Arsenal v Newcastle: Unai Emery’s incessant tinkering is proving a hidden strength March 31, 2019 In the Premier League’s current climate, new managers are expected to revolutionise the way their team plays, implementing an attractive style of football and instilling a work ethic that often involves pressing high up the pitch. Under Unai Emery this season, Arsenal have been accused of failing to follow that blueprint and told that they [...]
Strike partnerships: Is the Premier League entering a new era of famous front twos? March 10, 2019 Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke; Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright; Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton – aka the SAS. Some of the Premier League’s best teams have been propelled by brilliant strike partnerships. As those names indicate, however, the heyday of the front two came in the mid to late 1990s. Recent years have instead [...]
With nine games to go, the battle for the Premier League Golden Boot looks set to go down to the wire March 7, 2019 At the front of every great team there is a goalscorer, charged with converting the team's chances into goals and delivering moments of quality that can change the course of a game. While the battle for the Premier League crown looks set to go down to the wire, there is another race that is starting [...]
Jurgen Klopp blames windy conditions after Liverpool blow chance to regain Premier League lead March 3, 2019 A prickly Jurgen Klopp preferred to focus on the blustery conditions inside Goodison Park after his team drew 0-0 with Everton on Sunday but there is no escaping the conclusion that the Premier League title that Liverpool so crave is slipping from their grasp. Having fuelled hope of a first top-flight crown since 1990 by [...]
Editor’s Notes: Let’s hear it from the New Democrats and Reagan Republicans March 1, 2019 Back in 2015, I was convinced the UK was heading for another hung parliament. The following year I expected a comfortable Remain victory in the EU referendum. A few months later, turning to the US, I was certain that Hillary Clinton would trounce Donald Trump at the ballot box. Then, just to compound things, I [...]
Improving Arsenal aiming to repeat finest hour of Unai Emery’s reign against stuttering Tottenham February 28, 2019 This was more like it. After a sticky opening double header, Unai Emery had crowned a 19-game unbeaten run with a watershed 4-2 triumph over Tottenham that suggested not only a challenge to Spurs’ new-found superiority in north London but also a successful transition to the post-Wenger era at Arsenal. It wasn’t just the result, [...]
Trevor Steven: Arsenal must prioritise a top four finish in the Premier League over European exploits February 19, 2019 The season starts here for Arsenal. The next seven days will be vital to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and they have three winnable games. If they don't return to Europe's elite competition next year then this campaign will have to be seen as a disappointment. They face BATE Borisov, Southampton and [...]
Never mind the Big Six, it’s all about the Premier League’s Big Three as Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham underline gulf in quality February 10, 2019 We all know about the Big Six, the Premier League’s half a dozen richest clubs who monopolise the top places in the table, effectively creating a two-tier division of haves and have-nots. It’s plain to see in the current rankings, with the biggest gap between positions anywhere in the top flight being the 12 points [...]
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City become first Premier League clubs to install pioneering Intel True View technology February 7, 2019 It’s the world’s most watched sporting competition, but now the Premier League’s billions of viewers are about to get a new way to consume every goal, assist and save. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have become the first clubs in English football to sign up for Intel’s True View technology, which uses an array of [...]
Five talking points from Sunday’s Premier League matches: Manchester City dispel title doubts, Arsenal losing ground, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford inspire Manchester United, Leicester in limbo February 3, 2019 It took just 50 seconds for Sergio Aguero and Manchester City to dispel the notion that that the midweek defeat at Newcastle was anything other than an aberration; one of those freakish results that even the best teams usually succumb to once a season. City penned in Arsenal, Aymeric Laporte whipped the ball across goal [...]