European Leagues

Mikel Arteta Hails ‘Unbelievable’ Arsenal Defence In North London Derby Win

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the mental strength of his team after they overcame the loss of two key players to claim a third consecutive league win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Without the suspended Declan Rice and the injured Martin Odegaard, as well as missing Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksander Zinchenko, both with calf problems, Arsenal won 1-0 thanks to thanks to Gabriel Magalhaes’ second-half header.

“After the international break, we had a few blows,” said Arteta. “How the team reacted was magnificent. It showed a lot of maturity from the team.

“The resilience we showed. We knew it was going to be a really tough match, a great atmosphere but we knew we had a big threat on set-plays.”

Arteta expressed his frustration with how Arsenal played as their possession dropped to 36.3 per cent, but saved his praise for his defence.

“We weren’t the best on the ball today but the way we defended was top-drawer,” he said. “When they get into the final third, it’s very difficult because they have a structure. We were missing vital players and we had to react to that. I’m very pleased.

“We had to adjust and use different players and qualities. I was hoping they would do something with the ball and we did it. Sometimes better than others. They are a really good side.

“When we have to defend in deeper areas, we did it really well. There are things to improve but we have another victory here and it’s huge. I know how our supporters will feel about this so enjoy it.”

‘We are a total team’
Jorginho, who captained Arsenal in the absence of the injured Odegaard, also praised the commitment of the whole team.

“We had to work really hard as you saw, we knew it was going to be a difficult game,” he told Sky Sports. “On these days you have to work hard and we know we can count on each other as team-mates.

“At the end it paid off and we are so happy that we won. We had key players missing but we are a total team, the whole squad. We know that whoever comes on will be ready to help the team. We are really proud of the team.”

Spurs rue missed chances
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou rued a loss of focus for the only goal and missed chances for his team.

“I thought it was a tight game all the way along,” he told BBC’s Match of the Day. “We controlled it for the most part and got off to a good start. We didn’t capitalise on the opportunities and we were unable to get on top of them.

“We lost concentration [for the goal]. We’ve got some big guys in there who really attack the ball and we just switched off for a second.

“I think I’ve said my piece. For the most part we controlled the game today, had good territory and possession but we didn’t make the most of it and we got punished.”

‘Spurs did not do anything special’
Premier League Hall of Famer Alan Shearer felt that Spurs did not do enough to earn an equaliser and a point.

“When you go one-nil down against this Arsenal team you have to do something very special to get back,” he said. “They’ve got the best back four in the Premier League.

“Tottenham ended up lumping balls into the box which they love – it’s meat and drink.”

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.