LAURA WOODS ON ARSENAL CRITICS, BRIGHTON’S RISE AND LITTLER’S HISTORY BID
MUKIELE’S SUNDERLAND HONESTY SHOULD BE ADMIRED
Europe will 100% be a factor in Sunderland’s start to the season. It can’t not be.
But manager Regis Le Bris himself has hinted at other explanations, too.
Adjusting to the work schedule, the travelling, the different levels of teams and all the rest of it is demanding for a club that’s only spent one season back in the Premier League.
Nordi Mukiele saying “maybe we became arrogant” suggests it’s a mentality thing as well.
That was very insightful and you don’t hear that too often, so I really liked the honesty.
He said a lot more about where things weren’t going well on the pitch – pretty much everywhere – and if I was a Sunderland fan with eyes, I’d have to agree and appreciate he’s not trying to fool anyone.
Last season they had something to prove and they really rode the wave in the Premier League – the challenge now is retaining that hunger and attitude and fight after all the praise.
I love Mukiele’s honesty, but I’m waiting to judge the response too.
Calling yourselves out only matters if the next performance changes. So, all in all, European football will explain the fatigue to an extent but they are still professional footballers, they need to find a way to up their levels once again and refuse to accept low standards.
Sunderland to be relegated this season is 5/2 with BetMGM
BORING, BORING ARSENAL? NOT IN MUNICH
I get it, the ‘unwatchable Arsenal’ criticism was after the win over Nottingham Forest when we managed one shot on target.
It was a bit boring, and it lacked entertainment, but it’s a stretch to turn that into a verdict on everything Arsenal does.
Being defensively organised, controlling the game and finding a way through is an art in itself and some people appreciate that, too; it can’t just be swashbuckling football.
I bet Arsenal fans would take another title over winning a popularity contest.
Wednesday’s 2–2 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League came at a good time to counter this ‘unwatchable’ argument I’d say.
Arsenal contributed to an entertaining game against elite opposition – and managing to get something out of a trip to the Allianz is not easy, especially after going 2-1 down shortly after half-time.
People can slate them if they want but, deep down, they have to respect what Arsenal are doing.
Arsenal to win the Premier League is 1/2 with BetMGM
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NIGHTS ON THE SOUTH COAST?
If Brighton can hold on to how they’re playing at the moment, a place in the Champions League beckons.
They've already had quite big fixtures as well, so they’ve been tested. The one against Arsenal before the international break was massive.
They’re doing this 4-5-1 approach which has been a little bit baffling for some teams where they’re emptying the midfield and just flooding it up front when they’ve got the ball.
They share the goals around, too. I was looking at their top scorers and they’ve only got three each. Yet across Europe’s top five leagues, they’re now level with Real Madrid in league goals – overtaking Bayern Munich – and Barcelona are the only ones out-scoring them at the moment.
That’s massive.
For a team like Brighton to be blowing teams away like that… They’ve all bought into the philosophy and the way Fabian Hurzeler wants them to play. That’s why it’s working so well – everybody has a job to do and everybody is part of this new strategy he’s implementing.
They’ve also got five clean sheets in seven in the league, and that’s almost as important, if not more important in many ways.
When the goals dry up, that’s what you can rely on. And we’re talking about Arsenal being boring, but having a solid defence won them the league – it’s so vital.
The goals will catch your attention, of course, but that defensive record will be so key for them in the Premier League and to get a foot in the Champions League.
I saw some links between Hurzeler and the Manchester United job, which is just a classic. Over the last 10-15 years, whenever a manager’s doing well, he gets linked with United, because inevitably whoever’s there is having a crap time – and obviously, that’s what’s happening with Michael Carrick at the moment. But I don’t think he’ll go anywhere.
They’ve got a chance to have an incredible season. I don’t think they’ll win the league, because that is such a difficult thing to do and this isn’t a Leicester situation.
But I definitely think European football of some kind is on the horizon for them again as they’re currently in the Conference League.
It is a long way, though, and a long season.
They’ve got a difficult run of fixtures – Liverpool next and then Manchester City back-to-back in the league and the League Cup. We’ll learn a lot about them when the fixtures start to get really tricky in such a condensed space of time.
Brighton to finish top four is 11/10 with BetMGM
LANKSHEAR NEEDS TIME, NOT KANE TAGS
Will Lankshear has definitely earned the right to be in the conversation, for sure, but there will be bigger tests to come.
Scoring nine in 11 in the Championship is a good return, but before we can start saying “Harry Kane replacement”, I think he’s got quite a long way to go. I really like him, though, and I like his nature.
When you watch him in interviews, he sounds educated and like he has his head screwed on. There’s one from a while ago, actually, where he talks about how making it in any league is a massive achievement because there are so few spaces for strikers in professional football.
So he’s really proud to get to where he is at the moment.
I do find his history interesting, as well. An Arsenal youth player back in the day, then went to Sheffield United and Tottenham and I think Middlesbrough is a great place for him to be right now.
It sounds like he’s on the right track, but I hope he gets more challenges in the future and makes his way to the Premier League properly this time, with a team that will keep hold of him.
And yeah, I hope he does turn into the next Harry Kane, but it’s quite a tag to have around his neck, isn’t it? Let’s just let him settle as he is for the moment and see what the future brings.
Will Lankshear to finish Championship top scorer is 11/8 with BetMGM
MY GOLDEN GOALS MATCHDAY 8 SELECTIONS
Here are my picks for this week’s Golden Goals, BetMGM’s free-to-play score predictor game with up to £100,000 up for grabs if you can call these results correctly:
- Arsenal 2-0 Everton
- Coventry 1-1 Fulham
- Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham
- Crystal Palace 1-2 Newcastle
- Liverpool 2-2 Brighton
- Sunderland 1-1 Leeds
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LITTLER CAN BLOCK OUT THE NOISE IN GERMANY
Luke Littler absolutely can win the European Championship.
Obviously, his exits this year make him seem more beatable – and of course he is. So it’s not going to be a clean sweep of every major in one calendar year, but a career clean sweep is still a massive, massive achievement at the age of 19.
We definitely shouldn’t lose sight of that. He’s such a wonderful young player.
It’s a difficult field already, and I hope the crowd in Germany don’t derail him. I just hate it when outside influences come into the game – the whistling and stuff like that – it’s just unfair.
If I were him, I’d try not to antagonise them. Just go up there, do my job and get everything done. I hope it’s not in his head, but at 19, that’s so much easier said than done.
I hope he does it, because we should be massively celebrating young English sportspeople like this. We should all be getting behind them and wanting to see them win.
It won’t be easy but he can absolutely do it. A career clean sweep at 19 would be a monstrous effort and he’ll be doubly determined after his recent exits.
I’m keeping all my fingers crossed.
Luke Littler to win the European Championship is EVS with BetMGM
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change. Please note: This week's Golden Goals deadline is Saturday 24th October 15:00. Opt-in is required and you can find out more here.
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Opt in & predict 6 correct scores (see game lobby for weekly tournament cut-off time) to win up to £100k jackpot. Predict 2+ correct scores and win a prize (ranging from Free Bets to £5k Prizepool). Winnings shared evenly in case of multiple winners. Each prize subject to its own terms. Void if 1 or more matches postponed/abandoned or not completed. Verification procedures apply. 18+. T&Cs and exclusions apply.
