Bournemouth take on leaders Arsenal on Saturday while Manchester City host Chelsea in Sunday’s big game
Saturday 12.30pm Sky Sports Premier League Venue Villa Park
Continue reading...Crystal Palace seal club-record £35m Brennan Johnson transfer from Spurs
Manager Glasner pleased club got deal done swiftly
Johnson says he is ‘super excited’ to make move
Oliver Glasner credited Crystal Palace’s hierarchy for completing the signing of Brennan Johnson from Tottenham for a club record £35m on the second day of the transfer window.
The Wales forward has a four-and-a-half-year deal and is expected to be part of Palace’s squad that will face Newcastle on Sunday. Glasner has made no secret of his desire to bolster the FA Cup winners after a demanding debut campaign in Europe and has criticised Palace’s lack of preparedness in previous transfer windows. But the Austrian manager said he was delighted with the signing of the 24-year-old after Palace saw off competition from Bournemouth.
Continue reading...Sunderland 0-0 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened
Pep Guardiola’s team could find no way past Sunderland at a rowdy Stadium of Light
Regis Le Bris also spoke to Sky: “A few weeks ago we struggled because they were really good and efficient through their counter pressing. I hope we learnt the lesson but it will be another experience at home with another energy so we’ll see.”
Pep Guardiola has been speaking to Sky: “Tough place and it means that anyone could win here. Hopefully we can perform. Josko [Gvardiol] had a few niggles, an incredible run of playing every three days and Savinho has speed and is fresh.
Continue reading...Tom Cairney earns Fulham a point at Crystal Palace with late leveller
It’s a strange quirk of this fixture that the away side hasn’t lost for the last 10 Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and Fulham, with substitute Tom Cairney’s late equaliser ensuring that streak goes on.
Only a brilliant save in added time from Dean Henderson and a glaring miss from former Palace player Joachim Andersen denied Marco Silva’s side all the points after falling behind to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first goal from open play since 1 November. But Oliver Glasner was still bitterly disappointed that his team couldn’t end a sequence of six games without a victory in all competitions after running out of steam again in their 31st match of the season. “We are a little bit in survival mode,” admitted the Palace manager, whose team now faces three games in the space of seven days.
Continue reading...What I have learned from watching all 20 Premier League teams this season | John Brewin
Set pieces on the rise, fans transformed to customers and conspiracies seen in every decision – is football losing its fun?
English football has always mirrored the passions, conflicts, identities and inequalities of the age. After the golden 1960s, the decay of the 1970s and ensuing disasters of the 1980s came the cap-sleeved, rebounding self-confidence of the 1990s. The 21st century so far has taken in globalisation and wanton commercialism. After that rabid, often reckless push for continued growth, society and the game alight on the uncertainties that encapsulated 2025.
To catch the 20 Premier League clubs in live action this season, and this writer completed the full set on Tuesday witnessing Arsenal’s second-half demolition of Aston Villa, has been a study in that uncertainty. From the grumbling of fans, to the ever-fragile egos of managers, to players slugging through the gristle of 90 minutes of hard-pressing slog, a leading question comes to mind: is anyone actually still enjoying this?
Continue reading...January transfer window 2026: what every Premier League club needs
Aston Villa have a decision to make about Harvey Elliott, Brentford have money to spend and Burnley and Everton need goalscorers
A busy summer with the arrival of more than £250m in reinforcements has proved to be invaluable given the number of injuries that have hit Arsenal, particularly in defence. But that also makes any more expensive incomings unlikely in January, especially after the timely return of the influential Gabriel Magalhães this week. A loan signing or two could be on the cards, however, with Arsenal not having filled either slot so far after bringing in Neto from Bournemouth and Raheem Sterling from Chelsea last season. Mikel Arteta could do with more cover at right-back and must also decide whether to allow Ethan Nwaneri to go on loan with the 18-year-old having made only three starts in all competitions. Ed Aarons
Continue reading...Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened
Arsenal swatted third-placed Villa aside with a swashbuckling second-half display
3 min: Odegaard tries to release Trossard into the Villa box down the inside-left channel. Clank. Goal kick, so another chance for the home fans to indulge their love of interactive festive theatre.
1 min: Villa work the ball back to their keeper Martinez, formerly of Arsenal. The Argentinian World Cup winner cops the expected abuse. It is pantomime season, to be fair.
Continue reading...Krejci grabs point for Wolves as Manchester United continue to flounder
Manchester United missed eight frontline players so Wolves, who arrived as the Premier League’s bottom team with only two points, seemed ideal opponents. Yet Ruben Amorim’s side struggled – badly – and while Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire headed those unavailable, the display still provokes questions regarding United’s cohesion.
In the contest’s closing phase they were potent only sporadically – as throughout. Their opening-half strike was a fortunate Joshua Zirkzee finish – it rebounded in off Ladislav Krejci.
Continue reading...Are Aston Villa genuine title contenders? – Football Weekly podcast
Max Rushden is joined by Jacob Steinberg, Sam Dalling and John Brewin as Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all win at the top of the Premier League
Continue reading...‘We should have pulled the Big Sam ripcord’: Premier League fans assess the season so far
The Guardian’s fans’ network on 2025-26 at the half-way stage: best games, worst setbacks, and their January window wish lists
Story so far It would be pretty churlish to be anything other than super-chuffed, with those displays over Bayern Munich and our neighbours among the highlights. But, as we know, there are no prizes for being top at Christmas. Our success so far has largely been due to our defensive resilience; it’s the most talented squad we’ve had in many a moon but we’ve only shone going forward in fits and spurts. Find that spark on a consistent basis and we really will be firing.
Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5
Continue reading...Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened
Archie Gray scored his first senior goal as Spurs toughed out a much-needed London derby win
It’s a cold day in London, and Selhurst awaits the teams, who are both in the tunnel and will enter the pitch from the corner.
Richard Hirst gets in touch: “Watching the video of John Robertson in the piece you linked to I was reminded not only of his ability but also of the state of the pitches. It really was a different game then: maybe football did begin in 1992!”
Continue reading...Archie Gray heads Spurs to victory at Crystal Palace to ease pressure on Frank
Eighteen months can be a very long time in football – especially if you are still a teenager. After a mixed start to life in north London, Archie Gray could not have picked a better occasion to score his first Tottenham goal since joining from Leeds in the summer of 2024 than his 60th appearance. With Thomas Frank already showing signs of not being the first Spurs manager to have been overwhelmed by expectations after a run of just one win in their previous eight Premier League matches, Gray’s scrappy header in the first half ensured that a topsy-turvy year ended with a victory that lifts his side to within one point of Crystal Palace in the table.
Of the 20 goals that Oliver Glasner’s side have conceded this season in the league, 12 have come from set-pieces and Palace have now failed to win any of their last five matches as a packed schedule has finally caught up with them. But this was all about Gray as the 19-year-old midfielder who left the pitch to a standing ovation and big hug from Frank after becoming the youngest Englishman to score for Tottenham in the Premier League since a certain Dele Alli in January 2016.
Continue reading...Sunderland 1-1 Leeds United: Premier League – as it happened
Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his purple patch for Leeds, who had the better of an entertaining draw
1 min Leeds, in their blue change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.
There’s a minute’s silence for Patrick Treuer, a non-executive director of the club who has died aged just 52.
Continue reading...Jiménez rouses Fulham to leave Nuno’s hapless West Ham in desperation zone
Raúl Jiménez deepened West Ham’s relegation worries as Fulham snatched victory with five minutes remaining, his second goal in two matches giving Fulham a third straight win. The West Ham youngster Ollie Scarles was in tears after his mistake handed Fulham the victory and deepened his side’s relegation fears.
Manchester City’s lunchtime win at Nottingham Forest gave the Hammers the chance to cut the gap to 17th place to just two points. But instead they remain five points adrift of the last safe spot after the first of a run of supposedly winnable games, with Brighton and Forest still to come to east London, either side of a trip to rock-bottom Wolves.
Continue reading...Arsenal 2-1 Brighton, Liverpool 2-1 Wolves, Senegal 1-1 DR Congo, and more – as it happened
An exciting day north and south of the border as title-chasing Arsenal, Manchester City and Celtic all won … but Hearts came a cropper in the Edinburgh derby
In Scotland, Hearts are making a go of things in the derby at Easter Road. Lawrence Shankland pulled one back on 75 minutes. That seemed no more than a consolation, but Cammy Devlin has made it 3-2 on 89 minutes, and there will be six additional minutes. Is an absurd comeback on?
Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhate, Jakobs, Idrissa Gueye, Pape Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Mane, Jackson.
Subs: Diaw, Lamine Camara, Ciss, Dia, Diallo, Diarra, El Hadji Diouf, Yehvann Diouf, Mbaye, Antoine Mendy, Cherif Ndiaye, Sabaly, Pape Sarr, Mamadou Sarr, Seck.