English Clubs

There is nothing more frustrating in the sports world right now than being an Arsenal fan. Two more Arsenal red cards turned what looked like an impressive performance against Wolves into a 2-1 defeat on Tuesday.

At least if you’re a Knicks fan, you expect failure at this point. 

David Luiz (again) and Bernd Leno were the culprits for Mikel Arteta’s side this time out as another positive showing was undone by red cards. Since Arteta took charge 13 months ago, Arsenal has been shown nine red cards, six more — 6! — than any other club during that span. 

There’s nothing quite like the madness of transfer Deadline Day. Top European clubs rushing to get last-minute deals done creates an exhilarating 24-hour news cycle. In the latest winter transfer window, European clubs invested their stock in USMNT transfers.

Here’s a list of every transfer, loan or signing in Europe from Deadline Day that involved a USMNT player. 

Five years after joining Leicester City from Birmingham, Demarai Gray's time with the Foxes has come to an end. On Sunday, Gray completed a $2.2 million move to Peter Bosz's Bayer Leverkusen, currently fifth in the Bundesliga.

TRANSFER NEWS

Demarai Gray joins Bayer 04 from @LCFC ! pic.twitter.com/ghumQF412O

With Sadio Mané injured and Roberto Firmino on the bench, Liverpool turned to Mohamed Salah for attacking inspiration against West Ham on Sunday. The men charged with feeding him the ball included Xherdan Shaqiri, Thiago, Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner, but the opening 45 minutes passed without any clear chances generated. 

Manchester City beat West Ham 4-0 on Sunday to keep pace with Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the FA Women’s Super League. Rose Lavelle — making her first appearance since spending January with the USWNT — came off the bench in the 65th-minute and promptly scored her first league goal for City in the 71st.

It was a moment to forget for West Ham left back Mayumi Pacheco. The English defender showed for the pass, received it and then spontaneously combusted. Lavelle was free to take a couple touches towards goal before threatening to take Mackenzie Arnold’s head off. 

Chelsea notched up their first win under Thomas Tuchel on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Burnley thanks to goals by Spanish defenders César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso who have both been given a chance to shine under the German coach.

Azpilicueta was entrusted with a place in Chelsea's starting lineup by Tuchel in his two games since replacing Frank Lampard and he scored with an angled shot in the 40th minute after sprinting 80 yards to seize on a lay-off by Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon a year ago Friday. In that time, he’s become the Red Devils’ most important player, scoring and assisting at an incredible rate. This season alone, he’s supplied 16 goals and 10 assists in 31 appearances. 

But he was lucky to avoid all punishment for a bad challenge on Granit Xhaka on Saturday. Had the roles been reversed, few doubt the result would have been a red card for the Arsenal man.

Liverpool supporters would have found themselves sighing in exasperation when Joel Matip came off injured at halftime against Tottenham on Thursday.

There is a genuine argument to be made that, when fit, Matip is a top-five center back in the league. Much to the chagrin of Reds everywhere, the Cameroonian international is seldom fit for more than a few games at a time. He was substituted at halftime against Fulham due to injury, subsequently missing out against last month's game against Spurs, before returning against Crystal Palace.

The USWNT will go for its first trophy of 2021 at the SheBelieves Cup in February. They’ll be without star winger Tobin Heath.

Manchester United ruled Heath out for 10-12 weeks with an ankle injury, manager Casey Stoney said on Friday. In addition to being a big blow to United’s title challenge, Heath will also miss the SheBelieves Cup, which is back in the U.S. from Feb. 18-24.