Romelu Lukaku is weighing in with some key contributions, Christian Benteke is not and Tottenham are showing how much weaker they are without Christian EriksenSergio Agüero has had a curiosity of a campaign. He has been injured, benched and below par at times. He has been outscored by Raheem Sterling for much of the season. Yet his hat-trick on Saturday meant he has scored 20 goals for a fifth successive campaign. Further milestones await: Agüero is nine away from becoming the first man to score 200 for City. He is 11 behind his career-best tally of 33 and, with successive cup ties against Championship opponents, Bristol City and Cardiff, he has the chance to make further inroads before Gabriel Jesus...
Arsène Wenger’s pressing issues will not be solved by another creator but his front-foot tactics may galvanise a player who looked lost under José MourinhoOne game – or, more accurately, one half‑game – dominates the memory of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s time at Manchester United. In the league derby at Old Trafford last season, the first meeting in England of José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, the Armenian looked lost. He was partly responsible for the opening goal because of the way he initially did not press Pablo Zabaleta and then finally went far too late, and he was withdrawn at half-time. He did not play for two months after that.That seems to have contributed to a general sense that Mkhitaryan was somehow...
The Chilean has similarities to Carlos Tevez, a key man in the 2007-08 side, and may give José Mourinho’s attack an edgeIn Alexis Sánchez, José Mourinho is about to acquire another world‑class player as he plots to make Manchester United an elite domestic and European force again. Manchester City hold a 12-point advantage over Mourinho’s team so a credible title challenge will have to wait until next season. Yet Sánchez’s arrival can help to propel United to a strong finish and light up the Champions League campaign that they will resume next month with a last-16 tie against Sevilla.This is why Mourinho was hired: to make United England’s dominant side once more and return them to the rank of continental...
The rise of maybe the best American soccer player ever, who’s been linked to Liverpool and Manchester United, doesn’t square with US Soccer’s problemsChristian Pulisic is already at one of the biggest soccer clubs in Europe. Borussia Dortmund are perennial Bundesliga challengers, consistent performers at Champions League level and average crowds of just under 80,000 fans per game, but still, this is only viewed as a rung on the young American’s ladder to the top. That says a lot about what is expected of Pulisic. He is a superstar in-waiting. Related: Arsenal will not sell Alexis Sánchez without a replacement, says Wenger Continue reading...
Mark Robins’ eye-catching Coventry deserve their headlines, Liverpool have a bargain in Andrew Robertson and Wolves are already good enough for top flightAmid all the hoopla over the departing Mark Hughes, it is right to take a moment to praise Coventry City. They were deserved winners of the third-round tie at the Ricoh Arena, despite giving up the greater number of chances to the visitors. The Sky Blues played with a determination and energy you might expect of a team assuming the David role in a Goliath encounter. But they were also calm on the ball and often quite cute on it, too. Their play was all the more striking, given the starting XI had an average age of 24...