The Premier League season is halfway through this year, and there were lots of holiday delicacies to celebrate with during this year’s post-Christmas matchups.
Alejandro Garnacho has emerged as Man United’s finest winger, Liverpool DO have the firepower to survive without Mohamed Salah, and lackluster Arsenal are in serious need of a new striker. TEN THINGS THE Premier League Taught Us
At Old Trafford, Manchester United overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Aston Villa in a thrilling five-goal match, while Liverpool kept up their title challenge with a 2-0 victory against Burnley.
However, Newcastle’s Boxing Day was miserable as they fell short 3-1 against Nottingham Forest at home. Chris Wood scored a hat-trick to get revenge on his old team and give Nuno Espirito his first victory since taking over for Steve Cooper. Luton defeated Sheffield United in a six-pointer to avoid relegation, while Bournemouth cruised against Fulham to maintain their incredible run of play.
West Ham delivered a crushing blow to Arsenal, Chelsea turned things around, Spurs kept faltering in the season, and Man City, having just returned from the Club World Cup, resumed their winning ways.
Ten items that we discovered from the midweek Premier League activity have been examined by Mail Sport.
Garnacho has emerged as United’s preferred winger. During Sir Alex Ferguson’s heyday, United was known for rallying from behind to win games, but few predicted that they would overcome Villa when they were behind 2-0 at the break on Boxing Day.
However, the Red Devils put on a brilliant second half performance, with teenage wonder Alejandro Garnacho at the center of it.
Although Garnacho’s performance has been questioned and he may be frustrating to watch, he can also produce moments of spectacular quality, as demonstrated by his incredible overhead kick goal against Everton last month.
He took it upon himself to get United back into the match on Tuesday night, scoring twice to even the score before Rasmus Hojlund secured the victory.
This season, Garnacho has established himself as United’s best winger, and he doesn’t hesitate to take risks and try things that might not work out. Erik ten Hag’s team has had a difficult season, but they deserve a great deal of praise.
With Salah absent, Liverpool has enough firepower to get by.
With Mohamed Salah leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations the following week, Liverpool may be without their star player for more than a month.
Though it wasn’t a problem on Boxing Day, questions have been raised about whether the Reds may struggle to score goals if Salah departs.
After five minutes, Darwin Nunez scored his first goal, and then Diogo Jota, who had been injured, scored the final goal to complete the three-point victory. Another significant plus from Cody Gakpo’s performance was that he appeared more menacing than he has in a few weeks.
In addition, Harvey Elliott might be moved up after excelling as a super-sub this term, and Jurgen Klopp has Luis Diaz to consider.
Although any club would miss Salah, Liverpool supporters should be encouraged by Tuesday’s performance and believe that they will still score a lot of goals in the upcoming weeks.
Newcastle must close a huge gap in their midfield.
Although injuries have severely hindered Newcastle over the past two months, their performance against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday was concerning.
Every time Forest attacked, they looked deadly, and they’ll be wondering how they only scored three goals in the end. Newcastle’s midfield was essentially nonexistent as Forest consistently counterattacked and generated numerous opportunities.
Although Eddie Howe’s two years in charge have been extremely successful, he is currently up against the greatest obstacle of his career.
In addition to playing Liverpool, Manchester City, and Aston Villa in January and the minor matter of a North-East derby against Sunderland in the FA Cup, the Magpies were eliminated from both Europe and the Carabao Cup in December.
Howe’s team will be dismantled in these games and their season may end prematurely if he can’t find greater balance in his midfield.
Following Tuesday’s loss, Kieran Trippier acknowledged that his performance has declined recently. Though he is not the only one having difficulties, Newcastle cannot afford to waste any more time feeling sorry for themselves.
to stop their losing streak and return to contention for a Champions League final.
Formal Following their incredible form, Bournemouth might soon be dreaming of Europe.
Following their 6-1 thrashing by Manchester City at the beginning of November, Bournemouth had only managed six points from their first 11 games and were ranked 17th in the league; manager Andoni Iraola appeared to be in danger.
They have now gained 19 more points from seven games, and some Cherries supporters might even be dreaming of their team making a run at qualifying for Europe.
Iraola’s team has made an incredible recovery, and things are only going to get better.
They have defeated Manchester United and Newcastle so far in their run, and Fulham was unable to match their fluid style of play on Tuesday.
Dominic Solanke coolly converted Bournemouth’s first penalty in a twenty-month period. Right now, there’s absolutely no stopping Bournemouth.
Luton’s unwavering energy levels might be their only hope.
Some supporters and commentators believe it is certain that Luton will return to the Championship this coming season.
It makes sense to be disdainful of them given that they only emerged victorious from their first 16 games. However, they have quadrupled that total of wins in the last week to demonstrate that They’re not going down without a struggle.
Rob Edwards’ team had to battle through a difficult match against Newcastle before to Christmas in order to secure a crucial 1-0 victory. He might have been concerned that his team wouldn’t be able to duplicate that level of intensity at Sheffield United when they played again in three days.
Luton was trailing 2-1 with fifteen minutes remaining and sure to lose, but they persisted and were rewarded with two late goals that turned the tide of the match in their favor.
Now that they are within striking distance of safety, the Hatters are gathering steam. They might just manage to make the epic escape.
Nkunku restores Chelsea’s aggressive edge.
This season, Chelsea’s team has been lacking something, and it’s evident after the previous two games that it has been Christopher Nkunku.
The £52 million acquisition for Chelsea had missed the entire season due to a knee injury. However, he made his Premier League debut against Wolves and started the Blues’ 2-1 victory over Palace.
Despite not having the best game of his life against the Eagles, Nkunku gave Chelsea an attacking outlet, continuing his risky pre-season relationship with Nicolas Jackson and enabling his teammate to advance.
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