Share<\/a><\/p>\n Have a go at today\u2019s On the ball on the Guardian app, it\u2019s a tough one today. I got 60 points\u2026and I set the answers.<\/p>\n Can I also recommend the movie quiz, too? Fiendishly difficult.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A fair point made here though Liverpool\u2019s demise is the unavoidable lead item.<\/p>\n We have been here before, but you would think from the commentary and articles that Liverpool lost to their own B team. There is hardly any analysis of Forest’s superb return to form, or the impact of their new manager. Fair coverage and comment please. Or do you all just want a rigged super league?<\/p>\n Sean Dyche has done a fine job and is working with the best squad of his managerial career. Good quote from him at Anfield.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a younger coach I might have thought: \u2018This could change at any minute\u2019,\u201d admitted Dyche. \u201cBut sometimes your gut instinct is correct and I felt the way the team handled their performance got stronger as the game went on. We gave a really good performance tactically and that ensured they didn\u2019t really deliver a serious threat.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Plenty of chat about Liverpool\u2019s demise below the line.<\/p>\n Arne Slot inherited a great well established squad from Klopp and the players had been drilled to play in a system that was proven to produce results. They started very well under Slot and it appeared Liverpool had recruited an excellent manager. But, the longer he\u2019s been at the club the steadily worse results and performances have generally been.<\/p>\n Dumped out the FA Cup last season by Plymouth, outplayed in the EFL Cup final by Newcastle, totally outplayed by PSG home and away in the Champions League, the scoreline only respectable due to the brilliance of Allison in Paris and some poor finishing by PSG.<\/p>\n When they were winning in the Premier League last season it was generally by a single goal. Teams were not put away easily. In his first season his two main title rivals (Arsenal and City) both fell apart with numerous injuries to key players.<\/p>\n Any manager is unlucky to have a valued and popular squad member killed in a horrific accident. Let\u2019s not forget they couldn\u2019t even identify Jota and his brother such was the carnage of that car wreckage. They had to wait for analysis to come from Madrid just to discover which brother had been driving. Andy Robertson was emotional after the Scotland – Denmark game admitting he had struggled all day thinking about Diogo. The impact that has had on Liverpool can\u2019t be underestimated and it must be very difficult for new players walking into a grieving dressing room.<\/p>\n But there is no doubt things were not great end of last season before that tragedy and things are falling off a cliff now.<\/p>\n That\u2019s surely not all down to bad luck. That\u2019s a manager failing to motivate world class players, failing to get tactics and team selection right.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been found out and there is little sign he can actually improve the team or turn around the slump. The writing is on the wall and I\u2019ll be surprised if he\u2019s still in the job come January.<\/p>\n The Championship is very interesting this season. Grim for Norwich fans, their team separates the Sheffield clubs in the table.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ed Aarons is our Arsenal man, and he\u2019s been considering what Mikel Arteta will do in the absence of Gabriel.<\/p>\n Statistics show Gabriel has played a crucial role in Arsenal conceding only five goals in the Premier League. He has more blocks (20) than anyone else in the division and is also his side\u2019s highest-ranked player for aerial duels, clearances and headed clearances. The Brazilian\u2019s prowess in the air means he is also a significant threat at the other end. He has scored twice and added three assists already this season, taking his total since arriving from Lille in 2020 to 18 goals from set pieces \u2013 three more than anyone else in that period. And when Gabriel is not playing, Arsenal\u2019s win rate in the Premier League drops from 64.3% to 40%, or 2.1 points per game compared to just 1.5.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Thomas Frank is under a modicum of pressure but he\u2019s still capable of stonewalling a journalist\u2019s question.<\/p>\n Via PA Media.<\/p>\n Thomas Frank has brushed off the topic of one-time summer target Eberechi Eze ahead of Tottenham\u2019s trip to rivals Arsenal, the transfer hijacked at the last minute.<\/p>\n Frank joked: \u201cWho\u2019s Eze? Very good player. He plays for Arsenal. A team we want to beat on Sunday. I really like to speak about players who are here. The only other two I will speak about are [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said before I\u2019m happy with my squad. It\u2019s two clubs on two different journeys. I hate to say it but they\u2019re a little bit ahead of us. But we know that\u2019s one thing, on one game, 100 per cent sure we will be very competitive. Of course we can win on Sunday. Then of course in general we know squad depth is good and important but I\u2019m not really looking at other teams. I\u2019m just looking at my team there.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n To build up to the north London derby, David Hytner spoke to key Tottenham midfielder, Joao Palhinha.<\/p>\n Palhinha has nonetheless heard criticism, most searingly from Jamie Carragher after the Chelsea debacle, the Sky pundit accusing him of not being good enough to progress the ball. There has also been muttering from the Spurs support about Frank\u2019s use of Palhinha alongside Rodrigo Bentancur in front of a back four. Does the partnership lack zip in possession?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s key fixtures<\/p>\n Scottish Premiership<\/p>\n Aberdeen v Hearts, 3pm<\/p>\n La Liga<\/p>\n Elche v Real Madrid, 8pm<\/p>\n Serie A<\/p>\n Inter v Milan, 7.45pm<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The table, as it stands.<\/p>\n And the top scorers in the Premier League.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n No Palmer, still party for Chelsea at Burnley.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Doom for Wolves on Rob Edwards\u2019 first game in charge.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I was at Fulham where the match was almost as rotten as the weather though the best team won. Sunderland were a little disappointing.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Brighton made a fine comeback in the battle of the B-teams, while another B, Bournemouth, showed their fighting qualities.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Talking of fallen champions. Manchester City\u2019s title charge faltered on Tyneside.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The story of the season is the fall of the champions. Just what is going on at Liverpool?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A historic day on Saturday, the new Nou Camp open for business. Sort of. Sid Lowe was on architectural duties.<\/p>\n Above all, for most there was a kind of comfort, familiarity, the sense that this could be both a way back to where they were and a new beginning. The Camp Nou rebuild is not done: only three sides of the lower two tiers are open, allowing for a maximum 45,401 of the 105,000 it will eventually hold, and at times, in truth, the day of fiesta was a little flat, quiet and underwhelming, but Flick said \u201cit\u2019s a really good feeling to be back here\u201d, and back is the word.<\/p>\n![\"avatar\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12388450.gif\")
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