Aubameyang can revive Arsenal, Butland lays bare Stoke’s shameful truth and West Ham would be foolish to ditch MoyesPierre-Emerick Aubameyang might not be a classic Arsène Wenger signing because he cost a lot of money and is already close to his peak but at 28 he is certainly a man who can lead the next incarnation of Arsenal. Alongside Alexandre Lacazette the duo showed how exciting Arsenal can still be even if Burnley looked like a team packed for their summer holidays as they made up the numbers, offering less energy than the post-match speeches, in what was effectively a testimonial at the Emirates. Wenger might rue the fact he missed bringing the Gabonese international Aubameyang to England earlier –...
As the fight to avoid the drop intensifies, we look at why the affected clubs are struggling, what will decide their fate and whether their managers are to blamePl 35 GD -15 Pts 37 Related: Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend Related: Leicester City v West Ham United: match preview Related: Bournemouth v Swansea City: match preview Related: Stoke City v Crystal Palace: match preview Remaining matches Continue reading...
There is precedent for survival when all appears lost with Sunderland’s relegation escape under Gus Poyet in 2014 a beacon for fans of the Premier League clubs facing the dropLike the hapless Brian Stimpson, so splendidly portrayed by John Cleese in the 1980s farce Clockwise, most football fans can take the despair; it’s the hope they cannot stand. With only three or four fixtures left to play in this season’s Premier League, fans of West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Southampton can almost certainly feel the headmaster’s anguish. Most are perfectly well equipped to deal with the trauma of relegation to the Championship but it is the possibility of avoiding it that drives them to the brink of madness.For West...
Harry Kane is out of sorts, Joe Hart soars before being floored, and Stoke must choose between youth and experience up frontWhile Southampton will take something from getting this far in the world’s most celebrated domestic cup competition there are other, more pressing priorities, such as making a late dash for safety in the Premier League. Can they take any hope from their performance? Not from the first half. Olivier Giroud’s goal at the beginning of the second period forced Mark Hughes to change things, however, and it was to his team’s benefit. A 3-5-2 became a 3-4-3 and suddenly Charlie Austin was getting service. Southampton will feel they could and should have had an equaliser before Chelsea settled the...
José Mourinho needs to make drastic changes, Rafael Benítez is getting best out of his players and Jordan Ayew is on a missionHaving so meekly allowed Manchester City to claim the Premier League title, a process of rebuilding Manchester United into future champions starts now. The non-inclusion of Marouane Fellaini, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw in José Mourinho’s match‑day 18 for this game at Old Trafford indicated where a long-awaited clear-out of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal recruits is likely to begin. But it will take more than that to revitalise United. The shapeless sludge of this performance against West Brom was no anomaly. Chief among the reasons United have been left in City’s wake is Mourinho’s...