenge with a 3-2 home win v Chelsea and…

Chelsea v Man. United Gear Two of the Premier League’s biggest clubs face off at the weekend, so we’ve put some of their best gear head-to-head too! Which PL megaclub wins this gear battle? spor tsdirec t .com Nike Mercurial Cleats These red cleats might not look quite right – that’s coz they're actually American football boots! The reason we love them is because they have the same cool design as the 1998 Nike Mercurial boots originally worn by Brazil legend Ronaldo! store.nike.com Luigi’s Mansion Pluck up the courage and battle your way past all the ghosts and traps in Luigi’s Mansion – out this week! Don’t worry though, the ghouls are no match for for the hero's vacuum cleaner... Price: £34.99 store.nintendo.co.uk Umbro Boot Pack Umbro think their bright…

EFL SPECIAL THE NUMBERS GAME! How many goals were there in last month’s East Anglia derby? TROPHY TIME ! Which Stoke superstar is hiding behind the Championship trophy? PREVIOUS CLUBS! These goal grabbers joined their current clubs from which top teams? GAME CHANGER! Which Birmingham ace scored a brace v Leeds to get his side their first victory of 2018-19? ODD ONE OUT! Which of these teams’ 2018-19 home kit isn’t mainly white? MEGA MASH-UP!  Can you name the Championship boss in this weird pic? SPOT THE BALL!  Mark where you think the ball is in this EFL action pic! NAME THE COUNTRY! What countries have these ace EFL heroes played for? EFL STARS! MATCH! WINNER! Which hero scored Sheffield United’s winner in their 2-1 victory over QPR in August?…

Sergio Aguero Man. City Alisson Liverpool Gareth Bale Real Madrid Karim Benzema Real Madrid Edinson Cavani P SG Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid Kevin De Bruyne Man. City Roberto Firmino Liverpool Diego Godin Atletico Antoine Griezmann Atletico Eden Hazard Chelsea Isco Real Madrid Harry Kane Tottenham N’Golo Kante Chelsea Hugo Lloris Tottenham Mario Mandzukic Juventus Sadio Mane Liverpool Marcelo Real Madrid Kylian Mbappe P SG Lionel Messi Barcelona Luka Modric Real Madrid Neymar P SG Jan Oblak Atletico Paul Pogba Man. United Ivan Rakitic Barcelona Sergio Ramos Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus Mohamed Salah Liverpool Luis Suarez Barcelona Raphael Varane Real Madrid KOPA TROPHY! This season there’s a new Ballon d’Or award for under-21s – called the Kopa Trophy! PSG forward Kylian Mbappe is the red-hot favourite to win it! CHESS…

1 Silva’s ahead of the likes of Messi, Bale and Griezmann in the La Liga scoring charts and scored a sick match-winning double v Real Madrid recently! 2 AC Milan forked out £33 million to bring him to the San Siro from Porto, but then loaned him to Sevilla last summer! 3 He netted a wicked hat-trick on his La Liga debut v Rayo Vallecano – the first man to do so since Barcelona legend Romario in 1993! 4 The star’s got hat-trick history for his national side Portugal, too! He became their youngest ever player to score a hat-trick back in 2016 v Faroe Islands! 5 He joined massive Portuguese giants Porto for £500 as a 15-year old, and they’re still his favourite team! 6 Defenders should be careful…

DID YOU KNOW ? AC were the original owners of the San Siro, but neighbours Inter started sharing the ground from 1947 – and have done ever since! HEAD-TO-HEAD AC can close the head-to-head gap this week, and they still have more trophies! THE LOWDOWN WHO? Inter and AC Milan – two absolute giants of Italian and European football! WHERE? At their shared ground in Milan – the Giuseppe Mezza stadium – or as it’s more commonly known, the San Siro! WHY? When two huge clubs share the same city AND stadium, they’re bound to clash! They’ve met in title deciders and cup finals, and shared loads of players! HEROES The man the stadium’s named after was at both sides, but is a real Inter legend! Sheva’s this fixture’s record…

SPAIN It looks like La Liga is gonna be well exciting in 2018-19! No side has run away at the top of the table, while Barcelona and Real Madrid have both lost points in recent weeks – the 2017-18 champs losing 2-1 to bottom side Leganes! Sevilla and Atletico have started really strongly too, so we could have four teams fighting for the title. Let’s hope so! AC Milan must be regretting letting Andre Siva join Sevilla on loan! The Portugal hero has hit seven goals in eight games, busting net every 103 minutes! Lionel Messi isn’t far behind him though, with six goals in his first eight matches for Barcelona! DID YOU KNOW? With a sick 65% shot accuracy, Silva has a better shots-on-target ratio than Messi, Iago Aspas,…

SHAKHTAR’S PITCH INVADERS! Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk are nicknamed ‘The Moles’, and they recently found three molehills by the corner of their pitch! Man. United’s ‘Red Devils’ will be hoping this isn’t the start of some sort of scary trend… GOALIE GAFFE! Keepers… always pay close attention when your defender’s taking a throw-in! Stuttgart GK Ron-Robert Zieler learnt the hard way as he watched the ball bounce past him and into the net. Fail! GAFFER’S CRAZY PUNISHMENTS! Punishing players for breaking club rules can be a bit of a chore for managers, so RB Leipzig gaffer Ralf Rangnick created this ‘wheel of fortune’. One of the proper wacky punishments on it is that players have to train in a tutu! MASCOT DEJA-VU! Brentford CM Nico Yennaris captained his side at…

MARCO REUS The Dortmund winger bagged three goals in a week as a CAM, and looks way more dangerous in a more central position! With 88 finishing and 90 shot power, Reus’ in-form card is a deadly finisher! NEYMAR We reckon this will be the first of many TOTW cards for the Brazil baller! The star picked it up after scoring a Ligue 1 double against Nice, so his pace dribbling and shooting have all got stronger! PABLO FORNALS This sick IF card is a mega three-point OVR boost on Fornals’ normal card, and we’re not surprised after he bagged a goal and an assist v Athletic Bilbao! The RM has 90 vision and 88 short passing. Wicked! TRICK OF THE WEEK! The Heel To Heel Flick is a simple…

You don’t get much bigger PL matches than Chelsea v Man. United! While The Blues have started the season looking real sharp under new manager Maurizio Sarri, United have looked the opposite under Jose Mourinho! The stats really favour the home side, too – The Blues are on an eight-game unbeaten home run against The Red Devils in all comps, and haven’t lost at The Bridge in the PL against Saturday’s rivals since 2012! WATCH I T… Saturday October 20 12.30pm EDEN HA Z ARD We’re not just shouting out the sick Belgian because he was voted MATCH’s POTM for September – he’s also got a wicked record against The Red Devils! He’s bagged seven goals and assists combined from 13 games against them, including hitting the winner from the…

CHELSEA v MAN. UNITED Eden Hazard is gonna extend his side’s wicked home run v United! MATCH SAYS 1- 0YOU SAY CARDIFF v FULHAM The Cottagers are gonna nick a big away win v their fellow new boys! MATCH SAYS 1-2YOU SAY NEWCASTLE v BRIGHTON This could be the game that kick starts a good run for Newcastle! MATCH SAYS 2-1YOU SAY WOLVES v WATFORD Two of the Prem’s ‘W’ teams are gonna have to accept a ‘D’ – draw! MATCH SAYS 1-1YOU SAY BOURNEMOUTH v SOUTHAMPTON This is one of the friendliest local rivalries in the Prem, so it’s a draw! MATCH SAYS 1-1YOU SAY MAN. CITY v BURNLEY Sergio Aguero has scored in four of his last five matches v Burnley! MATCH SAYS 2- 0YOU SAY WEST HAM…

STADIUM FACTS TEAM: Chelsea BUILT: 1876 CAPACITY: 40,853 RECORD ATTENDANCE: 82,905 v Arsenal, October 1935 NEAREST NEIGHBOUR: Fulham LONGEST LEAGUE JOURNEY: St. James’ Park, Newcastle, 249 miles DID YOU KNOW? Stamford Bridge is the oldest stadium in the Premier League!…