Anfield’s last title challenge in 2014 was derailed by an infamous blunder from their talismanic captain against Sunday’s visitorsSteven Gerrard is probably looking away already, for while the fifth anniversary of his infamous slip against Chelsea is still a couple of weeks away, deja vu is inescapable when today’s fixtures offer an exact repeat of the situation when Liverpool last saw a title slide out of view.Their rivals then, as now, were Manchester City, away at Crystal Palace on 27 April 2014 as Liverpool prepared to meet second-placed Chelsea at Anfield. The difference is that five years ago Liverpool were in the driving seat, a 16-game unbeaten run that included thumping wins against Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham having taken...
Troy Deeney offers masterclass of coolness under pressure, Everton require a few lessons in finishing and Eddie Howe needs his Bournemouth team to end the season in styleIt is hard to look for the positives when you have, as Lewis Dunk put it, missed out on something that “maybe comes up once in a lifetime”. The quashing of the FA Cup final dream hurt but the Brighton defender has urged his teammates to take confidence from their performance and use that in their vital Premier League games. Brighton are two places ahead of the final relegation position but crave more points to be safe. “I don’t think we need picking up,” Dunk said. “I think we need to thrive off...
Tottenham’s new stadium is a place of wonder underpinned by a crushing anxiety for team success and the money that bringsWelcome back then, Tottenham Hotspur. If the idea was to create something that felt unmistakably like home then the players did their best in the first half against Crystal Palace, producing a performance shot through with anxiety, met by intermittent waves of dread from the home crowd. Hello darkness, my old friend. You can take the twitchy blue-and-white shirts out of White Hart Lane, but you can’t take the Spurs out of Spurs. Related: Son Heung-min christens new stadium with first Spurs goal in win over Palace The journey The old White Hart Lane was hidden from view until you...
Sarri is nearing the end at Chelsea, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold shone for Liverpool while Leicester and Rodgers look like the perfect fitWith Ole Gunnar Solskjær suggesting afterwards that Paul Pogba may operate deeper at times and Luke Shaw playing like a left‑back-cum-libero against Watford, this first win as the permanent manager suggests his brave new world will continue to feature a brightness of approach. Solskjær wishes to harness Pogba’s all-round ability to give more control of the ball as United are primarily a counter-attack unit. This was how Shaw opened up Javi Gracia’s impressive team with a majestic Matthias Sammer-like pass that put Marcus Rashford in to open the scoring. Before then United were poor as they...
Ross Barkley’s difficult return, VAR inconsistency in the FA Cup, Nuno Espírito Santo impresses and James Maddison’s classRoss Barkley would have known what kind of reception awaited him at Goodison Park: the type rained down on previous Everton escapees such as Wayne Rooney and Joleon Lescott. Goodison might not be much longer for this world, with the latest suggestion being a new stadium for 2023, but for now it retains old‑fashioned menace to those who have transgressed the Evertonian code. Barkley’s crime among the faithful is to have left Goodison on a cut-price transfer to Chelsea in the January transfer window of last year after running down his contract. As he left the field after being substituted in the 65th...