Is there a possible straw for Manchester City rivals to clutch at? Jack Wilshere has an impact off the bench and Riyad Mahrez is treading water at Leicester• Sign up to our weekly email, The Recap, here, showcasing a selection of our sport features from the past seven daysManchester City proved they possess the spirit to match their skills in fighting back from an undeserved half-time deficit to claim this win. Huddersfield Town, who were again impressive, held the lead for 1min54sec – 20% of the total time City have been behind in their seven away games this season. City’s unbeaten record was briefly imperilled by a poor period of play which had Fabian Delph at its heart. The stand-in...
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...
Until Mauricio Pochettino’s side learn how to win away against their biggest rivals they will struggle to turn their undoubted potential into trophiesFor all that is positive about Tottenham, for all that they are about to move into an exciting new stadium and are blessed with a crop of highly promising young players, their away record against big sides has become an issue. It’s a problem that predates Mauricio Pochettino – Spurs have now won just four of their last 87 away games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool – but one that he seems a long way from resolving: although this was his first league defeat to Arsenal, he has now won just one of 18 away games against...
Sensational attacking force of Mesut Özil, Alexis Sánchez and Alexandre Lacazette make Tottenham toil in the north London derbyTen minutes into the second half at the Emirates Mesut Özil muscled Dele Alli off the ball on the edge of his own box, buffeted forward through the white shirts, played a perfect little combination with Aaron Ramsey and just missed out on the final scoring pass having sprinted 80 metres, carving his way across the lime green turf of a November afternoon like an elegantly high-spec German bulldozer. Related: Alexis Sánchez caps dominant derby win for Arsenal over Tottenham Continue reading...
Even if the truth is less than palatable to Arsenal fans, the old rivals have more in common than at any point since the Premier League’s formationWith the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance** we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the sport’s history and storylines, hopefully in a way that doesn’t patronise you to within an inch of your life. A warning: If you’re the kind of person that finds The Blizzard too populist this may not be the series for you.** Actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant Related: Arsène Wenger is a very special manager and an innovator, says Pochettino Continue reading...