A record-breaking four promotions from the Championship will stand the former Birmingham City manager in good stead for his latest managerial roleSteve Bruce may be half the man he used to be but Aston Villa’s new manager remains a heavyweight promotion expert. So far so good for Tony Xia but, even though the clocks have still to go back, history suggests Villa’s ambitious Chinese owner may have to forget about an instant return to the Premier League this season.Indeed should Bruce – who has lost a staggering amount of weight and, even more startlingly, coloured his hair ash blond since resigning as Hull City’s manager in the summer – fulfil widespread West Midlands expectation having been named as Roberto Di...
First meets second as Manchester City visit Spurs, Theo Walcott looks to continue his hot streak and will this be the last we see of Francesco Guidolin?Given that the tactic of trying to absorb pressure had not worked for any of Manchester City’s opponents, it made sense for Swansea to try something different last weekend, as the Welsh side attempted to disrupt the league leaders’ momentum by squeezing their centre-backs when they had the ball. It did not work, of course, because City were still too sharp in attack. Yet Tottenham Hotspur’s feverish high press could yield greater rewards at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Both sides are without key attacking players – Harry Kane for Spurs, Kevin De Bruyne...
Son shines again for Tottenham, Chelsea and Leicester need defensive shake-ups, Palace signings prove their value and Southampton are ticking over againThe moment that summed up the discord in the Chelsea defence came on 64 minutes, when Gary Cahill wanted Thibaut Courtois to come to collect; the goalkeeper stayed on his line and Branislav Ivanovic bludgeoned the ball into touch. Cahill and Courtois argued. But errors had disfigured the performance to leave Chelsea 3-0 down at half-time: it was shocking, for example, to see how easily Mesut Özil accelerated away from the defensive midfielder N’Golo Kanté before he scored Arsenal’s third. Antonio Conte did not cancel his players’ day off on Sunday but they can expect a video inquest when...
A crunch London derby as Arsenal host Chelsea, Michael Carrick could be key for Manchester United, and Vincent Janssen gets his chance to shineOn a weekend when much will be made of Arsène Wenger’s 20th anniversary as Arsenal manager, the Frenchman would not be human if he didn’t recall the manner in which Chelsea ruined the occasion of his 1,000th game in charge. It was March 2014 and on a strange afternoon at Stamford Bridge, Andre Marriner sent off Kieran Gibbs in a case of mistaken identity, as José Mourinho’s side hit their visitors for six without reply. Arsenal had already lost 6-3 at Manchester City and 5-1 at Liverpool that season, capitulations that rendered Wenger’s team and any aspirations...