Who will win the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League? And who is going up and down?Dominic Fifield: Manchester City. The race with Liverpool should go to the wire but greater squad depth and experience may just tilt it towards the reigning champions. Continue reading...
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...
Liverpool’s title challenge was on the rocks for seven minutes late in the second half at Fulham, before their experienced midfielder spared the goalkeeper’s blushesFor seven minutes, it is no exaggeration to say that Liverpool’s title hopes hung in the balance. The alarm bells had started to ring from the moment that the substitute, James Milner, miscued high into the sky and Virgil van Dijk extended his arms, looked at his goalkeeper, Alisson, and wondered where he was. Alisson had been a virtual bystander up until the 74th minute, such was his team’s control but there he was – or wasn’t – when Van Dijk needed him the most.What happened next appeared to unfold in slow motion. Alisson did reach...
The Lions are hunting a return to Wembley but the incidents around the Everton game earlier in the FA Cup run show nothing has changed since the violence at the 2013 semi-finalIn football, it has always been easier to get a bad reputation than to lose one. Therefore, I can probably guess the common answer, now they stand within one FA Cup victory of reaching Wembley, if this question is put to your ordinary football fan: what immediately comes to mind when you hear Millwall’s name?Unfortunately for all those who have tried to change the perception of Millwall over the years, I doubt very much that most people would reply by pointing out they were the Football League’s family club...
The French maestro’s personality now seems so reassuring for United that previous suspicion of it looks madnessOn nights like this it makes no sense at all to think a manager would not search high and low for the key to Paul Pogba and then turn it to the fullest degree. The slow-burning intensity of this FA Cup tie was wrapped up in the chasing and harrying, the bundling challenges and hopeful pot-shots, until Pogba suddenly elevated himself, the game, and Manchester United’s vibrant Cup run.In a 14-minute spell at the end of the first half they carved out an unassailable lead thanks to the blend of vision, technical precision and physical force that is Pogba at his swaggering best. First,...