Goal for the week
Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at home, giving Manchester City an advantage in the title race. If you’re looking for a microcosm of Ollie Watkins’ season, look no further than his goal on Sunday:
This is Watkins at his best. He makes smart runs, lingering in his own half, knowing he can’t go offside. Once there’s space, he explodes. But he was in no rush to complete the task. He waited. He knew Emile Smith-Rowe was following him. Instead of speeding up and forcing a shot to make life easier for David Raya in goal, he slowed down, blocked Smith Rowe and then waited for Raya to shoot before lifting the ball into the net. Things didn’t get better as the center game went on.
From front to back, Villa are better than Arsenal. They are tactically disciplined, actively defend their penalty area, and are calm when counterattacking.emmy martinez made a crucial save The score remained at 0-0 at halftime. They hit the post twice in the second half. They could have won 4-0.
Arsenal’s defeat leaves them two points behind Manchester City with six games remaining. So much for one of the most exciting title races in a generation.
Player of the week
It would be difficult to find a forward in better form than Alexander Isak anywhere in Europe, with the possible exception of Isak’s teammate Anthony Gordon. Isaac scored twice in Newcastle United’s 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, taking his league tally to 18 in 24 league games.
Dig a little deeper, though, and what Isak does is even more impressive. He has become one of the most clinical finishers in Europe:
Isak is the quintessential modern striker, able to link up play when the defense is deep, or happy to sprint into space on the break. Then when he gets his chance, he’s lethal in front of goal.
Newcastle’s young forwards are coming together to take the leap. As a collective, they are smart, agile, ruthless and ruthless – their holy grail.
(own) goals for this week
This is a week to work towards your goals.
Manchester City comfortably beat Luton 5-1, but their opener deserves special mention: Hashioka’s delightful own goal.
Think you’re having a bad day? Imagine how Luton manager Rob Edwards feels. You spent a whole week training and trying to contain Erling Haaland. You plan your running route. You imagine his movements. You set up a defensive shield to ensure that when the ball comes to his feet, there’s someone in the box.you plan for every Just in case, knowing a chance would be enough for him to score.
What you couldn’t have predicted was that Haaland’s volley misfired, sending the ball towards the touchline and out of the defender’s face. coin.
Not to be outdone, Burnley’s Arijanet Muric scored Brighton’s equalizer in their 1-1 draw this weekend.
It’s been a brutal season for Burnley’s goalkeeper, but Muric’s mistake was the nadir. After dropping two points, Burnley is six points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest and already looks shaky in the relegation zone. Can someone please check on JJ Watt’s status?
Call for Paleontologist Awards
Two questionable penalties saw Manchester United escape another poor performance away to Bournemouth. The final score was 2-2, but the result put more pressure on Erik ten Haag.
United have been having a tough few weeks. They have taken just seven points from their last six league games. In 32 games, they are four points clear of the side under David Moyes in 2013-14. Somehow the process behind these results is even more frustrating. No team has an easier time getting through than Manchester United. No team would be so wasteful – or clueless – in the final third.
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Ten Hag’s most pressing concern is that his midfield remains an incoherent mess.The biggest concern is Casemiro; Ten Witches’ supposed defensive backbone who is looking increasingly Fossilized.
The midfield uses a man-to-man system, According to the habits of the ten witches, requiring midfielders to track and follow the player they are marking. Bruno Fernandez can charge as much as he wants, leaving Casemiro to cover both players. Even Casemiro of old would have struggled with the task. Casemiro today looks like a fan who has won games playing for Manchester United.he consistently Quit the game suddenly, trying to have some impact on the ball before he has to turn around and run back. Once the ball passes him, he’s no longer a factor.If anyone asks you what it would be like for a player to lose his legs, pull up this video.
Here’s Casemiro’s pressure chart against Bournemouth. These points are where Casemiro puts pressure on the ball.The arrow is where he is Under pressure:
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. In the middle of the pitch, where the holding midfielder usually sits, roughly in the gray zone, running from one end of the box to the other, Casemiro has zero pressure on the ball. He was pressured four times and coughed up the ball once.
Casemiro’s decline in form has also affected other Manchester United players. United are vulnerable on the counter-attack, partly because of Ten Hag’s defensive system and partly because their midfield rocks freeze into amber once they lose the ball. This is a bad recipe. Ten Witches paired a slow defensive shield with a group of players who consistently gave the ball away once they crossed the midfield line. Manchester United makes more mistakes than any team in the league and handles them the worst.
Casemiro is not the only culprit. But no matter what United try to do, he is a glaring flaw.
United were hit 20 times against Bournemouth on Saturday, taking their total this season to 574. Only Luton Town (576) have conceded more goals, and they have played one more game. This is the most shots United have faced since statistics began to be compiled.
Ten Hag continues to deny Manchester United’s defensive woes. Ten Hag said last week it was “ridiculous” to talk about the number of goals conceded. “There’s nothing I can do about statistics like this.”
Manchester United right-back Diogo Dalot disagrees. “That’s one of our concerns,” Dalot said of the goal conceded against Bournemouth. “perhaps [we should] Try to keep the team as compact as possible – don’t try to make the gap between the defenders and midfield too big.
Measuring lenses individually is tricky. If United blow away low-quality chances, then Ten Haig will turn his nose up at the conversation. they are not. They are losing some of the best opportunities in the league. According to Opta, United are third-worst in the league in terms of expected goals conceded on non-penalty kicks, just three ahead of Sheffield United. That’s the downgrade thing.
Statistics for the week
Just like that, Liverpool’s season ended in four days. After Thursday’s Europa League defeat at home to Atalanta, they lost 0-1 at home to Crystal Palace in a sloppy and wasteful performance.
Arsenal’s defeat will make Liverpool’s loss to Crystal Palace even more painful for Jurgen Klopp. “[I] It felt really rubbish,” Klopp said after the game.
Liverpool once again missed countless opportunities. They ended up with a 2.87 expected goals rating (a measure of the quality of a team’s chance creation) but failed to score. This is Liverpool’s highest expected goals tally since the 2010-11 season without a goal.
However, the failure is not surprising. There have been red flags for weeks. Liverpool have won just three of their last eight games in all competitions. Those three wins were against Sparta Prague, Sheffield United and Brighton. In these eight games, they have conceded zero goals. All the hallmarks of the team’s midseason run — intensity, crisp passing and smart decision-making — were gone.
In front of the goal, they were careless. But the team’s defensive record cost Klopp his fairytale farewell. Liverpool have played 51 games in all competitions this season. They trailed 1-0 in 21 of those games and had to fight and scratch to get results. We’re told that doing this occasionally is the mark of a champion. But when it becomes a habit every game, it’s a sign that a slovenly team can’t take control of the game from the start.
Being behind in 41% of games is unsustainable. It increases physical and mental stress. Liverpool have crumbled under such pressure over the past two weeks. Their championship hopes seemed to disappear with them.
