STRONG AT THE TOP?
After playing 90 largely uneventful minutes last Sunday, which left the fans, managers and players of both teams largely satisfied and everyone else who witnessed it complaining about how tedious the whole affair had been, Manchester City and Arsenal are both back in action. Fortunately for those without a Greyhound in the Premier League title race, they are playing different teams rather than each other, so we can probably expect Arsenal to be considerably less reserved in their approach to their match against Luton in the Emirates. While a loss to the Hatters just a few days after leaving the Etihad with a potentially priceless point would be top Arsenal, that team belongs to an era before Mikel Arteta took over and solidified the backbone of a squad that had previously been jelly .
Apart from the several times they have failed to do so, Luton have proven that they can give even the most elite of Premier League sides a decent game, but on this occasion, the occasion of their first visit to Arsenal for 33 years, you suspect that they could get a chance. a mauling of footballers freed from their chains after being forced to play unusually defensively last time. While it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Arsenal were to run amok and subject plucky warriors Luton to a thrashing, the hope is that their players won’t upset the party police by hitting each other too hard or too often at the final whistle. to give a high five. .
Related: Mikel Arteta admits he has put aside Arsenal ‘ideology’ to face Manchester City
On paper, Manchester City face a much tougher task as they host a side that has already beaten them this season, in an encounter where the 1-0 scoreline did serious injustice to Aston Villa’s near-total dominance over the reigning champions. Pep Guardiola has not only defended Erling Haaland against Roy Keane’s accusations that some aspects of the Norwegian striker’s game would be more suited to Mansfield Town than Manchester City, but has also had to defend himself against criticism that the very public dressing down that he gave to Jack Grealish in the aftermath of Sunday’s standoff was for the benefit of the TV cameras. “I am the famous person of this team,” he told reporters, applying sarcasm liberally with a ladle from the training ground kitchen. “I need the cameras for my ego, so I can go to sleep with incredible satisfaction. I always try to criticize the players so I can let them know how bad they are; especially when Erling scores three goals, I deserve the compliments.”
With his side now two points clear of the Premier League summit, Jürgen Klopp will be watching with interest the events at the Emirates and Etihad stadiums ahead of his Liverpool side’s victory over Sheffield United in the top-versus-bottom Thursday’s match. . At least that’s what you would think. “I didn’t even know they were playing tonight,” he said, demonstrating the meticulous attention to detail that has made him one of the world’s greatest managers. “That’s actually not my topic. I expect them to always win. That’s not possible when they play against each other, but now they don’t do that anymore, so I expect them to always win.” When asked whether he would consider resting players against the Blades with Sunday’s match against Manchester United in mind, Klopp’s answer could hardly have been more blunt. “Sheffield United deserve and will get our full respect,” he said with the seriousness of a man who would never dream of eating a sandwich in front of Chris Wilder, no matter how hungry he was.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Michael Butler (BST) at 7.30pm for updates on Arsenal 3-0 Luton, while Taha Hashim will be on hand for Manchester City 1-1 Aston Villa at 8.15pm.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I agree with [hacks] on body language. We see it for ourselves from the start of the game. We are Chelsea, but we have to behave like Chelsea, we have to behave as if we want to belong to a big club. We can’t be a practice team that plays football for enjoyment. We have to compete. That’s why I was angry and disappointed after Burnley. We tried to create chances, but then we have to run. Why? Because we are Chelsea. On the hunt for the Burnley [player] as if they were a Manchester United player, or a Real Madrid player.” Mauricio Pochettino continues to make a change in his many awkward pre-match press conferences this season. If only a few of his players could follow suit.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Now that Craig Bellamy is (apparently) sensible, perhaps we can scale up Vincent Kompany’s gray cells and continue with the sensible goalkeeper. No offense, Mr. Trafford, but to paraphrase Ruby and the Romantics: Our Day Will Come. Yes, I know the Amy Winehouse version has only been around for living memory, but I was at Turf Moor in 1956, soggy and crazy. My day, and that of The Clarets, has passed many times over. Many, Many Times (copyright Round The Horne)” –Bruce Ellis.
So poor old noble Francis doesn’t win a priceless letter of the day, despite submitting a bad pun, a Star Wars reference and a cheap pop to Man City fans, and zero competition. Were you jealous that he had accomplished in three sentences everything you tried (and failed) in a week?” –Andrew Pechey.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our priceless letter of the day is… Noble Franciscus.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the Football Weekly pod team as they reminisce about Tuesday night’s action.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Spanish police have arrested disgraced former football federation president Luis Rubiales on his return to the country amid an ongoing corruption investigation.
Getafe has been ordered by the Spanish Football Federation to partially close its central stand for three matches following the racist and xenophobic abuse suffered by Sevilla manager Quique Sánchez Flores and player Marcos Acuña in Saturday’s La Liga match.
Spurs chief prosecutor Daniel Levy says he is in talks with potential investors to “capitalize our long-term potential” after the club posted a total loss of £86.8m despite a rise in revenues.
They may have lost Alexis Mac Allister, Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella, but the sales of those three – as well as the Topcashback proceeds from Graham Potter leaving for Chelsea – helped Brighton make a profit of £122.8 million.
Erik ten Hag suffered defensive gloom with the news that Lisandro Martínez and Victor Lindelöf will be out for a month with calf and hamstring knocks respectively… but then came the hurray at Carrington as Raphaël Varane and Jonny Evans returned to training for Thursday’s trip to Chelsea .
Vincent Kompany has been hit with a misconduct charge for his protests against Lorenz Assignon’s penalty-causing second booking in Burnley’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday. He himself received a red card from referee Darren England at the time.
Trabzonspor have been ordered to play six matches behind closed doors after violence broke out following last month’s Turkish Super Lig defeat to Fenerbahce.
Jarrod Bowen wants to become the first West Ham player to score twenty Premier League goals in a season. He is behind Paolo Di Canio’s club best of 16 from 1999-2000. After West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Spurs, in which he missed his best chance to match the shifty, bristling Italian, he honked: “I just want to keep doing what I’m doing.”
And Norwich have agreed a three-year ‘strategic partnership’ with Indian Super League club Chennaiyin, a two-way stop for former Manchester City midfielder Elano. Hey, let’s build “a mutually beneficial and culturally authentic partnership,” said Norwich suit Sam Jeffery. “This is far from just a marketing ploy,” sniffed his colleague from Chennaiyin, Ekansh Gupta.
HARTEN-BRÜCKEN
The miracle of the German Cup should not be like this. Lowly Saarbrücken’s fairytale run to the semi-finals came to an end against party-poopers Kaiserslautern on Tuesday evening, with the second-tier strugglers beating their third-tier neighbors 2-0 in a match that prompted a goalkeeping howl from Tim Schreiber. But he was in favor of it: ‘It’s a ball that I could normally catch in my sleep. I wanted to pick up the ball and then I felt it go through my legs,” he cried. “Of course, unfortunately it is like a knife in the heart.” However, his manager, Rüdiger Ziehl, supported him. “We win together, we lose together. He has saved us many times. He knows it himself.” Cheer up, Tim. There’s always next year.
DO YOU WANT MORE?
“I have been very patient. I went out on loan last year and got some experience, and I’ve been able to come back and finally get the chance to show something about me” – Manchester City midfielder Jess Park on working hard for her Lionesses opportunity.
Vietnam may still be pining for Park Hang-seo’s pragmatism as Indonesia looks livelier than the two teams in the qualifying race for the 2026 World Cup spots, John Duerden reports.
A history of marriage proposals during the match, plus managers who took charge of every club they ever played for. Because Wednesdays are Knowledge Days.
MEMORY LONG
On this day in 1996: it was Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle. If you want to relive a Premier League classic, this minute-by-minute retro report is well worth it.