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We’re a fickle bunch, aren’t we? Not long ago rage against Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka was in vogue with passing out the back trickling down to League Two.

Now Arsenal are doing us dirty, flooding the six-yard box for corners, scoring from a joint-record 16 of them, and leaving Tony Pulis wondering if he’d be a Premier League title-winning manager were he born 20 years later.

Arsenal get blamed for games they aren’t even playing – that’s when you know you’ve made it – while the hate only gets louder the closer they edge to a first league title for 22 years.

It’s March, Arsenal are still fighting on four fronts, and yet what has proven contagious across the Premier League has also been deemed boring. Sky Sports ushered in Yaya Toure on Sunday, seemingly from an Emirates hospitality box, and he spat out truths against the product that very broadcaster is trying to sell.

“I feel a bit disappointed… We see three goals by set-pieces, for a derby it’s strange,” he said, looking exasperated, and with his woolly hat on, as if he would rather be heading home. “Winning was important for Arsenal, but as a fan I want to see more.”

"I'm a bit disappointed… three goals from set-pieces, a bit strange for a derby!"

Yaya Toure wanted to 'see more' from Arsenal's performance in their win against Chelsea today pic.twitter.com/6zGawzpIdB

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

A Manchester City voice railing against the Arsenal way only deepened the sense among Gunners fans that everyone is against them.

The fact this lends to siege mentality can actually work wonders, with Mikel Arteta already joking about being “very upset” his side did not score a set-piece goal in the win over Sunderland last month, but does this style bother the paying Arsenal fans?

“Many people just do not care but equally many people are finding it very tough to enjoy,” Arsenal fan Moh Haider tells The i Paper.

“It is not an easy on the eye experience watching Arsenal under Arteta this season, but I have constantly reminded myself this season that it’s the title that’s important, not the style.”

Arsenal’s wait for a league title has become more painful with each near miss, and after the Invincibles were dismantled and a softer, leader-less generation followed, they have become ripe for ridicule regardless of whether the football has been nice on the eye or geared around set pieces.

It is a prevalent theme among Arsenal supporters therefore that they would rather win playing ugly than be mocked for playing beautiful football and falling short.

“We’ve played enough good football over the years and not been rewarded for it,” says James Clark. “At the time people used to call us soft and say we didn’t have what it takes to be winners.

“Now we’re doing whatever it takes to win we’re being called boring… I’d rather see beautiful football but winning is the priority right now.”

Arsenal blogger Sash adds: “I’ve seen the team play liquid football from 2007-2018 but it led to nothing. We didn’t come close to competing for a league title and got embarrassed in Europe.

“Part of the reason we play this way in my opinion is pressure… The team is finding ways to get results. It’s 53 games so far this season across all competitions and only three defeats.

“I can understand why that must be frustrating for rivals when they’re used to seeing us get embarrassed for the best part of the last 22 years. So from my side there’s no frustration with the perspective that’s out there.”

The apparent anger against Arsenal’s style is also “disingenuous” according to another fan, Rory Cook.

“We were mocked and criticised for years, for playing pretty football but ultimately having a soft underbelly and not winning when it mattered,” he says. “Now Arsenal are physically dominant and finding ways to win games, it’s a huge problem.”

From the outside, the hate reads like jealousy, and Gooners would be right to feel that way too.

Surely any fan swaps style for substance if it meant ending two decades of being the butt of jokes?

The main risk of course is falling short again, particularly with Manchester City in the mood, but what is proving a winning formula for Arsenal is hardly going to be altered with less than three months to go.

Even if rival fans say they will remember, history soon forgets the manner of how silverware is won.

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Brentford, currently seventh in the Premier League, are still a byword for shrewd management, forward-planning and general business sense.

Keith Andrews has just signed a new contract with the west London outfit until 2032, with the Bees chasing European football. Employing the former set-piece coach at the beginning of 2025-26 to replace Thomas Frank was viewed as speculative, but only from the casual observer.

Andrews knows Brentford intimately. They have essentially built a 4-5-1 system with Igor Thiago as the focal point. Passes, long and short, to the £30m striker, who has delivered 17 goals this season, are bearing fruit. The Brazilian’s response to the Bees’ faith in him after a season-long injury, occurred after his arrival in a 2024 pre-season friendly, is remarkable.

Thiago’s presence has been so potent that memories of heralded ex-stars of recent years, such as Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and the famous “BMW” – Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins – are already fading.

Andrews’ major tweak

Thiago, recently linked with Chelsea, has extended his Brentford deal. Any notions of a sudden switch across west London would therefore come at a massive premium.

Unlike Frank, Andrews appears more pragmatic in managing players’ game time and is very aligned with all his backroom staff in this, his first head coach post. As engaging as he was, there were suggestions Frank, after almost seven years at Brentford, was perhaps “bigger” than the club.

Niggly injuries to key players are evaporating within Andrews’ culture. Mikkel Damsgaard, a stellar midfielder last term, is injury prone, so the Danish international is being handled with care. The same applies to Vitaly Janelt, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Kristoffer Ajer.

Christian Norgaard was another who played through a pain barrier before leaving for Arsenal last summer, where he has not featured regularly. Moreover, during Frank’s short spell at Tottenham, injuries on an industrial scale were an issue. While this is perhaps coincidental, few players are likely to experience burnout under Andrews’ watch.

Brentford’s transfer plans

No major splashes are anticipated this summer. Andrews will recall left-back Jayden Meghoma, currently on loan at Rangers, as a potential successor to Henry, whose contract is up at the end of this campaign.

Other likely solutions are already wedded to Brentford. Sources close to the club have high hopes for both attacking midfielders Antoni Milambo and Romelle Donovan.

The recycling may continue with a possible exit for Fabio Carvalho, who has only flattered to deceive. Kevin Schade, Ethan Pinnock, Mathias Jensen and Ajer, linked with Wolfsburg, could join him in the departure lounge.

Conversely, Dango Ouattara should add more threat in support of Thiago, and Sepp van den Berg already seems like a long term Brentford bulwark. A £20m fee to Liverpool last August for the 24-year-old is money expertly invested for years.

Andrews, like any other manager, may not be able to predict an exact future, but the Bees remain at enviable altitude.

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Manchester United’s Man of the Match in the 1968 European Cup final is struggling to pay his medical bills – 12 months on from Sir Jim Ratcliffe cutting funding from an organisation that helps former players in need.

The Association of Former Manchester United Players (AFMUP) was set up in 1985 to raise money for charities and to help out when ex-stars need help. However, it is now facing extinction after Ratcliffe withdrew the club’s annual £40,000 donation.

It was part of Ineos’ wider cost-cutting measures and at the time it was announced, it seemed like just another PR disaster for the United co-owner. One year on, the consequences of Ratcliffe’s cuts are being felt.

John Aston, 78 – who edged George Best to the Man of the Match prize in United’s 1968 triumph – has just had a stroke, remaining in hospital having also contracted sepsis.

“When the old boys found out about John’s illness, they gave £5,000, all they could manage, to help buy a wheelchair,” Aston’s wife Gaynor tells The i Paper.

“United, to their credit, matched it. Otherwise, we are self-funding as we are not eligible for government help. If I want to get him home – better to care for him here – we’re looking at costs of £80 per visit from essential nurses, four times a day. I just don’t know how we’ll manage.”

The AFMUP would ordinarily be able offer more financial support for the Aston family, but the reduced funding has left them in a precarious position.

“We’re determined to bring the AFMUP back from the brink,” filmmaker and committee member John Gubba tells The i Paper.

“We had to cancel two dinners and one golf day last year as a result of the funding being taken away and the future looked bleak. It seems like a small amount but over the years the AFMUP turned £40,000 sponsorship from United into more than £2m – by using it to stage those fundraising dinners and golf days.”

The AFMUP normally hold four events per year, but after losing United’s £40,000 donation, they cancelled two events as they struggled to pay for venues and catering.

The i Paper has been told that despite funding being withdrawn, United’s involvement in the last two AFMUP dinners helped to boost fundraising efforts. Chief executive Omar Berrada attended last April’s event alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville, Andy Cole and Jonny Evans. Director of football Jason Wilcox was at September’s dinner. Raffle prizes were donated for both evenings.  

The AFMUP have also helped to support the family of Tony Dunne, another star of the 1968 final, who passed away in 2020. The Dunne family were struggling to cover funeral costs, so the Association stepped in.

Gordon McQueen, who enjoyed a post-playing broadcast career before his recent passing, required assistance with some operations – the AFMUP also contributed to that.

Former United winger and AFMUP committee member Gordon Hill believes the club has a duty to help ex-players.

“The club has the museum and they charge quite a lot for entry,” he tells The i Paper.

“Yet nothing seems to come back to the people who made that history – us.

“We are that history. Without John Aston, United may not have won the European Cup, and millions of fans worldwide wouldn’t have started following the team.

“People who come to see United, especially from overseas, visit the museum. People who come to the city visit the museum. That’s our memorabilia, photos, history. And they make millions off that. Can’t they spare £40,000 for a good cause?

“I don’t dislike him [Ratcliffe]. I agree with him on some things. But he’s still got to realise it’s a football club and not a chemical company. It’s a community club.”

Former youth player, Aaron Burns, still only in his 30s, has joined the AFMUP to help modernise operations. At the organisation’s next self-funded event in April, they are banking on recently retired former stars like Wayne Rooney attending. Bryan Robson and Steve Bruce will be special guests. There are also plans in place to seek out sponsorships and other revenue streams to help the AFMUP rebuild.

“We refuse to let the association die,” Gubba adds. “If Ratcliffe doesn’t reinstate the funds, we’ll find another way to carry on so we can raise more money to give to charities and to help fund medical treatment and other things for former players.

“Our next dinner at Old Trafford on 16 April definitely goes ahead. We owe it to the former players who started this charity over 40 years ago to carry on. And there are many others like John Aston who will need our help.”

After retiring, Aston – whose father also played for United – did not stay in football and ended up running a pet shop in Derbyshire.

“I’m not going round with the begging bowl, we don’t want that,” Gaynor Aston adds.

“We are just trying to do all we can. John has had his last rites twice, but he is a fighter. I just want him home.”

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Iran’s participation in the World Cup is hardly the first item on the agenda of a country at war. Not that the threatened withdrawal of Iran under protest at the military onslaught by the United States and Israel would unduly discomfit Fifa. There are plenty of replacement teams from Fifa’s Asian Confederation forming a queue.

The power of the Iranian threat lies in its symbolism, highlighting the hypocrisy of President Donald Trump as an emissary of peace and the rank absurdity of the Fifa Peace Prize and its originator, never mind and the inaugural recipient of it.

Of course Fifa president Gianni Infantino does not have a crystal ball and was not to know Trump would unleash hell in the Middle East when he was polishing his trinket in the Oval Office, so to speak.

The removal of the Venezuelan head of state Nicolas Maduro in January was hardly a selling point and now the World Cup of Peace has to contend with an all-out attack on Iran on grounds that appear specious.

There are few outside the complex of the theocratic government and Revolutionary Guard that mourn the passing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But dislike of an abhorrent regime is hardly grounds for taking out the leadership, however popular the move.

The world is braced for the consequences as the Iranian regime fights for its very existence.

In this context the World Cup is of nil significance, yet such is the way of things with global sporting galas being hijacked by the political class, the big Fifa party in the United States, Mexico and Canada, is inevitably dragged into the discourse.

This is especially the case since Trump’s fawning champion Infantino has placed the American president front and centre of his marketing campaign.

This taints the tournament by association, exacerbating the material difficulties already bubbling to the surface.

The stadium in Foxborough, a small town near Boston, is scheduled to stage seven matches, yet unless the £5.5m security bill is met by federal funding it ain’t happening, according to the town’s chairwoman, Stephanie McGowan.

The deadline is 17 March. Foxborough is not a big enough municipality to benefit from the GDP boost promised because fans commute from outside, essentially from Boston.

“This is not a money maker for this town. In fact it’s probably more of a headache than it’s worth,” she said.

Federal funding is also an issue for fan parks.

Congress has allocated more than £400m across 11 host cities but none has yet to receive a penny, prompting organisers in Miami, Kansas City and New Jersey, where the final is to be played, to raise their concerns.

You wonder why fans would risk being out in public spaces anyway, under the influence of Fifa sponsor Budweiser or not, with the ever present threat of ICE agent deployment. You wouldn’t want to be reaching for your autograph pen and have it interpreted as a lethal weapon.

Mercifully, Minnesota is not among the host cities, but should some hosts pull the plug in these uncertain times, who knows which replacement stadium might come forward?

Iran’s national women’s team is currently at the Asian Cup in Australia, and according to reports, understandably feeling the strain of representing a nation under fire, and one complicated by the widespread distrust and hatred of the regime.

Reports of a possible boycott by the men’s team, that is scheduled to play the opening two group games in Los Angeles and the third in Seattle, are sourced to comments made on state television by the president of the national football federation.

“It’s hard to look forward with hope,” Mehdi Taj said, adding that ultimately the decision will be handed down from above. 

Meanwhile we hold our breath whilst Fifa’s peace lord continues to let go the white doves of war across the Middle East.

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Distill the archetypal moments of Jordan Pickford’s career into one five-second reel and you could not design it to be more perfect. A flinging Superman dive to tip the ball onto the bar to save Everton two points.

A flexed muscle celebration that he would possibly have done at every ground but you better believe that St James’ Park was its natural stage. The more you doubt me, the sillier I will make you look. Pickford called it his greatest ever save.

There is a misconception that this is Pickford displaying his natural cockiness; I don’t buy that. At England camps, when he speaks, confidence is certainly exuded naturally because it fuels his performance.

But the two main impressions are of a man loving what he does with an added tinge of daft lad energy that cuts through the very important business of football. Pickford takes his game seriously. He does not take himself too seriously.

Still on repeat. pic.twitter.com/73ow3XcBfE

— Everton (@Everton) March 1, 2026

Pickford’s club career has been atypical; no doubt. From boyhood club to Everton to Everton to Everton and on, a recent contract signed until 2029 at which point he’ll likely be closing in on 500 Premier League matches.

It is unusual for any consistent England regular to never finish in the top seven of a domestic league, least of all the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper. Maybe that will change this season; Everton have a chance.

Again, that will be mis-sold as either a lack of talent or a lack of ambition. The best theory, I think, is that Pickford values being valued and understands that he is at his best when he’s busy.

In a sport often overly sanitised at the top level, a sea of media speak cliches, Pickford still has the vibe of the kid at school who always wanted to go in goal so they could get as muddy as possible.

Pickford’s consistency of availability is extraordinary. Almost all of his peers have missed time through injury, particularly after they hit 30. Pickford last missed a Premier League game in September 2022 – 12,150 unbroken minutes and counting (lots more if you add in stoppage time).

But it’s the consistency of performance that is most impressive. Pickford was named Everton’s Player of the Year in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. He finished third last season in the same voting, but will be in the conversation this season. Only two Premier League goalkeepers have “saved” their clubs more points this season according to the quality of shots faced.

The crucial point of those three individual honours? Everton finished 16th, 17th and 15th in the three seasons: four, two and 14 points above the bottom three. It is inarguable that Everton would have been relegated from the Premier League without him, and what then?

Pickford covered up for the vast flaws around and above him, the recruitment mess and the ownership farce. More than anyone else, he has allowed Everton to enjoy a new era in a new stadium.

Has Pickford’s reputation slightly suffered from being so front and centre of the England team for so long? Probably. Over the course of this summer, he will surpass Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton to become the longest-serving England No 1 in the history of the national team.

It is a phenomenal achievement by a player who has rarely, if ever, let England down. But being a pillar of a side that never quite achieves what everybody desperately craves comes with its own caveats.

Pickford deserves better. Last week on Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher picked his top 10 Premier League goalkeepers and there were, obviously, some high-profile omissions: Joe Hart, Shay Given, Brad Friedel, Nigel Martyn, Jussi Jaaskelainen. But so too Pickford.

My top 10 Premier League goalkeepers

• 1) Petr Cech
• 2) Peter Schmeichel
• 3) Edwin van der Sar
• 4) David Seaman
• 5) Alisson Becker
• 6) David de Gea
• 7) Ederson
• 8) Shay Given
• 9) Jordan Pickford
• 10) Brad Friedel

I’d sneak him in there. I suspect that will draw just as much opprobrium as Carragher’s list, because getting a bit too angry about things that ultimately don’t matter is our greatest national sport.

But there’s something inherently appealing about a guy who so obviously loves what he does and is so obviously excellent at doing it. The infectious enthusiasm, the strength of personality and the big saves at big moments. Bring on another penalty shootout this summer.

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A very fun Premier League weekend indeed, despite everybody involved in the title race winning and everybody still in the relegation battle losing. Arsenal and Manchester City were forced to go through it during narrow wins, but the goals flowed elsewhere.

Liverpool and Manchester United were the big winners, given Chelsea and Aston Villa lost. Everton and Brentford won away to fuel unlikely European pushes while Igor Tudor and Vitor Pereira both lost their second matches in charge of haunted clubs.

And here’s to Wolverhampton Wanderers, for moving past Derby County’s record low points total and finally enjoying a night at Molineux that supporters have waited all season for.

Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…

This weekend’s results

• Wolves 2-0 Aston Villa
• Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland
• Burnley 3-4 Brentford
• Liverpool 5-2 West Ham
• Newcastle 2-3 Everton
• Leeds 0-1 Man City
• Brighton 2-1 Nott’m Forest
• Fulham 2-1 Tottenham
• Man Utd 2-1 Crystal Palace
• Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea

Wolves’ points record nightmare is over

It seems strange to describe a home win in February as a breakout night, but that was definitely the mood at Molineux on Friday. Wolves were excellent throughout, took their chance and then defended manfully until the late breakaway added gloss.

This matters because of the mood, obviously: retaining an ability to beat higher-end Premier League teams should make everybody feel far more confident about next season in the Championship. But it also took Wolves beyond Derby County’s 11-point record low total for any English team in a three-points-for-a-win season.

Sheffield Wednesday will eclipse that, but Wolves can no longer be described as the worst team in Premier League history. For the first third of the season, they seemed unlikely to escape the moniker. Since then, they haven’t even been the worst team this season.

Burnley dealt a hammer blow to survival hopes

At 4-3 up, which Burnley were for around five minutes of VAR faffery, Burnley had a shot at staying up and Turf Moor could feel it: five points behind Nottingham Forest and a sensational comeback completed.

Ultimately, both decisions were correct. The VAR intrusion annoys me as much as it does you, but Jaidon Anthony was just offside and the ball hit the arm of a goalscorer. It does not feel fair because of the circumstances and because the original “minimum interference” mantra of VAR has been badly lost. But still: both decisions were correct.

That wounds Burnley even more than losing 3-1 would have. They had a sliver of salvation and now they have nothing. It is the story of their season again: defensive lapses, fight and resilience but ultimately falling short.

West Ham’s corner issues are becoming farcical again

Nuno Espirito Santo accepted that it sounded silly to describe West Ham’s performance as positive despite losing 5-2, but he is also right. His side had the better chances in open play and the scoreline flattered Liverpool.

The problem? West Ham are dreadful again at defending corners; each of Liverpool’s first three goals came from them. They also completed a sorry hat-trick: conceding from the first, second and third phases of a corner move.

At the end of Saturday’s action, Bournemouth had conceded the second most goals from corners in the Premier League this season with nine. West Ham have now conceded 15. It does not matter how bright you are in open play if you are playing catch-up in every game because you cannot get the basics right.

Another weekend of Nottingham Forest’s insipid nothingness

It has been Nottingham Forest’s problem all season: an inability to create clear chances and an inability to finish the ones they occasionally do create. Vitor Pereira is here because Sean Dyche lost the players, but at least then there was some degree of defensive organisation.

Suddenly Forest do not look like they have anything at all. Neco Williams and Murillo were both very poor for Brighton’s goals; if that’s a hangover from Thursday night football then Forest are in huge trouble. Without defensive solidity they have nothing at all.

Morgan Gibbs-White pulls Forest's leveller right out of the top drawer! pic.twitter.com/nKwIq48tAo

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

And the last problem: teams can sit back against Forest and challenge them to create chances, fully confident that they will hold them at bay. When even the midfield isn’t functioning, being passed through at will, the only conclusion is that it will take West Ham or Spurs continuing to collapse between now and May for Forest to avoid the Championship.

Tudor’s team selections make no sense at Tottenham

For the second game in a row, I cannot even work out what Igor Tudor was aiming for with his team selection and shape. For the second game in a row, Spurs could have lost more heavily than the eventual end result. For the second game in a row, they should be mightily relieved that nobody else below them can win a game.

Tudor picked Solanke and Kolo Muani as a strike partnership, which made some sense, but then Solanke dropped so deep that he was ostensibly a midfielder with Kolo Muani isolated and frustrated. He picked Gallagher and Simons on the right and left of midfield, a niche strategy that gets the best out of neither.

It also left Spurs very open in central midfield; like Arsenal, Fulham were able to create clear chances simply by making one or two sensible forward passes. And if that wasn’t enough, they left Gray exposed at left-back because Simons tended to stay high up the pitch while offering nothing. That is just a mess.

Read more: The six damning signs that Tottenham look doomed to relegation

Good on Riemer for calling out Leeds’ grim boos

The only saving grace from Saturday was assistant manager Eddie Riemer choosing not to shy away from the incident, voicing his own displeasure in his post-match media interview.

After a fortnight in which Jose Mourinho committed a disgraceful dismissal of responsibility and victim-blaming over the alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr, good on Riemer for not taking a similar approach. Loyalty to a shirt must be overshadowed on issues greater than the importance of that shirt.

To read the full column on the booing of the Ramadan break at Elland Road, click here.

Crystal Palace suffer the misfortune of the fixture schedule

Crystal Palace knew that they would be stretched by their qualification for European competition. After all, that has been the theme of Oliver Glasner’s public rants over the last few months.

But Palace have also been done dirty by the Premier League fixture computer this season. Since 27 August, Palace have played nine league games directly after European matches. Their opponents in those nine games: Aston Villa (h), Everton (a), Arsenal (a), Brighton (h), Man Utd (h), Man City (a), Leeds (a), Wolves (h) and Man Utd (a).

Maxence Lacroix STUNS Old Trafford early doors! pic.twitter.com/TMnGXWhFc5

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

Six of those nine games were against teams currently in the top eight, plus also one of the harder away trips (Leeds) and their most important home game of the season (Brighton). Only the Wolves game could be labelled a comparatively gentle fixture. That can shape a season.

Read more: The moment VAR ruined yet another Crystal Palace game

The mood is turning at Newcastle

We know that Newcastle’s summer of transfer activity was an abject failure. Nick Woltemade isn’t scoring goals. Anthony Elanga isn’t beating a man because he is a counter-attacking winger. Jacob Ramsey is improving but then he offered next to nothing in the first half of the season.

The wider issue is whether Eddie Howe can turn around a run of form that he believes can be fought by attitude and application. A dreadful run away from home has now been complimented horribly by three straight home league defeats and the defending of the manager’s position beyond the end of this season is now rightly an open-ended question.

This club wants to go to the next level. Newcastle are now closer to the bottom three than the top five. These two statements are not compatible. Howe has been let down by the club’s recruitment, but his nephew was in charge of it and that paints him with the same failure.

Xhaka back and making a difference for Sunderland

No surprise that Sunderland ended a run of four defeats in five Premier League matches as soon as Granit Xhaka returned from injury.

Regis Le Bris has spoken about managing Xhaka’s minutes – understandable with little to play for in the league bar finishing above Newcastle – but he makes such a difference that the temptation will be to start him every time.

Sunderland have played 24 games in all competitions with Xhaka starting this season; they have lost five of them. They have played seven matches without him, lost four of them and beaten only Burnley (at home) and Oxford United in the FA Cup. He does the job of two players and leads the team through example.

Welbeck hits double figures for Brighton

The last striker aged 33 or over to score double figures in consecutive Premier League seasons was Jamie Vardy. Their two careers may have started as opposites, the non-league rise vs the Manchester United academy and fall, but Vardy and Danny Welbeck are both proof that talent will always find a way.

Welbeck now needs one more goal in the final 10 games of the season to reach his highest ever Premier League return. The key lies in the management of his minutes: Welbeck has only started 18 of Brighton’s 28 games but has appeared in all but one.

"An INCREDIBLE start to the game!"

Danny Welbeck puts Brighton back in front just seconds after conceding! pic.twitter.com/fxBsQ3dZ8t

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

Fabian Hurzeler has maintained Welbeck’s fitness and energy and in doing so refined a good striker into one that can lead the line and win games every time he is needed.

Jimenez growing into his own at Bournemouth

We have written a lot about Bournemouth’s attacking work this season, not least Rayan and Eli Junior Kroupi hitting the ground running with little experience. Far less has been said about Bournemouth’s new defenders.

So it is only right to give some love to Alex Jimenez, who had started only 14 league games in his career, mostly as a midfielder, before joining Bournemouth last summer. Andoni Iraola has used him as an attacking right-back and we are now seeing signs that he might be the next big Bournemouth player to arrive as a novice and quickly increase his value.

Against Sunderland, Jimenez made tackles and defended the right flank admirably. But it is the way he is forging a partnership with Rayan that is most exciting. Jimenez also created two chances and had three shots. The pair are aged 19 and 20; Bournemouth are at it again.

Diop epitomises the defensive depth at Fulham

Issa Diop had started two Premier League matches since October but was required due to the absence of Joachim Andersen. There have been doubts about Fulham’s squad depth in some positions – central midfield and full-back in particular – but in central defence they are sorted.

Diop was magnificent given his lack of minutes. Like Calvin Bassey – also brilliant on Sunday – they are “action” central defenders who like to be involved and enjoy stepping out to make tackles and interceptions but can also mop up behind.

"They're dancing at the Cottage!"

Alex Iwobi strikes a fabulous goal into the back of the net! pic.twitter.com/BhHMQ6oBPD

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

Bassey is the more adventurous with the ball, which helps, while Diop stays put and acts as the protection against counter attacks. This Fulham team under this manager just makes so much sense.

Everton’s Premier League great

Last week, Jamie Carragher picked his top 10 Premier League goalkeepers of all time on Monday Night Football and Alisson was the only current Premier League player included on the list.

I would have Jordan Pickford in there for his consistency and elite shot-stopping. Pickford probably suffers from playing at Sunderland and Everton and thus has played only six matches in European competition. But he is 31, already has almost 350 Premier League appearances and has so rarely let down his clubs or country that any criticism always appears deeply misguided.

Jordan Pickford with an OUTRAGEOUS stop

The Sunderland boy enjoying himself at St James' Park pic.twitter.com/Mo8ilRx4fi

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 28, 2026

The late save against Newcastle on Saturday, flinging himself to his right and touching the ball onto the crossbar, was absolutely extraordinary. Pickford is about to go second behind Peter Shilton for the longest spell as England’s undisputed No 1 and his last 18 months have been almost faultless.

Brentford’s best hope of qualifying for Europe

Mikkel Damsgaard was excellent for large portions of last season, but he has been the one disappointment of Keith Andrews’ first season in charge, at least compared to pre-season expectations.

On Saturday, in chaotic circumstances, Damsgaard was the game’s best player. He scored more than once in a league game for the first time since June 2020 (Nordsjaelland vs Aalborg).

He had more than three shots in a game for the first time since November 2024 (Brentford vs Leicester) and provided only his third assist since October. Getting a partnership between him and Igor Thiago is Brentford’s best hope of qualifying for Europe.

What do you think I’m going to say about Chelsea?

You will never guess, but Chelsea played quite well on Sunday. Joao Pedro was as involved as any Premier League centre-forward tends to get, a young defence did its job under huge pressure, although it is hot madness that the club spent a billion pounds to have that centre-back pairing and left-back. Reece James was magnificent – he might be the best crosser of the ball in the league right now.

And then Chelsea were undone because Robert Sanchez did something stupid and because someone lost their head to get sent off. The manner in which Sanchez and Pedro Neto complained so vociferously was genuinely hilarious, but Chelsea will not deserve to get Champions League football if they cannot keep hold of their emotions.

Pedro Neto is SENT OFF after a challenge on Gabriel Martinelli! pic.twitter.com/WtlPgwZQ2V

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

It is now nine different Chelsea players sent off this season, two missing from a complete bad boy XI. One more – which seems fairly inevitable – and they will break the record by any Premier League team in a single campaign. It is embarrassing.

All hail Liverpool’s new set-piece kings

According to Sky Sports, Alexis Mac Allister’s goal before half-time meant that Liverpool had scored seven consecutive league goals from set pieces. Not only is that the longest run of any side this season; it is the longest since Premier League data has been collected.

That is fascinating because Liverpool were terrible at attacking set-pieces in the first half of the season. It caused coach Aaron Briggs to leave the club and Arne Slot to overhaul how his team trained for those situations. That work is now paying dividends.

“In some games, when the game is stuck and you know you can score from a set piece – which we lacked in other moments – it’s very important,” Cody Gakpo said after the game, and he is right. It is not just that Arsenal have scored so many set-piece goals this season, but that so often that has been their method to crack open a game at 0-0. This is how you get cheap points and they are often the most valuable.

Without the long-range goals, what is Aston Villa’s attack?

It did not matter much that Aston Villa were creating fewer chances closer to goal than most of the teams around them when they were scoring from outside the penalty area in almost every game. But it sure feels like it matters now.

Ollie Watkins still doesn’t look sharp enough and the full-backs still aren’t able to get high enough up the pitch often enough to be the elite chance creators Villa need. When those two things combine, Villa are far too narrow and opposition managers now understand the need to crowd them out in the centre of the pitch.

The entire attack then centres around whether Morgan Rogers can find enough space on the edge of the box to shoot or play the perfect pass. On Friday, Rogers was sloppy and thus Villa were toothless. There is pressure coming from below.

The biggest winner of Carrick’s Man Utd revolution

Another weekend during which Michael Carrick didn’t do anything special but took steps forward because Ruben Amorim made this team look so desperately poor and uninventive that the bar was pushed down to floor level.

But Benjamin Sesko – and probably Harry Maguire too – has been the big winner of the Carrick regime. He was finally trusted to start after his super-sub role, and there were periods of the first half when he did get frustrated and starved of service.

Benjamin Šeško heads Manchester United in front for the first time this afternoon! pic.twitter.com/8Jy168e71z

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

Sesko is also a target man if United need that. While Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha prefer to dribble and play one-twos, there is clear benefit to Bruno Fernandes putting expert crosses into the box for a tall striker to challenge for. That is how United won the game. That might be why they get Champions League football.

Semenyo has become the leader of Man City’s attack

This has been an odd season for the Player of the Year award. If Arsenal win the title then Declan Rice probably deserves it. Erling Haaland has apparently had an off year by his standards yet is the league’s top goalscorer and has the second most assists.

But what about Antoine Semenyo? The supposition was that it may take him time to transition from being the biggest fish at Bournemouth to being part of a different system in Manchester. Instead, Semenyo has become the leader of City’s attack.

Semenyo has scored six goals in 11 games, including three times getting the first goal in the match. He is nominally starting off the left, but there is a growing penalty box element to his game that came to the fore on Saturday evening and reminds of how Pep Guardiola curated Raheem Sterling’s game.

Raya is in the form of his life for Arsenal

I do not think it is true to say that many Arsenal starters are playing at their highest level right now. Title races do funny things to minds and bodies and the Gunners are too on edge for anything to be comfortable.

But David Raya is in the form of his life and he was the best player against Chelsea on Sunday. The save from the corner before Chelsea’s equaliser, diving backwards, was phenomenal. The one from Joao Pedro (that would have been disallowed) before Liam Delap tucked the ball away was ludicrous. Last week Raya made another disgustingly good on-the-line save too. His last few weeks have been a highlights package and he is doing so despite the defenders creaking slightly.

A huge reflex stop from David Raya in stoppage-time! pic.twitter.com/Fjl5Y5THko

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

Raya is in a weird situation whereby he might just be the best goalkeeper in the world on current form and yet is not even first choice for his country in a World Cup year. Surely Luis de la Fuente might consider a switch?

Read more: Football needs a radical rethink if Arsenal keep winning like this

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Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea (Saliba 21′, Timber 66′ | Hincapie 45’+2 og, Neto red card 70′)

EMIRATES — Off he set down the touchline making the sign of last resort. “Has he checked it?” Liam Rosenior demanded of the fourth official. He was praying that someone at Stockley Park was in the ear of the referee.

Since it appears impossible for officials to distinguish legitimate force from acceptable defence, there was little chance of that. Coaches know this, of course, which is why they pack their teams with big lumps who excel at the back stick.

Rosenior can have no complaints given that Chelsea profited from the same mechanism, the set piece becoming the route to goal of least resistance, in this match the only route.

Jurrien Timber restores the Gunners' lead from another corner! pic.twitter.com/HWJlaDpEqM

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

In this era of uber athletes smashing into each other on perfect playing surfaces, it is a matter of considerable regret that a roll call of talent including Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice in red, Cole Palmer, Reece James and Moises Caicedo in blue, bounced off each other like Bambis on ice.

The players have never been better prepared, monster fit, attritional as Spartans, absolute cancel squads that bind opponents in grim patterns and ugly rhythms.

As a result the set piece becomes ever more significant and Arsenal are industry leaders in slotting from corners, their two goals here taking their total to a record equalling 16 in one Premier League campaign.

It ain’t pretty and relies on structured chaos designed to prevent the keeper from claiming the ball, and a large dose of caprice. William Saliba, for example, saw his header turned in off the unwitting arm of a defender who was too close to channel his agency in the right direction.

Chelsea’s response came via a Piero Hincapie own goal, the ball diverting past David Raya from a second successive corner. Somehow Raya managed to get a hand to the prior corner kick after the ball ricocheted off Rice’s elbow as he grappled with his opponent.

Pedro Neto is SENT OFF after a challenge on Gabriel Martinelli! pic.twitter.com/WtlPgwZQ2V

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026

Perhaps the answer is a radical rethink to save the game from the retreat towards a rugby aesthetic. The game has reached such a peak of conditioning, speed and endurance that teams have outgrown the size of the pitch.

Clearly there is a limit on the size of the playing surface so the answer might be to make football a 10-a-side endeavour to create the necessary space to play. One for Arsene Wenger and the future proofers at Uefa to consider once he has sorted VAR protocols.

Chelsea lost a second goal and Pedro Neto in quick succession, leaving Rosenior to fill his notebook with furious script. Well, he had to appear purposeful after a third successive defeat to the same opponent in his short spell in charge.

The game never escaped the governing dynamic, both teams trapped between the desire to win and the fear of losing. The result leaves Chelsea outside the Champions League qualification places in sixth, a worrying development ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Aston Villa.

Arsenal grind on to their next engagement at Brighton. The overwhelming emotion was one of relief, ensuring the buffer to Manchester City remained at five points.

Mikel Arteta’s creation is becoming increasingly narrow, like the margins between opponents at this point in the season.

Arteta cared not one iota about the nihilistic nature of the goals. When Jurrien Timber netted the winner he celebrated as if gazing upon Michelangelo’s final stroke in the Sistine Chapel. Get in there, my son.

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