Sports

By David Hytner, at the Etihad Stadium, and John Menzies, at Balaidos It was all about which of these rivals could capitalise on Arsenal’s draw at Sunderland on Saturday, who could make a statement about their intention to chase down the Premier League leaders? It was Manchester City who cleared their throats and made it plain that they are in this race for the long haul. Liverpool barely got a word in. The table looks a lot more appealing for Pep Guardiola and his players now, City only four points behind Arsenal, and it was an occasion when they blew…

By Jacob Steinberg, at Stamford Bridge & Miles Starforth, at the Stadium of Light Relegation beckons when all it takes to undo 51 minutes of hard graft is a full-back without a goal in 165 games for club and country popping up to break the deadlock. This is the reality for Wolves now. They are in a miserable state, so much so that it is hard to see why Rob Edwards is prepared to leave Middlesbrough to take the vacancy at Molineux, and they looked utterly bereft of fight as Chelsea handed them their ninth defeat of the season, Saturday…

After yet another relatively quiet night at the office, David Raya sprang into action. As soon as the referee pointed to the spot at Slavia Prague on Tuesday, Arsenal’s goalkeeper sprinted to the touchline to confer with the coach Iñaki Caña in a routine that began when the pair first worked together at Brentford. No matter that Arsenal were cruising at 3-0 up with five minutes remaining and on their way to a 10th straight victory – Raya was on the verge of creating history if he could save the penalty and keep the team’s eighth successive clean sheet. In…

The João Pedro-Delap Collaboration João Pedro and Liam Delap have not had much time to form an understanding. They started together when Chelsea visited West Ham in their second game of the season but the partnership was disrupted when Delap injured a hamstring against Fulham a week later. The striker was out for two months and then foolhardy when he returned to action, stupidly getting himself sent off when Chelsea won at Molineux in the Carabao Cup last week. However, Enzo Maresca has both forwards available for his side’s league game against Wolves on Saturday. Delap came off the bench…

*Barca Hold Club Brugge In 6-Goal Thriller *Foden Helps Man City Destroy Dortmund Chelsea’s precision is nowhere to be seen when Enzo Maresca rings the changes. Chaos tends to set in whenever the Italian tries to freshen things up by making use of a deep but raw squad and he is unlikely to be in a rush to rotate again in the Champions League after seeing a weakened team fail to douse Qarabag’s skill and spirit on a raucous Wednesday night in Baku. There was no doubt Qarabag were the happier team at the conclusion of this absorbing 2-2 draw.…

By David Hytner Destiny Udogie has been named as the English Premier League (EPL) footballer who was allegedly threatened at gunpoint by an agent on a north London street. The Tottenham defender was out with a friend on the night of Saturday, 6 September, when the alleged incident occurred. Police were called and the agent was detained on suspicion of brandishing the weapon with intent to cause fear of violence. The suspect was also investigated for allegedly blackmailing and making threats against Udogie’s friend. He has not been charged with any offence. There is no suggestion that the agent concerned…

Ultimately it was not about who was back at Anfield but what was back, on Tuesday night, 4 November. The Liverpool of Arne Slot’s title-winning debut season was the answer and, for the second November in succession, Real Madrid did not have one of their own. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring in last season’s 2-0 defeat of the Spanish giants – though giant is not an accurate description of their latest performance on Merseyside – and settled the reunion of the European heavyweights as Liverpool, all controlled aggression and clear intent, ignited their Champions League campaign and quite possibly…

On Friday Pep Guardiola suggested Erling Haaland’s teammates should support the Norwegian in the ­goalscoring stakes. Cut to 48 hours later and guess who did the business yet again – twice – for Manchester City to take them into a 2-1 half-time lead that proved unassailable? Step forward the phenomenon who now has 13 Premier League goals this season and a seismic total of 98 in 107 appearances in England’s top flight. After him, this year, Burnley’s ­Maxime Estève – via two own goals – is City’s highest league ­contributor; Phil Foden, Tijjani ­Reijnders, Matheus Nunes, Rayan Cherki and Nico…

Real Madrid extended their lead over Villarreal at the top to seven points with a 4-0 win over Valencia on Saturday. Three first-half goals, which included a brace from Kylian Mbappe and a Jude Bellingham strike gave Madrid a clear lead. Álvaro Carreras added a fourth late on with the goal of the game. It allowed Xabi Alonso to rest players in the second half, with Valencia offering nothing going forward, and they were looking to just leave without being embarrassed. Valencia came to defend and try to catch the home team on the counterattack. However, that play was scuppered…

By Jacob Steinberg A few managers were in the running when Chelsea were looking for a replacement for Mauricio Pochettino in May 2024. It was an extensive process and involved the club talking to Thomas Frank before they settled on Enzo Maresca. The feeling was that Maresca’s positional game and focus on possession made him most suited to Chelsea’s squad of technicians. Frank, who had performed brilliantly at Brentford, had to wait for his next opportunity. Overlooked by Manchester United after they fired Erik ten Hag, it arrived when Tottenham hired the Dane after sacking Ange Postecoglou last summer. Now…