Gabriel Jesus may only be 19 years of age but Manchester City team-mate Yaya Toure claims his footballing intelligence gives him the appearance of a wily veteran on the pitch.

The striker, who completed his move from Brazilian side Palmeiras this month, impressed during City’s 3-0 FA Cup win over Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Jesus had made his debut when coming off the bench against Tottenham ten days ago but, given his first start at Selhurst Park, he thrived – failing to score yet at the heart of a lot of his team’s good play.

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The teenager also wasn’t overwhelmed by the sometimes daunting physicality of English football but midfielder Toure wasn’t surprised by the ease with which his young team-mate slotted in.

“Gabriel is very clever,” said Toure. “I say it at the training ground that he looks like an old guy because he is clever, he is moving clever and he is quite strong as well.

“It is not easy to play against tough defenders and he got kicked. But I told him to keep going.

“It is very important for City because football keeps going and the new generation is coming stronger.

“If they perform like they did on Saturday it is going to be brilliant for the future of the club.”

With manager Arsene Wenger short of options in the centre of his midfield, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has grabbed his opportunity with both hands.

Wenger fielded an inexperienced central three in the FA Cup against Southampton as Maitland-Niles teamed up with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jeff Reine-Adelaide and the England youth international sparkled.

During the 5-0 romp, where Danny Welbeck scored two and Theo Walcott bagged a hat-trick, Maitland-Niles racked up the most tackles, the most interceptions and the most passes of any of the Gunners on show.

With Arsenal experiencing a crowded February schedule, they play Sutton in the FA Cup and Bayern Munich in the Champions League as well as a host of Premier League games, Maitland-Niles is likely to get another chance.

And the former Ipswich loan star is determined to make the most of any opportunities he is handed by Wenger.

“I thought the team liked to press from the start, we tried to do that as much as possible so I think it was just the first 10 minutes that got us going and the rest took care of itself,” he said.

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“We had to because we know we’re out of one cup already, so we need to make the most of our chances in this one.

“I prefer to play centre midfield than right back, but I’m happy to do a job for the team.

“All the boys said congratulations and well done so I’m guessing I played well and I feel that I played well as well, so I’m happy with my performance.

“You’re just in the centre of everything and most of it was going through me today, so I just like to be involved in the play really.”

Goalkeeping coach Patrick Lodewijks is convinced competition for Everton’s number one jersey between Joel Robles and Maarten Stekelenburg is driving up standards at the club.

Lodewijks, who joined the Merseyside club from Feyenoord in the summer, has been impressed with the performances of both Robles and Stekelenburg and believes Everton is in the unusual position of having two first-choice stoppers.

Stekelenburg was first given the role at the beginning of the season but after the 34-year-old Dutchman suffered a dead leg in the Merseyside derby back in December, Robles has seized his opportunity with both hands.

“For me, it’s rather unique to have two goalkeepers who are, in my opinion, very close,” Lodewijks said.

“Sometimes you have a real first-choice goalkeeper and a second goalkeeper, who is good enough to play – but when the first goalkeeper is fit again then there is no question about who is going to play.

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“It is a situation that I like. It gives competition and you need that, because if you don’t have competition then maybe you can get lazy because you know you are going to play.

“You have to show the team, the coach and myself that you want to be the best every day – and it needs to be every day otherwise the other goalkeeper will overtake you.

“It is also important to be good colleagues, which they are. As I said on my first day here, I want competition but I also demand you are good colleagues because we are a separate part of the team as goalkeepers.

“We need each other and we need to stick together.”

Mauricio Pochettino has given Tottenham fans a lift with the news full-back Kieran Trippier should only miss one match through injury.

The defender landed awkwardly and hurt his hip during his team’s 4-3 FA Cup win against Wycombe on Saturday.

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His injury, with 20 minutes remaining of the match, meant Spurs had to play the closing period with just ten minutes after using up all of their substitutions.

They were still able to come through thanks to Son Heung-min’s stoppage time winner although Pochettino admitted afterwards he hoped it would not be a big issue.

The London side are already short at the back with Jan Vertonghen out for two months and Toby Alderweireld also struggling with a hamstring problem.

But the Spurs manager was able to bring positive news at his Monday press conference, revealing that Trippier is looking like only missing Tuesday night’s game with Sunderland, with a return for next week’s clash with Middlesbrough a possibility.

“Trips is very positive now,” he said.

“It was a big impact and knock but the good news is that it’s nothing worse than that.

“He’s out of the game against Sunderland and he’ll need a few days to be ready and available again.”

Papy Mendy hopes the return of his AFCON colleagues can give Leicester City the boost they need to bounce back from a disappointing FA Cup draw with Midlands rivals Derby County.

The Foxes have not won a Premier League game in 2017, a run that has coincided with the absence of Islam Slimani and Riyad Mahrez, who have both been away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

But with Algeria now out of the competition, the forwards are back at the King Power and Papys hopes they can help fire the Foxes back up the table.

The reigning champions have sunk to 15th, five points above the relegation zone, with a crunch tie at Burnley looming on Tuesday.

Mahrez played in Friday’s draw with Derby, while Slimani is recovering from a slight groin injury, but Mendy hopes to see him on the pitch in Lancashire.

“It’s important for the team because we know Islam [Slimani] and Riyad [Mahrez] are very important players for us,” said the 24-year-old.

“They are very decisive and it’s important for the mentality of all the players that they have come back from the Africa Cup.”

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One man still missing from Claudio Ranieri’s squad is Daniel Amartey, though, after the Ghanaian helping his country to a semi-final spot on Sunday with a win over DR Congo.

Mendy added: “I’m very happy for him because he is a good guy and a good player.

“It’s important for him because it’s his national team and everyone knows that the Africa Cup of Nations is very important to win.”

Robert Snodgrass will have big boots to fill after the departure of Dimitri Payet, but the midfielder insists the chance to work with Slaven Bilic at West Ham was too good to turn down.

Snodgrass joins Jose Fonte as a new face at the London Stadium and will act as a like-for-like replacement for Payet, who departed for Marseille.

While the Frenchman was undoubtedly West Ham’s best player last season, his acrimonious departure has left a bitter taste with supporters.

But Snodgrass is ready to step into the breach, particularly under an experienced manager like Bilic.

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He said: “He is a really good man and a football man and he understands that up to a month or so ago, his squad was underachieving so he’s set the record straight and he’s got in Jose Fonte, who is a great player with great experience.

“Jose has got Premier League experience and this is why he said to me when I spoke to him that he wants to bring people in who he knows have done it in this league.

“He did play a big factor and that’s one of the reasons I’m here as well, to play under a good manager.

“Slaven said he wants me to bring my attacking flair, which is the way I was brought up as a kid. I was always told to attack but I also have a job to do defending and I’ll work hard for the team. I believe I can bring experience and quality.”

Everton’s upturn in fortune has coincided with a number of young English players being thrown in the deep end – and manager Ronald Koeman wants more Premier League clubs to follow his lead.

Since a last-gasp defeat in the Merseyside derby on December 19 Everton have gone five Premier League games unbeaten – winning their last three without conceding a goal in the process.

The highlight was a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester City, a victory that saw English starlets Mason Holgate, Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman all star, with the latter two grabbing the third and fourth goals.

And Koeman is concerned that other Premier League clubs appear reluctant to give young players a chance to shine.

“Clubs in the Premier League have bought many foreign players over the years and I acknowledge that sometimes it is necessary,” he said.

“But here in England, my admiration for the bulk of talent in the academies has grown massively. I admire the attitude, the spirit and the values of young English footballers. They have an incredible desire.

“I have no worries about their motivation and I feel I actually have to slow them rather down than push them forward. Young British players have a spirit, which I don’t see in the Netherlands or other countries where I used to work.

“There is a different culture here. The problem is that managers here wait a long time before they launch young players.

“If a player has the talent, my motto is that you must give him the stage to show it. But maybe it is because I am Dutch and I am used to throwing the boys in at the deep end.”

Sam Allardyce believes his Crystal Palace squad has the Premier League experience needed to haul themselves out of the relegation quagmire.

The Eagles have not won a league game since beating Southampton on December 3, and are yet to register a win under Allardyce.

They were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City on Saturday, and having lost six out of the last seven league games, are 18^th in the division – two points from safety.

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Palace face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday, and while Allardyce admits his side are low on confidence, the former England manager says his players know what it will take to halt their current slide.

“Always when you are down there, there is a lack of confidence,” he said.

“Every club where you go to, there is a confidence thing and the only way that confidence changes is by getting results.

“The only way we get results is by stopping goals going in, that’s a simple fact.

“This is a very experienced squad of players, there aren’t young players with a lack of experience.

“There are players who have played hundreds of games of Premier League football. So they know what it takes, but we have got to guide them back into doing it.”

Pep Guardiola has laid down a gauntlet to John Stones, urging he young defender to fight for his place in the Manchester City side.

Stones watched from the bench on Saturday. as club captain Vincent Kompany made an impressive and injury-free return to the side in the 3-0 FA Cup win at Crystal Palace.

Stones, as well as several other Blues defenders and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, has received his share criticism for sub-par performances in a shaky backline.

And Guardiola has now said the onus is on the former Everton man to stake his claim for a return to the side.

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“When his manager says ‘Today, you are going to play’, that’s what he needs,” the Spaniard said.

“Fight like he fought from the beginning of the season. If you see my line-ups for the last three, four, five months, here, I try to let all the players play.

“He has played a lot and now for this kind of stadium, for Benteke, for the long balls, I decided to play two central defenders who are stronger in the air.

“I will continue to play left-footed central defenders on the left side, like Kolarov, but I remember the last games [Stones] played – especially at Anfield, even in Goodison Park – he played good.”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain found himself in a new-look Arsenal midfield in the FA Cup, but revealed that he had enjoyed taking on a more senior role.

The 23-year-old was the elder statesman in the middle of the park for the Gunners on Saturday, alongside 19-year-old duo Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

But it didn’t stop them romping to a 5-0 victory over Southampton to book their place in the fifth round.

And Oxlade-Chamberlain admitted he’d been impressed by his young teammates.

(Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“Obviously the midfielders were shuffled up a lot and we had a big responsibility,” he said. “Southampton are always strong in there so I thought the two young boys, Ainsley and Jeff, did really well beside me.

“We set the pace from the start and we controlled it at times. And when they controlled it in midfield, I thought we sat back, we were compact and we kept a good shape and we saw them out until half-time and then we pushed on from there. So I’m really happy with it.

“It was nice [in the centre], I like it in there,” he added. “You get on the ball a lot and I was delighted to do that.

“The two boys next to me made it a lot easier, they helped me out in there. When your partners are playing well it makes your life easier.”