OPINION: WHY MANCHESTER CITY’S RECENT SLUMP IS HANDING ARSENAL THE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE
Chelsea’s late draw at Man City leaves Arsenal clear at the top. Explore the fallout for Liverpool, Man Utd, and the title race.
Chelsea did Arsenal a big favor in the title race, with Enzo Fernandez smashing in a stoppage-time equalizer that kept Manchester City from closing the gap at the top. City took the lead in the first half through Tijjani Reijnders and looked set to pick up three points, but Fernandez stepped up and grabbed a late 1-1 draw for Chelsea—just three days after they sacked Enzo Maresca.
That late goal, on a freezing night at the Etihad, means Arsenal finish the busy holiday stretch six points clear. They’ve collected 48 points from 20 games, while City and Aston Villa sit on 42.
Draws were the theme of the day. Liverpool stretched their unbeaten run to eight league games, but they let in yet another late goal and had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Fulham. Cody Gakpo looked like he’d won it for Liverpool deep into stoppage time. Then Harrison Reed unleashed a 30-meter rocket in the 97th minute to snatch a point for Fulham.
City are still fourth with 34 points, just three ahead of both Chelsea and Manchester United. United had Matheus Cunha to thank for a point after his equalizer earned them a 1-1 draw at Leeds.
Pep Guardiola’s City had built up pressure on Arsenal with six straight wins and were right on their heels at Christmas, but they’ve lost momentum with back-to-back draws—first at Sunderland, now at home against Chelsea.
As for Liverpool, their title hopes are all but done. Their habit of conceding late goals is starting to threaten even their top-four chances. They went behind to Harry Wilson’s early strike at Craven Cottage, but Florian Wirtz—who’s finally finding his feet at Liverpool—leveled things up. Gakpo’s late goal looked like a winner, but then Reed stunned them with his screamer. Liverpool have made a habit of letting in late goals: they did it against Crystal Palace and Chelsea in October and again at Leeds last month. Arne Slot summed it up: “Unfortunately, I’ve been experiencing this for months now.”
Manchester United under Ruben Amorim have only lost two of their last 14 league games, but too many draws against weaker sides are holding them back. After Tuesday’s embarrassing draw at home to bottom club Wolves, they dropped more points at Leeds and were lucky to escape with a draw after Brenden Aaronson put Leeds ahead. Cunha’s equalizer—just his fourth since his £62.5m move from Wolves—rescued a point, but it did nothing to lift the mood around Amorim, whose job security is still a talking point.
Tottenham’s home struggles continued with a 1-1 draw against Sunderland, piling more pressure on Thomas Frank. Ben Davies thought he’d delivered a rare home win, but Brian Brobbey powered in an 80th-minute equalizer.
Newcastle finally found some form as captain Bruno Guimaraes headed them in front against Crystal Palace, and Malick Thiaw sealed a 2-0 win that nudged Eddie Howe’s side into the top half.
The Premier League keeps rolling with a full slate of midweek games: Arsenal hosts Liverpool on Thursday, and City takes on Brighton on Wednesday.
BRUNO SALTOR OFFICIALLY JOINS TOTTENHAM AS ASSISTANT COACH FOR THE NORTH LONDON DERBY
Tottenham appoints Bruno Saltor! Discover the new coaching team under Igor Tudor and the departures following Thomas Frank's exit.
Tottenham Hotspur just shook up their coaching staff, bringing in Bruno Saltor, a guy who’s worked with Chelsea and West Ham in the past.
Saltor’s stepping in alongside interim boss Igor Tudor until the season wraps up. Spurs let go of Thomas Frank earlier this month, and, like Manchester United, they’ve decided to go with a temporary setup for now and figure out the bigger picture in the summer.
Tudor, who’s managed clubs like Marseille, Lazio, and Juventus, is set to take charge for the first time this weekend in the North London derby against Arsenal. Saltor will be in the dugout for his first Spurs match, too.
If you’ve followed Saltor’s career, you might know he’s often worked with Graham Potter. That’s how he ended up at both Chelsea and West Ham. When Potter left Chelsea in 2023, Saltor took over as interim head coach. His one match in charge ended in a 0-0 draw with Liverpool. Frank Lampard replaced him soon after, and Saltor stayed on as part of the coaching staff until Mauricio Pochettino arrived, at which point he moved on. He later reunited with Potter at West Ham but left when Potter did in September.
Tottenham’s official statement confirmed the news: “Following the arrival of Igor Tudor as Head Coach until the end of the season, we can now confirm the appointment of three additional coaches to our Men’s First Team coaching staff. We welcome Bruno Saltor as Igor's assistant coach." Born in El Masnou, Spain, Saltor started his playing career in his home country before joining Brighton in 2012. He made 235 appearances there over seven years, then moved into coaching with the Seagulls after retiring in 2019. Since then, he’s picked up experience at Chelsea and West Ham.
Along with Saltor’s appointment, Spurs also announced some departures. Justin Cochrane, John Heitinga, and Chris Haslam are all leaving the coaching staff after Frank’s exit. The club thanked them for their efforts and wished them well.
GLASNER OUT? CRYSTAL PALACE CONSIDERING IMMEDIATE EXIT FOR BOSS AFTER DISMAL EUROPEAN DRAW
Oliver Glasner’s exit is imminent! Discover why Robbie Keane has emerged as the favorite to lead Crystal Palace out of crisis.
Oliver Glasner was supposed to stick around at Crystal Palace until the end of the season. That was the plan, anyway. But after another rough run of results, his exit could come a lot sooner.
Thursday night in Bosnia should’ve been nothing special, just a routine first leg against a team Palace should handle easily, with the real test back at Selhurst Park next week. Instead, a 1-1 draw against Zrinjski Mostar turned into another mess in a season that’s gotten uglier by the week for Glasner and Palace.
The travelling fans didn’t hide how they felt.
Palace have only managed one win in their last 15 games. That’s not a blip; it’s a full-on collapse, and it looks like Glasner’s time might be up even faster than everyone thought.
People at the top of the club have started openly asking if letting Glasner finish out his contract is actually hurting more than helping. He said back in January that he’d leave when his deal was up in the summer, but with results falling off a cliff and morale at rock bottom, those discussions have picked up speed.
Word is, Palace have already started looking for Glasner’s replacement, planning for a summer hire. But now, it looks like they might bring in his successor right away.
One name has shot straight to the top of the list: Robbie Keane.
TalkSPORT’s Alex Crook says Palace are considering Keane as a short-term fix if Glasner goes before the season ends. Keane’s reputation has soared lately. He won the Israeli Premier League with Maccabi Tel Aviv, then took the Hungarian league title in his first season at Ferencváros.
His win rate at Maccabi was over 73 per cent. He’s also done time as an assistant coach at Leeds and Middlesbrough. People who’ve played for him, like Ireland’s Callum O’Dowda, rave about him. O’Dowda said, “As soon as he opens his mouth, you want to listen. It’s phenomenal, really. On the coaching side,e he has been good.”
For now, Keane is still in charge at Ferencvaros, who are still in the Europa League, so prying him away won’t be simple.
Palace sit 13th in the Premier League, eight points clear of the relegation zone, but that gap feels less safe with every week they fail to win.
Tottenham even considered Keane as an interim manager before they went with Igor Tudor.