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Only two officials have refereed more Premier League games than Martin Atkinson this season, which tells all about the high esteem he’s held in by the PGMOB – who appoint the referees for every Premier League game.

There’s no questioning Atkinson’s experience, having worked in the English top flight for some 13 years now, but if there’s one flaw to what the Yorkshireman brings to his trade, it’s the bizarre contradiction between what happens inside and outside the box during his matches.

Indeed, while Atkinson ranks eighth for fouls per game and third for yellow cards per game throughout the 20 referees to work in the top flight this season, his ranking for penalties is comparatively much lower – with just three referees averaging less penalties per match this term.

And there are two ways of looking at that return. One is that Atkinson doesn’t ruin games by giving away needless spot kicks; the other is that he’s reluctant to make big decisions, even when they’re the right ones. Perhaps the biggest example of that was in the last Manchester derby, when Atkinson didn’t award a penalty despite Ashley Young obviously fouling Sergio Aguero with a lunge inside the box.

With Atkinson taking charge of Chelsea’s visit to Newcastle this weekend, that could prove to be a real point of frustration for the Blues. They desperately need a win to stand any chance of qualifying for the Champions League and only three players throughout the entire of the top flight have won more fouls than Eden Hazard this term, but it appears they’ll need a stonewall penalty for Atkinson to award one in the box this weekend.

Perhaps more worryingly for the Blues, both of their games with Atkinson officiating this season have ended in defeat, but the 47-year-old does provide one huge Chelsea boost heading into the visit to Tyneside; 41% of the Premier League games Atkinson has officiated this season have ended in away wins, which is actually the second-highest bias of any referee to oversee more than one top flight game in 2017/18.

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At a ground where Chelsea haven’t won in the Premier League during their last four attempts, Atkinson’s away win bias might just balance out their bad luck.

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It does appear likely that Liverpool will lose Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona this month.

The Reds managed to prevent the Brazilian playmaker from leaving during the summer, but all of the signs are pointing to Coutinho making the switch to Camp Nou.

Liverpool have already spent £75m on Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk this month, but the club’s supporters are desperate for more business to be completed, especially if Coutinho moves to Barcelona before the end of the month.

Riyad Mahrez is still believed to be keen on leaving Leicester City, and the 26-year-old has been in sparkling form for the Foxes this season – scoring seven times and registering eight assists in 22 Premier League appearances.

Liverpool fans have identified Mahrez, who is valued at £27m by transfermarkt.co.uk, as the perfect player to replace Coutinho.

There is no getting away from the fact that it would be a massive blow if Coutinho left Anfield, especially considering Liverpool’s brilliant form in recent weeks.

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However, it seems that the club’s supporters would accept the Brazil international seeking pastures new if in-form attacker Mahrez was the player to replace him.

Tottenham’s narrow 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday may well have been totally different had it not been for the imperious form of their French stopper. Lloris has been a rock since his move from Lyon last summer; a deal which in hindsight looks to have been a massive coup for the North Londoners.

Following an excellent first term in England, and an apparent continuation of his form into the new season, do Spurs now have the best keeper in the Premier League?

The acquisition of keepers always seems to be greeted with a feeling of ambivalence from most quarters, there is never the same buzz that is created with say the capture of frontman like Roberto Soldado. This is totally natural and understandable, but the signing of Lloris for a fee of around £8-12m back in 2012 is something that should never be understated. My belief is that the Frenchman’s signature represents the single most important transfer by the club in the Villas-Boas era.

Down the years Spurs have had a history of excellent shot stopping keepers whose instinctive reactions have been undeniable. Even in the current squad Gomes and Friedel represent excellent blockers, whose all round game is now totally inadequate for the way Spurs are looking to play under Villas-Boas. The pace of the timeless Friedel is no longer sufficient for a role as a sweeper keeper and similarly the kamikaze tendencies of Gomes were unlikely to fit any clubs system.

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The improvement Spurs have in Lloris is that they now have someone with the all round game to suit the dynamic style that Villas-Boas wants to play. Much has been made of the high tempo pressing game that features a much higher defensive line to squeeze the opposition. Central to this system is the need for a highly mobile and intelligent keeper to read the game and instinctively react when the time comes to sweep up play. This was time and time again exemplified during the Palace game when balls in behind were comfortably mopped up before chance could really ever materialise.

Spurs in my mind have always been distributionally quite weak from the back, all too content to hit a long ball up towards the diminutive Defoe rather than get the ball down early. There has been a definite shift towards building from the back, and utilising the pace of Walker and now Rose to their advantage. Lloris on average had the second lowest distance from goal kicks last year that illustrates this point perfectly, number one was Szczesny whose Arsenal side engender the sort of passing game that Spurs want to imitate and possibly now improve on.

My main fear with Lloris was that he would struggle to adapt to the physicality of the English league. Even at 6ft 2in the Frenchman never appears the most imposing because of his slight frame. The concern was that he would come largely unstuck at the set piece, much like De Gea did during his first season in England. Thankfully for Spurs Lloris has coped admirably in this respect and continued to improve and adapt to the specifics of Premier League football.

He relies heavily on his punch, which unlike predecessor Gomes, has turned into something of a weapon when alleviating pressure from the box. Gomes was all too keen to rush out and flap at the ball, or punch someone in his own backline. Instead Lloris appears calm and collected under the high ball and chooses intelligently when to come and when not to. Whilst he is becoming more and more comfortable in this regard, I fully expect him to continue improving well into this season.

So is the 26-year-old the best? In my opinion he is certainly the best sweeper-keeper in the league and therefore the ideal man for Spurs. Lloris definitely occupies a place in the top bracket of Premier League stoppers alongside the likes of Cech and De Gea. An inconsistent season for Joe Hart in my view sees him slide from the upper echelons of the leagues stoppers. The world’s best keepers are those that go very quietly about their business, doing the basics right and occasionally pulling off the more spectacular. Cech during his brightest spell at Chelsea captured this sentiment exactly, taking a great deal of pressure off the defensive line in the process. When comparing De Gea and Lloris I see two exceptionally gifted keepers who will both no doubt be at the very top of the world game. As it stands Lloris appears ahead in his development, unsurprising given their ages, and has seemed less susceptible to the occasional mistake that De Gea makes. Who knows the Spaniard may at some point eclipse the Frenchman but only time will tell in that respect.

Spurs were incredibly shrewd in their capture of the Frenchman, a small price to pay  really for a central figure to Villas-Boas’ Spurs strategy. There is little to choose between Cech and Lloris in my book, but from a Spurs perspective I cannot see a better or more suitable option for them as a club specifically.

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Do Spurs now have the best stopper in the Premier League?

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Eden Hazard claims he will continue to improve and harass Premier League defences after an impressive league debut.

The £35 million signing from Lille was heavily involved in both Chelsea’s goals in a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.

Chelsea’s new Belgian star also stated he is unbothered by opposition attempts to intimidate him. Gary Caldwell in particular gave the 21 year old a ferocious welcome to the Premier League, getting booked for a late and forceful challenge on the former Lille man, who was the most fouled player in the match despite an early substitution.

Hazard told The Sun, “It doesn’t bother me, I already had a taste of these tackles in the Community Shield.

“I was kicked quite a bit in the first half against Wigan but in France it was already like that for me.”

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With Chelsea hosting Reading on Wednesday the Belgium international will get another chance to showcase his ability, he added, “There are a lot of things I can do better. I lost a lot of balls in the second half but I contributed what was asked of me.”

Former Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell has suggested that the agent of Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has played a hand in rumours linking the coach to Chelsea.

A recent report by Sky Sports has claimed that the Blues are keeping tabs on the Argentine, with the aim of potentially replacing Antonio Conte this summer.

The Italian coach had a stellar first season at Stamford Bridge as he guided the team to the Premier league title, but the 2017-18 campaign was a different story.

In the end, Chelsea finished fifth in the table, five points behind fourth-placed Liverpool.

There has been no official word from Chelsea with regards to Conte’s future but according to Sky Sports, the former Juventus boss is likely to leave after the FA Cup final against Manchester United.

Pochettino is yet to win silverware as Tottenham manager, but he has secured Champions League football for the club in the past three seasons.

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Chelsea fans have had their say on the reports and now one of their former midfielders has given his take on the situation.

While speaking to TalkSPORT, Sidwell suggested that Pochettino’s agent may have leaked the story to convince Tottenham to up theiR negotiations over a new deal.

“There’s no smoke without fire so there’s probably an element of truth in there, and you look at it the other way where he [Pochettino] is looking for contract renewals – or maybe his agent has put the idea in there – to buck Spurs’ ideas up.”

Despite the departure of two invaluable players over the summer in the form of Raheem Sterling and Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s transfer business in the off-season has most of the Anfield faithful entering the new campaign with positivity in mind.

Brendan Rodgers has been backed by the Merseyside club’s owners and money has been spent to bring a host of new players into the Northern Irishman’s squad with Champions League qualification once again the goal in 2015-16.

Liverpool’s goal-shy attack from last term has been bolstered by the arrivals of Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Danny Ings, while James Milner has the unenviable task of replacing Gerrard in midfield.

Nathaniel Clyne’s acquisition fills the troublesome right-back role, with all-in-all most people being impressed with Liverpool’s swift moves in the transfer market this summer.

However, with Manchester United strengthening considerably this summer also and Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea looking as strong as ever, it will be a big ask for the Reds to break into the top four.

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One position that Rodgers may well feel like he still needs to strengthen if his side are to return to English football’s elite is at centre-half.

The former Swansea boss likes to switch up his formations and as such has used three centre-halves and a back four on countless different occasions. There is an argument to suggest that a dominant central defender would really improve Liverpool, regardless of the system deployed.

Martin Skrtel’s contract renewal was a piece of important business this summer by the Merseyside outfit, with the Slovakian continuing to be the club’s best defender and a leader of men with his never-say-die attitude and no-nonsense approach.

However, there is a feeling that the Reds are one centre-half short to make either a 3-4-3 or 4-4-2 system work.

In a back three, Emre Can has been used to good effect as a ball-playing centre-half on the right-hand side of the defensive trident.

Although the German is a midfielder by trade, the ex-Bayern Munich youngster has the capabilities to fill in at the back if he has two other centre-halves to help carry the defensive burden.

Can is not a good enough defender to be used at centre-half in a back four though and as such another defender is needed in both systems.

Mamadou Sakho is a French international and has a sizeable reputation in European football, meanwhile the fact that he is left-footed offers balance at the back for the club. But, as yet the former Paris Saint-Germain defender has not shown adequate consistency to convince that he deserves an automatic starting berth.

Other options include Kolo Toure and Tiago Ilori, who are at opposite ends of their careers and as such either too long in the tooth or too inexperienced to be trusted week-in, week-out.

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Dejan Lovren at his best would be a terrific player for Liverpool, but the Croat has not showed the form at Anfield that made him such a success at Southampton.

As such, if Rodgers was to complete his summer business by landing an experienced and able central defender that could play alongside Skrtel in a back four and with Can and the Slovakian in a back three, the Reds’ hopes of finishing in the top four would be boosted significantly.

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It will be a busy transfer window for Liverpool this summer. After a positive first season with Brendan Rodgers, the platform is set for the club to push towards a top four finish next season. But that can’t be achieved without some important deals this summer. The retiring Jamie Carragher will need to be replaced, while Rodgers looks to complete his squad ahead of a big next season.

After the club were so heavily linked with Blackpool’s Tom Ince for the last two transfer windows, it is expected that the Reds will once again bid for the young star. The 21-year-old has played a vital role in Blackpool’s season in the Championship, scoring 18 goals in the campaign. His trickery and speed have impressed both Championship and Premier League teams, as he was named in the league’s Team of the Year.

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However, with his father Paul Ince now managing Blackpool, Tom may not be sold on the cheap. Speaking back in April, Paul revealed that his son had a big price tag on him: “If you’re talking £15m for Zaha, Thomas has got to be £25m. If you compare the two, Thomas should cost more,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

He may have been being a protective father, or possibly trying so scare off interested clubs, but Paul must know himself that the club won’t get £25million for his son. But with Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owners, having limited funds, Rodgers won’t be able to spend a big fee on a Championship player.

This is where Wigan’s relegation from the Premier League might be in Liverpool’s favour. Callum McManaman got off to a poor start in his Premier League career. His horror tackle on Newcastle’s Massadio Haidara, which was unpunished, left the player almost as a hate figure amongst some fans. Known as “that guy who nearly broke Haidara’s leg”, McManaman suddenly had a lot to prove, in order to win over the general public. Goals against Tottenham and West Brom set the boyhood Everton supporter up for his biggest challenge.

Wigan faced Manchester City in the FA Cup final, where despite being massive underdogs, Wigan went on to lift the trophy, after Ben Watson’s 92nd minute winner. But it was Callum McManaman who took the headlines, with his stunning performance earning him the Man of the Match award. The 22-year-old repeatedly skipped past Pablo Zabaleta like the Argentine defender wasn’t there, before eventually he actually wasn’t there, because he had been sent off. His performance in the final was one of many top displays in the last few months, which earned him a call up to the England Under-21s.

But after Wigan were relegated from the Premier League following their 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, McManaman is certain to leave the club in the summer. One of a handful of Wigan players who are set to be signed by Premier League clubs next season, Liverpool may have just found a cheaper alternative to Tom Ince. But there still comes a decision of who to buy.

McManaman has proved himself on the biggest of stages now, scoring goals against top Premier League sides, and terrorising possibly the best right-back in the league. Although his Premier League experience is limited, it is still more than Tom Ince’s. The Blackpool star has been incredible in the Championship, but it’s a big step up to the Premier League. Also, Ince’s dream to play in the Premier League may be delayed, by his own dad. If Paul continues to slap a huge price tag on his son, then Liverpool will almost certainly turn to McManaman instead.

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For now, expect the Anfield side to enquire about both players, and buy whoever is cheaper. Both have proven themselves to be top dribblers, and capable of scoring goals.

While Rodgers may not have much of a preference as to which one he signs, FSG may tell the Northern Irishman that he can only buy whoever is cheaper, meaning Paul Ince’s extreme valuation of his son may have to be reconsidered if he wants his son to be playing in England’s top flight league.

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Dele Alli and Harry Kane scored the goals as Tottenham Hotspur recorded a 2-0 win over Watford in Monday night’s Premier League clash at Wembley.

It was important for Spurs to bounce back following their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United last time out, and it proved to be a comfortable night for the London club.

Moussa Sissoko has struggled for starts this season, and the French midfielder was again named on the bench against the Hornets on Monday night.

The 28-year-old did come on for the final 15 minutes, however, and had a really good chance to score a third for Tottenham in the latter stages.

Sissoko missed the crossbar with his attempt, which led to a host of criticism from the Tottenham fans on social media, and not for the first time this season.

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Spurs paid Newcastle United the best part of £30m to sign Sissoko in the summer of 2016, but the 53-time France international has struggled to make his mark with Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Spurs supporters can be seen below:

Despite holding down several managerial posts across Europe during his time in the dug-out, Steve McClaren will arguably always be remembered for his failure to secure England’s seemingly inevitable qualification for Euro 2008.

Whether it be through his questionable selections as Three Lions boss, apparent inability to establish a satisfactory starting XI for England – or just because the former Middlesbrough coach will forever be known as the ‘wally with the brolly’ – the 54-year-old English manager has simply never truly restored his reputation in this country for his past shortcomings.

It therefore comes as somewhat of a shock that Steve McClaren has seemingly become the main man in the frame for the Newcastle manager’s job in the run up to the 2015/16 campaign. It was a potential appointment that no one really saw coming, as although the man in question was once considered good enough for England, very few were expecting him to re-emerge in the Premier League any time soon.

So then, have the Tynesiders made the right choice in selecting their new head coach, or is the increasingly likely appointment of Steve McClaren at St. James’ only further indication of Newcastle United’s recent demise?

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Well, to say that this potential development would go down as a rather unpopular choice for the Magpies, would certainly be something of an understatement amongst the St. James’ faithful. Yes, the former Uefa Cup finalist with Boro and one-time Eredivisie winner with FC Twente has of course had some decent experiences to look back on throughout his managerial career – but do those past achievements mean Steve McClaren deserves another shot in the Premier League? – The likely answer is, no.

Since completely failing to deliver the results for England on the international scene, the ex-Riverside regular has also had some pretty forgetful stints at a succession of different European clubs. For VfL Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forrest and on a return to FC Twente, McClaren once again fell short of his managerial requirements.

His unfortunate decision to take on a Dutch accent during his time in the Eredivisie may have made for excellent viewing for fans back home, but it was ultimately something born out of much more than mere hilarity. Steve McClaren was trying to improve his image during that time, but in launching such ill-fated behaviour during that interview, the reported new Magpies boss certainly didn’t win back a great deal of respect to say the very least.

The 54-year-old’s recent failure to see his Derby County side even reach the play-offs this term only acted as further indication that he is not yet ready to manage in the Premier League once again. Any top-flight English side would be simply mad to hire someone like McClaren at this stage in the proceedings…

That is seemingly where Newcastle United enter however. Whilst the majority of the St. James’ faithful would much likely prefer the more exciting likes of Frank de Boer or even Remi Garde to take on managerial responsibilities on Tyneside next season, it seems the Magpies ultimately have no choice but to fall upon the unfortunately labelled ‘wally with the brolly’ instead.

Because Mike Ashley’s ownership of the well supported Premier League club has seemingly made it impossible for Newcastle managers to have the final say down at St. James’, no respectable European coach is ever going to see fit to join up with the Magpies unless a significant amount of head-turning money has been placed on the table. With Newcastle remaining particularly stringent in the financial department however, such an outcome seems unlikely even at the best of times.

The St. James’ faithful will therefore be left with no choice but to accept a clear ‘yes man’ when it comes to finally replacing Alan Pardew in the dug-out, and although his name often sparks disappointment since England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 – in Steve McClaren, the Newcastle fans have exactly that.

The former Derby boss will be desperate for a chance to re-establish himself back in the Premier League, and good luck to him. As that means Mike Ashley will still act as the main decision maker behind the scenes on Tyneside however – with his notorious reputation of caring very little about the club or it’s fans – Newcastle United in general will likely suffer as a result of this potential appointment.

With last season’s rather embarrassing eight game losing streak remaining pretty hard to beat in terms of disappointment though, surely Steve McClaren can’t present anything worse than what the Magpies’ supporters have already witnessed in recent months?

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For the fans’ sake, let’s hope not…

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Summary: Billy Jones denied Newcastle a morale boosting victory with a second half equaliser to earn West Brom a point at the Hawthorns.

The Magpies came into the game licking some deep wounds after their Tyne-Wear derby humiliation at the hands of arch rivals Sunderland last week and started well in the Midlands.

With making amends high on the agenda for Alan Pardew’s side attacked with intent and Yoan Gouffran nudged them into the lead in the eighth minute when he headed in a cross from Papiss Cisse.

Albion had no answer to their opponents and Cisse should have made it 2-0 after he raced onto a poor pass by Jonas Olsson but sent the ball way over Ben Foster and the bar.

Steve Clarke’s men finally came to life and could have had a penalty on the stroke of half time when James Perch brought Jones down on the edge of the penalty area with referee Mike Jones consulting his assistant to correctly determine if the contact took place in or out of the box.

They carried that late pressure over into the second period and sent numerous warning shots across the Newcastle bow prior to Jones’s leveller in the 64th minute. Good work from  James Morrison and Romelu Lukaku created the opportunity for the full back to slide the ball first-time beyond Rob Elliot.

Steve Clarke post match…”On another day they could have got the second goal, which would have made it much more difficult for us. But they didn’t and that gave us the avenue back into the game, which we grabbed with both hands, because in the second half we were much, much better.”

Alan Pardew post match…”I don’t think so (in terms of us being safe) because we have to keep working. Hopefully, we can get a couple more wins which will be the ideal thing.”

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Good day for…Yoan Gouffran: This was more like it from the French attacker as he buzzed around the Baggies back four and was a constant irritant. Not to mention his header, that gave Newcastle the lead, was sublime.

Bad day for…Goran Popov: A weak link all afternoon at the back for West Brom. In fact Steve Clarke must question himself after deciding to reintroduce Popov to the starting XI. Hopeless in possession and was even worse without it.