Blundering Benteke could lose Palace penalty role

Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke could pay the penalty for his spot-kick misses this season.

The centre-forward has missed twice in four attempts from 12 yards, the latest a weak effort in the 1-1 Boxing Day draw at Watford.

That failure arguably cost Sam Allardyce a winning start to life as Eagles manager, and they head to Arsenal on New Year’s Day __with Allardyce weighing up his penalty options.

“We need to find someone to take penalties. I have no idea who at the moment,” Allardyce said.

“But first I’ve got to decide on the team, then when we’ve done that we’ll talk about the penalty situation. It would be nice if we got one.

“I might just say, ‘Who fancies taking one?’. If they put their hand up then that’s what you want to see.

“I’ve not spoken to Christian about them. Will he put his hand up? Yes, probably. I don’t know him well enough yet but he’ll probably say he wants to put it right.

“When we’ve made the decision and if Christian is the one to take them, then we’ll see what he’s thinking.

“But we’re missing too many penalties and the next one we get we need to make sure we score it.”

Allardyce, sacked as England manager in September, is back in his familiar ‘Red Adair’ fire-fighting role having answered Palace’s call to replace Alan Pardew before Christmas and save them from a relegation battle.

He rescued Sunderland from a far worse position last season, and the 62-year-old does not see his latest challenge as the toughest of his career.

“No, I hope it’s not,” Allardyce said. “I will tell you at the end of the season but I hope not.

“I consider the players to be more than capable of achieving results in the position at the moment, otherwise I don’t think I would have taken the job.

“For me, the club has got some ambition. It is not just about survival this year, it is about the ambition the chairman talked about where the club wants to go.

“It wants to develop and invest in all areas and that is quite attractive to me. It wasn’t just about survival.”

Big weekend: The bumper New Year watcher

Because of the scheduling, there is one Big Weekend for both sets of fixtures. Don’t blame us, blame The Man…

Game to watch – Liverpool vs Manchester City
One of the games of the domestic season, crowbarred into the schedule for broadcasting reasons. It’s ludicrous that away supporters are asked to attend a game that will finish at 7.30pm on New Year’s Eve. Sometimes football deserves all the criticism it gets.

Still, it’s not going to dampen our spirits. As long as you can persuade your loved ones that you’ll be available for shenanigans after the final whistle, we have the prospect of the two most potent attacks in the Premier League facing off at Anfield. Doesn’t it just make you think of 2013/14?

What’s more, this really matters. Both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have inspired a run of three straight victories after setback, despite missing key attacking players in Philippe Coutinho and Sergio Aguero, and both teams have conceded just one goal in that mini-run. Yet both managers realise that defeat at Anfield could have a long-lasting debilitating effect for their title challenges, especially __with Chelsea in top gear. There is a pack waiting to draw both clubs back into a race just to make the top four.

If that makes you worry that a dull draw is the natural result, think on. Monaco are the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to have scored more times than Liverpool, while Manchester City are the top away scorers in the division. When you then consider that nine teams have kept more clean sheets than City, that only West Ham have made more individual errors leading to goals than Liverpool and that John Stones, Vincent Kompany and Joel Matip could all be missing through injury, you see the potential for entertainment.

There are bookmakers offering odds as low as 6/1 that there will be six or more goals. By way of comparison, Southampton vs West Brom has a price of 25/1 on that same eventuality.

Player to watch – Raheem Sterling
Man of the match against Hull, and sure signs that Sterling’s return to form under Pep Guardiola is a permanent fixture. Only Sergio Aguero has more league goals for Manchester City this season, and only David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne have more assists.

One of the most interesting aspects of Sterling’s play this season is how Guardiola has clearly instructed him to get closer to goal. We may consider Sterling a winger but, actually, that only describes part of his play. One of the stand-out statistics of the season is that only Zlatan Ibrahimovic (135) has had more touches of the ball in the opposition penalty area than Sterling (134) this season. Ibrahimovic’s one extra touch has come in 227 extra minutes.

Not only does that show that Sterling is dribbling towards goal rather than down the touchline, but also demonstrates Guardiola’s faith in the 22-year-old’s ability. No longer is he a passenger or occasional contributor, but one of City’s most potent attacking weapons. You’re sick of hearing how happy that makes us.

Team to watch – Manchester United
Shoots of recovery, if not yet a team at the full extent of its powers. The defence looks resolute, Michael Carrick a fixture in central midfield and Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have developed the kind of mutual understanding that is almost inevitable when excellent footballers train and play together.

Jose Mourinho’s team now have four winnable matches in three competitions before the home league fixture against Liverpool that could shape the rest of the season. Middlesbrough come to Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve before the trip to West Ham, and then it’s Reading and Hull in the domestic cup competitions. No room for error, of course, but two chances to continue a run not just of good form but invention and creativity in the final third.

Manager to watch – Claudio Ranieri
It was __with some sadness that I predicted Ranieri’s eventual demise in my 2017 predictions. Nobody wants to see a friendly grandpa down on his luck, but there’s no obvious way Ranieri and Leicester end up walking into the sunset together. The problem with hitting the very top is that the only way is down, and that’s the excuse I’m sticking to for my tepid love-making.

Anyway, if Ranieri wants to walk with his head held high next summer then he needs to arrest Leicester’s current slump. They’ve conceded two or more goals in seven of their last eight games, and last won away from home in the league on April 10. They really could go down.

Having dropped Riyad Mahrez for an accused lack of effort in training, does Ranieri recall his winger after losing at home to Everton? Is Islam Slimani dropped after looking equally disinterested recently? And can he really continue to play Marcin Wasilewski in the Premier League?

One-on-one battle to watch – Sam Allardyce vs Arsene Wenger
I know we usually choose two players, but there are 20 games and I can’t narrow it down. Instead, we should be looking forward to Allardyce and Wenger revisited, and live on TV for your enjoyment.

Having spent years accusing the Arsenal manager of putting pressure on referees and being snooty about his own brand of football, Allardyce tried to bury the hatchet in December 2015 and did the same when he was appointed England manager: “I’ve never thought anything other than, from a professional level, Arsene Wenger is a top manager. I think it was just wind-up stuff that we all get up to. It was a part of my life at that particular time, because I was growing as a manager.”

That’s all very well, but just wait until Joel Ward goes through the back of Mesut Ozil or Scott Dann kicks Alexis Sanchez up the arse. Just wait until Wenger is whining to the fourth official and Big Sam rolls into town. Then we’ll see just what that olive branch means.

Football League game to watch – Brentford v Norwich City
On the second day of 2016, Norwich City beat Southampton at Carrow Road to move up to 14th in the Premier League. After a difficult start to the season, Alex Neil’s side had won three league games out of four over the festive period, including victory at Old Trafford. Norwich were three points ahead of Chelsea.

Quite a lot has changed since. While Chelsea are top of the Premier League, Norwich have endured a pitiful year. Between that Southampton win and the end of the season, Neil’s team won just three games in all competitions and were relegated to the Championship. Rather than rebounding after keeping their manager in place, Norwich are 12th in the second tier.

It’s difficult to believe that Neil is still in a job. Norwich have lost eight of their last ten league games to slip from second to 12th, and are now closer to the relegation zone than the automatic promotion spots. Lose at Brentford live on television, and that will surely be that for another highly rated British manager.

European game to watch – Rangers vs Celtic
Heard of it, have you? There might not be much (okay, literally none) top-flight European football as 2016 clips into 2017, but a New Year’s Eve Old Firm derby deserves to be noticed as the game of this or any other week.

Let’s not pretend that the result will have any bearing on a title race that Celtic have wrapped up and already placed under the tree for next Christmas, but, for one day, that doesn’t matter. Rangers’ return to the SPL might not have produced the challenge Celtic needed, but victory over the old foe in the first league derby at Ibrox since March 2012 would do plenty to lift the mood.

The bad news is that Celtic have forwards including Patrick Roberts, Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and Leigh Griffiths to choose from. Rangers have Kenny Miller, Martyn Waghorn and Joe Garner. God I miss Scottish football being good.

Where is Mike Dean this week?
Fresh from giving a penalty and a red card in the Southampton vs Tottenham game (don’t hate the player, hate the game, or more specifically the laws that govern the game), Dean is given New Year’s Eve off as the fourth official for Burnley vs Sunderland. You can have too much of a flamboyant thing.

Still, the second day of 2017 brings us the first sight of Dean live on television as he takes charge of West Ham vs Manchester United. Red card, penalty, shoulder shrug, no-look yellow card or a heady blend of all four? We’ll all just have to wait and see.

Ten live matches to watch (because socialising with ‘friends’ is overrated)
Hull City vs Everton (Friday 30, 8.00pm, Sky Sports 1)
Rangers vs Celtic (New Year’s Eve, 12.15pm, Sky Sports 1)
Liverpool vs Manchester City (New Year’s Eve, 5.30pm, BT Sport 1)
Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United – Should be a big audience for this one (New Year’s Day, 6.35am, BT Sport 1)
Watford vs Tottenham (New Year’s Day, 1.30pm, Sky Sports 1)
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (New Year’s Day, 4.00pm, Sky Sports 1)
Maidstone United vs Dover Athletic – Because your New Year’s resolution is to watch more football (New Year’s Day, 6.30pm, BT Sport 1)
Middlesbrough vs Leicester City (Monday 2, 12.30pm, Sky Sports 1)
West Ham vs Manchester United (Monday 2, 5.15pm, Sky Sports 1)
Bournemouth vs Arsenal (Tuesday 3, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1)

Daniel Storey

Carra urges Liverpool to buy centre-half

Jamie Carragher would like to see Liverpool grasp the chance of a genuine title challenge by buying a central defender in January.

The former Reds centre-half is worried about Liverpool’s lack of strength in depth, particularly in defensive positions, and suggests the name of Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk.

This Liverpool title challenge has perhaps come earlier than expected but Carragher believes that the club cannot afford to wait for a ‘long-term project’ to come to fruition.

‘We have heard about long-term projects at Liverpool before, as when Gerard Houllier spoke about having a five-year plan in the early 2000s, but this season might be Klopp’s best chance of winning the title,’ writes Carragher in the Daily Mail.

‘It’s all well and good planning, but every club does that. Do you not think Pep Guardiola has an idea for Manchester City? Or Antonio Conte has a vision mapped out for Chelsea? How about Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford? You can’t think to yourself: we are good now but in five years we will be doing this.

‘When an opportunity comes, you have to be ready to take it and I wonder whether Liverpool will be able to sustain what they are doing.

‘The bench against Stoke on Tuesday, for instance, was a concern because it lacked depth and Mane going to the Africa Cup of Nations is another blow.

‘Joel Matip has impressed me since he arrived on a free from Schalke but he’s had fitness issues, as has Dejan Lovren. I know Klopp holds Joe Gomez, an England Under 21 international who is working his way back to fitness, in high regard but I still think he needs a defender.

‘Would he or the board ever be willing to fight Manchester City or Chelsea for the £40m signature of Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk?

‘Klopp said he won’t buy someone simply for January but for future seasons and he’s right. But if he wants someone next month he has to be backed, as the stakes could get very big for Liverpool in 2017.’

How 2016 began in the Premier League…

As 2016 draws to a close, we look at where it began…

*  Arsenal started 2016 as they ended it – __with a scratchy 1-0 home win. But this scratchy 1-0 win over Newcastle featured Mathieu Flamini in a midfield pairing __with Aaron Ramsey and Joel Campbell off the bench. Only five of the players who started that day were in Arsenal’s final starting XI of 2016.

* Newcastle were a Premier League club and were managed by Steve McClaren. The survivors from that game to Newcastle’s Friday night win over Nottingham Forest to close 2016? Paul Dummett, Jack Colback and Ayoze Perez. Newcastle have since garnered over £60m from the sales of Daryl Janmaat, Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum. Which is pure sorcery.

* Claudio Ranieri promised champagne to his players as Leicester reached the magical 40-point mark after a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth. Eventual Premier League medal winner Nathan Dyer was treated to his longest spell in a Leicester shirt – 45 minutes as he replaced Leo Ulloa.

* Sylvain Distin played a whole 30 minutes for Bournemouth. At the age of 38. And Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth did not manage a single shot on target at Leicester. Not a one.

* A Manchester United side managed by Louis van Gaal recorded their first win -against Swansea – in six weeks thanks to a wonderful goal from Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United central midfield that day? Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

* Alan Curtis was the Swansea caretaker manager. Some things haven’t changed at all.

* Norwich moved to within a point of Southampton with a 1-0 win over the Saints. Of the Norwich starting XI that day, the only two players currently playing Premier League football are Nathan Redmond and Dieumerci Mbokani. The man who came off the bench that day to make a difference was Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe. Where is he now? Legia Warsaw of course.

* Southampton boss Ronald Koeman left Sadio Mane out of his starting line-up that day because he had been late to a team meeting; Victor Wanyama got sent off for two yellow cards. As is his wont.

* 19th played 20th and Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce called the clash with Aston Villa the “biggest game of the season”. Only four members of the starting XI that day – Billy Jones, Patrick van Aanholt, Fabio Borini and Jermain Defoe – started the Black Cats defeat at Old Trafford on Boxing Day at the end of 2016. John O’Shea and Wes Brown as the two centre-halves? And they won 3-1.

* Three of that Aston Villa XI managed by Remi Garde started Steve Bruce’s latest match in charge: Alan Hutton, Jack Grealish and Leandro Bacuna. Also starting that day were Jordan Veretout (now on loan at St. Etienne), Carles Gil (now at Deportivo la Coruna) and Aly Sissokho (who knew he was still at Villa?).

* Well, Quique Sanchez Flores was the Watford manager and he picked a team in January to lose 2-1 that included five players who faced the same opposition (Manchester City) in December and lost 2-0. Among those who have since moved on is Juan Michel Jurado, bought for £7m from Spartak Moscow one summer and sold the next summer to Espanyol for £1m.

* Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini recorded his first away Premier League victory in seven attempts at Watford. Only one member of City’s starting line-up that day – Eliaquim Mangala – is no longer at the club.

* West Brom beat Stoke (as they always do) and one of their scorers was Stephane Sessegnon, now playing regularly at Montpelier. The starting striker that day was Rickie Lambert, who we absolutely did not realise was now at Cardiff City.

* Of Stoke’s starting XI that day, only Ryan Shawcross, Erik Pieters, Xherdan Shaqiri, Glenn Whelan and Marko Arnautovic have started ten Premier League games this season. Gone and largely forgotten are Philipp Wollscheid (on loan at Wolfsburg) and substitute Joselu (sold to Deportivo).

* West Ham leapfrogged Liverpool in the table with a 2-0 win; they were unbeaten in eight Premier League home games. James Tomkins played at right-back despite Carl Jenkinson being on the bench. What doesn’t change: Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll scored with headers.

* Of the Liverpool starting XI that day, Christian Benteke and Jordon Ibe have been sold, Mamadou Sakho ostracised, Alberto Moreno demoted and Lucas Leiva is on his way out. On the bench was Adam Lallana; an awful lot has changed since then.

* Ah, the beginning of a truly miserable year for Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace, who lost 3-0 at home to Chelsea. They were seventh. Palace, that is, not Chelsea. Starting up front for Palace that day? One Fraizer Campbell, replaced after 67 pretty useless minutes by Marouane Chamakh. Just released by Cardiff, to save you a Google.

* Chelsea got their first win under new boss Guus Hiddink to move six points clear of relegation. The starting central midfield that day? John Obi Mikel and Cesc Fabregas. Poor John Obi Mikel.

* Roberto Martinez managed Everton to a 1-1 draw with Tottenham that featured a goal from Aaron Lennon and starts for the phenomenal Tom Cleverley and Arouna Kone. Only five starters from Everton’s first game of 2016 then started their last against Hull City. This was the game in which Tim Howard was sarcastically applauded by his own fans for making a catch.

* It’s hardly surprising that Tottenham struggled to create anything at Goodison Park – their midfield pairing that day was Eric Dier and Tom Carroll. Of the four games started by Carroll last season, Tottenham won only one – against Watford. This season? He has played one Premier League minute. He is 24.

Sarah Winterburn

Man Utd 2-1 Boro: Just like the old days for United

Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba struck in the closing minutes to hand Manchester United a deserved 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.

United dominated the 90 minutes, raining 32 efforts down on the Boro goal but were denied twice by the post, once by a contentious refereeing decision and on multiple occasions by their former goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

When Grant Leadbitter lashed home his first Premier League goal in almost eight years it looked as though a scarcely believable upset was on the cards but Martial and Pogba found the net in quick succession during a frantic last five minutes to seal the triumph.

That left United boasting a six game winning streak heading into 2017, a stark contrast to the eight games without victory that Louis van Gaal brought up in the club’s final fixture last year.

While the Red Devils certainly did things the hard way, they were fine value for the points __with both goalscorers hitting the woodwork previously and Zlatan Ibrahimovic unfortunate to see his kung-fu style finish ruled out for high feet.

It was, though, hard on Valdes – a pariah of the Van Gaal era but excellent under severe pressure for 85 minutes on Saturday.

United can count themselves unlucky not to have taken a first-half lead.

That they did not score was partially down to Boro’s resistance, Ben Gibson and George Friend snuffing out a handful of dangerous moves, but the frame of the goal also had its say.

First came Pogba’s wonderful overhead kick, the Frenchman agonisingly close to adding a finishing touch worthy of Martial’s raking cross-pitch delivery and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s delicate cushioned header.

30 – @ManUtd failed to score __with their first 30 shots vs Middlesbrough today, but have now scored two in a row. Turnaround. pic.twitter.com/5sRzhwPea8

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 31, 2016

When United hit the post a second time, in the 38th minute, it was less about the build-up and more about one sensational strike of the ball from Martial.

The Frenchman’s 30-yard effort would have been unstoppable by human hand but cannoned back off the post with a thud.

United did breach Boro’s back line moments later, Martial playing creator with a floated cross for Ibrahimovic, but the referee blew for dangerous play.

Ibrahimovic certainly got his boot well into Valdes’ eyeline but he also showed enough athleticism and timing to get it down again before colliding with his opponent.

On the sidelines Mourinho recreated the finish in rather less supple fashion as he disputed the decision with the fourth official and his frustration felt apt.

United might also have scored had Marouane Fellaini not headed straight at the keeper from a corner, or if Valdes had reacted less quickly to a Mkhitaryan snap-shot on the half-hour.

Yet Boro can have their own regrets, largely around Adama Traore’s decision to shoot rather than pass from an early counter-attack.

The visitors will have welcomed a chance to regroup at half-time, having been pushed deeper and deeper, but United came out bristling and only Valdes’ alert performance kept them out.

United kept pouring forward but Mourinho was becoming increasingly tetchy and made a double change, Juan Mata and Marcos Rojo for Fellaini and Daley Blind.

Then Boro played their joker.

Calum Chambers launched a deep cross from the right, Alvaro Negredo cushioned with his head and the advancing Leadbitter took his shot at glory with aplomb.

If the journeyman midfielder could hardly believe it, Mourinho gave him a run for his money.

United were stung into another spell of all-out attack, Ibrahimovic again denied by Valdes and substitute Marcus Rashford immediately causing consternation with a tricky run and cross on the left.

Rashford went down in the 79th minute under pressure from debutant defender Espinosa Bernardo, with Lee Mason’s ‘no penalty’ decision drawing laughter from Mourinho.

Time was almost running out when Ibrahimovic nodded down a long ball from the back and Martial cracked home a deserved finish to cap an electric display.

There you go. Pogba!!! Stretford End sucking the ball in, AGAIN. You'll experience many of them Jose!

— Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (@olegs26_ole) December 31, 2016

But United were not done and put Boro away just two minutes later.

Mata played his part, pushing wide and crossing for Pogba, who placed his header expertly into the top corner.

United were out of jail and three points better off but there will be no doubts about how close they came to being unseated.

Wenger: Allardyce is a ‘very competent manager’

Arsene Wenger has paid Sam Allardyce a wonderfully loaded compliment by calling him a “very competent manager”.

The pair meet on Sunday as Arsenal take on Crystal Palace, now managed by Allardyce, at the Emirates Stadium.

“He is a specialist, he is competent, he is intelligent, and he has always specialised in having an impact on the teams he has taken on in a difficult situation,” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“Certainly he will create a level of urgency, and confidence will lift, and we have to even more focus on our performance, and try to be at our best to beat them.

“He is a very competent manager. I think as well in the last five or six years he has adapted to the style of the players he had, and he has been much more versatile than he was 10 years ago. Overall I think he has developed extremely well.”

Arsene Wenger believes Sam Allardyce's experience made him an attractive option to Crystal Palace: https://t.co/EBE83x0xRu #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/u3GxXe1XRW

— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) December 30, 2016

Origi makes case for partnership with Sturridge

Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge have only ever started three Liverpool games together but the Belgian insists that they can flourish because his teammate is more than a finisher.

It was Origi who made way for Sturridge on Tuesday against Stoke and the Englishman scored Liverpool’s fourth goal of the game.

The pair started a League Cup game against Tottenham this season and they won 2-1 __with two goals from Sturridge.

Last season they started one Premier League game – a 3-2 defeat at Southampton – and a 6-1 League Cup game against the same opposition which featured an Origi hat-trick and Sturridge brace.

“I look at all the striker here,” Origi told the Daily Mail. “Daniel (Sturridge) has a lot of finishing skills, so maybe that makes people not think about his passing skills. But he has got a lot of passing skills. A lot.

“He can eliminate a defender and put a striker through on goal. Nearly every time I play __with Daniel, I enjoy my game.”

Leicester 1-0 West Ham: Slim chance of survival

Islam Slimani eased any growing relegation pressure at Leicester as the champions held on to beat West Ham 1-0.

The striker’s header sent the Foxes six points clear of the Premier League bottom three __with just a second top-flight win since October.

Michail Antonio hit the bar for the Hammers who, despite dominating the second half, failed to find a way through to end their run of three straight wins.

The Foxes finished a year where they won a shock title on a high after a poor first half to the season which has seen them drift dangerously close to the drop zone.

Victory halted West Ham’s rise up the table and Leicester are now just two points behind the Hammers.

Boss Claudio Ranieri had urged his team to give him more and they delivered during a frantic first half before riding out second-half pressure from the visitors.

The recalled Riyad Mahrez forced Darren Randolph into a smart save after just 70 seconds before Slimani wasted a fine opening after four minutes.

Marc Albrighton and Danny Simpson combined to send Albrighton clear and his deep cross was met by Slimani, only for the striker to head against the outside of a post.

The Algeria international, __with just two goals in his previous 11 games, should have scored and the Foxes briefly rode their luck when Antonio snatched at chances at the far post.

But Leicester were on top and had rediscovered the intensity which was so badly lacking in their 2-0 defeat to Everton on Boxing Day.

With Mahrez taking up attention behind Slimani, wingers Demarai Gray and Albrighton were given extra space and it was Albrighton who conjured the winner after 20 minutes.

A slick one-touch move saw Danny Drinkwater feed Albrighton on the right and his outstanding first-time delivery looped on to Slimani’s head and the forward gave Randolph no chance from six yards.

15 – Islam Slimani has scored 15 of his 33 league goals since the start of 2015-16 from headers (45%). Bombardment. pic.twitter.com/Mt6bKFyEWu

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 31, 2016

It was a lead Leicester deserved and one they almost doubled immediately, but Randolph denied Slimani from point-blank range.

With the threat of the bottom three real, the Foxes went about their business with an efficiency and tenacity which had not been seen enough this season.

Shades of last year’s title triumph shone through as they refused to allow West Ham time, with Gray again impressing on just his third Premier League start of the season.

But, rather than inspire the champions, their efforts roused the visitors, who nearly levelled, Kasper Schmeichel saving from Dimitri Payet and Andre Ayew failing to turn the ball in during the subsequent scramble.

Antonio then came the closest to equalising two minutes before the break when his smart volley from 15 yards rattled the bar.

Schmeichel saved Payet’s free-kick before Randolph was forced to do the same with a Mahrez effort in added time at the end of the half.

The break came at the right time for the Foxes and referee Anthony Taylor, who had begun to lose control with a series of questionable decisions throughout the half.

If the first half was played at breakneck speed, the second failed to live up to expectations as the Hammers tried to fight back.

But, with defences on top, neither side managed to maintain the excitement, with Randolph and Schmeichel under-employed until the Leicester keeper needed to be alert after 67 minutes.

Albrighton brought down Manuel Lanzini and Aaron Cresswell’s free kick deflected off Ben Chilwell to force the Dane into a fine low stop on the line.

The Hammers dictated play in the second period, but, with Andy Carroll and Payet misfiring, were too predictable and any attempt to break through was met by comfortable resistance from the Foxes.

When the visitors did threaten, Carroll headed wide with five minutes left before Chilwell and Shinji Okazaki almost made the game safe in injury time.

Jose’s United are growing and evoking memories of Fergie era

With Jose Mourinho’s team extending their winning run to six matches in a comeback victory brimming __with style and spirit, Manchester United fans can be forgiven for thinking that perhaps a return to the glory days is not as far away as it once seemed during the dark days of last Christmas.

The home fans at Old Trafford were treated to some thrilling New Year’s Eve entertainment as United attacked relentlessly, securing three more points __with a dramatic, late, come-from-behind victory over stubborn Middlesbrough. If there is such a thing as the United Way, this might have been it.

It seemed for so long that United slipped back into the bad habits that preceded their winning run. They were dominant, too-often wasteful and occasionally lax at the back. But buoyed by their recent form, there was a different aura about the hosts, a confidence and a belief that hasn’t been felt at Old Trafford for too long.

Boro deserve credit for keeping out United for 85 minutes, with Victor Valdes in inspired form on his return to his former club as his defenders threw themselves in the way of anything that moved. But in the face of 32 shots – 12 on target – they were always likely to be breached.

By this United side, at least. Six weeks ago, frustration may have got the better of the hosts as chances came and went and decisions favoured the visitors. The call to disallow Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 38th-minute strike was baffling, or infuriating if you’re Mourinho, who chose to laugh it off rather lash out at the nearest prop or official as he probably would have done earlier in the winter.

David De Gea tells #MUTVHD: "This is the Manchester United everyone knows." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/XTArnZvtzB

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 31, 2016

That blow took the wind out of United before half-time and perhaps they were fortunate that it came so close to the break. Mourinho could get his side in and refocus their minds, seeing to it that the start of the second half followed a similar pattern to most of the first.

As the visitors continued to frustrate United, Mourinho made the move to replace Marouane Fellaini with Juan Mata – a substitution the Portuguese may have been more reluctant to make only a few weeks ago, given the concession of a physical presence. But like his team, Mourinho is growing into his surroundings.

Boro’s goal, when it came three minutes after the change, was not a consequence of it. For perhaps the first time all afternoon, Boro were simply quicker to the ball and sharper to react, with Alvaro Negredo peeling off the returning Chris Smalling to nod the ball into the bath of the untracked Grant Leadbitter.

United, though, were too dominant with too much attacking prowess for the home support to lose faith. And Mourinho again made a positive change.

When Marcus Rashford was being readied to come on, it was presumed it would be a like-for-like swap. But with Ibrahimoivc providing an effective pivot; Anthony Martial at his most impressive for months; Henrikh Mkhitaryan probing successfully; and Juan Mata only just dispatched from the bench, whoever might have been sacrificed from that quartet would have reason to feel aggrieved.

Mourinho, though, withdrew a centre-half and changed the shape to get all of Ibrahimovic, Martial, Rashford, Mkhitaryan and Mata on the pitch, with Paul Pogba bombing into the box too.

In the face of such firepower, it’s no surprise Boro eventually wilted, when Ibrahimovic nodded into Martial’s path and the Frenchman finally beat Valdes at the fourth attempt.

It would have been a familiar feeling for Sir Alex Ferguson sat in the stands on his 75th birthday but not many of the fans around him, wearied and worn down by the approach of the Scot’s two successors. As soon as Martial’s shot nestled in the net, the cavalry was being repositioned for further onslaught. There was no thought of consolidation or, given the forward-heavy make-up of the team, reorganistion from Mourinho.

‘Attack, attack, attack’ remained the objective and the three points were deservedly secured when Pogba powered a header into the top corner following Mata’s cross.

That feeling… 🔥🔥🔥. C'mon @ManUtd 🔴! Great comeback! #mufc pic.twitter.com/uOctWk1f4x

— Juan Mata García (@juanmata8) December 31, 2016

Six wins in succession in all competitions makes for a very tidy finish to the year for the Red Devils, but it’s also the manner of those victories that makes 2017 such an exciting prospect. The brilliance of Mkhitaryan against Tottenham and David Moyes’ Sunderland; Ibrahimovic and Pogba’s blossoming understanding in the late away win at Palace; Zlatan’s double and the dominance of West Brom; the spirit of today – it all points to the huge difference Mourinho is gradually making at Old Trafford.

Manchester United are now 12 games unbeaten in all competitions, most since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtdUpdates_) December 31, 2016

The manager was being hammered in the press and by many fans on social media, but match-going Reds have been steadily encouraged with what they have been watching for the last few months. Given this time last year, Louis van Gaal’s United were coming off the back of six without a win, including consecutive defeats to Stoke, Norwich and Bournemouth in which they manged only one more shot in three games combined compared to what they served up today, it is no wonder the supporters are enjoying what they are seeing.

They may still sit just outside the top six and a title charge might just be beyond them. But with the style and spirit now provoking memories of the Ferguson era, all the signs also point to a traditional second-half-of-the-season charge from Mourinho’s United.

Ian Watson

Arsenal target Reus as Ozil/Sanchez replacement

NEW CONTRACT FOR COSTA
It’s only six months since Diego Costa’s Chelsea career looked over. The striker was subject to interest from Atletico Madrid in the summer, and sources close to Chelsea thought that Costa quite fancied the move back to his former club. He’s probably glad he didn’t now.

The Daily Mirror’s John Cross writes that Costa is likely to be given a new two-year extension to his Chelsea contract. He’s already paid £150,000 a week, but Cross believes that could be nudged up to £200,000 a week.

It’s a bit of a no-brainer for Chelsea, who are unlikely to get an offer for Costa from Atletico that would make selling him worthwhile, and he’s a damn difficult forward to replace.There’s nobody better in Europe at leading a line, on current form.

ARSENAL TARGET REUS AS OZIL/SANCHEZ REPLACEMENT
The Daily Telegraph’s Jeremy Wilson is a reliable source for Arsenal news, and Wilson has written a transfer story on the subject of Marco Reus.

The claim is that the Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder is viewed as a perfect replacement for either Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez, should either of them choose to leave the club. Those contract remain unsigned, __with reported offers of £180,000 a week not enough to convince them to put pen to paper.

While Reus is clearly a player __with huge ability, it’s a little odd to be identifying him as a replacement. Arsene Wenger has repeatedly insisted that neither Ozil nor Sanchez will leave before the end of their current contracts, which means summer 2018. By then, Reus will be 29.

MILAN CLUBS WANT FELLAINI
Look here, if Marouane Fellaini gets a move to Inter or Milan, it says two things:
1) Italian football club presidents don’t watch the Premier League.
2) Serie A is in more trouble than we thought.

In the Daily Mail, Chris Wheeler writes that Fellaini was spotted in Milan on Monday with his brother, and has spoken to his Manchester United teammates about a move to Italy. The rumours about Milan’s interest came as early as January, but we’re trying to not think that Inter have been added just because Fellaini was seen in the city.

AND THE REST
Manchester United and Chelsea are competing to sign Roma’s 23-year-old Germany defender Antonio Rudiger… Chelsea are also interested in signing Fenerbahce’s 27-year-old Denmark centre-back Simon Kjaer… Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is also interested in Genoa winger Diego Laxalt… Manchester City and Leicester are both interested in National League Aldershot’s 17-year-old striker Idris Kanu… Southampton manager Claude Puel wants to sign 21-year-old France Under-21 midfielder Wylan Cyprien… Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace both want to sign Aston Villa’s Rudy Gestede… United are willing to accept half of the £25m they paid for midfielder Memphis Depay.

Shaqiri reveals how close he came to Liverpool move

Xherdan Shaqiri has revealed that he almost joined Liverpool in summer 2014, before Bayern Munich scuppered the move.

Shaqiri joined Stoke in a £12million move in summer 2015, but the Swiss international has yet to truly settle at any one club through his nine-year professional career.

He moved to Bayern Munich from Basel in 2012, but failed to establish himself in Germany.

The winger then moved to Inter Milan at the start of 2015 before joining Stoke just months later, but he has revealed that his first Premier League club was almost Liverpool.

“That summer, I had offers from Liverpool and Atletico Madrid,” he told Football Italia.

“I wanted to leave Bayern at all costs. I decided to join Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers had already called me a couple of times before the World Cup, but Bayern stopped me.

“The Bayern directors thought that the situation would change, but it didn’t. Gianluca Gaudino was preferred to me in the first game.

“This was, of course, a signal for me, in that I didn’t understand why they wanted to keep me at all costs.

“Inter? They simply tried for me the most. They promised me a new Inter. In the Bundesliga, I’d already won everything.”

Five unlikely Premier League heroes this season

These players did not start the season as regular first teamers, but they have recently emerged as important figures for their respective sides.

Ragnar Klavan
The injury-enforced absence of Joel Matip is enough to render any Liverpool fan a quivering wreck, but it turns out the club have a decent replacement. And it turns out that decent replacement is an actual centre-half, not just the square peg of Lucas Leiva being shoved into a round hole.

Ragnar Klavan was not greeted at Anfield __with gleeful supporters demanding his autograph when he joined the club in the summer. Here was a 30-year-old centre-half signed for around £4million. In a transfer window where Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Alex Manninger arrived, he was the decidedly unsexy acquisition.

But the Estonian has proved to be precisely what Liverpool needed. He started the first two games of the season, __with the Reds conceding five goals in that time. He then made just one Premier League start from September to December, but Liverpool have not conceded in the league since he came on as a substitute against West Ham in this month’s 2-2 draw. That is two-and-a-half games of crunching tackles, towering headers and generally looking a bit scary.

Klavan outstanding tonight, especially first half. That tackle he made on Lukaku was massive.

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) December 19, 2016

Marcos Rojo
Remember when not a week would pass by when Jose Mourinho was not planning a clearout of his Manchester United squad? It was back when they were struggling for form, and the Portuguese ensured that the standard of the players he was left, not his management, was to blame.

As late as November, the Daily Telegraph published one such story. Among the players listed in the eight that Mourinho was ‘ready to axe’ were the names of Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and Michael Carrick. But the most unexpected renaissance at Old Trafford belongs to Marcos Rojo, the two-footed tackling, ball-playing, defence-improving b*stard.

The Argentinean did not even make the matchday squad for four out of the club’s opening five Premier League games. His first league appearance came as a substitute in the 4-0 thrashing by Chelsea. He has started every game since, playing the full 90 minutes in each, and United have conceded just five goals in those eight games. They had conceded 12 in the nine he had not started. with Rojo in the side, they have not conceded more than one goal in any game.

Victor Anichebe
David Moyes will be justifiably frustrated with the news that Sunderland have no money to spend in January, but the Scot has already proven that he can find a bargain. The arrival of free agent Victor Anichebe was hardly the deadline day deal fans had in mind, but the Nigerian has made as big an impact as any other player in the club’s bid for survival.

It was not by chance that Sunderland’s first Premier League win of the season coincided with Anichebe’s first start. The 28-year-old scored and assisted a goal in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth in November, before following up with two goals in the win over Hull. He needs just three more goals to match his best haul in England’s top flight.

Darren Randolph
Ask a Liverpool fan about Darren Randolph, and they would thank him for his tribute to Loris Karius in dropping the ball into Divock Origi in the 2-2 draw earlier this season. Ask a Tottenham fan, and they will fondly recall their dramatic 3-2 victory over the Hammers at White Hart Lane, in which Randolph made his first Premier League start of the season. Ask an Arsenal fan, and a single tear will drip down their fact as they remember Alexis Sanchez’s London Stadium hat-trick.

Ask a Manchester United fan about Darren Randolph, and they will curse him name into the December wind as memories of his performance at Old Trafford in November come flooding back. The Irishman made seven saves in that fixture, and was named man of the match. He also produced a marvellous save from Jordan Henderson against Liverpool with the score at 2-2, and has kept clean sheets in his last two matches. West Ham have won eight points in six games with Randolph starting; they won 11 in the previous 11.

A lot of pundits saying that this from Darren Randolph is the Save of the Season so far pic.twitter.com/Y2ia25Pl6j

— West Ham News (@WHUFC_News) December 11, 2016

Cesc Fabregas
Just under three months separated Cesc Fabregas’ first Premier League start of the season from his next one. The Spaniard found himself on the periphery under Antonio Conte, but was afforded an opportunity against former side Arsenal in September. That opportunity ended when he was substituted 55 minutes into a 3-0 defeat.

It was a long way back for Fabregas, but he has established himself as yet another option in this multi-pronged Chelsea side. His next start came in December, with his remarkable assist for Diego Costa setting the groundwork for a vital victory over Manchester City. His goal in the win over Sunderland helped maintain Chelsea’s unbeaten run; he might not be a regular starter, but he still has plenty to offer.

Matt Stead

Griezmann on future and where he will end his career

Antoine Griezmann has discussed his future at Atletico Madrid and beyond, and he is interested in ending his career in MLS.

The 25-year-old France striker, who has in the past claimed he would like to play alongside Paul Pogba at club level, has been heavily linked __with United over the last 12 months.

Griezmann, though who only signed an extension in Madrid to tie him to the La Liga club until 2021, has remained coy about his immediate future.

Griezmann told France Football: “I’m feeling good at Atletico Madrid. Frankly, I don’t see myself leaving. People often talk about England, but I’m here.

“And then, going from Atletico to Real, it must be difficult. I do not necessarily want to try. I don’t think about it.”

The striker, who has scored six times and made four assists in 15 games this term, is clear on his ideal final destination when his career does finally start to wind down – and he says the lure of Miami would be hard to resist.

“The United States is where I want to finish. I love the States. I want to have a subscription to NBA and go __with my children to every game. I can already see myself there.

“I do not yet know the city but why not play for Beckham’s franchise in Miami? Playing under Beckham would be the best.”

Everton 0-1 Liverpool: 16 Conclusions

* Never in doubt, was it? Some live matches entertain and absorb the viewer, while others test patience and addiction to the maximum. There must have been plenty who turned off their television sets after 70, 75, 80 or 85 minutes of what Sky Sports hyped up as ‘Mersey Monday’, and no-one could have been blamed for doing so. At times it was cagey, disjointed and downright rotten.

But there’s always a moment, a special treat for those of us who ploughed on through the dirge. Everton had scored four times in the last five minutes of their last five league matches, and conceded only once in the last 15 minutes of games this season, but Liverpool turned those statistics upside down in second-half stoppage time.

Do you think that Jurgen Klopp cares that neither team deserved all three points? Does he balls. Not when Liverpool are the closest challengers to leaders Chelsea at Christmas. Not when they are four points ahead of fifth almost halfway through the season. Not when they are seven points ahead of a Manchester United team they face next month. Good teams win when playing badly, Klopp might say. Not to mention winning at the ground where a title rival lost five days earlier.

* For Everton, a performance which virtually mirrored that of Arsenal on Wednesday at Goodison. They started brightly but failed to take full advantage when on top. After half-time they were a shell of their former selves, allowing the opposition to unsettle them and dominate the ball while providing little attacking threat of their own. Just like for Arsenal, the game had a sting in the tail which left one team __with less than they deserve. I feel more comfortable about writing ‘one step forward and two more back’ than I did five days ago.

Ronald Koeman might have thought that beating Arsenal kept disgruntled wolves from the door, but he can think again now. Two big away trips against Leicester and Hull await before a home game against his old club. Fail to get five or more points and Koeman might really be in a spot of bother.

* The starting line-ups meant another update in the tiresome saga of Liverpool’s goalkeeping dilemmas. Tiresome, but clearly big news. No other elite (and we’ll define that as a team in Europe’s top five leagues __with hopes of Champions League qualification) club has such a quandary about who to pick in goal.

“There was a lot of talk around this position, but that’s not the reason to push Loris,” Klopp said after the victory (and clean sheet) over Middlesbrough. “He’s a much better goalkeeper than he showed in the last game. It’s a long-term approach, especially if you have a goalkeeper like Simon, who’s training at a high level. That’s all.”

We can only theorise what Klopp meant by “long-term approach”, but we must now conclude that, for the short term, Mignolet is Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper again. You don’t pick your second choice for a Merseyside derby.

There’s nothing wrong with a manager changing his goalkeeping order, but Klopp cannot spin this as a positive. He has changed goalkeepers because Karius has made too many mistakes, and because he believes the very public spat with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher may have affected the German. Having decided that Mignolet was not good enough to be No. 1 in August, that is unlikely to change barring a superb upturn in form. Successive clean sheets is a good start, but do Liverpool need another goalkeeper next summer?

* If Koeman was desperate for his Everton team to pick up where they left off against Arsenal, his wish was granted. The home team surged out of the blocks, harrying and hassling in midfield in a way that would make Klopp proud. James McCarthy kept his place after his second-half performance last week, and Gareth Barry was not missed. In the first 20 minutes, Liverpool failed to have a single shot or touch of the ball in Everton’s box.

Evidence of the home side’s dominance came in the positioning of the full-backs, with Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines both registering an average touch position in the Liverpool half in the first 30 minutes, while Nathaniel Clyne and James Milner were pinned back. When Everton play well their full-backs stand out perhaps more than any other Premier League team (Tottenham, perhaps?), and Coleman had four more touches than any other Everton player in the first ten minutes.

* Before the game, Gary Neville predicted that Everton would mirror their tactic against Arsenal in favouring a direct style. Not only was that an attempt to service the height and physical presence of Romelu Lukaku, but it was also a counter-measure to Liverpool’s strength. If Everton had lost the ball in their own third of the pitch when passing short, Liverpool’s players are trained to effect a lightning-fast counter and expose any flaws. That was demonstrated after the break when Enner Valencia was robbed and Roberto Firmino almost had a chance to score.

Neville’s assumption was correct. Lukaku, Valencia and Ross Barkley competed for 16 aerial duels in the first 25 minutes alone, Lukaku winning 71% of his and enjoying initial success against Ragnar Klavan. The plan was to get attacking midfielders close to the Belgian in order to feed off his knockdowns, and that worked.

* Unfortunately, for all their dominance of territory, Everton failed to carve out a single meaningful chance, nor did they have a shot on target in the first half. One of the biggest reasons for that was the continued struggles of Barkley, who hampers the side as much as he helps them when in this kind of form. It’s time to ask serious questions; ‘what could be’ is too quickly becoming ‘what may never be’.

The moment to sum up Barkley’s first half came after 20 minutes, when Lukaku won a header against Klavan, nodding the ball to his midfielder. Lukaku then peeled off his man and screamed for the pass that would send him through on goal. Not only did Barkley delay his pass too long, he then played the ball straight into Klavan; the chance was gone.

The moment to sum up Barkley’s second half came as the game neared stoppage time, when he shanked a cross so badly into the crowd that Koeman had a two-second nervous breakdown in response. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t start the next league game. He should be suspended anyway, to be fair.

I don’t want to be too harsh on Barkley, who is clearly suffering from an extended period of poor form. But when you register a pass completion of 44% in the first 15 minutes when your team is on top, and 57% in the entire match, something is clearly awry.

If Ross Barkley passed accurately even half as often as he waves apologetically Everton would be top of the leàgue

— Barry Glendenning (@bglendenning) December 19, 2016

* For all Everton’s (sterile) dominance, it was Liverpool who had the best chance of the first half. They finally clicked on 40 minutes, when Sadio Mane jumped over a pass, Georginio Wijnaldum played the ball out wide to Clyne, and Divock Origi fired his shot wide.

Replays showed that Clyne was at least partly at fault for the chance being missed. The right-back was given plenty of time and space to pick his pass, but played the ball slightly behind the onrushing Origi. As soon as a striker has to deal with a ball behind him, the potential for missing the target increases.

Still, it was the best chance of a high-tempo but ultimately unfulfilling first period. Those lovely folk at Opta say it’s over seven years since a Merseyside derby has had so few shots in the first half. The second period would be better, surely? Well…

* Barkley’s other action of note was an appalling challenge on Jordan Henderson after the break. He is a player who regularly steps over the line between ‘rash’ and ‘behaving like a moron’.

You do wonder quite what Mike Dean and his assistant saw in the tackle to render it a yellow card and not a red. The intention of inserting the words ‘careless’ and ‘reckless’ in the rules was to cut down on the type of challenges that put an opponent’s safety in danger, and this was the dictionary definition of that. Barkley was wild, late and planted his studs above Henderson’s shins. Lucky, but silly, boy.

* Speaking of which, why in the name of Z Cars did Barkley then kick the ball away when Lukaku had committed an innocuous foul on Dejan Lovren? Is he really that dim? (Yes, apparently).

Barkley may well retain a huge amount of goodwill in a media that is desperate for him to be England’s answer in midfield, but we’re just not seeing anything close to that at the moment. He is a liability, and you can see exactly why Koeman is getting sick of it. So are we.

* It’s easy to wonder in hindsight, but have Liverpool actually suffered over these last few games for Origi’s goals? That might sound stupid, given that the Belgian had scored in each of the club’s last four league matches, but his goals actually only made a difference to the result in the 2-2 draw with West Ham.

The point is this: It’s impossible to drop Origi given his goalscoring run, but he actually hampered Liverpool during the first half and part of the second until his withdrawal. The ball did not stick to him when played down the channels, regularly causing possession to be turned over. That made it impossible for the visitors to gain a foothold in the match.

This is not an attack on Origi, who has taken a chance afforded by Philippe Coutinho’s injury; he is still just 21 after all. But while Liverpool didn’t end up paying for his profligacy of possession, would Daniel Sturridge have done better given the opportunity to start the game? We may find out on December 27 at Anfield.

* It is hardly a technical term, but Valencia is a very odd player indeed. Just as you think he’s awful he produces something marvellous to make you feel uncharitable. Just as you think he’s pretty good he produces something rotten to make you feel overly generous. Five minutes after chasing down a lost cause, beating a man and winning a corner, the Ecuadorian will pass the ball straight out of play or run down a blind alley and fall over his own legs.

Crucially, it’s never down the middle. That makes Valencia fascinating to watch, but bloody awful to support.

* Now that’s a bloody pass. Emre Can, well, can’t…

LOL @ Emre Can pic.twitter.com/6Y6VqR3NJi

— 🗑 (@Deletem8) December 19, 2016

* Having been on the front foot for the first half, Everton then allowed their head of steam to be lost on the wind. I’m selling the second half in that way deliberately rather than praising Liverpool for their vast improvement, because that’s the way it felt watching. Everton sat off the ball and allowed their opponents both possession and territory. The introduction of Barry for the injured McCarthy harmed the home side in midfield, removing one individual capable of harrying opponents for another whose ageing legs render that an impossibility.

Nor too could the full-backs get forward. In the first half Everton attempted 12 crosses from open play, but managed only one in the second half. They had only two shots of any kind in the second 45 minutes, and completed 54 fewer passes.

For Liverpool, the complete opposite. Having attempted only one cross before the break they attempted 12 in the second half, attempted 61 more passes and five more shots. While Clyne was unadventurous in the first half, he ended the game as the top chance creator in the match, with four.

* Still, there is no doubt that Liverpool’s second-half improvement did not merit victory. Adam Lallana was anonymous, failing to create a single chance or take a shot. Firmino looks jaded, clearly in need of a rest after leading the line for the first four months of the season. Wijnaldum is a drifter – it is very hard to identify exactly what it is he’s bringing to the party. The Dutchman has created only 19 chances in 1,196 league minutes; he is seventh on Liverpool’s list.

This was a poor spectacle of football that deserved to end 0-0, and hopefully a lesson to Sky Sports that adding fancy taglines to matches looks like an exercise in rolling turd in glitter when they fall flat on their face. I’d struggle to give any player on either side higher than a mark of 7 out of 10. In a much-hyped local derby, that’s a damn shame.

* When the goal finally came, it was a reflection of the entire game: messy and scuffed. Sturridge ran across the penalty area, but looked to have been eased off the ball as he shot. That led to a weak effort that wrong-footed another substitute, goalkeeper Joel Robles.

The tendency is to salute Liverpool’s fortune rather than skill, and it’s clear that the bounce of the ball from the post did help their cause. Yet look at Mane’s desire and anticipation ahead of Ashley Williams and Ramiro Funes Mori and understand that fortune only plays a small role. To alter the famous Arnold Palmer quote: the more you want it the luckier you get. Cue Klopp going mad on the touchline, and supporters doing the same in the stands. The rest of Goodison looked shell-shocked.

* A Mike Dean deliberate nutmeg to try and spice up a Merseyside derby? Of course it bloody is. Merry Christmas.

The bloke has literally got the lot.#CelebrityRefs

(via @shadyH97)pic.twitter.com/y2Ksm3CrVN

— Celebrity Refs (@CelebrityRefs) December 19, 2016

Daniel Storey

Can Man City ever be more than Barcelona-lite?

The Manchester City owners have taste, in a way that Roman Abramovich, stuck as he is in the foothills of billionairedom, cannot afford to have.  You can gauge this taste in two ways – either they have the most expensive taste imaginable, in that they’ve decided they want to recreate Barcelona in Eastlands, or they have the sophisticated taste to forego easy gratification now and seek a more long-lasting reward later. Hint: probably the first one.

There’s something blissful about the things that money can’t buy that stops the world, like a force-field around it, from feeling like a set of pedals being stamped on by billionaire’s feet.  It can’t buy you good sense, evidently, despite how convincingly your deep pockets can masquerade as good sense. And to be fair to billionaires, they will spend a lot on that masquerade.

The club has made repeated protestations that their investment in their academy project is its own thing, but we are in serious walks-like-a-duck-quacks-like-a-duck territory, given that it’s now overseen by not only the ex-CEO and ex-sporting-director of Barcelona but arguably the most famous tactical overseer of that model too, plus the performance analyst, fitness coach, ‘Head of Player Protocol’, and three assistant coaches. The charitable reading of this demands you don’t see it all as way to fire the dreams of an oil-oligarch, late at night, that he might pat the bed made up for a certain small Argentinean and say look, it’s just the way you like it.

The first item of nonsense for why the Barcelona model is impossible to copy is that the true force of it belongs only to the inventor. You feel those people believed, in a way that was beholden to no-one, that this was the football way that worked.  Whatever model City’s resources conjure up, it will at the very least be beholden to Barcelona. The cornerstone of any plan to create a dynasty must surely be that it’s self-derived, not that you can afford all the people involved in a great plan somewhere else.

The second thing is that, without wishing to cast aspersions on people who become insanely wealthy by being in the right place to seize control of a country’s natural resources, the model contains emotional subtleties people like that are sometimes liable to miss. We all know what Barcelona represents to the Catalan people, and the almost cult-like adherence to La Masia values within is fuelled precisely by that desire to show they are other to Spain, that their way is superior. No hi-tech training pitches and multi-faceted performance-analysis systems or price tag of any sort can recreate that soulful drive to make it work.

The question is, do the City owners really, truly want to make it work? No doubt if they could wave a magic wand and make FC City then they’d want that, but in terms of what it would actually take? Kids from the system being regularly blooded in the team, until being a City junior actually has some meaning beyond total dominance at academy level and irrelevance at professional level; two or three or four trophyless years being written off as a necessary learning experience? The vastly expensive also-rans? Never getting to take your seat in the box for a Champions League semi-final? We are truly talking about the overhaul of a club’s model from one polar opposite to the other, and that will have a lot of teething pains, the kind that no bank balance can alter. You feel Barcelona’s overlords have endless patience for their model; City’s allow managers who’ve won the league usually one bad year before they tire of their face and want a new one.

In the previous era, the lack of billionaire-demand on the club meant its youth system could filter through to regular game-time: Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Michael Johnson, Daniel Sturridge. Whereas now, the sole youth-team product City can legitimately claim – Kelechi Iheanacho – has been deemed, in the last two games when Guardiola began to feel the inevitable minute-by-minute pressure of his environment, a luxury he can’t afford. When will that time come, when the model’s development is given precedence ahead of a manager feeling the billionaire heat? Players only learn that they’re important if they’re used in important situations.

And it’s the players, ultimately, who make it work – players money can’t buy. Since I’ve started watching football there’s been at least one player in every Barcelona team who money didn’t buy. He’s generally the one dictating the play, who makes the ethos of the club seem a real, tangible thing. Do City’s owners actually like players who money can’t buy? Perhaps.

It’s not impossible that whoever pulls the ultimate strings at Manchester City is a particular breed of gazillionaire, who’s grown bored of being able to immediately have everything he wants and actually craves a harder, more slow-burning reward. In which case, there’s a pathos to the way he’s going about it, in the evidence of the inevitable downside to limitless wealth. He doesn’t have the imaginative drive to create which a struggle against the limits enforced on you by the world gives. He just sees the Barcelona way and thinks ‘I want that’.

Still, a lot of kids in a lot of unloved areas of Manchester have been given a serious lift by the knock-on effects of City’s investment, so a genuine round of applause for that.

Toby Sprigings

Lovren reveals Klopp’s half-time tactics change

Defender Dejan Lovren hailed another way of winning for Liverpool as they kept their title ambitions on track __with victory in the 227th Merseyside derby.

Sadio Mane’s late goal midway through eight minutes of added time at Goodison Park secured a 1-0 win which ensured the gap to leaders Chelsea remained at six points.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are the Premier League’s top scorers this season, __with their 41 goals three better than next best Arsenal, but it was the way they weathered Everton’s early storm to record a second successive clean sheet which allowed Mane’s close-range strike to make the difference.

They now have one more point at this stage of the season (37) than they had in 2013 when they were top of the league at Christmas, but went on to be pipped to a long-awaited title by Manchester City.

“There are a lot of games in front of us and it will change many times, but games like this you need to win if you want to stay in the race for the title,” said Lovren.

“We are in second so we can say yes (we are title contenders).

“It is about the team’s defensive qualities. We have been working very hard together and just now we are in good form and we need to keep going like that.

“We missed something in the first half, but we had a good quality talk from the manager at half-time and he was asking us to play more direct football.

“If you want to win you need to be more offensive and ask for the ball. In the second half we showed our real face and deserved it.”

Mediawatch: Barkley’s tackle wasn’t bad enough

Slight difference of opinion
‘As Everton’s shell-shocked players trudged off at the end of another crushing derby defeat some of the home fans offered a ripple of polite applause. They felt as though they should show their appreciation for the effort the Blues had put into a blood and thunder game, but etched across every one of their faces was a look of despair’ – Phil Kirkbride, Liverpool Echo.

‘Yes, modern football is goodish, a vast improvement technically and creatively on eras past. Yet the problem __with the skillful yet sanitised world of the Premier League, is the lack of blood and thunder, even when things get gritty and dour. Just look at Everton’s performance in this contest, the one true derby in the English game that means something spectacular, that has passion, history and genuine local pride’ – David Maddock, Daily Mirror.

Either lots of blood and thunder or not enough blood and thunder in the Merseyside derby. But definitely not the right amount of blood and thunder.

Harder, better, faster, stronger
David Maddock’s Daily Mirror piece really is very odd indeed. His general point is that Everton were not snarling enough. ‘But what of Ross Barkley’s challenge?’ you all (don’t) shout in unison.

‘Yet if they had teeth, then there are simply not the conditions any more to unleash Goodison’s fabled dogs of war…or anything akin to the those shuddering, watch through your fingers epic battles of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

‘Yes, there was one naughty challenge from Ross Barkley on Jordan Henderson, but come on. Graeme Souness would have laughed in his face. And Peter Reid would have shown him how to do it properly.

‘And that is the problem. No matter how much is at stake, the nature of the modern game doesn’t allow for bone shuddering, or fist flashing, let alone brawling and bawling.’

So the two problems __with Barkley’s dreadful challenge were 1) that it wasn’t dirty enough, and 2) that there weren’t more of them? Ballsy. Perhaps he should have used both feet, or stamped on Henderson too?

And it’s the fault of the modern game (enter hand-wringers, stage right) that tackles like Barkley’s aren’t allowed any more?

It’s *an* opinion…

Excuse me miss
As a slight alteration to the ‘five things we learned’ staple, MailOnline bring their readers ‘five things you missed’. Change is progress.

‘Liverpool took away all three points in the dying moments on Monday night as Jurgen Klopp’s side won 1-0 at Goodison Park. As always, the television cameras covered every blade of grass but Sportsmail is on hand to cover the things you might have missed. This time there are some absolute crackers that we managed to capture.’

Big talk, so let’s see how many of these things Mediawatch missed while watching on television:

1) Liverpool fans taunted Everton with a banner.

Yeah, we saw that over and over again.

2) The first half was bad.

Erm, you do know how television works, guys?

3) Gareth Barry played.

See point 2)

4) Ross Barkley’s shirt didn’t last long.

Ripped, did it? They only showed it loads of times on TV, so missed that.

5) Boxer Tony Bellew was there

Okay, you got us. Mediawatch didn’t know that Everton fan Tony Bellew was there. We’ll never only watch the match on TV again.

Title tilt
Mediawatch largely agrees that Arsenal are threatening to stuff up their season as only they can, but can’t help feel that The Sun’s Neil Ashton is kicking them a little too hard in his match report from Everton vs Liverpool:

‘Chelsea, with 11 successive wins in the Premier League, are in charge of this title race. Klopp knows that. It is down to Liverpool, City, United and Tottenham to make it interesting. Arsenal, bless them, don’t seem that bothered.’

So that’s Tottenham and Manchester United in a title race but Arsenal not, despite Tottenham and United being one and four points behind Arsenal respectively. Okay…

Get well soon
On Sunday, Manchester City’s players walked out in shirts emblazoned with Ilkay Gundogan’s name, following the midfielder’s serious knee injury. It’s quite a commonplace occurrence abroad (here’s Real Madrid doing it in the Clasico for Jese Rodriguez), but not seen much in England. Arsenal did do it for Tomas Rosicky’s last game last season. Still, everyone has forgotten about those times now, almost as if they were nice gestures with no lasting legacy.

Now, there are four possible reactions to seeing City’s Gundogan gesture:

1) Consider it a pleasant show of support for a teammate whose career is again in danger after another serious injury. City’s togetherness was certainly demonstrated in the second half, and on Tuesday morning it was confirmed that the tribute was the players’ idea, with Pep Guardiola giving his blessing.

2) Be surprised by the gesture, but again surmise that it is a pleasant show of support for a teammate whose career is again in danger after another serious injury. In any case, ‘being nice to friend’ is hardly the crime of the century.

3) Be surprised by the gesture and consider it a bit mawkish, but promptly forget all about it when the actual football starts.

4) Be surprised, and consider it not only worthy of an entire national newspaper column but strong evidence that football is broken.

The Sun’s Dave Kidd is very much your man for the fourth option. His column in Tuesday’s copy of the paper contains each of the following lines:

‘Footbawl’s going soft.’

Because of crying, you see. Which there wasn’t any of at the Etihad but, well, we dunno…

‘The brainstorm which caused every City player to walk out…’

‘The moment when football’s deep-rooted empty-gesture culture finally ‘jumped the shark’.’

‘Heaped merciless ridicule on this nonsense…’

‘This was no cause for black armbands or bouquets on central reservations…’

No, and neither of those things happened, Dave.

‘City ought to be grateful that they won with the degree of manliness apparently needed to stage a comeback.’

Yeah, men. Stop showing emotion.

‘Diana-grade mourning for a bloke with dodgy biscuits.’

‘Diana-grade’. Where’s Elton when you need him?

‘It might have finished off old Pep as he struggles to adapt to life in the Premier League’s anger factory’

Yes, it could have caused Guardiola to be sacked.

‘Football is a contact sport, in which footballers will always get injured’

Does that mean you can’t express sympathy?

The German wasn’t injured by a two-footed tackle.

Does that, too?

‘If the poor lambs still get hurt, it wants to stand as one and grieve in unison – with even the over-sized prosthetic heads of the cartoon mascots bowed in sombre silence’

Again, that didn’t happen.

It’s definitely Manchester City’s players that jumped the shark, though. Definitely.

Popping mad
Writes Charlie Sale in the Daily Mail:

‘The obvious solution to the ridiculous FIFA fine of £35,000 for the FA Poppy remembrance around the England v Scotland World Cup qualifier is for the money to go to the British Legion. But FIFA haven’t the wit for that to happen. A spokesman said: ‘Funds resulting from the said fines are used for FIFA’s social responsibility projects as well as football development activities in general.’

You can consider FIFA’s fine to the Football Association as ridiculous, although the FA can hardly be surprised after deliberately breaking the rules and making it clear beforehand that they were intending to do so.

But is FIFA giving the proceeds from that fine for displaying a political symbol to the one organisation that sells said political symbol really the ‘obvious solution’? No, no it isn’t. Whatever your stance on the debate.

Tactics Tim #1
Slightly late to this, but here’s Tim Sherwood on Aston Villa being awarded a penalty against QPR on Sunday afternoon:

“It’s definitely not a penalty but it is a foul and I can see it being given, I’d say it could be a penalty.”

And you were worried about Bob Bradley struggling to get his message across?

Tactics Tim #2
Slightly late to this, but here’s Tim Sherwood on Jonathan Kodjia having said penalty saved against QPR on Sunday afternoon:

“He’s gotta go the other side there”

That’s quite easy to say after the goalkeeper has gone the right way, Tim.

Even Sherwood might be a decent hindsight manager. Who knew?

Don’t care much about geography
Writes Stan Collymore in the Daily Mirror on Bob Bradley:

‘Who would Swansea fans be calmer with if they were to go down: Bob Bradley or Garry Monk? And I don’t say that because I care that Bradley calls penalties PKs, or about any of his other Americanisms, but because I care about British managers.’

See Bob, it’s not about how you talk, just where you come from. Glad that’s cleared up.

Oh, and this might be of interest to you, Stan.

I watched 4+ hours of Bob Bradley pressers to see how often he uses British vs US lingo. You might be surprised. https://t.co/PeGo3uDZqF pic.twitter.com/IyLO366cmW

— Joshua Robinson (@JoshRobinson23) December 19, 2016

He described it as a ‘PK’ once, and a penalty five times. Perhaps his ‘Americanisms’ aren’t even worthy of mentioning?

Recommended reading of the day
In Bed with Maradona’s complete 100 list.

Nick Miller on David Silva.

Chris Nee on football and mass media.

Sanchez as striker? Wenger had no idea…

Arsene Wenger has admitted he was unsure whether Alexis Sanchez could cut it as a striker at Arsenal.

The 27-year-old has hit 13 goals in 20 games across all competitions for the Gunners so far this season, including a spectacular hat-trick in last weekend’s Premier League victory over West Ham.

Sanchez has been predominantly deployed as a central striker since the start of the campaign, having regularly operated from a wider position for much of his time at the Emirates Stadium, and is likely to keep that role when Stoke visit north London on Saturday.

The move has not only given Sanchez a new lease of life but his speed and mobility, compared to Wenger’s other main option Olivier Giroud, has helped Arsenal find an attacking blend that has seen them score three or more goals in 12 games this year.

But it could have been different had Wenger not decided to have one final crack at playing the former Barcelona forward through the middle.

“I must honestly say I thought many times when I played him last year or two years ago I was wrong,” Wenger said of Sanchez.

“The few experiences I attempted __with him through the middle were not convincing and I remember even in one game (away to Everton in 2014) I changed it at half-time. This year it clicked very early in the season.

“He has developed very well as a centre forward because I think he has found a good mixture between being coming off and going in behind and he has more freedom as well and he takes advantage of his short technique in the middle much more.”

Asked about parallels __with the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, Thierry Henry, Wenger replied: “I had to persuade Thierry (to move centrally).

“I don’t know if it’s my greatest achievement. You see the guy who plays wide can score goals that he can in the centre score even more goals.”

Sanchez’s latest stint as a striker came about more by circumstance as Giroud was rested at the start of the season following his exertions at Euro 2016.

With Lucas Perez not signed until late in the transfer window and a failed move for Leicester’s Jamie Vardy earlier in the summer, Sanchez was Wenger’s only experienced option – and the Frenchman was delighted with the outcome.

“At the start of the season when he came back and he took advantage of the fact Giroud was not here and not ready so I could give him more games,” he said.

“Some times when you have too many people you cannot lost long an experience that is not immediately conclusive because you are under pressure.

“It doesn’t work one or two games and you have a top player on the bench you’re tempted very early to change it.”

Giroud has since returned to the squad but has largely had to play a bit-part role due to Sanchez’s goalscoring exploits.

The 30-year-old is out of contract at the end of next season but, despite Wenger admitting he cannot keep all of his players happy, he wants to keep his compatriot at the club.

“How do we keep them all happy? Honestly I don’t know,” he said of his forwards.

“If you have only one striker, the press says ‘why don’t you buy another striker?’ Once you buy one more they say ‘how can you keep him happy?’

“We are in a world where you have to know where you want to be and in my case I want Giroud to stay, I want Giroud to extend his contract.

“After he has to live with the competition and for me he is a very important player at the club, on the pitch and off the pitch. I want him to stay, he has to decide if he can live with what is going on but personally I like Giroud very much.”

Wenger has previous experience in juggling a host of attacking talent in an attempt to keep them happy, but insists he would rather have a player badgering him to play instead of simply accepting the fact he is out of the side.

“We had Kanu, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, a young Robin Van Persie. it’s never easy,” he added.

“You cannot keep them all happy but our job is we produce every weekend unhappy people.

“It’s part of the job at every club. At Stoke on Saturday only 11 will start. Look at every squad in the Premier League, everybody has internationals on the bench.

“The dangers in our job, the real danger is players who are just happy to be there.”