Talking points from the latest round of Premier League games: WIDE MEN KEEP NEWCASTLE FLYING HIGH
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United rose to the dizzy heights of second place in the table on Monday with a 3-0 win over Leicester City as once again his wide men provided the attacking spark. From his starting point on the left, Joelinton won a penalty and added a goal of his own from a set piece, while on the far side of the pitch Miguel Almiron caused chaos by cutting inside onto his left foot and scoring the second goal for Newcastle .
It’s not just the wide men that are benefitting, either – with Joelinton and Almiron on the flanks defenses are drawn out to cover them, and this leads to gaps for more central forwards and midfielders to exploit. Backed up by a solid defense, Newcastle are now firmly in the title race alongside leaders Arsenal and third-placed Manchester City, and any team wanting to stop them will have to work out a way to clip their wings.
RELEGATION LOOMING LARGE FOR SOUTHAMPTON Southampton’s survival in the top flight looks highly doubtful after Monday’s defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion left them at the bottom of the table on 12 points.
The south-coast club lacked the fighting spirit against Brighton and looked poor in all departments as they suffered their fourth straight league defeat. Southampton sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl before the World Cup hoping to rejuvenate their fortunes with the appointment of Nathan Jones, but the new manager faces an uphill battle with the team still two points outside the safety zone with 12 games left.
PRESSURE INCREASING ON LAMPARD AT EVERTON Everton appointed Frank Lampard in January this year to get them out of a relegation scrap last season, which he duly did amid much drama and with one game to spare.
Fast forward almost 12 months and there may be genuine concerns at board level that not much has improved following Monday’s 2-1 home loss to fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers. Everton were the better side and created almost double the number of chances of Wolves, but as has been their Achilles heel all season, they failed to take them and were punished late on.
With Dominic Calvert-Lewin under a constant injury cloud, unless Everton can bring in a forward with quality in the January transfer window, they may well be fighting for their Premier League survival again come the end of the season.
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