If ever there were a weekend to focus on the FA Women’s Super League, it would be this one. The Premier League is off on break for the FA Cup while leagues in Italy, Germany and France are all off as well.
Sam Kerr’s Chelsea debut will be broadcast on BBC on Sunday against Reading, with four other matches slated for Jan. 5. One match, however, will not go on as scheduled.
Wayne Rooney is back on the pitch in England and he’s already making an impact with new club Derby County.
The former Manchester United striker left MLS side D.C. United at the end of the 2019 season to become a player-coach for the English League Championship club. He’s been training with the team and coaching under head coach Phillip Cocu, but wasn’t eligible to play until the opening of the English January transfer window.
Southampton forward Danny Ings required just 17 minutes of action in 2020 to begin utterly embarrassing defenders. In Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Tottenham — which saw the Saints move up to 12th place on 25 points — Ings kept up his red-hot form with a goal which is sure to leave Toby Alderweireld with nightmares.
Coming off a tantalizing victory against Manchester City sealed by an 89th minute Matt Doherty winner just 43 hours earlier, fifth-place Wolves made Liverpool sweat as the Reds held on 1-0 to record their 10th straight victory in the Premier League and run their unbeaten league home streak to 50 games on Sunday.
For 82 minutes against Chelsea on Sunday, Arsenal put forth a performance of rare shape, commitment and defensive solidity on manager Mikel Arteta’s home debut. But then Mason Mount’s innocuous free kick fluttered over the despairing arm of Bernd Leno and the excrement hit the air-conditioning again inside the Emirates.
Even for the best of teams, playing down a man for 80 minutes is a most difficult task. Thanks to an idiotic Ederson red card, Manchester City suffered to a 3-2 defeat to Wolverhampton on Friday.
Despite two first-half goals from Raheem Sterling after City went down to 10 men, Wolves rallied with three in the second half to beat City, further denting Pep Guardiola’s title defense.
A meeting between first and second in the Premier League was more one-sided than anyone could’ve predicted as Liverpool ran riot at the home of Leicester City on Thursday evening, winning 4-0 with a masterclass in both attack and defense.
Manchester United punished Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday thanks to a devastating performance from the front three of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood. Newcastle’s Matty Longstaff scored the game’s opening goal in the 17th minute, but the Red Devils replied with four unanswered (three of which were down to Newcastle errors) to climb to seventh in the table.
Crystal Palace defeated West Ham 2-1 on Thursday thanks to an incredible solo effort from Jordan Ayew at the death. Ayew had provided the assist on Cheikhou Kouyaté’s equalizer for Palace in the 68th minute, but he saved his ultimate contribution for last.
Tottenham’s top four aspirations were lifted Thursday following a 2-1 win over Brighton at Spurs’ Stadium. Brighton took a first half lead through Adam Webster, but Tottenham roared back with second half strikes from Harry Kane and Dele Alli.
Alli’s classy winner in the 72nd minute was a continuation of the Englishman’s fine form under manager José Mourinho: since the Portuguese’s appointment, Alli has scored five goals and provided three assists in eight games.