The Near Post

With the title race beginning to take its final shape, the pressure was turned up on Arsenal following their 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week,  a draw which continued to open up space for Pep Guardiola's side to draw closer to the league leaders.  As each second came closer to the Gunners' North London Derby trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon, the tension grew palpably with Guardiola's City already trimming the lead to just two points following their narrow win against Newcastle United on Saturday.  So when Arsenal took to the hostile ground against new Spurs coach, Igor Tudor, every touch had to be perfect. Fortunately for Mikel Arteta, most were in Arsenal's 4-1 win. Sustained dominance from the league leaders From minute one, Arsenal were the agressor pinning fullbacks Piero Hincapié and Jurrien Timber to Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard's side, with two early chances to show thanks to a cross from Timber into the box to striker ...

As Winter is slowly beginning to ebb away, the 2025/26 Premier League title race turned up the temperature inside a packed Anfield as Manchester City narrow frontrunner, Arsenal's league advantage to just six points, Sunday evening with a thrilling 2-1 win over sixth-place Liverpool.  Through the first 45 minutes, City looked to have been reeling back the years with waves of continous pressure and a constricting press which hardly let the Merseyside club out of their own half, as Pep Guardiola's side dominated with 61% possesion , while also heaping on 10 shots —three on target— in comparison to Liverpool's paltry three shots which included none on target.  Despite City's statistical dominance, chances came few and far between, with the only clear-cut opportunity coming to Erling Haaland 87 seconds in, thanks to a diagonal run and a threaded pass from Bernardo Silva. Haaland could not get the ball away from his feet fast enough before Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson swoope...

 In a whirlwind last few hours for the 15th-place Crystal Palace, the club has seen both 28-year-old striker Jean-Philippe Mateta's £30M move to Italian giants AC Milan be halted thanks to issues with Mateta's medical, while also welcoming former Wolverhampton striker Jørgen Strand Larsen, who was recently acquired for €49.70M.  Strand Larsen's new home View this post on Instagram A post shared by Crystal Palace Football Club (@cpfc)  "I think that we are a perfect match," quoted the Norwegian striker to Palace media in an in-house interview Monday afternoon , when asked about the fit between him and manager Oliver Glasner.  After a loan spell last season to Wolves, which saw Larsen notch 14 goals and five assists in 38 games, Wolverhampton opened their pocketbook for a €27.00M transfer from Spanish club Celta Vigo ahead of the campaign. So far this season, Larsen has tallied six goals and two assists for a struggling Wolves side that is c...

Towards the end of the first half stoppage time, Spurs' Dutch No. 7, Xavi Simons, stepped up for a free kick just outside the box in what was a dangerous opportunity for Thomas Frank's squad. Simons stepped up with confidence but ended up pelting the ball into the hands of Manchester City's Gianluigi Donnarumma to end what was an unremarkable first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which saw City breeze with a 2-0 lead.  Throughout the first 45 minutes, Spurs could not get a meaningful foot on the ball, while Pep Guardiola's side was breezing through the midfield, finding unmarked zones across the pitch, which resulted in over double the accurate passes and a 2-0 advantage.  To start, Tottenham's Yves Bissouma was caught on the ball by the fiesty Bernardo Silva, who then picked a pass to striker Erling Haaland, who then laid a pass off to the oncoming right winger Rayan Cherki. Cherki glided down the pitch and just inside the box in front of center back Radu Dr...