Category: English Premier League

Manchester United’s slump deepens, Ryan Christie inspires Bournemouth and David Moyes lets the good times roll

• Premier League top scorers | Latest table | Fixtures

Can winning a game that resembled two lurching drunks swinging at each other at closing time be regarded as vindication for Ange Postecoglou? Perhaps if Manchester United had a more mobile midfield and someone other than Rasmus Højlund at centre-forward – last goal at Plzen on 12 December – flanked by a winger in Alejandro Garnacho who last scored against Bodø/Glimt two weeks before that. It turns out Joshua Zirkzee – who has three goals in the league all season – is United’s most potent forward. The numbers point to this being United’s worst team in decades, and the only good news Ruben Amorim received on Sunday was 17th-placed Wolves’ defeat at Liverpool. Tottenham saw out a second successive Premier League clean sheet for the first time in 16 months but did so nervously. It will take much more than sketchily defeating a crashing clown car to prove Postecoglou’s pronouncement that the true Tottenham would reveal themselves once his injured players started returning. John Brewin

Match report: Tottenham 1-0 Manchester United

Match report: Leicester 0-2 Arsenal

Match report: Manchester City 4-0 Newcastle

Match report: Liverpool 2-1 Wolves

Match report: Aston Villa 1-1 Ipswich

Match report: Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth

Match report: Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton

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An opportunistic goal from James Maddison gave Spurs their first home victory in the league since early November

A reminder of the teams

Tottenham Hotspur (4-1-4-1) Vicario; Pedro Porro, Danso, Davies, Spence; Bentancur; Kulusevski, Bergvall, Maddison, Son; Tel.
Substitutes: Kinsky, Udogie, Gray, Bissouma, Sarr, Moore, Odobert, Johnson, Scarlett.

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First-half goals from Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah restored Liverpool’s seven-point lead at the top of the table, though Matheus Cunha’s lovely strike had nerves jangling

So where is the game? I’m certain that Wolves, like every team facing Liverpool, will target the space in and around around and behind Alexander-Arnold who, for all his glorious passing and crossing, lack defensive nous and recovery pace. There could scarcely be a duo better-placed to exploit that than Ait-Nouri and Cunha while, on the other side, Semedo and Sarabia will also feel they can do something against the flagging Andy Robertson, especially on the counter.

Liverpool, meanwhile, will expect to outnumber Wolves in midfield, therefore dominating the ball, targeting the space behind the wing-backs with Jota scavenging in the box. And if all else fails, they can just give it Salah.

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At 32 the striker is part of a new generation, powered by science and making a huge impact on the title race

It takes a team to win trophies but it is quite useful to have an individual enjoy the season of their life. Mohamed Salah is that for Liverpool. Highlighting his importance to his side’s success is not exactly controversial but any praise is merited after driving his team into pole position as the business end approaches.

Salah leads the Premier League scoring and creativity charts with 22 goals and 14 assists to put Liverpool clear at the top. On a difficult night at Goodison Park in midweek, he set up the opener before scoring in a game of few chances, the ninth time this season he has achieved such a feat. Sunday’s opponents Wolves will be well aware of his threat, although attempting to nullify him is more difficult.

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Omar Marmoush arrived in the winter window as a 20-goal forward for Eintracht Frankfurt and against Newcastle emphatically showed why, via a scintillating 14-minute first-half hat-trick that tore the opposition apart. For the Egyptian and Manchester City, joy; for the visitors, despair, as they were sent home reeling, on the back of a 16th consecutive Premier League reverse here.

At the break, a home fan suggested it was “the best first 45 minutes I’ve seen all season”: he was not far wrong, because when City are performing like this you see how Pep Guardiola might revive his embattled champions.

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Ten-man Ipswich hold Villa, Marmoush scores three, while Arsenal, Brentford, Bournemouth and Fulham also win

Southampton: Ramsdale, Bree, Bednarek, Wood-Gordon, Walker-Peters, Smallbone, Aribo, Welington, Fernandes, Onuachu, Sulemana.

Subs: McCarthy, Manning, Sugawara, Archer, Taylor, Ugochukwu, Gronbaek, Dibling, Bella-Kotchap.

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Mikel Merino came off the bench to score two late goals and keep Arsenal’s title hopes alive

9 min Odegaard teases a chip over the defence towards Trossard, who flicks a volley that is saved to his right by Hermansen. He was offside so it wouldn’t have counted.

7 min Arsenal are settling into their passing rhythm. Still no openings to speak of, never mind chances.

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• Former players recall incident from game in 2003
• Van Nistelrooy: ‘It was a good rivalry, wasn’t it?

Martin Keown has apologised to Ruud van Nistelrooy for the notorious clash between the pair at Old Trafford in 2003 after they renewed acquaintances at Leicester on Saturday.

The TNT Sports pundit Keown was at the King Power Stadium to cover Leicester’s Premier League home fixture with Arsenal and caught up with Foxes boss Van Nistelrooy before kick-off.

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Arsenal go to Leicester in Saturday’s early kick-off aiming to close the gap on Liverpool who host Wolves on Sunday

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue King Power Stadium

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Welington can beef up Saints, Ola Aina returns to SW6 and Raheem Sterling has the chance to roll back the years

• Premier League top scorers: Golden Boot race standings

It may have taken Brighton’s record signing a few months to settle in but the performance of Georginio Rutter in their thrilling FA Cup victory over Chelsea showed that the Frenchman was worth the £40m they paid Leeds in the summer. A brilliant header to equalise before setting up Kaoru Mitoma’s winner gave Fabian Hürzeler’s side the confidence boost they needed after their 7-0 mauling against Nottingham Forest, with Rutter justifying his manager’s decision to leave João Pedro on the bench. Rutter – who has seven goals in all competitions – did not start a Premier League game in January after struggling with a hamstring problem and Hürzeler has been mindful of protecting the 22-year-old, although he will be itching to face Enzo Maresca’s side for the second time in six days. “There were a lot of personal duels and he proved that he can win the majority of them, and that’s why I’m happy with him,” said Hürzeler. Ed Aarons

Southampton v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

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Time will tell if the Ineos chief’s severe cost-cutting pays off, but this is a club that has been mismanaged for years

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is making drastic cuts to Manchester United’s operation for fear that the club are on a fast-track to bankruptcy. Whether such seismic concerns are legitimate or unfounded, it reflects a tale of off‑field financial woe that matches the club’s 12 years in the title‑contending wilderness.

The failure to reel in a 21st championship or make a genuine challenge for one is a direct corollary of slow decline and mismanagement under Malcolm Glazer, and then his six children after his death in 2014.

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Four goals, four red cards, one mass brawl plus enough controversy, fury and entertainment to elevate the fixture way above the Premier League norm; the Merseyside derby bid a fitting farewell to Goodison Park.

David “Mystic” Moyes had predicted the 120th and final Goodison derby would, by the nature of an emotionally charged occasion, be explosive. James Tarkowski triggered a detonator under the old place. The Everton captain volleyed in a stunning 98th-minute equaliser to ensure Liverpool went seven points clear in the title race rather than nine.

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State TV has started broadcasting matches, albeit with heavy-handed intervention of Pyongyang regime’s censors

TV viewers in North Korea have to endure more than their fair share of war films – in which there can be only one victor, news reports delivered with revolutionary gusto and breathless Kim dynasty propaganda.

But even for a country as wary of outside influences as North Korea, it appears unable to resist the lure of Premier League football – the most-watched sport on the nation’s TV screens. Just don’t expect to see any live action, let alone Gary Lineker presenting in his underpants.

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• Co-owner and chairman is a director of Vivid Seats
• Premier League lists as ‘unauthorised ticket website’

Chelsea supporters have accused Todd Boehly of a “breach of trust” and a potential conflict of interest over his co-ownership of a website selling tickets to the club’s games and other Premier League matches to foreign tourists.

Boehly is a director and investor in Vivid Seats, an American site that allows users outside the United Kingdom to buy and sell tickets to concerts and sporting events, often at huge mark-ups. British fans cannot use the site or others like it because it is illegal to resell football tickets in this way in the UK. The Premier League lists Vivid Seats as an “unauthorised ticket website”.

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Only one of the top six made a notable signing – and they spent £172m – in a frustrating window for several managers

• All the deals from Europe’s top five leagues

Mikel Arteta’s hopes of strengthening his squad never materialised, no doubt to his frustration and that of every Arsenal supporter, despite the surprise bid for Ollie Watkins and interest in Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel. The feelgood factor generated by the famous thrashing of Manchester City will not last long if a lack of attacking options means they cannot sustain their challenge in the Premier League. Arteta, who would not allow Kieran Tierney or Jorginho to leave with their contracts expiring in the summer, will be hoping that some winter sunshine in Dubai next week can give his players extra spark when they return. Ed Aarons

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