Author: Guardian sport

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Arsenal and City march on, Sunderland enjoy bragging rights, and Ekitiké gives Liverpool fans a much-needed lift

Mikel Arteta had the option to frame things differently. The Arsenal manager was even teed up to do so with a generous question in the press conference that followed his side’s 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday. Had his team shown the toughness of champions by recovering from a 90th-minute concession to steal all three points? “That’s something very positive but I don’t put it down to resilience,” Arteta replied. It was of a piece with him essentially reading the riot act to his players. They had not turned up at the start, he suggested, and the less said about the closing stages, the better – apart from the last-gasp winner. It is rare to hear Arteta be so critical but he knew his team had got away with one and he wanted them to know, too. Arsenal have a rare blank midweek before they go to Everton for another 8pm kick-off next Saturday. The standards must be higher. David Hytner

Match report: Arsenal 2-1 Wolves

Match report: Crystal Palace 0-3 Manchester City

Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle

Match report: Liverpool 2-0 Brighton

Match report: West Ham 2-3 Aston Villa

Match report: Chelsea 2-0 Everton

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Gabriel Jesus is looking to impress, Daniel Muñoz is tough to replace and is this it for Mohamed Salah at Liverpool?

This season Chelsea have held Arsenal after going down to 10 men and have beaten Barcelona, Liverpool and Tottenham. They have also dropped points against Atalanta, Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Leeds, Qarabag and Sunderland. It is clear that winning against smaller sides remains a problem for Enzo Maresca. Chelsea rise to the big occasion but inconsistency flares when they are expected to win. They do not like playing against deep defences – Maresca has often reacted with dismay when opponents switch to a back five to counter his carefully formulated plans – and can be forgiven if they are edgy about hosting Everton on Saturday. David Moyes’s side have just recorded clean sheets at Bournemouth and Manchester United. They will back themselves to neutralise Chelsea’s attacking talents. Jacob Steinberg

Chelsea v Everton, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Liverpool v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Burnley v Fulham, Saturday 5.30pm

Arsenal v Wolves, Saturday 8pm

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Claressa Shields to open $8m deal with Detroit rematch against Crews-Dezurn

  • Shields to launch $8m multi-fight deal in Detroit

  • Double Olympic champion back at Little Caesars Arena

  • Crews-Dezurn moving up to heavyweight for bout

Claressa Shields will defend her undisputed heavyweight championship in Detroit on 22 February, returning home for a rematch with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in her first fight since signing a landmark $8m promotional deal. The bout will headline a Dazn card at Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NBA’s Pistons and NHL’s Red Wings where Shields attracted a near-sellout crowd for her most recent fight last July.

Shields (17-0, 3 KO) and Crews-Dezurn (10-2, 2 KO) first met nearly a decade ago when they made their professional debuts against each other on the undercard of Andre Ward’s victory over Sergey Kovalev in 2016. Shields won a four-round unanimous decision that night in Las Vegas, a moment she still sees as formative. “I had just come off winning two Olympic gold medals, fresh out of the amateurs, and finding an opponent was tough,” she said in a press release announcing the fight. “Franchon stepped in. I’ve grown a lot since that first victory, but me and Franchon have unfinished business that needs to be settled.”

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s football

Arsenal feel effects of defensive injuries, Liverpool rue Konaté’s mistakes and Brentford struggle on the road

When the team sheets landed at Villa Park, Arsenal’s matchday squad again appeared imperious. Their bench included a £64m striker in Viktor Gyökeres, a trio of tricky wingers in Leandro Trossard, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli and arguably England’s most exciting teenagers in Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. But Arsenal arrived top-heavy, the only centre-back among the substitutes the 16-year-old Marli Salmon. By the time Emiliano Buendía clinched victory for Aston Villa with almost the final kick, it was clear Arsenal lacked the defensive solidity behind their pace-setting start; this defeat was only the fourth time since the start of 2022-23 that Mikel Arteta’s side began a league game without Gabriel Magalhães or William Saliba – and it showed. Cristhian Mosquera, potentially sidelined until the new year, was also absent. The good news for all parties – which probably extends to second-placed Manchester City – is that Arsenal and Villa will duke it out again on 30 December in the reverse fixture. Ben Fisher

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Sun setting on England’s Ashes dream as Australia close on second Test triumph

England wilted in the Brisbane heat, their top order collapsing under the lights to leave hopes of securing the Ashes in tatters on day three of the second Test at the Gabba.

England slipped from 90 for one to 134 for six as Australia’s attack snared the wickets of Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith.

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Southampton name Tonda Eckert as manager after successful interim spell

  • Under-21 coach has overseen improvement in form

  • ‘We go all in’ for promotion, Eckert says

Southampton have appointed their under-21 coach Tonda Eckert as manager with a contract taking him through to 2027, the Championship club announced on Friday.

The 32-year-old German has changed the team’s fortunes since taking over as interim coach last month following Will Still’s dismissal, guiding them to four wins in five matches.

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Van der Ven may be key for Spurs, Wissa could make Newcastle debut and Dyche deserves warm Everton welcome

Arsenal’s recent memories of Aston Villa are of awkward opponents. Mikel Arteta’s side squandered a two-goal lead at the Emirates Stadium when the teams last met, in January, Arsenal dropping two points, their title charge dented. With such little margin for error, it was the kind of day that boosted Liverpool and crystallised the sense that the Gunners would come up short. Villa also defeat Arsenal in 2023-24, abruptly halting Arteta’s six-game winning streak. Now Arsenal are in a different position, at the summit with a five-point lead – and six clear of Unai Emery’s team. Victory at Villa Park on Saturday, against a side that have lost only once in the league since August, would offer another significant indication that this could be the season Arsenal take the crown. Ben Fisher

Aston Villa v Arsenal, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Bournemouth v Chelsea, Saturday 3pm

Everton v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Sunderland, Saturday 3pm

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Celtic confirm Wilfried Nancy’s arrival as Martin O’Neill signs off with victory

  • O’Neill has been in interim charge since Rodgers’ exit

  • Celtic move level on points with Hearts after Dundee win

Celtic have appointed Wilfried Nancy, coach of Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer, as their new permanent manager to replace Brendan Rodgers, who was dismissed in October. He has signed a two-and-a-half year contract.

Martin O’Neill signed off his spell as interim manager with a 1-0 home win against Dundee on Wednesday night. The result moved Celtic level on points with Hearts, who remain top of the Scottish Premiership on goal difference despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home against Kilmarnock. Celtic also have a game in hand on their title rivals.

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‘He was a batter ahead of his time’: Robin Smith, former England cricketer, dies aged 62

  • Batter scored more than 6,000 runs for England

  • Smith was at Hampshire from 1982 to 2003

Tributes have been paid to Robin Smith, whose swashbuckling batting and fearlessness at the crease lit up English cricket in an era when it often languished in the doldrums, fol­lowing his death at the age of 62.

Smith played 62 Tests for ­England between 1988 and 1996, averaging 43.67. But it was the sight of him taking the fight to the fastest pace bowlers of his generation that will live longest in the memory.

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s football

Ruben Amorim is happy to ‘steal’ from others, Phil Foden is central to City and Thomas Frank is in trouble at Tottenham

As Barney Ronay has noted, Arsenal are facing a weekly renewal of the Game You Just Have to Win If You Want to Be Champions. Did this represent a Game You Just Have to Win Because Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo Was Sent Off? Yes and no. The hosts will naturally be more pleased with a point in the context of the first-half red card, while Arsenal perhaps looked a little jaded and below their best overall. But Enzo Maresca’s side were excellent throughout, despite having to play so much of the match with 10 men, and they deserved something from it. Compared with some Chelsea v Arsenal encounters from the olden days (when more overtly physical iterations of the Blues traditionally used to crush the fragile Gunners) there were no signs of weakness, mental or otherwise, from Arteta’s Premier League leaders in a fierce and physical derby. They will experience few harder tests than this, and a point was fair. Luke McLaughlin

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Imran Sherwani, Great Britain Olympic hockey hero, dies aged 63

  • He scored twice in 1988 final against West Germany

  • Olympic star was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019

Imran Sherwani, who starred in the Great Britain hockey team that won Olympic gold in 1988, has died at the age of 63, his family have announced.

Sherwani revealed in 2021 that had he been diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s in 2019, and his family continue to raise awareness of the condition. He represented Great Britain and England 94 times, culminating in scoring two goals in his team’s 3-1 final victory over West Germany in Seoul.

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