Bournemouth need to find goals fast, Aubameyang’s red card has caused a headache at Arsenal and Ings is in England formBournemouth’s defending left a lot to be desired as they crumbled against Watford but their failure to penetrate Nigel Pearson’s improving side was equally alarming. No team has scored fewer goals in the Premier League this season and those front–foot displays of yesteryear – they scored almost 100 goals en route to promotion in 2015 and more than any team outside the top six last season – feel a distant memory following a ninth defeat in 11 league matches. “Historically we have always been free-scoring and we have always had goals in us,” their manager, Eddie Howe, said. “We have...
Minamino’s Merseyside derby baptism, Woodgate’s Tottenham reunion and non-league Fylde take on Sheffield UnitedConsidering they have been fairly regular visitors over the years, Derby’s record at Selhurst Park is pretty miserable. Indeed in their past 15 trips – a run stretching back to 1983 – they’ve won only once. That victory came in 2002 when Georgi Kinkladze scored the only goal of the game. A big-name big-money player past his peak helping the Rams to an unlikely win in south London? You might be able to spot where this is going. Wayne Rooney made his playing return to English football on Thursday night and played a full 90 minutes in the 2-1 defeat of Barnsley in which his free-kick supplied...
Lamptey may not last long at Chelsea, Leicester can be regular title contenders and have Pereira and Ndombele finally arrived?Welcome to the Premier League, then, Tariq Lamptey. And – quite possibly – farewell. For the 19-year-old right-back, the Emirates Stadium was some place to make a professional debut. He rose to the challenge, keeping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quiet and making one thrilling foray into Arsenal territory before playing in Tammy Abraham. It says plenty about Chelsea’s short-term youth policy that Lampard felt able to throw an untried teenager into a game of this magnitude. It says plenty about Chelsea’s long-term youth policy that they may not be able to keep him. Lamptey’s contract is up at the end of the season,...
Leicester’s title hopes are fading, Danny Ings makes his England case and John McGinn’s absence is a huge blow for VillaAt this rate there is every chance two of the Premier League’s deadliest English strikers will not be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2020. Jamie Vardy is unlikely to be tempted out of international retirement and then there is Danny Ings, the Southampton striker who took his tally to 13 goals for the season with a double. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson may be ahead of Ings in the pecking order but seven goals from his past seven games means it is impossible to ignore the 27-year-old’s credentials for a recall. Ings’s only cap...
Leicester will be looking to emulate 2016 at City, Frank Lampard has a special reunion and Freddie Ljungberg signs offUnless Mikel Arteta decides there really is no time like the present and, without even taking a training session, oversees Arsenal’s visit to Goodison Park from the dugout this will be Freddie Ljungberg’s final match in temporary charge. It is easy to feel some sympathy with Ljungberg given that, throughout his five games so far, he has had to operate with no coaching staff to speak of and little certainty about the length of his tenure. Arsenal had made clear upon Unai Emery’s departure that they would be open to giving Ljungberg a run until the end of the season but...