New Delhi: The Premier League season is gathering pace with the festive season kicking in from this month. This weekend was filled with some exhilarating action which brought us a lot of entertainment and excitement that has given us a lot to talking points. Manchester City’s recent awful form now sees them fall outside of the top four as both Chelsea and Arsenal leapfrogged them in the table.
Ruben Amorim got off to a wonderful start at Old Trafford as his Manchester United side dismantled Everton while Aston Villa’s current freefall down the table continued. There wasn’t a lot of changes near the foot of the Premier League table with the relegation spots being interchanged amongst the usual suspects. Let’s dive in to find out the five things we learnt from Matchday 10 of the season.
5) Julen Lopetegui or Gary O’Neil: Who’s next?
🚨 Lopetegui still heads Sack Race despite Guardiola ‘sacked in the morning’ chants at Anfield
Ten Hag and Cooper have gone, but the Sack Race moves on regardless. Julen Lopetegui is favourite, but Pep can’t be ruled out. pic.twitter.com/NdfPe9W4lZ
— Sports Reels Blog (@SportsReelsBlog) December 1, 2024
The sacking season has officially begun with two managers having already lost their jobs till now and a few more seem to be on the brink. Two names that always seem to be one day away from facing the sack are West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil and they seem destined to be the next one out the door following another set of dismal performance this past weekend. While both are the odds on favourite, it is a coin toss between who could be next.
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves are in poor form since the season started and have only won two games all season and are sitting firmly in the relegation zone. After stringing two wins together, Wolves were brought back down by a thrashing at home from Bournemouth, increasing O’Neil’s chances of facing the sack. Lopetegui’s West Ham were also on the end of a thrashing at home as Arsenal routed them 5-2 increasing the Spaniard’s chances of losing his job.
4) Ruud Van Nistelrooy has a huge task on his hands
Ruud van Nistelrooy has “one hell of a job” on his hands according to Gary Lineker
🗣️ ‘He was there watching, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and he probably enjoyed the start but he’s got a job on his hands’
‘It was a Ruud Awakening’ pic.twitter.com/NkkNnQiVXc
— Leicester City Xtra. (@XtraLeicester) December 1, 2024
Leicester City acted swiftly to replace manager Steve Cooper with Manchester United legend Ruud Van Nistelrooy but didn’t appoint him in time for the Brentford game this weekend. The legendary striker was present in the stands for the game though and saw his new side get demolished by the Bees. Leicester faced a 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Brentford which showcased how much work there is to be done for Nistelrooy.
Nistelrooy had piled on Leicester’s misery as Manchester United’s interim manager and will now have to be the one to fix their situation. The Foxes are sitting two places and one point above the relegation zone and Nistelrooy has a huge task on his hands to guide them to safety. This is Nistelrooy’s first high-profile managerial job of his career and a relegation won’t look good on his profile, so it’ll also be a matter of personal pride for the Dutchman.
3) Joshua Zirkzee has a future at Manchester United
Joshua Zirkzee’s game by numbers vs. Everton:
86% pass accuracy
43 total touches
3 touches in the box
2 chances created
2 defensive actions
2 fouls won
2 goals
Much more like it. ✅ pic.twitter.com/T8ms7UZOXK
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 1, 2024
Manchester United gave a perfect welcome in the league to Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford as they demolished the Toffees 4-0 at home. Manager Ruben Amorim handed a rare start to summer signing Joshua Zirkzee, who has faced a tough time settling in at the club since his arrival from Bologna. Amorim showed faith in the 23-year-old striker and Zirkzee ensured that he repaid his manager’s faith in style.
Playing in the position he can be most effective in, as a center forward just behind the striker, Zirkzee produced arguably his best showing in a Manchester United jersey and grabbed a brace on the night. He scored more in one game than he had done all season and showed that he can become an integral player in Amorim’s system. After being linked away from the club for the past few weeks, Zirkzee proved that he still has a future at the Theatre of Dreams.
2) Chelsea’s latest Italian success story?
Enzo Maresca’s first 21 matches in charge;
🔹13 wins
🔹4 draws
🔹4 losses
⚽ 42 goals scored
🥅 21 goals conceded
We finally getting better game after game
credit to @CfcDae 💙💙👋 pic.twitter.com/ST91NznTa1
— Chelsea4Ever⭐️⭐️💙 (@Chelsea4everA) December 1, 2024
Chelsea have a long lasting Italian connection when it comes to successfull managers. The trend started with the manager whose success put Chelsea on the map in the late 90s, the late great Gialuca Vialli. Roberto Di Matteo is another Italian who might not have had a great managerial career but etched his name in Chelsea’s lore by delivering them their first ever UEFA Champions League title. Antonio Conte and Carlo Ancelloti are two of the best managers to ever take charge of the club.
Current manager Enzo Maresca, another Italian, looks like he could go on to become a part of the same elite group. Maresca has gotten off to a flyer at Stamford Bridge and has the Blues practically sitting second in the league (they’re only third because of alphabetical order) after one third of the season is in the past. While it’s too early to say that Maresca is amongst that group of Italian managers, he certainly has all the tools to join that list.
1) Liverpool’s title to lose
Liverpool are undefeated in their last 10 games.
Chelsea (W)
Leipzig (W)
Arsenal (D)
Brighton (W)
Brighton (W)
Leverkusen (W)
Aston Villa (W)
Southampton (W)
Real Madrid (W)
Man City (W)
W9 D1 L0. pic.twitter.com/l8k2nmgYYz
— StatMuse FC (@statmusefc) December 1, 2024
Arne Slot’s Liverpool have been in electric form since the season started and are currently sitting nine points clear at the top. With City faltering massively and both Arsenal and Chelsea not yet at Liverpool’s level, the title race is Liverpool’s to lose at this point. The Reds are playing excellently well and Arne Slot has made this transition from Jurgen Klopp to himself extremely seamless.
Starting with the game against Chelsea in October, Liverpool had an extremely difficult run of fixtures that was supposed to test Arne Slot in the league. In those 10 games across three competitions, the Reds won nine of them including some big wins against Chelsea, Brighton, Aston Villa and Manchester City last night. The only game they didn’t win was a draw away at Arsenal which has established them as the champions elect. This impressive run has established them as the current favourites and it seems very difficult to see that changing.
Manchester City travelled to Liverpool in the headline clash this weekend but couldn’t turn their fortunes around as things keep on getting worse for them. Dive in to find out what we learned from the latest round of fixtures! Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
