Category: English Premier League

Even in a week when they have beaten the mighty Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu, this must rank as one of Pep Guardiola’s most satisfying victories of the season.

It was Oliver Glasner who condemned the Manchester City manager to his first season without a major trophy since his first year in English football when Crystal Palace enjoyed the greatest day in their history at the FA Cup final back in May. So outsmarting one of the Premier League’s shrewdest operators would have provided Guardiola extra contentment, not to mention helping City move back to within two points of leaders Arsenal.

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Two Bukayo Saka crosses forced two own goals as Arsenal somehow found a way to win against committed Wolves

2 min: Doherty skittles Martinelli out on the left. An early free kick for Arsenal. Rice’s delivery is uncharacteristically poor, failing to beat the first man … and that first man is Doherty, who makes good his mistake by clearing.

Arsenal get the ball rolling. They haven’t lost at home yet this season, winning ten from 11. Godspeed, Wolves.

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Harry Wilson scored one and set up two more as Fulham piled more pressure on their former manager Scott Parker by inflicting a seventh straight defeat on beleaguered Burnley.

Although Lesley Ugochukwu cancelled out Emile Smith Rowe’s early goal, Calvin Bassey had the visitors back in front before half-time and Wilson’s eighth goal of the season put Fulham clear.

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Mohamed Salah returned but Hugo Ekitike got Liverpool’s goals as Cole Palmer notched on his return for Chelsea

Some goals have done in, and it’s Huddersfield 1-1 Wigan, Oxford 1-2 Preston, Salford 1-2 Colchester, Norwich 1-1 Southampton.

At Norwich, whose goal came from Jovon Makama, Southampton missed a first-half penalty and have now equalised through Ryan Manning.

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Eddie Howe says revitalised derby rivals will be a tougher mental test for his side than the Champions League

Midnight was fast approaching when Eddie Howe faced a curve-ball question: if he could be offered a draw at the Stadium of Light on Sunday would he accept it?

If the typically straight-bat answer – “no chance, we prepare to win every game” – was expected, Howe’s subsequent reaction spoke volumes about Sunderland’s recent metamorphosis.

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Leaders Arsenal host rock-bottom Wolves on Saturday night while Sunderland and Newcastle do battle on Sunday

Saturday 3pm Venue Stamford Bridge

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Word from the top-tier press conferences, including updates on Gabriel Jesus, Dominic Solanke and Ola Aina

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

• Premier League top scorers: the Golden Boot race

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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Manchester United thrashed rock-bottom Wolves to move up to six

Matt Burtz emails: “There are some who don’t believe in xG, and that’s fine. For those who do, Wolves’ xG per 90 minutes is -0.44. Not great, but it’s only the fourth worst in the Premier League. (Interestingly enough, it’s ahead of Sunderland’s -0.52.) But the main stat for Wolves is an xG against of 18.9, which is seventh in the PL (and better than that of third place Aston Villa). This means they’ve been incredibly unlucky in keeping goals out. Clearly they need to score more goals as one every two games isn’t going to cut it at any level, but if their luck balances out defensively there is a theoretical chance of them putting some results together.”

It’s a nice theory.

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Handing the Egyptian a contract extension while also bringing about a new identity has backfired terribly

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

There is perhaps nothing in a career as hard as the leaving of it. Unless something utterly remarkable happens, Mohamed Salah has played his last game for Liverpool. Left out of the starting lineup for each of the last three matches, he trained on Monday after his extraordinary post-match tirade following the 3-3 draw with Leeds but he has not been selected for the Champions League against Inter on Tuesday. He may or may not be with the team for Saturday’s game at Anfield against Brighton (“I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it,” he said). After that, he will be in Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations with the Egypt national team and the transfer window will have opened by the time the tournament is over.

How has it come to this? Salah is one of Liverpool’s all-time greats. He lies behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in their all-time goalscoring charts. Across all clubs, only Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney have scored more Premier League goals. He played a key role in two Premier League titles and a Champions League. He’s won the Premier League Golden Boot four times and been named player of the year three times by both his fellow players and soccer writers – including last year. He’s only 33 and there has been no obvious sign yet of him fading with age. This is not the end anybody would have wanted.

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

• Latest Premier League table | Top scorers

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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Marc Guehi’s late header settled an enjoyable game that included an outrageous goal from Harry Wilson

9 min: Good effort by Smith Rowe Iwobi, on the left, curls a wicked inswinging corner that brushes a Palace head and flies over the bar for another corner.

This time it’s on the right. Iwobi clips it deliberately towards Smith Rowe, unmarked 10 yards out at the near post. He watches the bounce and twists his body to crack a shot that hits Guehi and flies over the bar. Lovely effort though, a variation on the old Anderton/Sheringham corner.

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A terrific finish from Jarrod Bowen gave West Ham the lead, but Georginio Rutter’s late equaliser rescued a point for a disappointing Brighton

“Celebrating the resurgence of West Ham is a bit premature, chides Eric Peterson. “They’re on a three-game winless streak, with those games against: a sinking Bournemouth, a floundering Manchester United, and an imploding Liverpool. Facing Brighton, which hadn’t lost since October before running into an irresistible Aston Villa, will provide a sterner, and truer, test.”

They’re much better than they were; United battered Brighton; and Villa were not irresistible in midweek. I don’t think West Ham will go down, do you?

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Unusually devoid of creativity, Brighton had found themselves imprisoned within Nuno Espírito Santo’s tactical cage, falling right into his hands. Jarrod Bowen, so often West Ham’s talisman, scored the goal, executing the masterplan from the narrowest of angles, perfectly executing the counterattacking strategy. Slowly but surely, still staring demotion in the face, Nuno’s team look capable of fighting their way to safety. His plan had come together so well that Bowen’s goal was supplied by a substitute in Callum Wilson, on the field for just 51 seconds. His masterplan fell short when the Amex, the home of late goals, staged yet another comeback, Georginio Rutter roofing the equaliser amid the type of madcap scramble that is commonplace at Brighton.

Before a late surge that had seemed wholly beyond them, Brighton could not muster a shot on target. Their ambitions of returning to the European stage they graced in the 2023-24 season are being hindered by inconsistency. West Ham were in Europe that season, too, though horizons are lowered. Leeds’ form has deepened relegation worries and they were denied the three points they needed to close the gap by Rutter’s equaliser.

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Leeds came from behind twice to deny Liverpool, whose defence imploded once again

1 min: Bradley shields the ball on the right touchline, only to be skittled by Gruev. Szoboszlai swings in the free kick … but it’s not very good. It’s half-cleared by the first man, then Ekitike is caught offside.

A quick blast of the piccolo-fest Marching On Together … then Liverpool get the ball rolling. A fantastic atmosphere.

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