Max Dowman made football history on Saturday. Running from his own half, he fired into an empty net to secure Arsenal a 2-0 win over Everton and become the youngest goalscorer in the Premier League.

But afterwards, in the “ecstatic dressing room, the man of the match wasn’t there”, said Miguel Delaney in The Independent. That’s because Dowman “isn’t actually the man of the match”, but a child. The midfielder, aged 16 years and 75 days, isn’t allowed in the same dressing room as the adults, and gets changed in his own space near the referees’ room.

‘Never left alone’

Dowman “probably cannot even remember a time when he was not skipping past opponents with a ball at his feet”, said Sam Dean in The Telegraph. There has been “a buzz” around his name for years. He was scouted when he was just four; at 13, he became the youngest player to represent Arsenal’s under-18s; at 14, he was the youngest to play for their under-21s. He also played for the England under-17s at 14, and started training with Arsenal’s first team. Earlier this year, he became the youngest player in Champions League history and the youngest starter for Arsenal.

There are “clear rules in place” for minors playing adult football, said BBC Sport. Dowman has to change in a separate room from his teammates, before going into the main changing room for pep talks. The teenager, who is due to sit his GCSEs this summer, divides his non-playing time between a private tutor and school. One member of Arsenal’s security team is “assigned to stay close to Dowman at all times”.

“In the eyes of the law, he is still a child,” said former Leeds United welfare officer Lucy Ward. “He looks and behaves like an adult, he’s in an adult environment and scores goals for Arsenal, but the law says that he is treated as a child until he is 18.” Dowman is “never left alone with anyone” who hasn’t been cleared by a DBS check. His parents must give consent when he travels for an away match, and he has to have a chaperone. “He doesn’t want to stand out – he just wants to fit in – but these safeguarding measures are in place for young players.”

‘Right temperament to deliver’

Last season, Dowman was “so far ahead of his opponents and teammates that he was almost playing a different sport”, said Dean in The Telegraph. It was obvious he had “outgrown youth football”. If Premier League rules hadn’t prevented him from playing for the senior team last year, “he might have broken through even earlier”.

In January, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta likened the teenager to a young Lionel Messi. That was after Dowman signed a pre-contract agreement with the north London club (his father handled the negotiations). A professional deal will follow when he turns 17 in December.

“For all the skill, though, you need to have the right temperament to deliver” at that age, said Sky Sports. For every wunderkind who went on to a glittering senior career, there are “players who fell through the trapdoor of promise”.

“He doesn’t seem to be fazed by the occasion or the moment or the context or the opponent,” Arteta said on Saturday. “I’ve seen a lot of players with talent but at 16, very few that can cope with that level of demand.”

Dowman’s goal will “go down in Arsenal folklore”, said Sky Sports. The “touch of the head” to gain control of the ball, the “physicality” required to get past Everton left-back Vitalii Mykolenko, and the touch that sent midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall “to the shops”. It took Arsenal closer to their first Premier League title in two decades, but it looked like Dowman “had been doing that for years”.

“I just felt it was a magical moment for Max Dowman, a magical moment for Arsenal and absolutely it stopped me in my tracks,” said football pundit Gary Neville. “This kid does look different.”

The Premier League has turned a “tactical corner”, said Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian. Corners and set-pieces generally are back in fashion, much to the annoyance of some fans who claim they are the antithesis of the beautiful game.

Clubs are employing specialist set-piece coaches, and players are celebrating winning corners, allowing them to perform their well-rehearsed routines in front of goal. After years of “strategy and technique”, and the dominance of patient, possession-based football, fans are concerned that packed penalty areas and the all-in wrestling between opposing players is ruining the spectacle of the English game.

‘It doesn’t feel right’

Most of what goes on from dead-ball situations “is not strictly against the rules per se”, but it’s a question of optics, said Football 365. Players can stand where they want, and have no obligation to move to allow others to challenge for the ball. The issue is that when “12-14 players” are all doing the same thing in such an enclosed space, it “jars with what the game is supposed to be. It doesn’t feel right.”

Tony Pulis, who managed Stoke City and Crystal Palace in the Premier League in the late 2000s and 2010s, was known for his “pragmatic” approach, he said on the BBC. “I was seen as a dinosaur for my focus on dead-ball situations and long throws”, but “I knew back then how important they were”.

Premier League leaders Arsenal have led the way in the resurgence of set-pieces. Their 37 league goals from corners since the start of the 2023-24 season far eclipsing the next-best 26 by German side Borussia Monchengladbach out of all teams in Europe’s top five leagues.

Some people are “snobbish” about the role of set-pieces in the game, said Pulis, but “the expectation, and the pressure they put on the opposition, is amazing”. Ignore the inevitable criticism, “what matters is winning”.

The “suddenness” of the change in approach from English teams has been “remarkable” but this “present trend will fade away”, said Wilson in The Guardian. The obsession with possession-based tactics, as well as widening financial inequality, has led to opposition teams defending in a compact “low block”, feeling unable to compete skill-wise. A “reversion to something more physical” in the game certainly poses a threat, but in a game of tactical cycles “this too will pass”.

‘Action is needed’

Some scenes in the recent game between Everton and Manchester United were an “absolute disgrace”, said Martin Samuel in The Times. We have grown used to a “melee of grabbing, holding, pushing, pulling, grappling, backing in” penalty areas. The game has become dominated by a “supposedly unsolvable wrestling issue” and fans are not happy about it.

Nothing is being done to safeguard the “beautiful game”. Governing bodies “obsess over trivia and the trivial”, exemplified by the International Football Association Board prioritising things like five-second countdowns for goal-kicks. “No group is less qualified to decide on football’s rules than Ifab”, and it has already made a “mess” of video replays, offside and handball rulings.

“Enough already,” said Graham Scott, a former Premier League referee, in The Telegraph. Corners are “ruining the spectacle” of football with all the “wrestling, grappling and holding”, but referees have a “nearly impossible job to decide who is truly to blame”. Occasionally, a clear pull or obstruction in the fracas around the six-yard box is “black and white, but there are more than 50 shades of grey in between”. With fans having little “appetite” for lengthy VAR delays, officials must “walk a tightrope” to decide what is “fair and foul”.

So “action is needed”. To try to fix the issue, “I would imitate hockey by forcing teams to place a certain number of players in the other half” to reduce congestion. In a “more radical move”, defenders could be inside the six-yard box and attackers outside it when a corner is taken, separating them entirely.

“Ruben Amorim has shown that there is only so far a manager can push it,” said Sky News. The Manchester United head coach was shown a red card yesterday, only 14 months after joining from Sporting Lisbon.

After Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United, Amorim “inflamed tensions” with the Old Trafford hierarchy, telling the club’s director of football Jason Wilcox and scouting team to “do their jobs” as he had come to the club to be the manager, not the coach.

Just like Enzo Maresca, who left Chelsea on New Year’s Day, “challenging the leadership in public has ended in the sack”.

‘Inevitable and predictable’

Amorim’s sacking was “inevitable and predictable”, said Sky Sports. The Portuguese was the 10th manager appointed since Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013; the United hierarchy was “desperate to give him a full season in charge before judging him” – partly because of the £12 million cost of sacking him and also to avoid the “recurring instability” of ever-changing leadership.

“Ruben needs to demonstrate he is a great coach over three years,” United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe told The Times’ The Business podcast in October. “We have to be patient. We have a long-term plan. It isn’t a light switch.”

But United’s results since Amorim took charge were “so poor, they never afforded the club’s bosses, or Amorim, the luxury of time”, said Sky Sports. Last season United finished 15th – their lowest since the mid-1970s – and were heavily criticised after losing the Europa League final to Spurs. This season, after spending more than £200 million on “attacking talent” last summer, the results have still been “awful”.

Despite “signs of progress” and a “charismatic approach that charmed supporters”, Amorim “must be considered United’s worst permanent manager of the post-Ferguson era”, said The Guardian. United are “adamant there have been no power clashes” and that Amorim was “sacked due to a lack of progress”. But the Old Trafford bosses “cannot have liked” his comments.

“I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United,” Amorim said. “I know that my name is not Tuchel, it’s not Conte, it’s not Mourinho, but I’m the manager of Manchester United and it’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the board decides to change.”

‘Bitter fracture’

Former United defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports that Amorim’s words were “something similar” to those of Maresca before he left Chelsea. Maresca said in mid-December that he’d endured “the worst 48 hours of his career at the club”.

The Italian arrived at Stamford Bridge from Leicester in 2024 and led the Blues to Uefa Conference League glory in his first season, as well as a fourth-place Premier League finish, “sealing a return to the Champions League”, said the Daily Mirror. “He followed that up with a run to glory in the Club World Cup, beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final.” As recently as November, Chelsea were second in the league table, and Maresca won manager of the month.

But on New Year’s Day, he “dramatically left his role” after “an irretrievable breakdown in his relationship with the club’s board”, said The Sun. He had signed a five-year deal with a further 12-month option, worth about £4 million per season, but the “bitter fracture” with the Chelsea hierarchy, including co-owner Todd Boehly, and confrontations over who should start games and substitutions, “left him feeling he could not stay in SW6”. A 2-2 home draw with Bournemouth “brought the final rupture”. Maresca walked out of Stamford Bridge without speaking to his players and forfeiting a potential £14 million payout.

Chelsea have “cycled through” four managers and two interim bosses in less than four years, and are now hunting for their fifth full-time head coach of the Boehly era. But Maresca’s decision to forego his payout means he’s immediately available for work. He is now, according to Sporting Life, one of the favourites to replace Amorim at United.

Everton's motto proudly declares that "nothing but the best is good enough", said The Guardian. The Premier League club's decision to move to a "sparkling new stadium" at Liverpool's Bramley-Moore Dock is an ambitious attempt to live up to those words.

After 133 years at nearby Goodison Park, the men's team will on Sunday play their final match at the ground, which will become home to Everton's women's team. The move brings hopes for the "birth of a new club", after years spent languishing in mid-table or worse in the Premier League.

'Catalyst for regeneration'

A new stadium has become "akin to a financial free kick" for clubs, said The Guardian, promising not only increased capacity for loyal fans, but "chunky revenue streams for decades to come".

For Everton, such plans are already in the works, said Liverpool's The Post. The "52,888-seater behemoth" is already being talked about as a venue for non-sporting events such as concerts and conferences. That income could help with everything from "signing footballers to new contracts" for existing players.

The club forecasts that the Bramley-Moore Dock ground will bring a "£1 billion boost to the city's economy", said Sky Sports, "and provide up to 15,000 jobs for local people (12,000 during the construction phase)". It estimates that 1.4 million people will visit the city each year to attend matches there.

But that ambition comes with a cost. Liverpool was stripped of its Unesco World Heritage status in 2021 because of the recent development along the city's historic waterfront, which includes Everton's new stadium.

The club's near neighbours Liverpool chose to scrap plans to explore the "profitable opportunites" offered by a new stadium in favour of substantial redevelopment of their existing ground at Anfield, said Football Ground Map. In so doing, they chose the best of both worlds: Anfield retained its reputation as a football "fortress" while the additional investment cemented a future promising "sustained success".

'Glory of Goodison Park'

But while the "commercial reasoning" behind abandoning one's "ancestral home" is hard to ignore, it's unlikely fans will find the "glory of Goodison Park" elsewhere, said former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy in the Daily Mail.

History offers cautionary tales. West Ham's transfer from Upton Park to the London Stadium in 2016 made big promises but delivered a "very dull atmosphere", said The Athletic. The nostalgic aroma of "onions, burgers and chips" was replaced by a "sanitised" and "apathetic" experience for fans.

Arsenal's challenges were similar, as a move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 was supposed to usher in a new era of dominance. But as the manager at the time, Arsène Wenger, later admitted, "we left our soul at Highbury", said ESPN in 2020.

Everton will be acutely aware of these pitfalls. But whether its brand new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be an "asset or albatross" remains to be seen, said The Post.

"Move over Sir Alex," said Anfield great Jamie Carragher in The Telegraph, there's now "no denying Liverpool are England's greatest club".

With Arne Slot's Reds clinching a record-equalling 20th title in the Dutch manager's first season at Anfield, Liverpool now sit alongside long-time rivals Manchester United as England's most prolific league winners.

After decades in the wilderness following their "relentless winning spree" from the 1970s to 1990, Liverpool's loyal supporters know the "massive symbolic importance" of this triumph can't be overstated.

'Seamless fit'

This season belongs to Slot, whose "educationist approach" to coaching was a stark contrast to his charismatic predecessor Jürgen Klopp, said The Guardian.

Slot put the emphasis on reflection and analysis, and often sparked "immediate and vast improvements in the second half" of matches. Even in losses – there have only been two in the Premier League so far – Slot is "level-headed and refreshingly honest", bringing "coolness" to the squad. This, paired with his "analytical mind", said The Independent, provided the "seamless fit" Liverpool were looking for.

What's more, Slot was able to win the league title "without a single major signing". Building on the success of Klopp, the coach deployed "clever tactical tweaks" to enhance the squad he inherited. Training sessions were rescheduled with an "earlier reporting time of 9.15am", with "compulsory" pre-session team breakfasts, said Sky News. Slot "bedded in his beliefs" from the moment he took the reins.

'Collegiate approach'

Of course, the players themselves have also been instrumental, said The Times, displaying a "collegiate approach which cannot be underplayed".

Mohamed Salah, already a prolific goalscorer, has "scaled new heights" this season, standing out with "preparation, professionalism and performance". And it is Slot's individual training sessions that seem to have drastically "reinvigorated" the player.

Alongside him, captain Virgil Van Dijk enjoyed a "renaissance season", said Caught Offside. After a "dip in form" in recent seasons, Slot's coaching appears to have returned the centre-back to his "dominant best".

But it was the team's midfield that truly "surprised this season", with players such as Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister providing an "energetic, technically gifted engine room" to ensure Liverpool's success.

With the league title sewn up, Liverpool's focus is now on new player recruitment as they hope to "go into overdrive this summer", said BBC Sport. The ultimate aim? Add yet "more power to a title-winning side".

The last English men's football manager to lift a trophy above his head at Wembley was Harry Redknapp, when he won the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008. Until yesterday – when Eddie Howe's Newcastle beat Liverpool to take the Carabao Cup.

Howe "pulled off something truly stunning", and the reverberations of his astonishing tenure at St James' Park will "echo through history", said Luke Edwards in The Telegraph. But the Buckinghamshire-born manager's triumph has once again turned attention towards a baffling question: where have all English football's "home-grown" managers gone?

'The best, no matter where they're from'

Eddie Howe is one of only two English managers in Premier League football, alongside Graham Potter at West Ham – although former Northern Ireland youth player Kieran McKenna, who coaches Ipswich, was born in England, and Everton are managed by Scottish-born David Moyes.

The Premier League "is not really an English league but a global league that happens to be in England", said Miguel Delaney in The Independent. The "ownership of the clubs is international" and, just as the players are now drawn from all over the world, so are the managers because the owners "want the best coaches, no matter where they're from".

The failure of top-drawer English players to evolve into the next generation of managers is also significant, said Ben Littlemore on Transfermarkt. With former players like Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard all turning their hand to management, England "should really be blessed" with home-grown managers. But this so-called "golden generation" of coaches has "struggled for success".

English football's "coaching incentives and methods" are behind those of their European counterparts". Even at the entry level, coaching qualifications are far more expensive in the UK than they are on the continent, and only available through a "handful" of hugely-oversubscribed courses, meaning that European countries have a much, much bigger pool of qualified coaches to draw from.

'Poster boy for success'

There is a "glaring absence of elite native coaches coming through" the English system, said The Standard. And that couldn't have been underlined more than by the recent appointment of German coach Thomas Tuchel to manage England's national side.

The "infatuation with foreign coaches" and a refusal to give a chance to "so many good ones of our own" is difficult to understand, said Harry Redknapp in The Sun. And now we're in a "catch-22 classic", said the Daily Mail: the perception that English managers "don't win major trophies" means they don't secure the best jobs, and "without the best jobs, it's impossible to win major trophies".

But perhaps the weekend's Newcastle victory is the moment the tide starts to turn. In a Premier League "flooded with more fashionable foreign coaches", home-grown Eddie Howe has now become the "poster boy for success", said Edwards in The Telegraph.

Manchester United have unveiled plans for a new £2 billion stadium that will be "the Wembley of the North" – and a sign of the club's ambition to be at the pinnacle of the footballing world, despite its current poor form on the pitch.

The "iconic" 100,000-seater stadium, designed by Norman Foster, will be built on a car park next to the team's current Old Trafford stadium. It will be to Manchester what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, the club claims, and will pump £7.3 billion a year into the local economy, creating 92,000 jobs and more than 17,000 new homes.

And yet the massive project is a "risk", admitted Omar Berrada, United's chief executive, given the need to rebuild a team currently languishing at 14th place in the Premier League, and a club that's £1 billion in debt and laying off 450 staff.

Going 'bust' by Christmas

"New Trafford" is the brainchild of Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United's minority shareholder, who, only earlier this week, was trying to justify redundancies and other backroom cost savings, such as cutting free staff lunches, by claiming the club was at risk of going "bust" by Christmas.

Ratcliffe's Ineos organisation took control of the club's sporting operations just over a year ago and "have wasted little time in making their presence felt", said The Athletic.

There "have been highs" in Ratcliffe's reign – United won the FA Cup last May – but there have also been "huge challenges", among them "a sacked manager, mass redundancies, fan protests and a team enduring its worst Premier League season".

While it is true United that "do have a cash problem", said The Athletic, Ratcliffe's statements "stretch credulity in the extreme".

No evidence was produced to support his claims, said Barney Ronay in The Guardian. "In reality, Manchester United are not going bust if you don't sack the tea lady." The 72-year-old petrochemicals billionaire is one of the richest men in Britain, "who keeps saying he's a fan" and could bail the club out. But now he is saying, "Go bust or do it my way." This is "basically a threat."

'Has to be matched by progress on the field'

What isn't in dispute is the club's current £1 billion debt, including £300 million in outstanding transfer fees. So, it is unclear how United will finance its ambitious new stadium plans.

Public money "could be provided to address infrastructure improvements and other developments in or around the area", said The Telegraph's James Ducker. Indeed, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves confirmed today that she will be "championing" the project. But raising the funding for the stadium itself will fall squarely on the club.

Even if United manage to finance and complete the build in five years, as planned, recent Premier League history has shown that a new stadium is far from a guarantee of footballing success. Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton have all made the move to a new ground, and found that the financial constraints severely hamper squad recruitment in subsequent years.

But, among rival clubs, United are in a league of their own, "irrespective of a decade of decay and their current playing malaise", said Simon Jordan in the Daily Mail. Past success has given them "unsurpassed recognition" worldwide, so, a "new all-singing HQ to reflect their aura" can be seen as a necessity if they're to stay as one of football's "market leaders".

Ratcliffe will know that building a stadium "has to be matched by progress on the field". For most teams, "such an ambitious project would be a fiercely challenging prospect because of over-reach". But, for Manchester United, "it's an opportunity". In fact, it could be a "vital game-changer for the whole club".

A football season marked by off-field controversies may conclude with one of the Premier League's "better boardroom decisions".

On Monday, 16 of the 20 top-tier English clubs backed a proposal for a new "anchoring" system, said Miguel Delaney, chief football writer at The Independent. This is essentially a spending cap, limiting the amount a club could invest to a multiple (likely to be about 4.5 to 5) of what the lowest-earning club receives from centralised broadcasting deals. It would prevent the wealthiest clubs from accumulating more revenue to allow them to spend more, "as has been the case for most of the last 40 years". 

Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voted against the proposal, and Chelsea abstained, but only 14 votes in favour were needed for it to pass. The proposal will now be put to the clubs at the annual general meeting in June for a vote, and introduced for the 2025-26 season.

'Punish them for their success'

This is a "significant step" towards a hard salary cap, said the Financial Times sports editor Josh Noble. It's part of a broader push across European football to halt the "spiralling wage and transfer costs" that have led to "years of losses" for clubs. The financial restraint is being driven by more professional investors and weakening broadcaster demand for live TV rights. 

The Premier League is the richest domestic competition in the world, and boasts six of 10 highest-income clubs in Europe, but they have "largely failed to translate increased revenue into profits". Last season, only three out of the 20 Premier League clubs recorded an annual profit. The competition is exploring new measures to end "the cycle of overspending".

But some executives fear linking spending to income will effectively "lock in the financial advantages of the biggest clubs", said Noble, and harm the competitiveness of the Premier League. Players' unions have warned that salary caps could go against European competition law. 

The Professional Footballers' Association said it would "wait to see further details" of the proposals. But the union would "oppose any measure that would place a 'hard' cap on player wages". 

Manchester United believe the proposal would "slow down" attempts to improve playing fortunes at Old Trafford, which will "cost a lot of money", said The Athletic. Limiting spending would undermine the club's ability to compete at the highest level in European tournaments, and "punish them for their success" in generating such significant revenues year after year.

'A more equitable rule'

It's "no surprise" that Manchester City are opposing the spending cap, said Ian Herbert in the Daily Mail. City are owned by Sheikh Mansour – a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family and the current vice-president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. When a Gulf state owns a club, state-owned companies suddenly become interested in "paying top dollar" to sponsor that club. Gulf sovereign wealth funds are "shredding" any notion of financial parity in the competition.

City also have "myriad" other ways of bringing in extra cash, like selling players' image rights to companies they have a financial interest in or "intellectual property" to other clubs they own, or similar "acts of accounting gymnastics". 

The club is facing 115 charges of breaching financial sustainability rules (which it denies). A new system of spending controls, rooted in the "mundane, transparently calculable figure of the lowest club's income", would be a "profound relief" to those living in the real world, said Herbert.

This is a "more equitable rule", said Delaney in The Independent, one that would "encourage sustainability" and help suppress the "maddening" wage race that has led to punishment for overspending and ticket price increases. 

Something that is "often overlooked", he said, is that football's product isn't stars or super-squads, but competitive games. They drive interest because they create "drama", which creates a narrative. And competition balance doesn't happen organically; it requires "heavy regulation" to prevent wealthier clubs from "sailing away". That's why this proposal is being described as "future-proofing". It won't be perfect, but it is "the right step".

Establishing a football regulator in England could "ruin" the Premier League and destroy one of the country's biggest exports, a club owner has warned.

The UK government announced plans in April 2022 to appoint an independent body, following a fan-led review into football. The review was prompted by a number of "high-profile crises" in the sport, said the BBC, including the failed European Super League, the collapse of Bury FC and Macclesfield Town, and the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United.

Under the Football Governance Bill brought to Parliament this week, power handed to the football regulator will centre around three main objectives: improving financial sustainability of clubs, ensuring financial resilience across the leagues and safeguarding English football's heritage. The new watchdog will be able to sanction English clubs who break financial and other rules, and even force bad owners to sell up.

'Historic moment for football fans'

Rishi Sunak said the regulator, which is separate from both government and existing football authorities, will help to prevent "financial mismanagement" by "unscrupulous owners". This is a "historic moment for football fans", the prime minister added.

First pitched nearly five years ago, the plan has been "heralded as the possible solution to fixing the game's broken financial model", said ITV News. The regulator will primarily be concerned with safeguarding the financial sustainability of clubs in England through a licensing system – covering clubs from the National League up to the Premier League – and will seek an agreement between top clubs and the rest of the English Football League (EFL) over how Premier League money is distributed throughout the game.

Premier League clubs this month walked away from a £900 million support plan for the EFL, a decision that "provoked anger and frustration", said The Guardian, both "inside the game and across Westminster".

The Bury South MP, Christian Wakeford, said the "long-awaited move" was a "significant step forward in addressing the systemic issues plaguing our beloved sport". It would ensure football's "sustainability for generations to come", he wrote for the Bury Times.

The move has been welcomed by the EFL and Football Association (FA). But the Premier League, which represents England's top 20 clubs, said that while it "recognises and accepts the case for reform", a regulator "is not necessary".

'We may cease to be the top league'

West Ham United's owner David Sullivan warned that the Premier League may not remain the world's top division if an independent regulator is introduced. "It is a big export," he told BBC Sport. "Anything to water down our income will make us less competitive. We may cease to be the top league, so they may ruin an asset that we have."

The Premier League is "one of Britain's most famous exports", agreed Philip Patrick in The Spectator, and "its success is because these clubs have been left relatively free to conduct business". If the attempt to "tame this Premier League beast" succeeds, it will "create an opportunity for a Premier League 2.0 (most likely in the Middle East) to flourish free of the impositions of pesky regulators spoiling the fun".

The debate over regulation "highlights the inherently political nature of the sport", wrote Grimsby Town chair Jason Stockwood for The Guardian. Questioning the "balance between commercialism and community" challenges the very "essence of the game's existence and for whom it is truly meant".

After three successive Premier League titles, and five out of the last six, Manchester City once again go into a new campaign as the team to beat.

Pep Guardiola’s treble winners are aiming to become the “first club in English top-division history to win the title four seasons in a row”, said Paul Harrison on Sky Sports. With Erling Haaland leading the attack, the “odds-on favourites” have “few flaws”.

Following promotion from the EFL Championship, Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town join the upper echelons of English football. Have they “added enough to their squads” to avoid a relegation battle, or even “challenge higher up the table”?

Ahead of the opening weekend of the 2023-2024 Premier League season, we look at the pundit predictions and betting odds for the title, relegation candidates and golden boot winner.

Who will be crowned champions?

It will be “very hard for any club” to stop Man City after last season’s “superb Premier League-FA Cup-Champions League treble”, said Ian Darke on ESPN.com. And despite the “potentially damaging losses” of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez, City’s squad “still oozes quality”. Mateo Kovacic will “fit in nicely” while the “already impressive” defence is now “bolstered” by new arrival Josko Gvardiol.

In a poll of 27 BBC Sport TV and radio pundits, 26 have predicted that City will lift the trophy, with only Ellen White tipping Arsenal. Guardiola’s team have now been the BBC pundits’ pre-season favourites in “seven of the eight seasons” since the Spaniard took charge in 2016, but they have “never been backed to this extent before”.

There is “plenty of intrigue” surrounding Arsenal and whether they will be able to “push the champions again”, said The Independent, especially after their “lucrative spending” and the addition of Declan Rice from West Ham. Nine of the paper’s writers back City to defend their title, while Michael Jones picks the Gunners. Arteta’s side have “proven they can challenge so I’ll go with them”, he said. Arsenal have “strengthened” and the “next step in their development” will be to win a “big trophy”. Why not the Premier League?

“No, everyone hasn’t said Man City,” said Mark Jones in The Mirror’s predictions. “Obviously”, City feature “quite heavily” when it comes to predicting the champions, with 11 Mirror writers backing them. But six have tipped Arsenal and four have gone for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

Title winner betting odds

• Manchester City: 5/6
• Arsenal: 5/1
• Liverpool: 8/1
• Manchester United: 12/1
• Chelsea: 20/1
• Newcastle United: 25/1
• Prices according to Oddschecker (as of 11 August)

Who will finish in the top four?

And what about the top four, asked Football365. It’s a prediction which “nobody ever gets right”. As we all know by now “this question is f***ing impossible”, said Dave Tickner, who predicts City will win the title ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United. Then it’s “any one of four or five teams” for that fourth spot.

Top four finish betting odds

• Manchester City: 1/16
• Arsenal: 4/9
• Liverpool: 4/7
• Manchester United: 4/5
• Chelsea: 7/4
• Newcastle United: 15/8
• Tottenham Hotspur: 5/1
• Brighton & Hove Albion: 15/2
• Aston Villa: 8/1
• Prices according to Oddschecker (as of 11 August)

Relegation battle: who will go down?

Luton and Sheffield United are “surely doomed before a ball is kicked”, said Sarah Winterburn on Football365. The third is “far more difficult”, but “I will opt for Wolves”. Agreeing, Ian Watson said he “can’t make a case” for Sheffield United staying up and Luton “will be the new Blackpool”, spending the season being “patronised all the way back to the Championship”. Wolves will follow them.

Relegation will be a “close call”, but Everton’s “lack of goals will tell”, said Jones in The Mirror, who sees the Toffees being “sucked into it” along with Luton and Sheffield United. You can “take your pick” from “eight or nine teams” to join newly-promoted Luton and Sheffield United in the bottom three, said Liam Prenderville in same paper. Wolves, Everton, Palace, Burnley and Bournemouth “will all be down there”, but “I think Forest will make the drop”.

Relegation betting odds

• Luton Town: 2/5
• Sheffield United: 4/6
• Nottingham Forest: 5/2
• Wolves: 11/4
• AFC Bournemouth: 3/1
• Everton: 3/1
• Fulham: 4/1
• Burnley: 9/2
• Crystal Palace: 8/1
• Prices according to Oddschecker (as of 11 August)

Golden boot: who will top the scoring charts?

Norway striker Erling Haaland scored a “record 36 goals in 35 league games” to win the golden boot last season, said Emlyn Begley on BBC Sport, and netted 52 goals, a record for a Manchester City player, in 53 games in all competitions.

If he “stays fit for the majority of the campaign”, said Greg Lea on talkSPORT, it is “hard to see” the 23-year-old finishing “anywhere other than top of the scoring charts”. Harry Kane would usually be the “likeliest challenger”, but the main doubt is “whether he will even be competing in England’s top flight this season”. Bayern Munich have had a bid accepted for Tottenham’s “talisman” and it’s likely that the England skipper will be moving to Germany.

Top scorer betting odds

• Erling Haaland (Manchester City): 4/6
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): 9/1
• Darwin Nunez (Liverpool): 18/1
• Marcus Rashford (Manchester United): 22/1
• Son-Heung Min (Tottenham): 33/1
• Rasmus Højlund (Manchester United): 33/1
• Alexander Isak (Newcastle United): 35/1
• Prices according to Oddschecker (as of 11 August)

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Guy Anker, Leaf Arbuthnot and Arion McNicoll.

You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped wherever you get your podcasts:

• Spotify
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• Global Player

In this week’s episode, we discuss:

Streaming court case

Five people who had been convicted of illegally streaming Premier League games were sent to prison this week, one of them for 11 years, after they allegedly made £7 million from their piracy operation. What does this case tell us about football rights, the power of streaming companies, the financial pressures on viewers – and, given that this case was only brought because the Premier League pursued a private prosecution – the priorities of the police?

Racism at the post office

It emerged this week that the victims of a long-running scandal at the Post Office, in which sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of theft and fraud, were classified in 2008 by officials using outdated and offensive racial terms, including “negroid” and “dark-skinned European types”. The revelation is seen as emblematic of the high-handed behaviour of the Post Office throughout its 13-year campaign against its own employees, some of whom took their own lives before their names were cleared.

Animal sentience

A flood of new research is overturning our old understanding about what animal minds are capable of. Some recent studies seem to suggest that animals really aren’t as inferior to us as we have long liked to tell ourselves. Is there a hierarchy of intelligence or just different types of intelligence? For example, dogs and elephants are able to respond to scent in a far more sophisticated way than humans, as are bees with magnetism.

At the start of this year, Manchester City had a “rough” few weeks, said Sam Lee on The Athletic. Their Premier League campaign was stuttering (at one point in January they were eight points adrift of Arsenal), and on 11 January they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by relegation-bound Southampton. Even more concerning for manager Pep Guardiola was that “word of disharmony in the Manchester City camp had spread far and wide”. He himself acknowledged this, referring in interviews to the poor “body language” and “mood of his players”. How things have turned around since then. Last weekend, having won their previous 12 Premier League matches, City were crowned champions for the third year in succession. And with the FA Cup final against Manchester United on 3 June and the Champions League final against Inter on 10 June, their season has every chance of getting better still. Should City claim both titles, they will become only the second English club after Man Utd to win a treble. Their status as “one of the best sides in history” will at that point be beyond dispute.

If you want an explanation for City’s current dominance of English football, you have to start with the fact of their vast resources, said James Ducker in The Daily Telegraph. This was laid bare on Sunday, when City began their title coronation match against Chelsea with “£484m worth of talent on the bench”. The starting line-up Guardiola chose to field contained only two players – Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji – who had started City’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid the previous week. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva were all rested. And yet this “second string” still enjoyed 65% possession as they easily overcame Chelsea, a team that itself has “had lavished more than £550m on players in eight months”. It was a display which suggested that Leeds manager Sam Allardyce “may have been on to something” when he said City “have the best two teams in the Premier League”.

Yes, City’s success has much to do with the spending power of owner Sheikh Mansour, said Jamie Carragher in The Daily Telegraph, but you can’t attribute it solely to that. Were money all that mattered, Manchester United (who’ve spent more than City on players in the last decade) wouldn’t be so far behind; “Paris Saint-Germain would be delivering similar standard performances”. What sets City apart is the fact that they have, in Guardiola, the most visionary manager of modern times.

City certainly wouldn’t have lifted the Premier League trophy in five of the past six seasons had it not been for the Catalan’s manic work rate and superb motivational skills, said Paul Hirst in The Times. But another of his qualities is perhaps even more important – and that’s his commitment to changing his tactics. No other manager has grasped as fully as Guardiola that the key to maintaining supremacy in football is to avoid the trap of becoming predictable. “Every year he tries something new, whether it be a tweak in formation or the redeployment of a player in a new position.” This season’s innovation has come at the back, with his adoption of the inverted full-back – a requirement that one of the back four (usually John Stones) moves to what is effectively a midfield role whenever City have possession. Stones has been a revelation in this role: witness the way he “was running rings around Real Madrid’s midfield” during last week’s 4-0 victory in the Champions League semi-final second leg.

Some claim that City’s current dominance is worrying for the future of English football, said Martin Samuel in The Times. They predict that it will “turn the Premier League into a dull, predictable battle for second place” – the equivalent of Germany’s Bundesliga, long dominated by Bayern Munich. Such arguments, however, overlook the fact that “sporting success is about individuals, not institutions”. City wouldn’t have won what they have in recent years had it not been for Guardiola – in the same way that Manchester United’s success during the 1990s and 2000s owed everything to Alex Ferguson. Guardiola will “eventually leave”, and at that point things are likely to change. “City didn’t dominate before he arrived, and chances are they won’t after he has left, either.”

After three successive draws against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton, Arsenal’s Premier League title bid has stuttered. Up next for Mikel Arteta’s side is the showdown away at reigning champions Manchester City, who come into the big match five points behind the leaders and with two games in hand.

Tonight’s clash at the Etihad Stadium (8pm kick-off BST) has been described as a “final” by Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal’s Brazilian striker who signed from Man City last summer. If the Gunners are to be champions this season then “we will have to go there and win the game, that is all”.

However, Arsenal boss Arteta, also formerly of City as an assistant coach, does not believe the fixture will decide the title. “It will be difficult, but will it decide the season? No,” he said. “We really want it and we are again going to show it [on Wednesday night]. But it has to be perfect because that is what is demanded at this time in the season.”

In pursuit of the ‘greatest accomplishment’

City are in “relentless” form as they pursue an “incredible treble” and have 12 games left to achieve the “greatest accomplishment of all”, said the Daily Mail. A victory over Arsenal would see them “move into the driving seat in the title race”, while they also face rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final and are set to face Real Madrid in “a rematch” of last season’s Champions League semi-finals. “Can anyone derail Pep Guardiola’s bullet train?”

This title showdown “justifies weeks of hype”, said Nick Ames in The Guardian. But if Arsenal are to “stretch their lead” at the top then they must “find a way to subdue” City’s goal machine Erling Haaland and the “greatly improved” Jack Grealish.

Things could ‘get ugly’ for the Gunners

With City “really turning up the style” in recent fixtures, it is looking “increasingly difficult” for Arsenal to hang on to top spot, said Planet Sport. Both teams go into the “potential Premier League title decider” on long unbeaten runs, but with “momentum perhaps swinging towards City”.

The absence of defender William Saliba for this “top-of-the-table spectacular” means things “could get ugly” for the Gunners, said Ben Knapton on SportsMole. This is a Man City side who “just cannot stop scoring – or winning – at home” and they should stroll to a “comfortable victory” – 3-1 – to take a “giant step towards dethroning their capital counterparts”.

After going three games without victory, Arsenal can approach this as “if the pressure is off”, said Chris Sutton on BBC Sport. But that run of draws was “so damaging”, and you can see that “doubt” has kicked in. “If the Gunners can win, it would be an incredible turnaround after what has happened to them in recent weeks.” However, Sutton is “very confident” with his prediction for the game – 3-1 to City – the only thing he “wasn’t sure about” was whether Arsenal would score.

City have “come into their own” since the turn of the year and are “unlikely to relent towards the end of the season”, said Aditya Hosangadi on SportsKeeda. Arsenal cannot afford “another slip-up” in this game, but “better team” City “hold the upper hand”. Hosangadi predicts a 2-1 win for the home side.

Arsenal’s “problems at the back” are “too great to ignore”, said the Evening Standard’s Marc Mayo, who predicts a 4-2 win for City. It is “all too easy” to imagine Haaland and Co “exploiting space left in behind to secure a suckerpunch, knockout blow of Arsenal’s title dream”.

The Premier League title “isn’t quite on the line just yet”, but “in the eyes of most people it is”, said Mark Jones in The Mirror. The pundits from the Mirror Football team believe that the Etihad clash is “only going one way”. All predicting wins for City, Mike Walters, Alex Richards and Simon Mullock say 3-1; Tom Victor, Darren Lewis and John Cross say 3-0; Andy Dunn says 4-1; and Sam Meade says 2-0.

City have already beaten Arsenal twice this season and “it’ll be a surprise if they don’t make it three out of three”, said Rob Dawson on ESPN. Haaland looks “unstoppable”, which means Arsenal will “have to score at least twice” to win the game. “Arsenal’s confidence is fragile and it could be a heavy 4-0 win for City.”

How anyone could “bet staunchly” against Man City in any match in world football right now is “beyond me”, said Michael Potts on RadioTimes.com. However, “completely rule out Arsenal at your peril”. Pressure does “funny things” to football teams and while City boast “resilience and know-how to see out the title war”, they could find themselves “held up by this battle”. Potts predicts a 2-2 draw between the title rivals.

What the statisticians say

Our “trusty” AI-powered supercomputer “doesn’t like to overblow things”, said Graham Bell on Opta Analyst. But even it believes this could be “one of the most pivotal” midweeks in Premier League history. At the summit, the supercomputer puts Man City as favourites to win against Arsenal, with a 62.6% chance of doing so.

Despite coming back to draw 3-3, the result against Southampton means that Arsenal’s chance of winning this season’s Premier League is down from 32% to 19.3%, according to the Euro Club Index. Simon Gleave, head of sports analysis at data analyst Nielsen’s Gracenote, told the BBC that City’s probability of a third successive league title has increased to 80.7% with Arsenal “dropping points for the third match in a row”. Gracenote gives Arsenal a 16% chance of winning at the Etihad, while City have a 62% chance.

What the bookies say

Man City are favourites to win the title, according to Oddschecker.co.uk. Guardiola’s team are 1/4 to lift the Premier League trophy for the third successive season, while Arsenal are 10/3 to win the league for the first time since 2004. For tonight’s match, City are priced at 3/5 to win the encounter. A draw is priced at 15/4 while Arsenal are 5/1 to take three points at the Etihad.

Manchester City vs. Arsenal kicks off at 8pm (BST) and is live on BT Sport

Antonio Conte’s 16-month spell in charge of Tottenham Hotspur is officially over after he left by “mutual consent” last night. The 53-year-old’s departure comes just over a week after he publicly labelled his players as “selfish” after they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 against Southampton.

The result capped a “miserable” March for Spurs and Conte, said Sky Sports. They were “dumped out” of both the FA Cup and the Champions League to leave them “without a trophy for another season stretching back to 2008”.

Over the years Conte has given some “extraordinary” press conferences, said Jason Burt in The Daily Telegraph. But none like the ten-minute rant after that draw on 18 March. He “came out swinging at everyone”, including club chairman Daniel Levy. It was a “declaration of war” for the Italian, who was out of contract at the end of the season.

With Spurs sitting fourth in the Premier League table, but out of all cup competitions, the club confirmed the Italian’s exit and also announced that Cristian Stellini will take over as acting head coach for the remainder of the campaign. Stellini will be assisted by Ryan Mason.

“We have ten Premier League games remaining and we have a fight on our hands for a Champions League place,” said Levy. “We all need to pull together. Everyone has to step up to ensure the highest possible finish for our club and amazing, loyal supporters.”

Exit was a ‘mere formality’

Relations between Conte and the club “deteriorated at all levels”, said James Olley on ESPN. In the “remarkable” post-match news conference, Conte launched a “stinging attack” on the players and the club’s owners, ENIC. “Tottenham’s story is this: 20 years there is this owner and they never won something. Why?” Conte said. “The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here? I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment.”

Conte’s exit was a “mere formality” from the moment he concluded his “incendiary unmasking of his squad’s frailties and the culture of failure at the club”, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport. It put Levy “right in the frontline” for criticism from fans – and that “invariably only ends one way”.

Who will take over at Tottenham?

While it was clear that Conte had recognised his time at Spurs was more or less done, that doesn’t mean there’s no truth to what he said – he simply told Spurs “a few home truths”, said Martin Samuel in The Times. In recent years, an extraordinary “roll call of managers” has passed through Tottenham – their achievements alone “would command several pages” – but not one has won a “sausage” while at Spurs. That has to say something about the club’s culture and executive management: it “cannot be that all the managers are a poor fit”.

In the wake of Conte’s dismissal, and with the club “still battling” for top four, Levy is “reportedly keen to grasp the nettle” and hire a “permanent fix right away”, said Mark White on FourFourTwo. Julian Nagelsmann, who was sacked by Bayern Munich just a few days ago, is “expected for talks shortly”.

Nagelsmann, 35, previously managed Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and is the bookies’ favourite to replace Conte, according to Oddschecker. Other names being linked include former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Oliver Glasner, Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou, ex-Spain boss Luis Enrique and former Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane.

To put it simply, Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Manchester United was an annihilation. Jürgen Klopp’s side put on a masterclass at Anfield yesterday, scoring six goals in the second half as they condemned the Red Devils to the joint-heaviest defeat in their history.

In what was a tight first-half, Liverpool broke the deadlock two minutes before the break through Dutch forward Cody Gakpo. But in the second period, Klopp’s men delivered the “complete performance” with Darwin Núñez (two), Gapko’s second, Mohamed Salah (two), and Roberto Firmino leaving United “overwhelmed at a joyous Anfield”, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport. With his brace, Salah also became Liverpool’s record Premier League goalscorer. The Egyptian has now scored 129 goals in 205 league appearances.

For Liverpool, the victory puts them within three points of the top four – they also have a game in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham. For United, the lows of this shocking defeat came just a week after the highs of ending their six-year trophy drought when lifting the Carabao Cup at Wembley.

‘The strike force awakens’

Since becoming Liverpool manager in 2015, Klopp has led the club to success and completed the “full set” of major trophies: Premier League (2019-20); FA Cup (2021-22), League Cup (2021-22), Uefa Champions League (2018-19), Uefa Super Cup (2019), and Fifa Club World Cup (2019).

Despite the trophy haul, in recent seasons Klopp’s first Liverpool team has looked “aged” and it has been “reasonable to ask whether he was equipped to build another”, said Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian. One game is “nowhere near enough to assert that a new Liverpool is being born”, but it felt a “lot closer at the final whistle than it had at kick-off”.

The front three – Gakpo, Núñez and Salah – all scored twice, but “the goals were only part of it”. The trio had a “coherence and a zip” that has “been rare this season”. While there is “clearly still work to be done”, there is the sense that a front three of Salah, Núñez and Gakpo “could represent a viable future”.

Welcome to Klopp’s “Liverpool 2.0” – “the strike force awakens”, said Chris Bascombe in The Telegraph. The Reds have endured a “turbulent season”, but the reinvention of Gakpo and Núñez “assumes their status in a new era”, while Salah has reprised his role as the “ultimate goalscoring weapon”.

Wherever he has coached, Klopp has “always built one team capable of reaching their ceiling”. He is, however, “yet to do it twice at the same club”. That is “the challenge he accepted” when signing a new contract 12 months ago, according to Bascombe.

‘Absolutely atrocious’

While Liverpool celebrate having the bragging rights in the northwest, Erik ten Hag’s United team must lick their wounds after an absolute mauling. Speaking after the game, the Dutch head coach did not mince his words as he accused his players of being “unprofessional” for their capitulation in the second half. As a team “you have to stick together”, he said. “That is what we didn’t do. It is a surprise for me, I didn’t see this from my team. I don’t think it is us. I don’t think it is Manchester United. It was really bad, really poor.”

Ex-United and England defender Gary Neville was also scathing of the Red Devils’s performance. Speaking on Sky Sports, he labelled the second half as being an “absolute disgrace” and a “shambles” which was “epitomised” by captain Bruno Fernandes, “who has been embarrassing at times”. He believes that the players do not understand the “dangers of this fixture”. The players “have been eaten alive out there”.

The mauling of Ten Hag’s side “threatens to derail their season” as much as it has “reignited” Klopp's hopes of a top-four finish, said Goal.com. Aren’t Liverpool meant to be in crisis? We thought United were meant to be back? If anyone decided that yesterday’s match would be the first they watched this season, “they would have refused to have believed either of those narratives”. It was “absolutely atrocious” from Manchester United.

The English football referees’ body has apologised to Arsenal after “human error” was to blame for an incorrect VAR decision that allowed Brentford’s equaliser to stand in last weekend’s Premier League game.

Former top referee Howard Webb, who is now in charge of Premier League officials, also apologised to Brighton after they had a goal disallowed for offside against Crystal Palace because VAR guidelines were wrongly drawn.

The twin controversies have put VAR “once again under the microscope”. The technology is facing scrutiny “from fans and managers alike”, said the Independent after a survey for Sky Sports found that 67% of fans believe VAR makes watching football less enjoyable.

1. Pro: can help referees

VAR was introduced to football in the early 2010s to minimise human error and help referees make the right decision. Standing for “video assistant referee”, it allows certain incidents to be reviewed by the main referee or by the VAR team, helping the correct decisions to be made.

The VAR team helps referees in four scenarios: goals and offences leading up to a goal; penalty decisions and offences leading up to a penalty decision; direct red card incidents and mistaken identity, explained Fifa. A wrong decision in these scenarios can swing a game, so supporters hope it will make the game fairer.

2. Con: disrupts the game

When there is a potential goal or penalty, the referee has to pause the match and review the footage on a screen. Sometimes, this process takes several minutes, which disrupts the flow of the match and means players stand around waiting, which can impair their performance. VAR is “taking the spontaneity away from the game”, wrote former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore for Caught Offside.

“It’s clear that football is fairer but it’s also clear that VAR has had an impact on the flow of the game,” David Elleray, a former Premier League referee, told Four Four Two. “Inevitably if you are going to stop the game to look at a replay, that involves stopping the flow of the game.”

3. Pro: more excitement

VAR has “helped to add an extra layer of excitement to matches”, said Digital Mahbub. It argued that “the suspense of waiting for a decision from the VAR officials can often be just as thrilling as watching the match itself”.

Legendary referee Pierluigi Collina also feels that the technology increases the thrill of the game, said Goal. “I don’t think VAR kills the excitement of a goal celebration, if anything it increases the level of excitement,” he said. “You get to celebrate twice, when scoring and when it’s confirmed.”

4. Con: produces mistakes

VAR has not eliminated mistakes from the game. Last weekend alone, offside checks surrounding key goals “cost Arsenal and Brighton victories” while Chelsea were “controversially not awarded a penalty in their London derby against West Ham”, said the Independent.

Referees chief Howard Webb contacted Arsenal and Brighton to “acknowledge and explain” the “significant errors”. Last December, the BBC noted that Premier League video assistant referees had made a number of “incorrect interventions” this season and “missed another six incidents when they should have stepped in”.

5. Pro: greater player discipline

Supporters of VAR argue that the enhanced scrutiny of players has led to greater discipline on the field. “Behaviour is better,” Elleray told Four Four Two.

He added that there has been a “significant reduction” in diving, a “general reduction in players mobbing and arguing with referees” and “fewer players getting away with violence on the field behind the referee’s back”.

6. Con: dehumanises the game

“One of football’s charms is that it’s an unpredictable sport”, where “anything can happen” and “part of this is due to human error – whether it’s a mistake by a player, coach or referee,” said Digital Mahbub. VAR “takes away from this element of unpredictability” and detracts from the “human element of the game”, it added.

This dehumanising element could lead to poorer refereeing, believes Collymore. “We’ve now got a situation where referees are having their natural skills blunted because they know they can always rely on VAR,” he wrote.

Manchester City bosses have said the club are “surprised” by the financial charges brought against them by the Premier League. Following a four-year investigation, the club have been referred to an independent commission over a number of alleged breaches of league rules.

The reigning champions have been charged with “breaking financial fair play rules around 100 times over a nine-year period”, said Kaveh Solhekol on Sky Sports. The alleged financial breaches cover a period from 2009-10 to 2017-18 “inclusive”, the Premier League confirmed.

In a statement Man City said it “welcomes” the review by an independent commission to “impartially consider” the “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” that exists in support of the club’s position. “As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

‘Biggest moneymakers in world football’

The Premier League’s financial fair play (FFP) rules are “designed to ensure clubs pretty much spend what they earn”, Solhekol added. “You can get around that potentially by inflating how much you’re earning or hiding how much you are spending.”

According to the Premier League statement, City breached rules requiring them to provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”, Katie Falkingham reported on BBC Sport. This information “covered club revenue, which includes sponsorship income and operating costs”. Further alleged breaches “relate to rules requiring full details of manager remuneration” – from the 2009-10 to 2012-13 seasons, when Roberto Mancini was in charge – and “player remuneration” between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

Since 2008, City “have been bankrolled” by Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, said Chris Burton on Goal. The investigation extends “right across what has been a glittering era” for the club since the takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

City have become the “biggest moneymakers in world football”, said Rob Harris on Sky News. The club brought in “more than £600m in revenue” last year – “fuelled by sponsorships from Abu Dhabi”. Now sponsoring City has “significant value” as one of Europe’s most successful teams with stars like “scoring sensation” Erling Haaland and head coach Pep Guardiola in the dugout.

‘Day of reckoning’

In 2020 European football’s governing body Uefa ruled that City had committed “serious breaches” of FFP regulations between 2012 and 2016, said Falkingham on the BBC. However, a two-year ban from European competitions was “overturned” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

City “always knew there would be a day of reckoning” with the Premier League over their finances, said Simon Mullock in the Mirror. And they are “already primed for a battle” they believe will “finally clear them from allegations of cheating”.

It was “the timing” of the announcement rather than “the confirmation” of the allegations that “took City by surprise”, said Mullock. The “defiant message” is that the commission will give them the opportunity to “rid the club of the stench of suspicion” that has “lingered over them” in the two-and-a-half years since the Cas verdict.

What happens next?

If proven, the financial rule breaches would be the “greatest offences” committed by a club in the history of the Premier League, said Paul MacInnes in The Guardian. The independent commission “could recommend that City be expelled from the competition, suspended or docked points if it finds the club guilty”.

Findings of “wrongdoing” would not only be “reputationally damaging” for Man City, said Sky News, but also for the UAE and its “showpiece sports – and soft power – investment project”. While they appealed to Cas in their case against Uefa, City are “unable to do that this time”, said Mitchell Wilks on Goal. The club will now await the outcome of the Premier League’s investigation.

The proceedings before the commission will be “confidential and heard in private”, the Premier League said in its statement. The commission’s “final” decision will be published on the Premier League’s website and the league will be “making no further comment in respect of this matter until further notice”.

So “here we go again”, said Barney Ronay in The Guardian. Chapter two in the “slow-burn but undeniably gripping story of Manchester City and the case of the financial regulations”. Expect another “lawyered-up deep dive into undeclared payments, Football Leaks and the leftovers of a befuddled Uefa legal process.

“Make no mistake, though. This is serious, an array of new charges that threatens, if proven, to undermine the entire edifice of English football’s dominant power of the last decade, not to mention call into question the entire basis and motivation of the nation-state club ownership model.”

If Arsenal are to win the Premier League title for the first time since 2004, they may well look back to the dramatic victory over Manchester United as the moment where their name started to be engraved on the coveted silver trophy.

In a thriller at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Mikel Arteta’s side ended Man Utd’s ten-match unbeaten run with a 90th-minute Eddie Nketiah goal securing a 3-2 win. The victory saw them move five points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand at the top of the table. Earlier in the day City had closed the gap to two points with Erling Haaland scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Wolves.

Following the “emotional” battle against the Red Devils, in which his side came back from 1-0 down, Gunners head coach Arteta said “it doesn’t get much better than that”. After the derby win against Tottenham last week, “to come here against this team” and “play the way we played”, the performance was “incredible”, the Spaniard told Sky Sports. “To win it in that way makes it even better.”

Arsenal ‘will be champions’

Aware that Man City were “on their shoulders” after beating Wolves, a draw would “hardly have been disastrous” for Arsenal coming against Erik ten Hag’s “improving” United team, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport. But the whole mood in the Emirates was “lifted sky high” by Nketiah’s “last-gasp intervention” and the “celebrations on and off the pitch” at the final whistle “showed the huge significance” of the late winner.

The “pressure is on City to reel them in”, but this Arsenal side are “playing without fear and nerves”, said Mark Ogden on ESPN. Of course, “both may come”, but right now they are “showing the same kind of carefree form that propelled Leicester to the title in 2016”. Unless City can beat them in their first league meeting at the Emirates on 15 February, “it will become increasingly difficult” to see how anyone can stop Arsenal from winning the title.

In the eyes of those who have seen them “wilt under pressure in recent years”, Arsenal are having to “prove themselves on a weekly basis”, McNulty added on the BBC. Why should there be “lingering doubts” about the “pedigree” of a team that have won 16 and only lost one of their first 19 league games?

Arsenal “will be champions”, said Jonathan Liew in The Guardian. “It’s about time someone committed this to print.” Arteta and Co “will not say it themselves”, they may “not even yet believe it themselves”, but there is “not a better or more complete team in England”.

Arsenal ‘won’t win the league’

Ex-City assistant Arteta insists that his former club are still the team to beat. The Arsenal boss has “been at pains not to acknowledge” his team’s position as title favourites, said the Daily Mail, and is adamant that Pep Guardiola’s squad, “who have won four of the previous five championships”, remain “a cut above”.

With 50 points from their opening 19 games, Arsenal may have a five-point lead, and a game in hand on their title rivals, but City under Guardiola are a “massive powerhouse” and you can imagine them sitting there “not being too fazed by this”, said Gary Neville on Sky Sports. The reason he believes that Arsenal “won’t win the league” is because “they’ve not won it for 20 years” and the majority of the players “haven’t won it yet”. Neville doesn’t see the Gunners going on to win the title, “I still think Man City will” and feels the defending champions “have a special run in them”.

The dates, kick-off times and TV coverage for football’s festive season have been confirmed by the Premier League. England’s top-flight resumes on 26 December – just eight days after the Fifa World Cup final – following the unique mid-season winter break to allow for the tournament in Qatar.

There will be seven fixtures on the traditional Boxing Day football feast. Brentford host London rivals Tottenham in the lunchtime game at 12.30pm, followed by four 3pm fixtures. Then in the evening Aston Villa take on Liverpool at 5.30pm and Arsenal play West Ham at 8pm. All games in matchweek 17 will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video.

Premier League matchweeks 18 and 19 will then see fixtures continue throughout the Christmas and New Year period, with selected games chosen for live coverage on Sky Sports and BT Sport.

Controversial fixture changes

With TV schedules having not yet been released, fans of Premier League clubs had been “left in limbo” regarding their festive plans, said Daniel Orme in the Daily Mirror. Now that the fixture list has finally been confirmed, and kick-off times moved for live coverage, there could be “post-World Cup chaos” due to travel.

Football fans “reacted with fury” to yesterday’s “festive fixture farce” announcement, which came “13 days after they were due”, said Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail. Late kick-offs mean fans are set to face “long journeys at absurd times”. Arsenal and West Ham pulled the “Boxing Day short straw” after the clash was moved from 3pm to 8pm. It is “likely to be impacted” by public transport issues given it is a Bank Holiday.

Arsenal’s home clash against Newcastle on Tuesday 3 January is another “controversial fixture change” involving the Gunners, Mokbel added. The 8pm kick-off at the Emirates Stadium in north London leaves Newcastle fans facing the “arduous task of travelling back to the North East later that night when transport options are likely to be limited”.

‘Blind loyalty’

That same evening, on 3 January, Brighton head to Merseyside to play Everton (7.45pm), Fulham are away at Leicester City (7.45pm) and Bournemouth are at Manchester United (8pm).

The Football Supporters’ Association “raised the hoary old issue” of TV scheduling and the Premier League’s “almost total disregard for matchgoing fans”, said Barry Glendenning in The Guardian. Travelling supporters will make it “because they always do”, though some “might not make it back given the last trains home will have long gone”. It is no doubt on this “blind loyalty” that the Premier League and various TV networks count as they “dither over which matches to show and when”.

EPL Boxing Day and New Year fixtures

All times below are GMT

Monday 26 December

• Brentford vs. Tottenham (12.30pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Crystal Palace vs. Fulham (3pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Everton vs. Wolves (3pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Leicester vs. Newcastle (3pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Southampton vs. Brighton (3pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Aston Villa vs. Liverpool (5.30pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Arsenal vs. West Ham (8pm; Amazon Prime Video)

Tuesday 27 December

• Chelsea vs. AFC Bournemouth (5.30pm; Amazon Prime Video)
• Man Utd vs. Nottingham Forest (8pm; Amazon Prime Video)

Wednesday 28 December

• Leeds vs. Man City (8pm; Amazon Prime Video)

Friday 30 December

• West Ham vs. Brentford (7.45pm)
• Liverpool vs. Leicester (8pm; Sky Sports)

Saturday 31 December

• Wolves vs. Man Utd (12.30pm; BT Sport)
• AFC Bournemouth vs. Crystal Palace (3pm)
• Fulham vs. Southampton (3pm)
• Man City vs. Everton (3pm)
• Newcastle vs. Leeds (3pm)
• Brighton vs. Arsenal (5.30pm; Sky Sports)

Sunday 1 January

• Tottenham vs. Aston Villa (2pm; Sky Sports)
• Nottingham Forest vs. Chelsea (4.30pm; Sky Sports)

Monday 2 January

• Brentford vs. Liverpool (5.30pm; Sky Sports)

Tuesday 3 January

• Everton vs. Brighton (7.45pm)
• Leicester vs. Fulham (7.45pm)
• Arsenal vs. Newcastle (8pm; Sky Sports)
• Man Utd vs. AFC Bournemouth (8pm)

Wednesday 4 January

• Southampton vs. Nottingham Forest (7.30pm)
• Leeds vs. West Ham (7.45pm)
• Aston Villa vs. Wolves (8pm)
• Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham (8pm; Sky Sports)

Thursday 5 January

• Chelsea vs. Man City (8pm; Sky Sports)

The countdown to this year’s Fifa World Cup has been somewhat different from what we’re used to: Qatar 2022 may be just a few weeks away, but club fixtures are still coming thick and fast ahead of the 20 November kick-off.

As well as the domestic leagues, European competition games also feature in the World Cup run-up, and the “unique winter build-up” means many of the world’s top players will be playing club football “right up until a week before the tournament starts”, said Sporting Life. With fitness now becoming a major concern, the busy schedule has created a worry for some players as they could miss out on Qatar through injury.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi, who at 35-years-old will play in his last World Cup, admitted that he is “more afraid” after seeing team-mates Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria pick up injuries in recent weeks. “Injuries are a worry,” the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner told DirecTV Sports. “This is a different World Cup which is played at a different time of the year to previous tournaments and it’s so imminent any little thing that happens to you can force you out.”

A cramped schedule

At the weekend Manchester United defender Raphaël Varane left the field in tears after going off injured against Chelsea. A World Cup winner with France in 2018, the 29-year-old fell awkwardly and was replaced on 60 minutes at Stamford Bridge. The extent of his injury has yet to be confirmed, but the defender is facing a race against time to be fit for the defending world champions.

Varane is the latest big name who has suffered an injury pre-World Cup. Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, Varane’s French team-mate, is out, as is Liverpool’s Portugal forward Diogo Jota.

This is what happens when you “plonk a World Cup in the middle of a season”, said James Sharpe in The Mail On Sunday. The tournament is coming at a time in the calendar when “injuries usually spike because of a cramped schedule”, and “shove in even more matches to make up for lost time”.

Big decisions for team bosses

While not all publicly revealed, the 32 qualified nations have finalised their provisional squads of up to 55 players. They must then trim that number to 26 and submit their final squad list by 13 November – seven days before the opening game in Qatar. Fifa will then confirm all squads on 14 November.

For any players injured between now and then, “managers are left with quite a decision”, said Chuck Booth on CBS Sports. The Qatar World Cup presents “a host of great unknowns” and the injury issue is one that team bosses “have to deal with on the fly”. Managers will need to “determine the risk” and weigh up the “importance of the injured player” with the depth in their squad.

Pep will ‘smell’ the fear

Chelsea manager Graham Potter admitted that some players will “subconsciously” have concerns in the back of their minds. “If we don’t think they are human beings and don’t think about that on some level then I think we’re being a bit naïve,” he said. Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta is also concerned about the risk of burnout, the London Evening Standard reported. As players, “you want to go to the World Cup”, said the Spanish defender. “The truth is that we are fighting a lot for the player welfare because the schedule is crazy. Sometimes we have to consider everything.”

There is, however, one Premier League manager who is “paying no attention to the upcoming tournament”, said Joe Bray in the Manchester Evening News. Pep Guardiola, boss of Manchester City, has warned that if any player is focussing on their international chances more than the club’s remaining fixtures before the World Cup, they will not feature for the defending champions.

“He will not play if I smell this,” Guardiola said of any player holding back to avoid injury in the coming weeks. “I’m really good at smelling this. Tactics not, but smelling I’m really good.”

As Manchester United celebrated their best win under the management of Erik ten Hag, the club’s most famous player was not on the pitch or on the sidelines for the remaining minutes of the 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Cristiano Ronaldo, an unused substitute for Wednesday’s Premier League fixture, left the bench in the final moments and trudged away alone towards the tunnel at Old Trafford.

It has since emerged that Ronaldo “refused a request from Ten Hag to come on as a late sub before making his early exit”, said Josh Fordham on talkSPORT. In reaction to Ronaldo’s actions, United’s Dutch head coach has “come down hard” on the “superstar rebel” and the club has confirmed that the forward will not be considered for selection for tomorrow’s league clash away at Chelsea.

Ten Hag’s decision to drop Ronaldo has the “full backing of the club”, said The Telegraph. And the situation marks “a dramatic escalation of the tension in Ronaldo’s relationship with Ten Hag and United”.

As well as his axing for the game at Stamford Bridge, Ronaldo is set to train alone and also faces being slapped with “a £1m fine”, said Jeremy Cross in the Daily Star. Ten Hag is “a stickler for discipline” and is “getting fed up” with the Portuguese’s behaviour.

Ronaldo responds – but no apology

Breaking his silence last night, Ronaldo released a statement on Instagram and explained that while he has “always tried to set the example”, unfortunately “that’s not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of us”. Even though the social media post was lengthy, he “failed to make an apology”, said Jack Figg in The Sun.

Ronaldo has reportedly “lost his remaining dressing room allies” and it’s understood that the player has shown “thinly veiled disdain for Ten Hag and his coaching team”, said Liam Morgan in the Daily Mail. To the extent of “blatantly ignoring one senior staff figure”.

The refusal to come on against Spurs is the latest in a “long line of incidents that have blighted his return to English football” and “threatens to tarnish the forward’s legacy”, said David Kent in the Daily Mail. In July he failed to report for pre-season training and for United’s tour of Thailand and Australia. Then at one pre-season match against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford, he “stormed out” before full-time.

Following United missing out on Champions League football this season, he also failed to secure a move away after submitting a transfer request earlier in the summer. He has been “making waves since”, Kent added.

Where next for CR7?

Now in his second spell at the club, the 37-year-old returned to the Red Devils in August 2021 after nine seasons at Spanish giants Real Madrid and three in Italy with Juventus. First departing in 2009, the forward’s future once again looks likely to be away from Old Trafford.

The United legend has “almost certainly played his last game for the club”, said Neil Custis in The Sun. Ten Hag now wants “either the player’s contract, that runs to the end of the season, ripped up” or for the Portuguese to be “dumped in the January transfer window”.

Several members of the United squad were “already upset with him for trying to engineer a move out of the club early in the season”. However, “there were no takers in the summer window” and now the Portugal captain faces being sidelined just a month ahead of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

Ronaldo’s “walkout” marks the “final curtain on his waning power” at Manchester United, said Jamie Jackson in The Guardian. His time at the Theatre of Dreams is turning into a nightmare, but few clubs around the world are “able to afford” a player with his salary. This was the “prevailing reason why he did not depart” in the summer.

One exit route away from Old Trafford could be to Inter Miami. The Major League Soccer franchise, co-owned by former United and England star David Beckham, could be looking for a star name to replace Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain. Inter Miami “may well do all they can” to bring Ronaldo to the United States and have the “perfect chance” to end his Man Utd “hell”, said Joseph McBride in the Daily Mirror.

In his glittering career Ronaldo has scored more than 800 goals and has won league championships in England, Spain and Italy. He is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner and the record goalscorer in men’s international football and in the Uefa Champions League.

The pick of the Premier League XI could face the best footballers from Germany, Italy and other elite leagues as plans for a US-style all-star game are rekindled.

Earlier this month, Todd Boehly, the American billionaire co-owner of Chelsea, suggested that a team representing the north could meet the south in the Premier League, but “his suggestion for an English twist on the American format was widely criticised”, reported the BBC.

However, reported The Times, Boehly’s idea was one of a number “kicked about” by club executives, who seem to prefer a combined Premier League side meeting their counterparts from rival leagues.

Such contests “would surely have broadcasters and even fans salivating at the prospect”, said Metro, and the all-star match is “increasingly seen as an idea worth pursuing in order to grow audiences – particularly younger viewers – and enhance overseas TV rights”.

‘Evolution will come’

Staging such games across Europe or beyond in the summer months, or during a winter break, would be a way to “parade stars to expanding markets”, said The Times. Premier League sources also feel it could be a way to “keep growing audiences and enhancing overseas TV rights”, said the paper.

Boehly, who is also part-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team and basketball sides the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Sparks, said he hopes the Premier League “takes a little bit of a lesson from American sports”.

He also pointed out the potential financial benefits of an all-star approach, saying that “in the MLB All-Star game this year we made $200m (£181m)”.

Asked what fellow club owners would think about all-star games, he said: “Everyone likes the idea of more revenue for the league. There’s a real cultural aspect. I think evolution will come.”

‘Incredibly arrogant’

However, there’s little sign of such an evolution so far. “He’s only been here five minutes,” said Four Four Two of Boehly, and he is “being widely mocked” for his “bizarre comments on how the English game should be run”.

Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, pointed out that the idea would add to the strain on elite players. “When he finds a date for that, he can call me,” Klopp said. “In American sports, these players have four-month breaks. Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well?”

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher described the proposal as “incredibly arrogant”. Carragher, now a TV pundit, said that Boehly “is speaking about a league that he does not know”, reported Football 365.

Carragher’s former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard said “the calendar is busy enough”. Now the boss of Aston Villa, Gerrard added: “It’s a nice, outside the box idea, but we’ve got enough to focus on.”

Meanwhile, Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl has also come out against the idea, according to the BBC. “We don’t need to make football more colourful,” he said. “It is for me the most interesting sport,” he said.

When Manchester City signed Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund this summer there were some critics who believed that the young Norwegian may struggle with the rigours of English football. Four games into his debut Premier League season the 22-year-old has already hit six goals, including his first City hat-trick in the 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace at the weekend.

After City triggered the £51m release clause in his Dortmund contract, Haaland has “loudly gone about silencing those who questioned his move to the Etihad Stadium”, said Alex Brotherton in the Manchester Evening News. With sceptics insisting that the “club and player were not a good fit”, you “don’t have to be a football expert” to know that there are “quite a few people out there with egg on their faces”.

Ian Wright, the former Arsenal and England striker, went as far to say that Pep Guardiola and City now have a “goalscoring monster” leading their attack. “He’s a monster – he’s a goalscoring monster,” Wright said on BBC’s Match of the Day. “For somebody that we were so excited to see, in a team like City he’s going to score loads of goals.”

With his 19-minute hat-trick against Palace, Haaland has now scored 161 times in his past 148 starts for club and country.

He’s like an ‘alien’

After making his professional debut in 2017 as a 15-year-old for hometown club Bryne in Norway, Haaland then went to play for Molde, Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund. Everywhere he’s played, including international football, he’s been a “goal machine and record breaker”, said the AFP news agency.

At Molde in Norway he scored 20 goals in 50 games then in Austria for Salzburg he netted 29 in 27, including a hat-trick on his European debut. Signing for German giants Dortmund in a €20m deal in December 2019, he tallied 86 goals in 88 matches and was the youngest player to chalk up 50 Bundesliga goals, reaching the milestone in just 50 games. At senior international level he has also excelled, scoring 20 goals in 21 appearances for Norway.

These staggering numbers made him the world’s “most-wanted centre-forward”, said Chris Wright on ESPN. The stats also show that “neither Guardiola nor the Premier League have had a player quite like City’s new striker”, said Adam Bate on Sky Sports. “And that is a problem for everyone else.”

City boss Guardiola has “already fallen in love with him”, said Luke Edwards in The Telegraph. However, it’s the reaction “across the other 19 dugouts” where managers have been “calling each other to sound out ways to stop him”. After City fell two down against Palace on Saturday, Haaland delivered “a monstrous performance” which was both “brutal and beautiful”. The “lethal” centre-forward is “spooking Premier League opponents” and one rival boss has described him as “like an alien... stronger, taller, faster than anything we have seen before”.

The final piece in the City jigsaw?

Since taking over as manager in 2016, Guardiola has led City to four Premier League titles, an FA Cup and four league cups. Despite spending more than €1bn on players, the Spaniard has yet to add the Champions League trophy – the Holy Grail – to the club’s silverware collection.

Having reached three quarter-finals, the semi-finals and one final in the past five seasons, could Haaland be the “final piece in the jigsaw” for City in their Champions League quest, asked Steve Sutcliffe on the BBC.

Former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer believes that Haaland should be looking to score “30, 35, 40” goals a season because of the amount of chances that City create. “For so long, City had been playing without that focal striker,” Shearer told BBC Sport. “There is no doubt he is seen as the final piece in the jigsaw to take them over the line in the Champions League.”

In this season’s Champions League, City have been drawn in group G with Spanish side Sevilla and Danish club FC Copenhagen. They will also face Dortmund, said Sky Sports, with Haaland set to get “a speedy reunion” with his former club.

If Erik ten Hag “did not already appreciate the task he has taken on, he does now”, said Chris Wheeler in the Daily Mail. Last Sunday, the Dutchman’s tenure as Manchester United’s manager got off to the worst possible start, as his side slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Prior to the match, there was a “carnival atmosphere” at Old Trafford: ten Hag received a standing ovation when he “emerged into the afternoon sunshine”. In the nine years since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, a similar wave of optimism has greeted each managerial appointment at United. Yet so far, all have proved “false dawns”. While it’s too early to say if ten Hag will prove another (even Ferguson lost his first match in charge), the “horror show” that unfolded on Sunday suggests he has his work cut out. Afterwards, even he admitted as much, describing the task facing him as a “hell of a job”.

When the former Ajax manager arrived at Old Trafford over the summer, he wasted little time in unveiling a strict new behavioural code, said Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian. He banned drinking alcohol during match weeks; he promised to drop any player who arrived late for training; and he culled the squad’s personal chefs “in an effort to improve nutrition and refocus minds on the club”. Such measures may have improved fitness, but so far they haven’t discernibly affected performance. Against Brighton on the opening weekend, United’s “pressing was no better than it had been in the worst days of last season”, and their defence lacked all structure. Meanwhile, several squad members seem desperately short of confidence – none more so than Marcus Rashford, who remains “a shell of the player” he was a couple of seasons ago.

Ten Hag also has a very big Cristiano Ronaldo problem, said Ian Whittell in The Daily Telegraph. The Portuguese star desperately wants to leave Old Trafford, so he can play Champions League football this season. But the fact is that until United sign another “proven finisher”, the 37-year-old – initially left on the bench against Brighton – remains the best out-and-out striker they have. It was only when he was introduced in the second half that the team began to look as if they had a “focal point”.

Ronaldo, though, isn’t the real issue, said Henry Winter in The Times. Whether he stays or leaves, what’s clear is that the squad needs a substantial overhaul – and the real question is whether the club’s owners, the Glazer brothers, will give ten Hag the “control and resources” needed to effect it. In recent years, they’ve instilled a culture more focused on “making money” than on “making footballing memories”. Ten Hag is a fine manager – but if he is to transform United, he needs the Glazers to “help him do it”.

1. Erling Haaland scores goals…

Looking at his club and international career goal stats – for Bryne, Molde, Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Norway – Erling Haaland has pretty much enjoyed a stellar record everywhere he’s been. Now at Manchester City, the Norwegian striker opened his Premier League account with a double in the 2-0 win at West Ham.

In the Community Shield defeat against Liverpool last week, Haaland delivered a “low-key performance” as City were beaten 3-1, said Phil McNulty on the BBC. This may have left City’s rivals clutching “desperately at a collection of straws” that he may not bring goals to Pep Guardiola’s team. However, against the Hammers he gave an “all-round display” as the champions made “the smoothest of starts to their title defence”.

The striker “brought a new dimension” to the City team, said Miguel Delaney in The Independent. His “early impact” looks “ominous” for the rest of the Premier League.

Results

• Crystal Palace 0 Arsenal 2
• Fulham 2 Liverpool 2
• AFC Bournemouth 2 Aston Villa 0
• Leeds United 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
• Newcastle United 2 Nottingham Forest 0
• Tottenham Hotspur 4 Southampton 1
• Everton 0 Chelsea 1
• Leicester City 2 Brentford 2
• Manchester United 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
• West Ham United 0 Manchester City 2

2. Same old United

A new manager, a fresh start, but the “same old problems” for Manchester United, said The Telegraph. On the opening day at Old Trafford, Pascal Gross scored twice as Brighton condemned Erik ten Hag to a 2-1 defeat in his first competitive match as United boss. Graham Potter’s side “deservedly” took the points – it was “no shock” and certainly no “smash and grab”.

On Sky Sports former United captain Roy Keane said that Brighton should be given credit before criticising the Red Devils. “That’s what probably hurts the most for United today,” said Dom Farrell on SportingNews.com. “It’s all so familiar.”

3. Brentford are the ‘comeback kings’

Brentford have a “happy knack of turning games on their head”, said Reuters. Last season only Liverpool (20) earned more points than Brentford (15) from losing positions. And yesterday “they did it again” – coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Leicester City. It was the “first time the Foxes have given up a two-goal home advantage in the Premier League since 2003”.

4. Spurs make a ‘statement’

Tottenham’s “impressive comeback” against Southampton was “an indication of the progress made over the summer”, said The Guardian. Making a statement in their opening fixture, Antonio Conte’s squad “now has the depth to compete on all fronts”.

Goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, Dejan Kulusevski and an own goal from Mohammed Salisu saw Spurs start the season with a “stunning 4-1 drubbing” of the Saints, said SportsKeeda. Playing “beautiful attacking football”, it could be “a sign of things to come in the months ahead”.

5. Reds performance like ‘a defeat’

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said his team’s performance in the 2-2 draw at Fulham felt like a defeat. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored both goals for the hosts as Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez opened his Premier League account and Mohamed Salah spared the Reds’ “embarrassment”, said Sky Sports. Speaking after the match, Klopp admitted the best aspect of the game was the result. “We got a point from a really bad game,” he said. “The result was fine, I don’t think we deserved more than that. The performance can be massively improved.”

Analysis of more than two million Twitter posts has revealed the scale of online abuse directed at Premier League footballers. A report published by the media regulator Ofcom and The Alan Turing Institute found that of the 2.3m tweets sent during the first half of the 2021-2022 season, more than 60,000 were abusive.

An average of 362 abusive tweets were sent every day during that period, equivalent to “one every four minutes”, Ofcom said. Seven in ten Premier League stars were affected and 12 particular players faced “a barrage of abuse” – each receiving an average 15 abusive tweets daily. Around one in 12 personal attacks targeted a victim’s protected characteristic, such as their race or gender.

Of the footballers who were targeted on Twitter, eight of the top ten were playing for Manchester United at the time. Cristiano Ronaldo had the highest number of abusive tweets sent to him (12,520), followed by Harry Maguire (8,954) and Marcus Rashford (2,557). Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Manchester City’s Jack Grealish also feature on the list.

These findings “shed light on a dark side to the beautiful game”, said Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom’s group director for broadcasting and online content. Online abuse has “no place in sport, nor in wider society”.

Source: Ofcom/The Alan Turing Institute

A year on from the Euro shame

The study took place in the aftermath of the men’s Uefa European Championship. In last July’s final England lost on penalties to Italy at Wembley and three players – Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka – were racially abused online having missed their spot kicks.

There was “much discussion about the role that anonymous accounts played” in the abuse following the Euros, said Sky News. However, Twitter responded and said that the UK was “by far” the largest country of origin for racist abuse sent to England footballers. The social media company added that 99% of the accounts suspended over the abuse were not anonymous.

Last year the footballing world held a four-day social media blackout in protest against the abuse, said The Mirror. More than a year on from the Euro shame, the study has highlighted the “true extent of the torrent of abusive messages that top-flight stars face”.

Tackling the problem: what happens next?

Sanjay Bhandari, chair of football’s anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out, warned last month that the sport cannot become complacent when dealing with online abuse. While there has been some success for social media companies tackling the problem, Bhandari said the threat is continually evolving. The abuse is “mutating”, he told the Press Association. With a lot more audio messages, video messages and other types of content being posted, “new threats” emerge, “so we can’t be complacent about this”. There won’t be “lasting change” unless there are “legal obligations on social media companies.”

Bhandari said the organisation is “strongly supportive” of the Online Safety Bill, which is expected to return to the House of Commons before the autumn. The bill is “likely to introduce rules for websites and apps such as social media, search engines and messaging platforms – as well as other services that people use to share content online”, said the Daily Mail.

Ofcom will be appointed as the regulator for the online safety regime, but Bakhurst said that social media firms “needn’t wait” for new laws to make their sites and apps safer for users. Tech companies have to be “really open about the steps they’re taking to protect users”, he added. “We will expect them to design their services with safety in mind.” Tackling the issue will require “a team effort”.

The 2022-2023 Premier League season gets underway a week earlier than the last campaign due to the Fifa World Cup taking place in November and December.

Matchweek 16, the weekend of 12-13 November, will be the final one before the six-week World Cup break. The action will then resume on Boxing Day, just a week after the World Cup final in Qatar. The Premier League’s final round of matches are scheduled for 28 May.

Manchester City come into the new season looking to win the title for the third time in succession. Pep Guardiola’s side edged out rivals Liverpool by just one point on a wild final day of last season. Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United will aim to close the gap on the big two and challenge at the top of the table.

Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, the three clubs promoted from the Championship, will aim to stave off relegation as they return to the top-flight.

Here we pick out the pundit predictions for the Premier League champions and relegation candidates, plus the betting odds for title winners, relegation, golden boot and first manager to be sacked.

1. Title race predictions: who will finish top?

Given Manchester City have won four of the last five titles, “it’s hardly a bold prediction” they will win again, said Ben Gray on 101GreatGoals.com. Pep Guardiola has won ten league titles in 13 attempts and, “while he remains in place in Manchester, this tally is only likely to rise”.

The analysts from FiveThirtyEight have crunched the numbers ahead of the new top-flight campaign. According to the data, champions Man City have a 46% chance of winning the title ahead of Liverpool (30%) and Chelsea (11%).

City “look in very good shape” to become the only team alongside neighbours United to win three Premier Leagues in a row and five in six seasons, said Dom Farrell on SportingNews.com. “It is hard once again to look past Guardiola’s champions.”

ESPN commentator Ian Darke has made his Premier League predictions for 2022-2023 and there’s “nothing that original” there. “It’s going to be another close race between Manchester City and Liverpool,” he said. “Tottenham you’d think with the way they’ve strengthened might put in a much stronger run than what we’ve seen from them. They could make third place.”

Football analyst Statman Dave has published his predictions. He probably has “a better shout at getting things right” compared to, say, “the bloke in the corner of your local crying into his pint, AKA, yours truly”, said Kobe Tong on GiveMeSport. In a YouTube video the statman predicts the entire Premier League table, with “frightening” Man City lifting the trophy ahead of Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal, who complete the top four.

2. Relegation predictions: which teams will go down?

Dom Farrell on SportingNews.com picks Bournemouth and Fulham, “two of the three newboys”, to go down. So, “who of the established names” will join them? “If Southampton get into a spiral this season, that might be allowed to go too far downward before corrective measures are applied, meaning the Championship beckons.”

FiveThirtyEight’s data revealed that Nottingham Forest have a 45% chance of being relegated this season. Bournemouth (44%) and Fulham (41%) are also expected to struggle.

Statman Dave predicts that Everton will join Fulham and Bournemouth in the drop zone at the end of the season. “Consistently bad decisions” have left Everton in “serious trouble”, he said. “Their squad doesn’t have an identity and is filled with players whose best days are behind them.”

3. Premier League betting odds

A look at the pre-season prices according to Oddschecker.com, as of 2 August 2022.

Title winner betting odds

• Manchester City: 8/13
• Liverpool: 11/4
• Tottenham Hotspur: 14/1
• Chelsea: 16/1
• Manchester United: 40/1
• Arsenal: 40/1
• Newcastle United: 150/1
• See the full price list at oddschecker.com

Relegation betting odds

• Bournemouth: 8/15
• Nottingham Forest: 5/4
• Fulham: 3/2
• Leeds United: 2/1
• Brentford: 5/2
• Southampton: 3/1
• Everton: 7/2
• Wolves: 11/2
• Crystal Palace: 11/2
• Brighton & Hove Albion: 9/1
• See the full price list at oddschecker.com

Top goalscorer betting odds

• Erling Haaland (Man City): 11/4
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): 9/2
• Harry Kane (Tottenham): 6/1
• Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal): 13/1
• Darwin Nunez (Liverpool): 14/1
• Son-Heung Min (Tottenham): 20/1
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd): 23/1
• Jamie Vardy (Leicester City): 33/1
• Raheem Sterling (Chelsea): 33/1
• See the full price list at oddschecker.com

First manager to be leave role betting odds

• Frank Lampard (Everton): 4/1
• Ralph Hasenhüttl (Southampton): 6/1
• Jesse Marsch (Leeds United): 6/1
• Brendan Rodgers (Leicester City): 8/1
• Bruno Lage (Wolves): 12/1
• Marco Silva (Fulham): 12/1
• Scott Parker (Bournemouth): 12/1
• Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea): 14/1
• Eddie Howe (Newcastle United): 18/1
• Steven Gerrard (Aston Villa): 20/1
• See the full price list at oddschecker.com

Raheem Sterling’s transfer from Manchester City to Chelsea looks set to be announced after the England forward completed a medical with the Stamford Bridge club. The 27-year-old, who started his career at the Queens Park Rangers academy, will return to west London in a deal reportedly worth up to £50m including add-ons.

Sterling has “remained Chelsea’s top target this summer”, said Sky Sports. And the Blues are hopeful that the transfer will be completed in time to allow him to join the club’s pre-season tour in the United States. He has agreed personal terms on a five-year contract with the option of a further 12 months. It’s just “a matter of time for the official statement”, said football journalist Fabrizio Romano on Twitter.

His opportunities at City were restricted by Jack Grealish’s arrival, while strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez have both signed this summer, said Simon Stone on the BBC. City “wanted Sterling to stay” and he has “no ill feeling towards the club or manager Pep Guardiola”. However, the player “wants a fresh challenge” and he still has “team and professional targets he wants to fulfil, including winning the Ballon d’Or”.

Sterling ‘deserves respect’

After joining Liverpool from QPR as a 15-year-old in 2010, Sterling spent five years on Merseyside, scoring 23 goals in 129 appearances. He initially played for the club’s academy before making his senior debut in 2012, aged 17 years and 107 days.

Following a contract dispute he told Liverpool that he wanted to leave in May 2015. At the time former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said he was “disappointed” with Sterling’s decision, adding that the forward was at a “different end of the scale” to “professional” Jordan Henderson. Rejecting a new £100,000-a-week deal at Anfield, Sterling denied being a “money-grabbing 20-year-old” in a BBC Sport interview.

Sterling signed for Manchester City for an initial £49m in July 2015 and his time at the Etihad Stadium has “by any definition” been “a success”, Stone said on the BBC. He’s won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups and scored 131 goals in 339 appearances for the Sky Blues.

He’s also become England’s “most important player”, Henry Winter said in The Times in July 2021. Scoring many “crucial goals”, including three at last year’s Euros, Sterling “deserves respect”, Winter added. Under head coach Gareth Southgate he’s also captained the national team.

‘Proven’ Premier League goalscorer

An “intelligent” leader and “proven” Premier League goalscorer, Sterling’s move to Chelsea “makes sense for all involved”, said Jacob Steinberg in The Guardian. The news has “gone down well” in Chelsea’s dressing room and head coach Thomas Tuchel is getting a “solid professional” whose “commitment can never be questioned”.

Despite his goal record at Man City – he’s scored on average 22 goals for the club across the past five seasons – Sterling is still “seriously underrated”, said Adam Bate on Sky Sports. That might be because his finishing is “misunderstood”. Sterling’s game is “unusually focused” on the chances that people expect players to score. “His goals often look easier. And so do the chances he misses.”

New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly “copped some flack” for revealing he would be “taking the wheel of the summer transfer drive”, said Michael Hincks on Eurosport. But “few will disagree that this is a very impressive start”. Signing Sterling is an “un-Boehly-vable” piece of business from Chelsea.

There has also been speculation that the Blues are interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Ronaldo “may be glamorous”, but Sterling is “a far more sensible signing”, Steinberg added. For Chelsea, boss Tuchel and the team as a whole, “it has to be the way forward”.

Darwin Nunez is set to sign for Liverpool after Portuguese club Benfica announced that a deal had been struck for the Uruguay international.

In a statement Benfica said the Premier League side will pay an initial €75m (£64m) for the striker, rising to a potential €100m (£85m) with add-ons. The transfer is subject to the 22-year-old agreeing personal terms and completing a medical.

Once the deal goes through, it will “break Liverpool’s previous transfer record” – £75m for Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January 2018, Sky Sports said. Nunez will sign “a six-year contract, worth more than £6m per year”, the Daily Mail added.

Nunez scored 34 goals in 41 games across all competitions for Benfica in the 2021-2022 season. He was on target six times in ten Uefa Champions League games, including both quarter-final legs against his new club in April.

At international level he has scored two goals in 11 games for Uruguay. And he is expected to be part of his country’s squad for this year’s Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

Nunez’s qualities: what sort of player is he?

Benfica signed Nunez in 2020 from Spanish side Almeria for €24m (£20.5m). After two years in Portugal, Liverpool’s rivals Manchester United were also keen on “trying to lure the prolific goalscorer to Old Trafford”, said talkSPORT. However, the player “has his heart set on Jurgen Klopp’s side and is keen to play Champions League football next season”.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Portuguese football expert Pedro Sepulveda said Liverpool were getting a “modern football striker” like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe – a forward who doesn’t just focus on scoring goals. “They focus on playing for the team and making the whole team play well. That’s why we’re talking about €100m.” Under Liverpool manager Klopp, Nunez can be “one of the top strikers in the world”, Sepulveda added.

In the past 12 months Nunez has been the subject of “intense gossip” with Newcastle United and West Ham also interested in his signature, said Llew Davies on Scouted Football. The striker has enjoyed a “remarkable” and rapid rise since starting his senior career at Club Atlético Peñarol in Uruguay. His skillset “bristles with the extraordinary” and his athleticism is “a game-changer” which is only enhanced by “incisive movement and intelligent instincts”.

Nunez in, Mane out: an attacking overhaul at Anfield?

Nunez “idolises” former Liverpool striker and international team-mate Luis Suarez, said the Daily Mail. And his signing represents “another quality addition” to an attacking line “already filled with talent”.

He becomes Liverpool’s second high-profile signing this year from Portugal’s Primera Liga, following Luis Díaz’s move from Porto in January. He’s also Liverpool’s second signing of the summer transfer window with Fulham’s Portuguese 19-year-old Fabio Carvalho officially joining on 1 July.

The next 12 months could prove to be “crucial” for Liverpool and one that may “represent the end of an era”, said Martin Macdonald on FootballTransfers. The futures of their three star forwards – Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino – are up in the air with the trio out of contract in the summer of 2023.

Nunez’s arrival would allow Mane “to say an emotional goodbye to the Kop” after six successful years at Anfield, The Mirror said. Linked with a move to German giants Bayern Munich, the Senegal international has scored 120 goals in 269 games since joining Liverpool in June 2016 and has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup.

The takeover of Chelsea Football Club has been completed – marking the end of Roman Abramovich’s 19 years of ownership at Stamford Bridge. It’s understood that a consortium led by Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital has paid £4.25bn for the Blues.

In a process overseen by the UK government, the consortium fought off “11 serious rivals” to become the new owners, the BBC reported. The sale started on 2 March and there were “more than 250 enquiries”.

When the UK government placed sanctions on Russian-Israeli billionaire Abramovich, over his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Blues’s future was “thrown into doubt”, said Sean O’Brien on talkSPORT. But now, with the consortium paying a “record sum” for a Premier League club, it’s “expected to restore normality in west London”.

The transaction has received all necessary approvals from the government, Premier League, and other authorities, Chelsea said in a statement. Under the terms of the agreement, Boehly and Clearlake will “share joint control and equal governance of the club”, while Boehly will serve as chairman of the holding company.

The end of Roman’s empire

Since Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, they have won “every trophy available”, Planet Football said. Before his ownership, the Blues had won “just one top-flight title and five domestic cups in the 98 years before his arrival”.

Chelsea’s 21 trophies under Abramovich leave their English rivals behind, The Independent said. Under “Roman’s empire”, the trophy cabinet at the Bridge includes: five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two Champions League titles, two Europa Leagues, two Community Shields, one Uefa Super Cup and one Fifa Club World Cup.

Who is Todd Boehly and what’s his vision for Chelsea?

American businessman, philanthropist and investor Boehly is no stranger to elite sport – he’s also the co-owner of seven-time Major League Baseball champions the Los Angeles Dodgers, 17-time NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers, and women’s basketball team Los Angeles Sparks. The 48-year-old, who co-founded investment firm Eldridge Industries in 2015, has a personal fortune of $4.5bn (£3.57bn), according to Forbes.

Boehly said the group were “honoured” to become the new custodians of Chelsea and were “all in – 100%” of every minute of every match. “Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud.” The new owners have committed to developing the youth squad, acquiring the “best talent” and the plan of action is to “invest in the club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success”.

As well as Boehly and Clearlake Capital, the consortium includes Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Capital. Walter is also a co-owner of the Dodgers, Lakers and Sparks.

It is expected that Marina Granovskaia, who runs Chelsea’s transfer business, and the chairman, Bruce Buck, will remain, The Guardian reported.

Ins and outs at the Bridge

With off-field matters now complete, Chelsea fans will “breathe a huge sigh of relief after a cloud of uncertainty was dispelled”, said Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail. They can now “look forward to a new era”.

Chelsea finished third in the Premier League table, qualifying for next season’s Champions League. They were, however, 19 points adrift of champions Manchester City. German head coach Thomas Tuchel, who led the club to Champions League glory last year, will be “backed by the new owners” to rebuild a squad that has been “destabilised by the sale of the club these past three months”, said Matt Lawton in The Times. Tuchel is expected to be given “as much as £200m to spend on players this summer”.

In terms of players leaving the club, it’s already been confirmed that German defender Antonio Rüdiger has agreed to join Real Madrid on a free transfer when his contract expires. Danish defender Andreas Christensen is also set to sign for Barcelona on a free.

Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku is another player who may be heading for the exit door. According to Sky in Italy, Inter Milan will meet Lukaku’s lawyer today to enquire about the “feasibility of a potential move back to Serie A”.

With Rudiger and Christensen set to leave and Cesar Azpilicueta’s future “uncertain”, Chelsea are facing a “centre-back crisis”, said The Telegraph. An “eight-man list” of defenders has been drawn up, which includes Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol, Villarreal’s Pau Torres and Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez.

The first signing of “the Todd Boehly era” could be Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, said The Mirror. The French winger is out of contract in a few weeks and is “close” to agreeing a move to Stamford Bridge.

The final afternoon of the 2021-22 Premier League season began with top-placed Manchester City leading Liverpool by a single point, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport. Pep Guardiola’s side knew that a win at the Etihad Stadium – against Aston Villa, a side managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard – would guarantee them their fourth title in five years. A draw or a loss, on the other hand, would almost certainly hand the Reds – who were taking on Wolves at Anfield – their second title in three seasons.

In the event, City got the victory they needed, beating Villa 3-2, said Henry Winter in The Times. Yet such a summary doesn’t begin to do justice to the “nerve-draining” route they took to that destination. With just 14 minutes remaining, Villa were 2-0 ahead – thanks to a first-half goal from Matty Cash and a wonderful 69th-minute effort by another former Liverpool player, Philippe Coutinho. Although at this stage Liverpool were 1-1 against Wolves – meaning that City were still theoretically heading for the title, on account of their superior goal difference – no one expected things to stay that way. And indeed, two late goals at Anfield gave the Reds three points. City’s predicament was therefore stark: their hopes of winning the title depended on scoring three quick goals.

What happened next was scarcely believable, said Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail. “It was as if a switch had been flicked.” City, who up to that point had been a pale shadow of their usual selves, “suddenly woke up to the looming catastrophe”. In the space of five surreal minutes, they took the league out of Liverpool’s hands by finding the back of the net three times. First came a header by Ilkay Gündogan, set up by a “good, early cross” from Raheem Sterling. Next came an impeccably controlled side-footed effort by Spanish midfielder Rodri. And then Gündogan completed the job with the “simplest conversion”, after the indefatigable Kevin De Bruyne had spotted him “lurking again at the far post”. Much of the credit must go to Guardiola for a trio of inspired second-half substitutions, said Jason Burt in The Daily Telegraph. Gündogan and Sterling had both been introduced after the break, as had Ukrainian left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko – who provided the pass for Rodri’s goal.

As the “wildest of celebrations” got under way at the Etihad – including an ugly pitch invasion, during which Robin Olsen, Villa’s keeper, was struck in the head by a City fan, and one of the goals was dismantled – it was “impossible to ignore” the historical parallels, said David Hytner in The Guardian. In 2012, needing a victory on the final day to secure the title (this time with Manchester United lying second), City had trailed Queens Park Rangers 2-1 before scoring twice in stoppage time. “I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again,” commentator Martin Tyler had famously declared on that occasion, following Sergio Agüero’s 94th-minute winner. City, admittedly, didn’t leave it quite so late this time, said Owen Slot in The Times. But for sheer improbability and drama, this was surely the equal of the “Agüerooooo moment”. It was “another day when football held your attention and so shook you, you could not quite believe it”. What a fitting end to a magnificent season.

Liverpool, for their part, will go into Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid carrying an “unmistakable sense of regret”, said Andy Hunter in The Guardian. But for City’s remarkable comeback, that match would have represented a chance for the Reds to fulfil their dream of an unprecedented quadruple. They may yet win the treble, but it must be galling to end the season with 92 points – the third highest points total in their history – and yet again finish in the runner-up spot. To make matters worse, they may well have to play Real Madrid without their “great maestro of the midfield”, Thiago Alcântara, said Sam Wallace in The Daily Telegraph. The Spaniard “headed straight off the pitch” on Sunday after injuring his Achilles tendon late in the first half, and was “hobbling quite a bit in the post-match lap of appreciation”. With Fabinho, Liverpool’s other key midfielder, also doubtful for Saturday, Liverpool have their work cut out if they are to atone for their Premier League heartbreak by becoming champions of Europe.

Thirty-seven games played, one remaining. The 2021-2022 Premier League season is going to the wire with the title, European qualification and relegation to be decided on the final day.

At the top of the league defending champions Manchester City go into the last round of matches one point ahead of Liverpool. Chelsea are guaranteed a top four place and Tottenham and Arsenal can still qualify for the Uefa Champions League. There’s also the Europa League and Europa Conference League spots to be decided.

At the bottom of the table Norwich City and Watford are already relegated and they will be joined in the drop zone by either Leeds United or Burnley.

It’s all set up to be one of the “most exciting ever final days”, said Sam Street in The Sun. Expect an afternoon “full of twists and turns”.

Final day fixtures

The final day of the Premier League season is on Sunday 22 May. All matches will kick off at 4pm (BST).

• Arsenal vs. Everton
• Brentford vs. Leeds United
• Brighton & Hove Albion vs. West Ham United
• Burnley vs. Newcastle United
• Chelsea vs. Watford
• Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United
• Leicester City vs. Southampton
• Liverpool vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers (Sky Sports Premier League)
• Manchester City vs. Aston Villa (Sky Sports Main Event)
• Norwich City vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Title race

There’s “nothing better” than a title race that goes down to the wire, said Joe Sargent on PlanetFootball. And this year is the ninth time that the championship will be decided on the final day. Man City (90 points) are in the driving seat and will retain their crown with a victory over Aston Villa at the Etihad. If Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool (89 points) are to finish top then they must win against Wolves at Anfield and “hope Steven Gerrard’s Villa can stop Pep Guardiola’s winning machine from grabbing victory”. It’s set to be a “fascinating day” and it “should be cherished, as it doesn’t happen every year”.

With City “in the box-seat” the “genuine” Premier League trophy will be at the Etihad on Sunday, said Sam Wallace in The Daily Telegraph. However, there will be an “identical presentation team and replica” at Anfield in case Klopp’s side come from behind to win.

After more than 20 years, BBC football pundit Mark Lawrenson has made his last set of Premier League predictions. He has backed City to be champions with a 3-0 win against Villa. We know “how good this City team is”, he said, and “I fully expect them to go on and clinch the title”.

European qualification

Chelsea have all but secured third place after a 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Thursday. With one game to go, against already-relegated Watford at Stamford Bridge, the Blues (71 points) are three clear of Tottenham (68 points) and have a superior goal difference of +18.

The final Champions League spot is between the rival clubs from north London. Because of their superior goal difference, Tottenham will secure a spot in the Champions League with a draw at Norwich. However, if Spurs were to lose at Carrow Road, Arsenal (66 points) would qualify with victory over Everton at the Emirates.

Spurs and Arsenal are vying for the final Champions League spot, but one of them will finish fifth and qualify for the Uefa Europa League. It’s between Manchester United (58 points) and West Ham (56 points) for qualification to the Europa League and Europa Conference League. If West Ham don’t beat Brighton & Hove Albion, then Man Utd will be assured of finishing sixth.

Relegation

It was a “dramatic night down the bottom” on Thursday, said Adam Bate on Sky Sports. Everton secured Premier League safety with a 3-2 victory against Crystal Palace while Burnley moved out of the drop zone after a 1-1 draw at Villa. Going into the final day it will be between Leeds and Burnley to join Norwich and Watford in the Championship next season.

Both clubs have 35 points after 37 games, but because of their far superior goal difference, Burnley know they will survive if they match Leeds’s result on Sunday, said Jake Osgathorpe on Sporting Life. Leeds travel to Brentford while Burnley host Newcastle United.

The bookmakers’s odds are “ominous” for Leeds, said Charlie Bennett on LeedsLive. Bet365 make the Whites 2/5 to be playing Championship football next season. Burnley are favourites to stay up at 6/4.

The Premier League campaign isn’t yet over, but Manchester City have already started their planning for next season by announcing an “agreement in principle” with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of Erling Haaland.

In a statement released on Tuesday, City confirmed that a deal had been reached for the 21-year-old to join on 1 July, which remains “subject to the club finalising terms with the player”.

Haaland passed a medical this week and the deal ends Pep Guardiola’s search for a “long-term successor” to City’s record goalscorer Sergio Agüero, said Will Unwin in The Guardian. The striker’s €60m (£51.5m) buyout clause has been met and it’s understood that he will earn £375,000 a week, plus bonuses.

A ‘homecoming’ for Haaland Junior

This is a “homecoming of sorts” for the Norwegian, said Chris Wright on ESPN. Alf-Inge Haaland, the player’s father and now agent, played for City between 2000 and 2003.

It’s certainly a “fantastic story” for Haaland Junior, who has “obviously grown up with a real affection” for the club, said Ben Ransom on Sky Sports News. “I’m sure everyone has seen the photos of him as a kid in a Man City shirt.”

Haaland was born in Leeds in the summer his dad joined City from Leeds United, The Daily Telegraph reported. He has attended “several games down the years” and he told City that he wanted to join them for “emotional and football reasons only”.

‘Goal machine’

After making his professional debut in 2017 as a 15-year-old for hometown club Bryne in Norway, Haaland has since played for Molde, Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund.

He scored 27 goals in 29 games for Austrian side Salzburg, including a hat-trick on his European debut, and this put him “on the radar” of Dortmund, who signed him for €20m in December 2019, said AFP. In Germany the “goal machine and record breaker” has scored 85 times in 88 matches and is the youngest player to chalk up 50 Bundesliga goals, reaching the milestone in just 50 matches.

At international level he has also excelled, scoring 15 goals in 17 appearances for Norway. These staggering numbers have made him the world’s “most-wanted centre-forward”, said Wright on ESPN. And his move to City will be “the next phase of his meteoric career”.

‘A galactico signing’

Established as one of Europe’s “most ruthless goalscorers”, Haaland is 6ft 4in with broad shoulders and can “overpower centre-backs with his strength, outrun them with his speed and outwit them with his skills”, said Adam Bate on Sky Sports. Turning 22 in July, “he might be the next best player in the world”.

For the City players, ��this will feel like a galactico signing”, said former Scotland midfielder Don Hutchison on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast. “It is amazing that Haaland is coming to the Premier League.”

For City’s rivals though, the signing of Haaland may not be such an amazing prospect. The “worried reaction” by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp “speaks volumes”, said Jake Polden in the Daily Mirror. Klopp, whose side are currently level on points with City at the top of the Premier League table, said Haaland is a “real beast” and “unfortunately, he’s a really good signing”.

Can he help City finally win the Champions League?

In April last year – at 20 years and 231 days old – Haaland became the fastest and youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals. Since making his Champions League debut in 2019 for Red Bull Salzburg, Haaland has netted 23 times in the competition and it’s “a record bettered only by Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema”, said Giacomo Pisa in The Sun.

Spaniard Guardiola has won ten trophies with City since his appointment in 2016. He is, however, still without a Champions League win with the Etihad club. Will Haaland be the man to finally deliver the Champions League title for Man City, Pisa asked. “Well if his stats in the competition are anything to go by, you wouldn’t bet against Guardiola’s side lifting the trophy in Istanbul in 12 months time.”

It’s not just the title race and relegation that’s going to the wire in the Premier League – the battle for Uefa Champions League qualification is also hotly contested with just three matches remaining in the 2021-2022 season.

With the top five teams having played 35 games each, as things stand defending champions Manchester City are favourites to retain their crown with Pep Guardiola’s side currently on 86 points, three clear of title rivals Liverpool.

The race to finish in the top four is equally a closely-fought affair, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur all still in with a chance of finishing third or fourth. Chelsea currently sit in third place with 67 points from 35 games, while Arsenal are on 66 and Tottenham are on 62.

Third-placed Chelsea, who are five points clear of Spurs in fifth, “should have enough to secure their current position”, said Jack Cunningham on talkSPORT. Therefore, it appears to be “a straight shootout” between bitter rivals Arsenal and Spurs. However, there could still be “some twists and turns to come”.

‘Biggest meeting for years’

Arsenal travel to Spurs on Thursday night for a Premier League encounter that has been described as “seismic” by Henry Winter in The Times. “At last”, this is a north London derby that “really matters”.

Last weekend’s results saw Arsenal beat Leeds United 2-1 at home while Spurs drew 1-1 against Liverpool at Anfield. Going into Thursday’s derby, the Gunners have a four-point advantage and they travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium knowing that a victory would take them back into the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

This “massive” clash is the “biggest meeting between these two rivals for years”, said Jonathan Gorrie in the London Evening Standard. And “barring a late Chelsea collapse”, Europe’s elite competition will “only likely be big enough for one of them”.

Thursday’s north London derby kicks-off at 7.45pm and is live on Sky Sports.

North London derby predictions

Tottenham “simply have to win” and certainly “boast the kind of attacking talent” to damage their rivals, said Gorrie in the London Evening Standard. Still, as strong as Spurs are at home under Antonio Conte, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have “learned how to grind results out” and Gorrie is predicting a 1-1 draw.

Michael Owen is also “leaning towards” a 1-1 draw. Speaking on BetVictor, the former England striker said that although Conte is building a good side at Spurs, even a draw “would be a good result” for Arsenal. “I think that’s what we will see.”

This derby is “set to be a thriller” with both teams “finding form” towards the end of the season, said Sarah Rendell in The Independent. However, Spurs have “more consistency in their ranks” and so “should be able to pull off the victory” which would see their hopes of Champions League football rise. “Tottenham 2-0 Arsenal.”

Conte’s side will be “buoyed by their stellar showing” against Liverpool and should expose the Gunners’ recent “defensive lapses” to keep the race for fourth place alive that little bit longer, said Ben Knapton on SportsMole. He has predicted a 2-1 victory for Spurs.

Following their impressive performance at Anfield, Gary Neville is also backing Spurs to beat Arsenal. The match was postponed in January at Arsenal’s request – due to the Gunners having “many players unavailable” as a result of Covid, injuries and players away with their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations – and Neville believes there will be added “needle” for the clash. “I think it will be a really tasty game – not just because of the fact it’s a north London derby and they’re playing for Champions League places,” he said on his podcast. “But the way in which this game was called off earlier in the year – even I wasn’t too happy with that! I fancy Tottenham on Thursday night. I thought they were brilliant at Anfield.”

While Neville is tipping Spurs to win, former England international Micah Richards is saying the Gunners. “I think Arsenal, yes,” he said last week on The Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I just think with their form and winning the last three, I’m going Arsenal.”

According to win probability statistics from StatsPerform, Tottenham have a 41.2% chance of winning on Thursday, while Arsenal have a 30.5% chance, Squawka.com reported. There’s a 28.3% chance of the match ending in a draw.

Top four betting odds

The bookies make Arsenal second favourites behind Chelsea to complete the Premier League’s top four and qualify for the Champions League. Chelsea’s odds of 1/200 are “a fair reflection of their prospects given their remaining fixtures”, said The Daily Telegraph. Arsenal are 3/10 and Tottenham 5/2. As implied by the latest odds, Chelsea have a 99% chance of finishing in the top four, while Arsenal have a 77% chance and Tottenham 29%.

Premier League top five: the remaining fixtures

Manchester City

• 11 May: Wolves (away)
• 15 May: West Ham (away)
• 22 May: Aston Villa (home)

Liverpool

• 10 May: Aston Villa (away)
• 17 May: Southampton (away)
• 22 May: Wolves (home)

Chelsea

• 11 May: Leeds (away)
• 19 May: Leicester City (home)
• 22 May: Watford (home)

Arsenal

• 12 May: Tottenham (away)
• 16 May: Newcastle (away)
• 22 May: Everton (home)

Tottenham

• 12 May: Arsenal (home)
• 15 May: Burnley (home)
• 22 May: Norwich City (away)

The worst-kept secret in world football has finally been confirmed – Erik ten Hag will become the new permanent manager of Manchester United. Ten Hag, currently head coach of Ajax, will replace interim boss Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season. The 52-year-old Dutchman has signed a three-year deal until June 2025 which can be extended by a further year.

In a statement released on Thursday United football director John Murtough said that during the past four years at Ajax Ten Hag has “proved himself to be one of the most exciting and successful coaches in Europe” and he is renowned for his team’s “attractive, attacking football and commitment to youth”.

Ten Hag said it was a “great honour” to be appointed manager of United and he is “hugely excited” by the challenge ahead. “I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve,” he added. “It will be difficult to leave Ajax after these incredible years, and I can assure our fans of my complete commitment and focus on bringing this season to a successful conclusion before I move to Manchester United.”

Former glories

The club may have given the impression that four candidates were in the running to be their 12th permanent post-war manager, said Samuel Luckhurst in the Manchester Evening News. However, it was “always between two”: Ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino. “Ultimately, United decided Ten Hag was the manager most closely aligned with the club’s identity and strategy.”

Sixth in the Premier League, three points off the top four and risking missing out on qualifying for next season’s Uefa Champions League, this current United team have been described as the “worst for 30 years”. The Red Devils have turned to Ten Hag to try and “restore the club to their former glory”, said Chris Wheeler in the Daily Mail. He will double his salary and earn close to £30m over his contract.

‘Relentless upward coaching curve’

Ten Hag’s “journey from altar boy” in his native Holland to manager of United is the “culmination of a career path carefully considered and acted upon”, said Phil Blanche in the Irish Independent. His appointment “might seem swift considering he has not managed in the top five leagues of European football”, but he has been on a “relentless upward coaching curve over the past two decades”.

A former player for Dutch clubs FC Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and FC Utrecht, Ten Hag cut his teeth in management at Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich’s second team and FC Utrecht. Appointed as Ajax head coach in December 2017, he led the Amsterdam club to two Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups and the semi-finals of the 2018-19 Champions League.

He has forged a reputation as “one of Europe’s most exciting coaches” and is “very highly thought of” among his fellow managers, said Nathan Egerton on PlanetFootball. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who was head coach of Bayern Munich when Ten Hag was in charge of the German club’s second team, said the Dutchman is “just an incredible person and human being”. In terms of his qualities, “just take a look at his Ajax team in the last years”, Guardiola added. “To define a manager, watch his team for a long time. This is a team, and this manager makes the players play. There is no doubt about that.”

Winning trophies and restoring pride

United have “churned through managers” since 2013, when Alex Ferguson called time on his glittering career after 26 years in the dugout, said Alex Conrad on Fox Sports. Including interim and caretaker bosses, Ten Hag becomes the eighth man in the past ten years to sit in the Old Trafford hot seat. “For a team that hasn’t won a trophy since 2017 after being spoiled with glory during Ferguson’s era, fans are desperately craving some form of success,” Conrad added. “Quite simply, it should be the bare minimum for a club of United’s stature.”

Before Ten Hag looks at building a team capable of winning trophies again, he has a “big job to get the club back up to minimum standards”, said Gary Neville on Sky Sports. Due to the scale of the rebuild, former United and England defender Neville believes Ten Hag won’t be under pressure to win trophies for “one or two” years. What needs to be dealt with initially is “attitude, work ethic, belief, confidence and then hopefully you start to think about winning trophies”.

‘Unprecedented’ squad overhaul

There are “a number of challenges” for Ten Hag to overcome, said Simon Stone on BBC Sport. “Stepping into an alien world”, Ten Hag has never experienced the “unique demands of English football” and has never managed anyone with “either the history or the ego” of Cristiano Ronaldo. “It is essential he gets this right.”

United’s recruitment is also “a major issue”, Stone added. There is a list of at least ten players who could leave Old Trafford this summer, but “finding the right quality” at United “may not be quite so easy”.

Neville also believes that recruitment is the “key focus” and the “most important job” in a football club. “If you get the players wrong, you’re struggling,” he said on Sky Sports. “There’s a big job to do in many different aspects. The first job is to decide who he wants to keep that’s currently there and then he’s got to decide who he wants to get in with him to make sure that confidence, that belief, that spirit in the dressing room can start to rise.”

With some “already certain to leave” and others “likely to go”, Ten Hag will have to decide on the futures of 11 United players, Luckhurst said in the Manchester Evening News. The club is bracing itself for an “unprecedented” squad overhaul.

“Embarrassing, disappointing, maybe even humiliating.” That was how Ralf Rangnick described Manchester United’s 4-0 loss to bitter rivals Liverpool.

Jürgen Klopp’s title challengers tore United apart, with goals from Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah (two) and Sadio Mane sending the Anfield club to the top of the Premier League table, at least for 24 hours as Manchester City play Brighton tonight.

Interim boss Rangnick was left “clearly unhappy” by his team’s display, said The Guardian. And the German was critical as he compared United’s current situation with Liverpool’s. “We have to accept they are six years ahead of us now,” he said. “When Jürgen Klopp came [in October 2015] they changed at the club and lifted not just the team but the club and city to a new level. That is what needs to happen with us in the next transfer windows.”

The heavy defeat leaves United in sixth place in the table and has dented their Champions League qualification hopes.

‘Most of them are jokes’

On yet another “historically bad day” for United, Liverpool “doomed the Red Devils to several new lows”, said Ryan Tolmich on Goal.com. Liverpool have completed the league double over their rivals this season, with a combined 9-0 scoreline. It’s the most United have “ever conceded to a single opponent over the course of a league campaign since inception of the current top flight in 1992”.

It “wasn’t great” under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Jose Mourinho, it was “pretty mediocre” under Louis van Gaal, and “frankly rather woeful” for almost a season under David Moyes, said Michael Hincks on Eurosport. “But this has to go down as the worst Manchester United side for 30 years, doesn’t it?” With just five games left, United have to pick up ten Premier League points, “or else – factually – it will be their worst season for three decades”.

Former United and England defender Gary Neville was equally scathing. Speaking on Sky Sports, he labelled the team as a “waste of space” and said the club’s demise has been “alarming”. He added: “What we’re watching right now is nothing. These Man Utd players want the season over so they can hide behind the new manager and blame the old. An excuses culture permeating the whole club. They’re in shape but they’re walking. The lot of them. Which one of them looks alert or like they’re going to press? At best it’s an amble. Most of them are jokes.”

Ten Hag faces a ‘brutal reality’

It’s been widely reported that Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag is set to take over as the permanent boss at United. His impending arrival “should be a cause for celebration”, said the BBC’s Phil McNulty. However, “instead, the overriding emotion when the Dutchman walks through Old Trafford’s doors will be sympathy”. Following the defeat at Anfield, the “brutal reality” of what Ten Hag is letting himself in for “can be illustrated by the fact he is inheriting a bigger, more problematic task” at United than Klopp did when he succeeded Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool in 2015.

In reaction to the shocking 4-0 loss, United fans “raged at their team” on social media and some even warned Ten Hag that he should not go anywhere near the job, the Daily Mail reported.

In commentary for Sky Sports, Neville said in his 42 years watching United “this is as bad as it gets”. He added: “Watched them through the 80s, I’ve never seen a group have a lack of appetite to play during my time watching the club.”

On YouTube, fans’ channel UnitedPeoplesTV said this team is “a total, complete and utter disgrace” and the “humiliation” against Liverpool at Anfield “is as low as it gets”. One supporter on Twitter went even further, said The Mail. They wrote: “Worst man united team in the history of the club.”

This season’s Premier League title race looks set to go to the wire. With seven fixtures remaining, just one point separates the division’s top two teams. In the blue corner you have defending champions Manchester City, who are top with 74 points from 31 games. In the red corner is Liverpool, who are second with 73 points from the same number of matches played.

In Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad Stadium, the title rivals played out a “classic” 2-2 draw, said Phil McNulty on the BBC. The meeting between “the country’s two outstanding sides” lived up to its pre-match billing and “in the end there was nothing to separate them, with the destination of the title still hanging in the balance”.

City and Liverpool have been “involved in some epic battles” in recent seasons, in particular in 2018-19 when City pipped their rivals to the title by a single point, said AFP. Expect another thrilling end to this season’s main club competitions. The next instalment comes on Saturday in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. “This time they know there cannot be a draw, with Liverpool’s bid for an unprecedented quadruple and City’s treble chase on the line.”

There could even be the possibility of a Uefa Champions League final featuring the two teams. “For many, such a match-up would merely confirm what we already know – they are the best two sides not only in England but also in Europe.

What Guardiola and Klopp said after the 2-2 draw

Praising his opponents as “a joy to watch”, City head coach Pep Guardiola said his side have given Liverpool “a life” in the title race, The Guardian reported. The Spaniard believes City will need to win all of their remaining matches if they are to retain the championship.

“We know now that one game and a dropped result, then we will not be champions,” he said. “Will it be easy? Absolutely not but it will be difficult for them too. Seven games in the Premier League is a lot [to win] – they are tough games and they have tough games.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp insisted his team would “not stop chasing” the champions and compared the rivalry to two heavyweight boxers. “We can describe it like a boxing fight,” the German said. “Both arms down for a second and you get a massive knock. You can shake it off a bit and then the next knock is coming from the other team. Now it is seven games to go for both teams. We will not stop chasing now. That is clear.”

Pundit predictions: who will win the title?

Before the start of the season, City, Chelsea and Liverpool were the favourites to win the Premier League. Now it’s a two-horse race. Here we look at the pundit predictions for the title with seven matches remaining.

The “enthralling” 2-2 draw leaves the title race “finely poised as we enter the final six weeks of the campaign”, said the Daily Mail. The paper’s Sportsmail team has “looked into its crystal ball” to predict the outcome of each side’s remaining fixtures. They tip Man City to get six wins and one draw from their seven matches to finish with 93 points. However, the Mail predicts that it will be Liverpool who end up as champions, winning their remaining seven games and finishing with 94 points – just one more than City.

In a manner “neither of these formidable teams are likely to”, “we’ve bottled it a bit”, said Dom Farrell on The Sporting News, which has also predicted the results of the key fixtures. “We have each of City and Liverpool winning six and drawing one of the remaining games and Guardiola claiming his fourth title in five seasons by the solitary point advantage in place today.”

It should be a title race that will “go down in top-flight folklore”, said Matt Whiley on Planet Sport. After looking at the fixtures and “using some good old-fashioned stats”, he predicts Liverpool to pip Manchester City to the title by two points.

There are “five key games” that will decide who becomes champions, said the i news site. The key clashes will be Liverpool’s home fixtures against Manchester United and Tottenham and City’s away matches at Leeds and West Ham and their home game against Aston Villa.

According to Oddschecker.com, the bookies have Man City as 4/9 favourites to win the Premier League while Liverpool are priced at 15/8.

Premier League run-in: which fixtures are left?

The rest of Man City’s league fixtures – four at home and three away – “seems favourable in comparison to Liverpool’s”, said Jeorge Bird on The Sporting News. However, in their final three matches City come up against “complicated” opponents: Newcastle, West Ham and Aston Villa. Liverpool “clearly have a tougher run-in than City” and it “certainly won’t be easy” for Klopp’s team. They still have to play Man Utd, Spurs and Merseyside rivals Everton.

Man City’s remaining Premier League fixtures

Liverpool’s remaining Premier League fixtures

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters.

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In this week’s episode, we discuss:

Far right-spying

A German court has ruled that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) can be classified as a suspected threat to democracy, paving the way for the country’s domestic intelligence agency to spy on the opposition party. So is this a slippery slope to further sleuthing on fringe political movements? Or an illiberal measure to preserve liberal values?

Sport sanctions

The government has moved to slap sanctions on Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovitch following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The measures come after a string of players and clubs moved to drop Russian sponsors in light of Vladimir Putin’s order for an invasion. So is football finally waking up to the impact of sportwashing?

Petrol poison

A US study has found that exposure to leaded gasoline lowered the IQ of about half the population of the US. For people born in the 1960s and the 1970s, when leaded gas use was on the rise, the IQ loss was estimated to be up to six points and for some, more than seven points. Given that the last reserves of leaded fuel were only exhausted last year, could this be the first insight into a global trend?

It was a busy start of the year for Premier League clubs as managers looked to bolster their squads ahead of the second half of the season.

In the January transfer window top-flight teams spent £322.9m on new signings, Sky Sports reported. And it was Newcastle (£93m), Everton (£76m), Liverpool (£49m) and Aston Villa (£27m) who were the league’s biggest spenders.

West London club Brentford, who were promoted from the Championship last season, only made a couple of signings in January – but one of them is the “highest-profile transfer” in their history, said The Daily Telegraph.

The arrival of Christian Eriksen on a six-month contract is “one of the stories of the season so far” and comes just eight months after he suffered a cardiac arrest at last summer’s Uefa European Championships.

‘Unbelievable opportunity’ for Brentford

Eriksen, 29, has not played since he collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s match against Finland at Euro 2020 last June. He had his contract cancelled at Inter Milan in December and has trained alone at Danish side Odense Boldklub – where he was previously a youth player, the BBC reported.

During his recovery Eriksen was fitted with an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) – a type of pacemaker. In Italy players fitted with an ICD cannot compete in Serie A, however, the Premier League does not have the same regulations. He will become the first known professional footballer to play with an ICD at the top of the English game, the Telegraph said.

The opportunity to sign a world-class player like Eriksen was an “unbelievable opportunity”, said Brentford head coach Thomas Frank. “He hasn’t trained with a team for seven months but has done a lot of work on his own. He is fit but we will need to get him match fit.”

‘Football’s most complicated deal’

Eriksen’s signing for Brentford has been described as the “most complicated deal” ever in football, the i news site reported. It’s been more than two months in the making and ended with the “most stringent medical” in the competition’s history.

“Fans might look at it and think it was a matter of checking his heart, giving him a medical and getting it done, but Brentford are in unchartered territory,” a source told i news. “It’s taken a long time – it wasn’t just Brentford who needed to be satisfied, it was the player and everyone around him and then the Premier League and the Football Association as well – who didn’t want anything to happen on their watch.”

Brentford will not release any medical details regarding the checks that Eriksen has undergone, the Telegraph reported. However, the club’s director of football Phil Giles has assured fans that “we have undertaken significant due diligence to ensure that Christian is in the best possible shape to return to competitive football”.

Eriksen’s World Cup goal

Brentford’s deadline day announcement video has had 5.7m views so far on Twitter and social media has been flooded with well-wishes for the Dane. Inter wished him good luck for his new adventure and another of his former clubs, Tottenham, welcomed Eriksen back to the English top-flight.

It’s a “fairytale return” to the Premier League, Metro said. And for the player himself he just “can’t wait to get started”.

Speaking to Danish broadcaster DR earlier this month, Eriksen also revealed that his big “goal” for 2022 is to play in the Fifa World Cup in Qatar. “I want to play – that’s been my mindset all along,” he said. “It’s a goal, a dream. Whether I’ll be picked is another thing. I want to prove I’ve moved on and that I can play on the national team again.”

On the full-time whistle at Old Trafford a shell-shocked Manchester United Twitter admin could only muster one word – “Defeat” – after watching the team lose 5-0 at home to Liverpool. Defeat was an understatement: the result was a humiliation and one which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer described as his “darkest day” since taking over as manager in 2018.

The United fans inside the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday must have thought they were in a nightmare as Liverpool ran riot with four goals in the opening 45 minutes. And thousands had already headed for the exits before Mohamed Salah completed his hat-trick five minutes after the break.

There was a “sense of reckoning” about this Liverpool victory, said the BBC’s Phil McNulty. It was on “such a scale and such an embarrassment” that it means Solskjaer’s “sympathisers” will have an “even tougher job” claiming the Norwegian is up to the task of making United a serious force once again. As of Monday afternoon Solskjaer was still “at the wheel”, but he looked so far “out of his depth” that the question now is “how long will be allowed to stay at the wheel in the hope of finding a direction?”.

‘He will never be an elite coach’

Despite the dismantling by Liverpool, the Norwegian maintains the backing of the Old Trafford hierarchy, said Goal’s Charlotte Duncker. But where do Man Utd go from here? “As defeats go, a 5-0 humiliation at home to your fiercest rivals is as bad as it comes.”

The Red Devils need a new boss – the team has “no identity, no clue and no chance under his management”, said Samuel Luckhurst in the Manchester Evening News. Solskjaer was “always a stop-gap coach” and United need to put a stop to his reign. “He is incapable of competing against the elite coaches for he is not an elite coach and never will be. Jurgen Klopp schooled the pupil.”

Nobody should think Solskjaer is the only thing wrong at United, said The Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson. That he is not a manager at the same level, or anywhere close to the same level, as Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel is “obvious and always has been”, but he “has not been helped by those above him”.

Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville debated the future of the United head coach following the 5-0 humbling. Carragher believes United need someone to take them to the next level. “Unfortunately, Solskjaer is not Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Thomas Tuchel,” Carragher said. “It’s staring you in the face.”

Former United star Neville feels that the club will hold their nerve and they will sit with him until the end of the season. “There will be a massive outcry from fans and media that Ole should be sacked and I can understand that after that game,” Neville said. “It was a monstrously bad day and it takes some recovery from.”

Conte and Zidane linked

Not surprisingly, Solskjaer is odds-on favourite to be the next Premier League manager to get the sack. On Betfair he’s 1/5 to leave his job - the “shortest odds he’s ever been to head out of the Old Trafford exit door”, the Daily Mail reported.

If Solskjaer does get the sack, who could take over the Old Trafford hot seat? According to Oddschecker Antonio Conte, Zinedine Zidane, Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag are the main candidates.

Former Chelsea and Italy head coach Conte is reportedly open to becoming the next United manager - but only if the club demonstrates willingness to win the Champions League, the Daily Mirror reported. Ex-Real Madrid boss Zidane has long been linked with the United job. However, Spanish newspaper Marca said the Frenchman is a “wanted coach” and is attracting interest from several top clubs around Europe.

When the £305m takeover of Newcastle United was confirmed two weeks ago, new non-executive chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan told supporters to “expect ambition”. The new owners were “here to build long-term success for the club” and director Amanda Staveley revealed that the aim is to win the Premier League title. It will “take time”, she said, but “we will get there”.

Judging by the club’s current squad and league position, the controversial Saudi Arabia-led consortium have “a lot of work to do, on and off the pitch”, said The Independent’s Miguel Delaney.

In the first match of the new era on Sunday, Newcastle were beaten 3-2 at home by Tottenham - a result that leaves the winless Magpies second from bottom, with just three points from eight matches. Steve Bruce was taking charge of the 1,000th match of his managerial career - and it was his final one as Newcastle’s boss.

It was confirmed on Wednesday that the 60-year-old had left the club by “mutual consent”. Graeme Jones has taken over on an interim basis, starting with Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace, and will be supported by the coaching team of Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence, Ben Dawson and Simon Smith. “The process of recruiting a new head coach is under way and an appointment will be announced in due course,” Newcastle said in a statement.

Right characters needed

They may be backed by the richest owners in football, and linked with the world’s biggest stars, but the north east club are in “real danger” of going down, Delaney added. “That’s even allowing for a managerial change and big signings.”

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp agrees that even if the owners invest in new players in the January transfer window Newcastle’s safety is not guaranteed. They need to get the “right characters in the spine of the team”, he said. “This squad right now is one of the favourites for relegation - you can see it in the mistakes they make every single week. A new manager might change it but it’s hard.”

Former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca has emerged as the early favourite to become the next Newcastle manager, The Chronicle reported. Other names being linked with the job include Lucien Favre, Frank Lampard, Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Steven Gerrard.

The to-do list

Newcastle look set to enjoy “unprecedented spending power”, said The Observer’s Louise Taylor. But they cannot buy any new players until January and have 11 matches until the transfer window opens. So, what can Newcastle’s owners do to “navigate the coming weeks” and improve ahead of the new year?

First of all, the board must appoint the right manager to replace Bruce. The new boss must be a long-term “project man” keen to undertake a painstaking “rebuilding job”, Taylor said. Re-energising the players by “banishing uncertainty” and deciding on a director of football, playing philosophy and recruitment strategy must also be top of the owners’s to-do list.

The truth is that Newcastle are “one of the weakest teams” in the Premier League and the January transfer window “may yet bring as many problems as solutions”, said ESPN’s Mark Ogden.

They can forget “headline-grabbing pursuits” of players such as Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe - the club must focus on players who will make them better and save them from relegation. “It may not be a glamorous blueprint for a club with ambitious new owners,” Ogden added. “But if they get it wrong in January, Newcastle could be the richest club in the Championship this time next year.”

Amnesty International CEO Sacha Deshmukh is seeking a meeting with the Premier League to discuss changes to its owners’ and directors’ test, following Newcastle United’s controversial takeover by a Saudi Arabia-led consortium.

Last week it was confirmed that the £305m bid had been approved by the league and that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would take an 80% controlling share in the Tyneside club. The completion of the deal has sparked widespread criticism due to the Middle Eastern country’s poor human rights record.

Amnesty International described the takeover as an “extremely bitter blow for human rights defenders” and questions have been raised over the possibility of “sportswashing” by Saudi Arabia, The Guardian reported.

In a letter seen by the Press Association, Deshmukh has written to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters and asked how the current owners’ and directors’ test has “nothing whatsoever” to say about human rights.

“The way the Premier League waved this deal through raises a host of deeply troubling questions about sportswashing, about human rights and sport, and about the integrity of English football,” Deshmukh wrote. “Football is a global sport on a global stage – it urgently needs to update its ownership rules to prevent those implicated in serious human rights violations from buying into the passion and glamour of English football.”

‘Boldest move yet’

Saudi Arabia’s association with sport has become an “integral, and contentious, part of its efforts to rebrand”, said The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov. But the takeover of Newcastle is the kingdom’s “boldest move yet, placing it firmly on the world’s sporting stage, and squarely in the crosshairs of its critics”.

When the Premier League confirmed the approval of the takeover it had “legally binding assurances” that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle. Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, is listed as chair of the PIF, but the Premier League was satisfied that the state would have no dealings with the football club.

Amnesty has offered to meet Masters with corporate lawyer David Chivers QC. Last year Chivers wrote a new human rights-compliant owners’ and directors’ test on the campaign group’s behalf and an updated test was sent to the Premier League last July. “We hope that Richard Masters will see that making the football’s ownership rules human rights-compliant can only be for the long-term good of the game,” Deshmukh said.

‘Strange kind of deliverance’

The Premier League’s “unabashed worship of money” is no secret, said Oliver Holt in The Mail on Sunday. But it has seldom seemed more flagrant than last week, when English football rolled out the red carpet to let “a purveyor of pre-meditated murder, mass executions, state-sponsored misogyny and widespread oppression of LGBT rights” take over Newcastle United.

Fans were jubilant when the PIF took an 80% stake in the club, replacing the “hated” previous owner, Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley. But it’s a “strange kind of deliverance” when your “liberator” is bin Salman: the man who personally sent a hit squad to murder the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Newcastle fans are understandably hoping that Saudi cash will bring an end to “their long trophy drought”, but they’ll have to reconcile themselves to the fact that their club was bought with “blood money”.

‘Lots of money in the bank’

Personally, I don’t blame “those jubilant Toon fans”, said Rod Liddle in The Sunday Times. The Premier League applies its “fit and proper” test to the ownership of clubs, but all that means is: “lots of money in the bank”. Manchester City was owned first by Thaksin Shinawatra, a “dubious” Thai politician later convicted of corruption, and then by Sheikh Mansour, a “totalitarian bigwig from another desert satrapy”, Abu Dhabi.

The game is built on dirty money. Newcastle are “only following the well-trodden path of the UK Government and City advisers”, said the FT. Far from Khashoggi’s murder being a “turning point” in UK relations with Saudi Arabia, our exports (including arms) have actually gone up, to £6.7bn, in the past year.

‘Project soft power’

Why are authoritarian regimes so keen on English football clubs, asked The Economist. There is a business case – but with so much foreign cash in the game, buying success is ever more difficult. The main draw, it seems, is that football allows them to “project soft power”.

“Football has never been pure,” said Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian. But surely this is the time to draw a line in the sand. Forget all the hypocrisy and whataboutery: “there is only one question Newcastle fans and football more generally needs to ask: How do you feel about torture and murder?”

Since signing for Liverpool in June 2017 Mohamed Salah has scored some “sensational” goals, said GiveMeSport’s Rob Swan. But his stunning solo effort in the 2-2 draw against Manchester City “will be remembered for many years to come”.

In the 76th minute of Sunday’s clash at Anfield, the 29-year-old danced his way through the City defence before smashing the ball past keeper Ederson. The goal “cemented his status as one of the world’s finest footballers” and it could quite possibly go down as one of the Premier League’s all-time great goals, Swan added.

During the encounter between the title rivals Salah showed his class to set up Sadio Mane for Liverpool’s opener on 59 minutes. His wonder goal, either side of City equalisers by Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne, was “worthy of winning any match”, said the BBC’s Phil McNulty. But in reality Liverpool “could not complain at only getting a point as they struggled to exert their authority”.

After the thrilling draw Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp gave his verdict on Salah’s individual brilliance. “Only the best players in the world score goals like this,” the German said. “The first touch, the first challenge he wins, then going there, putting it on the right foot and then finishing the situation off like he did, absolutely exceptional. Because this club never forgets anything, people will talk about this goal for a long, long time and in 50 or 60 years when they remember this game.”

‘Wreaking havoc’

Nicknamed the “Egyptian king” by the Kop, Salah has netted nine goals in nine games so far this season and is currently on a scoring run of seven consecutive matches. A Premier League and Champions League winner with Liverpool, his record for the Reds now reads: 134 goals and 50 assists in 212 appearances. The masterclass against City “showed once again that he truly belongs among the game’s elite”, McNulty said.

Salah was “already the most decisive player in the Premier League”, said the Independent’s Miguel Delaney. Now he is currently the “most devastating again, just wreaking havoc in the way he did in 2017-18 when he won the Player of the Year award”.

This gives rise to even bigger debates, Delaney added: whether Salah is actually the best player in Europe; whether he’s the best player in Liverpool’s history. “They end up coming down to subjectives, but the fact someone even has a claim is impressive enough.”

‘Imperative that Salah stays’

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes Salah has already secured his status as a Liverpool legend and is worthy of a place in the club’s all-time XI. Salah’s contract runs out in 2023 and the former Liverpool defender feels it’s “imperative” the future is sorted.

“I don’t think there’s anyone playing better in the world or in Europe at the moment,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “I know the situation Liverpool are in. They don’t have the finances of Manchester City when you think of the wages they give out. But right now, Salah is playing as well as anyone in European football.

“Liverpool cannot afford to let his contract situation drag on, with the threat they could lose him in the next two years. It’s imperative that at his peak he’s still scoring goals in the red shirt of Liverpool.”

Salah has done enough to warrant being paid the biggest contract in Liverpool’s history, said Dominic King in the Daily Mail. “The onus is now on the men who balance the books to make it happen. Allowing someone else to profit from his genius would be sabotage.”

Sheffield Hallam University experts Dan Plumley and Rob Wilson on how clubs score financial wins through high-profile signings

The prodigal son returns. In the last few days of a frenzied football transfer window, Manchester United pulled off a dream signing, welcoming Cristiano Ronaldo back to his former club.

Excitement over his return to the Premier League is high - and with good reason. There are only a handful of sports stars on the planet who can generate this kind of global interest.

But how does a player of Ronaldo’s professional stature affect the business side of a major football club? Where are the key financial wins generated by sporting superstars?

In football transfer fee terms, Ronaldo returns to United with a relatively cheap price tag. He has signed a two-year contract (with the option to extend) for an initial fee of £12.86m and the potential for an additional £6.85m in performance-related bonuses.

This is primarily down to his age. At 36, he is approaching the end of his playing career, and the fee reflects this, even though his performance level remains high. That performance factor is reflected in his salary, which is set to be around £385,000 per week

Adding these numbers together crudely shows a total cost to Manchester United in the region of £60m. The club have also shown shrewd business tactics by managing to spread the payment over five years.

In return, United hope Ronaldo’s skill will enhance the club’s chances on the pitch. But the bigger picture is the commercial edge he can bring.

Certainly the power of his personal brand (he is widely known as “CR7”, after his initials and preferred player number) - not withstanding the ongoing civil lawsuit against him for allegations of rape, which he denies (criminal charges were ruled out) - instantly extends the club’s international reach and appeal.

Ronaldo currently boasts half a billion followers across social media, compared to Manchester United’s 140 million, and the announcement of his signing sparked 12.5 million likes on Instagram. Converting this reach into cash is critical.

A numbers game

Ronaldo has already increased United’s shirt sales to a record-breaking amount. But it is Adidas which will see the initial benefit, with the German kit manufacturer paying a licence fee to reproduce the famous red shirts. That said, United’s current deal with Adidas is already football’s biggest, and the Ronaldo effect should allow the club’s executives to push up the price when it comes to renewal.

United’s broader business operations should also see a significant boost. Sponsors will be falling over themselves to partner with United, and it is possible the club could make an additional £30m in commercial arrangements in the next couple of years.

And while exact numbers are difficult to predict, we can look to Ronaldo’s last club, Juventus, for a guide. The Portuguese moved there from Real Madrid in 2018, and the next two years show considerable commercial growth for the Italian club.

Of course, that’s not all down to Ronaldo, but he certainly helped. While he was in the squad, Juventus renegotiated deals with Adidas and Jeep, and signed a new one with Konami in Japan who cited the “Ronaldo effect” as a major reason behind the partnership.

Manchester United meanwhile already generate significant value from commercial deals and Ronaldo will help boost those numbers. The team and the player have been described as “match made in heaven”, with the share price of the club jumping before Ronaldo had even kicked a ball back in Manchester.

Longer-term gains can be expected in the next couple of years, and if he helps the club to win trophies, the numbers could be mind boggling. Those numbers will no doubt be studied by the top European clubs as they desperately look for the next Ronaldo and Messi, encapsulated by Real Madrid’s recent failed attempt to land Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain. (Expect him to be the next big move in January 2022.)

The football industry in general is concerned about a changing market where the relationship between the game and young people appears to be deteriorating. Recent research found that 40% of respondents in seven countries (including England, Poland and Brazil) aged 16-24 had no interest in football, sparking fears of a “missing generation” of fans.

As a result, clubs are searching for new ways to engage. Anything that extends the reach in younger age groups is of huge interest to club owners, so Ronaldo’s social media presence is yet another box ticked.

The attachment between fans and a favourite player is also of increasing importance, particularly in emerging markets. In India for example, nearly a third of fans say that allegiance to a player influences their support for a club.

For Manchester United, there is clearly money to be made from the return of CR7. The club will gain new fans and new deals - and if he scores goals and wins matches, maybe even a shiny new trophy.

Sheffield Hallam University senior lecturer in sport finance Dan Plumley and head of Department of Finance, Accounting and Business Systems Rob Wilson.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

It won’t please English football fans, said Susy Campanale on Football-Italia.net, but Romelu Lukaku got it right. Italy’s Serie A, said the Belgian striker, who has just returned to the Premier League after being lured away from Inter Milan by Chelsea, is “tactically and technically a better league” than England’s top flight. The chatter in the opening week of this season has focused on Lukaku’s transfer fee (a club record of £97.5m) and whether he was worth the money – a question he helped answer with his terrific opening goal in Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend. But of equal interest are the questions Lukaku raised about English football. In England, he said, football is “all about the intensity”.

The Premier League is certainly intense, said Henry Winter in The Times. And thanks to new instructions given to referees this season, it will be more intense than ever. They’ve been told to apply a new “light touch” protocol. Small niggly fouls are more likely to be ignored; attackers will be given the benefit of the doubt on tight offside calls. It’s meant to make the game more free-flowing, but some fear it will just make the English game more intense and physical – and more hotly disputed. Arsenal were incensed, for example, when shortly before half-time, they were denied a penalty after Bukayo Saka “took a strong shove” from behind in Chelsea’s box. Last season a penalty would probably have been given.

Managers are worried too, said Adrian Kajumba in the Daily Mail. Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp has warned that football could turn into a “wrestling match”; Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjær said the sport was in danger of “turning into rugby”. Yet they are “trying to make a big deal out of nothing”, said Tony Cascarino in The Times. When I played in the 1980s and 1990s, defenders got away with far more than they can do now. Using physical force has always been a key part of the game.

1. Spurs fans won’t easily forget that ‘one of their own’ wanted out – Harry Kane must explain himself

Henry Winter in The Times

on poor strategy

“From start to retreat, Harry Kane’s handling of his craved move to Manchester City has been naive, ending in embarrassment for him yesterday and a salutary lesson to others eyeing greener pastures,” writes Henry Winters in The Times. “Kane tried to play poker with the Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy, didn’t see who held the aces, and was predictably trumped,” he writes. “The sound of Kane reversing up Hotspur Way, and staying at the club for now, shows that contracts should be respected, and that players cannot always have their way,” Winters continues. “It confirms that gentlemen’s agreements, as Kane believed he had with Levy, are meaningless in such a brutal world.”

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2. The limits to protest are not for Extinction Rebellion to decide

Philip Johnston in The Telegraph

on civil liberties

“A hallmark of a free society is the right to legitimate protest. The key word in that sentence is legitimate. Who decides?” asks Philip Johnston in The Telegraph. As Extinction Rebellion starts a new two-week campaign in London, “people whose lives are disrupted by their antics are entitled to know whether their rights are also to be respected by the law,” he writes. On the question of “who decides the legitimate boundaries of free protest in a liberal democracy, the answer is Parliament,” writes Johnston, “so MPs and peers have a duty to get this right.” As they grapple with the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, “Parliament must ensure both clarity and certainty”, says Johnston. “When XR activists return with their superglue and pink tables next year they, the police, the courts and the rest of us should know where we all stand.”

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3. Kabul retreat leaves the UK on a bridge to nowhere

Philip Stephens in the Financial Times

on the special relationship

“The parallel with Suez may be inexact, but 65 years later the lessons for the UK are much the same”, writes Philip Stephens in the Financial Times. When it comes to Afghanistan, “the defeat is shared, and the anger is on the British side”. “The manner of the West’s scuttle from Kabul damages the Americans but humiliates their ally. The US is powerful enough to shrug off the blow,” he continues. “The thread back to Suez is a relationship that, for Britons, has often looked as supine as special”, he writes. “After Brexit, Boris Johnson’s government hailed the UK as an independent actor on the global stage”. Now, the pullout from Afghanistan, “where among allies the UK was the biggest contributor to the US-led mission, has revealed its utter dependence on Washington.”

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4. Nevermind the lawsuit – maybe the Nirvana baby deserves more than a dollar now he’s a grown-up?

James Moore in The Independent

on a reluctant icon

“Is there anything more apt than the Nirvana baby desperately grabbing at a dollar as a grown-up?” asks James Moore in The Independent. “The legal swim he’s taking as an adult is a fairly tasteless one,” says Moore, with Spencer Elden, cover star of the band’s classic album Nevermind, claiming the nude image of him as a baby constitutes child pornography. “But while we might abhor the approach he and his lawyer have taken, it’s hard to complain about the man seeking to get paid.” After all, “[h]e became an unwitting part of a pop cultural phenomenon before he was even conscious of pop culture or any other kind.”

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5. Prison island: Australia’s Covid fortress has become a jail

Alexander Downer in The Spectator

on exit plans

“Australians have a reputation for rugged individualism, grit and competence. But when it comes to the pandemic, we have seen another side to my country: insecure, anxious and frozen by the fear of death from Covid,” says Alexander Downer in The Spectator. Indeed, due to a widespread policy in the state governments of ‘Covid elimination’,“two-thirds of Australians – some 18 million people – are locked down”, says Downer. “For a while, Australia’s policy was feted the world over as a success, but neither Australia nor New Zealand have worked out how to live in a world where Covid is endemic”, he writes. “The risk is Australia will end up isolated, wrestling with repeated lockdowns and spiralling national debt.”

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Can Manchester City defend their Premier League crown? Will the three newly-promoted teams secure safety? Which striker will finish the season with the golden boot?

These are the big questions being asked ahead of the new Premier League season which kicks off on Friday night with a London derby as Brentford host Arsenal at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s Man City go into the new campaign as the bookies’ favourites to win the title, according to Oddschecker. But Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Champions League and Premier League in successive seasons are boosted by the arrival of Romelu Lukaku. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United will also expect to challenge at the top of the table.

Football pundits across the land have been putting together their picks for the 2021-2022 Premier League season, here we take a look at the predictions and betting odds.

Champions: who will win the Premier League?

Ex-Arsenal star Paul Merson is predicting a four-team title battle with Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea all going for glory. “It’s almost impossible to predict the outcome at this point in time,” he wrote on SportsKeeda. “But I expect Manchester City to come out on top this season.”

Football data experts at Sporting Index have used a “supercomputer” to predict the Premier League table, the Daily Mirror reports. With 87 points Man City are tipped to win the league again while Liverpool will finish runners-up with 76 points, Chelsea third with 76 points and Man Utd fourth with 73 points.

Despite the supercomputer’s prediction, GiveMeSport’s Kobe Tong is backing Chelsea for Prem glory. “Yes, that’s right, I’m calling it,” Tong says. With Belgian striker Lukaku returning to Stamford Bridge Chelsea “officially have the final piece in their puzzle”.

Eurosport’s Ben Snowball agrees that the “title beckons” for the Blues from the Bridge. He says: “It was against the smaller teams where Chelsea fell short last season, but with the arrival of Lukaku, one of football’s finest flat-track bullies, that should be set to change.”

Former Man Utd captain Roy Keane believes the club record £97.5m signing of Lukaku gives Chelsea the firepower to challenge for the title. Speaking on Sky Sports’s The Overlap, the Irishman said: “[Chelsea have] got energy, new manager, new ideas, and they’ve always had quality. You were looking at the last year or two going without that out and out goalscorer. But Lukaku gives them a great chance.”

Twenty BBC Sport pundits have also put together their predictions for the Premier League top four. City got 13 votes with pundits such as Micah Richards and Mark Lawrenson tipping Guardiola’s side to defend their title. Meanwhile, Chelsea got seven votes with Alan Shearer and Sue Smith among those who are backing Thomas Tuchel’s team.

Premier League title winner betting odds

According to Oddschecker (as of 13 August)

• Man City: 4/6
• Chelsea: 5/1
• Liverpool: 11/2
• Man Utd: 17/2
• Leicester: 40/1
• Tottenham: 50/1
• Arsenal: 60/1
• See the full list at oddschecker.com

Relegation battle: who will go down?

The bookies have Norwich City as the favourites to go down. However, according to the Sporting Index supercomputer it will be Crystal Palace, Brentford and Watford facing relegation.

CBS’s James Benge also predicts Watford to finish rock bottom. His other tips are Burnley and Southampton. “The extent to which Southampton tapered off from January onwards means that they perhaps ought to be looking over their shoulders,” he says. “Whilst it is hard to shake the sense that another year with little investment in the Burnley squad might be asking too much of Sean Dyche.”

90min’s writers have “crunched the numbers” to predict the final Premier League standings for the 2021-22 season. The “consensus table” has Southampton (18th), Watford (19th) and Norwich (20th) as the three teams to be relegated. Tipping Southampton for the drop, Sean Walsh predicts in his “bonus ball” that the Saints will sack manager Ralph Hasenhuttl “early” and “struggle all year long”.

Premier League relegation betting odds

According to Oddschecker (as of 13 August)

• Norwich: evens
• Watford: evens
• Brentford: 5/4
• Crystal Palace: 7/4
• Burnley: 5/2
• Newcastle: 3/1
• Southampton: 7/2
• See the full list at oddschecker.com

Golden boot: who will be the top goal scorer?

In recent weeks Spurs and England striker Harry Kane has been linked with a big-money move to Manchester City. Merson believes Kane will win the Premier League golden boot, but “only if he stays at Tottenham”.

Liverpool’s “Egyptian king”, Mohamed Salah, feels like “the logical choice by default” says James Benge on CBS. “Even in what felt like a down year in 2021-22 he scored 22 league goals, just one fewer than Kane.”

Salah has “been there, done it, and worn the T-shirt” while Chelsea’s Lukaku “is back and this time he means business”, says Thomas Ward of GiveMeSport. However, Spurs star Kane is his tip to win the golden boot for a fourth time. “It’s hard to bet against him doing it again.”

Premier League top scorer betting odds

According to Oddschecker (as of 13 August)

• Harry Kane (Tottenham): 7/2
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): 9/2
• Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea): 4/1
• Raheem Sterling (Man City): 20/1
• Gabriel Jesus (Man City): 20/1
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal): 25/1
• Sadio Mane (Liverpool): 27/1
• Patrick Bamford (Leeds United): 28/1
• See the full list at oddschecker.com

Just one month ago the Premier League title race looked like it would be one of the most exciting in years, with four or five teams challenging for first place. Roll on a few weeks, there’s one club who have started to sprint away from the pack.

After beating Everton 3-1 on Wednesday night Manchester City have built a ten-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. Pep Guardiola’s side have now won 12 league games in a row and 17 in all competitions.

As well as the Premier League, City also remain in the hunt for the Champions League, FA Cup and the League Cup, where they face Tottenham in the final at Wembley on 25 April.

‘It is a procession’

Carlo Ancelotti, manager of Everton, believes it’s “almost impossible” to compete against Guardiola’s side and predicts City will go on to win their third Premier League title in four seasons.

“I think so, it is really difficult to say another name,” said the Italian. “At the moment they are the best team, they have quality, power, belief. It is very difficult to compete with them.”

At Goodison Park City put on “another exhibition of their vast superiority”, said The Guardian’s Andy Hunter. “There is no title race at present. It is a procession.”

42 points to fight for

Since losing 2-0 at Tottenham in November City have gone on to take 44 points from a possible 48. Speaking after the 3-0 win against Spurs last weekend Guardiola said “nobody is champion” in February or March and he has again played down the title talk.

“There are 42 points still to fight for, we are in the middle of February,” he said after the Everton victory. “Now we rest for a few days, there are so many games.”

Klopp concedes title but United will fight on

While City are sprinting away from the pack, their rivals are faltering. Last weekend defending champions Liverpool lost 3-1 at fellow challengers Leicester City and Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Liverpool currently sit in sixth place, 16 points behind City. Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp admits that his side’s title defence is all but over. He said: “I don’t think we can close the gap. We are not worrying about the title, we are not silly.”

Man Utd are second in the league with 46 points from 24 games - the same as third-placed Leicester. Man City’s form looks unstoppable but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says United will fight until the end.

“Let’s just build momentum and win games,” the United boss told BBC Sport. “They [City] are in good form. Us and Leicester have to put up a fight.”

In an interview with Sky Sports, Solskjaer added: “I said we shouldn’t be talked about [in the title race]. A compliment for the boys we got into the position we are now. We won’t let them [Manchester City] run away with it - we’re playing them soon. We’re not giving it away early - no we’re not.”

It’s certainly been a topsy-turvy first half of the 2020-2021 Premier League season.

There’s been injuries problems, Covid-19 outbreaks, fixture pile-ups and many wild results - Liverpool losing 7-2 at Aston Villa but also winning 7-0 at Crystal Palace are two prime examples.

The atmosphere in stadiums has also contributed. Fans returned to some grounds for a brief time, but coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns again saw matches played behind closed doors.

English football’s top flight is renowned for its unpredictability and excitement and so far this season the race for the title has been the major talking point.

Just this past week Manchester United were in pole position before Leicester City then Manchester City took over at the top.

Man Utd’s 2-1 win at Fulham on Wednesday has seen them return to the summit, but Man City, who beat Villa 2-0, are currently in second place, two points behind their rivals with a game in hand.

As well United, City and Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Southampton, Everton and Arsenal have also been top of the league in a season Sky Sports described as “the most open in history”.

‘It will go right to the wire’

Defending champions Liverpool failed to close the gap on Thursday night when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Burnley. It was the Reds’ first league defeat at Anfield in 69 games and the fourth league match in a row where they have failed to score. They remain fourth in the table six points behind leaders Man Utd.

At the start of the month Jurgen Klopp had predicted the title race would be too close to call, The Guardian reports.

“This season is a tough one for the supporters,” said the Liverpool boss. “If you are a neutral you will love it. Our season so far is good but I’m not surprised it is this close. This year is tough.

“I am pretty sure it will go right to the wire. It is tough for all of us [challenging teams], which is the reason why it’s so close.”

Shearer: City have the momentum

The top six are still so tightly bunched that none can be discounted, said FourFourTwo’s Mark White. “This is well and truly Premier League open season,” he adds.

BBC Match of the Day 2 pundit Alan Shearer believes “four or five teams” could win the title. The former England striker said: “It is wide open - I can’t remember it ever being as compact, with so few points separating the top teams at this stage, as it is this year.”

Liverpool were many people’s favourites to retain their crown this season, but they are on a poor run of form and struggling in front of goal.

Shearer feels that the momentum is now with Man City, who have won five league games in a row, and eight in all competitions.

“Momentum counts for a lot when you are in a title race,” said Shearer. “Pep Guardiola’s side have clearly tightened up at the back and have improved defensively - John Stones and Ruben Dias have been superb - but they have begun to click again in front of goal too.

“City are playing some very good football and at the moment they look hard to stop, but they are not the only team who will look at the top of the table and fancy their chances. I am looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.”

After the stop-start nature of last year’s campaign, the Premier League has managed to play on during the 2020-2021 season. But concerns are now being raised whether English football’s top division should continue amid the current Covid-19 crisis.

With cases increasing, a number of fixtures having to be postponed and goal celebrations coming under scrutiny, it’s being questioned whether the season should be halted.

Safety or the nation’s spirits?

There’s an argument that football is a welcome distraction for many during the upheaval of the pandemic, but Chelsea boss Frank Lampard urged for common sense when it comes to the health and safety of players, staff and officials.

Earlier this month the former England midfielder rubbished claims that football must carry on to “keep the nation’s spirits up”, iNews reported.

“We love football but safety has to be paramount,” said the 42-year-old. “There are lots of staff who are working within our bubble who have babies, parents, friends, grandparents who they see when they come home from work. Safety and security is absolutely paramount as opposed to trying to keep the nation’s spirits up.”

Areta: ‘It’s a difficult context’

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta does believe that sport is helping to raise the nation’s spirits, ESPN reports. But the Spaniard did say that it feels “morally strange” for the league to continue playing.

“Morally, with the situation we have in the country, with the situation we have worldwide, to keep doing what we are doing is a little bit of a strange feeling,” he said. “We know as well what we can bring to society if we are able to do it in a safe way, then there are a lot of positives to take. It’s just that balance.

“When this starts to get damaging and worrying and it starts to exploit people, and when we can do it and it’s still safe and we can add something positive. It’s a difficult context.”

Warnings over goal celebrations

Social distancing on the pitch has been a big talking point this week with the government and Premier League bosses issuing warnings to clubs and players.

In a letter seen by the BBC, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters wrote to clubs about the importance of Covid protocols and reminded them that “handshakes, high fives and hugs must be avoided”.

Government officials have also again asked players to curb their celebrations to limit social contact, the Daily Mirror reports.

Sports minister Nigel Huddleston tweeted: “Everyone in the country has had to change the way they interact with people and ways of working. Footballers are no exception. COVID secure guidelines exist for football. Footballers must follow them and football authorities enforce them - strictly.”

Players are ‘brainless’

The BBC says the Premier League will meet with club managers and captains to stress that the protocols - that include avoiding “unnecessary contact” - need to be enforced.

On Wednesday Manchester City and Fulham players “crowded together” after goals in their respective matches, The Guardian reports.

City boss Pep Guardiola defended his players saying “you are just there in the moment, you are not thinking”. But Julian Knight, chair of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, said: “Some of the scenes we have seen have been brainless and give out an awful message.”

Coronavirus outbreak at Villa

On Monday the Premier League confirmed that between 4-10 January, across two rounds of testing, that 2,593 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19. There were 36 new positive tests.

A number of fixtures have been postponed and others have been rearranged to fill the schedule.

Aston Villa were meant to play Tottenham on Wednesday but the game was postponed due to an ongoing coronavirus outbreak at the club. Villa’s match against Everton this Sunday has also now been called off.

Tottenham ended up playing Fulham on Wednesday with the game rearranged at short notice. Fulham manager Scott Parker called the 48-hour notice “scandalous”. He said: “I am angry because it is not right. It is scandalous. It is not acceptable. It is madness. It is wrong. That is why I am so angry.”

Fears over long-Covid

Newcastle United are another club to have suffered from a coronavirus outbreak this season and a number of players have been suffering from the long-term effects of Covid-19, The Guardian reported.

Toon boss Steve Bruce was shocked by the effect the virus had on his players. He said: “It’s not just fatigue, they’ve got other symptoms too. It’s frightening when you think they’re young, fit and supreme athletes.

“If anybody needs reminding of how serious this is, then we have witnessed it. Some of them seem all right but then the fatigue element hits them, but for two it’s beyond that. You wouldn’t think that this long Covid thing is possible in fit, young athletes.”

Chelsea head coach Lampard also revealed his concerns after seeing players hit by long-Covid. He said: “They report tiredness and fatigue and because everything is so new, we don’t have anything to gauge it by. We don’t have the right methods to know how to get players back to a level as quickly as possible.

“It’s not just us but a problem for the league. This year is different and will be different until we get to the other side.”