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There were contrasting emotions on either side of Manchester on New Year’s Eve as Manchester United moved into the top four for the first time this season but Manchester City slipped up against Everton.

Manager Erik ten Hag had dropped Marcus Rashford after the striker slept in and missed a team meeting but threw him on at halftime to great effect as the England forward scored the only goal of the game.

Pep Guardiola meanwhile sprung no real surprises in his starting line-up and it appeared it would be business as usual when Erling Haaland gave City the lead after 24 minutes.

However, a world-class strike from Demarai Gray pulled Everton level and ensured Arsenal would start their clash with Brighton, the final game of 2022, with a four-point cushion at the top of the Premier League.

Premier League table

• 1. Arsenal – played 15, 40 points
• 2. Man City – P16, 36 pts
• 3. Newcastle – P17, 34 pts
• 4. Man Utd – P16 – 32 pts

• 5. Spurs – P16, 30 pts
• 6. Liverpool – P16, 28 pts
• 7. Fulham – P17, 25 pts
• 8. Brighton – P15, 24 pts
• 9. Chelsea – P15, 24 pts
• 10. Brentford – P17, 23 pts
• 11. Crystal Palace – P16, 22 pts
• 12. Aston Villa – P16, 18 pts
• 13. Leicester – P17, 17 pts
• 14. Leeds – P16, 16 pts
• 15. Bournemouth – P17, 16 pts
• 16. Everton – P17, 15 pts
• 17. West Ham – P17, 14 pts

• 18. Wolves – P17, 13 pts
• 19. Nottingham Forest – P16, 13 pts
• 20. Southampton – P17, 12 pts

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Wolves 0-1 Man Utd (Rashford 76′)

Marcus Rashford went from zero to hero as he came off the bench to bag Manchester United all three points at Molineux and move up into the top four.

Rashford, who has now scored three in his last three appearances for United, was dropped from the starting line-up over a disciplinary issue but was introduced at half-time and repaid his manager with a fine goal.

Alejandro Garnacho, the teenager who replaced Rashford in the starting XI, had the best chance of the first half when Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa was sold short with a backpass, but he got his defence out of trouble with a fine one-on-one save.

Brazilian forward Antony also should have given his side the lead, failing to beat the excellent Sa with a stooping header from just a few yards out on the stroke of halftime.

Manager Ten Hag said he told his side they were not playing well enough to win the game at the break, throwing on Rashford in an effort to change things, and the England forward combined brilliantly with Bruno Fernandes, giving and going before shaking off two Wolves defenders and sending Sa the wrong way.

He did add another seven minutes from time but saw it chalked off by VAR after it bounced off his arm into the net.

It just had to be Marcus Rashford

The substitute finds the back of the net and puts Man United ahead pic.twitter.com/1ElYk84w9Q

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 31, 2022

Man City 1-1 Everton (Haaland 24′; Gray 64′)

Manchester City slipped off the pace in their bid to catch up with Premier League leaders Arsenal as they were held to a 1-1 draw by strugglers Everton in their final match of the year.

Erling Haaland made a positive start for Pep Guardiola’s men when he latched on to Riyad Mahrez’s pass to tap home his 21st league goal of the season.

After a number of stoppages early in the second half, with one taking over six minutes as the assistant referee’s communications headset was repaired, Demarai Gray levelled for the visitors.

The Everton winger surged up the left-hand flank in a rare counter-attack before cutting inside and unleashing a curling effort from the edge of the box which left City goalkeeper Ederson beaten.

Bournemouth 0-2 Crystal Palace (Ayew 19′, Eze 36′)

Crystal Palace scored twice from set pieces in the first half to beat Bournemouth 2-0 away in the Premier League on Saturday, banishing their Boxing Day blues and finishing the year on a high.

Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze both converted from corners at a rain-soaked Vitality Stadium as Palace put aside criticism from manager Patrick Vieira after Monday’s 3-0 loss to Fulham and posted a third win in their last five league fixtures.

Ayew had Palace ahead after 19 minutes as he rose unchallenged to glance his header wide of goalkeeper Mark Travers with Bournemouth guilty of ball-watching as the corner came across.

Eze’s effort in the 36th minute was just as simple as a corner was cut back to him on the edge of the penalty area and, with no defender anywhere near him, he hammered the ball home to double the visitors’ lead.

Newcastle 0-0 Leeds

Newcastle United missed the chance to close the gap to leaders Arsenal at the top of the Premier League after they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Leeds United on Saturday.

Looking for their seventh successive league win against Leeds, Newcastle struggled to create clear openings in the first half, New Zealand striker Chris Wood going closest for the hosts.

Wood was again presented with a golden chance early in the second half, but was thwarted by a fine save from Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier, before Sean Longstaff fired over when put through on goal.

Chances continued to come and go for Newcastle, but they were unable to find a late winner despite creating plenty of pressure, leaving the hosts provisionally third in the standings, two points ahead of Manchester United in fourth.

All around the country, the Premier League pays tribute to Pele. pic.twitter.com/ENAEgkOaxf

— i sport (@iPaperSport) December 31, 2022

Fulham 2-1 Southampton (Ward-Prowse og 32′, Palhinha 88′; Ward-Prowse 56′)

Southampton will end the year rock bottom of the Premier League and facing a fight for survival after conceding a late goal to slide to a 2-1 defeat by Fulham on Saturday.

New manager Nathan Jones looked set to earn his first point in charge until Joao Palhinha’s powerful strike restored Fulham’s lead in the 88th minute.

Aleksandar Mitrovic then had a stoppage-time penalty saved by Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu but the damage was done as Saints suffered a fifth successive league defeat.

Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse’s superb free-kick in the 56th minute looked like securing a draw which would have lifted his side off the foot of the table.

It made amends after he had scored at the wrong end in the 32nd minute by deflecting Joao Palhinha’s effort into his own goal, but it was to prove in vain.

Additional reporting by Reuters and Press Association

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Manchester United‘s Antony led Premier League tributes to the late Pele as he revealed a t-shirt bearing the message “descanse em paz”, meaning “rest in peace”, as English football paid its respects to the great on Saturday.

Wolves and United, playing the early kick-off, led a day of tributes to Pele, one of the greatest footballers of all-time, who passed away at the age of 82 on Thursday.

The crowd at Molineux took part in a minute’s applause with both teams gathered around the centre circle, while each player also wore a black armband as a mark of respect.

Before the game, Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui said: “He will be remembered for the kind of person he was in football. I have seen images of him playing, and I think he was one of the best players in history.

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“He was a man with a big mentality, so it’s a pity for football, but above all else, for his family.”

Brazilian Antony almost twice had cause to dedicate a goal to Pele too, his best chance coming right before half-time when the ball came to him just three yards out and he stooped to head the ball home. Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa though was able to claw the ball off the line, only for the referee to indicate he had been offside nevertheless.

Meanwhile at St James’ Park, one of the two Brazilians in the Newcastle starting line-up Bruno Guimaraes wore a Brazil shirt bearing Pele’s name and number, and seemingly signed by the late striker, and wore the shirt for the minute’s applause joined by both home and away fans.

Similar tributes were paid at Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace and Manchester City vs Everton, while there was a celebration of the lives of two great footballers at Fulham.

Ahead of their clash with Southampton, there were floral tributes outside the ground and on the pitch to George Cohen, the 1966 World Cup winner with England who enjoyed a 13-year professional career played entirely at Fulham. Cohen died two days before Christmas at the age of 83: his portrait was featured on the front of the programme for Fulham’s first home game since his passing and flowers spelling out, simply, “GEORGE” were laid in the centre circle before kick-off.

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Marcus Rashford was surprisingly dropped to the bench for Manchester United‘s last game of 2022 by Erik ten Hag after an internal issue.

The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to confirm Rashford’s status as United’s premier striker, and his good form at the World Cup in Qatar saw him hit the ground running on return to domestic action, scoring against Burnley and Nottingham Forest.

However, he was surprisingly replaced by Argentinian teenager Alejandro Garnacho in the starting line-up for the New Year’s Eve clash with Wolves.

And Ten Hag explained his selection was down to an “internal disciplinary” matter, but did allow Rashford to sit on the bench – before throwing him on at half-time in an effort to break the deadlock.

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The England striker eventually made good his introduction, opening the scoring by linking up with Bruno Fernandes, shrugging off two challenges and then slotting the ball past goalkeeper Jose Sa.

Despite Rashford’s successful introduction, Rio Ferdinand saw Ten Hag’s starting line-upas an effort to reestablish his authority over a dressing room that was torn to shreds by the Ronaldo affair.

“You think back to when we played, if the manager showed weakness, it’s like the Cristiano Ronaldo situation,” former United defender Ferdinand said on BT Sport.

“We can all have our opinion but the most important people are those in that changing room.

“If they’re responding to these decisions with respect, step out of line you’re punished immediately that can only be positive for this dressing room.

“Over the last few years, this changing room has needed that hardness, discipline, you see it in the game at times there’s certain times in the game.”

Rashford is United’s top-scorer this season with 10 goals in all competitions, double the tally of his closest challenger Anthony Martial. With no other player having scored more than three, the club are expected to enter the transfer market in search of a striker – although their ability to invest is reportedly being hampered by the Glazer family’s efforts to sell the club.

“It is always difficult, strikers are expensive and especially in winter,” said Ten Hag on Friday.

“You set the limits high so maybe we have to be creative. We do everything in our power to get it done and get the right player who fits the balance.”

United had been linked with Dutch forward Cody Gakpo, who can play wide or centrally and was thought to fit the bill perfectly. However, the Red Devils were gazumped by Liverpool, who confirmed a £37m deal earlier this week.

Instead, they are expected to try and enter the loan market, with Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix a reported leading target, but the Spanish club are asking for a large fee even for a temporary move.

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With the energy of Jill Scott emerging from The Lensbury after a 12-hour celebratory post-Euros drinking session, the great debate has reluctantly crept back into the public domain. Does the England manager need to be English?

If 2022 has taught us one thing, the answer is no. Whatever you made of Gareth Southgate’s latest attempt to drag the Three Lions beyond heartbreak in a major tournament, Sarina Wiegman has shown conclusively that international teams are led by spirit, quality and decisive leadership. The Dutchwoman became the first head coach in the history of the game, men’s or women’s, to win back-to-back European Championships.

And it had to be this year, 50 years since the first ever Lionesses side was formed, in the wake of the FA’s ban on women’s football being lifted. The current England Women’s side followed their lead, ripping up the history books as Chloe Kelly swirled her shirt around her head at Wembley in July. Perhaps their biggest achievement though, when you put aside for a moment beating Germany in front of 90,000 fans and winning the country’s first major tournament for 56 years, is that we end the year talking about football – not just inspiration and influence.

World Cup glory is within touching distance in 2023. England head to Australia and New Zealand as second favourites, behind only the current world champions USA. All the indicators are that they can match them, winning a friendly between the nations 2-1 in October.

In terms of depth, England are getting better all the time. Chelsea’s Lauren James, Houston Dash’s Ebony Salmon, Everton’s Jess Park (on loan from Manchester City) and Brighton’s Katie Robinson have all been given opportunities since the Euros, revitalising an attack weakened by the retirement of Ellen White. Incidentally, 2023 will also be a pretty notable year for the Lionesses’ all-time leading goalscorer, who has just announced she is expected to give birth to her first child in April.

Sadly, England have lost Scott to retirement too, but have at least witnessed her excel in the jungle. Matt Hancock said he wanted to show the human side of politicians (and failed, except in the eyes of the truly impressionable); but Scott epitomised the everyday relatability of the Lionesses that endeared them to millions. Long before they were household names, some of them had worked in Domino’s, a cinema, and a fish and chip shop.

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Yet even without two of their most notable leaders, England are in a strong position. Denmark and China are their confirmed opponents so far in the World Cup group stages and the Lionesses made a mockery of the qualifying process, winning all 10 games, scoring 80 goals and conceding none. France, Germany, Italy and Norway were similarly dominant in their groups, but none boasted such ludicrous attacking figures.

Individually, the Lionesses have continued to thrive since the summer. Right-back Lucy Bronze and midfield metronome Keira Walsh are settling in well at Barcelona. Jordan Nobbs will surely play some part next year as long as injuries do not get the better of her.

That is not to mention Rachel Daly, England left-back throughout the Euros but who has alternated between defence and attack during her club career. With eight goals so far for Aston Villa this season, she is the joint top-scorer in the Women’s Super League and is now a serious contender to start as a forward at the World Cup. Don’t rule out Niamh Charles swapping over to left-back and Manchester United Maya Le Tissier pushing her way into contention.

Beth England may be wise to leave Chelsea if she wants to continue being part of the conversation; trying to break into a first-choice attack of Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby, Guro Reiten will continue to be a thankless task and Wiegman has too many other options to rely on a fringe player.

Where there is a word of caution over the unfettered optimism going into 2023 is in the ACL injury sustained by Beth Mead. The Arsenal forward recently tore her ligaments in a home defeat to Manchester United, the severity of the injury putting her World Cup in real doubt. If she recovers in time, the chances of Mead being fully fit having missed the second half of the season seem slim.

Then again, England are not the only ones in that boat. Mead’s partner and Arsenal team-mate, Vivianne Miedema has just suffered the same fate, so the Netherlands could be without her too. For perspective, when Alexia Putellas tore her ACL in July on the eve of the Euros, Spain confirmed they expected her to be out for 10-12 months. Across the game, player welfare has to be a priority next year amid an increasingly demanding schedule; Fifa has simultaneously announced it will introduce a Women’s Club World Cup in 2025 but has batted away suggestions international teams should be allowed bigger squads to prevent injuries.

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Wiegman has seven months to weigh up all this and there is still another competition to play before anyone seriously starts thinking about the World Cup. The Arnold Clark Cup may not be altogether taken seriously, but England won it last year – centre-back Millie Bright won the Golden Boot, no less – and it proved a useful warm-up for the Euros.

Even if England win the World Cup, it may never have the same feel of a home European Championship, travelling up and down from Sheffield to Brighton, Manchester to Southampton and completing a record-breaking thrashing of Norway, edging a war of attrition against Sweden, or salvaging victory from what looked like inevitable defeat to Spain.

The World Cup taking place on the other side of the world with matches at unconventional hours in UK time will make it that bit harder to seize the public imagination – but England have already done the hard part. Whatever happens next year, and whether they win a second major trophy in as many attempts or not, 2022 will be remembered as the year the journey really began.

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Before Lucy Bronze’s whirlwind year, there was the storm.

13 months ago, Storm Arwen ripped through the north-east of England leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. In the market town of Alnwick, 30 miles north of Newcastle, tucked just inland from the yawning Northumberland coastline, Louise Jones woke up to bad news.

Jones is the chairman of Alnwick Town Juniors, Bronze’s hometown and first ever club. The high winds had lifted the roof off their new clubhouse, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage and rendering the pitch unplayable for the hundreds of children who make up their teams.

“It was devastating,” she said.

“We woke up after Storm Arwen to find the club house roof had been blown off and was on the 3G pitch. Everything had caved in, the brick work was gone, there was water damage inside. It was totally devastated.”

Bronze heard about this and had to do something. Alnwick Town is where it all started for one of England’s best ever right-backs, the start of a journey which has taken her to the top of the women’s game.

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So she sent an email offering to help out in any way she could. “Hi, I’m Lucy and I used to play for Alnwick Town,” the message started.

As a former Ballon D’Or winner and one of the most decorated English footballers of her generation, the introduction probably wasn’t needed.

“At first, we thought it might be a scam it was such a surprise,” Jones says. “But it is so typical of her to think of us when we needed this help. She’s never forgotten where she came from.”

On a freezing Friday night a few days before Christmas, Bronze came through on her promise of help, jetting in from Barcelona to personally hand over boxes of state-of-the art equipment on behalf of her sponsors Nike.

The storm damage – still only partially repaired – drained vital funds from the club for equipment but a donation from Bronze’s sponsors Nike will help make up the shortfall. A “lifeline” Jones called it.

Ask Bronze about the gesture, and what her presence means to the girls and boys who have attended, and she remains suitably humble. The steeliness that has turned her into such an icon in the women’s game has never threatened to curdle into arrogance.

The mercury hovers perilously close to freezing on the night but she has time for everyone, signs every autograph and answers every question of an impromptu Q&A arranged with the boys and girls whose parents beam proudly on the sidelines. One of the coaches tell her the under-11 girls team are more excited about seeing her than they are about Christmas Day.

“It was such a crazy experience. I’m still not used to that kind of reception. It’s so nice to give something back and come back to my roots,” she tells i, black Nike hoodie pulled up to protect her from the icy wind whipping the side of the 3G pitch.

“I’m sponsored by Nike so I asked them if they’d be kind enough to let me donate some equipment to help the club and the teams here. I’ve always wanted to give back to Alnwick, it’s a place that played such an important part in my journey and it doesn’t have as much as some other clubs. So it feels nice to be able to put something back into a club that is so important to me.”

It is bizarre to think that 19 years ago, Bronze’s mother Diane had to ring the club secretary to ask if her football-mad daughter could play with Alnwick’s boys team because there were no girls sides in the area.

If you want to consider the legacy of Bronze and her team-mates, there are now girls sides from under-6 to under-18 in Alnwick. Interest from young girls in playing for the team “exploded” after the Lionesses’ win. Trailblazer Bronze helped to lay these foundations, as her first coach Ray Smith says.

“I gave her a chance and she just took off. She was shy at first but she was just brilliant,” Smith, who is still close to Bronze, tells i.

“You would tell her to do something and then she’d get a football and go and practice it for two or three hours until she got it right. I used to come back from work in the car and there was one person stood in the middle of the field doing drills, practising. It was Lucy Bronze.

“I gave her homework and she would go and do it. None of the boys would do it, they’d just say ‘Oh aye’. I said back then she’d play for England. I knew she would.”

When she reached under-11s, she was barred from playing for the boys team by Fifa regulations. The club protested and her parents went to the local paper to try and find a loophole. But it was to no avail. Bronze was not put off but you wonder how many more potential Lionesses were back then.

“We had no role models but now they’re everywhere,” Bronze reflects. Beth Mead becoming the first women’s footballer to win the Sports Personality of the Year award obviously stands out.

“Beth is the girl that won it but all the girls, we’re obviously so proud of her that she won it. It shows how far we’ve come,” Bronze says.

“I was the first women’s footballer to be nominated for it five or six years ago but I didn’t stand a chance, I don’t think anyone thought back then a women’s footballer could get that kind of recognition. But to go from me, Kelly Smith and now Beth smashing it and actually winning it is phenomenal.

“She’s such an inspiration to me and the rest of the girls so I can imagine what it means for young girls just starting out to see something like that. It was a moment, wasn’t it?

“Beth is going through a lot at the moment [Mead’s mother has been diagnosed with incurable cancer] so to pull out the performances she did in the Euros was just incredible. We’re all right behind her for her recovery because we want her back on the pitch with us as soon as possible.”

Mead and Bronze were both made MBEs for their part in the summer’s triumph.

“2022 was an unbelievable year for me. The Euros were amazing but to go to Spain, to join Barcelona and wear that famous jersey, I don’t think I’d ever have believed that was possible.

“To think it started in a small town like Alnwick but I’ve been around the world, won the biggest trophies. 2022 has been the pinnacle of it all but I hope there is more to come yet.”

Hopes for 2023 are suitably elevated. “I think we’re confident going into the World Cup,” she says.

“We know we’re now one of the favourites and we’re not afraid of that. It tells you how far we’ve come as a group.

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“To win the Euros and be European champions gives you that belief. We’ve got a really good coach, a really good group of players and we have the confidence that comes with winning something.

“But the same applies for some of the other teams that are going to be playing in the World Cup. We’re excited, we’re working hard because to win a World Cup – that’s the ultimate dream.”

Bronze expects to play her part. Fears over her chronic knee injury – which ruled her out of her recent friendlies against Norway and Japan – can be played down.

“I feel good. Obviously my knee is something I’ve struggled with, right back to when I was playing here at Alnwick. It’s part and parcel of the sport but things are going well with it,” she says.

“I’m getting on track with Barcelona, everything there has been amazing, their help has been incredible and hopefully I can get back to feeling on top of the world with it again soon.” Given her journey to this point, few would back against her next year.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has completed his move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.

The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward has signed on a two-year contract.

“I am eager to experience a new football league in a different country. Al Nassr Club’s vision is very inspiring,” Ronaldo said.

Ronaldo, 37, is expected to earn up to £170m a year as part of one of the most lucrative contracts in football history.

Al Nassr’s president, Musli Al Muammar, said: “This is more than history in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves.”

History in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves. Welcome @Cristiano to your new home @AlNassrFC pic.twitter.com/oan7nu8NWC

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) December 30, 2022

Saudi Arabia has vastly expanded its investment in sport in recent years in a bid to launder its global image and diversify its economy away from oil.

As well as the purchase of Premier League side Newcastle United and breakaway LIV Golf tour, the Middle Eastern kingdom is expected to launch a bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

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Ronaldo left Premier League giants United last month following an explosive television interview in which the forward said he felt betrayed by the club and did not respect their Dutch manager Erik ten Hag.

He represented Portugal in Qatar, where he became the first player to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty in his side’s opening Group H game against Ghana. Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Morocco.

Ronaldo will arrive in Saudi Arabia with a vast collection of club honours after a glittering spell at Spanish giants Real Madrid from 2009-18 where he won two La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, four Champions League titles and three Club World Cups.

He went on to score a club record 451 times for Real and has more than 800 senior goals overall for club and country.

Al Nassr have won the Saudi Pro League nine times, the King’s Cup six times and the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup once.

Ronaldo’s new teammates at the Riyadh-based outfit will include former Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina and the Uzbek international Jaloliddin Masharipov.

Additional reporting by agencies

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As ever, Erling Haaland was spot on. “Everything you see any player doing,” he tweeted. “Pele did it first. RIP.” It was a simple tribute, a paean to the Brazil icon that mirrored Haaland’s extraordinary efficiency on the pitch. Eleven words to get to the point, a the job done with effortless simplicity.

Us Premier League observers are marvelling at Haaland’s impact in England’s top league, his use of space and angles to disrupt some of the best defenders in the world. But the man himself is absolutely correct: Pele was doing that sort of thing long before the current greats of our game.

You just need to watch a viral video that has been doing the rounds in the wake of his death at the age of 82 to see what Haaland meant.

In it, someone has stitched together footage of a galaxy of stars pulling off their trademark tricks: Zidane bursts pasts defenders with the strength of an ox and grace of a gazelle, Ronaldinho executes a pass with breathtaking balance. Lionel Messi does what he does, slaloming past a queue of would be executioners. Johan Cruyff pulls off the turn that came to bear his name. On each occasion, the trick is followed by black and white often grainy footage of Pele doing exactly the same thing. Only he did it first.

Pelé vinha do futuro, o MAIOR, MELHOR e não tem jeito.

Que vídeo foda. pic.twitter.com/C5oOI0TBIS

— memes futebolisticos. – vito (@Mfutebolisticos) November 20, 2021

The message here seems fairly clear. It is quite something to be the best in the world at the world’s most popular sport but to actively re-invent it, as Pele does, rightly takes him to a totally different plane.

For those of us who didn’t get to see him play live, what strikes you when you view in-game footage is what an extraordinary marriage of technique, power and ingenuity he brought to the game.

Time and again Pele appears to be so far ahead of opponents with speed of thought and movement that he feels like a time traveller on the field.

Of course he was blessed with physical gifts to be the best but Pele took it further. He was an innovator, a digital footballer in the analogue age.

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It is tempting to let the mind wander to how much Pele might have been worth in the modern game, what kind of wage and transfer fee he might have commanded. That he only played for Santos and New York Cosmos allows us to speculate about how he might have landed if he’d played in England, Italy or Spain.

The sort of numbers he would attract these days would be eye-watering but he was an innovator in his day, too, cashing in on his fame with that extraordinary move to the US.

He certainly wasn’t averse to monetising his brand later in his life. Most of the images of the great man were of him bedecked in a blazer promoting one brand or another, glad-handing some suit or other.

As his glittering career faded further into the memory he would often travel to England on corporate junkets, play up to whatever local cause was in fashion at the time and then depart – which might explain why he had assembled such a compendium of extraordinary predictions by the time he had reached his dotage.

Few need reminding that he predicted an African team would win the World Cup by the year 2000, but even fewer might recall that he supposedly predicted Nicky Barmby would become one of best on the planet. Those missteps were in stark contrast to a man who could do no wrong on the pitch.

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At the end of the last game of his career, Pele approached Muhammad Ali on the pitch of the Giants Stadium in New York and place a kiss on his cheek. It was a meeting in October 1977 of two men who bestrode 20th-century sport and yet who, when it came to confronting the racism that blighted both their lives, took different paths.

Pele later recalled that at the match which ended his time as a player for New York Cosmos, Ali had told him he accepted that football was “more beautiful than boxing”, before adding with a trademark glint in his eye: “But I am more beautiful than you.”

The Gordian knot of just which of the pair was the more accomplished practitioner of their art will rightly remain forever unresolved. But it was the boxer who enjoyed the reputation as being outspoken on issues of race and prejudice, harnessing his fame to the cause of throwing injustice back in the faces of those who would impose it.

The death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento – the name with which Pele was born but, it seems, rarely even as a child the moniker by which he was known – brought what was at first blush a more muted response in terms of the great man’s activism off the pitch.

Pele, whose greatest triumph was to recast world football from 1958 onwards in the image of Brazil and the on-the-pitch alchemy of body and ball achieved by its young black star, had long been criticised by some in his native country for a lifelong stance which chose to spurn rather than confront racial intolerance.

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But to do so was to misunderstand the way in which Pele considered himself to be battling racism, a spectre which followed him from the days of his childhood spent in grinding poverty in Sao Paolo state where football was played with wadded rags for lack of cash to buy an actual ball.

One of his autobiographies recounts the story of how, at the age of 12, the father of a childhood sweetheart named Elena arrived at their school to publicly beat her for writing notes to Pele, who was described to all who could hear as a “black tramp”.

When he first started playing football, Pele was known to his fellow players as “Gasolina” – a term which he later insisted referred to a well-known singer but which others have pointed out is Portuguese for “crude oil”.

Either way, the point for Pelé would appear to have been not that racial abuse existed but that it was so prevalent, so depressingly and oppressively mundane, that it was somehow a mistake to dignify it with a response.

Speaking in 2014 to a Brazilian television channel, the player criticised Aranha, a goalkeeper for his old club Santos, for confronting opposing fans who had called him a monkey. Pele, who also highlighted routine racist abuse on the pitch, said: “If I had to stop or shout every time I was racially abused, every game would have to be stopped.”

Instead, Pele made it among his life’s purposes to rise above the slurs and those crass enough to make them.

As he saw it, his retort to the haters – and his inspiration to others from minority backgrounds – was to succeed: to become the first player to lift three World Cups; to be the first footballing star to have an agent (albeit one who took him to the brink of ruin); to be a businessman beyond football (again, with at best patchy success) and to be the sort of generation-blurring celebrity who still reduced men to tears to be in his presence for many, many decades after he had last graced a pitch.

As he once put it to his detractors in 1988: “Can’t they see, modesty apart, I have made people proud of my blackness wherever I went? In all the countries that I have visited they know that I am Brazilian but they know that I am black. When they pay me tribute, they are also paying homage to us. Isn’t that important?”

If he chose to lead by example, he also chose on occasion to speak out.

In 1959, after being confined to the terminal building at Johannesburg airport due to the rules of South African apartheid, a young Pele publicly vowed to visit thee country again only after its racist system of government was no more – his return came only when Nelson Mandela, whom he described as a friend, was freed from prison and became president. Later, while serving as his country’s sports minister in 1994, Pele called for more black people to be elected to Brazil’s parliament.

But ultimately, the 82-year-old, whose at-times almost bashful humility was perhaps another reason why he stood in contrast to the more pugnacious campaigning of Ali, decided he stood for the idea that intolerance, racial or otherwise, should not be allowed to lessen the joy he felt and was able to give those who watched him.

In September, Pele used Twitter to come to the defence of his compatriot, Vinicius Junior, after he attracted racism-tinged criticism for the nature of his dance-led goal celebrations as a Real Madrid player.

In words that may yet serve as an epitaph for his outlook on life. Pele wrote: “Football is joy. It’s a dance. It’s a real party. Although racism still exists, we will not allow that to stop us from continuing to smile. And we will continue to fight racism in this way: fighting for our right to be happy.”

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Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the boy who became “Pele” was synonymous not only with the legend of the Selecao, but with football as a whole.

That has been captured in the outpouring of tributes following his death from multiple organ failure due to colon cancer at the age of 82. A public wake will be held at the Vila Belmiro Stadium, home of Santos and the site of so many of his most famous goals, with millions of Brazilians expected to pay their respects.

As a teenager, he first captured the public imagination at the 1958 World Cup, becoming the youngest player ever to score in the final at 17 years and 249 days – a record he still holds. His international career spanned three decades and he remains the only player in history to win three World Cups.

The last, in 1970, was the moment he burst into colour, no longer a distant, sepia-toned legend with so many of his achievements lost in the midst of time and in lost footage. For English football fans, it was also the tournament that cemented his place as arguably the greatest of all time, conquering the reigning champions and humbling Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst.

Yet Pele’s story really began in the 1940s, growing up as the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho. Named “Edson”, he later revealed in an interview his parents had picked his birth name as a tribute to the American inventor Thomas Edison, because their son had been born shortly after electricity was introduced in his hometown.

As a child, he quickly became known as “Pele”. There have been conflicting reports as to why, but the most popular story is that as a young player, while playing in goal, he was compared to local goalkeeper Bile after making a number of impressive saves. Unable to pronounce the name, he would shout “Pele” instead, and the nickname stuck for the next 75 years.

What also stuck was his passion for goalkeeping, and former team-mates have recounted his extraordinary ability between the sticks. One former Santos colleague even claimed Pele “would undoubtedly have been the Brazilian national team’s starting goalkeeper” had he wished to change position.

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In a 2019 interview with Tuttosport, Pele admitted he did not like the moniker and preferred being referred to by his birth name.

“I had a happy childhood. My name is Edson, then they started calling me Pele,” he said. “I didn’t like it, I started arguing with everyone. I was a Thomas Edison fan.

“What is Pele? Thomas Edison is important!”

The forward had no objections to the other tag attached to him by Brazilians: “O Rei”, or “The King”, which he was first dubbed in the 1958 World Cup.

The name Pele will remain immortal, however, and as Didier Deschamps surmised in his tribute, “like all legends, he seemed immortal”.

Deschamps added: “Pele was the alliance of beauty with efficiency. His talent and honors will remain forever etched in our memory.”

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How much would Pele have been worth in Fantasy Premier League?

At different points in the game’s short history, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie all cost 14m, making them the most expensive players ever. Would Pele have usurped that in the 1960s? For his time, certainly. Maybe not if he’d rocked up at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in his 80s, but you never know.

Just imagine: Pele and Jimmy Greaves up top, Bobby Moore and Lev Yashin “essential” at the back. Proper fantasy football.

Anyway, Gameweek 17 was a great week for the FPL template. Marcus Rashford got 14 points, Erling Haaland 13, Mo Salah and Kieran Trippier both 12. Budget midfielders Miguel Almiron and Gabriel Martinelli both scored, as did Harry Kane, Ivan Toney and Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The only issue with these players is that everyone has them too. I managed 99 points this week, but didn’t even move one place up my mini-league.

Gameweek 17 top scorers

Goalkeepers

• Sanchez (Brighton), Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) – 9

Defenders

• Ream (Fulham) – 14
• Trippier (Newcastle) – 12
• Mina (Everton) – 11

Midfielders

• Rashford (Man United) – 14
• March (Brighton), Joelinton (Newcastle) – 13
• Salah (Liverpool) – 12
• Odegaard (Arsenal) – 11

Forwards

• Mitrovic (Fulham) – 15
• Haaland (Man City) – 13
• Havertz (Chelsea) – 12

In fact, of the 10 outfield players with more than 30 per cent FPL ownership, only William Saliba, Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne scored fewer than seven points in the Boxing Day fixtures. While owning these players will mean you don’t fall behind the crowd, it also means that you can’t really rise up the rankings.

If you haven’t done so already, do join i’s league on the official Fantasy Premier League game to pit your wits against fellow readers and subscribe to our weekly FPL newsletter here to receive tips directly to your inbox each week.

The deadline for Gameweek 18 is 6.15pm on Friday 30 December.

So, for Gameweek 18, here’s 11 players with less than 25 per cent ownership to help you break the template, including two owned by less than 1 per cent of FPL players:

Gameweek 18 fixtures

Friday 30 December

• West Ham vs Brentford
• Liverpool vs Leicester

Saturday 31 December

• Wolves vs Man United
• Man City vs Everton
• Fulham vs Southampton
• Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace
• Newcastle vs Leeds
• Brighton vs Arsenal

Sunday 1 December

• Spurs vs Aston Villa
• Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea

Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea)

With Edouard Mendy still not fully fit, Kepa appears to have made Chelsea’s No 1 spot his own. Comfortable with the ball at his feet and with a penchant for the spectacular, the Spaniard is the sort of keeper that Graham Potter likes.

Kepa has four clean sheets in seven Premier League starts this season and has also picked up five bonus points in that period.

For just £4.5m, the ex-Bilbao stopper is a great option in goal. Chelsea have three solid fixtures against Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Crystal Palace in their next five games, but also face Man City and Liverpool. You can either rotate him with another cheap starter who has good fixtures in those Gameweeks, or stick by Kepa, whose average saves per 90 (four), is only behind David Raya, Bernd Leno and Jordan Pickford among keepers to have started more than five games.

Price: £4.5m Gameweek 17 points: 9 Ownership: 6.3 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Nottingham Forest (a)

Andy Robertson (Liverpool)

Although Liverpool’s defence is without a clean sheet in their last five league games, Robertson is top for both chances created (14) and big chances created (four) over the past four gameweeks. The Scot bagged two assists in the last game before the World Cup and then set up Mo Salah’s opener against Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

He is helped by a favourable fixture list for Liverpool, especially the clash against a woeful Leicester side this weekend, with Brentford to come next gameweek. With Reece James out injured again for a month, those needing a replacement for the Chelsea man could do much worse than Robertson.

Price: £6.8m Gameweek 17 points: 8 Ownership: 6.1 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Leicester (h)

Matt Doherty (Tottenham)

I can almost hear the collective groan. Doherty has 19 points all season, has only started four games due to injury, and Spurs haven’t kept a clean sheet in the league since Gameweek 11.

Although the ex-Wolves wing-back has suffered from successive injuries, there was a six-game period last season where he racked up two goals and three assists in six league games. In pre-restart friendlies, he scored twice against Motherwell and once against Nice and Peterborough U21s. He then started in the 2-2 draw with Brentford on Boxing Day, creating two chances and taking a shot.

This is a real differential for those looking for a boom or bust option. Doherty’s starting place should be secure and Antonio Conte has worked magic with a series of wing-backs before. Let’s hope that the Irishman is next.

Price: £4.6m Gameweek 17 points: 1 Ownership: 0.5 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Aston Villa (h)

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Sven Botman (Newcastle)

With Kieran Trippier currently owned by 66.5 per cent of players, finding a different way into the Newcastle defence can be hard. While I am not advocating picking Botman over Trippier, although the Dutchman is £1.5m cheaper, picking both from a defence which has kept a league-high eight clean sheets is not a bad idea.

Botman is a sure starter with a good chance of picking up six points week-in, week-out. The ex-Lille centre-back also picks up the occasional bonus point, with four to his name so far. With a solid schedule included ties against Leeds, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth on the horizon, Botman could be a dependable permanent bargain at the back.

Price: £4.4m Gameweek 17 points: 6 Ownership: 3.9 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Leeds (h)

Phil Foden (Man City)

Foden seems like a good option every week until he’s not on the teamsheet. With seven goals and three assists from 11 league starts, the 22-year-old has been prolific when given the opportunity, but is constantly vying for a starting berth with Jack Grealish and sometimes Julian Alvarez.

But having been benched for Gameweek 17, there’s as good a chance as any that Foden will start against relegation-threatened Everton on New Year’s Eve. The England man is an explosive option with a great fixture for those looking to break the template.

Price: £8.3m Gameweek 17 points: 1 Ownership: 18.2 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Everton (h)

Mason Mount (Chelsea)

With his goal and 10-point haul against Bournemouth, Mount became only the second player to score or assist 50 Premier League goals before his 25th birthday. The young star can blow hot and cold, but a visit to Nottingham Forest on the back of a confidently taken finish against Bournemouth could be the perfect opportunity for him to explode into form.

That was Mount’s third double-digit haul in nine league games under Graham Potter and the midfielder has started every game of Potter’s tenure. With most of Chelsea’s attacking players misfiring, Mount is a beacon of stability and potential easy source of FPL points.

Price: £7.5m Gameweek 17 points: 10 Ownership: 7.5 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Nottingham Forest (a)

Andreas Pereira (Fulham)

Pereira is something of a template pick, but less than 25 per cent of managers own him. On most set-pieces and with two goals and four assists this season already, Pereira is the cheapest attacking pick which still guarantees a steady stream of points.

He picked up 0.71xGI (expected goal involvements) and created six chances in Gameweek 17 without scoring or assisting. Fulham host a leaky Southampton side who have not yet settled under Nathan Jones. They then have a Double Gameweek 19, facing Leicester and Chelsea as the only team to double that week. For the next two weeks, Pereira is top FPL option.

Price: 4.6m Gameweek 17 points: 3 Ownership: 24.1 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Southampton (h)

Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)

Costing £0.3m less than Gabriel Martinelli, Odegaard has actually outscored the young Brazilian by three points so far this season. With two goals and two assists in his last two games, the Norwegian maestro is in spectacular form for the table-topping Gunners.

Odegaard created five chances and two big chances against West Ham on Boxing Day and is a cheaper alternative, or addition, to both Martinelli and Saka, without taking up a valuable forward spot like Eddie Nketiah would.

Price: £6.4m Gameweek 17 points: 11 Ownership: 18 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Brighton (a)

Said Benrahma (West Ham)

Sixteenth in the league having scored just 13 goals in 16 games, not wanting to invest in a West Ham attacker is understandable. However, since returning to fitness, Benrahma has three goals in five starts and is on penalties for the Hammers.

Owned by less than 1 per cent of all players and with fixtures against Brentford, Leeds, Wolves and Everton in his next four, Benrahma could be the ultimate budget midfield differential for those looking to shoot up the rankings.

Price: £5.6m Gameweek 17 points: 7 Ownership: 0.9 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Brentford (h)

Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)

Darwin Nunez’ critics will say that he cannot finish, but that seems pretty harsh to a player who has five Premier League goals from eight starts in his debut season. In Gameweek 17, Nunez had four shots on target, 12 touches in the penalty area and racked up 1.16xG without scoring.

Liverpool now host a Leicester side who capitulated 3-0 to Newcastle on Boxing Day and who look shaky throughout. Liverpool, meanwhile, look dangerous and Nunez should continue to get plenty of great opportunities. While he will have games like his last one where he cannot quite finish, Nunez is an explosive, high-upside option against a poor defence in Gameweek 18.

Price: 9m Gameweek 17 points: 2 Ownership: 16.9 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Leicester (h)

Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)

Mitrovic was a doubt to start in Gameweek 17 and then scored the most points of any player. He got a goal and two assists, took four shots on target and created two big chances, taking him to 10 Premier League goals in 13 games this season.

As with Pereira, Fulham now have a prime fixture against Southampton before a double gameweek against Leicester and Chelsea. Although Mitrovic is only one yellow card away from a one-match suspension, he is still an almost essential option for Gameweek 18.

Price: 6.9m Gameweek 17 points: 15 Ownership: 22.6 per cent Gameweek 18 fixture: Southampton (h)

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Darwin Nunez has the potential to emulate scoring machine Robert Lewandowski but needs to develop more composure in front of goal, according to Jurgen Klopp.

The Uruguay striker has a respectable tally of nine in all competitions since his club record move to Liverpool from Benfica last summer but that number could have been much higher.

Nunez missed a string of chances in Liverpool’s 3-1 win at Aston Villa and Klopp has spoken to him about being calmer when presented with a scoring opportunity.

It’s hard to believe now but Klopp says Lewandowski lacked a clinical streak when he signed him for Borussia Dortmund in 2010 – the Poland star managed only eight in his first season in the Bundesliga before he took off – and Nunez could follow a similar career path.

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“There are a lot of similarities [with Lewandowski] to be honest,” he said. “Yes, I think Lewi would tell the same story. We had shooting sessions where he didn’t finish off one. We had bets all the time for €10 – ‘if you score more than 10 times I will pay you 10, if you don’t you have to pay me’. My pocket was full of money!

“It’s all about staying calm. When you see the potential, stay calm. I think we all agree that the potential [in Nunez] is so obvious. Yes. Is everything right? No – but it is all coming. I had this situation with Lewi but it is not only Lewi. He is the obvious comparison.

“I saw so many top-class strikers in moments where the world was judging them and thought, ‘I am not sure that will happen again.’ If you have quality and the right attitude, everything will be fine – and that’s the case with Darwin.

“If a striker doesn’t have chances that’s a real problem, if he doesn’t get into situations, that’s a problem. You can sort that, but it’s much more difficult. The rest, you get in situations, you gain experience in the same situation, you come into the same situation again, you know what you did last time so you do it slightly different. That all comes with time.

“We are in constant conversation about this [staying calm] but in the right manner and not pointing the finger and saying, ‘Here you have to finish like that, here you have to finish that…’

“He is an exceptional talent and it will come.”

Klopp also says Liverpool had a “home run” in the Cody Gakpo transfer deal because the rising Holland star only wanted to join them.

He claimes Merseyside club didn’t even need Gakpo’s Dutch team-mate Virgil Van Dijk to have a word in the winger’s ear to convince him that Anfield was the best destination for him.

Manchester United and several other Premier League clubs had shown keen interest but the 23-year-old had already made up his mind on his £37m move from PSV Eindhoven even before speaking to Klopp.

“We didn’t tell Virgil to talk to him because there was no reason,” said Klopp. “When I was allowed to speak to him [by PSV] it was one of those nice moments when you are manager of Liverpool FC.

“You think you have to convince a player to sign and then you realise when you speak to them that the door is wide open, it is more or less a home run. And that’s cool.

“So we didn’t need Virgil to convince him but after that from a specific moment Virgil – who likes to be involved in these kind of things – had his say as well so it’s all good.”

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Klopp is delighted that Liverpool moved quickly for a hugely talented and flexible player – who can play in all four forward positions – before he was priced out of their range.

Long-term injuries to Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, plus Gakpo’s impressive performances in the World Cup where he scored in all three group games for the Dutch, added urgency to get the deal done now rather than next summer.

“He is a young player with a lot of potential,” he added. “If he would have already been scoring 40 goals in Spain or whatever he would be un-affordable.

“With these kind of things, it’s all about timing, getting these boys at the right moment – that they didn’t already score 55 goals per season and stuff like this. That’s why we were really convinced.

“He could always make the next step, and that makes it interesting. We believe in our process, when players come here – especially offensive players – they have all made a step forward because of the way we work and the way we can help them. That makes it massively interesting.

“He can play in all four positions in attack. He will probably say his favourite is off the left wing in a 4-3-3 but he is still very young and for us, we think we can use him in any of those.”

Gakpo is ineligible for Friday’s home game with Leicester because he will officially not become a Liverpool player until the start of the January transfer window.

He could be on the bench for the trip to Brentford on Monday but is more likely to be given a week’s training with his new team-mates to help him settle in and be involved for the first time in the FA Cup third round home tie against Wolves on 7 January.

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