Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend's action
1) Not picking Shaw for England would be bizarre
It has been two and a half years since Luke Shaw last featured for England,
in a 2-1 defeat to Spain. The left-back, however, is probably Manchester United’s most in-form player at the moment, consistently producing the goods. In defence he has looked assured all season, lifting his game since Alex Telles’ arrival from Porto in the summer finally added muchneeded depth to a squad where many were sleepwalking into the side. On Sunday Shaw was again diligent against a high-on-confidence Riyad Mahrez, who struggled to make an impression for Manchester City, but things got even better with his superb run and composed finish at the other end, a moment that proved his energy and how his fitness has improved in recent seasons. With three England games coming up at the end of the month, it would be ludicrous if Gareth Southgate did not select Shaw at this stage, although stranger things have happened. Will Unwin
• Match report: Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United
2) Form shows Reds cannot take European lead for granted
“The next game is in a different competition where we didn’t do too bad yet,” said Jürgen Klopp as he digested an unprecedented sixth successive home defeat for Liverpool and tried to switch focus to Wednesday’s Champions League tie against RB Leipzig. A different competition in a different venue in a different country may be welcome for Liverpool after the incredible collapse of their Anfield record and title defence, but this is a team whose self-belief is fading as rapidly as their authority. Liverpool know they can be hurt and the 2-0 lead they hold over Leipzig does not offer the security it should on current form. The increased importance of this season’s Champions League was writ large in Klopp’s team selection against Fulham, when he made seven changes between Premier League games for the first time in five seasons. It is not so easy to change a mindset, but that is another task now confronting the fallen Premier League champions. Andy Hunter
• Klopp rejects suggestions Fulham ‘wanted it more’
3) Improving Aubameyang key to Gunners’ success
Arsenal found a novel twist on old failings in letting Burnley snatch a point but at least a degree of normal service seems to be returning in the right way too. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s early goal was his ninth in 11 appearances and he now has 14 in all competitions this season, equating to one in every two outings. He is edging back up to the kind of return expected of him and, given his teammates’ capacity to self-destruct at the back, the timing of this relatively hot streak is welcome. Aubameyang still looks a notch short of his best at times and it would be good to see him string together a run of goals in consecutive games. He has quietly turned around what had been billed as a make-or-break personal campaign, though, and if Arsenal are to salvage anything of substance from their season his contribution will be as vital as ever. Nick Ames
• Match report: Burnley 1-1 Arsenal 4) Moura’s added energy ignites Spurs into action
Tottenham looked flat in the opening 20 minutes against Crystal Palace, rarely implying they could put too much pressure on their opponents’ back four. Lucas Moura changed the dynamic as his constant pressing created the opening goal, winning the ball back before Harry Kane crossed for Gareth Bale to finish. The Brazilian is sometimes criticised for his workrate, described as a player who is only interested when his side is in possession. Against Palace he seemed to have heeded advice and was repeatedly pressing the opposition, looking for them to make mistakes under duress. No one has ever doubted the winger’s talent but he has rarely offered the consistency required to make it to the very top. Bale and Harry Kane will get the plaudits from the victory but Moura was the man to kickstart it thanks to his new-found enthusiasm. WU
• Match report: Tottenham 4-1 Crystal Palace
5) Manchester City need to learn lesson
There is no doubting Manchester United started the brighter at the Eithad, but conceding a penalty within 35 seconds set the tone for City. Pep Guardiola’s side never recovered from Gabriel Jesus’ needless trip on Anthony Martial and the resulting penalty. City had a lot of possession but never gave the impression they would use it competently. Considering the team had won their previous 21 matches, it was surprising they could not rebuild from a moment of stupidity from their Brazilian striker. What it does go to show is that, regardless of level, it can be a challenge to bounce back mentally from pivotal moments even early in a match. No one will be critical of Guardiola
and City when they are crowned champions but such frailty could still prove crucial in Europe. City need to chalk down the derby loss as a lesson to be learned from and if they do not, the long-term impact of losing short-term bragging rights could be more losses at key moments. WU
•United ‘suffered’ to end City’s winning run, says Solskjaer
6) Baggies need long-term solution to replace loanees
Sam Allardyce knows the game is almost up for West Brom. With 10 games to play, it looks increasingly inevitable that Albion will be playing in the Championship next season. In that scenario it is almost certain Allardyce will not be in charge but, on recent evidence, the biggest misses will be a trio of temporary midfield solutions. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Conor Gallagher and Okay Yokuslu will return to Arsenal, Chelsea and Celta Vigo, respectively, at end of the season but all three have developed their reputation in a short space of time at the Hawthorns, with Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers demoted to the bench. Further forward, Mbaye Diagne has impressed on loan from Galatasaray. Yokuslu has relished the battle at the base of midfield, allowing Maitland-Niles and Gallagher to thrive. “They have given us a backbone and a stability,” Allardyce said after Sunday’s stalemate with Newcastle. “Those three have been fantastic.” Ben Fisher
• Match report: West Brom 0-0 Newcastle
7) Blades only have pride to play for
Sheffield United proved ideal opponents for Southampton, looking to end a run of one point from eight matches. The resistance Chris Wilder’s men have shown in recent weeks was broken once James Ward-Prowse converted a first-half penalty. The Premier League’s basement occupiers folded with Phil Jagielka, Chris Basham, Jack O’Connell, John Egan, Jack Robinson, Jack Rodwell and Sander Berge all absent. Danny Ings limped off early with a muscle injury and must have cursed his rotten luck as he watched his teammates create several opportunities against a labouring Blades. Nathan Tella, the 21year-old, had a fine game aside from some rather wild finishing – in contrast to the superb arrowing strike with which Che Adams put Saints two up against his old club. Ralph Hasenhüttl will hope his team’s wobble is at an end. All Wilder can do is mark time until the drop comes. John Brewin
• Match report: Sheffield United 0-2 Southampton
8) Seagulls must learn how to kill off games
Brighton supporters may be wondering exactly where it has all gone wrong in the past few weeks after a six-match unbeaten run when it looked as if Graham Potter’s team had finally turned a corner. But in a game that is growing fonder of statistics every day, the only one that really matters is their points tally and Potter was fully aware that 17 have slipped from Brighton’s grasp this season from winning positions after Leicester’s comeback on Saturday. “Getting the second goal gives you more of a chance to win the game,” said Potter. “If you don’t make the most of your opportunities you will put yourself under pressure because this league is punishing.” With Southampton and Newcastle next up, they have to learn how to turn their dominance in possession into victories or it could prove fatal. Ed Aarons
• Match report: Brighton 1-2 Leicester City
9) Parker’s positivity could see Fulham steer clear
For much of the season Fulham and Brighton have mirrored each other in results not matching the level of their performance. Their paths may now have diverged. Brighton dominated Leicester, yet collapsed late on while Fulham never relinquished control in winning at Anfield. Even as Liverpool dominated possession, they retained shape and composure. That came in contrast to the flaky goalkeeping from Roberto Sánchez that presented Daniel Amartey with the Leicester winner. Fulham remain in the relegation zone but only on goal difference. They brim with the positivity of Scott Parker while Brighton’s defensive mistakes and wayward finishing have darkened the mood of Potter, usually one of the game’s optimists. Potter might point to his own team’s win at Anfield but that was on 3 February, since when Brighton have faltered. Newcastle, similarly lacking in attacking power, may soon become his team’s closest rival in seeking to avoid the drop. JB
• Match
Fulham report:
Liverpool 0-1
10) Barkley struggles while teammates progress
One of the reasons Ross Barkley went to Aston Villa was that he knew performing well there could get him back into the England squad for the European Championships. Sadly, in a season interrupted by injury, his performances have generally not been good enough. He has begun Villa’s last three matches on the bench and made little impact after coming on for the final half an hour at the weekend, apart from making a mistake that almost gave victory to Wolves. The twist is that plenty of other Villa players have been making strong cases for joining Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings in the England squad. Ollie Watkins is developing into an excellent centre-forward even if his goal tally does not yet reflect his contribution. And Villa’s entire back four could make the England grade, most compellingly Ezri Konsa, who has quietly established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League. Paul Doyle
• Match report: Aston Villa 0-0 Wolves
against him – four wins and a draw from eight games.
His football, sitting men deep and looking to strike at pace on the counter, is not particularly sophisticated. It remains too dependent on brilliant individuals doing brilliant things at the right moment to bring sustained success. It can toil against well-organised and unambitious opponents (Crystal Palace, West Brom, Sheffield United). It will struggle against better sides who decide also to sit off (after a 6-1 defeat, a 1-0 defeat and five 0-0 draws, this was United’s first win against a “Big Six” side this season). But it can hurt teams who leave space in behind them.
Guardiola sides over recent seasons have been vulnerable to that. It’s how City lost twice to Wolves last season and to Norwich. For a while, that was how Guardiola teams lost in the Champions League, season after season. Then the cause of defeat became the attempts to prevent that kind of defeat: the weird team selections against Liverpool in 2018, Tottenham in 2019 and Lyon in 2020.
It’s what Guardiola seemed to have resolved this season. The 5-2 defeat at home to Leicester was a perfect example of how finely honed his side are and the problems that can cause: pulling one of the more advanced central midfielders deeper to offer additional protection to the back four left Kevin De Bruyne isolated in the press, allowing Youri Tielemans and Nampalys
Mendy to pick their way around him with relative ease. This is why the calls for Klopp to ease back on his approach as Liverpool’s season collapses feel slightly misguided; when mechanisms are as precisely calibrated and interconnected as modern pressing systems are, enacting anything more than a minor tweak is hugely difficult.
But by late December, City seemed to have got it right: not just on their way to 21 straight wins, but only eight goals conceded during that run. The one doubt was whether City had really been tested in those games. That feels a slightly preposterous quibble, and that level of consistency is impressive almost irrespective of the opposition, but the nature of modern football and its absurd finance structures are that teams can embark on long unbeaten runs without ever really needing to play that well, especially if, as City did, they catch teams such as Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool at a low ebb.
And one moment in particular provoked a slight frisson of doubt: Liverpool’s penalty against City was soft, but it came from a simple ball in behind Rúben Dias. Was the old vulnerability still there? The answer on Sunday was emphatic: yes.
It was another past weakness that afflicted them initially, though, as they reacted badly to going behind to a firstminute penalty. The flipside of their selfless integration, particularly since the departure of Vincent Kompany, is a lack of on-pitch leaders to drag them through crises. It’s why, when things go wrong, Guardiola sides often concede in batches – two or three in a 10-15minute period. Here they didn’t concede a second but the cogs were almost visibly sticking and it took until the midpoint of the half before they rediscovered their usual rhythm. But even then, they were open to the counter. In fact, United had sufficient chances on the break to have won more comfortably.
It’s one game. The last three months have been hugely impressive and this defeat doesn’t change that. No revolution is ever entirely linear; there are always setbacks. But Sunday’s defeat does raise awkward questions about the extent to which City’s previous issues have really been resolved.