Premier League hits and misses: Liverpool were lucky to escape with a draw and Arsenal hit a new low | Football news

Are Arsenal in a relegation fight?

How long ago the FA Cup victory in August has already been felt in the Emirates. Mikel Arteta’s problems are turning into a crisis and an existential threat to both his own job security and that of Arsenal in the Premier League. Make no mistake, any team that is within two wins above the drop zone in December is clearly in a relegation fight.

Sunday’s loss was tough in some respects given that Burnley, who had just 35% possession and had his only saved shot on goal, did very little to win it, but Arsenal’s failures are becoming commonplace. There were only two ways that Arsenal could lose this game: indiscipline and waste. Just in time for Christmas, they were both gift-wrapped.

Arteta, understandably, seemed quite shocked by all of this. “We threw the game. We were in full control and we should have won it by now,” he told Sky Sports. “We gave the game to an opponent.”

If there is a criticism of the Arsenal manager, it is that he did not make enough changes to his team during the summer and there is too much deadwood left in the club. In fairness, part of that accusation should also be directed at the club’s hierarchy.

But the club hierarchy can hardly be blamed for Arteta picking Xhaka over Dani Ceballos this weekend to such disastrous effect. It is certainly a curiosity that while Arteta has been so severe with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi, there seems to be no limit to his patience with the poor performances of Willian, Alex Lacazette and Xhaka. You could probably add David Luiz and Hector Bellerin to that list as well.

The fundamental problem remains that Arsenal simply do not have enough quality players. “These players are not good enough to play for Arsenal,” Graeme Souness concluded harshly. So what does Arteta do now? He will have to make at least two changes midweek when they host Southampton with Bellerin and Xhaka suspended.

But what will be fascinating to watch is if you make changes based on the shape. He’s been reluctant to do so to date, but it’s about time Arteta wielded the ax toward that lingering deadwood. Roy Keane warned a few months ago that Manchester United players will get the capture of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The same could be said for Arsenal and their own player-turned-coach at this point. It is them or him.
Pete gill

Liverpool won’t get away with it

There’s a reason Jurgen Klopp seemed satisfied with a point at Fulham on Super Sunday, after such a woeful first half his team could have easily gone 3-0 down.

In his post-game interviews, we expected a replay of his actions on the sidelines: From the bench, his roar and chest beat were loud enough to be heard from 80 yards away in the press seats, but what came it was acceptance and even a smile.

He was satisfied that Liverpool got away with it, so much so that it was almost ridiculous.

It’s going to be one of those seasons, a season where huge chunks of terrible performance go unexplained. Klopp barely tried to rationally see why a struggling Fulham had been able to open his side with an ease rarely seen before blocking, but more evident now in the Premier League.

Maybe it was the fact that every team in the Champions League struggled this weekend. Maybe it was a vocal crowd from Fulham. Or maybe Liverpool just won’t do everything their way this season, as they did so often last time.

They were only to blame on Sunday: they were in second place for every first, second and loose ball, their pass was bad. Consistency in performance is a rare commodity this season, and Liverpool are just another team that can’t buy it. But avoiding defeat in a match that should have been lost before the break was reason enough for Klopp to be satisfied.
Brand Gerard

Tottenham run out of strength?

The smile remains on José Mourinho’s face with Tottenham still at the top of the Premier League after Liverpool’s surprise draw at Fulham.

What appeared to be two points dropped at 4.30pm became one won two hours later during a lively day in the capital.

At Selhurst Park, Mourinho set a proud record with Tottenham having now lost just one of 21 Premier League games in which he has opened the scoring with the Portuguese.

However, Spurs’ lead at the summit heading into Wednesday’s trip to Anfield could have been more tangible than their superior goal difference.

After taking the lead with Harry Kane’s fifth goal in seven away league games against Palace, Mourinho’s men were punished for inviting pressure on Hugo Lloris’s goal when Jeffrey Schlupp tied.

With the next clash at the top of the table in Merseyside, were Tottenham content with not trying to find a safe goal with the game still at stake?

Mourinho said: “My instructions did not change from yesterday’s preparation and at halftime. This is the kind of game where you need the ball and you can’t accept a low block.”

When asked if his players could have struggled further to put the contest beyond Palace, the Spurs boss added: “I want to admit they couldn’t. I want to admit they didn’t have that ability. Some of my builds – players above, they lost a lot of passes in the first phase of preparation. In the second half, we weren’t very precise, so I want to admit that if we didn’t, it’s because we couldn’t. “

Palace broke Spurs’ defensive tenacity and it will take another big effort when Liverpool seek an answer.
Ben grounds

Leicester moves on, but tougher tests lie ahead

The good times continue for Leicester.

After claiming top spot in their Europa League group last Thursday, they swept Brighton with minimal fuss to win their eighth Premier League game of the season, the most in the division.

It’s his highest win count in the first 12 games of a senior season alongside 2019-20.

The victory saw Brendan Rodgers’ team climb to third place in the Premier League table, just one point behind Tottenham and Liverpool, who meet on Wednesday.

However, there are also tougher tests on the horizon for Leicester with Everton at home, Tottenham away and Manchester United back at King Power Stadium in their next three league games.

For now though, Leicester is in the mix for the title and if they can continue to show the form they showed in the first 45 minutes with James Maddison pulling the strings and Jamie Vardy on goals, the Foxes could be ready for another. special season.
Oliver Yew

Is this the Hasenhuttl we have heard of?

Ralph Hasenhuttl said his Southampton side has undergone “massive development” to get to the position they are in right now, having won seven of their 12 Premier League games this season and enjoying the kind of season that seemed like it. a world away when they were playing. hammered 9-0 at home by Leicester just a year ago.

You are not wrong, are you? Southampton press from the front, defend with quality and can play through the lines. The likes of Theo Walcott, who seemed lost at Everton last season, have added an extra dimension to midfield and James Ward-Prowse is in the form of his life. And that’s even before he got to Danny Ings, whose goals weren’t even necessary to beat a poor Blades team.

“The performance, the attitude of the players, this is a team and a coach on the rise. I love the way they play, full of energy, full of quality,” said Jamie Redknapp after full time. This is the kind of football we heard about when Hasenhuttl first arrived on these shores two years ago this month.

Southampton will finish the weekend in the top four. Nobody expects them to stay there until the end of the season. But when do we start asking the question? A team that fights as one for its coach, and led by such a talented man as Hasenhuttl, is a tough thing to stop. Stranger things have happened.
Ron Walker

Schlupp personifies the perseverance of the Palace

Roy Hodgson was delighted with the way his team denied Tottenham a sixth win in seven Premier League games, which seemed to have passed them by when Jeffrey Schlupp jumped from near the middle of the second period.

The winger had been in the wars in the first half after receiving treatment after a fierce challenge, but Schlupp dusted himself off and scored his first goal since the final matchday of last season, curiously in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham. at Selhurst Park where Harry Kane was also on a payroll.

For 81 minutes, this seemed like the kind of tenacious, title-winning performance, but Palace fed off the returning crowd of 2,000 fans and Benteke continued his rebirth with a display typical of the Belgian’s early years in the Premier League.

“The fans were great,” Hodgson said. “I told the players that it is not what they can give us, it is what we can give them and I thought we had produced an excellent show today. They supported and appreciated us and thankfully we welcomed them on a good day.”

Hodgson will be pleased to learn that goals can come from various areas of the field, including the stubborn Schlupp.

“He has many opportunities today,” added the Palace boss. “We didn’t force as many saves as they do, but I felt like we had as many chances to score.”
Ben grounds