Hugo Lloris’s top-four focus for Spurs is telling, Callum Wilson is making up for lost time and can Paul Pogba yet be compared with Steven Gerrard?After challenging for the title for the past couple of seasons, it was significant to hear Hugo Lloris contemplate looking over Tottenham Hotspur’s shoulder more than in front of them at the end of a derby defeat. “Oh, before we think about [the leaders] Man City it’s important to stay in the top four. This is the main target for our team,” he said. “We heard from outside that Tottenham play for the title, blah, blah, blah. The most important thing is to stay consistent in the league.” The difficulty imposing themselves on the most...
The table doesn’t lie but teams such as Burnley and Brighton are exceeding all expectations while Swansea and Everton have disappointed badly. Here’s how the 20 sides rank based on early-season health and vigourThey say the league table never lies, and this is of course true. What they don’t tell you is that during the dog days of an international break, when nothing falls or rises and hopes and fears are put on temporary hold, the narrative becomes a bit less compelling.You get sick of looking at the same thing, in other words, although Burnley, Brighton, Watford and Huddersfield will probably never tire of waiting for winter and the real meat of the season from a position in the top...
Pep Guardiola’s side are threatening points and goals records and, though other fast starters have faded, nothing suggests they will do likewise in the title raceManchester City’s start to the season has been remarkable, largely because they are challenging records for two different types of dominance. Only Tottenham in 1960-61 have a better record at this stage, winning 11 out of 11, while only seven other sides have won 10 and drawn one of their first 11 games, all in the past 40 years which perhaps suggests how money has created bigger divides between teams.And only six sides have ever scored more than City’s 38 goals after 11 games, four of them in the 19th century. What seems really telling,...
Brighton, Huddersfield and Newcastle are surpassing expectations and are showing clubs such as Everton and West Ham how it should be doneWhen Pep Guardiola suggested an English team could win the Champions League the other day he was asked if he did not consider the intensity of the Premier League a potential problem. Intensity being the word normally used to promote the idea that the English league is somehow tougher and more demanding than other leagues around Europe, with more competitive fixtures each weekend and a festive programme that usually sets out to be as gruelling as possible when other countries’ footballers are quite sensibly having a rest.“No,” Guardiola said. “I don’t believe in that. I think the best team...
From a bargain triumph at Brighton to a costly success at Manchester City, and from a struggling £25m Leicester striker to an unseen defender at Southampton, we assess how last summer’s transfer business looks so farPascal Gross (Ingolstadt to Brighton, £2.6m) Related: The 10 most improved players in Europe's big leagues this season Related: Transfer window 2017 – every deal in Europe's top five leagues Continue reading...