For the first-time in five-and-a-half years Liverpool players stood shoulders slumped, hands on hips, staring at the turf in front of a full Anfield crowd as their opponents danced wildly before a delirious away end celebrating a Premier League victory.
Leeds United deservedly snatched all three points just before full-time on Saturday night, inflicting the Reds’ first home league defeat with fans in attendance since April 2017. The end of such stellar records is inevitable, but the feeble manner of this loss to a team which was in the bottom three before kick-off and whose manager had been roundly derided by his own supporters for weeks on end was nothing short of embarrassing.
Liverpool did not finally succumb to a home league defeat because they were beaten by a team simply better than them. They did so because they believed in themselves to nowhere near the same extent as the opposition.
Where Leeds pressed every man on his first touch, Liverpool players waited for somebody else to do it for them. When a Leeds player broke forward his team-mates followed, while Liverpool left their colleagues stuck in corners surrounded by two or three opponents with no support. While the away end smelled blood, the home crowd seemed desperate to be put out of its misery from minute one.
Throughout the 90 minutes, Liverpool players appeared surprised that their Leeds counterparts wanted to tackle them, or wanted to run, or were willing to back one another up.
There are innumerable reasons behind Liverpool’s dreadful drop off in performances and results since their superb 2021-22 campaign. From tactics and recruitment to pre-season preparations and in-game decisions, there is not a single area in which the club’s owners, its manager, coaching staff or playing squad can be pleased with their efforts since the end of May.
But more than anything, Liverpool look like a team which is completely spent physically, mentally, and emotionally, unable to push themselves any further after squeezing every last drop of energy and desire from their minds and bodies from January onwards last season. They have played well on only rare occasions since the summer, in odd matches where enough players seem able to get themselves up to a level of energy and belief approaching something near “normal”.
You can understand it. These are human beings who have given everything relentlessly for five years with barely time to stop and take a breath. If plenty of supporters still feel drained after the mammoth 63-match campaign came to an end in May, then it’s reasonable to believe those who put the effort in on the pitch do so too. But such a profound level of exhaustion in a group of players is extremely difficult to resolve.
Jurgen Klopp is trying to do so, of course. “So many things are unlike us in this moment,” the Liverpool manager said after full-time. “I am sorry it is like this, but that is the situation. I am not sure how deep you can dig, but we will. It is like it is and we will work on solutions.”
Liverpool’s Premier League results so far in 2022-23
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool
Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth
Liverpool 2-1 Newcastle United
Liverpool 0-0 Everton
Liverpool 3-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
Arsenal 3-2 Liverpool
Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City
Liverpool 1-0 West Ham United
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 1-2 Leeds United
The issue with that is that Klopp has already tried various solutions and not found anything which struck. If a thoroughly deserved win over Manchester City in which every player was excellent, a change of system to something quite drastically different, an almost full month off from playing following the Queen’s death, and clear-the-air training ground talks after the wretched loss in Napoli have all proven insufficient, then what really is left to try?
The signing of multiple new players in January would undoubtedly be helpful, particularly in midfield and attack. Liverpool and Klopp have gone from (rightly) believing that their squad is full of world-class players to now being confronted by the fact you could reasonably argue that the team would benefit from a new signing in any position aside from in goal.
But new signings, if they are on the horizon, are months away at least and will not by themselves solve the multitude of problems which leave Liverpool looking unlikely to qualify for any European competition, never mind the Champions League, as things stand.
The only thing Klopp has control over right now is his current playing squad – that is where he must somehow find his way forward. But with only a few games remaining before the mid-season break for the World Cup, and a group seemingly drained of all energy and self-belief, those solutions seem a very long way off indeed.
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The Score is Daniel Storey’s weekly verdict on all 20 Premier League teams’ performances. Sign up here to receive the newsletter every Monday morning
The weekend’s major news story came at Anfield, where Liverpool lost for the second game in a row to raise the cries of crisis that surround Jurgen Klopp’s team. His loss was Jesse Marsch’s gain, who lives to fight another day at Leeds thanks to a chaotic, energetic performance that contained the best of Leeds out of possession.
The other Big Six club to be humbled were Chelsea, with Graham Potter being booed on his return to Brighton and suffering a dismal 4-1 defeat to go with them. Chelsea lose ground on the top four thanks to wins for Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle.
Leaders Arsenal and chasers Manchester City both won without conceding against teams from the East Midlands, with Forest still on the bottom after a 5-0 defeat.
If you’ll forgive the cross-sport analogy, Reiss Nelson’s contributions on Sunday felt like when a third-choice running back is parachuted into an NFL offence and immediately finds gaps. Because the defence have focused so much attention on stopping the first (Gabriel Jesus) and second-choice (Eddie Nketiah), the surprise option makes hay.
Nelson must have thought that his Arsenal career might be over. Now 22, he hasn’t started a Premier League match since July 2020 (and only nine in total) and was a bit-part player on loan at Feyenoord last season. There were years when Nelson was considered the most talented attacking player in Arsenal’s academy; they looked to have been lost on the wind.
And yet there is an argument that he might be a better option than Nketiah in certain situations. While Nketiah is more of an obvious centre forward presence, Nelson is more of a creative wide player who can dovetail with other attacking midfielders. When you are trying to drag a deep defence out of position, that can be crucial.
It would be a push to suggest that Nelson is suddenly going to become a fixture on the bench or that Nketiah is suddenly going to be usurped. But it is amazing how a club being in rude health suddenly allows for new recipes to appear from pre-existing ingredients. Mikel Arteta will be delighted at the option that has fallen into his lap.
Aston Villa
After the jubilation of last weekend’s thumping of Brentford, a quadruple dose of reality that will leave Unai Emery in no doubt of what lies ahead when he takes charge of the team this week. For all that Aaron Danks oversaw an immediate vast improvement, Villa were helpless to resist Newcastle from the moment Callum Wilson scored his penalty. The manner in which they crumpled under pressure will worry Emery.
Danks kept the same team that beat Brentford, with four attacking players in Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings. Then, Villa seized the advantage by scoring early goals that put Brentford on the back foot. The game was over before it began.
Here, a completely different scenario. Playing with four attacking players, none of them who really have onerous defensive duties, is all when and good when you are able to pin back the opposition. But when it’s you who are being forced to defend, it left Villa a man light in midfield.
During the first half, you could see Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa asking for more protection from those in front of them. Douglas Luiz and Leander Dendoncker did their best and did offer some bite in the first half (they each made four tackles), but as soon as Newcastle got their tails up they were left floundering. With Joelinton dropping deep, and the full-backs pushing on untracked, Newcastle effectively had four central midfielders (Joelinton, Joe Willock, Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff) against two. That killed the game.
Emery’s great strength at Villarreal was improving their defensive resilience. They have conceded seven goals in 11 La Liga games this season, the second best in the division, and only twice in four games against Juventus and Bayern Munich in the Champions League last-16 and quarter-finals last season. But does he have the specialist holding midfielder to replicate his 4-1-4-1 formation?
Bournemouth
A defeat that was more painful than simply losing 2-0. Bournemouth proved earlier in the season, against Forest, that they can turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win. Against Tottenham they suffered the same fate.
The principal issue for Bournemouth appears to be the need to commit lots of players forward just to create enough chances to shoot. They are comfortably the most infrequent shot takers in the Premier League, with 97 (the next lowest are Forest, who had recorded 116 shots even before playing on Sunday). In the first half, that worked well because Tottenham defended appallingly and Kieffer Moore is the perfect target for crosses into the box.
But the problem comes when Bournemouth sit back, because a) they aren’t good enough to repel a Premier League attack once they hand them the initiative, and b) sitting off their opponent means that they don’t get enough midfielders forward to create chances. That leaves the front two incredibly isolated and makes Bournemouth pretty one-dimensional. That lack of attacking threat only persuades their opponents that they can push more and more players forward in search of goals. Eventually, the pressure is too much.
It is far easier advice to give than take, because continuing to attack a Big Six opponent as a promoted club when you have a two-goal lead strikes as deeply naive. But in this case, given the trouble Moore was causing in the penalty area it was actually Bournemouth’s best hope of winning the game.
Brentford
Have Brentford got a problem with Ivan Toney, who has scored one goal from open play in his last seven league games?
There is little fault on Toney’s part – he relies upon service. But in recent matches, it is interesting to see just how deep he is dropping to try and get involved in play. Against Aston Villa last weekend, Toney had 36 touches of the ball but only two were in the opposition penalty area. He had five touches in the box against Wolves, but he still tended to move far away from goal to get involved in play. Against Manchester United, for example, Toney had seven penalty-box touches in the same game and stayed high, so when Brentford won possession he was in a position to contribute immediately.
The issue might well be because of the system. Last season, Brentford most often used a 3-5-2 formation in which the wing-backs were asked to overlap. Now Brentford are using a 4-3-3 shape, which forces the full-backs to be a little more defensive. Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry, the two full-backs, have created only eight chances between them.
That issue is compounded by the loss of the pure creative midfielder in Christian Eriksen, who created 30 chances in his 11 league appearances – that’s only 13 more than Brentford’s highest chance creator over the season as a whole. Toney is being asked to do multiple jobs when he and Brentford may be better served by finding a way to keep him high up the pitch.
Brighton
An afternoon of total bliss. A Graham Potter team hounded their Big Six opponents in possession, forced mistakes and punished those mistakes with absolute ruthlessness. The only difference this time? Potter was standing in the other dugout with a look that suggested he’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
Brighton supporters were angry that their club is being picked apart in mid-season and their model lifted virtually wholesale and taken to west London. Those feelings still exist; one win doesn’t alter the mood of helplessness that your club can do everything right and the ultimate reward feels a lot like punishment.
But that only makes these performances, particularly against this team, so special. “Do you want to buy a song?” the Amex chanted towards a glum away end. That might just be the funniest football chant of the season so far.
This wasn’t karma’s doing, of course. Chelsea have done nothing wrong, merely used the principles of capitalism in their favour. This is still Potter’s team and in Roberto De Zerbi they may well have appointed an excellent coach to continue his work. They are brilliant at identifying weaknesses and just as brilliant at exploiting them. Brighton’s flaw has long been turning those moments of danger into goals; it helps when you opponent scores two of them for you.
There is some sympathy for De Zerbi here. He is clearly an excellent coach who is following the greatest manager in Brighton’s history and having to instil his values without a pre-season. But the initial evidence is far more promising than the results. Brighton merited victories against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest but settled for a point. This was the blueprint for his mandate at Brighton and we can’t wait to see what he does after a manufactured World Cup-induced mid-season pre-season.
Chelsea
Potter suffered a tough day at his old stomping ground (Photo: Getty)
Graham Potter’s first job as Chelsea manager was/is to improve their attacking fluency and creativity without compromising on the defensive structure. It had become a huge problem under Thomas Tuchel: even after initial improvement under Potter, Chelsea rank 13th for expected goals and 14th for shots taken. That’s extraordinary, given their resources.
That problem is compounded by a lack of obvious solutions. On Saturday’s evidence, Potter can hardly make Chelsea more expansive. They were bullied by Brighton in midfield without an obvious protector for the defence. Ruben Loftus-Cheek struggled to cope (he was better at right-back after half-time) and Mateo Kovacic was unable to control the tempo in any way. Chelsea’s are surely missing N’Golo Kante, but for all their summer work you wonder if they still miss a defensive midfielder. Where is Denis Zakaria?
And then there’s the defending. Chelsea kept five consecutive clean sheets before the draw against Manchester United, but made a series of individual errors to allow Brighton to maintain their pressure. Marc Cucurella was wretched as the left-sided central defender, Trevor Chalobah had a nightmare in the first half and Thiago Silva is not quick enough to cover for the errors of others. He made his own errors too. With Raheem Sterling ostensibly playing as an attacking wing-back, and Brighton relentlessly pressing high up the pitch, Chelsea were drowning.
“I’m not going to throw the players under the bus,” Potter said after the game. “I have to take responsibility and try to find a way for us to do better.” After a nine-game unbeaten run to start his Chelsea career, he is learning the difference between managing at the top and the middle of the same division. Defeats at Brighton were inevitable; at Chelsea, they are unacceptable when they come with no glimpse of positive spin.
Crystal Palace
When Patrick Vieira took over at Palace, we were told that he intended to turn Roy Hodgson’s team into a possession-based side that looked to dominate the ball, build up slowly and use the trickery of their attacking midfielders to create chances.
In his first few months of Vieira’s tenure, that was proven correct: in their first 15 league games of last season, Palace recorded 60 per cent possession or above in seven of them. By way of comparison, they had done so once in the entirety of 2020-21.
But recently, Vieira seems to have compromised on that ideal. It makes some sense: Palace’s best players are indeed their attacking midfielders and they usually flourish in one-on-one situations. By soaking up pressure and playing a little more on the counter, you can surprise opponents and create those situations.
Palace haven’t recorded 60 per cent or more possession in any game this season. In their four home league wins this season (Southampton, Wolves, Leeds, Villa), they have averaged exactly 50 per cent of the ball and on Saturday beat Southampton with only 44 per cent possession (vs 59 per cent in the same fixture last season). It’s working.
Everton
Much has been made of Everton’s defensive improvement under Frank Lampard, heralded by the free and loan deals completed for James Tarkowski and Conor Coady respectively. But the often overlooked impact of defensive resolve is that it naturally improves the performance of the goalkeeper.
At Everton, that matters. Jordan Pickford is a brilliant shot-stopper, probably one of the best in the division from point-blank range. His save to deny Willian in the first half at Craven Cottage seemed to go a little under the radar, but it was world class.
The lack of time to react, combined with the extension of the body and arms required, took your breath away. Pickford then produced another exceptional save from the resulting corner.
And these things are all linked. Pickford is a goalkeeper who can get a little excited and even over-emotional, desperate to impress. When the defence in front of him is struggling or low on confidence, that can be a problem: he has plenty of opportunities to rush out and try to take control and occasionally makes bad decisions. And when they’re confident in him and, crucially, he is in them, Pickford can rely on what he does best and reinforce his position as England’s No 1.
When you are annoyed at failing to beat an established Premier League team having extended your unbeaten run to four matches and missing out on the chance to temporarily enter the top six, it’s probably safe to say that everything is going just fine.
Fulham are legitimately good because of the sheer number of dangerous opportunities they are creating and because Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed are doing an excellent job in protecting a defence that does still have a Championship tinge to it.
Against Everton, Fulham had 24 shots. Not only is that three more than they managed in any game during their last Premier League season, it is also a total they only surpassed twice last season in the Championship (against Reading and Coventry). They are coping wonderfully well with this Premier League lark.
Leeds
Leeds players celebrate their win at Anfield (Photo: Getty)
Fair play to Jesse Marsch, who this week took the unusual step of giving himself the dreaded vote of confidence, explaining that he had four games to save his job before we all break for the World Cup. If that was intended to take the heat off his players and pour it on himself, it worked a treat.
This was also a throwback to Marcelo Bielsa’s style of football. Leeds ran and ran and ran some more, covering more ground that any other Premier League team has in a game this season. They understood that Liverpool’s confidence would be fragile and they sought to exacerbate Jurgen Klopp’s issues. But they also controlled their own chaos: the press was organised and they deliberately chose to surge directly towards goal when they won possession in Liverpool’s half.
To an extent, this is Leeds in their element. Their three league wins this season have come in the three matches during which they have had the least of the ball. Sacrificing possession – or encountering an opponent that feels it needs to dominate it – helps them out because they are far better without the ball than with it. They can focus on that relentlessly high pressing and force chances with that mania. There is no doubt these wins require some good fortune and excellent goalkeeping – Islan Meslier was back to his best. But then so what, if it works?
Marsch’s next test is to give his team more of a plan when they are expected to knit together attacking moves from deep rather than feast upon turnovers in the final third. So far this season, they have struggled badly when dominating possession. Everything becomes lethargic, they don’t use the wings enough, they end up over-committing and give up multiple clear chances on their own goal.
But for now, Marsch has bought himself a little breathing room. It’s a ludicrous thing for any non-elite club to want, but they must wish they could play a Big Six club every week. Leeds took zero points from a possible 36 against them last season; six from three games in 2022-23.
Leicester
Leicester’s recent improvement has come through sacrificing possession. They had recorded their two lowest number of completed passes in each of their previous league games, won them both and scored six times without conceding. That was Brendan Rodgers’ idea here: three at the back, two defensive wing-backs and a propensity to put 10 outfield players between Manchester City’s player in possession and their goal.
It’s a difficult balance to perfect. Push City too high up the pitch and they will pass the ball around you in a blur. But sit too deep and you simply invite pressure that eventually becomes impossible to repress. Until an hour played – and with their team already behind – Rodgers probably misaligned that balance. Leicester barely carried any threat on the counter, resorting to short passes to try and catch their breath and then long balls to an isolated Jamie Vardy.
Their substitutions did change the game. If Rodgers had decided to create a 30-minute window at the game’s end in which to condense all of his side’s attacks and pray Leicester weren’t out of the game by that point, that contained some logic. On came Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho and with them Leicester found their lifeblood. Youri Tielemans twanged a volley that Ederson tipped over. Both substitute strikers floated into the blind spots of those in luminous yellow.
City resisted that pressure. For all the oohs and ahhs, and for all they lamented their misfortune as they left the stadium, Leicester only really troubled Ederson once and City squandered promising chances to extend their lead. This is what Pep Guardiola’s team do: knock you out with control and then smother any attempts to put them off their stride. Those of a Leicester disposition will wonder what might have been had they pushed on earlier; it is rarely that simple.
Liverpool
If everything isn’t completely broken at Anfield, it’s getting very close. The mood has changed over the last two league matches, from frustration and disappointment to resignation. Jurgen Klopp is repeating the same excuses about fatigue and accepting that finishing in the top four will not be possible with Liverpool in this form. Supporters are probably looking forward to the World Cup; it gives them a few weeks off from the dismay.
How much of this is down to tiredness, injuries and a lack of available options? They clearly don’t help. Liverpool were outrun by Leeds and that was obvious even to the naked eye. Despite Leeds suffering for long periods, chasing the ball, it was they who had the greater energy in the last 10 minutes of the match.
The squad is clearly imbalanced by injuries. When Klopp looked to the bench for game-changers, he did not see Luis Diaz or Diogo Jota but Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones and James Milner. With the greatest of respect to all three, they do not help with the problem of failing to move the ball quickly enough and creating chances from open play.
Those excuses are insufficient, though. They may offer enough good reasons to be behind Manchester City, but not Fulham. They may excuse a lack of intensity for periods of 10 or 15 minutes at a time, but not for more than half of their league matches this season. You can make arguments after both of their last two defeats (against Forest and Leeds) that Liverpool missed good opportunities to score, but they were facing two of the weakest defences in the Premier League and scored once in 180 minutes.
When you become convinced that there are serious issues impeding your progress, such as multiple injuries and fatigue (possibly made worse by your manager repeating that message after every loss), confidence is the first thing to suffer. Fabinho is in the worst form of his Liverpool career. Joe Gomez looks haunted by his own mistakes and so fated to repeat them. Virgil van Dijk is worried about those beside and in front of him and so he is also making mistakes. The full-backs were always a blessing, but are now as much of a hindrance. They are having less joy in attack and are being caught up the field, unable to sprint back quite the same way.
Man City
No Erling Haaland, Manchester City’s top scorer. No Phil Foden, the only other of Pep Guardiola’s to have scored more than two league goals this season. An opponent who had finally discovered their own purple patch. The typically sleepy Saturday lunchtime slot. A ground where City teams of the recent past have been unnerved. There were more banana skins than a smoothie factory; and still they marched on.
This felt like a vaguely defining win for Manchester City. Not only because Haaland was missing, but because they had gone three consecutive away games without winning or scoring. They knew that their names are being written in pencil as title winners even though they were not top of the league, and they know what pressure that brings.
Having Kevin de Bruyne helps, as well it might. He broke through the fog with a free kick of frankly laughable quality. Put five players in a wall, use James Maddison as a draft excluder, have Danny Ward trying to cover both corners; it doesn’t matter. Not when the king steps up.
They talk about that distance, between 20 and 25 yards, as difficult for a set-piece taker because you struggle to get the ball up and down. De Bruyne doesn’t really care. Watch the free kick again: he has an incredible ability to quickly get his shots up to a height to clear the wall and then just… keep them at that same height.
Do you think we take De Bruyne’s majesty a little for granted? Are we slightly immune to just how ridiculous it is to produce these moments with such consistency? Perhaps because there is very little fanfare, no mass billboard ads and no marketing hashtags, just a slightly red-faced, unassuming man who makes technically difficult things look ludicrously simple. We shall miss him when he is no longer doing this every week.
Man Utd
Marcus Rashford has come in for a lot of stick, both inside and outside of Manchester United. There is a sub-section of society who views his work as lefty virtue signalling and so is predisposed to push a “stick to football” argument – we can easily ignore them. But the accusation from some Manchester United supporters was that Rashford was implicit in his own poor form – he didn’t want it enough and his body language was wrong.
There was an alternative view. Rashford played for half a season with an injured back, wheeled out because United had few other options and were usually in a desperate situation. He then missed a pre-season and was playing catch up. He was usually picked on the left in a team that played with such a low intensity that he was too rarely able to drive at players or operate within the penalty box; he developed as a centre forward, remember. If that made him a bit glum well… yeah. He’s a human being not a robot.
Rashford is also 24 years old and has experienced an awful lot in his career, very little of which he was able to prepare for other than by learning on the job. He burst onto the season for club and country and then we simply expected his development to be linear. It doesn’t work that way.
Now, when Manchester United are finally in their best shape for years and finally appear to have a forward-thinking coach who can allow them to recover sustainably, Rashford looks happier, is finally fully fit, is scoring goals and is doing those things we knew he could do. And we are supposed to think that this is some kind of coincidence?
Newcastle
Wilson is scoring his way onto the plane to Qatar (Photo: Getty)
The role of back-up to Harry Kane is arguably the most competitive position within England’s squad. Despite having increased numbers (23 to 26), it seems unlikely that Gareth Southgate will take three centre forwards. Kane will play every competitive minute for which he is available.
There are several good options, even if Patrick Bamford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have probably slipped down the queue a little due to their injury issues. Ivan Toney is already capped and would be a savvy choice given the potential for penalties – he is one of the most reliable in the world at that. Marcus Rashford is an interesting case because he has experience playing from the left, but is now operating through the middle at Manchester United. Tammy Abraham can hold the ball up and has flourished in Italy, but there are doubts about his chance conversion.
So it was a good day, with Southgate in attendance, for Callum Wilson to offer an exhaustive portfolio of everything he offers. He scored his penalty – that always goes down well. He found space in the box to score a header. He was denied a hattrick, but Joelinton finished the rebound anyway. He could have done nothing more to force his way onto the plane.
Nottingham Forest
I don’t suppose this is going to come as a revelation to Steve Cooper, but he has got to find a way to avoid a) Forest conceding goals in clusters and b) making them more resilient in the period immediately after half-time.
The evidence is damning. Forest have conceded 10 goals between the 46th and 60th minute, three more than any other team in the division. That’s because they come in twos and three: two in 12 minutes against Bournemouth, three in seven minutes against Fulham, three in 11 minutes against Leicester, three in nine minutes against Arsenal.
This can only be a question of belief, surely. Forest’s confidence is fragile, because of their start to the season and because there are so many new players that the system is not strong enough to carry individuals. So when something goes wrong, it causes an instant psychological hit that leaves them further exposed until they regain that belief.
Southampton
You do worry about just how weary Ralph Hasenhuttl is getting at Southampton. We are to expect these inconsistencies from young players, playing superbly against Arsenal one week and then offering far too little against Crystal Palace the next. We know they will miss chances because they lack a prolific goalscorer. We know they might be better against higher-class opposition because they can try to play on the break. But all of this does seem to be getting Hasenhuttl down.
“When not every player is at the highest level it is not possible to compete in the Premier League,” the manager said after the 1-0 defeat at Selhurst Park. “I don’t want to speak only about Ibra [Diallo], it was a few more players who were not good enough. We were not quick enough in the mind and this was the reason why we were under pressure in the first-half.”
Perhaps this is over-analysis, but you listen to Hasenhuttl and you hear a man who has been at Southampton for a while and must be wondering whether he has it in him to oversee this emphatically long-term project. Southampton have dropped to 17th; the chances of escaping a relegation battle lurch the wrong way again.
Tottenham
Of course there was joy and relief at the result, not least because this time the late winner was not ruined by a marginal offside call that took VAR four minutes to work out and left everyone with a clanging sense of futility.
Away from the three points, there is a degree of bitterness forming within Tottenham’s support and you can understand why. The first 10 weeks of this season have roughly been a repeat of Nuno’s brief period in charge: stunted performances that produced fortunate, tight victories that masked the deeper problem of why a team with excellent forwards was struggling to create clear chances in open play and eventually gave way to poor performances and poor results.
With Antonio Conte, though, there’s the complication of money. Nuno was forced to deal with the Harry Kane transfer request kerfuffle and made few demands of Tottenham’s decision-makers. Conte has seemingly demanded to be backed in the transfer market if Spurs wanted to keep him, been backed, got the team playing some fairly ropey football and is now demanding more in January. Forget Nuno for a minute – is this not the lesson that Tottenham learned under Jose Mourinho?
We should not overreact. Tottenham are still third in the league and there is power in a stirring comeback. But if results turn – and performances suggest that they might – and Tottenham tumble out of the top four and out of the Champions League, we’re allowed to wonder why this team isn’t being coached to be more expressive in attack.
West Ham
Anybody surprised that West Ham lost at Old Trafford, probably being a little too negative and probably leaving it a little too late to make an attacking assault on the hosts, hasn’t been paying enough attention to David Moyes’ career.
The numbers are pretty emphatic, and do not make for happy reading. Under Moyes, West Ham have played 20 away games against Big Six teams and have taken two points from a possible 60. As a manager at any club, Moyes has managed 16 Premier League games at Old Trafford as an away manager. He has drawn four of those games and lost the other 12.
You can understand why West Ham fans may feel a little glum. For all their progress under Moyes, there remains a psychological block whereby they seem to enter the homes of the Big Six with too much fear and thus cede the advantage.
Wolves
This is the Diego Costa that Wolves signed and this is why he had been available as a free agent for so long. The only shock was that this was the first red card of his Premier League career. Costa will miss three matches but, in truth, Wolves will only miss him because he was available not because he was offering anything.
Against Leicester last weekend, we witnessed a pantomime version of an international striker. It was as if Costa was playing the 2015 version of himself, desperately trying to do the same things but in need of a stunt double because the legs just don’t work like they used to. Costa heaved his way around the pitch. The histrionics were still there, because you don’t require physical fitness to wind up defenders and complain to officials that it’s actually you that is suffering from mistreatment.
Without excellence, the needle just becomes a circus. After being frustrated by Brentford’s defenders and at his own ineptitude, Costa added the final flourish by headbutting one of them in the face. He should probably be thankful that VAR wasn’t around during his last spell in England.
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OLD TRAFFORD — According to Spain boss Luis Enrique, David de Gea is not even in the top three Spanish goalkeepers in the Premier League.
Widespread reports in Spain claim De Gea will not make Luis Enrique’s provisional 55-man squad for next month’s World Cup in Qatar. That means there are five goalkeepers ahead of him in the pecking order: Brighton’s Robert Sanchez, Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga and Brentford stopper David Raya among them.
It is a sign of how the modern game has somewhat passed De Gea by. While the Spaniard has been busy bailing out a side who have been lurching from one disaster to the next over the past decade, the requirements for a modern goalkeeper have changed, with the distribution of the man between the sticks as important a requirement as shot-stopping.
While Manchester City’s Ederson and Liverpool keeper Alisson can register assists with long-range passes that seem to defy the laws of physics, De Gea’s passing has remained very much akin to keepers of yesteryear. Such is De Gea’s inferiority in the distribution department that United are considering a move for one of those who has usurped him from the Spanish ranks – Raya.
What is in no doubt, however, is that there remain few better in world football at the now old-fashioned art of shot-stopping. Especially so after United’s victory over West Ham in the Manchester drizzle was down to one man alone. Again.
It would have been somewhat disappointing for the Old Trafford faithful, so impressed by a scintillating United display in their last league match against Tottenham, that their side struggled to get going against David Moyes’ Hammers.
Half chances were all the hosts could muster early on, before the real touch of class on the pitch – Christian Eriksen – clipped a sumptuous cross onto the head of Marcus Rashford to score what proved to be the winner.
The second half, however, was backs against the wall for United, with some of the last-ditch defending from Lisandro Martinez and the ever-improving Diogo Dalot in particular helping frustrate the visitors time and again.
When they did sneak past Martinez’s clutches, however, a familiar sight saved the day for United. De Gea’s three stunning saves to deny Kurt Zouma, Michail Antonio, and Declan Rice right at the death were sensational in their own way.
"Sometimes people think that goalies never get tired…"
De Gea’s acrobatic effort to keep out Zouma’s flicked header was a contender for save of the season, clawing the ball out when it appeared to be already past him, while Rice had already wheeled away, thinking his arrowing effort was just reward his team’s second-half dominance, before United’s unbreachable star of the show flung up his right arm to make one last game-defining stop.
Upon the final whistle, his team-mates knew who to run to thank. The beating of the chest to the crowd showed the fire still burns strong inside a Spaniard, even if his country has moved on.
“Everyone has their own opinion and philosophy,” United boss Erik ten Hag said of De Gea’s potential Spain snub. “For me, first for a goalkeeper you have to protect the goal and not concede goals and at that he is magnificent.
“With the feet he has the capabilities as well. He is progressing from game to game in that part, it is also to do with the one in front, how you give him the options to make passes.
“It is clear already and I have already emphasised it several times, I am really happy with David. He is a great goalkeeper. He is only 31. He is fit. He can progress even more. He was already impressive for Man Utd and I think he will do that in the future as well.”
Regardless of his manager’s backing, the distribution remained as tentative as ever from De Gea, with simple short passes and clearances all that remains in his locker. Heroics of the shot-saving variety, however, more than made up for it, as they have for the best part of 11 years in England.
Given he is one of the best paid goalkeepers in world football, United are right to be thinking twice about offering De Gea an extension, even at a reduced salary, especially with younger, more able-footed options on the table.
But if his manager can overlook his passing shortfalls, content with keeping teams at bay the old fashioned way, then the club’s hand may well be forced. It seems De Gea and Manchester United are not done yet.
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Manchester United 1-0West Ham United (Rashford 38′)
Marcus Rashford scored his 100th Manchester United goal to earn his side a narrow victory over West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The 25-year-old had the best of the chances in a match which was light on quality and entertainment, seeing a right-footed shot deflected over the bar and a header saved by Lukasz Fabianski before crashing an emphatic header beyond the Pole from Christian Eriksen’s pristine cross towards the end of the first-half.
In the second period Cristiano Ronaldo spurned two quick-fire opportunities to double the lead, but United held on to take victory in a game where neither team played particularly well overall.
West Ham were often the home side’s equals but ultimately didn’t offer enough threat in the final third despite building up plenty of pressure as the clock ticked towards 90. Their best chance came when Jarrod Bowen saw a goal-bound shot blocked just before full-time.
The result means United rise to fifth in the Premier League table, one point behind Newcastle in fourth, while West Ham remain 13th.
David De Gea – Had precious little to do for the vast majority of the match but made a trio of great saves from Antonio, Zouma and Rice as the visitors pushed for an equaliser. 7/10
Diogo Dalot – Found Rashford with a gorgeous cross early in the first-half and was impressive with his delivery from then on. Had little help from Elanga defensively but did well against the lively Benrahma and excelled clearing a succession crosses into his far post in the second-half. Stringing together some very impressive performances now. 8/10
Harry Maguire – Was left for dead on the halfway line a couple of times in the first-half, ultimately being bailed out by his fellow defenders. Better in the second-half defending crosses. Not a bad performance by any means but looked a weaker link between Dalot and Martinez at times. 6/10
Lisandro Martinez– Held off the likes of Bowen and Benrahma with great strength early on in the match and gave very little change to any West Ham player from there. Has settled into the Premier League brilliantly after a couple of ropey early performances, and led United by example from the back here. 8/10
Luke Shaw– The majority of West Ham’s attacking threat came down the other flank, so had much less work to do than Dalot but was relatively assured throughout. 6/10
Casemiro– Not at his controlling best here in front of watching Brazil national team boss Tite, but helped defend the penalty area well in the final moments as West Ham launched in cross after cross. 6/10
Christian Eriksen– Took one quick glance into the box and then picked out Rashford wonderfully for the opening goal. Struggled a little with the physicality of Soucek and Rice and didn’t have a huge influence on most of the game. 6/10
Anthony Elanga– Had a cross fall to him at the back post towards the end of the first-half and hit a volley so bad that it swerved away towards the corner flag and stayed in play. Very quiet aside from that until he was withdrawn. 4/10
Bruno Fernandes– Pretty anonymous display from the Portuguese, who seems to be losing relevance in a United side which looks more to the likes of Eriksen for creativity and Rashford/Ronaldo for goals these days. 5/10
Marcus Rashford– Simply the most dangerous player on the pitch. Looked up for it from the get-go and showed great movement throughout. Full value for his goal and to hit 100 at age 24 for a club which has been in disarray for years is a superb achievement. 8/10
Cristiano Ronaldo– Had two real chances, both within a minute just after the hour mark, and spurned both very poorly. First was headed far over and the second a shot sliced wide of the near post as he carried the ball into the penalty area. Didn’t contribute to too much link-up play aside from that. 5/10
Substitutes
Scott McTominay– Came on for Elanga in an attempt to give United more control of the game, but his introduction coincided with West Ham’s best attacking spell of the game and he had no discernible positive impact. Caught Zouma with a late boot in the penalty area but survived a VAR check. 4/10
Fred– Replaced Eriksen to form a three-man defensive midfield as Erik Ten Hag tried to shore up the score line with just over ten minutes to play, but like McTominay struggled to help much. Headed against the post a few minutes before the end. 5/10
West Ham player ratings
Lukasz Fabianski– Could do nothing about Rashford’s goal and had little else to do before being substituted at half-time due to injury. 6/10
Thilo Kehrer– Slalomed through the United defence brilliantly to create a chance for Bowen in the first-half was ended up being offside. Lost out far too easily to Rashford for the opener, barely even jumping for the ball at the back post. 5/10
Craig Dawson– West Ham’s most threatening player, worrying United a few times with his presence and movement from set-pieces but unable to fashion a real effort on target. Defended well for most of the game. 6/10
Kurt Zouma– Made some impressive interceptions on occasions when United were looking to break forward, and kept Ronaldo pretty quiet alongside his partner. 6/10
Aaron Creswell– Didn’t get forward to support Benrahma enough, who was creating space with his running which was not capitalised upon. Had little defending to do against Elanga. 5/10
FULL-TIME! The Manchester United team all celebrate with David De Gea after that 𝙋𝙃𝙀𝙉𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙉𝘼𝙇 last minute save pic.twitter.com/JjUjyzskBf
Declan Rice– Looked to carry the ball forward as much as possible to move his team up the pitch but lack of movement around him meant little came from his runs. Won plenty of battles. 7/10
Tomas Soucek – Didn’t offer the kind of threat in the air he has shown throughout his time with the Hammers when they were earning plenty of set-pieces towards the end of the game, but worked hard as ever in the middle and provided the platform for Rice to make his forward bursts. 6/10
Jarrod Bowen– Ineffectual on the right-hand side, unable to link up with team-mates. Had one chance which saw him hit a shot straight at De Gea from close range, but was then rightly deemed to have been offside anyway. 4/10
Flynn Downes– Neat and tidy in possession but very risk averse in a team which had to take some if its plan to play on the break and nick a goal was going to work, especially after going a goal down. 5/10
Said Benrahma– Plenty of strong dribbling and direct running which helped West Ham up the pitch quickly when they regained possession, but lacked quality with his final pass, shot or touch. Not helped by a lack of support from colleagues at times. 6/10
Gianluca Scamacca– Looked isolated up top, barely able to influence play for the majority of the game. Could have been sent off after making contact with Martinez’s head with his boot after already being booked and was replaced shortly afterwards. 5/10
Substitutes
Alphonse Areola – Replaced Fabianski at the break and had equally little work on his hands. 6/10
Michail Antonio– Came on for Scamacca and provided more presence and hold-up play up-front, forcing a smart save from de Gea with a rasper of a shot from 25-yards-out. 6/10
Pablo Fornals – Replaced Downes with 15 minutes to play and offered much more skill on the ball. Should probably have been brought on earlier. 6/10
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Arsenal 5-0 Nottingham Forest(Martinelli 5′, Nelson 49′, 52′, Partey 57′, Odegaard 78′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — With just a fortnight to go before England depart for Qatar and three weeks before their opening World Cup fixture, Gareth Southgate must be watching from behind the sofa.
Saka was clobbered in the opening minutes by Renan Lodi. You know the kind of thing, one of those unnecessary “let them know you are there” interventions that scar the game. Saka limped on for a bit, even supplied the cross for Arsenal’s opening goal, but would fall to the ground twice more before his ankle finally gave up.
These kind of muscular tackles from behind, for so long revered as an indicator of alpha masculinity, are always dangerous, a maiming waiting to happen. The absence through injury of some of the world’s leading players is one of the pernicious elements that escaped the calculation of architects of this ill-conceived, nonsense of a tournament. Outside of the English contingent Portugal have lost Diogo Jota and France are without N’Golo Kante, whilst fingers remain crossed that Raphael Varane recovers in time.
Into the space left by Saka raced Reiss Nelson. Qatar is probably too early for the former Arsenal wonderkid but don’t rule it out at the rate the flyers are falling. Nelson returned from his loan season at Feyenoord fully formed, according to his coach Mikel Arteta. Still only 22, Nelson has been the talk of the Arsenal training ground following his recovery from injury earlier this season. Arteta identified the nine-game insanity that has been October as an opportunity for Nelson to justify the reviews, if not at Saka’s expense.
Two quick strikes at the start of the second half finally gave Arsenal’s supremacy the scoreline it deserved. Nelson is flexible as well as sharp, moving to the left when Arteta removed Gabriel Martinelli with half an hour to play, probably taking a call from Brazil boss Tite to get him to the safety of the dressing room pronto. Before Nelson’s switch his assist for Thomas Partey embroidered his day. It was still some finish by the Ghanaian, whose own health is so central to the prospects of this Arsenal ensemble.
Partey celebrates with team-mates after scoring Arsenal’s fourth (Photo: Getty)
In truth Arsenal could have sent out the 1971 double-winning side and still won this match. Arsenal scored with their first attack, a stooping header from Martinelli that the centre-half Scott McKenna should have reached and Dean Henderson should have saved. The cross from Saka was heaved into what the football argot labels “the right area” and that proved sufficient.
Gabriel Jesus bent a ball the wrong side of the post. Martinelli had an attempt kicked off the line. Partey piloted the ship expertly from his midfield bridge. Forest charged about having to run twice as hard just to maintain a degree of respectability, which they managed largely because Arsenal lost their way a little following Saka’s departure midway through the opening period.
Half-time proved fecund ground for Arteta, who reminded his team what was at stake against the Premier League’s bottom club. The victory that would take them back to the top of the league would have been expected. The requirement was goals, and plenty of them. Manchester City’s goal difference stood at 26, 12 better than Arsenal’s. This is the guarantee City have up their sleeves should any opponent develop the mettle to push them all the way.
With almost a third of the season gone, Arsenal have shown themselves to be worthy of City’s attention. Martin Odegaard helped himself to the fifth goal at training ground intensity to squeeze the Forest lemon dry. Ill-equipped to contain the weight and breadth of Arsenal’s talent, Forest just melted away.
The fixture at Chelsea next week if not the final match at Wolves ought to stretch Arsenal more and determine whether they retain top spot during the World Cup hiatus. The Emirates at least was awash with a sense of destiny calling as the supporters waved off their boys in the Premier League until the visit of West Ham on Boxing Day.
Forest already look doomed. Having spent £150m on 21 players in the summer Steve Cooper is no nearer blending a team in this unforgiving environment. He spent the whole of this match with his arms across his chest, probably trying to fold himself into an infinitesimal space so as not to be seen.
The home matches to come against Brentford and Crystal Palace already carry must-win status, which is no place to be after 13 games. Though only a point adrift of Wolves in the bottom three and three behind Southampton in 17th the scale of their plight is told in the goals for and against column. With only eight scored and 28 conceded there seems little prospect of Forest changing the narrative of a bruising season.
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It came with a side order of sarcasm, Tyneside tongues tucked firmly in their collective cheeks.
“We’re Newcastle and we’re going to win the league,” sang St James’ Park as Eddie Howe’s upwardly mobile team ran a fourth past shell-shocked Aston Villa.
But they are only five points off the best club side in world football, whose manager Pep Guardiola picked out coming force Newcastle last week as a “contender” for the title. Not yet they’re not, but on this form snatching a golden ticket to the Champions League is a realistic aim.
“There’s going to be a lot of noise outside,” Kieran Trippier said when asked about Newcastle’s top four chances.
“Of course there’s going to be a lot of speculation, people talking about the Champions League but that’s for everyone else.
“We know where we are, we know we deserve to be there, especially given how we’ve performed. But when people are saying we’re going to win the league or Champions League… it’s a long season and we’re only a quarter of the way through.
“We know what we can achieve if we stick together. We’ve got our ambitions internally, although we’re not going to tell people what they are.”
Newcastle have not been shy of promoting their sky high objectives, irking Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp when director of football Dan Ashworth said there was no longer a ceiling to their ambition.
But European football – more specifically a place in the Champions League – would turbo charge their progress, ballooning revenues, opening doors and attracting an even higher calibre of player.
That these conversations are taking place at all is remarkable. Twelve months ago they were bottom of the league, winless and about to be turned down by Unai Emery. They moved for Howe instead and now play a brand of football that looks both controlled and confident.
Villa didn’t have an answer to it when Newcastle prised open their defence. And they joined the list of teams unable to breach a backline in which Sven Botman, a £32m summer signing, was once again outstanding.
Trippier is part of a collective who have ceded just 10 goals. He feels they can improve.
“There’s definitely more to come,” he said. “We can keep the ball better, be more clinical, I feel we’re giving shots away we shouldn’t, turning the ball over.
“There’s loads of things we can improve on but I feel we can still go up so many levels. The performances are there, the results are there but we can still improve.”
Gareth Southgate was at St James’ Park to witness Callum Wilson score twice. The first, an accomplished penalty after in-form Miguel Almiron had drawn a handball from Ashley Young, drew a grin from the England manager.
A second half header showcased Wilson’s instinctive movement and superior technique. With six goals in nine games, he has to be in the World Cup conversation even with his chequered injury record.
“He deserves huge credit,” Trippier said of Newcastle’s No 9.
“All our strikers for England are different, Callum offers [runs] in behind, hold up play. His goalscoring record speaks for itself. He knows there’s a World Cup coming up, he knows he needs to perform – bottom line.”
Trippier’s position is different, defending what would appear to be a certain starting place. Southgate will have left satisfied with what he saw from a player he has always held in high regard although the 32-year-old refuted claims he is a guaranteed starter. He picked out Ben White and Trent Alexander-Arnold as fellow right-backs in fine form.
It is just as well Trippier says he is “100 per cent playing the best football of his career” under “unbelievable” Howe, a manager he rates as highly as Atletico Madrid’s serial winner Diego Simeone.
“I know I’m 32 and everyone goes on about if you get past 30 you’re done but I’m far from done,” he said.
“I feel fit as ever, I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in so that’s a huge credit to the staff as well.”
It is a coaching staff that have a happy knack of drawing the best from players plateauing before they arrived. Almiron, who scored a sumptuous sixth goal in six games, is perhaps the best example of that but fellow goalscorer Joelinton has also been transformed.
In front of Brazil coach Tite he scored to cap another fine display. If his country requires a midfield enforcer in excellent form, he’s not busy in November.
“I still believe, I’m positive but I know it’s difficult with 20 days to go,” he said of his own World Cup hopes. As Newcastle’s supporters will testify, anything feels possible in the club’s new era.
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Instead, Sky Sports Main Event will be showing the T20 World Cup clash between India and South Africa.
Super Sunday will then start at 3pm on both Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with the build-up to Manchester United vs West Ham, which kicks off at 4.15pm.
Fans will therefore have to wait until Match of the Day 2 at 10.30pm on BBC One to see full length highlights of the game.
As per the Premier League’s broadcasting rights, Sky Sports airs between three and four games each week, with BT Sport tending to show the Saturday lunchtime fixture.
This week, the broadcaster opted to air Liverpool’s clash with Leeds rather than Arsenal vs Forest. Usually, this would have formed part of a Sunday Sunday double-bill with West Ham’s trip to Old Trafford.
Nottingham Forest come into the Arsenal clash fresh from victory over Liverpool (Photo: PA Wire)
However, the scheduling of Premier League fixtures this season is being affected by the condensed Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League competitions ahead of the winter Qatar World Cup.
Arsenal, Man Utd and West Ham were all in action on Thursday night, which meant their games had to take place on Sunday.
Liverpool, however, are playing Napoli in their final Champions League group game this Tuesday – which means their fixture with Leeds had to take place on Saturday.
This is why Jurgen Klopp’s side were in action at the slightly unusual time of 7.45pm last night, succumbing to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat as their poor start continued.
It aired as part of a rare Sky Sports Saturday night double bill, following Fulham’s goalless draw with Everton.
What can you expect from Arsenal vs Forest?
Arteta admitted ahead of the fixture the lack of goals from his Arsenal strikers is becoming a concern.
The 2-0 reverse to PSV in the Europa League was just a second defeat of the season for the Gunners, who can move two points clear of Manchester City at the Premier League summit with a win today.
Despite their fine run, summer signing Gabriel Jesus is goalless in his last six appearances, while Eddie Nketiah’s strike against Bodo/Glimt on 6 October was the last time an Arsenal striker found the back of the net.
“We need goals and we need goals from our front players, that’s for sure, to win the games and to give us bigger margins (of victory),” Arteta said.
“Obviously, that run of a lack of goals has to end for us to be in a position to win more matches, that is for sure.”
One of Arsenal’s issues last season was not being able to react to negative results but, having bounced back from defeat to Manchester United in September with a run of eight straight wins, the manager wants to see the same again.
“The best way after defeat is to win the next game, that’s 100 per cent for sure,” he added.
“We have a great opportunity on Sunday in front of our crowd, we’ve been incredibly good at home and we have to see a different side.”
Facing them will be Forest’s in-form goalkeeper Dean Henderson, whose manager believes has given himself the best chance of making England’s World Cup squad with his performances this season.
Henderson has proved his worth in the early part of the campaign after his season-loan long from Manchester United.
The 25-year-old has certainly been kept busy as the Reds have struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, and only Brentford’s David Raya has made more than his 48 saves so far this campaign.
He was in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Nations League matches last month, but that was with Jordan Pickford out injured, so he is realistically competing with Aaron Ramsdale – his opposite number today – and Nick Pope for one of the goalkeeping spots in Qatar.
Former England Under-17 coach Cooper reckons Henderson has done all he can to get himself on the plane in a few weeks, but will not be calling in any favours with his friend Southgate.
“He’s playing well for us, but like everything else this week it’s about trying to improve in the next game,” Cooper said.
“There’s no doubt he’s had some really important moments for us this season. There are the stand-outs, like a couple of saves last week, but we’re obviously looking at the whole performance.
“I’m sure the staff at England are monitoring him and he’s given himself the best chance, for sure.
“It’s good for Dean that he’s playing regular Premier League football, because that’s in the end how you get to showcase your abilities and your levels.”
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