Arsenal have proved they have team spirit, Cesc Fàbregas is invaluable to Chelsea despite sub’s role and Gylfi Sigurdsson is the man to guide Swansea to safetyAre Arsenal made of sterner stuff these days? It is not the first time the question has been aired in recent years, and the answer usually goes down a predictably shaky path. Having said that, Arsène Wenger has observed a few clues in their victory against a strong Stoke City side that give him quiet optimism. Among the good habits his team are enjoying this season, the capacity to come back from a deficit encourages him. “It’s the sixth time that we are down in the game and come back or win since the...
Leicester’s midfield mastermind dawdled one way, drifted the other and all the time produced an artful display that took Manchester City apartJamie Vardy scored a brilliant hat-trick at the King Power Stadium, but of all the old steamrollering Leicester City title tropes to return on a sodden night it was the sight of Riyad Mahrez in regal, unimpeded form that will linger in the memory.It is not often a football match is decided by a pair of near-identical cushioned backspun half-volley passes. But then, there are not many footballers quite like Mahrez. Or at least not like Mahrez when the opposition give him space, as Manchester City did here, and when the footballer of the year is able to produce again...
If the average is maintained it will be the highest-scoring season in 20-team Premier League history, but as usual there is far from a single, simple explanationManchester City have kept two clean sheets all season. Liverpool have kept three. Both sides may have come out of last weekend lamenting defeats that have allowed Chelsea to open a small gap at the top of the table but it could be argued that with defences like they have it is remarkable they are as high up as they are. But this, perhaps, is the modern way: defending in the old-fashioned sense has become unfashionable.“There is no modern generation,” José Mourinho growled in the summer of 2015 after winning the Premier League with...
Liverpool will be hoping Joël Matip gets fit quickly, while Sunderland begin to look more solid and Burnley have to find some goals from somewhereHands have been wrung and doom predicted about Philippe Coutinho’s injury, likely to keep him out of the Liverpool team until next month. And to an extent, rightly so: he has been their most impressive attacking threat this season, and the sight of that front four dovetailing has perhaps been the most pleasing in the division. However, the 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday suggested that another injury absence might be more significant, namely Joël Matip. The Cameroonian centre-half has been a quiet, calm example of consistency, exactly the sort of thing that Liverpool missed against...
The City manager said playing Chelsea would be a good test – and a need to toughen up was revealed in a 3-1 defeat where he refused to blame the refereePep Guardiola said this would be a good test of Manchester City’s level and so it was. In football terms they are right up there with Chelsea, almost identical for an hour or so, but when it comes to temperament they are lacking. City failed to regain the Premier League leadership because they are not as good at closing out games or hauling themselves back into them as their opponents.They are not as good at keeping their cool either, which is why they ended up with nine men following a...