Category: English Premier League

English Premier League News

Posted on

Rampant Brighton thrash sorry Southampton to boost hopes of Europe

Fabian Hürzeler said his only ­disappointment was not winning by more after seeing his side thump Southampton at St Mary’s.

The Seagulls ripped Southampton apart throughout with goals from João Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood ­taking them to within three points of the top six. But for some wasteful finishing and a brilliant performance from the Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, the scoreline might have been even more impressive for Hürzeler’s Europe-chasing side.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Ugarte stunner and VAR drama rescue point for Manchester United at Everton

A rousing fightback does not camouflage the extent to which Ruben Amorim and Manchester United were reprieved at Goodison Park. The visitors recovered from two goals down to salvage a point against in-form Everton, but only after a penalty awarded to David Moyes’ team was controversially overturned in the 96th minute.

Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte, the latter with his first United goal, appeared to have rescued Amorim’s team from a dire first-half performance in which Beto and Abdoulaye Doucouré gave Everton a merited lead. Moyes’ side were comfortable until Fernandes converted a free-kick in the 72nd minute but were given the chance to regain the lead in stoppage time. After André Onana had saved from Idrissa Gueye, Ashley Young appeared to be impeded by both Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire before he could reach the rebound. Referee Andrew Madley immediately awarded a spot-kick but overturned his decision after being sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR. It was a huge and debatable let-off for United.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Moyes claims he wanted to ‘fight the world’ as Manchester United manager

  • Scot is preparing Everton to face his former club
  • Moyes says he is ‘a bit calmer’ now than earlier in career

David Moyes has said he wanted to “fight the world” when he first joined Everton and Manchester United but his calmer demeanour today should not be mistaken for a drop in passion.

The Everton manager insists it will be just another game when he faces United at Goodison Park on Saturday having competed against his former club several times with West Ham. Moyes was sacked only 10 months after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and described the setback as “part of life as a football manager. You have to find a way back and that’s what I had to do after the disappointment of losing my job at Manchester United.”

Continue reading...
Posted on

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

David Moyes faces a former club, Djed Spence’s difficult duel and Chris Wood could haunt his old employers

The winter arrival of Woyo Coulibaly from Parma underwhelmed Leicester fans as the left-back’s CV did not exactly suggest he was able to turn their season around single-handedly. The Frenchman has made four substitute appearances, his latest coming off the bench against Arsenal after James Justin was forced off in the first half, facing up to Raheem Sterling on the right-hand side of Leicester’s defence. If Justin does not recover in time for Brentford’s visit, it seems likely that Coulibaly will once again be thrust into action because Ruud van Nistelrooy has very limited options. Considering the form of Brentford’s Kevin Schade, the French defender can expect to have a difficult afternoon. Still, it is also an opportunity to prove he is worthy of being a Premier League player but if it does not work out, there will be even greater pressure on the much-criticised director of football, Jon Rudkin. Will Unwin

Leicester v Brentford, Friday 8pm (all times GMT)

Everton v Manchester United, Saturday 12.30pm

Bournemouth v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Ipswich v Tottenham, Saturday 3pm

Southampton v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Continue reading...
Posted on

The Chris Whyte experiment: when Arsenal played a centre-back up front

Mikel Merino excelled as a striker for Arsenal on Saturday. Chris Whyte did not have as much joy 40 years ago

By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog

You didn’t need to be a genius to work out what was coming. Going two transfer windows without signing a centre-forward was always going to be a gamble for Arsenal, especially considering that their one remaining option was clearly out on his feet in recent weeks. The injury to Kai Havertz was depressingly inevitable.

Mikel Arteta had a dilemma before the Leicester match at the weekend. With no strikers available, he opted to play Leandro Trossard through the middle. When that didn’t work, Mikel Merino came on and scored both goals in the 2-0 win. Merino’s timely goals have temporarily halted the debate but, if all else fails, Arteta could throw Riccardo Calafiori up front and get the ball into the mixer.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United are a mess, with issues starting at the top | Jonathan Wilson

The optimism that greeted Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival as owner has given way to even more disappointment, with Sunday’s defeat at Tottenham the latest example

Covering Manchester United these days feels a little like being a character in Silent Witness: every week you end up writing a postmortem. Their Sunday defeat at Tottenham was an engaging if bitty affair that finished 1-0 largely because the low quality of defending on show was compensated for by the low level of attacking. It was fun in its way, but it didn’t feel a lot like Premier League football.

It also meant United dropped to 15th in the table, having won just four of 14 league games under Ruben Amorim. Under Erik ten Hag this season, United were taking 1.22 points per game; under Amorim that’s down to 1.00. Nobody was under any illusions about the scale of the task he was taking on, but four months after Amorim took the job it would be very difficult to identify any concrete signs of progress. There has been the resilience of the performance in the league at Anfield, in the FA Cup at the Emirates, and not a lot else.

Continue reading...
Posted on

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

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

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

Continue reading...
Posted on

Liverpool 2-1 Wolves: Premier League – as it happened

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.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Ageless Salah remains driving force behind Liverpool quest for trophies

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.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Omar Marmoush’s rapid Manchester City hat-trick demolishes Newcastle

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.

Continue reading...