The theory was that Manchester City look vulnerable unless they score the first goal but despite scoring the first two they managed to end up with only a point against Tottenham in an exciting 2-2 draw at the EtihadClaudio Bravo was the goalkeeper under pressure going into this match; Hugo Lloris was the one who ended up going to pieces. While Manchester City’s last line of defence did not exactly redeem his reputation, Tottenham’s goalkeeping was the greater influence on the game, with Lloris responsible for two errors in quick succession at the start of the second half.The only slight good news for Pep Guardiola, whose top four hopes are fading by the week, is that, regardless of goalkeeping, City...
Jesus is finally available for Manchester City, Klopp faces a choice between Origi and Sturridge and Costa may have to bide time for return to Chelsea starting XIAs Manchester United prepare to visit the Britannia Stadium, examining Stoke City’s record against the league’s best sides this season offers an indication of where Mark Hughes and José Mourinho should both be looking for improvement. Stoke’s record against the elite is awful: five of their six matches against the league’s top six sides have ended in heavy defeats. They have lost 3-1 at Arsenal, 4-2 at Chelsea and 4-1 at Liverpool, while they were thumped 4-1 and 4-0 at home by Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Good enough to take the...
Spurs are at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and Pep Guardiola needs the City team who overcame Arsenal to turn up not the one humbled 4-0 at EvertonLess than a fortnight ago, the day after Manchester City’s 5-0 demolition of West Ham United away from home in the FA Cup, the Sun produced one of the more inspired back pages of the season in honour of the performance. “MC Hammer!” the main headline screamed, accompanied by a picture of David Silva complete with speech bubble reading: “You can’t touch this.”It all seemed completely in order. Pep Guardiola’s side had just made the most emphatic of statements to restore some of the belief that went missing in the new year fixtures,...
The club chased the Catalan for four years so why has he inherited an ageing squad, and will he change his ways after the drubbing at Everton?A big question mark hovers over the Pep Guardiola-Txiki Begiristain axis that controls who Manchester City buy. The latter is the sporting director and he does more than merely sign off his head coach’s demands. Begiristain has substantial influence in transfer strategy though he takes Guardiola’s lead so the manager has to accept ultimate responsibility for the errors so far. Related: Pep Guardiola rules Manchester City out of title race after Everton thrashing Related: Everton teenager Tom Davies ensures Pep Guardiola knows his name | Paul Wilson Continue reading...
Manchester City resemble the girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead, N’Golo Kanté’s return to Leicester shows Wilfred Ndidi what needs to be done and David Moyes regrets catching the bullet dodged by Mark HughesThis time last year Southampton paid £4m to sign Charlie Austin from Queens Park Rangers. It was a while before he made an impact, but he certainly made an impact during the early part of this season, scoring nine goals in 19 games. But Southampton’s form has tailed off since Austin suffered a shoulder injury last month. They have lacked a cutting edge and have won only three of their past nine games in all competitions, sinking into the bottom half of the...