English Premier League News
João Pedro’s first-half goal was enough for Chelsea to beat sorry Spurs, who were lucky not to concede more and were booed off by their own fans after another limp home display
3 min: Both teams are wearing black armbands this evening in memory of former Spurs defender Willie Young, who passed away this week.
2 min: Kudus has a probe down the right but there’s nobody else in lilywhite on his wavelength, and the chance to attack passes.
Continue reading...Jean-Philippe Mateta’s eighth goal of the season set Crystal Palace on course for a return to winning ways in the Premier League. Mateta’s opener on the half-hour was added to by an own goal from the Brentford captain, Nathan Collins, early in the second half as the Eagles backed up their win at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday with their first victory in four league games.
Palace’s Ismaïla Sarr looked to have forged an opportunity for himself when he got away from Kristoffer Ajer down the right but chose to square the ball rather than shoot and Sepp van den Berg intercepted for Brentford. It was a rare opening in what was a cagey beginning, with Mateta’s deflected header from a Yéremy Pino cross gently falling into the arms of Caoimhín Kelleher.
Continue reading...League says issues rooted in more European matches
It promises increased Boxing Day games next year
The Premier League has confirmed there will be only one Premier League game on Boxing Day, with Manchester United to host Newcastle United at 8pm. The late kick-off may cause travel issues for Newcastle fans, with public transport limited on the holiday.
The league cited the expansion of European competition in explaining its schedule. The last time Boxing Day was a Friday, in 2014, there was a full top-flight programme.
Continue reading...Tottenham do battle with Chelsea on Saturday while Manchester City host high-flying Bournemouth on Sunday
Saturday 3pm Venue Amex Stadium
Continue reading...Pragmatism meets dogmatism when Spurs host Chelsea, with both head coaches still trying to win fans over
A few managers were in the running when Chelsea were looking for a replacement for Mauricio Pochettino in May 2024. It was an extensive process and involved the club talking to Thomas Frank before they settled on Enzo Maresca.
The feeling was that Maresca’s positional game and focus on possession made him most suited to Chelsea’s squad of technicians. Frank, who had performed brilliantly at Brentford, had to wait for his next opportunity. Overlooked by Manchester United after they fired Erik ten Hag, it arrived when Tottenham hired the Dane after sacking Ange Postecoglou last summer.
Continue reading...Arne Slot has no excuses, Fulham and Palace are stretched and should Arsenal be wary of Burnley’s full-backs?
Burnley’s Kyle Walker and Quilindschy Hartman, Q to his friends, have been one of the finest full-back pairings in the Premier League this season. They are defensively disciplined but also have the ability to push forward and cause problems. Everyone expected as much from Walker, who has been one of the best right-backs in world football over the past decade, but it could have been difficult for Hartman, coming from the Eredivisie, to settle into a newly promoted team and face some of the best wingers in the world. The Dutchman has stuck to his defensive tasks supremely well but the task of marshalling Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze will be a true test. Regular assists are also making Hartman a real asset to Burnley. Two crosses produced Zian Flemming’s goals against Wolves, making it four assists in nine Premier League appearances. Arsenal should be wary. Will Unwin
Continue reading...Mikel Arteta’s side have experience of being top of the table but have been unable to finish the job in previous seasons
All the signs point to it finally being Arsenal’s season. But given that they have spent almost 800 days top of the table since last being champions in 2004, nothing will be taken for granted at this stage. After an outlay of more than £250m in the summer, Mikel Arteta has a formidable squad that has been able to cope with injuries to important players such as Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard – a problem that derailed them in three successive runner-up finishes.
Continue reading...Arsenal’s title tilt is built on solid defence, Chelsea miss Cole Palmer and what happened to clampdown on shirt-pulling?
“One-nil to the Arsenal” may not be thrilling but it is certainly effective. Sunday’s victory over Crystal Palace was Mikel Arteta’s side’s third by that margin in nine Premier League games. Last season, Arsenal managed that result five times in the league, while also drawing 1-1 in seven matches. Clean sheets in just half of those might have made for an intriguing title race. For all the noise surrounding Arsenal’s attacking talent, their defence is just as vital. It is their solidity at that end of the pitch that will probably lead them to glory, with three goals conceded in nine top-flight games so far. Sunday also marked a century of games across all competitions since they have conceded more than twice. The last to put three past David Raya? Luton – remember them? – back in December 2023. Sam Dalling
Match report: Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
Match report: Aston Villa 1-0 Man City
Match report: Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Match report: Manchester United 4-2 Brighton
Match report: Everton 0-3 Tottenham
Continue reading...Micky van der Ven scored twice and led Tottenham’s effective rearguard action at Everton to maintain Thomas Frank side’s excellent away record
3 min Chance! Grealish and Mykolenko combine to push Everton into the box, but nobody can get a shot in. Then Ndiaye wriggles down the right, past Spence, and cuts back to Beto – who can only deflect it to Grealish. His shot is well blocked by … someone.
2 min Everton go long and for one mad moment it looks as if two of their players are through, but the ball bounces kindly for Vicario.
Continue reading...Vítor Pereira had to be escorted away from the touchline after an angry post-match exchange with the supporters with whom he was sharing pints and fist bumps when steering Wolves away from relegation with six successive wins last season.
Six months to the day since they last won in the Premier League, 3-0 against Leicester, the Wolves manager’s frustrations appeared to boil over after his team’s fightback from 2-0 down was ended with Lyle Foster’s 95th-minute winner.
Continue reading...A Ruben Amorim pirouette and revolving fist-pump greeted Bryan Mbeumo putting Manchester United 3-0 up and told the tale of how precious this third consecutive league victory is.
Yet the goal came on 61 minutes and still United found themselves clinging on at 3-2 deep into added time before Mbeumo smashed home his second. Almost instantly Anthony Taylor blew for time and “Glory, Glory Man United” blared out at Old Trafford.
Continue reading...Bryan Mbeumo scored twice as United survived a spirited Brighton comeback to make it three wins in a row
35 secs: Mbeumo loops a cross in from the right. Fernandes wafts a header wide right. A bit more pace on either and United were off to a flyer.
Everyone takes a knee to send out the message that there’s No Room For Racism … then the hosts kick off. Brighton are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
Continue reading...Mo Salah’s spectacular late goal couldn’t rescue Liverpool from a fourth consecutive league defeat
2 min Ajer stabs a long pass down the left towards Schade, forcing Mamardashvili to come out of his box to clear. That means the first long throw of the game…
1 min And they’re off!
Continue reading...Newcastle’s new chief executive, David Hopkinson, is presiding over a “100-day review” of all areas of club operations. It is the sort of management exercise beloved of senior executives across assorted companies but the reality at St James’ Park is that almost every department is largely a hostage to first-team fortunes. In other words, if Eddie Howe’s team fail to qualify for the Champions League again next season everyone will suffer the consequences.
Given the odds are overwhelmingly against Newcastle lifting that trophy next spring, they desperately need to hit their Premier League stride and start clambering up the table.
Continue reading...Goals from Brendan Aaronson and Joe Rodon did the damage as Nuno Espírito Santo’s winless start at West Ham continued
More Daniel Farke, speaking to Sky, and an explanation of his goalkeeping selection: “First of all, we have to say Karl Darlow is always reliable and done a really solid job when we needed him. We make no secret out of it that we have signed [Lucas] Perri as number one. Overall we had a difficult week. We had a few players struggling with a few physical problems. We tried to find a good mix. We cannot afford to play without all of them.
Andy Irving is a cult hero at West Ham. Ironically so far, though the club are calling out for a hero who isn’t called Jarrod Bowen.
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