Liverpool Look to End Dismal Start, Arsenal on the Up

Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP
Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP
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Liverpool Look to End Dismal Start, Arsenal on the Up

Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP
Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP

Troubled Liverpool will be desperate to get their first win of the Premier League season when they face Bournemouth on Saturday.

As the Reds splutter, leaders Arsenal, who host Fulham this weekend, have emerged as the Premier League's only team with a 100 percent winning record after three games, AFP said.

Liverpool must stop the rotJust months after coming within two games of an unprecedented quadruple, Liverpool suddenly look vulnerable after making their worst start for 10 years.

Jurgen Klopp's side were denied the Premier League title by Manchester City on the last day, then lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid, leaving them with the FA and League Cups as consolation prizes for their tilt at football immortality.

At present, Liverpool, beset by injuries, are suffering a heavy hangover from their nearly-historic season.

Unusually error-strewn draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace were followed by Monday's shock 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, who ended their own spluttering start with a dynamic display that exposed the fault-lines in Klopp's team.

The sight of James Milner giving Virgil van Dijk a tongue-lashing after Jadon Sancho scored United's opener was a jarring insight into the stresses of Liverpool's current predicament.

Toothless in attack without Sadio Mane, now at Bayern Munich, and the suspended Darwin Nunez, Liverpool were out-fought in midfield and creaky at the back.

Facing promoted Bournemouth at Anfield offers an opportunity for Liverpool to get back on track, one they must take to avoid falling even further behind in the nascent title race.

Arsenal urged to keep calmAs optimism grows in north London, Oleksandr Zinchenko has warned Arsenal not to get carried away by their surprising surge into pole position.

Ukraine left-back Zinchenko knows exactly what it takes to thrive in the Premier League after his successful spell with champions Manchester City.

Having made the switch to Arsenal in the close-season, Zinchenko and fellow former City star Gabriel Jesus have made an immediate impact on Mikel Arteta's side with their wealth of title-winning experience.

Arsenal have won their opening three matches for the first time in 18 years.

But after last weekend's eye-catching 3-0 win at Bournemouth extended Arsenal's perfect opening, Zinchenko was at pains to urge his team-mates to keep their feet on the ground.

"It's just the beginning of the season. There's a lot of games ahead of us, there's a lot of things to improve," Zinchenko said ahead of Fulham's visit to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

"We need to analyze what we have done well, what we should improve, what we should change and we know the manager is going to tell us. We need to show our best performance every single week."

Tuchel's Chelsea feeling the strainFrom touchline rows with rival managers to blaming buses for defeats, Thomas Tuchel has cut an agitated figure during Chelsea's chaotic start to the season.

Frustrated by Chelsea's failure to kill off Tottenham in a stormy draw, Tuchel earned a one-game ban after twice clashing with Antonio Conte.

A week later, Tuchel was hot under the collar again as the German made the bizarre claim that a travel snafu which forced his coaching staff to travel to Leeds by bus was partially to blame for a dismal 3-0 defeat.

With only one win from their first three games -- and that a narrow 1-0 success at struggling Everton -- Tuchel is showing signs of cracking under the strain.

He risked dressing room discontent with a critical assessment of his team's defending and keeper Edouard Mendy's costly blunder against Leeds.

In the circumstances, Leicester's visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday could be perfectly timed as the Foxes have endured an even worse start.

Brendan Rodgers' winless team are second bottom, with Wesley Fofana left out amid Chelsea's attempts to buy the center-back and James Maddison linked with a move to Newcastle.

Fixtures

Saturday (1400 unless stated)

Southampton v Manchester United (1130), Brentford v Everton, Brighton v Leeds, Chelsea v Leicester, Liverpool v Bournemouth, Manchester City v Crystal Palace, Arsenal v Fulham (1630)

Sunday (1300 unless stated)

Aston Villa v West Ham, Wolves v Newcastle, Nottingham Forest v Tottenham (1530)



Man City and PSG Face Unexpected Early Exit from Champions League in Dramatic Round of 18 Games 

Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique addresses for a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match against Stuttgart on January 28, 2025 at the Stuttgart Arena in Stuttgart. (AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique addresses for a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match against Stuttgart on January 28, 2025 at the Stuttgart Arena in Stuttgart. (AFP)
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Man City and PSG Face Unexpected Early Exit from Champions League in Dramatic Round of 18 Games 

Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique addresses for a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match against Stuttgart on January 28, 2025 at the Stuttgart Arena in Stuttgart. (AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish head coach Luis Enrique addresses for a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match against Stuttgart on January 28, 2025 at the Stuttgart Arena in Stuttgart. (AFP)

Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain each face a shocking early exit from the Champions League for the first time in more than a decade when the final round of games Wednesday decide the new 36-team standings.

When the 18 games kick off at the same time, 9 p.m. Central European Time (2000 GMT), to complete the inaugural league-phase format, Man City is outside the top-24 places that advance to the knockout stage and 22nd-place PSG risks dropping out.

Man City must beat Club Brugge at home to rise safely from 25th place. A draw for PSG at 24th-place Stuttgart should be enough for both teams — barring a freakish big win for Dinamo Zagreb over AC Milan to take the tiebreaker on goal difference among teams that end on 11 points.

A PSG loss in Germany risks ending a run of 12 straight years playing in the knockout stage.

The final-day jeopardy also was unexpected for Man City, the Champions League winner two years ago, which let a two-goal lead slip in a 4-2 loss at PSG last week.

The English Premier League champion advanced 11 years in a row from the old group stage since going winless in the 2012-13 edition.

It is the kind of scenario Champions League organizer UEFA hoped for when approving the new format under severe pressure from storied clubs who demanded more lucrative games and more of them against high-end opponents.

Those same influential clubs -- including the super-wealthy state-backed pair of Man City and PSG - hardly imagined they would miss out on the knockout phase that brings global brand-building attention and tens of millions of euros in extra prize money from UEFA.

Real Madrid had to play just 13 games to win the Champions League last season, and now faces playing 17 to retain the title.

Madrid is 16th in the standings before going to play unheralded Brest after losing three of its seven games, including on its previous trip to France against Lille.

The record 15-time European champion can still rise to a top-8 finish — earning direct entry to the round of 16 in March — by beating 13th-place Brest, though needs other results to go its way.

Teams that finish from ninth to 24th enter Friday’s draw for the two-leg knockout playoffs played on back-to-back midweeks in February.

That shapes as an unwanted burden in the congested calendar for teams also chasing domestic titles, rather than bonus games to earn more revenue.

Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich is in 15th place, also on 12 points with Madrid, before hosting Slovan Bratislava, which has been overmatched losing seven straight games.

A 15-point tally, with a strong goal difference, could be enough to take eighth place currently held by Bayer Leverkusen, which heads a group of six teams on 13 points. Leverkusen hosts already eliminated Sparta Prague.

Bayern and Madrid can be helped by the tough schedule for teams ahead in the standings: Atalanta in seventh goes to Barcelona, 10th-place Monaco is at Inter Milan, while Lille and Feyenoord — 12th vs 11th — cannot both reach 15 points.

League-leading Liverpool has let most star players skip the trip to 19th-place PSV Eindhoven because it is one of the few teams with certainty.

Seven wins guaranteed Liverpool a top-two seeding in the tennis-like bracket for the knockout rounds. That draw will be made Feb. 21 after the playoffs round, setting up pairings through to the May 31 final in Munich.

Only Liverpool and Barcelona have already sealed their top-8 places, though Arsenal and Inter — both on 16 points — likely will join them. Atletico Madrid and Milan start Wednesday’s games on 15 points.