European Leagues

Arsenal put six pass Sheffield United

Arsenal cruised to a seventh successive Premier League win as they put six past a dreadful Sheffield United side at Bramall Lane.

The Gunners were 3-0 up inside 13 minutes and led 5-0 at half-time against the league’s bottom side.

Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Ben White scored – with an own goal from Jayden Bogle – for Mikel Arteta’s team.

The win ensures Arsenal move two points behind leaders Liverpool.

It keeps the Gunners in the thick of the title race, while in contrast Sheffield United are 11 points from safety with just 11 games remaining.

Arsenal scored after five minutes, with the only surprise being that it took them so long. They carved United open down the left, before the ball was cut back for Odegaard – unmarked 10 yards out – to slot home.

The lead was doubled in the 13th minute – Bukayo Saka’s low cross was deflected into his own net by Bogle, who got his legs in a tangle with the ball deflecting off his ankle – and was quickly extended when Martinelli fired in via a deflection after Jakob Kiwior’s cut back.

As fans once again streamed out of Bramall Lane during the first half, Havertz made it 4-0 by tucking into the bottom corner following a Martinelli through ball.

Arsenal cut through United at will, and another slick move of short passes on 39 minutes ended in Rice finishing low past the beleaguered home keeper Ivo Grbic.

The visitors did not ease up after the break, as another well-worked move ended in right-back White firing powerfully past Grbic with his left foot.

The Gunners have become the first English league side to win three consecutive away games by a margin of five or more goals, while United – seemingly doomed to relegation – are the first English league side to lose four consecutive home games in all competitions while conceding five or more goals.

After Liverpool’s last-gasp win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday and Manchester City’s derby victory on Sunday, Arsenal needed to respond here to keep up with the title pace.

They certainly did by taking no pity on limited and passive opponents, demolishing them with ruthless efficiency.

The tone was set inside the opening two minutes when Arsenal hit the bar and had a shot cleared off the line inside. Saka – whose mauling of Auston Trusty down the left for the opening 15 minutes will long haunt the American – cut in from the right, got the ball back via a deflection and cracked a shot off the woodwork, before Martinelli’s follow-up was deflected away.

Arsenal then had the ball in the net a few minutes later, and were away. By 22 minutes, they had reached the 10-shot mark. In the first half, they had 80% possession.

While Sheffield United’s lack of quality will be rightly noted, Arsenal’s attack is firing on double cylinders in 2024. They have scored 31 goals in just seven Premier League games this calendar year, winning them all.

The one downside for Arsenal was Martinelli having to be helped from the pitch in the second half with an injury to his right leg.

In an attempt to get some kind of coherent tune from his beleaguered side, Blades manager Chris Wilder lined up with an unfamiliar back four here, including former Arsenal defender Trusty at left back.

After the third goal, Wilder was hurredly reverting to a back five with the unfortunate Ollie Norwood yanked off, but it had the feeling of rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic – too little, too late.

What will be more worrying for Wilder and United is the response of fans. While many were streaming out of Bramall Lane inside the opening quarter-hour, those who remained could barely be roused to boo their team.

There is a feeling of resignation in the stands, while the anger seems to be more present on the pitch.

In the build up to the fourth goal, Blades captain Anel Ahmedhodzic brutally threw Martinelli to the floor as the Brazilian played a through ball for the German. Advantage was played and Havertz scored.

It was a dreadful piece of play from Ahmedhodzic, and indicates where his team’s heads are right now.

Related Topics:Arsenal EPL Sheffield united

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LaLiga

What To Look Out For As Barcelona Take On Atletico Madrid In Huge La Liga Clash

La Liga’s best attack vs La Liga’s best defence

Saturday’s match sees La Liga’s best attack go up against the division’s best defence in a huge match between Hansi Flick’s wobbling Barca and a red-hot Atletico.

The Catalans giants have bagged 50 goals in just 18 games this season – making them La Liga’s most prolific attack – but they were surprisingly kept out by Leganes last time out.

Atletico will hope to do the same on Saturday as La Liga’s best defence – which has conceded just 11 goals – comes to Montjuic.

Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha will be the main goalscoring threats for Barcelona and will come up against a defence that may well include a familiar face.

Clement Lenglet is being tipped to start against his parent club as there’s no fear clause in his contract.

The Frenchman has made eight starts this season for Simeone’s side in La Liga, including last time out in the win over Getafe, and is enjoying life in Madrid at the moment.

The Yamal Factor

Barcelona will be without Lamine Yamal for the game which is a tremendous blow, particularly when you consider their poor record without the teenager this season.

The teenager is out with an ankle problem, giving manager Hansi Flick something of a headache ahead of the game when it comes to his line-up.

Yet it’s a game Flick really can’t afford to lose if his team are to go on and challenge for the title this season – as the stats show.

Ferran Torres currently seems to be the most likely option to come into the team after scoring four goals in five games since returning from injury. The only thing is, he seems much better as an impact sub than a starter.

The stats show that Atletico are currently the most in-form team in Europe after winning their last 11 games in a row, but they head to Barcelona with a terrible record. They have not won any of their last 18 away games against Barcelona and have not even scored in their last four games.

Watch out for Griezmann & Sorloth

Antoine Griezmann will take on his former club in spectacular form after scoring seven goals in his last six matches for Atletico. And some of those have been pretty special you have to say.

The Frenchman has never scored against his former team and will want to put that right on Saturday. In fact he’s scored against 29 of the 30 opponents he’s faced as an Atletico player in La Liga – with Barca the only team missing from that list.

Alexander Sørloth will also pose a threat, albeit most likely off the bench. The Norwegian has scored 24 goals in La Liga in 2024 – only Robert Lewandowski has more – and has netted more headed goals than anyone else in La Liga over the last 12 months.

Barca’s defence has looked a little insecure recently with Flick’s famously highline having been found out a little bit by opponents. Fatigue also appears to be an issue – but Barca know this is just one last push before a period of rest over Christmas.

European Leagues

David Moyes Drops Julen Lopetegui Sack Verdict As West Ham Prepare For Busy Festive Period

Ahead of the busy festive period of Premier League matches, former West Ham manager, David Moyes, has given his opinion on whether his successor, Julen Lopetegui, should be sacked by the Hammers after a poor start to his time at the London Stadium.

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The Scot left West Ham at the end of last season after the Premier League club had decided that there needed to be a fresh voice in the dressing room.

Julen Lopetegui perhaps wasn’t a universal choice and here we are a few months after his appointment with the West Ham manager one game away from the sack.

David Moyes’ strong opinion on Julen Lopetegui
David Moyes was almost Leicester City’s new manager, though in the end that job went to Ruud van Nistelrooy, and the Scot knows exactly what the pressure is like in the Hammers hot-seat.

It’s perhaps with that in mind that he’s given Lopetegui his backing.

“I watch West Ham all the time. Look, they’ve got a great group of players, a fabulous squad of players, lots of really talented players and I think they need to make sure they give everyone time, give the manager time to settle in there,” he said to Sky Sports.

“But overall you know, the league is difficult, the Premier League at the moment is so hard for, you know some of the teams that are doing so well this year are making it tough.

“But look, they’re beginning to pick up, they’re beginning to get some results West Ham so let’s hope that continues.”

Julen Lopetegui must turn West Ham’s form around

Moving forward, should West Ham continue to look to Lopetegui rather than replacing him in the dugout, the Spaniard has got to find the sweet spot and get things right with his team.

Though there’s no deadline that has been made public knowledge as to how long the club will give him before they decide to replace him, it’s clear results need to change sooner rather than later.

If not, Lopetegui could find that he goes the way of David Moyes and is eased out of the London Stadium exit door.

European Leagues

Manchester City In Injury Crisis As They Are Dealt Another MASSIVE Blow

Manchester City are officially in an injury crisis with five of their big stars now out for an unknown period.

The crisis deepened against St Polten in the Women’s Champions League with captain Alex Greenwood stretchered off the pitch with a suspected knee injury. Fans had to wait nervously for an update with concerns the injury is an ACL rupture.

However, the club have now confirmed Greenwood has had surgery on a medial collateral ligament in her knee which she is now rehabbing.

Manchester City: What has Gareth Taylor said about injuries?

City have also recently been without Bunny Shaw. Vivianne Miedema and Lauren Hemp are also out with knee injuries, while Chloe Kelly is returning to play after concussion.

Manager Gareth Taylor gave updates on the fresh injury concerns to Shaw and Greenwood.

Taylor said on Jamaica international Shaw: “I’m not too sure [what the injury is], we’ve had multiple scans on the area that she has the issue with, we’ll have to wait and find out. I don’t think we’ll see her until the new year which is a shame for us because she was in a really good vein of form.”

He had said on England international Greenwood, who won the Euros in 2022, before her injury was confirmed: “We’ll have to assess. Alex doesn’t normally come off unless it’s an issue, hopefully it’s nothing too bad because we could do without it, we’re missing so many players.”

City are also currently without Naomi Layzell and Sandy McIver. He added: “We’re really up against it player-wise.”

The club do not have anymore games left of 2024 with the WSL break now in place. The 14/15 December was the last round of the WSL until the league returns on 17 January.

The final games of 2024 saw City record back-to-back defeats to Everton and Barcelona.

The loss to Barca, which is FourFourTwo’s view would have been a lot worse had it not been for the saves of goalkeeper Khiara Keating, means City no longer top their group in the European competition.

The impact of this means they will face one of the group winners in the quarter-finals. The draw for those fixtures is taking place on the 7 February.

Barca are one of the group winners with Chelsea, Arsenal and Lyon the other three.