Man Utd need summer overhaul as injuries cost Arsenal – Premier League hits and misses | Football News

Amorim must rip this Man Utd team apart in the summer

Manchester United were one bad call away from being plunged into a crisis at Everton.

Bruno Fernandes, the captain, once again had to pick up the pieces after a first half as bad as we’ve seen under Ruben Amorim. That is saying something given they have claimed just 15 points from a possible 45 in that time.

Fernandes’ goal from a free-kick after 72 minutes was United’s first shot on target. They then needed a set-piece for Manuel Ugarte’s equaliser. There was nothing else to speak of by the way of big openings.

It’s been nearly a month since United’s last goal from open play from the Premier League and they have given us little encouragement that this will change anytime soon.

United’s two strikers, Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, were signed over the last two summers at a combined cost of more than £100m yet haven’t scored in the Premier League in 2025. They aren’t the only underperformers.

Very few players outside of Fernandes can consider themselves safe as INEOS tear apart the wreckage at Old Trafford hoping to build a team worthy of the top half. This current crop, sat in 15th with 12 games left, certainly aren’t.

Patrick Dorgu, a winter transfer window signing, was one of the few that could hold his head high. His 89 touches – bettered only by Fernandes – highlighted his importance. His attributes seem well-suited to the demands of a wing-back in this set-up.

Perhaps a sign that with some good signings in the summer the level of Amorim’s team will improve. Although, Dorgu may well succumb to the pressure at Old Trafford, just as nearly every signing, other than Fernandes, has in the last decade.

Amorim and his team can count themselves lucky that the bottom three are as far away as they are. Otherwise they would be in serious danger of a first relegation for 50 years.

It seems all the Manchester United head coach can do now, with the players at his disposal, is limp to the end of the season and rip it all up in the summer. Without an overhaul, Amorim will continue to struggle.
Zinny Boswell

Arsenal’s defeat might be terminal to their title hopes

Arsenal’s late win at Leicester, secured by Mikel Merino’s double, coupled with Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa, had raised hopes that the Gunners might yet keep this title race alive, despite their injuries. Those hopes took an almighty blow with defeat to West Ham.

It was no great surprise that they struggled in attack. Any side would without their four main attackers. The absences of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were keenly felt, even if Mikel Arteta refused to accept their injury list as an excuse.

He chose instead to focus on the lack of quality shown by those who did play in a fiery press conference. But the paucity of options available to him was summed up by the sight of him sending on two left-backs, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Myles Lewis-Skelly, when chasing the game in the second half.

One of those left-backs swiftly departed following a red card. Lewis-Skelly could have few complaints about the decision, despite his foul taking place on the halfway line. But at that point the game was already drifting away from Arsenal, who had 20 shots but did not create any clear opportunities.

Their depleted attack was of course a factor in the result. West Ham deserve huge credit for their excellent performance too. But ultimately it was uncharacteristically lacklustre defending which did for Arteta’s side. West Ham took advantage for Jarrod Bowen’s goal.

Arsenal’s best hope of keeping in touch with Liverpool during this period was always likely to be leaning on their defence and nicking the odd goal. But Bowen’s header left them with too much to do. A draw would have been bad enough. A defeat might be terminal.
Nick Wright

Potter finally gets his West Ham break

A performance that harked back to the golden days of the David Moyes era. Compact and committed defensively, untold threat on the break, lit up by individual quality. West Ham were great value for all three points on their latest visit to Emirates Stadium – Graham Potter’s favourite hunting ground.

The Hammers boss is keeping good company. Only Carlo Ancelotti can boast a record as good as his, having become the second manager to win at Arsenal with three different clubs. And more than being a welcome reprieve for Potter, it was a tactical triumph.

The 49-year-old’s style doesn’t usually allow for a possession share as low as 32 per cent, but he got his set-up spot on, hitting the Gunners – devoid of any attacking threat – where it hurt. Mohammed Kudus offered everything Arsenal lacked. Jarrod Bowen delivered the killer blow.

Perhaps this will be the result that ignites Potter’s charge in east London, having only collected four points from his first five league matches. “We were tactically very disciplined,” he reflected post-match. “This result is big for us.”

He’ll breathe a little easier – for now.
Laura Hunter

Villa strike gold in the January window

Signing big names in the transfer window is always exciting – but there is never a guarantee that the players will perform.

However, to the delight of Unai Emery and the fanbase, it seems like Aston Villa have struck gold in January.

Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio will grab the headlines after linking up on two different occasions to complete the comeback against Chelsea but the positives don’t stop there.

Donyell Malen has looked bright in all six of his appearances for the club, Andres Garcia is already a fan favourite after overcoming his error against Liverpool and Axel Disasi impressed in midweek, with his absence sorely missed when Tyrone Mings limped off injured.

The New Year is notoriously difficult to operate in when signing players but the early indications are that Villa really have completed a “masterclass” in the window, as described by Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp.
Patrick Rowe

Chelsea unravelling at the wrong time

Chelsea are unravelling. Enzo Maresca’s side have now dropped 15 points from winning positions this season – and 13 of these have arrived since Boxing Day.

The Blues looked back to their best in the early stages of this game, as Pedro Neto flooded forward, and Cole Palmer looked confident on the ball. They seemed to be enjoying it again.

However, Villa battled back, and the visitors had no answer for Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio in the end.

Chelsea are fortunate to have a game in hand on Villa in seventh and that Bournemouth suffered a defeat to Wolves – but their form is worrying.

They failed to land a glove on Brighton during the 3-0 defeat last week and now collapse late on against Villa. Two crushing defeats to fellow contenders in the race for Champions League football.

Maresca told Sky Sports ahead of the game that every fixture is now a “final” but very little silverware would be heading their way if that was the case.
Patrick Rowe

Everton miss out on victory but progress under Moyes clear to see

Manchester United beat Everton 4-0 back on December 1. That was Ruben Amorim’s first home league game in charge and there was excitement about what his appointment might lead to at Old Trafford – and questions over whether Everton would be playing Premier League football in their new stadium next season.

Fast forward to half-time at Goodison on February 22 and it was Everton revelling in the new manager bounce David Moyes has brought to his second stint on Merseyside, with Amorim and United scrabbling around for solutions to their poor form.

At 2-0 up, Everton had been as excellent as United had been lacklustre. This is a team transformed under Moyes, with individuals reinvigorated. Beto has more goals in the last four Premier League games than he had in the previous 44. Abdoulaye Doucoure has three goal involvements in his last three league appearances after needing 37 appearances to record that many previously.

They are still far from where ambitious Moyes wants to take them – as the second-half drop-off which allowed United to draw 2-2 showed. But Premier League safety is all but assured and a top-half finish is in their sights.

A stoppage-time penalty controversially overturned may have denied them the chance to grab a memorable win in one of their final Goodison games but they are on a positive path as they head towards that new stadium.
Peter Smith

Spurs are ‘re-energised’

The word ‘re-energised’ was the buzzword from Ange Postecoglou in his post-match press conference.

It summed up his side perfectly. The performance wasn’t perfect – as Ipswich’s early blitz on their goal identified – but there was so much more energy and verve to the attacks being constructed. Dejan Kulusevski yet again was at the heart of most of these bursts of attacking football, supported ably from Heung-Min Son, who gave Ipswich defender Ben Godfrey the runaround in one of his best performances for a long time.

There was also the added bonus of having a ruthless goalscorer in the ranks with Brennan Johnson is fine form in front of goal. Like father like son really. David Johnson had been prolific at Portman Road across a four-year spell and his son Brennan followed in his footsteps with two quickfire goals in Suffolk. It’s three on the spin now for Spurs. The belief is back.
Lewis Jones

Ipswich finding out the harsh realities of Premier League football

Football can be cruel. Ipswich did so many things right. The gameplan was to press Spurs hard and fast with an eye of playing direct balls to Liam Delap in dangerous areas. It should have led to them being 3-0 up in the first five minutes – not an exaggeration.

Delap missed two great openings from the left before hitting the crossbar with a deft header. But it’s been one of those seasons for Ipswich where they have been punished for their underperformance in both boxes. Spurs didn’t need three chances to score – they needed only two and scored from both.

That is the harsh reality of this level. Ipswich have picked up seven points at Portman Road this season – only Southampton have picked up fewer home points. There’s so much to like about this Ipswich team but results are proving so hard for them to come by.
Lewis Jones

Palace away form reflects their potential

Crystal Palace have been stellar away from home. They’ve picked up 24 points on the road and are on a run of five straight wins that includes scalps at Manchester United and convincing displays at West Ham and Leicester. Their home form, having only picked up 11 points at Selhurst Park, is what’s holding them back.

Eberechi Eze showed glimpses of what he is all about in Crystal Palace’s 2-0 win at Craven Cottage. It was no surprise that his boss Oliver Glasner explained after the game that this was the first time his talisman was fully fit since the Euros final in June.

There was an air of confidence about him, like in the 25th minute when he stood still on the ball waiting for his former team-mate Joachim Anderson to take the ball off him.

The 26-year-old completed the most dribbles of anyone in the match with four and finished his outing with an 89 per cent pass accuracy. VAR may have denied him one of the assists of the season, but he was once again that creative maverick in midfield that we’ve grown to enjoy watching over the years, pulling his team-mates into the game and up the pitch during times they were under the cosh against a ball-dominant Fulham side.

Eze wasn’t alone in shining for the Eagles. Munoz was another whose arrow-like effort doubled Palace’s lead but his all-round performance caught the eye once again. After the game, Glasner described him as the Premier League ‘prototype’ because of his industry going back and forth from his wing-back position. Jean-Philippe Mateta has proved he’s a keen goalscorer while Maxence Lacroix at the back alongside Marc Guehi provides the foundation for their forward thinkers.

Their talent on display is not questionable. Glasner was tight-lipped about potentially claiming Palace’s best-ever Premier League finish. They’d have to finish in ninth to do it and are currently seven points behind Aston Villa with a game in hand who occupy that spot. It seems like they just need to fix their home form to be in with a chance of making some history this campaign. Easier said than done though, they play Villa at home next in a real test of their mettle.
William Bitibiri

Saints closing in on unwanted records as nightmarish season continues

Those who cover Southampton on a regular basis are running out of things to say about a season that has been – make no bones about it – nightmarish.

They have not been out of the relegation zone since August and the inevitable relegation is closing in. Damage limitation will be key from here on in, but they are closing in breaking new records – and not the good kind.

After Saturday’s 4-0 defeat to Brighton, they have have picked up just four points from their 13 home matches in the Premier League this season. Only one team in top-flight history has picked up fewer points at home at this stage of the season – Sunderland in 2006/07 (3 points – P13 W0 D3 L10).

They have also lost eight Premier League home games in succession, which is just three short of the record (11) set by Watford in 2021/22. And it is now 11 home defeats this season, which is four short of the record (15) also set by the Hornets in that same campaign.

With 21 defeats in all so far and 12 games left to play, it is not beyond the realms of possibility for the Premier League record of 29 defeats in a season to be under threat.

And even now they have not eclipsed the record lowest points total in Premier League history (11) set by Derby in 2007/08. One more win or three more draws would do the job, but, right now, it’s hard to see where those points will come from.
Dan Long

Classy Cunha the difference again for Wolves

Matheus Cunha was yet again the difference-maker for Wolves.

The Brazilian’s star quality will likely keep Vitor Pereira’s side up with his winner at Bournemouth moving them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Wolves made three signings in the winter window, with Marshall Munetsi making a real impression on his first start for the club in the win on the south coast.

But make no mistake, the biggest bit of business the club pulled off in January was keeping Cunha at the club after he signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract amid interest from numerous Premier League clubs.

The new deal, however, contains a release clause in excess of £60m, which is active in the summer.

More performances like the one at Bournemouth, which saw him score his 13th league goal of the season, will surely see the clause triggered.

If Cunha does eventually leave then he will likely exit Molineux a hero with his stunning form set to keep Wolves in the Premier League.

Brentford have a Fantastic Four – but will they all stay?

It is not quite at the level of Real Madrid’s ‘Fantastic Four’, but Brentford’s thumping win over Leicester showed they have a quartet really on song at the moment.

It is led by Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – two forwards who live next door to each other in west London and keep joining each other on the scoresheet. Both players have now overtaken Ivan Toney’s Premier League goal tally, with the England international a distant memory for the Bees. In fact, Brentford are the only team in the Premier League with two players on double-digit goal tallies.

Kevin Schade could not back up his hat-trick in the reverse fixture but had plenty of chances and promise on Friday, but it was the performance of Mikkel Damsgaard that really united this attack.

“Damsgaard is the one that really gets them going,” said Thomas Frank post-match. “He’s the magician of the team,” added Wissa. The Danish midfielder took his tally to 10 Premier League assists. Only Mohamed Salah has more.

The question is, however, whether they can keep this quartet long term? Mbeumo will almost certainly have elite suitors, as will Damsgaard. Wissa was targeted by Nottingham Forest in January, as did Schade with Dortmund.

Perhaps a Europa spot is the only outcome in which all four stay. It gives Brentford something to fight for in this season run-in.
Sam Blitz

Where now for Leicester and Van Nistelrooy?

Leicester took one step forward against Arsenal last week. They are firmly back to square one after another powderpuff performance against Brentford to keep them marooned in the bottom three.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has turned his side into record breakers, but not in the way they would have liked. They are the first team in Premier League history to lose six straight home games without scoring.

Trailing 3-0 to the Bees before the break, plenty of fans decided even then their Friday night entertainment was better served elsewhere.

Their next question will be where things go from here, and when – and if – Van Nistelrooy can turn things around.

There is little to suggest he can. He has now managed half of Leicester’s league games this season, but picked up fewer points, scored barely half as many goals and conceded five more than before he came in.

Opta give the Foxes a 94.6 per cent chance of going down. And their next few games? Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Newcastle make up four of their upcoming five matches.

Even if they had an easier fixture list, Van Nistelrooy has shown nothing to suggest he can get the best out of these players at both ends of the pitch.

His insistence in continuing with Jordan Ayew and Bobby Decordova-Reid out wide has turned the Foxes fans, only one of Jamie Vardy’s seven league goals have come in the last 10 games, and defensively teams are routinely scoring from their first chance.

Not all of this is on the manager, whose resources are limited to say the least. But even tactics aside, he can at least build some resilience in this side. And he’ll need to over the next six weeks if Leicester are going to stay in touch with Wolves, and if he’s going to keep his job.
Ron Walker