Liverpool’s search for a penalty-taker goes on, Mauricio Pochettino appeared unruffled after defeat at Old Trafford and Manchester City don’t look invincibleNext Sunday, Manchester City host Arsenal at 1.30pm and Manchester United play Chelsea at 4pm; it really is amazing just how often the fixture list throws up these coincidences! And whatever happens in the first game, the pressure will be on those playing in the second, because if City win, those teams will be fighting to stay in touch; if they do not, they will be fighting to take advantage of a rare City slip. So how do Arsenal make that happen? Well, their attacking trident of Mesut Özil, Alexis Sánchez and Alexandre Lacazette are good enough to give...
Arsène Wenger must continue with golden front trio; Christopher Schindler was a great buy for Huddersfield; Manchester City defence is as key as their attackThis was the first time Arsène Wenger had started Mesut Özil, Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sánchez in his XI. Yet until Everton went down to 10 men Arsenal were hardly a goal machine, having struggled to a 2-1 lead when Idrissa Gueye was sent off. At this point Özil was on the scoresheet, and by the final whistle Lacazette and Sánchez had also registered. Wenger, of course, cannot rely on the opposition having a man getting his marching orders every game. But even before this happened there was cause for optimism: Sánchez created Özil’s strike while...
The ‘freedom’ at the foot of the Premier League and also in the forward’s own role help to ensure Chelsea never came close to deciphering Roy Hodgson’s planTimid, listless and toothless in their first seven matches; vibrant, inspired and potent against the Premier League champions. The contrast was so ridiculous, the logic so dubious, that the only reasonable explanation for Crystal Palace’s stunning 2-1 victory over Chelsea at a delirious Selhurst Park was the one offered up by Wilfried Zaha. “After you’ve lost every game you have nothing to be scared of really,” he said. “You are not scared of anything. You just play with freedom.”Before anyone assumes otherwise, Zaha was not recommending a morale-sapping losing streak as the perfect...
The recent appointments of 70-somethings Jupp Heynckes and Roy Hodgson and the rising average age of Premier League managers signify a shift in attitudesJupp Heynckes was formally introduced as Bayern Munich’s interim manager on Monday, declaring that despite having retired four years ago he was “looking forward to the challenge” of leading the club through the remainder of the season, which will conclude a few days after his 73rd birthday. “Critics say I’ve been out of the game for four years but football’s not been reinvented,” said Heynckes, who will take charge of the team for the first time against Freiburg on Saturday. “Age is a number and nothing more. Some feel old at 45 but I’ve not changed. I...
This time last year the Stamford Bridge club started a run which led to the title and their upcoming fixtures offer them the chance to start anotherMost of the Premier League attention will be on Anfield and the north-west derby this weekend, even if Liverpool’s stuttering start to the season means Jürgen Klopp’s side already have seven points to make up on Manchester United. For different reasons that will probably suit Crystal Palace and Chelsea, who meet at Selhurst Park in one of the lesser London derbies.Roy Hodgson said his struggling Palace side were like a boxer on the ropes after their last outing at Old Trafford, trying to fight in a class above their weight and taking too many...