Category News

Aston Villa continues to march under the direction of Unai Emery.

Wolves’ victory was unconvincing. Boubacar Kamara, the midfielder who arrowed a shot into the top corner from 20 yards to settle the game, had the only thing to prove.

Even though talk of an unexpected title fight may seem fantasy at this point, Villa could soon be in the conversation as Arsenal’s closest rivals. It brought them to third place in the Premier League.

In contrast to a difficult start that saw them lose their 12-month unbeaten home record and exit the Carabao Cup before the end of September, they have won seven of their previous eight top-flight games.

The most of any Villa team’s 16 Premier League goals this season have come from outside the box, making nine out of the field.

The most recent in a long-range strike series was Kamara’s blockbuster, which found its top corner.

In order to help Villa rise to the top three, Matty Cash, Emi Buendia, and Morgan Rogers have tapped the net from a distance.

Wolves have not scored in the last seven goals from outside the box, trailing only Arsenal by two.

Villa’s success is not a coincidence for Emery, who meticulously prioritizes detail and demands perfection.

The players are being clinical and shooting very well, but our demand is obviously more options to try to score goals, he said.

“We need to add goals in various ways,” he said.

They are practicing a lot during training, he continued, adding, “And shooting like that.”

In Premier League history, Villa are the only team to have scored more than half of their goals from outside the box at this point.

Are they at risk of overrelying on distant goals, though?

Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score another blank after the longest goal drought of his Villa career, which included 11 consecutive goals.

Donyell Malen, who scored twice against Young Boys on Thursday in the Europa League match, also rarely threatened.

Emery responded, “We are working and analysing everything,” when asked about a reliance on outside the box goals. We discussed it, of course.

We needed goals last year. With goals]difference], we fell short of the top five. I’m always concerned about something or something that needs to be improved.

We are attempting to identify areas where we have been weak or where we can clearly improve, even when we are winning, according to our demands.

We aren’t scoring many goals, they say. We are now getting the balance between competing. We are keeping clean sheets while maintaining our defensive strength. We want to get goals and get numbers for each.

Kamara scored the only other Premier League goal for Villa in his 81 appearance.

Following a 2-0 win at West Ham, Mohamed Salah has a history at the London Stadium, which may have been the beginning of Liverpool’s transition to the next generation.

Jurgen Klopp’s replacement Jurgen Klopp made the decision to bench the 33-year-old for a Premier League game for the first time since April 2024, which was also at West Ham.

That day saw Salah firmly in the spotlight before it ended.

First when he and Klopp got into a touchline argument as West Ham scored when the notoriously reserved forward waited to start as a substitute in a 2-2 draw, and then when he later announced: “If I speak, there will be fire.

Salah’s magnificent Anfield career came to an end thanks to Slot’s choice, which had a wider significance than that of the great Egyptian.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney has publicly encouraged Slot to fire Salah following a string of subpar performances this year, not least of which.

The difficult part is how to replace such a top-notch talent, who ranks third overall in the club in all-time scoring behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.

Slot offered a potential solution here.

After a run of nine defeats in their last 12 games, including six of their own, the newly resurrected Liverpool finally saw the result that he and his team so desperately needed.

With Cody Gakpo on the left and Isak as the main striker, Dominik Szoboszlai was relieved of his right-back duties, where he is wasted, to patrol the right flank in attack.

The Dutchman scored with a thumping finish in stoppage time for their second, followed by Gakpo’s cross for Isak’s goal.

After conceding 10 goals in three games, Slot also made use of Joe Gomez at right-back, his first league start in 11 months, which strengthened Liverpool’s defense and kept Szoboszlai’s defense in good form.

Salah kept a watchful eye on the bench, who will soon be eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Because of his uniqueness, Slot took pains to point out that the forward, who signed a new two-year contract last summer, “will have a very good future at this club.”

However, Salah has a chance of being cut out based on his current form.

According to Alan Shearer, “Slot made a big call, but I guess Liverpool’s results make it easier.” You have to make important decisions when things don’t go your way, which is a big one because of what he has done previously for Liverpool.

You must accept the decision when Salah hasn’t been playing well, and because of that, he can’t raise a complaint.

Salah shouldn’t, however, be dismissed as such. This game is risky.

Prior to this one, he had started 53 Premier League games consecutively, frequently giving the impression that he was trying to win the title from Liverpool last year, which came about as a result.

Salah started for Liverpool in 383 starts and has scored 250 goals in 419 appearances. Since joining AS Roma in the summer of 2017, he has made 188 goals and a 64% win rate in 300 league starts.

When Salah plays, Liverpool have won 263 games overall, or 63% of the total, in each competition.

Even though Slot would not be doing his job if he did not consider the possibility of Liverpool’s future beyond Salah, the victory at West Ham provided some clues.

If Slot returns to face Sunderland at Anfield on Wednesday, it will be intriguing to see if he does so.

Isak’s confidence will be put to the test by that snap half-volley to end a 310-minute league goal drought on his sixth appearance, having only scored against Southampton in the Carabao Cup back in September.

When the 22-year-old German playmaker arrived at Liverpool while serving on a roving, roaming commission, Wirtz also displayed some indications of what all the fuss was about.

Isak stated on BBC Sport’s Match of the Day, “I’ve been awaiting it and chasing this goal, sometimes it takes longer than you think, but I’m happy to score a goal and contribute to the victory.”

It’s never simple, they say. You need momentum as a striker. You may encounter these patches, but we hope that this will help you maintain your form. We did a great job of defense and scored twice, making it happy.

This was all about the win, which was only Liverpool’s second in the league since they defeated Everton 2-1 on September 20.

Lucas Paqueta, a West Ham midfielder, claims that his “ridiculous behavior” that caused Liverpool to send him a 2-0 defeat was “a reflection of everything I’ve had to endure.”

The Brazil midfielder was the subject of a nearly two-year investigation by the Football Association when an independent regulatory commission found him innocent of spot-fixing allegations in July.

Referee Darren England sent Paqueta two yellow cards in a row for dissent on Sunday after they had an argument over whether to call a foul on his team with six minutes to go.

Following the game, Paqueta responded to a postquoting former Hammers goalkeeper Rob Green’s commentary on X, which called the red card “ridiculous behavior.”

Paqueta apologized to his team-mates and the club’s supporters, saying, “It’s ridiculous to have your life and career affected for two years without any psychological support from the federation.”

“Perhaps this ridiculous behavior is just a reflection of everything I’ve had to endure, and it seems that will continue to do so!”

I’m sorry if I’m imperfect.

After missing the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth last weekend, the 28-year-old was only returning from a one-game suspension on Sunday after accumulating five yellow cards in the league.

It’s difficult to live with everything that was done to me and my psyche, he wrote in Portuguese. “I understand that now I have to come across as the villain.

I’ll keep attempting to prevent them from having an even greater impact on me. I apologize to the fans and my teammates because this doesn’t support my expulsion.

The 27-year-old was charged in May of last year for allegedly getting booked “consensually” for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market, despite the FA’s investigation having begun in August 2023.

If found guilty, Paqueta could receive a lifetime ban.

Following a hearing, the regulatory commission found that Paqueta’s four charges were “not proven,” but he was reprimanded and warned about his future conduct for failing to follow the allegations’ investigation.

Nuno Espirito Santo, West Ham manager, said, “I’m not going to comment too much after the game.”

“First of all, I’m going to try to understand Lucas’ frustrations and behavior,” I said.

In his first season with the Hammers, Paqueta helped the team claim the Europa Conference League title from Lyon when he left in August 2022.

Lucas Paqueta, a West Ham midfielder, claims that his “ridiculous behavior” that caused Liverpool to send him a 2-0 defeat was “a reflection of everything I’ve had to endure.”

The Brazil midfielder was the subject of a nearly two-year investigation by the Football Association when an independent regulatory commission found him innocent of spot-fixing allegations in July.

Referee Darren England sent Paqueta two yellow cards in a row for dissent on Sunday after they had an argument over whether to call a foul on his team with six minutes to go.

Following the game, Paqueta responded to a postquoting former Hammers goalkeeper Rob Green’s commentary on X, which called the red card “ridiculous behavior.”

Paqueta apologized to his team-mates and the club’s supporters, saying, “It’s ridiculous to have your life and career affected for two years without any psychological support from the federation.”

“Perhaps this ridiculous behavior is just a reflection of everything I’ve had to endure, and it seems that will continue to do so!”

I’m sorry if I’m imperfect.

After missing the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth last weekend, the 28-year-old was only returning from a one-game suspension on Sunday after accumulating five yellow cards in the league.

It’s difficult to live with everything that was done to me and my psyche, he wrote in Portuguese. “I understand that now I have to come across as the villain.

I’ll keep attempting to prevent them from having an even greater impact on me. I apologize to the fans and my teammates because this doesn’t support my expulsion.

The 27-year-old was charged in May of last year for allegedly getting booked “consensually” for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market, despite the FA’s investigation having begun in August 2023.

If found guilty, Paqueta could receive a lifetime ban.

Following a hearing, the regulatory commission found that Paqueta’s four charges were “not proven,” but he was reprimanded and warned about his future conduct for failing to follow the allegations’ investigation.

Nuno Espirito Santo, West Ham manager, said, “I’m not going to comment too much after the game.”

“First of all, I’m going to try to understand Lucas’ frustrations and behavior,” I said.

In his first season with the Hammers, Paqueta helped the team claim the Europa Conference League title from Lyon when he left in August 2022.