Tag: Manchester City

Hope for Arsenal and Liverpool: 10 reasons why Manchester City might still drop points
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Hope for Arsenal and Liverpool: 10 reasons why Manchester City might still drop points

It seems unlikely that north London denizen TS Eliot was an Arsenal fan, but his poetry suggests otherwise.“April is the cruellest month,” begins The Waste Land. “I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,” laments The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. “This is the way the challenge ends; not with a bang but a whimper,” was probably the first draft of The Hollow Men.Sunday was a disappointing day not just for Arsenal and Liverpool fans, but neutrals who wanted to see the three-way title battle continue. Liverpool’s 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace and Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Villa leaves Manchester City two points clear at the top of the league and, as frontrunners, Pep Guardiola’s side are near infallible.“I have known it all already, known it all,” moans Eliot. But cheer up, Tommy. There is...
Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City: Every Premier League title-race fixture analysed
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Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City: Every Premier League title-race fixture analysed

The Premier League remains a European outlier this season.Everywhere you look around the continent, title races have become virtual processions. Paris Saint-Germain are 10 points clear in France’s Ligue 1, Bayer Leverkusen are 16 ahead and one win away from winning the German Bundesliga title, while PSV Eindhoven have a nine-point cushion at the top of the Dutch Eredivisie.Elsewhere, Real Madrid lead by eight points in Spain’s La Liga and Inter Milan are 11 ahead of city rivals AC Milan with a game in hand in Italy’s Serie A.In England’s top division, however, things are a whole lot tighter. With seven games remaining, just a point separates table-topping Arsenal from third-placed Manchester City, with Liverpool sandwiched between on goal difference. Since the Premier League was launched ...
The Briefing: Will Haaland’s form cost Man City? Cole Palmer: MVP? Xabi Alonso’s power move
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The Briefing: Will Haaland’s form cost Man City? Cole Palmer: MVP? Xabi Alonso’s power move

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.This was the round when Newcastle snatched victory from the clamped-shut jaws of defeat against West Ham, Liverpool went top of the league after an early scare against Brighton, Manchester United went 1-0 up in the 96th minute and still didn’t win and Sheffield United threw away another two-goal lead.Off the back of all that and more, we will ask if Erling Haaland is playing poorly at the worst moment for him and his club, if Cole Palmer is the Premier League’s most valuable player and whether Xabi Alonso turning down Liverpool and Bayern Munich to stay at Bayer Leverkusen is the real power move…Is Haaland’s bad form at the worst poss...
Champions League draw: Man City thrilled, Barca-Napoli dream tie, quarter-final predictions
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Champions League draw: Man City thrilled, Barca-Napoli dream tie, quarter-final predictions

The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League was made in UEFA’s Nyon headquarters this morning and Europe’s big guns will have largely liked the outcome.England’s two remaining representatives, Arsenal and Manchester City, were handed kind draws in Porto and Copenhagen, while Real Madrid were paired with RB Leipzig.Of the more established big guns, Barcelona face arguably the toughest task, having been paired with last season’s Italian champions Napoli.Here, our experts cast their eye over the draw and what could happen next.Which game are you most excited about?Oliver Kay: Napoli vs Barcelona. Both clubs are experiencing hangovers from last season’s title success, but what better than a tie like that to get them going? In terms of individual talent, tactical intrigue and the atmosphe...
Erling Haaland photo: What our writers think of Manchester City striker’s reaction to Simon Hooper
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Erling Haaland photo: What our writers think of Manchester City striker’s reaction to Simon Hooper

It’s the photo that has defined the weekend’s Premier League action — and caused debate across the world.Erling Haaland reacted wildly to referee Simon Hooper’s decision not to play an advantage in the final moments of Manchester City’s 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Haaland was fouled in the City half but Hooper initially appeared to indicate an advantage as Haaland released the ball, only to pull play back with Jack Grealish clear through on goal.Haaland — and other City players — remonstrated with Hooper on the pitch. The striker also reposted a clip of the incident on Twitter commenting “Wtf”.City have also now been charged by the Football Association for how their players surrounded Hooper, with the FA alleging that “the club failed to ensure their players do not behave i...
Every Premier League club’s stadium plans – from new stands to ground moves
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Every Premier League club’s stadium plans – from new stands to ground moves

As the Premier League gets bigger and bigger, so – it seems – do the stadiums that play host to it.The vast majority of clubs in the top flight have either drawn up plans to expand their grounds to service the overwhelming demand or are poised to open gleaming new stands – or, in some cases, open new stadiums altogether.Here, our experts guide you through what each club has done to their home ground and what could come next, plus how we rated each stadium in our rankings published last month.Arsenal: Emirates StadiumCurrent capacity: 60,704What The Athletic said: “The Emirates has its critics, but it now delivers the atmosphere, facilities, accessibility and product any sports fan would expect from the Premier League.”The Athletic ranking: 4thWhen was the last redevelopment work done? Ars...
Erling Haaland is rapidly closing in on an international record that has stood since 1934
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Erling Haaland is rapidly closing in on an international record that has stood since 1934

Erling Haaland is just six away from Norway’s goalscoring record, so it is surely inevitable that he will soon be his nation’s most prolific striker ever.On one hand, that will have happened remarkably quickly – Haaland only scored his first goals for Norway in 2020. On the other, this has been an incredibly long time coming.GO DEEPERWhat is Haaland really like?Of the 213 FIFA-affiliated nations, Norway’s is the longest-standing outright individual goalscoring record in the world. It was set by Jorgen Juve, a fascinating figure who ended his international career in 1937 and later became a renowned sports journalist in his home country.Juve scored a relatively modest 33 goals in 45 matches for Norway, including five hat-tricks, although his tally is made remarkable by the fact he played as...
Palmer gives Guardiola cause for regret, Salah is still irreplaceable – The Briefing
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Palmer gives Guardiola cause for regret, Salah is still irreplaceable – The Briefing

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.This was the weekend when injuries began to bite Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, when Manchester United just about escaped a home game against Luton Town with all three points, and when Everton got another win to move them further clear of trouble.Here, we will ask whether Manchester City should have made an exception to their sales policy with one player, if Liverpool should reject any approach for Mohamed Salah in January, and what exactly Roberto De Zerbi’s comments about referees were meant to achieve…Will Manchester City regret selling Cole Palmer to Chelsea?You’d struggle to argue that Premier League leaders and treble ...
Bad language, worse jokes and riot police: What really happens in the tunnel
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Bad language, worse jokes and riot police: What really happens in the tunnel

“I’ll see you in the tunnel.”There was a time when that was more than a throwaway line on the pitch, even if some players found a way to make sure that they never showed up.“One of my standard challenges was to (jump and) head the ball and put my studs down someone’s back — which you’d get sent off for now,” Liam Ridgewell, the former Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Portland Timbers defender, tells The Athletic. “I did it to the late, great Papa Bouba Diop at Fulham.”Ridgewell, now a coach with MLS side Portland, pauses as he thinks back to what happened next.“You know that GIF when Jim Carrey wipes his mouth and changes his demeanour? Well, Bouba Diop turned around, rubbed his back and went: ‘What. Did. You. Just. Do?’ And I thought: ‘S—.’“He said: ‘I’ll see you in...
Premier League stadium rankings: All 20 from worst to best – so you could shout at us
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Premier League stadium rankings: All 20 from worst to best – so you could shout at us

Welcome to The Athletic’s Premier League stadium rankings, an exercise in entertainment, creating arguments nobody can win and questionable mathematics.Before we start, we should beg for forgiveness. This is an almost impossible task and however we choose categories, weight categories and then mark the teams is going to annoy you. It’s a subjective topic and there isn’t a right answer.All we ask is that you know we have put far too many hours into all this, tried to make it as fair as possible, and are not deliberately trying to upset anyone.So take a seat — or stand, if you prefer — maybe get one of those squeezy stress balls and enjoy. Hey, you might even agree with some of it.Coming to this order has been a long, methodical process involving a working group that broke the scoring into ...