Eden Hazard may tire of being kicked, Tony Pulis is under pressure at West Brom and Pep Guardiola may seek more firepower in JanuaryEden Hazard was fouled six times at Stamford Bridge. At one point in the second half the Belgium international was fouled by not one but three opponents in the colours of Manchester United, dragged to the ground by a combination of Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones like a man being crushed by falling trees. It is a regular experience for Chelsea’s No10, who can duck in and out from season to season, but who is at least consistent in his role as a human piñata for opposition teams. Hazard is kicked constantly in the Premier...
Liverpool’s search for a penalty-taker goes on, Mauricio Pochettino appeared unruffled after defeat at Old Trafford and Manchester City don’t look invincibleNext Sunday, Manchester City host Arsenal at 1.30pm and Manchester United play Chelsea at 4pm; it really is amazing just how often the fixture list throws up these coincidences! And whatever happens in the first game, the pressure will be on those playing in the second, because if City win, those teams will be fighting to stay in touch; if they do not, they will be fighting to take advantage of a rare City slip. So how do Arsenal make that happen? Well, their attacking trident of Mesut Özil, Alexis Sánchez and Alexandre Lacazette are good enough to give...
Arsène Wenger must continue with golden front trio; Christopher Schindler was a great buy for Huddersfield; Manchester City defence is as key as their attackThis was the first time Arsène Wenger had started Mesut Özil, Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sánchez in his XI. Yet until Everton went down to 10 men Arsenal were hardly a goal machine, having struggled to a 2-1 lead when Idrissa Gueye was sent off. At this point Özil was on the scoresheet, and by the final whistle Lacazette and Sánchez had also registered. Wenger, of course, cannot rely on the opposition having a man getting his marching orders every game. But even before this happened there was cause for optimism: Sánchez created Özil’s strike while...
Everton’s defence has gone walkabout, Swansea and Southampton are serving up stodgy fare and Antonio Conte may rue being in a tougher league than Serie AChris Hughton, the Brighton & Hove Albion manager, said it all when he highlighted how his team had not been “out of sight” against Arsenal, just as they had not been against Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season. On both occasions, the final scoreline of 0-2 hinted at respectability. Which, in truth, was Brighton’s priority. The gap to the Premier League’s top six clubs yawns like a chasm and Hughton’s approach at the Emirates Stadium – an approach born out of necessity – was characterised by damage limitation. Hughton used a 4-5-1...
The former England manager, now 70, will be desperate to erase memories of Euro 2016 and will look to imitate the simpler days of West Brom and FulhamWelcome back, then, Roy. And rejoice Croydon, for he has returned. The news that Crystal Palace will turn to Roy Hodgson to replace the departed Frank de Boer is perhaps unsurprising given the background noises of the past few months. For all that there will still be a tendency to roll the eyes, to mock the sudden shift in footballing direction – from the Ajax Way to Purley Way – and to point out that Hodgson is 70 and hasn’t had a club job in five years.This is undoubtedly a little unfair. In...