Rodgers reaches his first English final, Spurs wait on Harry Kane’s ankle and Norwich make a welcome returnBrendan Rodgers’ previous FA Cup semi-final visit, in April 2015, ended in disaster, a deserved 2-1 loss with Liverpool to an Aston Villa team inspired by a teenage Jack Grealish. That was an afternoon when Liverpool froze but six years on, Rodgers is a manager with considerably more chops. His Leicester team approached their Sunday night visit to Wembley with poise, confidence and patience. On the sidelines, and even above the 4,000 fans in the stadium as part of a post-Covid experiment, Rodgers’s baritone was audible, talking his players through each passage of play. His suit is always reassuringly expensive but Rodgers remains...
Manchester United manager has taken his side 14 points clear of Spurs, six months after losing 6-1 to themJosé or Ole? Who would you choose as a nextdoor neighbour? Granted, appearances can deceive, but surely there’s an obvious winner.Who wants moody, mercurial, narcissistic and, frankly, a bit needy when you could have reassuringly dependable, unfailingly nice and warmly collegiate? Yet if Ole Gunnar Solskjær seems an infinitely better bet to present a consistently friendly face over the garden fence, the Manchester United’s manager’s technical area input also compared pretty well to that of his Old Trafford predecessor, José Mourinho, on Sunday. Related: Mason Greenwood seals Manchester United’s comeback at Tottenham Continue reading...
Fear has become the manager’s defining principle and at Anfield a typically defensive substitution was the unravellingNine days before Christmas was not really so very long ago, yet it feels like a different world. Manchester City had just been held to a draw at home by West Brom that left them eighth in the Premier League table. Southampton were third. And Tottenham went to the league leaders, Liverpool, knowing that a win would put them top. In the confusing period between the second and third lockdowns, it seemed possible that this slog of a season might just provide an environment in which José Mourinho’s attritional style could thrive.Yet Spurs host Manchester United on Sunday afternoon having begun the weekend in...
Tottenham and Everton both need a result while Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa may serve up another feast of footballWhen the dust settles on José Mourinho’s Tottenham tenure - and that could be one day soon - 4 October’s 6-1 win at Manchester United will probably be a high watermark. It happened on a day when the Premier League took on a demented quality. That Sunday also featured Liverpool’s 7-2 loss to Aston Villa. Six months on, Spurs announcing themselves as title contenders feels like a dim, surreal memory. United have since regrouped and victory in north London would further frank their passport into next season’s Champions League. Meanwhile, Spurs continue to scrap on the peripheries of the top four...
Chances for Arsenal and Liverpool to boost their seasons and for Edinson Cavani and Aleksandar Mitrovic to deliver goalsIf anyone had told Mikel Arteta that last season’s gap between Arsenal and Liverpool – 43 points – would narrow to four by early April he would have been forgiven for envisaging an unlikely title battle. The truth from Arsenal’s perspective is far more mundane; Liverpool’s slump is the story and they travel to the Emirates in urgent need of a win that might recharge their top-four hopes. They cannot afford to drift any further behind Chelsea so this weekend is probably all about keeping pace, given Thomas Tuchel’s side face West Brom, This is not a fixture Arteta or Jürgen Klopp...