“On Tuesday, we forced The Athletic’s writers to consider whether any team can catch Arsenal, putting forward the cases for and against their eight closest challengers. ‘No, they can’t be caught. There is no way a four-point gap can be made up with only 29 games to go,’ responded one reader. And with only 24 per cent of the season gone, it’s right that much can still change. But this is also the time of the season when the underlying numbers start to offer a truer indication of a team’s strengths and weaknesses, and we approach the point where the table changes less than you might expect (more on that another day). …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Early Premier League relegation analysis: Who’s in trouble?
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“In the aftermath of losing his first Premier League match as Nottingham Forest head coach at Bournemouth at the weekend, Sean Dyche claimed his new side were not yet in the physical condition he wanted. ‘I am not knocking any other manager,’ Dyche said after the 2-0 defeat. ‘But I have been in the Premier League for 11 years and I know where I want my team to be physically. I don’t think the players are where they need to be for my way of working.’ …”
“Crystal Palace haunted Liverpool yet again but that might be the least of Arne Slot’s worries should his decision to field a weakened team in the Carabao Cup fail to pay dividends in the coming days. Aston Villa and Real Madrid are on the Anfield horizon and so is trouble should this slump deepen. The FA Cup and Community Shield winners eased into the 
“Long throws are the hot new thing. Well, sort of. They are not really that new, and whether they are hot or not is a matter for debate. They are certainly a thing, though. 
“Nuno Mendes placing 10th in this year’s Ballon d’Or vote was the award’s highest recognition for a left-back since Roberto Carlos came second in 2002. Given that Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique said ‘it means nothing’ that their talisman Ousmane Dembele won football’s most-coveted individual honour that night, he will care even less about team-mate Mendes making the top 10. Luis Enrique, though, has said Mendes is the best left-back around — and likewise with PSG’s right-back Achraf Hakimi, in his position — and utilises the Portugal international in a very modern way: making underlapping runs. …”
“Arsenal have been undeniably superb defensively so far this season, conceding just three goals in the eight Premier League games they have played. Every single one of the 19 other clubs in the division has let in at least twice as many as this and the London side are also the only outfit yet to concede more than once in a match in the 2025-26 English top flight. Another clean sheet last weekend, 
“If Liverpool thought they had put their early-season struggles behind them, they were wrong. Arne Slot’s team may have ended their run of 
“‘I don’t read the papers,’ Igor Tudor insisted. But the Juventus coach clearly does pay attention to what is said about him and his team. An innocuous question about how he planned to approach Wednesday’s game against Real Madrid got a six-minute answer. Tudor wanted “intellectual honesty” from the press pack that followed Juventus from Turin. Analysis of a six-game winless streak had, in the papers he doesn’t read, been unfair and lacking in context. …”
“Mohamed Salah didn’t hang around. The Egyptian attacker briefly applauded Liverpool’s jubilant away end inside Deutsche Bank Park after the final whistle before turning and making a beeline for the tunnel as the celebrations continued. His body language spoke volumes. 
“After half an hour of Wednesday’s Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool were facing the prospect of losing five straight matches for the first time in 72 years. Trailing to a crisp strike from former Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen, Arne Slot’s decision to make five changes and leave Mohamed Salah on the bench looked questionable. But three goals in nine first-half minutes transformed this match, which Liverpool’s head coach will hope can be a defining moment for a team that has been struggling to find its identity after a summer of change. One of the new arrivals, Hugo Ekitike, drew Liverpool level, scoring on the counter-attack after a piercing through ball from Andrew Robertson. …”
“This season, Arsenal’s in-possession shape has mainly featured a 
“The advanced plans to stage a La Liga match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December spectacularly and suddenly crumbled on Tuesday. Villarreal executives learned the game would no longer take place in the middle of their 2-0 home Champions League defeat by Manchester City, while Barcelona were shocked out of their celebrations having just beaten Olympiacos 6-1. …”
“Chelsea thrashed Ajax in the pouring rain in London on Wednesday night to record back-to-back wins in the Champions League. Manager Enzo Maresca rang the changes and he was rewarded with a superb attacking display, though the visitors were reduced to 10 men early in the first half after a wild challenge from Kenneth Taylor on Facundo Buonanotte. Goals from Marc Guiu, Moises Caicedo and a penalty apiece from Enzo Fernandez and Estevao had Chelsea 4-1 up at half-time before Tyrique George added a fifth after 48 minutes. In what was Chelsea’s 200th Champions League match, it was as comfortable an evening as they could have imagined — though still one packed with incident. Here, Mark Carey and Simon Johnson analyse the action. …”
Arne Slot has staggered Isak’s introduction at Liverpool
“Villarreal and Barcelona’s La Liga match in Miami has been postponed, with promoters Relevent saying there is ‘insufficient time’ to organise the event. A Relevent statement, first published by The Athletic on Tuesday evening, read: ‘Relevent has informed La Liga of the need to postpone the planned match between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona in Miami on December 20. Given the current uncertainty in Spain, there is insufficient time to properly execute an event of this scale. It would also be irresponsible to begin selling tickets without a confirmed match in place.’ …”
“The weirdest aspect of Ange Postecoglou’s 40-day reign at Nottingham Forest was how inevitable it all felt. The only shock was that he was sacked on Saturday, within minutes of a 
“When you have spent 17 years stuck behind the Electrical Contractors’ Association, the Edinburgh College of Art, and the European Cockpit Association in Google’s search results for the acronym ‘ECA’, it probably is time for a makeover. So, when the hundreds of delegates arrived at the European Club Association’s 32nd general assembly in Rome this month, they actually found themselves at the first general assembly of European Football Clubs, which is a good name for a lobby group that represents European football clubs. …”
“Looking tanned and refreshed after a family holiday in Dubai, Arne Slot cut a relaxed figure at Liverpool’s Kirkby training base on Friday. Three straight defeats, the worst run of the Dutchman’s managerial career, may have cranked up the pressure externally, with the inquest into the Premier League champions’ shortcomings continuing throughout the international break, but Slot remains unshaken. …”
“It is lunchtime, Newcastle United’s academy is a hubbub of people and Steve Harper is conducting an impromptu tour, slap-bang in his element. The club’s former goalkeeper, its longest-serving player and now the academy manager knows everybody and their backstories. There is encouragement, feedback, a steady stream of dad jokes. … What they do is produce footballers for Newcastle — the primary objective — and along one internal wall there is a mural of academy graduates who made their way into the first team. Sean Longstaff is open-jawed after scoring, Andy Carroll is in an England shirt, arms outstretched, Elliot Anderson is there. But what they do is way more than football. But what they do is way more than football. …”
If you tune into any Premier League game this season there is only a 54.7 per cent chance the ball is in play
“To many other football countries, sacking a national team coach is a regular event; almost part of the fun. But in the history of the Sweden men’s football side, no national team coach had officially been fired. They’d resigned, or they’d reached the end of their contract. Until now. Jon Dahl Tomasson has become the first exception to the rule. Sweden’s 1-0 defeat to Kosovo in Gothenburg on Monday was arguably the lowest point in the history of Swedish football — not because the result was a shock, but because it wasn’t. …”
“… Welcome to The Athletic’s 2025 agent survey, which analyses a 
“Happy birthday, Sir Bobby Charlton. Arguably Manchester United’s most important modern player and perhaps England’s greatest — the emblem of their World Cup-winning team of 1966, the year he won the Ballon d’Or — Charlton would have been 88 today. He died two years ago this month, the news breaking on a Saturday afternoon. It seemed appropriate, as does Charlton’s birth date falling on an international weekend. As does coming across a rare old book of his: Bobby Charlton’s Book of Soccer. It was published in October 1960, coinciding with Charlton’s 23rd birthday. …”
“In 2000, World Soccer magazine commemorated the new century by interviewing FIFA president Sepp Blatter. One of the questions forced him to reach for his crystal ball: ‘What will the next 100 years bring? I cannot look that far ahead,’ Blatter replied. ‘I will go as far as 25 years, however.’ So what did Blatter predict? ‘I will forecast no radical changes in that time,’ he said. Oh well. …”
“It is the small hours of the morning and outside the Red Bar in central Belgrade, there are a dozen or so travelling England supporters making themselves heard ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Serbia. There are the usual chants that provide a soundtrack to England’s overseas trips, but there’s also a new addition to the national team’s songbook: ‘Stop the boats, stop the boats,’ they chant. ‘Nigel Farage, we’re all voting for Reform UK.’ …”
“It was the most eye-catching result of last weekend, arguably of the entire 2025-26 season so far. But while Barcelona’s 4-1 battering at the hands of Sevilla on Sunday — their heaviest loss in La Liga for over 10 years — will go down as a major shock, the manner of their defeat will be of little surprise to those who have endured the full thrill of Hansi Flick’s reign. …”
“The reports are beautifully presented, meticulously preserved in ring-bound notepads. Each match is recorded over two pages: home team on the left, away on the right. Next to each player’s name is his shirt number, his height, his age and the date his contract expires. There is a space next to each player’s name for observations on his performance. Some merit one or two lines; others, occasionally, are left blank. The ones that really make an impression get four or five lines. And where the old scout has used his highlighter pen, you know he was ready to make a firm recommendation. …”
“Liverpool enter the October international break having lost three successive matches across all competitions for the first time since Arne Slot was named head coach last summer. The disappointing run has raised questions over what has gone wrong for the Premier League champions. Following an off-season of tragedy and change, with seven incomings and as many outgoings (two on loan), their 2025-26 squad is still gelling. Injuries and suspensions have not helped, but some issues go beyond personnel alone. Andrew Jones, Gregg Evans and Anantaajith Raghuraman outline the issues. …”
“”The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of 
“For Arne Slot, this is uncharted territory. Three successive defeats for the first time in his managerial career and a truckload of issues for the Liverpool head coach to address. After 
“… Forty eight years after they were defeated in 
“Welcome to the seventh edition of The Alternative Premier League Table, where each Thursday, Anantaajith Raghuraman analyses the entire division through a specific lens. After looking at each club’s usage of long balls last week, this time our qualifier is expected goals and how teams have performed against the metric so far. As usual, the article that follows is long but detailed, so please settle down and enjoy it all — or search for the side you want to read about. …”
“Matchday 2 of the 2025-26 Champions League provided us with the season’s first taste of jeopardy. The 
“Jose Mourinho seems to love these returns to old haunts right up to the moment the football actually starts. This was the Portuguese’s eighth return to Stamford Bridge either side of his two stints in the home dugout, and he has still only won once — with that powerful Inter with whom he went on to win the Champions League back in 2010. He spent much of the second half here scowling at perceived injustice as Benfica, impressive for periods, fell marginally short. He was booked late on, too, for good measure. …”
“Before Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Newcastle United, Arsenal’s recent form at St James’ Park was three defeats and zero goals in three games, so it’s unsurprising that one of Mikel Arteta’s messages to his team was to ‘learn from the past’. And taking lessons was obvious in Arsenal’s performance, even after Nick Woltemade had put Newcastle ahead. Yes, they took learnings from previous trips to the north east, but they also adapted during Sunday’s game. …”
“There is a certain aesthetic which sits alongside the most entertaining games of football — often it is that they are played at a ‘good tempo’. A player who can dictate the tempo of a match is worth their weight in gold, while identifying a team’s shift in tempo is synonymous with an increase in energy and creativity. It is a term that is frequently used within football parlance, but what exactly do we mean by it? …”
“It’s already a familiar story for Liverpool in the Premier League. Just like last season, they sit with a comfortable buffer between their closest rivals: the only difference is that last term it was in November when they pulled away from Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, not September. Granted, there’s still a long way to go and now is not the time to be writing about a club edging closer to another title win. Yet the signs are all pointing in one direction — and it’s not towards the Etihad or London. …”
“The sluggish start, followed by a second-half spark. Long throw-ins, pedestrian approach play, even the red and white stripes. Chelsea fans had seen this film before. An unconvincing 2-1 win over League One Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday presented some alarming similarities to 
“Alexander Isak scored his first Liverpool goal, Hugo Ekitike was sent off and teenage defender Giovanni Leoni suffered a worrying injury as Arne Slot’s side won a dramatic and damaging tie against Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round. Southampton almost took the lead in the 42nd minute when Adam Armstrong hit the bar and Leo Scienza headed the rebound wide — but 38 seconds later, the ball was in the back of their net when goalkeeper Alex McCarthy’s pass fell to Federico Chiesa, who rolled it to Isak to finish from about eight yards out. …”
“Stodgy matches between Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City come as absolutely no surprise now. We’ve already witnessed a contest in which all eight defenders on the pitch were recognised centre-backs, another game when Arsenal got a player sent off and hardly got out of their own half after half-time, and a game when it barely looked like either side were even attempting to score until Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time effort took a big deflection and looped in. No one is tuning into this fixture and expecting a classic. …”
“… This was the round when 
“Many frontiers have been crossed within football analytics. It was not too long ago that clubs would be lucky to obtain the most basic event metrics, such as shots, passes, and corners. Fast forward to the modern day, and the granularity of football data now is eye-watering. Players with GPS (Global Positioning System) vests are commonplace in the modern game as clubs monitor the speed, distance covered, accelerations and decelerations of each squad member in every training session and matchday. …”
“Liverpool roll on. Last season’s Premier League winners maintained their perfect start with a 2-1 victory against Everton in the Merseyside derby, but it was far from comfortable. First-half goals from the exceptional Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike set Liverpool on course for victory but Everton were sprightly after half-time, and turned the game into a contest in the 58th minute courtesy of Idrissa Gueye’s fine finish. …”
“There will be no 11th outfielder in the Manchester City goal against Arsenal on Sunday. After eight years, Pep Guardiola replaced the silky Ederson with Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose footwork is more paso doble than quickstep. It looks unlikely that there will be a right-back who can move into midfield and connect play. The no-nonsense flying machine of a centre-back, Abdukodir Khusanov, will be shuffled across instead. There will be no hint of a false nine either, only the truest number nine in the form of Erling Haaland. …”
“Excluding goalscoring, Manchester United’s open-play problems under Ruben Amorim mainly come when they don’t have the ball. What you do out of possession also affects your in-possession game, and vice versa. While it is too early to properly judge their 2025-26 efforts, it is possible to explore issues that were present last season and are creeping in again after five games of the current one. 
Scissors Kick 