English Clubs

Nicolas Cage is making/has made a movie called Arsenal, which, from the trailer, you might not think is about soccer, specifically not about the North London-based EPL team of the same name.

But it is.

For a non-soccer, more Nicolas Cage-focused take on the trailer, read UPROXX's Brian Grubb on the subject.

For me, it was an old VHS tape called Ooh Aah Cantona - The Cantona Phenomenon that changed everything. Before the days of soccer on ESPN or NBCSN, well before the era of YouTube skill show compilations and with the lasting memories of the 2002 World Cup seared into my mind, I was introduced to Eric Cantona.

The number seven emblazoned on his red shirt, striding around the pitch with dad bod physique, his collar upturned and with all the beguiling qualities of an existential Frenchman on his third glass of absinthe, Cantona was a side of football I’d never seen before.

Tottenham have apparently forgotten which holiday is approaching, and I think that's great. A picture from the club's Christmas party revealed the players had dressed up in costumes like it's Halloween.

It doesn't have to be Halloween for wearing costumes to be a good idea. Any holiday can work, or any day, really. Tottenham aren't letting convention define them, and that's great. Now, to the costumes.

The Merseyside derby was today. It had everything you'd expect from such an occasion: tackles, fouls, more fouls, lots of fouls, all the fouls, every foul, grabbing, holding, kicking, Ross Barkley doing something extremely stupid, Jordan Henderson stomping around with his chest puffed like a guy who's had a few too many and thinks everyone is looking at his girlfriend, more fouls and exactly one goal.

But what a goal.

Kevin De Bruyne registered his ninth assist in 16 Premier League matches by smashing a no-look, cross-field volley straight at Raheem Sterling, allowing the Englishman to beat Petr Cech at his near post for Manchester City’s go-ahead goal on Sunday.

Raheem Sterling comes up clutch! #PLonNBC pic.twitter.com/JmCcac2X57

A meeting between two clubs sitting side-by-side in the Premier League table turned out to be a thoroughly one-sided affair, Manchester United traveling to the Hawthorns to play West Bromwich Albion and comfortably winning 2-0.

The gap between the top six sides in England and the rest of the division appears to be pretty large on the evidence of Saturday’s match between the Red Devils and the Baggies. United are now unbeaten in eight consecutive EPL matches, and they’ve drawn level, at least momentarily, with Tottenham, who have a game in hand.

On Wednesday, Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-1. The first Manchester United goal was scored by Paul Pogba and assisted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The second goal was scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and assisted by Paul Pogba.

There can only be one Man of the Match, so who was it to go to?

Well, the people who decide such things said it should go to Pogba (likely because Zlatan's assist may or may not have hit his arm), but Zlatan overruled them and said it should go to Zlatan.