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Liverpool 1-2 Man City (Szoboszlai 74′, 90’+13 red card | Silva 84′, Haaland 90’+3 pen)

ANFIELD — How does he do it? Until the 84th minute, Erling Haaland’s display at Anfield was of serious concern.

Liverpool’s stadium has always been an unhappy hunting ground for the Manchester City striker, even when at the peak of his lethal powers, so judging him in a stadium many have off days in, in isolation, is unfair.

But the manner of his performance on Sunday; the lack of movement, intent to get into goalscoring positions – something he can normally do in a state of paralysis – left City’s title hopes in tatters, and gave Pep Guardiola the most bewildering of conundrums. 

Haaland was doing more harm than good, and not for the first time in his wretched recent run.

Erling Haaland keeps the title race ALIVE! pic.twitter.com/VxjQrJFFVk

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 8, 2026

Yet, somehow, in the blink of an eye, an assist and arrowing penalty winner later, City reminded league leaders Arsenal they aren’t going anywhere just yet.

And neither is a Norse goalscoring phenom who, even at his lowest ebb, cannot help but have the most transformational effect on the outcome.  

This was never going to be like the tiki-taka versus heavy metal football glory years. Liverpool and City came into the contest having won twice between them in the Premier League since New Year’s Day.

City’s squad rebuild is yet to really get off the ground. So many fresh faces make continuity hard to come by. Liverpool remain stuck in a perpetual identity crisis.

Sometimes they press. Sometimes they sit. Three of their front four are either out of form or unsure of their role.

City took advantage of the Liverpool uncertainty to dominate for large swathes of the first half.

The hosts completed just 45 passes in the opening 20 minutes, their fewest in a Premier League game at Anfield in 12 years, while facing 10 shots in the full half; their joint-most in the first half of a home league match on record.

Yet, it was not as if Alisson had to be at his best to keep City at bay. The visitors looked a real threat, until the ball came near Haaland.

Haaland twice went close in the first half, with two rather unconvincing efforts. That took him to 23 shots without scoring from open play since his December double against West Ham – his last non-penalty league goals.

That barren run is the longest Haaland has gone without an open-play goal in his entire senior career. He has also never looked so forlorn, unable to cause defenders even the slightest concern.

Players of Haaland’s ilk, however, can never be discounted. Like Jamie Vardy made his calling card down the years, he doesn’t touch the ball often, but when he does, the consequences are often seismic.

The header for Bernardo Silva’s equaliser six minutes from time could not have been cushioned any better – as if Haaland envisaged where he himself would have wanted the ball to drop out of the sky.

Then, after Matheus Nunes was felled in the penalty area by Alisson in stoppage time, Haaland sheepishly grabbed the ball and headed for the spot.

Dominik Szoboszlai, whose free-kick that put Liverpool in front did not deserve to be in vain, did his best to put Haaland off.

Haaland seemed to relish his opponent’s attempts to put him off, safe in the knowledge that even amidst a worst-ever career form, there was only going to be one outcome from 12 yards.

The finish was as emphatic as it gets. A first league double for City over Liverpool since 1937 and first Anfield success in front of fans in 23 years, to scenes of raucous euphoria among travelling supporters and the City bench.

Victories like this can have the most cataclysmic impact on what follows. And, as always, even when a shadow of his usual self, there is one man to thank for keeping this season’s title race alive.

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Newcastle United remain steadfastly behind Eddie Howe in the midst of the most troubling period of his four-year tenure at St James’ Park.

The i Paper understands that Howe, director of football Ross Wilson and chief executive David Hopkinson were all in contact on Sunday morning after a damaging home defeat against Brentford that saw the team booed off and left them marooned in 12th place in the Premier League.

The situation, and the reaction of the crowd, is being treated seriously at St James’ Park, where questions are being asked internally of what can be done better. But Howe is safe and the narrative is clear: no over-reactions.

Razor-thin margins

The reason for the confidence in Howe is partly because of how razor-thin the margins have been this season.

No one is kidding themselves that Newcastle are playing well but they continue to significantly underperform their expected points total (a table they sit fifth in).

They are consistently missing big chances which is a recipe for disaster in a congested league.

That, for what it is worth, is a belief shared by at least one Premier League rival who has access to advanced performance metrics that suggest Newcastle are a better team than the league table shows.

Few will want to hear that with the Magpies, sitting 10 points from fifth, playing poorly and almost certainly out of the race for a Champions League place after a bruising weekend.

Internal expectation

The internal expectation is that Newcastle should be in European competition every season, a target they run the risk of missing out on this year.

At the heart of it, then, faith in Howe is rooted in the belief that the run of form is not a true reflection of his ability as a manager.

It is an admirable stance – one that this correspondent agrees with, given how consistently his teams have overperformed since his appointment in 2021 – but it does not protect the club from some uncomfortable truths.

They have now lost six out of nine games against the top seven.

Game management is a big problem; Newcastle have conceded 11 goals after the 85th-minute mark this season and lost 19 points from winning positions.

Their attacking patterns look tired, physically they look shot and confidence is on the floor.

The big issue

Howe, whose tendency is to go back to experienced players who have served him well, is struggling to find answers without time on the training ground to correct it.

Kieran Trippier has played back-to-back games at right-back and it has been a tough, unedifying watch.

Newcastle have an England Under-19 full-back in Leo Shahar but there is reluctance to try him or defender Alex Murphy, who was the subject of a rejected loan bid from Ligue 2 side Dunkerque before the transfer deadline, in a time of struggle.

A bigger issue at the moment is a summer recruitment drive that is starting to look like a bit of disaster.

Where predecessors like Rafael Benitez and Alan Pardew were able to detach themselves from transfers, Howe finds himself held culpable because he was pulled into that business at short notice.

While PIF deserve criticism for not delivering on some of the big ticket projects needed to prove Newcastle have aspirations to be elite, Howe’s judgement was backed in the summer.

No quick fix

Newcastle leant into tried and tested with Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa – signed for over £100m – but clearly overpaid for both.

Elanga is actually starting to look better but Wissa is a million miles away from the plug and play replacement for Alexander Isak.

There aren’t really quick fixes for many of these issues.

Newcastle will finish above where they currently sit in the league table but looking at the fixture list – after Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday it is an FA Cup trip to Aston Villa, Qarabag and then Manchester City in the league – it could get worse before it gets better.

Howe has the club’s support, but these are uncomfortable days at Newcastle.

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OLD TRAFFORD — With every passing match, Ruben Amorim’s decision to leave Kobbie Mainoo out in the cold is becoming one of the most baffling managerial calls in modern football history.

Enough has been said about Amorim’s stoicism over his beloved system. No further words are needed to highlight just how fundamentally flawed his lack of flexibility was.

You can at least see what Amorim was trying, and there was something almost admirable in his unwavering faith in his footballing principles.

Mainoo is a very different story. We have seen in the past four games that Mainoo could have fitted into Amorim’s formation like a driving glove. In fact, Mainoo could have saved Amorim. This is the kind of catalyst for change he can be.

His showing against Tottenham as Michael Carrick and United made it four wins from four under the interim coach was the best of the lot since his reintegration. A performance that provided the final conformation Mainoo will be, and to an extent already is, front and centre of what this stuttering behemoth longs to be.

The consummate ease in which Mainoo has come in from the periphery, when his career at his boyhood club seemed all but over, defies logic.

Starting for England at the World Cup is now a distinct possibility once more. A matter of weeks ago, he did not seem to have any hope of even a seat on the plane. Elliot Anderson is going to need to conjure a fine season’s end to keep his starting spot, if Mainoo’s current trajectory is going to continue heading for the stars at the speed of light.

“There’s no doubt what Kobbie can bring. He’s still so young and we just need to be careful about putting all this on his shoulders and expecting so much of him,” Carrick said, before being unable to stop the eulogy escaping.

“He’s had a big high, and then, obviously, he didn’t play for a little bit. It’s easy to think he’s a lot older and more experienced than he is, but credit to him, he’s come right in and found his rhythm of football, which is not easy after a period of time out. There’s definitely more to come from him.”

The turnaround is astonishing. Mainoo wanted to leave, even on a permanent basis, just over a month ago. New contract talks had ground to a halt, with his half-brother’s publicity stunt, donning a “Free Kobbie Mainoo” t-shirt, causing more ruptures in a fractured club-to-player relationship.

The contrast in demeanour now is as different as night and day. Mainoo is last to stop celebrating in front of the Stretford End, with his people. The embraces between Carrick and Mainoo are typical of any teacher of the midfield craft and his star pupil.

All Amorim’s doubts have been made to look unconceivably churlish. Mainoo has covered more ground than any player on the pitch in three of United’s four wins under Carrick.

Against Spurs, albeit with Thomas Frank’s side depleted in number after Cristian Romero’s red card, Mainoo won more duels and completed more take-ons than any teammate, while registering his second assist in three games.

It is the little touches, the guile, the craft, the class that stands Mainoo above his compatriots. Figures who make elite level football look as easy as this simply cannot be curtailed.

The standing ovation he received late on as he was replaced was well-earned. While out of the team, the forgotten prodigal son, kept his head down, worked hard, even in his own time, knowing full well his opportunity would come again.

Supporters have their beacon of hope back. The only frustration is the overriding feeling of what could have been, had Amorim not seen what was staring him in the face this whole time.

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There was a period when it looked like Cristian Romero had changed. This was, of course, the triumph of hope over experience.

The captain’s 29th-minute red card for a rash challenge on Casemiro teed up Tottenham’s demise in the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United. The facts do not make pleasant reading:

• It was Romero’s sixth red card for Spurs in 152 appearances – roughly one dismissal every 25 games

• Will serve a third suspension of the season
• Has the most bookings in the Premier League for 2025-26 
• No player in the top flight has been sent off as many times since his debut in 2021
• Closing in on another ban for accumulated cards

Those numbers matter all the more so because his sending off came at the end of a week when the Argentina international had publicly called out the board’s January transfer activity.

Why Spurs have a Romero problem

After Spurs made just two additions, Souza and Conor Gallagher, Romero said they had been left with so few players it was “unbelievable” and “disgraceful”. Weeks earlier, after the 3-2 loss at Bournemouth, he accused the club’s hierarchy of “lies”.

RED CARD FOR SPURS CAPTAIN CRISTIAN ROMERO! @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/TjHJete992

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 7, 2026

It is not a simple matter of disciplining Romero. As one Tottenham insider put it, “it’s almost like he runs the club”, such is his influence in the dressing room. The i Paper was told several other players privately backed him over his contentious social media posts, and he escaped a fine for his post-Bournemouth outburst. Thomas Frank declined to say whether any action had been taken this week. 

The recent comments went down well with a huge number of fans, who believed the captain was showing leadership by speaking out. In the early stages at Old Trafford, they serenaded him with a chant of “Romero’s right, the board are s***e”.

But with less than half an hour on the clock he not only lost his footing, worse still he lost the moral high ground. He let his teammates and manager down. Sympathy with Frank is usually in short supply among the supporters but this was one defeat he surely won’t be blamed for.

My mistake about the Tottenham captain

Romero’s head-loss might seem a familiar story. I have always argued to the contrary – that his reputation preceded him, and that he regularly seemed to attract unfair bookings because he is seen as volatile and tempestuous.

That he should not be seen as a rebellious liability, when he is Tottenham’s second-joint top scorer this season and has rescued them on countless occasions at both ends of the pitch.

This, however, was inexcusable. His colleagues valiantly tried to stay in the game for 80 minutes. Whether the rules are applied consistently, and Diogo Dalot got away with a similar challenge on Jeremy Doku at this ground a matter of weeks ago, is irrelevant.

These are the games the centre-back will miss, including a crucial north London derby:

• Newcastle (h)
• Arsenal (h)
• Fulham (a)
• Crystal Palace (a)

And this at a time when Tottenham are in genuine danger of being dragged into a relegation battle. The trip to a resurgent United would have been difficult enough with 11 men – more so when Bryan Mbeumo was left free on the edge of the box to slot in from a corner. It was glaring obvious that Spurs were a man short.

Radu Dragusin, still recovering from long-term injury, was thrown on and Wilson Odobert, one of Frank’s best hopes of a goal, came off.

Whatever promises Romero may have been made in the summer when he chose to stay in spite of interest from Spain, he also assumed the captaincy from Son Heung-min. With that, came a new level of responsibility.

The irony is that as the World Cup winner in the camp, he is exactly the sort of player the recruitment team are looking to bring in. They are deliberately targeting ambitious leaders with pedigree – some of those targets did not come off in January. It was valid for players to be disappointed.

For Romero to voice that so openly, it requires a degree of credibility and authority – something he chucked away with another moment of madness at Old Trafford. 

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Pep Guardiola is closer to leaving Manchester City than ever. It is now a matter of when, not if. He may, however, be sticking around longer than many think.

Guardiola’s astonishingly sombre monologue about conflicts around the world led many to believe the end is nigh, potentially at the end of this season.

His actions in the match that followed, against Galatasaray in the Champions League, typified a manager who didn’t have much time left to cement his trophy-laden legacy.

Goals were celebrated with extra vigour from the Catalan. As early as the 18th minute, he tried to rouse a sleepy, half-empty Etihad, waving his hands around like a traffic controller in rush hour, while exaggerating every other reaction, making sure supporters behind him – or the cameras – were in view.

Several sources have indicated to The i Paper that while even Guardiola has not decided when he will leave, there are numerous reasons why he could in fact stay on one more year and see his contract out.

The reaction to Guardiola’s comments on Palestine, Ukraine and other conflicts has been mixed, but there is no doubting they have had the desired effect in reaching audiences far and wide.

Guardiola clearly feels passionate about this and will not back down. And it is being able to use this platform to get his message across – he would not have the same opportunity to express his forthright opinions if out of work – that has led some to believe it could play a part in persuading him to stay.

“[Being] involved in football, we don’t talk about that or that or that,” Guardiola said on Friday. “That’s why the world remains silent, that is what the world wants, right? Be silent, don’t say anything. I think it is completely the opposite.”

City are the ultimate succession planners. They announced Guardiola would succeed Manuel Pellegrini in February 2016 well before he actually took the reins. If he were to depart, several sources have cast doubt over claims he would wait until the end of the season to decide, thus leaving City scrambling to get a replacement in.

An announcement could well be imminent, if he were to be heading for the hills in the summer. There is no indication whatsoever that could happen anytime soon this time around.

Guardiola is also loathe to not see out a project. At Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he had done all he can. City are in the middle of another rebuild, one which is in its infancy. Several insiders believe he would want one more year to see that out.

Potential long-term replacements

The market-leaders in succession planning are always doing their thing. Talks with Enzo Maresca last year confirm as much. It’s not too much of a stretch to add in Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola, who have admirers at City. But it also misses the point that City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s preference is for Guardiola to stay beyond the 2026-27 season.

Those who know new sporting director Hugo Viana have been impressed. He is helping to build something Guardiola would be reluctant to let go.

Stepping into the shoes of Txiki Begiristain, the godfather of sporting directors, was never going to be easy but in successive transfer windows, Viana has built on the legacy of his highly respected predecessor.

“A great guy to work with – open, honest, very humble,” says one rival who has negotiated with him on a big transfer recently. But what has struck many in the transfer game is City’s new-found recruitment ruthlessness.

City’s transfer plans

Antoine Semenyo was originally seen as a summer in signing, with City investigating the terms of his close-season release clause. But as soon as they got a whiff of a bidding war, they moved with surgical precision.

It was similar with Marc Guehi. Josko Gvardiol’s serious injury prompted a move that might, on a previous watch, have waited.

The club want Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson to fill the critical central midfield vacancy they have and believe they can beat Manchester United to his signature. And they are also investigating right-back targets, with Brentford’s Michael Kayode and Feyenoord’s Givairo Read among those of interest.

A slick system will not leave anything to chance with the manager either. City are ready for every eventuality. Only one man will decide which coach gets to see the latest rebuild through.

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The Saudi Pro League is ready to move on from Cristiano Ronaldo if the Al-Nassr megastar wants to leave in the summer.

Ronaldo has expressed his discontent with the league’s overlords, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, for favouring other clubs with their transfer policy, feeling Al-Nassr have not been allowed to strengthen their squad as much as they could.

His outburst has raised the possibility of the 41-year-old seeking a summer exit. Ronaldo has a £43m release clause, which becomes active in the summer.

Ronaldo’s next club

The i Paper understands Manchester United are not interested in bringing Ronaldo to the club for a third time as it stands.

A return to Sporting Lisbon – in the unlikely event they can muster the funds – is more likely. He has also been linked with a move to MLS and even the neighbouring Qatari Stars League.

Saudi officials have been taken aback by Ronaldo’s afront. They have already insisted that no player is above what they are trying to do with the Pro League, with scouting and analysis networks advancing so much that younger players can be identified across Europe and persuaded to move to the Middle East.

Sources have told The i Paper that while it is obviously preferable that a player of Ronaldo’s profile stays put, if he were to seek a summer exit, the Saudi Pro League is ready to crown “a new king”.

Saudi’s next Galactico

“With other big names leaving, we will look at lots of other marquee names in the summer,” a source close to the Pro League transfer process tells The i Paper.

“Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes would be the perfect picks. Salah especially, given he would attract an Arab audience as a Muslim.

“Either of those coming in, along with that younger talent, would be huge for us. And really soften any Ronaldo blow.”

Ronaldo’s issue comes down to the January transfer window. Al-Nassr spent almost £100m last summer on players, including £26m on former Chelsea Joao Felix and £22m on Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich.

However, the club only signed one player in January, Hayder Abdulkareem, a 21-year-old Iraqi midfielder, with Ronaldo “unhappy with the way the PIF is managing the club”.

Will Salah and Fernandes leave?

Salah’s reconciliation with Liverpool prevented Saudi clubs from making a move for the Egyptian in January. There is a growing belief, however, that the summer will finally see the 33-year-old leave Merseyside.

His outburst back in December, when he said he felt he had been thrown under the bus by the club and there were figures who wanted him out, had the desired effect. Salah is back in the Liverpool team and a key figure once again.

He did not want to leave Liverpool without saying a proper goodbye in January, but the summer makes sense for all parties, given how much the champions have spent on long-term Salah replacements already.

There are several figures at United who believe Fernandes has had enough of the unrelenting managerial turmoil and the skipper will seek an exit at the end of the season.

A recent mini-revival under Michael Carrick has lifted the mood around the club, with Fernandes, playing in his preferred position again, crucial to that improvement.

Old Trafford officials plan to hold talks with the 31-year-old before the World Cup, so they can start to plan their expected summer midfield overhaul. Bayern Munich are keeping tabs on the situation, while it is understood Fernandes’ contract includes a clause that would allow him to join a club outside England for £57m.

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Newcastle United’s pursuit of Yoane Wissa was a tortuous sub-plot to the Alexander Isak saga but having finally decided to sanction a British record deal for their star striker, the Magpies found themselves all out of options.

Brentford sensed the panic. Plan B Jorgen Strand Larsen was off the table and Newcastle, flush with the Isak cash, needed a striker. So a club who had been adamant Wissa was not for sale came up with a number so high that it was almost impossible to refuse.

The terms Newcastle subsequently agreed have been described to The i Paper as “incredible” by a rival Premier League executive and it merits repeating after their January caution: £55m and a five-year contract for a player who was to turn 29 a couple of days later.

Newcastle’s interim decision-makers, holding the fort in the absence of either a director of football or chief executive, had to get sign-off from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) before the deal was done.

In a division where almost every club has switched focus and funds to young players with room to develop, it jars. It was the most spent on a player aged 28 or over since Manchester United signed Casemiro for £70m in 2022 and it contradicted Newcastle’s recruitment model, too.

Because of the long-term nature of his contract, it will also be baked into profitability and sustainability rules and squad cost ratio calculations until 2031.

Ultimately, lessons have been learned at St James’ Park. For the second summer in succession, they found themselves making imperfect decisions under pressure (selling Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in 2024 still hurts) and that run has to end. January’s mantra was “no panic” and while there was money to be spent, deals had to be right.

Sources tell The i Paper that PSR means Newcastle have to get better at player trading. To bring someone in you need to know what the exit route of others is, so those talking about revamping the striker options in the summer should recognise it would mean one of the three forwards they have leaving.

Given the money committed to Wissa and Nick Woltemade, surely it won’t be either of them. Not yet, anyway. But it does mean there is pressure on the DR Congo international to show more.

Wissa is certainly well-liked at Newcastle and is working hard on rediscovering his clinical edge, but those who know him believe he is nowhere near the version of the striker who scored 19 and 12 goals in successive top-flight campaigns yet.

He is paying the price for not heeding the advice of those close to him who told him to play on while transfer business was being sorted behind-the-scenes.

Instead, he initially refused to train and play, which meant he had no pre-season.

A serious injury suffered on international duty was desperately unlucky but sources speak of a sense of “what might have been” if he had done something similar to Antoine Semenyo and kept himself sharp. One believes it will be next season before we see the true version of Wissa, by which time he will be 30.

For Eddie Howe, it is a strange situation. Perhaps unfairly the entire summer’s transfer work has been laid at his door by some critics but those familiar with him say it is “unfair and untrue” that he only wants to sign Premier League-proven players.

Newcastle are pivoting towards looking at new markets with his support and in the summer the big problem was the number of knockbacks they suffered. First-choice targets included Benjamin Sesko and Hugo Ekitike, who would have fit into his system perfectly.

Wissa ended up being the imperfect solution. Howe and Newcastle really need him to start repaying their faith.

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