Stories By Graham Ruthven
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Sport
Arsenal title challenge is already hanging in the balance.
If Arsenal miss out on the Premier League title once more this season, they might look back at Sunday’s defeat to Bournemouth as a moment that ultimately cost them. There’s still a long way to go in the 2024/25 campaign, and the Gunners have time to bounce back, but the 2-0 defeat on the south coast felt damaging beyond the loss of just three points.
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Sport
Upcoming fixtures will prove if Slot’s reds are the real deal
No Liverpool manager had won eight of his first nine fixtures as manager until Arne Slot. The Reds went one better by winning a ninth match out of 10 against Crystal Palace before the international break, underlining Slot’s record-breaking start at Anfield.
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Sport
When will Thomas Frank receive credit for his Brentford success?
Brentford released a clip of Thomas Frank speaking to his players after the thrilling 5-3 win over Wolves on Saturday. The Dane was clearly very pleased with the performance of his team. Frank’s natural authority inside the dressing room was also obvious as every player in front of him listened closely.
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Sport
Riccardo Calafiori has given Arsenal’s attack another dimension.
Mikel Arteta sees full backs in a different way to most managers. While most players in this position are charged with getting up and down the wing, possibly putting in a cross and making a tackle every so often, Arsenal’s full backs are key to their creativity as a team.
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Sport
Villa’s clash with Bayern will highlight how far they have come
Villa Park will host a Champions League match for the first time on Wednesday. Aston Villa might have won the European Cup in 1982, but continental football has completely changed since then. This week’s fixture against Bayern Munich will symbolise how far Villa have come in a short space of time as Unai Emery’s team seeks to establish itself at the elite level.
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Sport
Nwaneri is the creative spark Arsenal need in Odegaard’s absence
It didn’t take long for Ethan Nwaneri to justify the hype around him. Within seconds of his introduction off the bench against Leicester City on Saturday, the 17-year-old was driving Arsenal forward to a dramatic victory secured by two stoppage time goals.
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Sport
Solanke’s first Spurs goal – the turning point for Postecoglou?
Dominic Solanke was Tottenham Hotspur’s biggest signing of the summer. This was reflected in the £60m fee the North London club paid to land him from Bournemouth, but also in the role he was signed to play.
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Sport
Duran is now the best back-up striker in the Premier League
Most strikers who score four goals off the bench in just five games would be banging down the manager’s door to start. Jhon Duran, however, is currently proving himself as the best back-up striker in world football for Aston Villa with the Colombian on an incredible hot streak that included a strike in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Wolves.
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Sport
The Champions League’s new format may create greater upsets
The new Champions League format will take some getting used to. It is, whichever way it is viewed, more complex. The old format, which had been used for the past two decades, was easy to understand. This new format, however, requires some thought.
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Sport
Is Mbappe’s presence a hindrance?
Kylian Mbappe’s summer move to Real Madrid was a number of years in the making. The French forward had been on Los Blancos’ radar since his teenage years and so there was an element of inevitability to Mbappe signing for Real Madrid.
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Sport
North London Derby can kick-start Tottenham’s season
This time last year, Tottenham Hotspur were flying. They won two of their three fixtures to open the 2023/24 Premier League season and would embark on a run that saw the North London side win eight of their first 10 games under new manager Ange Postecoglou.
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