Key events
Tottenham: Spurs were last relegated in 1977 and it was a big shock when Keith Burkinshaw’s talented side went down – but will the current team avoid that fate? Here is Sam Cunningham’s verdict.
What happened to reach this catastrophic point? How had one of the country’s biggest clubs dropped out of the top flight? And can lessons learned from Spurs’ unlikeliest relegation help the current team, who are sucked into a struggle with Igor Tudor unable to halt the freefall?
“Sad Spurs hit rock bottom,” read a headline in the Sunday Mirror the day after relegation. Pat Jennings, considered the best goalkeeper in the world, told reporters: “Relegation has not just happened today – it’s been happening for three years.”
He was referring to Nicholson’s resignation after losing the first four games of the 1974-75 season, ending a 16-year managerial reign and sending “shock waves through the dressing room”, Jennings recalled in his 1983 autobiography. In truth, the Spurs empire had been crumbling in the seasons before that, mainly owing to an inability to replace players.
Liverpool v Tottenham: A reminder of these two sides’ last Premier League matches.
Will Unwin
Liverpool v Tottenham: Can things get worse for Spurs? Of course they can. Igor Tudor takes his miserable band of men to Anfield to face the Premier League champions. There is a catalogue of absences and the defence will probably resemble Frankenstein’s monster, cobbled together from what is left. The past five league games have ended in defeat, and that’s before we look at the nadir in Madrid. A Liverpool victory must surely end the worst tenure in English football history.
After Chelsea’s loss yesterday, Liverpool will be hoping to take advantage in their battle for Champions League qualification. It has not been a great season for Arne Slot but there is plenty of quality in his squad and if Florian Wirtz can get back up to speed after his injury interruption, then it could be a very difficult day for their north London visitors.
Bournemouth: Andoni Iraola refused to blame the loss of Antoine Semenyo for Bournemouth’s difficulties in front of goal.
Semenyo has continued to rack up the goals since joining Manchester City in the January transfer window while the Cherries drew a fourth successive game in a stalemate against Burnley on Saturday, failing to score in three of them.
“I don’t think it is for me now the reason to say this,” said the Cherries boss. “Obviously Antoine is a very good player but we are one of the teams who has scored more goals. I think before these two games we were fifth in the league with the most goals scored. Now we are a little bit more solid at the back but probably it’s taking us a little bit offensively.
“The xG (expected goals) is through the roof but we are not scoring. But I trust my forwards. As long as we play well, someone will score goals.”
Chelsea: Liam Rosenior said the referee Paul Tierney should have focused on his job rather than on crashing Chelsea’s pre-match huddle after Newcastle won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 14 years.
Anthony Gordon scored the only goal in the 18th minute as the Blues made a hopeless mess of pressing the visitors, but the focus afterwards was on the bizarre moment before kick-off when Tierney stood in the centre of the Chelsea players as captain Reece James spoke to the team.
Rosenior, who signalled his intention to contact referees’ body PGMO over the incident, said: “I’m respectful to the game. My players made a decision that they wanted to be around the ball, to respect the ball and show unity and leadership.
“That is not my decision. That is a decision between the leadership group and the team. There is nothing that they’re doing with that huddle that is disrespectful to the opposition.”
Manchester City: Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s side were left nine points off Arsenal with a game in hand after a draw at West Ham.
The City manager watched from the stands as his side failed to find a winner and he faces a tough task now: to go on a winning run that will trouble Mikel Arteta’s men. Jacob Steinberg was at the London Stadium:
City were short of ideas before raising the tempo during a desperate finale. Erling Haaland’s aim was awry and although a defensive West Ham were limited to one shot, the problem for Pep Guardiola is the one that was allowed was the Konstantinos Mavropanos header that cancelled out a strange goal from Bernardo Silva and left Arsenal nine points clear in first place.
With Gianluigi Donnarumma at fault for the equaliser, this was City again failing to take care of the details. After twice squandering the lead against Forest in their previous league game, a similar lapse at the London Stadium was a reminder that this is a long way from being one of the great Guardiola sides. Arsenal, of course, will still fear a trademark City comeback from here, not least because the hunters still have a game in hand. For all that Arsenal will fret until the job is done, though, Guardiola will know there will be a breathless sprint for the finish if his side continue to play with such a lack of identity, cohesion and belief.
Arsenal: We will start with the Premier League leaders, Arsenal, who found a will and a way against Everton and it was largely due to Max Dowman. His cross in the 89th minute caused a scramble and unlocked Everton’s defence, allowing by Viktor Gyökeres to score the first. The 16-year-old’s audacious with a second that sent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to no man’s land. David Hytner was at the Emirates Stadium to witness all the glory:
Everton had sent Pickford forward for an all-or-nothing corner but when Arsenal cleared and the ball was worked to Dowman, he took over. He got away from Vitalii Mykolenko but it was the feint inside and away from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall that took the breath. The Everton midfielder slumped to the turf and stayed there. He could see what was about to happen. Everybody could.
Dowman motored across halfway and nobody was going to catch him. It was a run to glory, just him and the goal, Everton’s players fading into the background behind him. He might have shot but instead he kept running, all the way to the penalty spot before he rolled the ball home.
The noise in the stands exploded like a firecracker, Arteta taking off in a celebratory leap. It seemed as if Dowman had been installed as more than the Premier League’s youngest ever scorer. Has he provided the spark for Arsenal’s first title in 22 years?
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another Matchday live, where we look ahead to all the live football in a super-sized Sunday. We’ve got Premier League strugglers 1 (Liverpool) taking on Premier League strugglers 2 (Spurs). Fighting for their fifth straight Old Trafford victory under Michael Carrick, Manchester United are in action against Aston Villa. Plus Crystal Palace host Leeds and Fulham head to Nottingham Forest.
The Women’s League Cup final this afternoon sees Chelsea and Manchester United battle to trophy with the holders, Chelsea, attempting to defend the first of three domestic titles this season.
We will also be taking in on the reaction from the week, including Arsenal’s win against Everton that took them yet another step closer to the title – even more so after Manchester City’s humbling draw at West Ham.
So much to preview, so much to look forward to. Join me.