José Mourinho Sacked

The former Manchester United manager was not even given until Christmas before he was shown the door.

It looks as if United’s 3-1 defeat against rivals, Liverpool was the final straw.

The team are sitting at sixth place on the Premier League table, 19 points behind first-place Liverpool.

This has been United’s worst start to a Premier League season in 28 years!

Chelsea were just one point away from the relegation zone when they sacked Mourinho as manager in 2015.

With United being closer to 20th- place Fulham (with a 17 point gap) than top-place Liverpool, it seemed about time that the Special One made his exit.

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Tottenham Triumph

Despite all the effort Crystal Palace made to go forward, they were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur.

Foyth scored the crucial goal in the 66th minute of the match. This winning goal made up for the two penalties he conceded on his debut.

Spurs now have 27 points, the same as second place Chelsea and third place Liverpool. However, the others have a game in hand.

If Tottenham manage to keep winning their games, there is no telling where they might finish on the table this season.

The London Clubs Qualify for Europa League Last 32

Chelsea and Arsenal played their fourth group stage match on Thursday. They have been performing well in the Europa League and, by avoiding a defeat, they have now secured their entrance into the next stage of the competition.

Chelsea defeated BATE Borisov 1-0 to top their group with two matches to go. Giroud’s goal in the 52nd minute allowed Chelsea to reach 12 points, six points clear of second place MOL Vidi in group L.

The Gunners are similarly topping their group after drawing 0-0 with Sporting Lisbon. The single point gained from the match was enough to secure their entry into the knockout stages of the Europa League, but their top spot in group E is not yet fully confirmed.

During the match Welbeck sustained a serious injury and had to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher. It is fair to say that he will not be playing for a while. We can only hope for a speedy recovery.

The London clubs are making good progress. With the next round confirmed, they can now focus on performing well in the Premier League.

The Top English teams perform well in their Champions League fixtures apart from Liverpool

After playing against Arsenal and gaining points from them, many teams tend to go on to lose their following few matches. This was the case with Liverpool, who drew an intense game against the Gunners last weekend. While other Premier League teams got a good result in their European matches, Liverpool failed to.

Liverpool Lost 2-0 to Red Star Belgrade. Pavkov scored two goals in the 22nd and 29th minute to secure a win for the team currently at the bottom of group C. Due to this defeat, Liverpool are joint on six points with the group leaders, Napoli, but only two points away from the bottom of the table. Their entrance into the next round is far from confirmed.

This is also true for Tottenham who are only have a slight possibility of make it to the knockout stages. In just the second minute of their match, Spurs were 1-0 down against PSV Eindhoven. If this was the end result, Tottenham would have been out of the Champions League. Luckily, Kane managed to score two late goals, rescuing their Champions League chances.

A similar miraculous turnaround was made by Manchester United. Juventus were strong opposition and took the lead against United when Cristiano Ronaldo netted a goal in the 65th minute. Mata, however, managed to equalise for United in the 86th minute and, just three minutes later, Lobo Silva netted an own goal to give Mourinho’s team the victory.

Although that was shocking, Manchester City found a way to overshadow United’s success. They thrashed Shakhtar 6-0 in what was their biggest Champions League win yet. Gabriel Jesus got a hat trick, converting two penalties and scoring an extra time goal. Unsurprisingly, City are topping group F and are very likely to make it to the next stage.

The Premier League giants are showing much more resolve and resilience in Europe this season. Liverpool have not been quite as strong as their fellow English clubs, with Manchester City appearing to be far beyond their level. The Reds looked appeared to have a strong team at the beginning of the season, but time seems to be exposing some wear and tear.

It is Ours

The battle for the title is well underway as both Manchester City and Chelsea win their weekend matches to overtake Liverpool.

Manchester City crushed Southampton 6-1, with goals from Hoedt, Agüero, Silva, Sterling and Sané. The only reason why City did not get a clean sheet was because they conceded a penalty that was netted by Ings in the 30th minute.

The win took City to the top of the table with 29 points, two points clear of Liverpool. Chelsea was not far behind as they caught up to Liverpool and managed to go ahead of them on goal difference after defeating Crystal Palace 3-1.

Morata gave the Blues the lead in the 32nd minute. Townsend managed to equalise for Palace early in the second half, but it was not long before Morata reclaimed the lead for the Blues and Pedro secured it.

This season’s title is constantly being reclaimed. With Liverpool now down at third place, are they still the favourites?

Surprise

Many teams have begun to put on great performances. This Saturday has been full of some shocking turnarounds and high intensity matches.

Man United begun their game against Bournemouth on the back foot. In the 11th minute, they were already 1-0 down.

This might have provided further evidence to some spectators that Mourinho is not the best manager for United.

However, they came from behind to eventually win the game 2-1. Martial was the one who netted the equaliser and Rashford bagged the winner in extra time!

Other red teams also showed the same resolve. Arsenal had to face the current PL table leaders, Liverpool and managed to put on a stunning performance.

The Gunners were largely on the offense, making Liverpool look like a weaker team. However, despite their efforts, Milner gave Liverpool the lead in the 61st minute.

After such a setback, Lacazette still managed to equalise for the Gunners before the end of the match. This Arsenal, under the management of Unai Emery, is clearly a much stonger, new and improved Arsenal.

Tottenham won their match against Wolves 3-2, despite conceding two penalties. They have no one but themselves to thank and blame for the result.

Chelsea and Manchester City are yet to play. This time tommorow, there could be a new table leader.

Trouble at the Top

Arsenal have ended their winning run, keeping the Premier League title still at arm’s length. They are among the other top teams struggling to catch Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool defeated Cardiff City 4-1, with goals from Salah (10′), Mané (66′, 87′) and Shaqiri (84′). This took them to the top of the table with 26 points.

It was then the job of the other top teams to keep in reach. Chelsea, without Hazard even playing, crushed Burnley 4-0 to reach 24 points. Morata, Barkley, Willian and Loftus-Cheek were all on the scoresheet.

Arsenal was meant to continue their winning run, which was 11 games strong, to remain on the same points as the Blues. However, their busy game schedule had clearly caught up with them.

The Gunners drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace after foolishly conceding two penalties! They ended their own winning streak and are now 4 points away from the top of the table because of it.

Manchester City humbled Tottenham with a single goal from Mahrez in the 6th minute. Not only did City catch up to Liverpool in points, they went top of the table on goal difference while keeping Spurs outside of the top four.

Tottenham are not even the worse off. Manchester United are down at 8th place, and this is after having defeated Everton 2-1.

The title race has been highly thought to be a competition between Liverpool and Manchester City. However, could other teams prove that this is not the case?

And it continues

Most teams seem to have a trend that they have set for themselves and can not break. The results of the Champions League and Europa League matches proves this.

Manchester City continue being the pride of Manchester after they defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0. They are currently topping group F and, with the spectacular football they are playing, it does not look like they will be moving from that position.

Mourinho, on the other hand, is still struggling to keep United afloat. His team lost 0-1 to Juventus after conceding a goal to Dybala. Perhaps the worse thing about it all was that it was Ronaldo, a former United legend, who assisted the goal.

Tottenham also failed to win their Champions League match, drawing 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven. Spurs are 3rd in group B and only have 1 point. It is extremely unlikely that they will progress into the knockout stages.

Instead, they will end up in Europa League, a competition in which the London clubs are excelling in. Having won their Premier League match against Leicester (3-1) to enter into the top four, Arsenal continued their winning spree.

The Gunners remain top of group E after defeating Sporting 1-0, with a goal from Welbeck in the 77th minute. They have now won 11 games in a row in all competitons.

Chelsea are also topping their group, and very comfortably at that. A hattrick from Loftus-Cheek secured their win against BATE Borisov.

Generally, the teams doing well can not stop performing well; but those performing poorly seem stuck in a rut. Mourinho, without a doubt, is now a very frustrated manager.

Barkley Back at it Again

Mourinho’s Manchester United failed to win a brutal battle against Chelsea. This was all down to Barkley, a player that has been key in the Blues’ recent matches. Mourinho, of course, was not impressed.

Rüdiger gave Chelsea the lead against United in the 21st minute, and the Blues carried this lead into second half. With the dominance the home team had shown during the first half, many thought that they would wrap up their victory in the second half.

This was not the case. United actually came from behind to take the lead after Martial scored the equaliser in the 55th minute and followed it up with another goal in the 73rd. Mourinho was overjoyed, but he did not celebrate too much in order to show respect to the fans of his former team, Chelsea.

However, when Barkley scored the equalising goal for the Blues in the final minute of extra time, the fans were over the moon and did not hesitate to show it. In fact, the over exaggerated celebration of one of the Chelsea staff members caused Mourinho to react furiously and engage in a heated confrontation.

It is never easy when top teams face each other. Everyone gets very emotional. Although, all is excused because that is the spirit of football!

Tight at the Top

After a great performance by the top Premier League clubs last weekend, the race for the Premier League title has become even more intense. Although many might still think the race is still only between Manchester City and Liverpool, the table does not present that picture.

Manchester City went up against Liverpool in a tough battle to be top of the PL table. However, the game ended without a goal being scored by either side. As Chelsea defeated Southampton 3-0,with goals from Hazard, Barkley and Morata, they are now joint at the top of the table on 20 points with Manchester City and Liverpool!

Arsenal, who had a rough start to the season, are now just two points below these three teams. This is due to an astonishing 5-1 victory over Fulham, with goals from Lacazette, Ramsey and Aubameyang.

Tottenham are also on the same points as Arsenal, having won their match against Cardiff. Even they stand a chance at top four and are well in reach of the Premier League title.

Manchester United are the only top team that are not in the race at this time. Mourinho has come under a lot of criticism. Luckily, his team managed to come back from being 2-0 down against Newcastle to winning the match 3-2. This sort of turnaround shows that there is still hope for United.

At this stage, it would be best to keep an open-mind. Of course City could go on to win the title again, but their competitors are stronger this season! It will not be an easy ride.