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Premier League and beyond: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

João Cancelo continues to shine, Dele Alli shows his worth and Blackburn are looking upJürgen Klopp spent much of the pulsating 2-2 draw with Tottenham frothing with rage at some of the refereeing decisions and his anger was more than justified. We all have bad days at the office, but certain elements of Paul Tierney’s display were inexplicably poor. Diogo Jota was denied a blindingly obvious penalty in the first half, before Harry Kane escaped with a yellow card for a potentially career-ending tackle on Andy Robertson. Robertson was smart enough to jump, without which the damage would have been severe. “That’s definitely a red card ... if Robbo’s leg is on the ground, it’s a broken leg,” Klopp correctly...

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Another stodgy defeat weighs heavy on Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa | Jonathan Wilson

The Argentinian’s injury-ravaged side follow 7-0 humiliation against Manchester City with a 4-1 home defeat by ArsenalHeavy defeats can be purgative. In 1992, Marcelo Bielsa’s Newell’s Old Boys lost 6-0 to San Lorenzo in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, sending him into despair. He was an ambitious and idealistic young coach who had clinched the apertura in 1990-91 but then seen his side win only nine games in the whole of 1991. Could it be his methods were ineffective? Was his whole vision of football flawed?For two days he locked himself away in the Conquistador hotel in Santa Fe. He wept. He rang his wife, Laura, and admitted he thought his career might be over. In the end,...

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Marcelo Bielsa fights on amid rising challenges to his Leeds cycle

After only two wins in the last 10 Premier League game and with a shrinking squad, Bielsa’s team are desperate for pointsMarcelo Bielsa tends to keep his head bowed during virtual media briefings and, staring determinedly down, invariably seems to be addressing the table top in front of him.On Thursday lunchtime things changed. The Leeds manager was asked whether he feared the sack and suddenly Bielsa sat up straight, stared directly into the camera and started talking with unusual animation. Continue reading...

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Manchester City are leaking goals, Crystal Palace are not scoring enough and David Moyes has a quandaryThe teams that came second and third in last season’s Championship –and now sit in the form table’s bottom four – meet in what looks a seriously important encounter. Brentford go into it without Ivan Toney, who has tested positive for Covid, and Sergi Canós, suspended after getting a fifth booking of the season for taking off his shirt when celebrating a goal against Leeds last weekend. Watford also have significant injuries, most notably to the winger Ismaïla Sarr, and after a run of encouraging performances in extremely difficult fixtures must seize the opportunity presented by their next few games to haul themselves away...

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Ralf Rangnick has plenty to consider, Eberechi Eze needs time and Watford may have a goalscorer to give hopeThe good news for Ralf Rangnick is that no manager, whoever it might be, could possibly extract less from Manchester United’s squad than has been the case over the last few months. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was rightly held responsible for this – though it is worth noting that had Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw given him performances that were as good as poor, he would still have a job. In any event, a difficult run for United ends with Arsenal on Thursday, after which they face an easier programme that should, in theory, leave them well-placed to secure a top-four finish. The...

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