Liverpool will be hoping Joël Matip gets fit quickly, while Sunderland begin to look more solid and Burnley have to find some goals from somewhereHands have been wrung and doom predicted about Philippe Coutinho’s injury, likely to keep him out of the Liverpool team until next month. And to an extent, rightly so: he has been their most impressive attacking threat this season, and the sight of that front four dovetailing has perhaps been the most pleasing in the division. However, the 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday suggested that another injury absence might be more significant, namely Joël Matip. The Cameroonian centre-half has been a quiet, calm example of consistency, exactly the sort of thing that Liverpool missed against...
Alan Pardew is under pressure at Palace, José Mourinho must back his midweek stars and the omens are there for Manchester City to end Chelsea’s winning runOne of the biggest accusations aimed at José Mourinho down the years has been that he favours workmanlike players who can follow instructions over unpredictable talents who are harder to control but more likely to decide a game with a moment of genius. Mourinho’s treatment of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial at Manchester United has provided his critics with more ammunition. But now is the time for the United manager to give both of them a proper run in his strongest side. Mkhitaryan created Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s early opener in Wednesday’s League Cup win over...
Arsenal rely on a fit Alexis Sánchez, Pep Guardiola is keeping Manchester City fresh and Jason Denayer may have aided Liverpool’s future opponentsOn the corresponding weekend of last season, Alexis Sánchez suffered the hamstring injury at Norwich City that would rule him out for two months. It was the afternoon when the Arsenal forward had also been pushed into the TV camera pit at Carrow Road by Ryan Bennett – an act that Arsène Wenger said “could have killed” the Chilean. Arsenal’s hopes have come to be closely linked to Sánchez’s fitness, on him staying out of the red zone, and there was plenty of nervousness at the club when he hurt his hamstring in training with Chile during the...
Crystal Palace need to stand tall after another defeat, Arsenal’s steel bodes well for title challenge and West Ham’s problems up front have been laid bare Related: Pep Guardiola was always going to win but Yaya Touré may not have lost Related: David Luiz holds back to ensure Chelsea’s defence stays unbreached | Michael Cox Related: Victor Anichebe thrives after being given fresh lease of life at Sunderland Related: Harry Winks gives Tottenham hope for Champions League survival Continue reading...
The beautiful game is littered with beautifully strange, funny and famous tales. Journalist Nick Szczepanik has compiled many for his new book, Pulp Football. Here are five of Guardian Sport’s favouritesPerhaps the most notorious football mascot, and certainly one of the breed’s serial offenders, is Cyril the Swan. The 9ft Swansea City mascot’s antics have resulted in more than one four-figure fine from the Football League and even a touchline ban – usually a sanction reserved for errant managers and coaches. Related: Mascot fears soccer beaks Continue reading...