‘Special’ Foden star of Man City show

With Erling Haaland on a three-game barren run – a drought by his standards – it is important Man City’s other forwards stand up and be counted. The striker’s wait for his 100th Premier League goals goes on, but Phil Foden added another two to his personal tally in the 3-2 win over Leeds in a season steadily growing in grandeur.

Pep Guardiola called Foden “special” post-match, and said City are not a team to win “these types of games a lot”. When City concede control, as they did in a chaotic second half against Leeds, they often end up losing. It has happened twice in the last week alone. But Foden had other plans.

“It was massively important for our mood after two defeats,” Guardiola added. City have closed the gap on Arsenal to four points and are back up to second for now, while proving they still have the resolve and quality to respond to setbacks. Usually it is Haaland’s heroics that gets them out of tight spots, more frequently this season it has also been Foden.

“I was so hungry just to play today, not prove to anyone but myself that I can still score,” he told Sky Sports afterwards. The 25-year-old is becoming a leader in this new-look City team, a pillar of dependability for Pep, and a match-winner when team-mates are struggling to deliver.
Laura Hunter

Livramento becomes Newcastle’s playmaker

Tino Livramento did not just play right-back in Newcastle thumping 4-1 win over Everton – he was their source of creativity.

The playmaker.

This was a Trent Alexander-Arnold impersonation with a Tyneside twist, the sort of hybrid, inside-out, playmaking masterclass that should get the Newcastle fans very excited.

Especially in the first half, Livramento operated in such clever positions off the right.

He kept Jack Grealish in his pocket then sliced Everton open with his passing. Newcastle’s shape morphed whenever he stepped inside – at times he was a No 8, then a quarterback, then flying away on the overlap. Everton could not pin him down. In truth, they never got close. No player completed more passes in the final third than Livramento (18).

Newcastle’s best moves flowed through him. Their tempo quickened when he got on the ball. The entire tactical blueprint Eddie Howe rolled out was supercharged by this tactical tweak to get Livramento on the ball at every opportunity. It completely revamped the Toon’s fortunes on the road.
Lewis Jones

Sunderland prove squads win games – and having Xhaka helps

There were probably a few eyebrows raised when Sunderland splashed the cash in the summer. Influxes of new players into a newly-promoted team has not always proved effective.

But Regis Le Bris has found the mix that works. Sunderland went fourth with their 3-2 win over Bournemouth, and remain unbeaten at home in the league this season.

The manner of their win was quite remarkable. Even if Le Bris says he was a bit worried at 2-0 down, you always sensed there was a comeback on. It was the manner of the game itself, coupled with the cauldron of the Stadium of Light, that meant anything was possible.

And the Black Cats’ form this season has been a team effort. They have now scored five goals via substitutes in the Premier League, with only Brighton (seven) having scored more, thanks to Brian Brobbey’s winning goal less than 10 minutes after coming on.

He was a summer arrival from Ajax – as was fellow scorer Bertrand Traore – but it was Granit Xhaka who shone once again for Sunderland.

He has now assisted four goals for the Black Cats this season – joint top for the league – with his leadership, passion and talent spearheading not only Sunderland’s comeback, but their season.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Le Bris said: “Our finishers were once again really important.

“It means that even if we were consistent with our starting XI, those players are still connected and will get the opportunities when we repeat games because this league is tough.

“Granit is so important for us. He gives us his knowledge but also this willingness to change the game, to be proactive, to take risks. Sometimes tactically, you can discuss but on the pitch, it’s so impressive.”

Sunderland now have a tough run of fixtures that includes Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle to really test themselves as a squad.
Charlotte Marsh

Calvert-Lewin shows his worth to Leeds

They may not have walked away with any points, but the fact that Leeds managed to make Manchester City sweat at the Etihad was impressive in itself – and it was down to one man.

The introduction of Dominic Calvert-Lewin for Dan James at half-time appeared a strange one. James’ pace was Leeds’ biggest weapon in the first half. But the former Evertonian put in what would have been a man-of-the-match performance in just one half, if not for Foden.

It was not just the fact he scored and won the penalty – his mere presence terrified the City defence. They could not bully Calvert-Lewin off the ball, which gave Leeds someone to play off.

When he joined the club, the 28-year-old insisted he still had something to offer in the Premier League. His cameo was proof of that.

There is still a long way to go for Leeds, and Calvert-Lewin’s injury record would be a cause for concern for anyone. However, if he can stay fit and produce performances like the one against City on a regular basis, you could be looking at the difference between playing Premier League and Championship football next season.
Callum Bishop

Problems at Tottenham are deep – Frank now has to address them vs Brentford

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank was quick to point out in his post-match press conference after the 2-1 defeat to Fulham that fans have every right to boo, but in his eyes, targeting an individual player such as Guglielmo Vicario, overstepped the mark on what was another dismal day at the office.

The truth is, even if Vicario had not rushed out of his penalty area and made that mistake, Fulham would have found another avenue to double their advantage.

Spurs stumbled out of the gates and looked lost at sea. The problems plaguing this side are far greater than individual errors.

Going forward, they are stagnant and disjointed. On the defensive end, they are open and disorganised.

The fact that these issues seem to worsen on home turf, after picking up their 10th defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the calendar year, highlights the deeper problems at play.

Only 19th-placed Burnley (9) have recorded an xG total lower than one in more Premier League games than Tottenham (8), while the squad are also averaging their lowest amount of shots since records began in 2003.

Frank’s former side, Brentford, are the next team Spurs will host.

What could possibly go wrong?
Patrick Rowe

Chukwueze can supercharge Fulham revival

Samuel Chukwueze was “knocking on the door” for some while before he was handed his first Fulham start, according to head coach Marco Silva, but he has firmly wrenched it off his hinges with his performance at Spurs.

Having played just 103 minutes of Premier League football prior to Saturday’s game owing to a combination of injuries and Silva’s own tentativeness to include him, the Nigerian winger showed no signs of rust in almost doubling that tally at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Only a world-class tackle from Micky van de Ven stopped him adding the goal he deserved in a constantly threatening showing, catching out Pedro Porro on the break repeatedly and racking up more opposition-box touches than anyone on the pitch.

While fellow winger and summer arrival Kevin was a clear Silva recruit, Chukwueze’s Deadline Day signing did not immediately appear orchestrated by the head coach in quite the same way.

Regardless, the signs are already good that he is buying into and thriving in the Silva style – with two assists in those previous cameos, and now a fine performance at Tottenham from the off.
Ron Walker

Unstoppable Thiago delivers again

Igor Thiago had a quiet first half at the Gtech, with little to feed off. He did not have an awful lot in the second half, either. In fact, he only had 23 touches of the ball throughout the entirety of the game.

But, like all good strikers, he delivered when it mattered.

His first goal was a coolly taken penalty after 81 minutes; the sixth he has taken in a Brentford shirt, and the fifth he has scored. That goal took him to double figures in the Premier League in 13 games. No Brentford player has ever reached double figures that quickly in the division.

The second was an instinctive finish at the far post – Thiago’s 11th of the season. No Brazilian player has scored more than 15 goals in a single Premier League season. He now only needs five more league goals to surpass that.

And who is to say, with 25 more games still to play in the Premier League, he cannot make a genuine challenge for the Premier League Golden Boot?
Dan Long

Bournemouth’s slump in form continues

“We knew the game was going to be difficult and when you are 2-0 up and playing well, you want to finish it, but it was definitely too early.”

That was the assessment of Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola after the game at Sunderland, and he is probably right.

Having such a lead inside 15 minutes against a team like Sunderland on their own patch was always going to be a tough ask.

But perhaps more worrying is that Bournemouth have now gone throughout November without a win, and are steadily sliding down the Premier League table.

They have conceded at least two goals in each of their last four games, and while they are still scoring, they are leaking goals at the other end.

Many wondered how Bournemouth were performing so well at the start of the season having let some big names go in the summer. Now, it seems, those losses are starting to show.

Next up is two home games against Everton and Chelsea to try and rediscover their form ahead of a busy Christmas period.
Charlotte Marsh