Rasmus Hoylund’s goal spree gives Manchester United hope Newcastle United

Casper Mattress Award

Anyone remind Liverpool to watch the table-top match at the Emirates Stadium? In the 26th minute, cameras caught Darwin Nunez yawning on the bench, which pretty much summed up Liverpool’s performance in their 3-1 loss to Arsenal.

Liverpool were sloppy with the ball. Without it, they are passive. Mikel Arteta deployed two central midfielders to make Liverpool’s defense more suitable. When it mattered most, Jurgen Klopp’s most reliable players – Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk – clicked.

Klopp may put this performance down to being just one of those days.He started 11 all right-footed, providing little balance as his side looked to penetrate Arsenal’s well-thought-out defensive structure. For the first time this season they are without either Nunez or Mohamed Salah.

These are all good explanations. Failure happens.but it Felt Just like there were more than three points on Sunday. For Liverpool, it’s a chance to almost knock Arsenal out of the title race and go head-to-head with Manchester City. A lethargic, error-riddled performance meant Klopp’s side had handed the initiative back to Manchester City. Phil Foden scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Brentford on Monday, meaning Manchester City are once again favorites to win the title. With a game in hand, they are just two points behind Liverpool at the top of the table.

We can still dream of a third-in-a-row title race, but with Erling Haaland back and Kevin De Bruyne still in his prime, a fourth in a row looks increasingly likely for City .

Self-Awareness Award of the Week

The film “Argyle,” which opens this week, is part-financed by a production company and backed by Chelsea partner Todd Boley. According to The Observer’s Wendy Ide, it was a “huge, clunky dud.” She may also be talking about another of Boley’s investments.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Chelsea are in crisis. They were beaten 4-1 by Liverpool last week and were beaten 4-2 by Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Chelsea fans have no time for metatext. They let the club’s ownership group and head coach Mauricio Pochettino know exactly what they think:

What is infuriating is the manner in which it fails, as well as the result itself. Chelsea were outmaneuvered and outgunned throughout the 90 minutes. Their $331m midfield was outclassed by the $30m Wolves duo. When you invest the equivalent of Finland’s gross domestic product in midfield, you don’t expect to be overtaken, overtaken and overtaken by teams in the middle of the table.

Chelsea currently sit in the bottom half of the table. There were signs that things were finally starting to come together under Pochettino over the past month, but they look lost again. Pochettino seems to have few answers. He tried tactical changes. Despite a large roster and a growing injury list, he is still trying to build a core of 11 players. Nothing works.

If Pochettino’s seat improves, they may convene a COP summit. But when you play your fantasy chairman, remember: Any new manager will inherit the same, fractured mess.Chelsea’s back four cannot defend; narrow, expensive, ineffective midfield; forward line with Raheem Sterling, Mihailo Mudric, Noni Maduk, Nicolas Jack Sen; a group of key players unable to stay healthy

And, somehow, it gets worse: Chelsea currently have 12 (!) players under contract until At least 2030. If you thought the geniuses at Clear Lake could come up with some creative accounting to get out of this mess, we have some worrying news.

However, this is not all bad for Todster. Let’s see how Argyle does at the box office… Oh.

Cover Up the Cracks Award

What do you get when you pit the richest club in the world against the team with the lowest wages in the Premier League? confusion. The match of the weekend belongs to Newcastle United 4-4 Barnburners at Luton Town.

Eddie Howe will point to his side’s stubborn fight back from 4-2 down to score a point. But the trend lines are concerning. Newcastle’s once suffocating style has disintegrated.

Here’s how Howe’s team performed defensively from the start of the season to the end of November:

• Passes per defensive action, 9.89, 49th percentile

• Goals conceded, 11.92, 59th percentile

• Clear goals conceded, 1.62, 90th percentile

• Goals conceded per shot xG, 0.09.89th percentile

They weren’t an all-out team, but they were a team that pressed effectively and had a stingy defensive record. Their back four work closely together, with two midfield sweepers taking on sweeping duties up front.When they lose their chance, they low quality Chances – usually low percentage from wide crosses into the box.

Since December, the situation has reversed:

• Passes per defensive action, 9.01, 70th percentile

• Clear goals conceded, 3.30, 4th percentile

• Goals conceded xG per shot, 0.12, 1st percentile

• Goals conceded, 17 points, 3rd percentile

Welp.

Newcastle were a medium-pressure team earlier in the season. Over the past few months, they have stepped up the pressure. But there is a difference between “positive” media and “effective” media. After losing possession of the ball, there was often a tedious co-existence during the game. Newcastle’s players share space, but they don’t participate as a unit. Opponents can easily play around the midfield or isolate Newcastle’s full-backs before pulling the ball back to the free runner inside. The result: They gave up an eye-popping 17 shots per game.The number of goals they conceded was high quality lens. No team in the league has given up more goals or allowed a higher expected goals-against rate over the past two months.

Injuries and suspensions may bear the brunt. Newcastle suffered a run of bad injury luck towards the end of 2023 and that has continued into 2024. Superstar talent can paper over structural cracks. But Newcastle is short of defensive players as injuries and FFP issues limit the club’s ability to bring in players in January. Howe hopes to offset this by increasing his team’s intensity without the ball. But it didn’t work. Luton represented the nadir. Howe needed to find new solutions.

Player of the week

Brighton were in poor form in this weekend’s 4-1 win over Crystal Palace. They have failed to win in their last seven league games. As attractive as their offense is, their defense is laughably weak.

But their win on Saturday was what Roberto De Zerbi’s side have done in the past: pass the ball and press, then do it all again at a disorienting pace.

The key figure in this operation was Tariq Lamptey. De Zerbi switched to a back three against Crystal Palace, cramming in extra men in the build-up to the attack and adding load in the midfield and bringing in two full-backs to give the team more. width. Lamptey was positioned on the left, operating more as a supporting winger than a traditional full-back. His partnership with Joao Pedro was crucial in the final third as Brighton rained down shots.

With Lamptey occupying high and wide positions, he was able to isolate Palace defenders in one-on-one situations. In that world, no one could live with Lampti. An initial corner kick led to Brighton’s first goal, before Lampty passed the ball to full-back Jack Hinshelwood for his second.

Lamptey touched the ball 89 times in total, fourth most among Brighton players. But he made an impact both on and off the ball, stretching Palace’s defense to its limits and giving the Pascal Gross-Billy Gilmore-Pedro axis the space it needed to control the game. Lamptey missed most of the season due to injury, starting just three games. But he adds a necessary unpredictability to De Zerbi’s carefully choreographed dances.

Goal for the week

Rasmus Hoylund’s goal-scoring spree has been a beacon of hope amid Manchester United’s recent slump. Manchester United were far from perfect in Sunday’s 3-0 win over West Ham United. West Ham had plenty of the ball and created good chances – they were ahead of United in expected goals at half-time, but squandered opportunities to equalize in the second half.But Manchester United did Take a chance. No one emphasizes this more than Hoylund.

Hojlund, who failed to score in his first 14 league games, has scored 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 Premier League games.

Some concerns remain beneath the surface. United’s lack of fluidity and combination play in the final third often resulted in a stiff attack that left Hojlund isolated. There was a Harden-versus-76ers vibe to United’s game as they attacked the paint. Everyone is too eager to create openings for themselves rather than provide for their teammates. Marcus Rashford’s turn. Then Alejandro Garnacho started trying. Then came Bruno Fernandes’ long-range strike. Then it was Rashford’s turn again. Hoylund would bounce up and down in the center of the box for a long time, like a Labrador who had just heard its owner reach for the keys. Did it happen? Are we going out? Is it my turn? guys?

It’s not an ideal environment for a young forward to grow up in. The “your turn, my turn” stasis isn’t good enough against the best teams; it’s made United struggle against some of the worst teams in the league.

Hojlund has been eating scraps for most of the season, either having to attack in the penalty area or create chances for himself. Even against West Ham United, Manchester United’s service to the forwards was poor: Hoylund only shot twice in the end; the team’s right back Diogo Dalot scored three points.

His goal on Sunday was Hoylund at his best: alert to the second ball, creating an opening on his own and using his supposedly weaker foot to blast a powerful shot into the bottom corner. But this is primarily his own creation. United must find easier openings for their young forwards.

Amazing performance this week

The only manager to have a worse week than Pochettino is Roy Hodgson. Crystal Palace suffered a heavy defeat away to Brighton. Supporters held banners to protest against the club’s American investors. Given the number of times chairman Steve Parish shook his head in the stands, he may have suffered a whiplash injury.

Anyway, that’s not the worst. Crystal Palace also inflicted damage on Michael Ollis.

Olise is Crystal Palace’s most important player. He suffered a hamstring injury against Sheffield United last week and was deemed not fit enough to start against Brighton, but he was on the bench. “I was told he couldn’t start the game and I’m happy with that,” Hodgson said after the game. “They told me – and he told me – that he could come on the bench and play in the second half.”

With the team trailing 3-0, Hodgson turned to Olise to inject life into the team’s lackluster performance. He suffered another hamstring injury eight minutes later and had to be substituted. This is the third time Ollis has suffered a hamstring injury this season. If he is forced to miss an extended period of time, Palace will lose almost all of their creativity as they approach the relegation zone. They are now just five points above drop point and four teams behind them on goal difference.

This heavy defeat, coupled with the Ollis incident, makes it increasingly likely that Hodgson will leave sooner rather than later – if the club can find a genuinely interested replacement. If we know anything about private equity firms, and Palace’s ownership group boasts three private equity honchos, they’re poised to ride out the market’s short-term downtrend. But mismanagement of critical assets? Haha, kid, then you’re in trouble.