Category: Sport

West Ham have confirmed that their striker Michael Antonio is ‘conscious and communicating in a stable condition’ having been involved in a road traffic accident.

Antonio jouned West Ham in 2015 and has scored 83 goals in 322 games for the club having previously played for Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Colchester, Southampton, Cheltenham and Reading.

An earlier statement from West Ham statement read:

‘West Ham United can confirm striker Michail Antonio has today been involved in a road traffic accident.

‘The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the Club are with Michail, his family and friends at this time.

‘The Club will issue an update in due course.’

The club’s update assuaged fears, confirming that the striker is ‘stable’ and ‘communicating’ in hospital.

‘West Ham United can confirm that Michail Antonio is in a stable condition following a road traffic accident this afternoon in the Essex area.

‘Michail is conscious and communicating and is currently under close supervision at a central London hospital.

‘At this difficult time, we kindly ask everyone to respect the privacy of Michail and his family.

‘The Club will make no further comment this evening, but will issue a further update in due course.’

More to follow…

Sir Jim Ratcliffe says “mediocre” Manchester United are “like the country” as the Red Devils co-owner defended his “unpopular decisions” that have sparked anger in the fanbase.

Ratcliffe became the minority shareholder of the Premier League giants at the start of the year and has overseen controversial changes at Old Trafford including bringing Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial role to an end and laying off 250 members of staff.

The latest cost-cutting measure has seen ticket price rise to £66 per match without concessions for children or pensioners.

The decision led to a protest ahead last weekend’s clash with Everton with United claiming in a statement that the price hikes were part of wider measures aiming to put the club ‘on a stronger financial footing’.

Ratcliffe spoke to the United We Stand fanzine to clarify the club’s position further, likening his “unpopular decisions” to those currently being made by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

He said: “To get Manchester United to where we need to get it — it’s a bit like the country.

“We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions then nothing much is going to change.

READ MORE: Ranking Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s mistakes at Man Utd: Disability budget cuts in at five

“We won’t get everything right and it won’t happen overnight, but we haven’t been sat on our hands for nine months. There has been a lot of change.

“Here at Carrington (United’s training complex) as you can see. We didn’t waste any time to get Old Trafford on the agenda. Changes in the football and executive structure. New players. (Head coach) Ruben (Amorim) has arrived.

“We still have a long way to go and we still have a number of difficult decisions to make, but we have to do that for the better.

“The club has drifted for a long period of time, a decade or so. Manchester United has become mediocre.

“It’s not elite and it is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world. That’s what it used to be under Alex (Ferguson).

“There is major change to come to achieve elite status. There has already been huge change.”

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United last won the Premier League in 2013 and posted net losses of £113.2million for the 12 months ending June 30, 2024.

Ratcliffe says recruitment has “not been good enough” during that period.

“We need to sweat every pound so that we have more capacity for the investment in players,” he said. “Those are the big-ticket items which take up time.

“The other point here is how you grow the amount of money that you can spend on players. You can run the business more efficiently. And you can grow the top line.”

The storm has come.

Ruben Amorim predicted the storm was coming for Manchester United ahead of a key early week in his reign, and the good news for the United manager there is that he was absolutely right.

There was a callow, naive weakness to the defeat at Arsenal in midweek. Not all or even mainly Amorim’s fault, of course, but a significant reminder of the scale of the job at hand. But that was bearable. Painful, but bearable. A big part of the reason why Amorim is here in the first place is that United have fallen such a long way behind Arsenal.

It’s not a pleasant sensation for United, but nor is it a new one. Following that predictable if unpalatable defeat with this sloppy, error-strewn home beating from Nottingham Forest takes us into more serious waters for Amorim even this early.

Not a great look for any manager at any time, for instance, when his team concedes tamely within two minutes in each half. Doesn’t exactly point to a team sent out absolutely ready to go from the first minute.

They were such bad goals, too. Surely one major advantage of having three centre-backs is that it leaves simply no need to have Lisandro Martinez in an embarrassing mismatch against Nikola Milenkovic from a corner. Conceding an early goal was a bad start; conceding an early goal from a corner, after what happened at Arsenal, only made it worse.

The start of the second half produced a very weird moment from Andre Onana, who made a rare bollocks of dealing with Morgan Gibbs-White’s swerving effort. There was power and movement here, sure, but nothing that should have so thoroughly bamboozled a keeper of Onana’s standing.

Little the manager can do about that, of course, but the response to that setback from United was… not good. Chris Wood was the next man to get himself into a cheat-code aerial contest with The Butcher, with Onana’s uncertainty under the delivery and then Wood’s looping header also a bit of a worrying look.

Amorim will be learning all the time about his players, and we suppose a grudging positive from the week will be the fact there is more to be learned from adversity than the good times.

And there are crumbs here, if you really must find them. The response to Forest’s opening goal was excellent. As bad a goal as it was to concede, United responded with what would alas turn out to be their best spell of the match in the 15 minutes up to Rasmus Hojlund’s equaliser.

United struggled to maintain that intensity, though, when the game appeared there to be grasped. This is still a team, a squad, a club riddled with uncertainty about how it’s supposed to be going about things.

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A brilliantly taken Bruno Fernandes goal gave United 30 minutes plus stoppages to get something out of the game, and it is perhaps that final period that sits as the most damning. They just never really looked like they were getting anywhere.

If Bruno had not picked up a knock, his removal 15 minutes from time was puzzling. He had appeared by far United’s likeliest source of redemption.

The closest they came was a couple of speculative injury-time efforts from corners. Marcus Rashford’s strike was deflected wide, Martinez’s acrobatic volley flashed over the bar. There would have been something about the game starting and ending with such a conspicuous contribution from Martinez at a set-piece.

Instead, that defining moment was left again to Onana, who wasted several precious seconds in an argument he could not win with the referee over the specific placement of a free-kick inside his own half. It appeared clear evidence of the virtue of picking one’s battles even before Onana’s eventual lump forward produced nothing of note.

Forest, though. They’re now back up to fifth in the table. That might well be a Champions League spot when the music stops anyway, and they’re only two points behind an actual definite one.

They deserved this win just as they did their earlier eye-catching success at Anfield. Nuno Espirito Santo has orchestrated a couple of truly famous Forest wins among plenty of other successes this season. Whether the current European charge is maintained or not, Nuno and Forest have taken relegation off the table and out of the equation well before Christmas.

United have no such certainties about the viability of their season’s goals.

READ NEXT: Man City pass up Liverpool chance, Brentford go full Brentford again, Villa lucky – it’s the F365 3pm Blackout

Ukrainian athlete Andriy Mandzi won a bronze medal at the second stage of the nations luge Cup in Austria. The Ukrainian lost to German David Nossler and Slovak Josef Ninis, 0.299 seconds behind the winner.

Ukrainian athlete Andriy Mandzi won a bronze medal at the second stage of the nations luge Cup, held in Innsbruck, Austria. This result was the first medal of Ukraine in the new luge season. This is reported by the Ministry of youth and Sports, reports UNN.

Details

In the men's single sleigh competition, Andrey Mandzy finished third, losing 0.299 seconds to the winner, German David Nossler. Nossler took first place with a time of 50.894 seconds. The second was Slovak Josef Nini, who was ahead of the Ukrainian.

This medal confirms the high level of Ukrainian athletes in international luge competitions. Mandzia's performance was a good start for the Ukrainian national team.

Luge: Ukrainian duo finishes the season in first place in the Junior World Cup standingsFeb 3 2024, 01:15 PM • 29967 views

Only three Premier League games kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon is utter woke nonsense, of course, but all three had their stories to tell.

Crystal Palace 2-2 Manchester City: Guardiola’s side spurn Darragh-assisted opportunity
Nobody truly believed a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the week had magically cured all of Manchester City’s ills, but we did think there was a chance its positive impact might last more than one game.

Instead, City once again appeared bewildered and confused for a trying 90 minutes of Barclays, and were grateful in the end to depart Selhurst Park with at least something to show for it.

With Liverpool dropping points at Newcastle in midweek and seeing their short trip to Everton postponed by the effects of Storm Darragh, City had been granted an unexpected opportunity here to really eat into that lead and put something back on the leaders in a season where that really hasn’t been happening an awful lot.

But it never really felt like it would happen here. City did at least show the gumption to twice fight back from a goal down, but twice finding yourself a goal down to a team that had managed only 12 goals in the first 14 games of the season tells its own story.

Kyle Walker appears absolutely done at this level now, sadly bearing a look of constant befuddlement at the sudden, debilitating loss of the superpower pace that enabled him to be so good for so long.

Even in their current reduced state, City are still City so Palace’s disappointment will be measured by that. But they could and should have won the game against this alarmingly generous iteration of the Guardiola Machine.

Erling Haaland did at least capitalise on Salah’s blank weekend to draw level with him in the goalscoring charts, while hats off to Rico Lewis who has now scored in three consecutive Premier League games against Palace and in no Premier League games ever at all against anyone else. That’s the sort of niche statistical achievement that absolutely deserves to be celebrated with a daft late sending off.

Brentford 4-2 Newcastle: Our League’s most reliably Barclays ground delivers again
Felt reasonable to think that today’s weather conditions might make things unpredictable. That it might be that greatest of all football disruptors: the leveller.

Not a bit of it at the Gtech, though, where the match followed a pattern now so firmly established for Brentford home games that even ChatGPT might have had a decent stab at getting a few details accurate.

The key elements upon which one can rely in any Brentford home game these days are multiple,varied, but tremendously reliable. First of all, Brentford will win. That’s a given. They’ve now done so in seven of their eight home games (and none of their seven away games). Which is already a very good bit before you even get to the way they’ve gone about it.

Which is to have their games feature all of the goals. We wouldn’t be so arrogant as to believe we could correctly identify the final score of this one in advance, but we did in discussions with a colleague bravely – some might even go so far as heroically, but that’s not for us to say – narrow it down to ‘somewhere between 3-2 and 5-4’.

You’re also going to be wanting goals for Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa in your Archetypal Brentford Home Performance, naturally, and even the obligatory and vital opposition scorers – Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes – feel absolutely bang on here.

Since a rogue 1-1 draw with West Ham in September, Brentford’s Premier League home results now read: 5-3, 4-3, 3-2, 4-1, 4-2. That is a powerful run of very successful nonsense that deserves all the plaudits.

And there’s every chance it extends into the new year, too: Brentford have only one home game left this year, and that’s against Forest. Now Forest are quite good, but they do also feel distinctly 3-2able by a side that is turning this kind of thing into high art.

The first home game of 2025 is against Arsenal so yeah, good luck with that. But still. It’s world-class nonsense and we should definitely enjoy it while we can.

Brentford have now scored 26 home goals in the league this season. Twenty-six! Not only is nobody else anywhere near matching that – Arsenal and Spurs trail in next on 17 apiece – but only the top four and Spurs can better that total across the whole season to this point. Brentford have already matched their home points tally from the whole of 2023/24, and need only three more goals to level that up as well.

But Brentford aren’t done there with the nonsense, boasting as they do the second worst record in front of goal away from home.

As for Newcastle, theirs is a 24/25 season that just seems determined in its refusal to launch. The early promise of 10 points from the first four games and then the renewed hope of back-to-back wins over Arsenal and Forest have each proved the falsest of dawns. Others are much more firmly in the spotlight currently, but there remains hope yet for the Eddie Howe Sack Clamour somewhere down the line once we’ve got West Ham, Wolves and Tottenham sorted.

Aston Villa 1-0 Southampton: Villans still searching for form but Saints in no position to prosper
The surest signs that Villa were now a proper team to be treated as such arrived with a couple of 1-0 home wins almost exactly a year ago in early December 2023.

Man City were beaten at Villa Park on December 6, and Arsenal went the same way on December 9. This December 7 victory a year on doesn’t quite feel like it might have the same resonance or significance.

Villa are not the first team to find the extra challenge of Champions League competition a tough burden to carry, but we must confess to surprise at the extent of it.

Even six points from back-to-back home games this week has felt unconvincing, coming as they have against the away version of Brentford and a Southampton side just in absolutely no position mentally, technically or physically to pounce on a lethargic and leggy effort from Villa.

Southampton have had games this season where they have pointedly given it a red hot crack. They have vexed Arsenal, City and Liverpool this season. So perhaps we should be less harsh on Villa for finding their name in that exalted list. But in all those games it felt like Southampton actually did some stuff to make the game awkward for their below-par opponents; here it just felt more like Southampton happening to be the team on the receiving end of such a performance rather than active participators.

This felt more like the Southampton side from 3-0 and 5-1 defeats to Man United or Chelsea, or the one picked off so easily by a Wolves side enduring their own crisis. Hard to think Villa could possibly have emerged with three points from that performance against anyone else in the division.

But emerge they did, and they do now at least have some kind of foundation, however unconvincing and shaky, to go again over Christmas and into the new year. We all know they are much better than this.

According to reports, Liverpool have been dealt a blow as their ‘renewal offer’ to Mohamed Salah has been deemed ‘not enough’ as he is ‘demanding’ more.

Salah is one of the 20 best footballers who could become a free agent in 2025 as the Egypt international is in the final year of his contract.

It’s been reported that Salah’s ‘preference’ is to stick with Liverpool, but he has been outspoken about his future and it remains to be seen whether he will sign an extension.

Earlier this week, a report from Football Insider claimed ‘Salah and Virgil van Dijk are likely to sign new Liverpool contracts following latest talks’.

‘Trent Alexander-Arnold, however, remains 50-50 over a potential move to Real Madrid and there is less confidence about his future at Liverpool.

‘Recent performances have proven how important both Salah, 32, and Van Dijk, 33, are to Arne Slot’s side, and there are concerns about the price it would cost to replace them.

‘It has also been said that getting contract negotiations out of the way at this stage would allow everybody at the club to focus on their title challenge.’

READ: 16 Conclusions on AI-generated Everton 1-2 Liverpool: Salah, Yerry Mina and Peter Drury

Despite this, a report in Spain has shed light on the ‘renewal offer’ that will be proposed to Salah by Liverpool.

The report claims ‘Liverpool are working to ensure his continuity with a renewal offer that would include a salary of 18 million euros per year, but this ‘figure might not be enough to convince the player’.

This is because Salah is ‘asking’ for a salary of around 25 million euros per year and this ‘demand’ has given Liverpool a ‘dilemma’.

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The report explains.

‘Salah has been a model of consistency and leadership in Arne Slot’s team, but his salary demands amount to 25 million euros per year. This figure, significantly higher than what Liverpool is offering, puts him in a difficult negotiating situation.

‘Several clubs in Saudi Arabia have expressed interest in signing the Egyptian international. The offers from Saudi football not only meet Salah’s financial expectations, but also offer an ambitious project backed by multi-million-euro investments.

‘This poses a dilemma for Liverpool, who must balance their wage policy with the need to retain their star player.

‘Salah’s future could depend on Liverpool’s ability to adjust to the striker’s demands or the player’s decision to accept the challenge of a new league.

‘With the contract deadline looming ever closer, the coming weeks will be key to determining whether the Egyptian will remain a fixture at Anfield or seek new horizons away from the Premier League.’

Tyson Fury chose Russian Alexey Dronov as his sparring partner to prepare for the fight with Usyk. Dronov is a contract employee of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation and is included in the database of athletes who support the war against Ukraine.

Among the sparring partners of former United World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury, who will compete with Alexander Usyk, there is a Russian who supports the war against Ukraine, writes UNN with reference to Tribuna.

Details

One of Tyson Fury's sparring partners will be a Russian named Alexey Dronov.

It is known that among his main achievements are gold at the European Championship, the world championship and the Youth Olympics, which were won in 2018-2019. In the pros, he has a record of 4-0, 2 KOs.

And also, Alexey Dronov is in the database of athletes who support the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine from the Ministry of youth and sports of Ukraine. He is a contract employee of the Ministry of internal affairs, representing the Dynamo club.

"Dronov's affiliation with the defense sector has raised concerns and debates about his right to compete on the world stage. Critics argue that his military ties during a period of intense war run counter to the principles of fair play, sportsmanship, and the spirit of international sporting events.

Fury promised to take revenge on Usyk for postponing the fight and “ruining” ChristmasOct 28 2024, 07:25 PM • 14144 views

The decision on Dronov's future participation in international tournaments has significant implications and encourages a broader discussion about the role of athletes in promoting peace, neutrality and integrity of sports competitions in times of war. It highlights the ethical responsibilities that athletes bear and highlights the complex link between sports and politics in Russia," the website of the Ministry of youth and sports of Ukraine reports.

Usyk calls on Trump to help free Ukrainians from Russian captivityOct 25 2024, 02:58 AM • 121266 views

Recall

Ben Shalom statedthat he sees no chance for Tyson Fury to beat Usyk in a rematch. The promoter believes that in the first fight, the Ukrainian won without even showing his best boxing.

According to reports, Manchester United’s chances of signing Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies have been boosted amid interest from Real Madrid.

Canadia international Davies is one of the 20 best footballers who could become a free agent in 2025 as he is about to enter the final six months of his contract.

It has consistently been reported that Real Madrid is his most likely next destination, but Man Utd are also being linked with the talented left-back.

The Red Devils are understood to be on the market for a new left-back as they need to sign a long-term replacement for Luke Shaw, who has suffered an injury setback.

Earlier this week, a report claimed Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has submitted an ‘express wish’ to sign Davies and the Premier League giants are ‘close’ to ‘stealing the blockbuster signing’ from Real Madrid.

READ: Sancho (and Beckham) ‘true colours’ shown in pathetic Manchester United reporting

German journalist Christian Falk has provided a new update. He claims his agent – Nick Househ – is ‘angry about the way the negotiations are being conducted by Bayern Munich’.

He added: Househ had cancelled a planned trip to Munich.

“The talks were held via video session. However, Max Eberl did not participate. This surprised the Davies team.

“The Agent of Davies now wants to listen to the offers from Manchester United and Real Madrid, meetings are planned for January.”

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Last month, a report from transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed there are “several possibilities” for Davies and Man Utd “keep monitoring” him.

“As I told you, there is still no agreement done with any club. Real Madrid remain there. But for Alphonso Davies, there are several possibilities. So let’s see what’s going to happen,” Romano said.

“On Manchester United, a name I already told you last year, because Manchester United were monitoring this player, and keep monitoring this player.

“Now there is a new coach, and the new coach is Ruben Amorim. So let’s see what Amorim will decide to do for that position.

“But for Man United, first of all, in general, left-back is a priority position. So Man United want to cover that position. This summer, they decided to go with Noussair Mazraoui, this was the plan.

“So last summer, last transfer window, because they believed that Mazraoui could cover the two positions, right and left-back.

“But in 2025, Man United want to sign an important left-back to also play in a different kind of position for Ruben Amorim. He wants a top left-footed player in that position.”

Liverpool are hoping to sign Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong in 2025 with the La Liga giants open to selling, according to reports.

The Netherlands international has been heavily linked with a move to the Reds’ arch-rivals Man Utd over the last couple of years with their old manager Erik ten Hag a big fan of his compatriot.

A recent report claimed that new boss Ruben Amorim vetoed the club’s plan to press ahead with interest in De Jong as he looks for ‘a different type of player for the midfield’.

De Jong has suffered with injury during his time at Barcelona but an earlier report has claimed Liverpool see him as an ‘ideal replacement’ for Ryan Gravenberch, who is being eyed by Real Madrid.

After 224 appearances for Barcelona, it could now be time for De Jong to leave the Catalan giants with reports in Spain claiming that the La Liga side ‘need to get rid’ of the midfielder in 2025.

Otherwise Barcelona face ‘an incredible risk of seeing him pack his bags the following year’ which would mean De Jong leaving on a free transfer and not ‘leaving a single euro in the coffers’ at the Camp Nou.

That is a scenario that Barcelona president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco ‘want to avoid at all costs’ after spending around €85m on signing him from Ajax almost six years ago.

De Jong is the ‘highest paid player in the dressing room, along with Robert Lewandowski’ and they ‘have long since decided to try to sell’ the 27-year-old.

Liverpool ‘want to sign’ the Netherlands international and have made an ‘offer’ of €40m (£33m) with Liverpool ‘looking to take advantage of their current situation to secure his services for a ridiculous amount’.

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Arne Slot, who has made an incredible start to life as new Liverpool boss, ‘has advised the board to try to sign’ De Jong as the Reds look to grab a ‘bargain’ ahead of the January transfer window.

Liverpool are ‘not willing to do anything crazy’ with their offer ‘a low-cost proposal of 30 million fixed and 10 million in variables, which they hope will convince Laporta and Deco to let Frenkie go.’

The Reds are currently seven points ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League table and lead defending champions Manchester City by nine points.

And former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant reckons Slot’s side are benefitting from being less dependant on one player like Man City with Rodri.

Pennant told Mega Dice: “Liverpool aren’t as dependant on one player as Manchester City are with Rodri. I don’t think if Liverpool were to lose Ryan Gravenberch to injury at any point that it would be too costly to their season.

“We saw it against Newcastle, Dominic Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister filled in for him when he was taken off and can perform well in that position and do a job, and there was a little burst of energy in the middle of the park.

“If they did lose him to injury it would hurt, of course, because what he’s been doing this season has been fantastic and he does help Liverpool get out of trouble. Liverpool are proven without him, though, so it certainly wouldn’t be as detrimental as we’ve seen the loss of Rodri has been to City.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has convinced the family of Barcelona starlet Arnau Pradas to move to England ahead of a transfer, according to reports.

The Gunners bounced back from a run of four winless Premier League matches to defeat Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Manchester United in their last three league fixtures.

That has got them back on track a bit, although leaders Liverpool are seven points ahead of the Gunners and Chelsea, and Arteta will be hoping his side push on in the festive period as they look to close the gap on Arne Slot’s side.

Arsenal have six fixtures in all competitions until the January transfer window opens but it seems Arteta and the north London club are already planning for business.

Reports in Spain claim that Arsenal are ‘very close to signing’ Barcelona youngster Pradas after Arteta ‘convinces [his] family to swap’ Barcelona for north London.

Gunners boss Arteta ‘has personally contacted a pearl of La Masia to convince him not to renew his contract, and start a new adventure in London, where he promises that he will be in dynamic with the first team, and could be an important piece’.

Barcelona have been ‘working’ on a new contract for the young winger, who is yet to make his senior debut for the Catalan giants, but it seems that the La Liga side have ‘already lost the fight’.

Arsenal are ‘very close to being able to reach an agreement’ with Pradas after Arteta has ‘convinced with a very interesting and almost irresistible economic and sporting proposal.’

Pradas is ‘aware that it will be very difficult for him to play in the Barca first team in the short term’ and now ‘everything indicates that he will end up at the Emirates Stadium’.

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Arsenal travel to London rivals Fulham on Sunday with former Gunners midfielder Paul Merson claiming that Arteta’s men will win at Craven Cottage.

Merson told Sportskeeda: “It all depends on what happens with Fulham tonight. If they beat Brighton, they will cause problems to Arsenal. But if they lose, they will be in trouble against the Gunners.

“Fulham are a decent team but I just think Arsenal are on an incredible run and it will be tough to stop them. Let’s not forget that Arsenal lost this fixture last season and that eventually led to them losing the Premier League title so they will be very careful.

“Liverpool also have the advantage of playing early this weekend and that puts pressure on Arsenal. You play first and if you get all three points, then it’s a different challenge for the teams chasing you. So this is still a really difficult game.

“Arsenal can definitely put pressure on Liverpool. If you look at the fixtures, Arsenal have had a really tough start. It’s almost been unkind to them! Now they will play some fixtures that are 100 percent winnable and if they manage to secure seven or eight victories on the trot, they will close that gap with Liverpool.

“I can’t help but admire what Arsenal have done with their set-pieces. They always look like they will score and it’s absolutely amazing. You watch other teams’ set-pieces and they swing it in but the goalkeeper comes out and catches it easily. Arsenal send in each corner with so much power and it gives the goalkeepers no chance, that strategy is working so well for them. Prediction: Fulham 1-2 Arsenal.”