Chelsea 0-1 Valencia: Barkley misses late penalty as Blues fall flat at Stamford Bridge September 17, 2019 There were bound to be stern words in the Stamford Bridge home dressing room tonight after Ross Barkley took it upon himself to take a late penalty, only to waste a gilt-edged chance to equalise in a disappointing defeat against Valencia. The England midfielder, fresh off the bench, waved away regular – and reliable – [...]
Home form, a solid tactical base and key men: Norwich City have a template for survival September 17, 2019 For Norwich, beating champions Manchester City 3-2 on Saturday was more than just a big result; it was a reminder that anything is possible in the Premier League. That’s a lovely message to get into the dressing room of a promoted side at this stage of the season. The big teams won’t always play well [...]
Watford 2-2 Arsenal: Five things we learned as Sanchez Flores enjoys bounce September 15, 2019 New manager bounce is not reserved for brand new managers, as Quique Sanchez Flores proved on Sunday when his second spell at Watford began with a rousing come-from-behind draw with Arsenal. Trailing 2-0 against the run of play after two Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goals in the first 32 minutes, it looked like being a bittersweet return [...]
Norwich win over Man City highlighted all that’s exciting about new season September 15, 2019 There is an invigorating unfamiliarity to the new Premier League season, with some eye-catching displays from the promoted teams introducing a new cast of exciting players and, most surprisingly of all, a feeble start to their title defence from Manchester City. Norwich City’s improbable 3-2 victory over City on Saturday evening wrapped all of those [...]
Quique Sanchez Flores’ Watford return is fraught with complications after frosty exit in 2016 September 12, 2019 When Watford wrote in their parting statement with manager Quique Sanchez Flores in May 2016 that he “leaves with all our best wishes for the future and the knowledge he is always welcome at Vicarage Road” it appeared a generic gesture of good will. But three years and three months – and three managers – [...]
Crystal Palace’s trip to Tottenham is a chance to continue their remarkable record on the road September 12, 2019 Every season the first international break interrupts the flow of the new Premier League season, putting it on hold after just four matches. It tends to leave the league table in peculiar shape, this time with Leicester City and Crystal Palace in the top four, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United languishing in mid-table, and Watford [...]
England 5-3 Kosovo: Three Lions show all their colours in wide-open thriller at St Mary’s September 10, 2019 Fans often moan that international football is boring, that games are one-sided and that results are predictable. Those gripes were nowhere to be heard tonight as England and Kosovo served up an absurdly open, seesawing and incident-packed eight-goal thriller at St Mary’s. It was a crazy Euro 2020 qualifier which had it all, displaying all [...]
Jadon Sancho can relieve England’s reliance on Raheem Sterling if given chance ahead of Marcus Rashford September 8, 2019 It sounds pernickety to demand more from a football team that has just won 4-0, taking their record in the current competition to: played three; won three; goals for: 14; goals against: one. But such is the nature of major tournament qualifying matches that England did not need to conjure an abundance of chances to [...]
Home affairs: All five British Isles teams can still reach Euro 2020 and lend tournament a distinctly British flavour September 5, 2019 For a tournament that is supposed to be pan-continental there is already a distinctly British flavour to next summer’s European Championship. Of 51 matches, 10 will be staged in London or Glasgow, with Wembley hosting both semi-finals and the final. But the Britishness could yet go up several notches, with all five British Isles teams [...]
The great Premier League giveaway: Why Sky Sports are handing over free highlights on YouTube September 4, 2019 Premier League football is an expensive commodity and to extract every ounce of its value broadcasters need to innovate. In February last year Sky Sports pledged £3.6bn to buy 128 live matches per season in the 2019-22 rights cycle. That might have worked out as a reduction from its previous deal – £4.2bn for 126 [...]