Carvalhal needs immediate impact at Swansea, Schmeichel seeks redemption and Chelsea’s Azpilicueta-Morata combination threatens StokeThe wisdom of appointing Carlos Carvalhal as Swansea’s new manager is, to say the least, questionable: a man who was dismissed on Christmas Eve for underachieving with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship does not inspire confidence. Still, he may prove successful: many doubted him when he arrived at Wednesday in 2015, and he started well there, reaching the play-offs in his first two seasons. But if he is to change things at the Liberty Stadium, he needs to do it immediately. After Saturday’s game at Watford, three of Swansea’s next four league games are against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool. If they do not beat the...
How will Arsenal cope with Liverpool’s fearsome foursome, the Mark Hughes ultimatum and whether Sam Allardyce will ever win over Everton fansIt would be a dereliction of duty if Arsène Wenger has not spent the past few days coming up with a way to stop Liverpool’s fearsome attack from running riot at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night. Arsenal’s manager cannot say that he has not been warned. He knows how much his team has suffered against these opponents since Jürgen Klopp’s arrival on Merseyside in October 2015 and nobody could say it was a surprise when Liverpool hammered Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield in August, with Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah inspired and Philippe Coutinho not even involved....
Rafael Benítez and Chris Hughton need to turn their ailing teams around but David Moyes can take credit for what he has done with Marko Arnautovic• Sign up now and get our weekly email, The Recap, every Friday Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Related: Tottenham are the latest challengers floored by the Manchester City problem | Jonathan Wilson Continue reading...
Will there be goals galore again at the Etihad, could West Ham finish off Hughes and is Jack Wilshere the man to bring some beauty back into Arsenal’s play?Since 2010-11, when the two games between these sides featured one goal between them, this has not been a fixture for goalkeepers. In 12 meetings there have been precisely 50 goals, scored at the rate of 4.2 per match. There is a recent history of mayhem, which coupled with the recent improvement in Tottenham’s form makes this probably the most likely moment for a while for the leaders’ successive-win juggernaut to come to a halt. Between this game and the visit to Arsenal at the end of February, City play Leicester twice,...
Sean Dyche takes Burnley into lofty territory, José Mourinho miscalculated in the Manchester derby and Tiémoué Bakayoko fails to justify his costly transferThere is a temptation to regard Burnley’s presence in the upper reaches of the division as an early-season aberration. One of their alumni argued otherwise, while maintaining that improbable interlopers will benefit if they continue to be overlooked. Andre Gray, who traded Turf Moor for Vicarage Road in the summer, said: “The table doesn’t lie. It’s 16 games, not four or five where they’ve had a great run, and they’re seventh. They’ve been consistent.” The striker was jeered by some fans on his first return to Burnley, but had nothing but praise for his former colleagues and his...