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...

Chelsea and English winger Raheem Sterling have officially parted ways,A tumultuous post-City career The four-time Premier League-winning winger left Manchester City in July of 2022 after Chelsea bought the now-31-year-old for €56.20M .  During his time with the West London club, Sterling made 81 appearances, scoring 19 goals, but he never properly found his footing in a club that had seen €630.25M worth of players be brought into the club. From the beginning of 2022 until the end of the 2023 Winter transfer window. A loan spell in an attempt to get back on the pitch Following a 2023/24 season that saw the winger notch a productive 18 goals and assists in 43 games , Sterling was reportedly told he was not involved in new manager Enzo Maresca's plans . Sterling then sealed a deadline loan move to Arsenal in Summer 2024. Sterling played in just 28 games for the Gunners last season, where he compiled just six goal contributions across the season, never truly recovering his prior ...

When Tammy Abraham joined Aston Villa back in late August 2018, the English striker made an impact Villians would cherish as his 26 goals and three assists throughout his 40 matches led the way in Villa’s promotion-winning season to get the club back to England’s top flight. Following Abraham’s breakout season, he was then thrust right back to the Premier League, where his career has seen numerous highs and lows across stints at Chelsea, Roma, Milan, and most recently, Beşiktaş. Abraham has since notched 90 goals in 269 appearances , including 13 goals in his 26 games with the Turkish giants. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tammy Abraham (@tammyabraham) A homecoming for Abraham Earlier today, it was announced that Beşiktaş had sold Abraham to Villa for a €21.00M fee , in a move that now adds depth to a core that was solely spearheaded by 30-year-old Ollie Watkins, who has compiled eight goals and one assist in his 23 matches for the third-place side. “...

  Since Manchester United took down Arsenal with a 3-1 result at Old Trafford in the 2022-23 season, United had secured just one point in its following six fixtures against the Gunners, with the North London side notching 16 of a possible 18 points. All that momentum came to a halt with what was a miraculous 3-2 win , which gave way to one of the most historic matches in recent Premier League history.   “The boys had to dig deep today,” quoted an exhausted Michael Carrick , who’s currently filling in as interim coach following the dismissal of Ruben Amorim earlier this month .  The first 20 minutes of the match went better than any Arsenal fan packed tightly into the sold-out Emirates Stadium could have asked for. Mikel Arteta’s side dictated play and kept themselves on the front foot and nearly scored from a Declan Rice free kick, which was neatly swung into the box before Summer signing Martin Zubimendi headed the lofted pass just above the head of United goaltender Se...

Sunday night marks Manchester United’s first Premier League win over Arsenal since United took down the North London side in Erik ten Hag’s debut 2022-23 season. Heading into Sunday’s wintery fixture those 3 -1 heights reached under the Dutch manager looked like Mount Everest when you consider that United had suffered five losses against the league leaders with one draw sandwiched between the paltry results.  However, a pressing Bryan Mbuemo, thumping Patrick Dorgu, and clinical Matheus Cunha, all proved to be the difference in United’s resilient 3-2 win over Arsenal , who snatched a 29th-minute own goal from Lisandro Martinez and a Mikel Merino tap-in, which proved to be one goal short Sunday evening .  Manchester United Ratings GK: Senne Lammens - 8  If you want to be harsh, Lammens could have done better to prevent Arsenal’s equalizing goal. Lammens vaulted himself into a crowd of players from both sides, and that jump eventually led to Merino’s tying goal. However, t...