Son shines again for Tottenham, Chelsea and Leicester need defensive shake-ups, Palace signings prove their value and Southampton are ticking over againThe moment that summed up the discord in the Chelsea defence came on 64 minutes, when Gary Cahill wanted Thibaut Courtois to come to collect; the goalkeeper stayed on his line and Branislav Ivanovic bludgeoned the ball into touch. Cahill and Courtois argued. But errors had disfigured the performance to leave Chelsea 3-0 down at half-time: it was shocking, for example, to see how easily Mesut Özil accelerated away from the defensive midfielder N’Golo Kanté before he scored Arsenal’s third. Antonio Conte did not cancel his players’ day off on Sunday but they can expect a video inquest when...
West Ham took steps to ensure there was no disorder in the stands but the team was in chaos on the pitch during the 3-0 defeat by SouthamptonThere was some good news for West Ham United on Sunday. Segregation between home and away supporters was effective, well stewarded and looked like the kind of precaution that might normally be put in place at a Premier League match.Not only that, but there were 950 stewards at work around the ground, 200 more than normal. Each had undergone extra training to ensure they were capable of dealing with the unique demands of a football crowd. Furthermore, some of the fans who had found themselves uncomfortable in their new seats had been reallocated...
A crunch London derby as Arsenal host Chelsea, Michael Carrick could be key for Manchester United, and Vincent Janssen gets his chance to shineOn a weekend when much will be made of Arsène Wenger’s 20th anniversary as Arsenal manager, the Frenchman would not be human if he didn’t recall the manner in which Chelsea ruined the occasion of his 1,000th game in charge. It was March 2014 and on a strange afternoon at Stamford Bridge, Andre Marriner sent off Kieran Gibbs in a case of mistaken identity, as José Mourinho’s side hit their visitors for six without reply. Arsenal had already lost 6-3 at Manchester City and 5-1 at Liverpool that season, capitulations that rendered Wenger’s team and any aspirations...