Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Spurs edge battle of the crisis clubs

Can winning a game that resembled two lurching drunks swinging at each other at closing time be regarded as vindication for Ange Postecoglou? Perhaps if Manchester United had a more mobile midfield and someone other than Rasmus Højlund at centre-forward – last goal at Plzen on 12 December – flanked by a winger in Alejandro Garnacho who last scored against Bodø/Glimt two weeks before that. It turns out Joshua Zirkzee – who has three goals in the league all season – is United’s most potent forward. The numbers point to this being United’s worst team in decades, and the only good news Ruben Amorim received on Sunday was 17th-placed Wolves’ defeat at Liverpool. Tottenham saw out a second successive Premier League clean sheet for the first time in 16 months but did so nervously. It will take much more than sketchily defeating a crashing clown car to prove Postecoglou’s pronouncement that the true Tottenham would reveal themselves once his injured players started returning.

Match report: Tottenham 1-0 Manchester United

Ruud awakening for Leicester fans

Knowing that fan protests were coming down the track, Leicester’s decision to share the programme notes of the chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, on the eve of Saturday’s defeat by Arsenal appeared an attempt to placate supporters. The nub of his message was blaming profitability and sustainability rules for the failure to enhance Ruud van Nistelrooy’s squad in January, beyond the £2m arrival of the full-back Woyo Coulibaly. Leicester had their moments before Mikel Merino scored the first of his two goals, but it is now nine defeats from their past 10 league matches and no clean sheet for 21 games in all competitions. Van Nistelrooy has a big job on his hands to avoid relegation. “If you get absolutely battered by Arsenal without a kick and [have] absolutely no chance, then the result and the performance are not there,” Van Nistelrooy said. “But we have had good performances, another one today, at the maximum of our capabilities.” That last bit is surely the most ominous part.

Match report: Leicester 0-2 Arsenal

Guardiola targets 1% club after boost

Despite Manchester City’s 4-0 shellacking of Newcastle on Saturday, Pep Guardiola rates their chances of overturning Real Madrid’s 3-2 Champions League playoff first-leg lead in Wednesday’s return at the Santiago Bernabéu as close to zero. “[This] victory helps us, but the margin to win [the tie from] that position; everybody knows that if you ask before the game, the percentage to go through, I don’t know, we arrive at 1% – it will be minimal. But as much as you have a chance, we will try. It’s better to travel to Madrid with this result. So, OK, the chance is minor.” There is, of course, a touch of kidology in play here, because the ultimate competitor will still be hoping to mastermind what would be one of City’s finest results under his tenure. Jamie Jackson

Match report: Manchester City 4-0 Newcastle

Endo delivers as Liverpool closer

The audible nerves during the latter stages of Liverpool holding off a bottom-four team came as a reminder that it was 1990 when Anfield last saw a successful title run-in. Five years ago, the pandemic denied fans that shared experience. Arne Slot doesn’t look nearly as cool as he did. Not that Wolves were seen as an easy touch; even in chaotic early season mode, Gary O’Neil’s team ran Liverpool close at Molineux. But there comes a point in the title race when fans look obsessively to the stadium clock and their own watches until full time. There were echoes of Goodison on Wednesday – “Everton was in our heads,” Slot admitted – but they were dismissed. When Wataru Endo arrived in the 71st minute after Matheus Cunha’s brilliant goal, it was clear Slot was concerned. The Japanese player is Slot’s specialist closer, with Liverpool yet to concede a goal in the league this season once Endo has been subbed on. His talismanic run continued here. JB

Match report: Liverpool 2-1 Wolves

Wataru Endo and Matheus Cunha tussle for the ball at Anfield

Delap stars again for 10-man Town

Ipswich spent the majority of Saturday’s draw at Villa Park with their backs against the wall after Axel Tuanzebe was sent off in the 40th minute. The visitors understandably struggled to create many opportunities but Liam Delap proved again why he will be sought after in the summer. The Ipswich striker superbly steered an Omari Hutchinson cross in for an unlikely opener, but also worked tirelessly to hassle Aston Villa’s defence. “Look at him and he’s a monster,” the Ipswich goalkeeper Alex Palmer said. “He’s a young lad with enthusiasm, energy and talent. So for us to have him, and for him to be playing as well as he is, he’s going to be a big part for the rest of the season. He’s not had many chances but he took that when it came to him, he deserves it, he’s a great player.” Palmer, whose performance between the posts helped Ipswich hold on for a vital point, added of Delap: “He is a proper striker, he’s an outlet, he’s a big physical boy, he’s not huge but has that raw strength. He’s not just a goalscorer. He’s an all-round striker.”

Match report: Aston Villa 1-1 Ipswich

Jiménez back to his best for Fulham

There are very few second acts in football. Once a player suffers a significant loss of form and confidence, it is extremely hard to get back, particularly if that period away from the heights goes on for more than a year or 18 months. It was in November 2020 that Raúl Jiménez sustained a fractured skull against Arsenal. At the time he was one of the best classic centre-forwards in the Premier League, a goalscorer who led the line. There were signs, perhaps, last season that he was at last starting to return to his best, but now – four and a bit years after the injury and aged 33 – he is definitively back, holding the ball up, winning headers, finding angles. He set up Calvin Bassey’s winner and on another day could easily have had a couple of goals himself, putting one thumping header just wide and drawing a flailing save from Matz Sels.

Match report: Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Christie is Cherries’ driving force

Ryan Christie has established himself as one of the key players in Andoni Iraola’s transformed Bournemouth side, with the team moving into fifth with a dominant 3-1 win at Southampton. On his 93rd Premier League appearance, Christie produced his first goal and assist combo for the Cherries in the same match. The Scotland midfielder provided a pinpoint cross for Dango Ouattara’s opener, before thumping home a stunning strike for the visitors’ second. “Ryan plays well in a lot of games, but I’m happy that he received rewards for it, numbers-wise,” Iraola said. Christie may not be a regular on the scoresheet but he leads the team in distance covered, passes breaking the defensive line and second assists. Once known as a skilful if inconsistent winger, he has reinvented himself as a relentless midfield dynamo. His versatility allows him to drive Iraola’s fast-paced, high-energy style of play. At St Mary’s, it was the best of both worlds: his tenacity as a gritty midfield enforcer with flashes of creativity. He is becoming a master of his new role.

Match report: Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth

Can Moyes’s second coming last?

An Everton team full of confidence, pulling out big results with the fans hailing their manager and hopeful for the future. It’s been a long while since all that could be said. For much of David Moyes’s previous 11-year tenure, it wasn’t the case. He was constantly fighting the tide, losing star players such as Wayne Rooney amid the dominance of that era’s “big four”. The second honeymoon will not last for ever, and Moyes will know from his time at West Ham that a new stadium doesn’t necessarily become the promised land. The wisdom of his return could not look sounder at present, though, as he gets a tune from Beto, the dreadnought defender Jake O’Brien and Jesper Lindstrøm, none of whom were favoured by Sean Dyche. There were big smiles at Selhurst Park but Moyes ended his media duties by saying: “I want to see more improvement from the players as well. I want us to play better when we can.”

Match report: Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton

Carlos Alcaraz wheels away in celebration after netting the winner for Everton

London Stadium’s sound of silence

The London Stadium is a grim place when West Ham are playing badly. The first half against Brentford on Saturday was played out in near total silence. Disruptions to the train lines running into Stratford hardly helped the mood and the layout of the stadium remains a problem. Being so far from the pitch means it is easy to become disengaged during a tedious game. It can be noisy for special occasions but the apathy is striking during more routine assignments, lowering the fear factor for visiting sides. It was eerily quiet during West Ham’s defeat by Palace last month and it was just as miserable during a sturdy 1-0 win for Brentford. Of course, a better performance from the team would help. But West Ham have been at this ground for almost a decade and it is hard to find many fans who say the experience matches up to that at Upton Park.

Match report: West Ham 0-1 Brentford

Palmer struggles as false 9

It is no surprise that Cole Palmer’s dip in form has coincided with Chelsea’s recent wobbles. The England forward’s body language in the humbling 3-0 defeat by Brighton has been heavily scrutinised as he struggled in the false 9 role, with Jamie Carragher among those to suggest that he could be growing frustrated at the speed of progress under Enzo Maresca. The hamstring injury that forced off Noni Madueke, who is expected to be out for several weeks as Chelsea’s options in attack dwindled even further, did not help their cause after Palmer had wasted two decent early opportunities and Maresca admitted that it was not only his star player who has been struggling. “Football is a team game, it’s not tennis; it’s not only Cole Palmer who is frustrated,” he said. “In one way it can show the desire of Cole to improve things. But it’s not just about Cole, it’s about all the players.”