Kurt Zouma fell unwell during the warmup so instead it was Leicester’s defence in the spotlight at the King Power StadiumTrouble with defenders has been the defining theme of the season so far for Leicester but in the run-up to the visit of West Ham, Brendan Rodgers was offered a kind of comfort – in the form of a reminder that things could, in theory, have been worse. All of the many players he has had to use in defence have made costly mistakes in this campaign, sometimes several times in the same match. But none have featured in home movies involving a tormented cat. So there’s that.Much of Leicester’s chronic instability can be traced back to the injury suffered...
A mouthwatering match-up on Tyneside, early pressure on Frank Lampard and the issue of crowd conductThere could be no quibbling with Ralf Rangnick’s decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo for Tuesday’s game at Burnley. The 37-year-old provided evidence in the manager’s defence by adding to Manchester United’s catalogue of bungled opportunities after being introduced from the bench. Earlier in the season Ronaldo’s sharpness regularly saved United. Now he has gone five matches without a goal and Rangnick cannot ignore the fact that, when Ronaldo is not scoring, he does not offer much else, unlike Edinson Cavani. With a resurgent Southampton visiting Old Trafford this weekend and United still chronically fragile at the back, Rangnick will need to field forwards who can...
Arsenal should stay positive, Potter shows Benítez a trick and VAR makes refereeing harderOn the first Sunday of 2021, a first-half Chelsea capitulation against Manchester City hastened Frank Lampard’s exit and deepened a despondent mood. Twelve months on, Liverpool’s two early goals at Stamford Bridge could have induced Groundhog Day feelings. Instead, Thomas Tuchel’s side roared back and showed that, whatever other problems have recently beset the Chelsea manager on and off the field, this is a team that plays for him. Though they did so in a rather un-Tuchel-like manner. The intense atmosphere generated by the Premier League debut of safe standing was met with the kind of front-foot, high-tempo performance more associated with a Jürgen Klopp side. Chelsea...
The forgotten man of England’s creatives hauled Leicester back into the game before Manchester City pulled away againOne touch took Aymeric Laporte out of the game, sending him sliding into no-man’s land. A second took James Maddison past Rúben Dias, last season’s Footballer of the Year, with conspicuous ease. Then came an exchange of passes with Kelechi Iheanacho and an assured finish. Then there was the weaving run that took him past a series of defenders before Iheanacho released Ademola Lookman to score Leicester’s second goal.Then came his second long-range shot, whipped with menace, that Ederson tipped on to the bar. This one fell obligingly for Iheanacho to tap in the rebound. In 10 minutes, Maddison had conjured a comeback...
Liverpool stepping up their title charge, Manchester United old boys scuppering Solskjær and Brighton letting it slipIt is a footnote to the weekend’s biggest story, but the final nail in Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s coffin was partly hammered in by four players who were at various points deemed not good enough for Manchester United. Ben Foster, Craig Cathcart, Tom Cleverley and Joshua King all made vital contributions to a Watford performance that brimmed with energy, intent and endeavour. United’s class of 2021 lacked all those qualities, and plenty more. They were simply overrun and, while Solskjær’s departure was both inevitable and correct, they might wonder whether a better engagement with the basics might have helped their old manager’s cause. After the...