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English Premier League 2021/22 Season Discussion

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Champions Manchester City face a trip to Tottenham on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 Premier League season.

The first fixtures will take place on 14 August and newly promoted Brentford will host Arsenal in their first top-flight game since the 1946-47 season.

Norwich and Watford, who were also promoted last season, face Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively.

Manchester United host Leeds, while Champions League winners Chelsea will host Crystal Palace.

Premier League clubs were able to host fans at reduced capacity when Covid-19 restrictions eased late in the 2020-21 campaign.

It is not yet known how many fans will be able to attend the opening fixtures of the new season but the Premier League said it was "committed to the ambition of having full stadiums, including away supporters" from the start of the season.

The men's and women's Wimbledon finals will become the first UK outdoor sporting events to host capacity crowds in July, while Wembley will also be able to host matches at 50% capacity - around 45,000 - for the knockout stages of Euro 2020.

First round of fixtures in full

Brentford v Arsenal

Burnley v Brighton

Chelsea v Crystal Palace

Everton v Southampton

Leicester City v Wolverhampton

Manchester United v Leeds United

Newcastle United v West Ham United

Norwich City v Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

Watford v Aston Villa

Man City and Norwich face tough start
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are favourites to retain their Premier League title but face a testing opening run of games, with Spurs, Norwich, Arsenal, Leicester, Southampton, Chelsea and Liverpool their opening seven opponents.

Norwich, who returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking after relegation in 2019-20, start with Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester and Arsenal.

The first north London derby between Spurs and Arsenal is due to take place on 25 September, while the first Merseyside derby of the season will see Everton host Liverpool at Goodison Park in a midweek fixture on 30 November.

The first Manchester derby sees United take on City at Old Trafford on 11 November, while eye-catching Boxing Day fixtures include Liverpool v Leeds and Manchester City against Leicester.

The penultimate round of Premier League fixtures will take place on Sunday 15 May in order to accommodate the FA Cup final a day earlier, with the final day of the season scheduled for 22 May

BBC
 
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Patrick Vieira has agreed to become the new Crystal Palace manager.
 
Danny Ings has turned down an offer of a four-year contract from Southampton.
 
Wolves have confirmed Portuguese goalkeeper Jose Sa has joined the club on a five-year deal.

The 28-year-old shot-stopper arrives at Molineux from Greek champions Olympiacos, where he helped the side to successive league titles.
 
Liverpool FC will surely challenge for the title this season. Virgil is back! :klopp

Tough start for Man Utd, I think Leeds may beat them on the opening day.
 
Need to wait and see what team signs who. Strong rumours of City selling Sterling and bringing in Grealish and Kane. Man Utd could possibly sign Sancho where as Liverpool are being linked to every man and his donkey. Moneybags City will be favourites if they sign their targets.
 
Crystal Palace have completed the signing of defender Joachim Andersen from Lyon on a five-year deal.

The 25-year-old centre-back spent last season in the Premier League on loan at Fulham, before featuring for Denmark as they reached the Euro 2020 semi-finals.
 
Starting soon - so who are the favourites?

Will it be a Manchester City show again or can an injury-recovered Liverpool take back the crown?
 
Southampton look set to beat numerous Premier League clubs to the signing of Blackburn striker Adam Armstrong after agreeing a fee with the Championship side
 
So the league kicks off tonight with Brentford v Arsenal at 8pm BST
 
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Brentford doing well, but they need more quality, cant see them staying up unless they make some proper signings

But Arsenal wow. That might be the worst team they have ever put out.
 
HT: Brentford 1-0 Arsenal

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FULL-TIME
Brentford 2-0 Arsenal

==

Brentford marked their Premier League debut with a deserved win over Arsenal at a jubilant Brentford Community Stadium.

The promoted Bees scored the opening goal of the season when Sergi Canos smashed in a low 22nd-minute strike.

Christian Norgaard headed in Brentford's second as Arsenal made a mess of dealing with a long throw-in.

The Dane was then inches away from making it 3-0 after Gunners keeper Bernd Leno flapped at a corner.
 
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So pleased that the Bees have a big scalp early on.

Fifteen years back I watched them in League Two.

Their target should be to get enough points to stay up. This win is a splendid start. They are going to getsmashed 0-3 and 0-4 away by the big boys, but if they can hang on for scrappy draws and the odd win at home can consolidate in the Premiership.
 
Remind me again, who actually got promoted from the Championship in this game?
 
It is fair enough to say that Arsenal are already out of the title race!:)):)):)):runaway:
 
GOAL - Man Utd 1-0 Leeds Utd
Bruno Fernandes
 
Pogba has been brilliant so far. Can imagine Sancho, him and Bruno having some fun this season
 
HALF-TIME
Man Utd 1-0 Leeds Utd

And that is the last act of the first half, the two sides separated by Bruno Fernandes goal.
 
MU had a half hearted pre season and with many players still missing for them to come out like this speaks volumes, once sancho, pogba, cavani, Rashford and bruno get going, its going to be the most frightening attack in the league. City should get prepared.
 
Bruno Fernandes scored his first Manchester United hat-trick as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side overpowered old rivals Leeds to make the perfect start to the new Premier League season.

The Portugal midfielder opened the scoring on the half-hour mark at a packed Old Trafford, but Luke Ayling's thunderous strike drew Leeds level early in the second half.

Mason Greenwood restored the hosts' lead with a crisp finish less than two minutes later, before Fernandes' low shot was ruled to have crossed the line by referee Paul Tierney after a check of goalline technology.

The 26-year-old quickly completed his hat-trick with a thumping finish from Victor Lindelof's pass, before Fred added United's fourth goal in 14 minutes from Paul Pogba's cross - the Frenchman's fourth assist of the afternoon.

It was Fernandes' first hat-trick since he moved to Old Trafford in January 2020 and only the second by a Red Devils player since Robin van Persie's title-winning effort against Aston Villa in 2013.

But the game was also a personal triumph for Pogba.

The France midfielder's future has been the subject of intense debate as he enters the final year of his contract.

But his four assists included a sublime pass for Greenwood's goal, and he left the field to a standing ovation 15 minutes from time as £74m new-boy Jadon Sancho was introduced for his debut.

Bravo Bruno
Fernandes' last hat-trick was for Sporting Lisbon in an 8-1 hammering of Belenenses in front of just over 5,000 in May 2019.

Although the Portuguese has assumed hero status since moving to England, this was only the fourth time he had played a Premier League game in front of capacity crowd at Old Trafford.

After a disappointing Euro 2020, any concerns about his impact at domestic level have been completely dispelled.

His opener was excellent as he ran on to Pogba's first-time pass, controlled a bouncing ball in the Leeds area, then put enough power into his shot to take it into the net despite Illan Meslier's half-save.

Another Pogba pass offered Fernandes the opportunity to sit Meslier on his backside as he turned sharply before hitting a low shot goalwards that referee Tierney was correctly informed had crossed the line before Ayling cleared.

Fernandes' third was route one. Lindelof's pass fell perfectly for the forward, who allowed the ball to bounce before crashing it into the net.

It meant he followed Anthony Martial as the only Manchester United player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Van Persie - and the first to do it in front of fans.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58124893
 
HT: Norwich 0-1 Liverpool

Norwich City are winless in each of their previous 41 Premier League games when losing at half-time (D1 L40), since beating West Ham United in November 2013.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 89 English Premier League matches when leading at half-time (W80, D9) dating back to 4 December 2016 against AFC Bournemouth (L3-4).

Although, in the last 15 minutes of that first half, 9.5% of the action was in the Liverpool third.
 
FT: Norwich 0-3 Liverpool

No goals or assists for Sadio Mane today but it was still a good evening for Liverpool's front four.

Goals - Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah

Assists - Mohamed Salah x2
 
So summary for this evening for previous games:


Result: Chelsea 3-0 Palace - Alonso, Pulisic & Chalobah
Result: Watford 3-2 Aston Villa - Dennis, Sarr & Hernandez; McGinn & Ings reply
Result: Everton 3-1 Southampton - Richarlison, Doucoure & Calvert-Lewin after Armstrong debut goal
Result: Leicester 1-0 Wolves - Vardy
Result: Burnley 1-2 Brighton - Maupay & Mac Allister after Tarkowski opener
Result: Man Utd 5-1 Leeds Utd - Fernandes scores hat-trick & Pogba gets four assists
 
West Ham United twice came from behind to get their Premier League campaign off to the ideal start by beating Newcastle United in a hugely entertaining match at St James' Park.

The Hammers trailed 2-1 at half time but staged a remarkable fightback after the break with goals from Said Benrahma, Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio.

Callum Wilson put Newcastle ahead after just five minutes, heading home Allan Saint-Maximin's cross to delight the 50,000 vocal fans in the stadium.

West Ham equalised midway through the half after a VAR review ruled Aaron Cresswell's cross-shot had gone all the way into the net untouched, despite the flag initially going up against Jarrod Bowen for offside.

Newcastle regained the lead just before the break when Jacob Murphy nodded in Matt Ritchie's cross but West Ham levelled again soon after the restart as Benrahma headed in.

After Pablo Fornals was adjudged to have been fouled by Murphy inside the box, Antonio saw his penalty kept out by debutant keeper Freddie Woodman but Soucek reacted quickest to the rebound to put the Hammers ahead for the first time.

Antonio then wrapped up the win, driving in a thunderous shot for his 47th Premier League goal for the Hammers, equalling Paolo di Canio's record in the competition for the club.
 
West Ham looked so good and now Spurs doing the business with Man City. With Leicester around as well this is going to be one heck of a battle for those European spots.
 
Final score at the new White Hart Lane:

Tottenham 1 Manchester City 0

Not sure it's the best idea for Spurs to be showing up City's desperate need for a new striker.
 
Chelsea looked good.

Very impressed with their squad and the manager.

I think they could be up there when it comes to winning the title.
 
Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea appear to be top contenders. Man City will no doubt come good where as Spurs as always will diminish as the season progresses. The pathetic Arsenal will be relegation contenders with that rather spineless bunch of players they have:sunhappy. The rest are just also rans.
 
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp makes two changes from last weekend's 3-0 win over Norwich. Jordan Henderson returns to captain the side, while Harvey Elliott is also handed a start.

Andrew Robertson, Curtis Jones and Thiago all return to the bench.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, van Dijk, Keita, Mane, Salah, Henderson, Jota, Tsimikas, Matip, Alexander-Arnold, Elliott

Subs: Adrian, Kelleher, Konate, Thiago, Firmino, Gomez, Jones, Minamino, Robertson

==

Sean Dyche also makes two changes to his Burnley side after their opening-day defeat by Brighton. Josh Brownhill and Ashley Barnes start in place of Jay Rodriguez, who drops to the bench, and Ashley Westwood, who misses out.

Burnley XI: Pope, Lowton, Taylor, Cork, Tarkowski, Mee, Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Wood, Barnes, McNeil

Subs: Hennessey, Norris, Rodriguez, Collins, Pieters, Bardsley, Thomas, Richardson, Dodgson
 
FULL-TIME
Liverpool 2-0 Burnley

Two wins from two for Liverpool, two clean sheets. A statement of intent from Jurgen Klopp's men.

Two defeats from two for Burnley.
 
Manchester City's £100m man Jack Grealish scored on his home debut as the reigning Premier League champions returned to winning ways by thrashing newly-promoted Norwich.

Shaking off three successive defeats bridging this season and last, Pep Guardiola's side assumed complete control from minute one against the outmatched Canaries.

There was some fortune about their first two goals - both set up by low Gabriel Jesus crosses - as Grant Hanley's attempted clearance flew in off Norwich keeper Tim Krul before City's second bounced in off Grealish's knee.

However, the lead was just reward for the imperious hosts, who saw a neat Ferran Torres finish chalked off in-between those goals after the video assistant referee noticed Bernardo Silva's clip on Milot Rashica in the build-up.

Aymeric Laporte added the third, steering home a corner from close range, before Jesus capped a impressive and unselfish performance by guiding Kyle Walker's through ball across the face of the six-yard box for substitute Raheem Sterling to sweep home City's fourth.

Riyad Mahrez also came off the bench to round off the rout, beating Krul one-on-one to hand Norwich successive 5-0 defeats at Etihad Stadium, having lost there by the same score on their previous visit in July 2020.

England midfielder Grealish ingratiated himself with his new adoring fans thanks to his goal and typically busy display, but it was Jesus who unlocked the Canaries' cage to ensure this was a stroll.

Used almost as frequently from the bench than as a starter by Guardiola, despite 50 strikes in 132 Premier League appearances, Jesus' clever movement, control and delivery created three of City's five goals.

With Grealish on the left and Jesus on the right, Norwich were pulled this way and that for much of the game - and while they defended stoutly for long spells, the pressure was ultimately irresistible.

With Sterling and Mahrez on the bench, and Kevin De Bruyne not risked because of an ankle problem, it was easy to see why Guardiola has insisted he is happy with City's squad should no further transfer business - most notably the touted signing of Harry Kane - be forthcoming.

Bigger tests, of course, await with Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool among their next five fixtures - with defeats in the Champions League final, Community Shield and league to Chelsea, Leicester and Tottenham respectively still relatively fresh in the mind.

Norwich had provided one of the all-time Premier League surprises the last time they reached the top flight, beating City - then, as now, reigning champions - 3-2 at Carrow Road two years ago.

But the Canaries were up against it from the opening whistle as City camped in their half before Hanley and Krul unwittingly combined to provide the hosts with the breakthrough.

It was hard luck on Hanley, whose clearance was going out for a corner until it struck Krul who was still stationed at his near post.

That opened the floodgates and the Canaries were limited to just one shot - a late Rashica effort that flew over - as their tough reintroduction to life in the top flight continued after an opening-day defeat by Liverpool.

BBC
 
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Already Man City are scoring for fun with so many world class players on the bench. Anyone finishing above them will win the EPL. Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd will all challenge them for sure.
 
Latest: Southampton 1-1 Man Utd - Greenwood cancels out Adams opener
Latest: Wolves 0-1 Tottenham - Alli penalty
Kane comes on as second-half substitute
 
Capture.JPG


Nuno Espirito Santo maintained his winning start as Tottenham boss in the Premier League against former side Wolves as Harry Kane came off the bench for his first appearance this season.

Dele Alli scored the only goal from the spot after being brought down by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa nine minutes in.

Wolves dominated at Molineux but failed to capitalise, with Adama Traore denied by Hugo Lloris when through one-on-one.

Nuno called on Kane, a target for Manchester City, with 20 minutes to go.

The England captain had a chance to double the visitors' lead from Steven Bergwijn's pass, but Sa saved from a narrow angle.

It means Spurs have won their opening two league games this season while Wolves are yet to pick up a point.
 
Man Utd are no title contenders with Ole at the wheel. Slow laborious play

Meanwhile Arsenal doing Arsenal things.
 
FULL-TIME
Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea

Chelsea start with two wins out of two, five goals scored, none conceded. Romelu Lukaku is up and running too.

More boos from the Arsenal fans who stayed to the bitter end. They were utterly outclassed.
 
This score line was expected, Chelsea too strong for the gunners.
 
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58300075

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has joined Jurgen Klopp in complaining about the way referees are interpreting new laws this season.

Rules have been relaxed for the new season, with officials no longer penalising "trivial things".

The Liverpool boss said "it's like we're going 10 to 15 years backwards".

After Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Southampton on Sunday, Solskjaer agreed, saying the game has gone from "one extreme to another".

"If that is the way they want to go, we will get injuries," said the Norwegian. "Hopefully we can find a middle way."

Solskjaer's side felt they should have been awarded a free-kick for Jack Stephens' challenge on Bruno Fernandes in the build-up to Southampton's goal.

"It's a foul. He goes straight through Bruno, his hip and with his armpit and his arm across him," said Solskjaer.

"I'm not worried but we have to look at it because we can't go from one extreme of volleyball or basketball from last year and go into rugby now.

"I liked the more lenient way, it's more men's football but, still, that is a clear foul."

Solskjaer said he can see the positive impact the relaxed rules are having on supporters.

"You can see early on with the fans as well, it gets the crowd going when you fly into a few tackles and we did suffer a few tackles. That was part of their thinking early on if you like."

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live on Saturday, former England midfielder Jermaine Jenas said big character managers need to back the rule change.

"Jurgen Klopp is the first person I've heard saying he wants it to go back to how it was - which is disappointing," said Jenas.

"The referees have taken so much criticism in the past couple of years for the way that the game has gone with VAR and the way they referee the game and they've reacted in the right way I think.

"We need the big characters like Klopp to get behind it - but he obviously felt today was too physical a game for his two centre-halves and that's his opinion."
Click to expand...
 
Man Utd couldn't defeat Southampton despite having spent so much over the past few months:afridi
 
The Premier League says 16 players and club staff have tested positive for coronavirus over the past week.

Across two rounds, the Premier League conducted 3,060 tests between 16 and 22 August, with 12 positive cases recorded in the first round and an additional four in the second.

The figure marks another increase after nine positive cases in the first week and 11 in the week ending 15 August.

The Premier League will maintain its twice weekly testing programme.

This season, it will use lateral flow tests in its weekly testing, and only those with a positive outcome will then take a PCR test to confirm the result.

The league says the number of "core" individuals being tested at every club has increased from 85 to 100.

Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic missed Sunday's win over Arsenal after testing positive for the virus, as did Arsenal defender Ben White.
 
Premier League sides are among leading European clubs set to prevent players from going to red-list countries for September's international break.

Unless quarantine exemptions are made, players would be forced to miss several domestic league matches because of the 10-day isolation period required on return to the UK.

The Football Association and Premier League are in talks with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) over a relaxation of UK rules. Similar problems are thought to confront clubs across Europe.

Liverpool are among the clubs refusing to release players for international duty.

Four Reds players are affected - Egypt forward Mohamed Salah and Brazil trio Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino - because their home nations are on the UK government's red list.

The Egyptian Football Association said on its website that Liverpool had apologised for not allowing Salah to join up with the national team.

Its statement read: "The Egyptian Football Association has received a letter from Liverpool apologising for the inability of its player, Mohamed Salah, to join the national team in its next camp, which includes facing Angola in Cairo and Gabon in Franceville during the first and second rounds of the African continent's qualifiers for the World Cup."

However, Liverpool have confirmed that they are happy for Salah to play in the away fixture against Gabon because of not having to enter a red-list country.

The key issue for Liverpool and other Premier League clubs is the absence of an exemption to the existing UK quarantine rules. Were there to be one, it is understood players would be released.

In an additional headache for some Premier League clubs, Fifa recently extended the September and October international windows by two days in South America to enable countries to catch up on World Cup qualifiers that were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The governing body also said the two-day extension ensured "sufficient rest and preparation time between matches".

It means matches can now be played on Thursday, 9 September and Thursday, 14 October, with players involved being released for 11 days.

Among the games scheduled for 9 September are Argentina v Bolivia (00:30 BST) and Brazil v Peru (01:30 BST).

Because of the time difference, players involved in those games may not return to their clubs until Saturday, 11 September, when eight Premier League matches are scheduled to take place.

Brazil, whose latest squad includes nine Premier League players, are due to play Argentina, Chile and Peru in next month's qualifiers. All four countries are currently on the UK's red list.

With just under 100 English-based players likely to be unavailable for international matches next month, the Premier League, the FA, the European Club Association and its member clubs are all understood to want a solution as quickly as possible, with exemption from quarantine rules thought to be the starting point.

The government denied exemptions to British and Irish Lions players returning from South Africa earlier this month, but has confirmed that it continues to have regular discussions with the Premier League, FA and other sporting bodies about a variety of issues, including international travel rules.

BBC
 
An away point for the Bees against Palace. I reckon if we get to 30 we stay up.
 
West Ham looking good again.

4 1 win over Leicester and sit at the top of the league.
 
Premier League clubs have unanimously decided not to release players for international matches in places on the UK's red-list next month.

The decision has been taken so players will not have to quarantine for 10 days on their return to England.

A statement released on Tuesday read: "Premier League clubs have today reluctantly but unanimously decided not to release players for international matches played in red-list countries next month.

"The clubs' decision, which is strongly supported by the Premier League, will apply to nearly 60 players from 19 Premier League clubs who are due to travel to 26 red-list countries in the September international window.
 
FT: Man City 5-0 Arsenal

Manchester City are the third team in Premier League history to score 10 goals in their first two home matches in a season, after Arsenal in 2010-11 (10) and Manchester United in 2011-12 (11).
 
1 nil chelsea at HT, should have been 2/3 up, totally dominating the game at 'fortress' Anfield
 
what a lifeline throw to LP, terrible decison to give a red card, Tuchel had boxed Klopp in that first half.
 
James Ward-Prowse scored a dramatic 96th-minute penalty soon after Allan Saint-Maximin appeared to grab an injury-time winner for Newcastle as Southampton earned a point in a thrilling encounter at St James' Park.

The hosts had looked set to pick up their first win of the season after Saint-Maximin struck in the 90th minute, firing in from a loose ball after Alex McCarthy had initially denied Ryan Fraser's effort.

But Southampton were awarded a spot-kick by VAR soon after when Adam Armstrong was fouled by Jamaal Lascelles inside the box, and Ward-Prowse stepped up to confidently slam home the penalty.

It was a deserved point for the Saints who had dominated much of the game. They spurned several chances to take the lead in the first half before Callum Wilson headed Newcastle in front against the run of play after the restart.

Mohamed Elyounoussi, who scored a hat-trick in an 8-0 win against Newport County in the League Cup in midweek, bundled in an equaliser late on after his initial effort was kept out by Freddie Woodman.

But then came the drama of injury time as Newcastle fans celebrated wildly what looked to be a winner from Saint-Maximin before Ward-Prowse's penalty ended a run of seven straight defeats on the road in the Premier League for Southampton.

==

Marc Albrighton's winner gave Leicester City victory at Carrow Road, leaving Norwich City still without a point after Kenny McLean's equaliser was disallowed.

The Canaries fell behind early on after Jamie Vardy took advantage of a mistake by on-loan Manchester United defender Brandon Williams.

The hosts levelled through Teemu Pukki's penalty just before the break but Albrighton's shot, which deflected off Williams, restored Leicester's lead.

McLean looked to have equalised soon after, but Todd Cantwell was ruled offside to leave Norwich one place above Arsenal at the foot of the Premier League.

Norwich were celebrating their second equaliser, a powerful header from the recalled McLean, but were denied their moment when a VAR check revealed Cantwell was offside in front of Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Daniel Farke's side rallied late on and, deep into stoppage time, substitute Adam Idah stabbed a close-range shot wide.

Arsenal's 5-0 defeat at Manchester City earlier on, coupled with Pukki's goal - Norwich's first of the league season - moved the Canaries off the bottom of the table after three games.

BBC
 
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea - Havertz heads in James corner; James handles on line for red card & Salah scores penalty...
 
FULL-TIME
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

It's all over. A brilliant defensive performance from 10-man Chelsea for the entire second half keeps out Liverpool.

It ends level.
 
Gosh you gotta feel sorry for the Arsenal get spanked so hard by Man City. It is a sad day for Arsenal when fans and pundits are saying how they should have lost by a Cricket score! Now so near the end of the transfer window I don't see the point in sacking Arteta.

Either they should have done it at the end of last season or should now wait until the next window. Thing is Arteta has spent money yet i don't see any improvement in their side. On paper with Aubameyang. Pepe and Lacazette they should be scoring plenty off goals, a creative player is what they need one feels. At the back they are just pathetic! Four tall guys standing doing nothing then a little man out jumps them all putting the ball in the net:sunhappy

Liverpool-Chelsea was a fair result. A great header by Haaretz cancelled out by a Salah pen. I don't know why Chelsea were all upset when it clearly was a penalty with their lad clearly moving his arm after it hit his chest. The concern for me is a clear lack of firepower up front, when Mane, Salah and Jota are not firing we have little on the bench to change things. Bobby appears injured, Shaqiri has been sold and Origi doesn't do it in the EPL. When the opposition parks the bus in front of goal we need another option who gives us another threat in front of goal. The African Cup of nations means we will be missing both Salah and Mane for a while too only adds to my concerns. We must spend!
 
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HT: Tottenham 1-0 Watford
HT: Burnley 0-0 Leeds
 
Burnley winning 1-0.

Leeds lack quality going forward, should have made some additions
 
FT: Tottenham 1-0 Watford - Son's free-kick delivery goes past everyone and in to send Spurs top

FT: Burnley 1-1 Leeds - Wood pokes Clarets in front against former club, Bamford levels

Capture.JPG
 
Cristiano Ronaldo's presence was felt as Manchester United beat Wolves (0-1) in their first game since announcing they had reached an agreement to re-sign the forward.

Ronaldo was not at Molineux but United's travelling fans sang his name, with United expected to confirm the arrival of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner from Juventus in the coming days for £12.8m.

On the pitch, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were second-best to a lively Wolves for long periods before Mason Greenwood scored a contentious late winner.

Wolves felt Ruben Neves was fouled in the build-up but the goal was allowed to stand.

Wolves could have been 3-0 up inside 15 minutes, with Raul Jimenez forcing David de Gea into an early save, Aaron Wan-Bissaka making a goal-saving block to deny Trincao and Joao Moutinho volleying over after a mistake by Jadon Sancho.

United were second best for long periods and it required a spectacular double save by De Gea from Romain Saiss to prevent Wolves from taking the lead before Greenwood's finish.
 
Wolves should have at least got a point. Poor finishing cost them the match otherwise they would have won it. Their goalie too should have saved the Man Utd effort too.
 
The six Premier League clubs who refused to release players for Brazil's World Cup qualifiers "need to be told" if they are suspended this weekend.

European Clubs' Association chief executive Charlie Marshall said clubs need to know in the next 24 hours "if they can play their Brazilians or not".

Fifa can ban players not released in an international window for a period of five days after the window ends.

Nine Premier League players were selected for Brazil's three games.

The players called up were Liverpool trio Alisson, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City's Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva, Manchester United's Fred, Leeds forward Raphinha, and Everton striker Richarlison.

Wolves, Newcastle, Watford and Blackburn will all lose players this weekend after complaints from the Chilean, Mexican and Paraguayan associations.

However clubs have not yet been told whether the players that weren't released for the Brazil squad will be suspended or not.

"This has to be sorted it out within the next 24 hours," said Marshall on Tuesday. "Liverpool and the other clubs need to know if they can play their Brazilians or not.

"If Fifa is not going to sanction the clubs then they need to tell them," said

The players did not travel to South America because they would have had to quarantine for 10 days on their return to England, which would have extended their absence even further.

Aston Villa and Spurs each allowed two players - Emiliano Buendia, Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero and Giovani lo Celso - to travel to play in Argentina's first two matches and will now miss one Premier League match while isolating.

They were involved in the ill-fated game against Brazil which was stopped after five minutes following the intervention of public health officials in Sao Paolo, who objected to the presence of four English-based players in the Argentina squad.

Under current circumstances, Marshall feels Fifa should be showing some sympathy.

"We don't think there should be sanctions because if a player has to quarantine he is unavailable to immediately play for his club again, so it would be longer than the agreed release period," he said.

"We asked Fifa to extend the exception for players having to be released for international duty but they chose not to."

Leeds United forward Raphinha, who was called up for the Brazil senior squad for the first time, was one of the players affected.

And Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani was impressed at the player's choice.

"We invited him to make a decision and he decided no. He showed great respect for his club and the Premier League in giving up this opportunity to play for his country for the first time," he said.
 
Eight Premier League players will be stopped from playing for their clubs this weekend after Brazilian football authorities triggered a Fifa rule to prevent them appearing.

Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Leeds United will all be affected.

Players not released for an international window can be banned for five days after the window ends under the Fifa regulations.

The decision covers 10-14 September.

Brazil invoked the bans after the Premier League stopped players from appearing for their country if it meant travel to red list countries.

Players travelling to red list countries would have had to miss several games on their return because of the 10-day isolation period required under UK rules.

In addition to missing their sides' weekend games, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva and Manchester United midfielder Fred will also not be allowed to play in their teams' opening Champions League games against Zenit St Petersburg and Young Boys next Tuesday.

However, it is understood Brazil have not asked for Everton forward Richarlison to be prevented from featuring against Burnley on Monday. It is felt Brazil showed leniency in that specific case as Everton allowed Richarlison to play at the Olympic Games when the regulations did not force them to.

The move also affects three Liverpool players, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson; Manchester City pair Ederson and Gabriel Jesus; and Leeds forward Raphinha, who had been called into the Brazil squad for the first time.

It means eight Premier League clubs will be denied players this weekend after previous moves from the Mexico, Paraguay and Chile football federations to stop Raul Jimenez, Miguel Almiron and Francisco Sierralta from playing this weekend.

It is understood the clubs have been notified of the situation by Fifa and are now considering the situation.

Negotiations are continuing behind the scenes and it is understood the Premier League clubs do not regard this as a fait accompli.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino previously asked the UK government to provide players with exemptions to allow them to honour their international commitments, even if it meant them travelling to red list countries.

It is understood the world governing body will keep pushing this given the likelihood of the same situation arising again around international fixtures in October and November.

The Premier League are also known to be talking to stakeholders across the game to try to work out the best way forward.

Analysis
This move has been coming ever since it became obvious there would be no exemptions for players, as Fifa requested and the full extent of the issue is not known yet given some countries are yet to say whether or not they are triggering the rule.

As automatic restrictions for non-release are within the Fifa rulebook, the world governing body would have to go against the demands of nations who believe they are being disadvantaged to stop the five-day rule being applied. That is not going to happen.

As the clubs most affected, at least Liverpool and Manchester City's Champions League games next week are outside the stand-down period. And for Chelsea, there is at least the knowledge that Zenit have lost two players as well in Malcolm and Claudinho as Brazil have triggered the same rule for that duo.

It could also be argued that keeping players back and having them miss one game is far better than letting them leave and then spend 10 days isolating, after which they would need to catch up on fitness work.

However, with two more international breaks looming, the whole situation is unsatisfactory to say the least.

In theory, clubs could just ignore the rule - but that would mean them playing an ineligible player, which in itself could have huge ramifications.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58486811
 
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