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Great news for Peter Shilton, David Beckham and Kyle Walker. All are up for this year’s Pulitzer Prize, by virtue of having played football for England a few times.

That was the logic behind Eni Aluko’s latest two-footer on Ian Wright: that if you have won 105 caps for the Lionesses, you should qualify automatically for the big gigs in journalism and broadcasting. Wright, she said, was not an “ally”, because he refused to give up punditry jobs to make way for her.

In an unspeakable affront to her sensibilities, Aluko was forced to watch England win the Euro 2025 final from the stands, all because the best TV jobs had not been “gate-kept” for women.

Wright may be a man who has supported the women’s game for more than 30 years, long before it was lucrative or fashionable to do so, but he is still a man – Aluko appears to think that alone should have seen him barred from the stadium.

Here’s the reason Aluko’s comments are so damaging. For no reason other than ego, they seek to stifle the growth of a sport that is meant to be flourishing. Those who genuinely want to see women’s football thrive should be encouraging people of all genders, ages and persuasions to engage with it. ITV are lucky to have Wright, one of the most popular pundits in the country, to help them do that.

But whatever the intention, what Aluko said is disparaging to women too. It implies female pundits and presenters have been selected because of their anatomy rather than their ability. Pundits like Alex Scott already have to deal with constant insinuations that they have been appointed only as a token woman.

Another superb broadcaster, Laura Woods, replied deftly on social media: “Caps don’t win automatic work and they don’t make a brilliant pundit… The way you communicate, articulate yourself, do your research, inform your audience, how likeable you are and the chemistry you have with your panel are what makes a brilliant pundit.

“‘The women’s game should be by women for women’, is one of the most damaging phrases I’ve heard.”

As Aluko doubled down on Talksport, panellist Simon Jordan put it pretty well too: “The sheer weight of entitlement you seem to believe you have would sink the weight of the Titanic”.

That one will have stung. Aluko is not keen on entitlement – in fact she once insisted that those whose incomes were decimated by the pandemic were indulging in a “do-nothing” mentality by relying on the Government’s furlough scheme. The next day, she apologised

These are infinitely weird hills to die on and just prove Woods’s point – that pundits will only get work if they are popular.

Aluko’s sad descent into a pantomime villain has obscured her voice on more valuable subjects. She has spoken bravely about the difficulties faced by black women in sports media and has previously said she did not believe men’s football was a “safe space” for women. Many women will disagree but that should not discount her telling of her own experiences.

Last year, Aluko also suffered appalling online abuse at the hands of Joey Barton, for which he was prosecuted.

Men like Barton and Mark Sampson, the former England coach whom she accused of racism and harassment, are the real enemies of women’s football. Not Wright.

Aluko insists she has “nothing against Ian” but suggested his failure to accept her apology 10 months ago, the last time she criticised him for working in the women’s game, had “greenlit further abuse”.

You have to wonder how she might speak about people she does have something against. Instead it comes across as another act of needless self-sabotage.

In the same way that sports journalists do not necessarily make very good footballers (something to which I can attest), elite players do not always translate their abilities into the studio. On the contrary, Match of the Day’s post-Lineker success has been built on the humour, knowledge and insights of Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan – none of whom played the game professionally.

Wright goes even further by campaigning for girls to be given equal access to football in PE. One of the great joys of the past few years has been the sight of men and boys with female players’ names on the back of their shirts. Excluding Wright would be a message that they are not welcome, when the vast majority of people in the women’s game say that they are. That is why Aluko’s one-woman crusade is going to fail.

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Two thumbs up, Jack Grealish was smiling from his hospital bed as he confirmed Everton’s worst kept secret.

“Didn’t want the season to end like this, gutted,” the caption on his Instagram post read. And just like that it was over – 22 games, two goals, six assists and a loan move that felt like a bit of a game-changer for Everton.

But is it the last the club will see of Grealish, who has promised to return from a stress fracture of his foot “fitter, stronger and better than before”?

Don’t bet on it, at least not according to those familiar with the situation surrounding a winger who has rediscovered his love for football at the Hill Dickinson Stadium this season.

There is a £50m option to turn the loan into a permanent move that becomes active after the end of the season but that was never intended to set Grealish’s price.

Instead it was more for accounting purposes, to set Manchester City’s valuation of the player in the summer of 2025.

While Everton will not trigger that clause there is some enthusiasm for bringing him back at the club next year, either on a permanent basis or through another season-long loan.

And the noises from City are that they are ready to get around the table at the end of the campaign if Everton want to make it happen.

Everton’s valuation, The i Paper has been told, is much closer to the £20-25m mark – still a considerable outlay for a player who will turn 31 in September.

Premier League clubs don’t tend to spend that kind of money on players reaching the end of their career but Grealish possesses star quality and has been able to affect big matches this season.

Commercially he is also a dream and insiders believe that his signing also helped open doors to recruit other players, sending a message that the club have turned the page on the era of annual relegation fights. The Toffees are understood to have committed £12m to the loan.

Grealish certainly appears up for it anyway. He has enjoyed working under David Moyes – who retains that trademark intensity and has challenged Grealish to provide more assists and goals – and is open to a return.

With or without him, the next stage of the Everton rebuild is intriguing.

As detailed by The i Paper last month, the plan was never to do big business in January but the loan move for Chelsea’s Tyrique George, 20, seemed to follow the club’s blueprint of driving down the average age and bringing in players of potential.

Moyes has always made the case that established, experienced players are also required to give the squad balance – and there was agreement that Grealish represented a special case in the summer.

Wages could also be another factor. While financial constraints via either profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) or the new squad cost ratio (SCR) rules are loosening, Everton still have to be aware of the bottom line of any deals they broker.

Football finance experts have told The i Paper that the club is likely to have enough PSR “headroom” to comfortably commit to a £70m net spend in the summer.

Of course that figure will balloon if they manage to secure European football this season, which remains a distinct possibility with Everton nestled just six points away from fifth ahead of the midweek Premier League matches.

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Burnley is a club with a ceiling, even if Sean Dyche, the seventh-placed finish and European football temporarily removed it to let supporters stare at the stars. Burnley is a relatively unfashionable East Lancashire family club with roughly 20,000 matchday supporters that will always struggle to increase revenue significantly and thus has no right to expect consistent Premier League football.

But six years ago, Burnley were about to finish in the top half of the Premier League and thus ensure their fifth straight top-flight season. Under the majority ownership of Mike Garlick and John Banaszkiewicz, Burnley had no external debt and managed to break even during the pandemic season, a significant achievement. The worst that ever seemed likely was bobbing along for a little too long without excitement and so allowing apathy to creep in.

That changed in December 2020, when ALK Capital, led by Alan Pace, bought out Garlick and Banaszkiewicz and took 84 per cent of the club’s shares. The takeover was leveraged by debt, similar to the Manchester United buyout by the Glazer family, with loan repayments and interest rates agreed and finance provided by MSD UK Holdings. In simple terms: Burnley now had a mortgage.

Debt-leveraged takeovers are controversial because they create risk on the part of the club by a new owner that did not exist before. In June 2023, Premier League clubs voted unanimously to cap leveraged buyouts to avoid clubs being laden with excessive debt. In Burnley’s case, that loan was reported to be £65m.

When Burnley were relegated from the Premier League in 2022, a significant part of that loan became due. Burnley’s debt now stands at £113m, costing them an estimated £10m a year.

But finding full information on Burnley’s owners isn’t easy. The 2020 takeover was completed by a company named Calder Vale Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Velocity Sports Ltd (Velocity was controlled by ALK Capital). Calder Vale Holdings is now in liquidation having never filed any accounts. The club transferred to Velocity Capital – Companies House lists the filing of their accounts, due by December 2024, as still overdue. 

Premier League clubs having external debt is not, in itself, necessarily an issue. But Burnley have got worse on the pitch, too. They went from an overachieving, semi-stable Premier League club into a yo-yo team that will soon suffer its third relegation in five seasons. The Premier League experience has become so depressing that many supporters actively prefer the Championship.

The problem with that? Burnley now need the revenue. In their last two seasons, the club have spent around £208m on transfer fees and recruitment has been largely unsuccessful.

Last summer, over £70m was spent on Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Loum Tchaouna and Bashir Humphreys. The final three of that list have started 26 league games between them in 2025-26. 

In previous years, Burnley have offset the loss of Premier League revenue by selling key assets: James Trafford, Wilson Odobert, Sander Berge, Dara O’Shea. But now it is hard to envisage who higher-end clubs would conclude to be viable. Maxime Esteve and Quilindschy Hartman, perhaps; little much else.

This new Burnley existence may not cause much harm while the relationship lasts. Although debt-leveraged buyouts are unpopular with fan organisations, there is no suggestion that ALK Capital’s intentions are not honourable and they will consider promotion again next season as a reasonable ambition if they are indeed relegated.

But on Saturday, the mood at Turf Moor became toxic, a sea of harrumphs and groans at displeasing football until Burnley inevitably fall behind and more existential questions about the direction of the club. Supporters on social media have begun to offer concerted criticism of an ownership group that they believe has failed their club.

Before the West Ham game, Pace was interviewed by BBC Sport about supporter criticism and hardly poured cold water on a growing fire of malcontents.

“Have you ever had a three-year-old kid throw a temper tantrum in the middle of an event?” Pace asked the reporter.

“At the end of it, you get embarrassed and you say you’re sorry and you hope that they grow up. And, when they do grow up, you hope that they contribute to society.”

The problem here is the unknown. For so many years, Burnley were a dependable, reliable, safe football club that tried to do the best it could and looked after its people by ensuring that it would always be there. No debt, no doubt.

Now Burnley have become something different, a blurry identity and a financial future that is in the hands of a few more than the many.

The dangers are obvious and the advantages simply have not been realised. Burnley’s ownership has failed the club.

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Newcastle United are bewildered by the sudden blizzard of stories surrounding in-demand midfielder Sandro Tonali.

What started on transfer deadline day as a claim that Tonali had been offered to Arsenal by his representatives – subsequently denied and then described as a “total non-starter” to The i Paper – appears to have grown legs.

Manchester United have him on a “long list” of replacements for Casemiro while sources have confirmed to The i Paper that Chelsea have received encouragement if they wanted to pursue a summer move for the Italy midfielder.

In an ironic twist, he’s one of the alternatives to AZ Alkmaar sensation Kees Smit, who is also on Newcastle’s wish list as the Magpies look to correct some of their recruitment missteps with a big summer in the market.

There’s an emerging narrative here: Newcastle, suffering a difficult transition season after the glory of winning the Carabao Cup last year, are vulnerable to their rivals picking off their best players.

At St James’ Park, they firmly reject that view. Tonali has given reassurances on his focus, happiness and future intentions in recent days and weeks and even if his stance changed, they are protected by an extension to the long-term contract he signed during his gambling ban.

Talk of them “setting a £100m price tag” for Tonali is inaccurate, with Newcastle adamant in public and private that he’s not for sale.

It’s also worth pointing out that Tonali has always been grateful for the way Newcastle backed him when he was banned for 10 months and that will also be a factor, although the hierarchy that supported him back then has changed.

The problem for the Magpies is that in recruitment circles, people speak. Whether Newcastle like it or not Tonali is seen as one of the players that could be extricated from his current club and some of their Premier League rivals seem to be on manoeuvres around him for a few months.

Their inability to persuade star striker Alexander Isak to stay in 2025, while a very different situation to Tonali’s, has put them on the back foot in that respect.

They cannot afford to let Tonali tread a similar path. The same is true of Tino Livramento, whose contract talks have stalled, and Anthony Gordon, who retains admirers for his stellar work in the Champions League despite his barren run in domestic competitions.

To be taken seriously it is absolutely critical that Newcastle stick to their stance on Tonali, even if the whispers around interest in him develop into something a bit more full-throated.

There’s a bigger picture here though. What exactly is the Newcastle project in 2026? At the moment the answer to that appears to be arguing over the future of Eddie Howe, who was moved on Monday to claim he would “walk away” from the club if he didn’t feel he was the right man to take them forward.

After three successive defeats – and with a midweek trip to struggling Tottenham a litmus test of their ability to win on the road – that debate is dominating black and white bandwidth but obscures some uncomfortable truths for the club’s ownership.

While they undoubtedly need results and European competition to maintain some on-the-field momentum, it is high time the club made tangible progress on the big ticket stuff that PIF have had in their in-tray for years.

A deal to buy land for the club’s new training ground has been agreed but no timescale has been put on the announcement. If that can be fast-tracked it would give supporters and players, like Tonali, something to hang their hat on.

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As you were at the top, as if that even begins to explain the madness at Anfield. Manchester City looked done in the title race, but victory means that they can go three points behind Arsenal before their game in hand the next day.

The bigger shift was at the bottom of the table, because you better believe that Nottingham Forest are bang back in trouble after a rank defensive display at Elland Road probably brings us down to one from two to go down. The other one, West Ham, won at Burnley and are now within sight.

Imagine being told back in August, when Forest beat Brentford at home on the opening day, that Nuno Espirito Santo would relegate Forest but wouldn’t be Forest manager at the time. Yes, I am crying inside…

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

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

Patience is required at Wolves

The one benefit of being cast adrift at the bottom is that you can steal a march on second-tier rivals. The arrival of Angel Gomes and Adam Armstrong proved as much. So too did bringing back Pedro Lima from his Porto loan; he came off the bench on Saturday.

But it is going to require some patience from Wolves supporters with a third of the season left. Jorgen Strand Larsen has gone, followed by Jhon Arias and Emmanuel Agbadou. Fer Lopez and Marshall Munetsi have gone out on loan. The fees commanded made complete sense, but it does leave Rob Edwards with very little depth outside of central midfield.

The non-midfield or goalkeeper substitutes against Chelsea were Lima (a 19-year-old right-back), a left-back who almost left in January, another right-back in Jackson Tchatchoua and two teenage academy kids and a wing-back in Rodrigo Gomes who has started 12 league games in two years.

Burnley’s toxic atmosphere is growing

You can make a decent argument – and it is backed up by speaking to supporters – that Burnley would have more fun in the Championship where at least they can win a few games and slowly build a squad to compete in the top flight.

For all the deserved criticism of Scott Parker, the current first team is not fit for purpose. When you take 100 points in the Championship, it is hard to argue for overhauling a squad.

On Saturday, we finally saw widescale toxicity at Turf Moor. They understand that their team was likely to be relegated, particularly after Sunderland started so well. But they expect to see a little fight before their team concedes goals (which they almost always do) and they are asking questions of an ownership that took over with Burnley in the Premier League and have succeeded only in turning them into a yo-yo club at best.

West Ham’s brilliant dual threat

West Ham’s season is turning on Nuno Espirito Santo’s ability to get Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville on the ball as much as possible, but it is the latter who is – perhaps surprisingly – overshadowing the former. Having scored once since joining the club in August 2024, Summerville now has goals in each of his last five matches.

It is working because Summerville has become a dual-threat winger. The usual characteristics are still there: picking the ball up deep, driving at defenders, putting crosses into the box. But in his last four matches, Summerville has had 25 touches of the ball in the opposition penalty area.

When Bowen gets down the right, Summerville has become a specialist – presumably at the instruction of Nuno – at making late runs into the box that also stops the centre-forward becoming isolated in the penalty area. It might just keep West Ham up.

Nottingham Forest have a defensive crisis

Sean Dyche will come under further pressure after another dreadful away performance out of nowhere; that has been one theme of his Nottingham Forest tenure so far. I think Dyche got the team selection wrong by moving Ola Aina and should have made changes long before Leeds’ third goal.

But there is also a defensive crisis here and it has been caused by Forest’s poor recruitment. They have spent around £300m on new players since June 2024 and, judging by Friday night, their first three reserve defenders are Morato, Zach Abbott and Luca Netz. Which is mad.

West Ham are below Forest in the table and their backup defence is Kyle Walker-Peters, Maximilian Kilman, Axel Disasi and either Malick Diouf or Ollie Scarles. I know which I would rather have and it leaves Forest desperate for their first-choice defence to be fit.

All hail Leeds United’s floodlight kings

Leeds were intense, direct, smart and relentless. They were a team created in Daniel Farke’s new image and Ilia Gruev, the least popular of the manager’s starting XI on Friday, was the game’s best player.

They were also playing at home in the evening, which makes a difference. Under Farke, Leeds have played 21 night matches at Elland Road – they have won 18 of those and drawn the other three. Whatever the doubts about Farke, he has an ability to get his team up and to use the crowd to drag them on.

This is why Leeds will stay up. There is an electric atmosphere at Elland Road and they still have Sunderland, Brentford, Wolves, Burnley and Brighton to play there. I would not be surprised if they won all five.

Romero is no longer reliable for Tottenham

Cristian Romero has been held up as a Tottenham freedom fighter for the manner in which he has called out the club’s hierarchy for their lack of transfer activity. That plays well with a fanbase whose relationship with the owners and board has become deeply toxic.

But, as Kat Lucas wrote on Saturday, Romero’s principal role is as a captain and he is no longer reliable in that role. Tottenham needed discipline and intelligence at Old Trafford; their captain was sent off in the first half, cost Spurs the game and will now miss four crucial matches.

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

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

Much to Thomas Frank’s surprise (he admitted that he had no idea about the habit), Romero has now been sent off six times in all competitions since his Tottenham debut, more than any other Premier League player over that period. The captain is supposed to set the tone. Romero does that for all the wrong reasons.

Brighton’s unacceptable performance

If I were a Brighton fan I would be absolutely furious. It is not just that their team is in rotten form and lost to Crystal Palace, supposedly the biggest game of the season, it is that they were so powderpuff on every level. Between Palace’s goal in the 61st minute and full-time, Brighton didn’t even attempt a single shot. That is close to a sacking offence.

The whole team is so hesitant that you want to shake them all into life. The passing in midfield and around their defence is ponderous with no purpose, Bart Verbruggen was too slow to come off his line and close down Ismaila Sarr’s angle while neither of the two forwards offered anything at all. Georginio Rutter played 82 minutes as a link-up roaming No 10 and completed four passes in 82 minutes.

Chief executive Paul Barber used his programme notes to back Fabian Hurzeler, but that does not really wash when they have won one Premier League game since the end of November and are now below supposed crisis club Palace in the table. Brighton cannot afford drift to set in.

Lerma embodies the Palace spirit

There is credit due to both Ismaila Sarr, who loves this fixture, and Dean Henderson for fully embracing the spirit of being made club captain following the departure of Marc Guehi, but I wanted to give special praise to Jefferson Lerma.

Lerma is a central midfielder by trade, forced into a central defensive role partly because his club sold their captain and one of the best central defenders in their history. It is an unappetising challenge and yet Lerma was note perfect against Brighton, surely the game’s best player.

One of Lerma’s weaknesses has been indiscipline – you cannot afford to give away fouls as a centre-back without inviting pressure. But he was fouled more often than he committed them and no player in the match made more clearances, headed clearances or tackles. That is how you set the tone in a big game.

Howe could be in trouble at Newcastle

Until now, any serious pressure on Eddie Howe has been deflected by the suggestion that it was only those who watch their team from home or abroad that are criticising him. That changed on Saturday evening. The boos at St James’ Park at full-time were audible and reflected a growing frustration that this team is drifting badly.

Howe does have credit in the bank, but the new chief executive’s suggestion that everybody at the club backs him fully was, I think, mistimed when he could have chosen not to conduct a radio interview. David Hopkinson has said that Newcastle want to win the Premier League title by 2030; this team currently does not look like one that will even qualify for Europe.

That matters because the summer matters. Players who were lured with the temptation of Champions League football will become uneasy, the recruitment led by Howe will (and should) come under serious scrutiny and the direction of the club itself will be drawn into full focus. Newcastle cannot just assume that everything will be fixed next season under the same manager or risk another drift campaign.

Bournemouth’s new-look attack is mighty exciting

In the final few weeks of Antoine Semenyo at Bournemouth, there were signs that Bournemouth were becoming a touch one-dimensional because Semenyo had so much responsibility for carrying the ball forward that opponents understandably tried to double mark him.

That has all changed now and it makes Bournemouth fascinating over the last third of the season. Rayan drives forward as the ball carrier on the right wing. Amine Adli is more of a regulation winger who will look to get to the byline and cross. Eli Junior Kroupi has licence to roam behind Evanilson, who is getting service from multiple teammates.

Rayan is up and running in the @premierleague pic.twitter.com/FV7USE9Ltm

— AFC Bournemouth (@afcbournemouth) February 7, 2026

There are valid doubts about the strength in depth, but the other exciting thing about this new attack? Adli is 25 but only has 50 top-flight career starts, Evanilson is 26 but has fewer than 120 and the other two are teenagers. If you are going to be mid-table, at least be fresh and exciting.

How Fulham can keep hold of Silva

Unlike Oliver Glasner and (probably) Andoni Iraola, I don’t think we should assume that Marco Silva will leave Fulham this summer. He has done a fine job in squeezing maximum return out of this squad and January offered signs that there will be investment over the summer.

If Silva is to stay, he will want promises on further investment in his defence. Jorge Cuenca cost less than £7m and Saturday proved that he is a willing but not always able deputy to Calvin Bassey. At left-back, Antonee Robinson has attacking threat but is found out defensively and the same is roughly true of Ryan Sessegnon (although he played pretty well against Everton).

At right-back, Timothy Castagne is not at the level required for Silva’s ambition and Kenny Tete, Castagne’s backup, should have come on earlier. Fulham likely need at least three defenders this summer.

In defence of Sunderland

This is probably not a good week to make this point, because Sunderland did compete against the best team in the country and the 3-0 scoreline was not representative of the first hour of the match, when they occasionally passed through midfield and threatened Arsenal.

But the general trend is of Sunderland being unable to establish enough attacking threat in their away games. During their current eight-match winless run away from Stadium of Light (where Sunderland have been exceptional all season), they have scored three goals.

Brian Brobbey is brilliant at holding up the ball, but what Sunderland seem to lack are counter-attacking wingers to get beyond Brobbey and provide service for him. In Regis Le Bris’ defence, that could change when Simon Adingra comes back and Granit Xhaka is there to provide more stability in midfield. Without him, Sunderland are essentially using two players as cover.

Everton’s away form is fair enough

Everton have struggled – as many other clubs did before them – to make themselves feel at home in a new ground. We have heard the old Goodison boo in the Hill Dickinson Stadium and David Moyes has had to deal with grumbles about Everton’s inability to dominate possession and territory at home.

That all pales into insignificance when you consider Everton’s remarkable away record. Aston Villa, Chelsea and Arsenal are the only three clubs in the Premier League with more away points this season and all are within three points of Moyes’ side.

Not only has that kept Everton far away from any pressure, it also alleviates the doubts about the home form while they bed in.

Shout out to Brentford’s Andrews

Mikel Arteta will almost certainly win the award if Arsenal lift the title (and I am not going to get angry about that, obviously), but a shout out to Keith Andrews who continues to make his doubters look very silly indeed.

In the last week, Brentford have won their first ever game at Villa Park and won their first game at St James’ Park in 92 years. Andrews’ strength appears to be an ability to win in different ways and to react in-game to a match turning. That is a characteristic that you usually associate with veterans.

Brentford are now safe from relegation with 13 games left to play. They need 20 points from those 13 games to reach their highest ever top-flight points total and if they reach it they may well finish seventh and qualify for Europe. Do either of those and Andrews would be a deserving manager of the year.

Liverpool witness the complete Szoboszlai show

A wonderful afternoon of football, insane entertainment and a breathless finish, all with Dominik Szoboszlai at its heart. Football is at its best when it matters a lot but also with no incentive for a drawn match; this was that scenario in excelsis.

A CHAOTIC end to the game at Anfield! pic.twitter.com/RYtK2yxriM

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

And this is what we know about Szboszlai:

• 1) He hits an absolute bastard of a free-kick.
• 2) He is often at the heart of everything Liverpool do, whether he is picked at right-back or in central midfield.
• 3) At right-back, he can sometimes struggle to hold a flat defensive line (which is not his fault, he is not a full-back).
• 4) He really should have just let Haaland carry on to score rather than pulling him back, because now he misses a match in a situation where the end result was always going to be the same
• 5) I love so much that he appealed for the Haaland foul, knowing quite well what he had done beforehand.

Chelsea fans should pray Palmer stays fit

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about Manchester United’s interest in Cole Palmer, accelerated I think because Palmer did not look like he was having much fun. There was a grumpy goal celebration which also led to over-analysis.

This is just a hunch, but I think Palmer just wanted to get fully fit, playing regular football and leading Chelsea again. He is a young bloke who gets a fair amount of grief and when he is not getting to play because of persistent niggling injuries it gets him down.

Nothing better than another Premier League hat-trick to make Palmer feel a lot more happy with life. In post-match interviews, he reflected on a desire to concentrate on making the most of the last three months of the season. I would have him in my World Cup squad and we should desperately hope that he stays fit now.

The improvement in the ‘other’ Man Utd players is instructive

Obviously Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro have stepped up most impressively during Michael Carrick’s four matches in charge. Obviously the return of Kobbie Mainoo and his immediate excellent work paints Ruben Amorim in a miserable light.

But it is the way in which other players look more comfortable that is most instructive. Harry Maguire has been faultless in all four games. Luke Shaw looks far more comfortable as a regulation left-back. Bryan Mbeumo is getting more touches of the ball in the box and finding pockets of space more regularly.

And Diogo Dalot, who has rightly come in for significant criticism over the last 18 months, finally looks confident as a right-back with a winger in front of him, allowing him to go forward when it makes sense rather than with the responsibility for creating chances from wing-back.

Villa’s Elliott farce is damaging for everyone

Harvey Elliott is having the worst season possible, not wanted by his parent club Liverpool and not wanted by the manager at his loan club Aston Villa. A young man with bags of ability is being forced to take a sabbatical. At Bournemouth on Saturday, Unai Emery named two goalkeepers on his bench but still did not pick Elliott in the squad.

“I know we are damaging him, because we got a deal with Liverpool in the summer and the deal is there,” Emery said after the game. “We are taking the decision responsibly from my side. It can change for him, in case Liverpool take off this clause – if they don’t want to, okay.”

This is a result of the Fifa rule that says players cannot appear for more than two clubs in the same season. But honestly, I do not see the point in not having a case-by-case appeals process over that regulation when the end result is a player having his career damaged due to a situation both of the relevant clubs could do without. Elliott is the only person that loses out here and it is not his fault.

Man City still have a pulse

After Manchester City went 1-0 down at Anfield, the camera panned to Pep Guardiola on the bench, sat back in disbelief and presumably succumbing to the reality of Manchester City missing out on the title for a second successive year. He was right: City were done.

We have had a pop at City for their attacking struggles, second-half performances and collapses after falling behind this season, so it’s only right to give them some respect after they displayed – figuratively – balls of steel to get back into the title race. Liverpool certainly helped with a wonky defensive line and a goalkeeper committing a brainfart, but the point stands.

Personally I am not sure it makes any difference; Arsenal are too in control and City too flawed for it to be a sustainable push. But the Premier League is better when teams are fighting for the prize. Sunday afternoon was magnificent entertainment.

Arsenal’s big issue

After his double on Saturday – and note how often Arsenal’s strikers have scored as substitutes rather than starters this season – Viktor Gyokeres has eight Premier League goals. He has been largely disappointing and struggled as a plug-in-and-play Arsenal centre-forward.

Let’s break down those eight goals: six of them against promoted clubs, one against the team in 17th (Forest) and the other away at Everton in December (which was a penalty). Only the Everton penalty actually made a difference to the result. The others came in 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 and 2-0 wins. Only in the Burnley game did that alter the game situation (draw into lead or deficit into draw).

You might argue that this is no problem at all, given Arsenal’s issues in recent seasons breaking down deep defences; that is entirely fair. But then Arsenal did win all six of their matches against the three promoted clubs last season without Gyokeres.

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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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