GettyImagesRyan Shawcross is floored by Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini

Marouane Fellaini could be forgiven for thinking his 'fro would have cushioned the head-butt he landed on Ryan Shawcross during Everton's trip to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, but he will have a sore head of his own as he comes to terms with the severe punishment coming his way. The Mirror says Fellaini can expect a whopping fine of £150,000 - the maximum penalty of two weeks' wages - to go with three-match bans for each of his three infringements on Shawcross that went unnoticed by officials. With Everton now struggling to keep their top-four hopes alive, they can ill afford to have the Belgian absent for nine games. With eight goals already this season, Fellaini has been a bright spark for the Toffees, but he could go from hero to villain if his side stumble during his time on the sidelines.

Demba Ba has already dropped enough hints to suggest he is ready to join Arsenal in January, but he has now described it as a 'dream' move. The Mail says that while Ba has denied any concrete interest from the Gunners, he believes he would be the perfect fit for Arsene Wenger: "I have nothing to say about those speculations [with Arsenal]. Nothing has happened," Ba told Canal+. "Arsenal are one of those teams who makes you dream." It looks highly unlikely that Newcastle will be able to hold onto the striker, with Tottenham and Liverpool ready to pounce if Arsenal fail to secure Ba.

The West Ham bench was noticeably bare during the draw with West Brom on Sunday as Sam Allardyce named just six players on his substitutes list. The absence of Yossi Benayoun, Andy Carroll, Ricardo Vaz Te, Jack Collison and Mo Diame through injury left Allardyce scraping the barrels of his squad and the Sun reports that it could force the Hammers boss into a desperate flurry of signings in the January transfer window. In fact, Big Sam admits he is prepared to sign any player he can: "We always need a bit of help. We're never going to turn one down are we? Or two! If there's anybody there who can enhance the team then we'd like to go for them." Hammers fans will be hoping the club is a tad more selective with their purchases next month.

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