ARSENAL took the North London bragging rights as they tore Tottenham apart in a 3-1 win at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsey could be on his way out of Juventus with SunSport revealing that the club are ready to let the Welshman go to get his hefty wages off the books.
And Lionel Messi is out of action for PSG with a short-term knee injury.
The Argentina star, who has had a tough start to life in Paris, will miss the trip to Metz but could also be unavailable for their Champions League clash with Manchester City.
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FERNAN-MESS
Gary Neville had some harsh words for Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes after he issued a statement for his penalty miss against Aston Villa.
Fernandes’ miss cost United getting a draw in the Villa game and the midfielder penned an apology to the Old Trafford faithful claiming he’ll do better in future.
But Neville wasn’t amused with the Portuguese playmaker’s statement which he felt lacked authenticity.
The pundit thinks that Fernandes, along with other Premier League stars need to put some heart into their messages to fans or don’t say anything at all, especially not through their PR teams.
When asked by a fan his thoughts on what Fernandes said on Twitter, Neville wrote: “It’s embarrassing!
“They [players] need to sack their PR people, speak with some authenticity and get on with it. I’m going to go big on this in the next few weeks.”
TROPHY SAK
Bukayo Saka thinks Arsenal’s win over Tottenham yesterday can spur them on to win trophies.
The 20-year-old reckons if he and his Gunners teammates can continue in the same vein of form that saw them wallop Spurs 3-1, then a trophy haul is inevitable.
Speaking after the game, he said: “We can achieve anything, no matter what age. With age comes experience but we have a lot of experience in this squad anyway which helps us.
“We have a lot of quality and enough experience to achieve a lot. We’re going to take it game by game but if we play like this we have enough quality to win trophies.”
‘MIND OVER MATTER’
Adventurer Ben Fogle has revealed he has been working with Liverpool in their quest to regain their Premier League crown.
Sharing the story on Instagram, Fogle wrote: “One of the most fascinating jobs I have ever done was to work with Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool squad.
“I helped them with their mind control and mental agility under pressure through the context of my own expeditions and adventure.
“Already great footballers, the challenge was how to keep on top of their game when it is not one single mountain, but a whole mountain range that you have to climb each season.
“Consistency in the face of expectation and pressure.”
MARC HIS WORDS
Liverpool are preparing to lodge a £34million for Marco Asensio.
According to El Nacional, Real Madrid are eager to free up funds to facilitate moves for Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
And part of that involves moving Asensio on, despite the attacker scoring three La Liga goals already this season.
The Spanish international was linked with a move to Arsenal in the summer, but instead Mikel Arteta’s side opted to sign Asensio’s Real Madrid teammate Martin Odegaard.
But now the Spaniard could also be on his way to the Premier League, with Liverpool eyeing a possible swoop.
Credit: Getty DONN’T BE SILLY
Gianluigi Donnarumma has confirmed he is ‘happy’ to be at PSG.
The Italian goalkeeper only joined the club in the summer, but after failing to dislodge Keylor Navas as first choice between the sticks rumours had began to swirl that the 22-year-old was keen on a move.
However according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano the rumours are false.
He tweeted: “Donnarumma is understood to be ‘happy’ in Paris despite rumours.
“He expected to have competition with Navas and he’s respecting Keylor – but he knows that PSG is banking on him for the future.
“‘Donnarumma will be PSG starter GK, no doubt’ – Raiola said one week ago.”
Credit: Reuters MOST VALUABLE SQUADS
Here’s a look at the most valuable squads in the Premier League, according to transfermarkt.
And the top four teams on the list currently occupy the top four spots in the Premier League, albeit in a different order.
Liverpool are top of the table as it stands, ahead of Manchester City and Manchester United.
But Brighton, who’s squad value is more than four times less than Manchester City, have the chance to go TOP of the Premier League tonight.
A win for Graham Potter’s side against bitter rivals Crystal Palace will see the Seagulls top the table after six games.
WAT A MOVE
Tottenham are reportedly eyeing a deal for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
According to Fichajes, the former Exeter and Brentford man is a target for Spurs as they look to bolster their attacking options, with Harry Kane enduring a difficult start to the season.
The 25-year-old has been referred to as a ‘top target,’ regardless of whether Harry Kane leaves the North London club.
Watkins has impressed since his club record £28million move to the West Midlands a year ago, scoring 14 Premier League goals for the Villains last season.
Credit: Getty PS-GLUM
The standout fixture in this weekend’s Champions League clashes is unquestionably the tie between Manchester City and PSG.
It’s the sixth time the two sides have met, with the French side still looking for their first win in this fixture (D2 L3).
Only against Juventus (8) have Les Parisiens played more games in European competition without winning.
They have also have failed to keep a clean sheet in all four of their meetings with Manchester City in the Champions League.
Only against AC Milan have they played as many games without managing a clean sheet in the European Cup/Champions League (also four).
WRIGHT TALK
Former Arsenal man Ian Wright has given Martin Odegaard a glowing review after the Norwegian summer signing put in another impressive performance in Sunday’s North London derby.
He said: “It’s a not a case of how exciting he can be, it’s more a case of what we know he can do.
“He picks up brilliant positions and he just controls the tempo of the game, constantly getting himself in the box.”
Wright went on to say: “He’s very calm, he’s very composed. It’s the quality now it’s more than just hoping to play the ball to Kieran Tierney.
“We can keep the ball in areas where we can actually hurt teams. He’s the kind of midfielder that is going to be invaluable to us.”
KANE UNABLE
Harry Kane shocking stats against Arsenal reveal just how much the Tottenham striker is struggling after his failed Manchester City transfer.
The striker, 28, mustered just five shots, only one of which hit the target and missed one ‘big chance’, according to Opta – when he poked wide just after the hour mark.
As well as failing to score, Kane did not create a single chance, register any dribbles or grab an assist.
He managed just 25 touches across the 90 minutes, completed five of his 11 passes – 46 per cent completion – and strayed offside twice.
The Tottenham No10 also lost possession a whopping 11 times and won 20 per cent of his ground duels and 33 per cent of those in the air.
RIGHT OR RON
Cristiano Ronaldo is in line to take Manchester United’s next penalty following Bruno Fernandes’ howler against Aston Villa – despite having a WORSE record.
In league competition since the start of the 2017-18 season, Ronaldo has taken 31 penalties during spells at Real madrid, Juventus and now United.
Ronaldo has converted 26 of those, missing just five for a success rate of 83.9 per cent.
Interesting, he recently missed a penalty for Portugal during their 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland, with Fernandes also on the pitch at the time.
During his days at Sporting Lisbon and Man Utd, Fernandes has scored 25 of his 27 penalty efforts – a conversion rate of 92.6 per cent.
However, both of Fernandes’ misses have come at United, including his weekend howler against Villa, making his Premier League record nine out of 11 (81.8 per cent).
MAKING AMENDS
Piers Morgan made peace with Arsenal star Aaron Ramsdale on Sunday after the goalkeeper previously called him an ‘absolute w*‘.
The TV presenter posted a hilarious tweet after the Gunners stopper shone during his side’s North London derby win over Tottenham at the Emirates.
Morgan, 56, uploaded a screen shot of Ramsdale’s 2014 tweet alongside a photo of them laughing together after Sunday’s win.
And he wrote: “How it started vs how it’s going…”
Ramsdale was 15 at the time of his abusive tweet and still with Sheffield United’s youth academy.
But Morgan managed to see the funny side after his beloved Arsenal beat their bitter rivals 3-1 with the help of the former Bournemouth man.
39TH PAIN
Premier League bosses are once again discussing the potential for matches to be played abroad, according to reports.
The concept of a ’39th game’ was raised back in 2008, before being quickly shut down following fan discontent.
But the lucrative possibilities for playing league matches in front of full stadiums abroad remains and The Athletic have detailed discussions between club officials over reviving the idea.
Last week’s shareholder meeting in London, between representatives of all 20 clubs and the Prem, reportedly saw the concept mentioned.
There is said to be hope in some quarters that ‘meaningful’ matches can be played overseas in the long-term.
For now, that is set to commence with a bulked-out pre-season tournament in the United States next summer.
POCH’S PREPARATION
Mauricio Pochettino believes his PSG side have had the ‘perfect preparation’ ahead of their Champions League showdown against Manchester City on Tuesday.
Speaking after PSG’s 2-0 win against Montpellier on Saturday, the former Spurs boss said: “I don’t know if it’s the perfect night but it’s a good night with these three points won.
“Eight wins in eight matches.
“It’s a good way to prepare for Manchester City’s visit in a competition, the Champions League, which is very important for the club and against a very strong opponent.”
‘WTF?!’
Football fans were left in stitches after a video emerged of Cesar Azpilicueta mounting Jack Grealish and supporters compared to a FIFA glitch.
The comical incident occurred during Manchester City’s 1-0 win at Chelsea on Saturday.
Once the footage surfaced, fans were quick to compare it to the famous video game.
One described the incident as a ‘FIFA glitch’.
Fillip wrote: “Looks like Azpilicueta wants to have angry make up s*x with Grealish.”
And several simply asked: “WTF is that?!”
Credit: Twitter
RASH UPDATE
Marcus Rashford has taken to Twitter to provide Manchester United fans a welcome start of the week update.
The 23-year-old has not featured for the Red Devils yet this season after undergoing shoulder surgery following England’s Euro 2020 campaign.
And the forward has been snapped back in training with United, but is yet to step it up to involving contact.
However, he tweeted this morning: “Happy Monday. I see the doctor on Friday for a consultation.
“All being well, I will get the green to join in with contact training again.”
THREE IN A ROW?
Brighton have won both of their Premier League away games so far this season.
The Seagulls have never won three in a row on the road in the top-flight before, but can change that record tonight.
In fact, only three times have they ever won each of their first three away league games in a single season (1953-54, 1957-58 and 2011-12).
XHAK-ED OFF
Mikel Arteta admitted he was ‘pretty worried’ after Granit Xhaka limped out of Arsenal’s 3-1 drubbing of Spurs.
The Switzerland international, 28, suffered a heavy knock late on during the Gunners’ big North London derby win.
Speaking after the match, Arteta said: “Unfortunately he got injury and I’m pretty worried because it doesn’t look very positive at the moment.”
He is now a doubt for Arsenal’s next Premier League game against Brighton at the Amex on Saturday evening.
Credit: AFP MONDAY BLUES
Crystal Palace and Brighton face off tonight in South London in what promised to be a hotly contested clash between two bitter rivals.
Although neither side have great records when it comes to playing football on a Monday.
Crystal Palace have won just one of their last 12 Premier League matches played on a Monday (D3 L8), though this victory did come against Brighton (2-1 in February).
Meanwhile, Brighton are winless in all 10 of their Premier League games played on a Monday (D7 L3).
WERN’T FOR ME
Timo Werner wanted to join Manchester United over Chelsea and Liverpool before his £53million move to Stamford Bridge last summer.
That is according to evidence in a German court case between Werner’s agent Karl-Heinz Forster and his former associate Murat Lokurlu.
A ‘million-dollar- dispute is ongoing between the two men, as reported by Bild.
In WhatsApp messages from 2019, Werner reportedly told Lokurlu United were his ‘favourites’ with Chelsea named as ‘great alternatives’.
United, Chelsea and Liverpool are all said to have been in for Werner in 2019.
The Red Devils are said to have sent a proposal to Lokurlu via WhatsApp to which he replied: “We’ll see.”
Liverpool also reportedly submitted a concrete offer with a ‘secret meeting’ said to have taken place between Werner and the Reds.
Credit: Getty RON RECORD
In typically Cristiano Ronaldo fashion CR7 has quite the record against Wednesday’s opponents Villarreal.
In fifteen La Liga appearances against the Yellow Submarine for Real Madrid, Ronaldo has THIRTEEN goals.
The 36-year-old also chipped in with five assists against Villarreal during his time with Los Blancos.
But Ronaldo has also played against Villarreal four times as a United player – twice in 2005 and twice in 2008 during the Champions League group stages.
And he didn’t manage a single goal or assist in any of those games…
Interesting.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW
The Champions League returns on tomorrow night, with some mouthwatering games set to take place.
Manchester City and Liverpool are the English teams in action tomorrow, with Chelsea and Manchester United taking to the field on Wednesday.
- PSG vs Manchester City (Tues 8pm)
- Porto vs Liverpool (Tues 8pm)
- Juventus vs Chelsea (Weds 8pm)
- Manchester United vs Villarreal (Weds 8pm)
AS IT STANDS
Here’s a look at the live Premier League table.
Brighton can go TOP with victory at Selhurst Park tonight.
WEEKEND’S SCORES
In case you were too busy watching the Ryder Cup this weekend, here’s a reminder of what happened in the Premier League.
- Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City
- Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa
- Everton 2-0 Norwich
- Leeds 1-2 West Ham
- Leicester 2-2 Burnley
- Watford 1-1 Newcastle
- Brentford 3-3 Liverpool
- Southampton 0-1 Wolves
- Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham
- Crystal Palace vs Brighton (8pm)
SEAGULL STRUGGLES
However, Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last four league meetings with Brighton (W2 D2).
Both victories in that run though have come away from home, with tonight’s game being played at Selhurst Park.
And Brighton have won just one of their last seven away games against Crystal Palace in all competitions (D4 L2), though they are unbeaten in their last three at Selhurst Park.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
