Fernandinho a cause for concern, Chris Wilder’s tough love for Dean Henderson and Brendan Rodgers ready for LiverpoolThe Dozen: our pick of the weekend’s best picturesOn current form there are, at a rough count, at least three teams from the established “top six” that could benefit from the services of John McGinn. With the exception of Kevin De Bruyne it is hard to find a midfielder in better form and he certainly deserved to be on the winning side here, when Aston Villa were eventually pegged back by Burnley. “He’s been consistently good in all our performances and consistently looks like he’s going to score goals,” said McGinn’s manager, Dean Smith, after he volleyed in Villa’s second having earlier had...
If the scourge of the game is to be stamped out, then Fifa cannot be soft on transgressorsL ast Monday Fifa’s The Best football awards were held at La Scala opera house in Milan. It was, as usual, an excruciating affair, full of turgid speeches and embarrassing links by the presenters. But amid this face-reddening fanfare the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, appealed to the audience of football celebrities on a serious matter. He noted that there had been another episode of racism in Italian football at the weekend and declared: “We have to say no to racism in whatever form.”A short while later, Megan Rapinoe, winner of the women’s player of the year award, ribbed Infantino for stealing her...
Solskjær’s diplomacy masks United problems, De Bruyne in the ascendancy and Xhaka’s poor form gives Emery a tough choiceThe Dozen: our pick of the weekend’s best picturesUnai Emery is yet to find the right balance for his midfield but the claim of his de facto captain, Granit Xhaka, to be part of it is looking decidedly tenuous. First things first: the Switzerland international is a good player who cares tremendously and does not deserve anything like the negative reception he received upon his substitution against Aston Villa after 72 minutes. But his replacements, Lucas Torreira and the outstanding youngster Joe Willock, helped turbo-charge Arsenal’s comeback while Matteo Guendouzi played the second half like a man possessed. Xhaka, by contrast, looked...
Buendía the architect of City’s bad day, Arsenal were woeful in defence and Maguire deserved better from Leicester fansThe Dozen: our pick of the weekend’s best picturesThe way in which Norwich turned a negative into a positive was quite something. With nigh-on a full team of players out injured, the odds of stopping Manchester City looked insurmountable. Instead Daniel Farke’s men gave their best performance of the season by far, not only cutting the champions open but looking solid at the back for the first time. There was kudos for the debutants in defence, Sam Byram and Ibrahim Amadou, but also for more seasoned Norwich players. Emi Buendía and Marco Stiepermann were central to a buccaneering style in the Championship...
Bruce might have what it takes at Anfield, Manchester United and Spurs under pressure and a six-pointer at the Amex?Newcastle don’t have much of a record at Anfield. They’ve not won there since Steve Watson knocked Roy Evans’s side out of the League Cup in 1995; they’ve not tasted league victory there since Andrew Cole and Robert Lee secured a 2-0 win in 1994. It’s been mainly defeats ever since, though they did get a point three years ago against a starting XI featuring Alberto Moreno, Connor Randall and Kevin Stewart. The Magpies won’t be flying down the A1 with too much hope in their hearts, then. Liverpool are on a 13-match Premier League winning run, and Mo Salah and...