Steve Bruce fears two of his Newcastle players are suffering from long-term Covid-19.
Bruce says two unnamed members of his squad will miss the weekend game with Fulham after testing positive for coronavirus. And they could be unavailable for several more weeks.
You accept injuries, but a virus like this is obviously new to everybody. I’ve seen the effect now it has on extremely fit, young professional footballers and the effect it’s had on them, and two of them in particular.
Yes, we’re at a disadvantage and we hope, for my sake as well as the players’, they do recover properly and give them time to recover because it’s the welfare of them and their long-term health.
This long-term Covid, if one or two of them have got it like they seem to have, then it’s very, very difficult to manage.
Javier Manquillo, Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Allan Saint-Maximin are among those currently sidelined.
A weird thought. On this very day in the futuristic year of 2022, someone will be hoisting the World Cup trophy aloft. Shall I give the Guardian graphics team a buzz and ask if they can mock up a Harry Kane pic as he... nah, probably leave it for now.
Two of the six teams in that list of title odds - Tottenham and Leicester - meet each other this weekend. Judging by the evidence so far, both would prefer to be the away team. Spurs have won 14 of their 25 points on the road while it’s 15 out of 24 for the Foxes after five away victories. Some Optas:
Tottenham have won five of their last seven Premier League meetings with Leicester (L2), netting 21 goals across these games.
Leicester have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games against Spurs (D2 L6), winning 1-0 at White Hart Lane in their 2015-16 title-winning season.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has faced José Mourinho more times without ever winning in all competitions than he has against any other manager in his career (P7 - W0 D2 L5).
“You never beat me”. Photograph: Michael Regan/NMC Pool/PA Wire/PA
Harry Kane has scored 14 goals in just 10 Premier League appearances against Leicester, more than he’s netted versus any other opponent in the competition.
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals in his last 18 away Premier League appearances.
Are Manchester United officially in the title race? And what about Tottenham despite Jose Mourinho’s constant denials?
Some context from the odds makers:
5/4 Liverpool, 9/4 Man City, 6/1 Tottenham, 10/1 Chelsea, 12/1 Man Utd, 40/1 Leicester, 80/1 Everton, 100/1 Southampton.
Taking a literal view, Man Utd don’t even make the top four.
As fans gear themselves up for some VAR-based outrage this weekend, here’s some ammunition for its backers.
Paul Reidy(@paulreidy67)
If ever there was a case in favour of VAR.... just ask players and fans of @CD_ElEjido as they had two perfectly good goals ruled out & a big penalty call turned down as they crashed out of the #CopaDelRey last night to Deportivo la Coruña.pic.twitter.com/bIEE32VJbP
Some team news for Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of West Brom - a home game with Aston Villa.
He’ll be without Brazilian winger Matheus Pereira, who completes a three-match ban following his red card against Crystal Palace earlier this month.
Kyle Bartley, Conor Townsend, Sam Field and Hal Robson-Kanu are still out injured with an assortment of leg and arm injuries.
Big Sam. Insert own joke here about shirt sponsor. Photograph: Adam Fradgley - AMA/West Bromwich Albion FC/Getty Images
For Villa, Douglas Luiz and Matty Cash are back in contention having served suspensions.
It may come too soon for Ross Barkley, though, as he looks to shake off a hamstring problem.
A fun fact for Sunday’s game: West Brom are unbeaten in their last eight home games against Aston Villa in all competitions (W3 D5), since a 1-2 Premier League loss in September 2008.
If you missed it last week, here’s the final votes for the 100 best female footballers in the world. Suzanne Wrack interviews the winner here.
Who are the best 100 male footballers in the world? Cesc Fàbregas and Brazil legends Zé Roberto and Jorginho are part of our 241-strong judging panel. The countdown begins on Monday 21 December with Nos 100-71. On Tuesday we will reveal Nos 70-41, on Wednesday Nos 40-11 before the top 10 on Christmas Eve completes this year’s list.
Liverpool are less stressed about rushing their midfield stars back due to the continued flowering of Curtis Jones - the local lad with every letter of the world ‘scouse’ in his name (you can’t do anything with the remaining letters; and, boy, I’ve tried).
Here’s Barney Ronay’s piece on the flourishing teenager.
Here’s Jurgen Klopp on when Liverpool fans could see Thiago Alcantara in action again. The Reds boss also hopes to have James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri back soon.
We already made jokes here; I said, ‘I think we should sign Thiago for January!’
He gets closer and closer and he is in a good way, but we will not rush it, we cannot rush it and he will not [either] because he is not allowed to rush it. Of course, it’s nice having him on the pitch, training, doing a lot of stuff, but he is not in team training yet and that’s actually the final step.
We will see how this weekend looks with him on the pitch and then next week [see if he] can be in team training. I don’t know in the moment 100 per cent. There are a few tests, he has to pass a few tests on the pitch until we make that decision.
That’s not only for him the case. With Millie it will be similar, with Shaq it will be similar… if I forgot somebody it’s not because I am disrespectful, it’s just a lot of players are injured in the moment.
Sebastien Haller scored one of the goals of the season so far in West Ham’s draw with Crystal Palace in midweek. So good that Max Rushden awarded it 8.2 on the ‘Sinclair Spectrum’ in this week’s Football Weekly Extra podcast.
To save you searching....
Eat my goal.
Did you see that?!
Jurgen Klopp is baffled after an attempt to introduce five substitutes for the remainder of the season was stymied for a third time. His reaction and the full story below.
Football Daily(@footballdaily)
🗣 "I can't do you a favour again to create headlines, everyone knows my opinion about the case. Pretty much only them in Europe voted against it"
Jurgen Klopp's reaction to Premier League clubs voting against 5 substitutions pic.twitter.com/w2kMmYff7u
Can Sam Allardyce save the day again after being appointed as the new boss at West Brom? He’s gone full David Brent here...
At some of the clubs we’ve only done until the end of the season. I’ve said to the owners ‘now I’ve saved you, go and find the man you want’.
That’s why I’ve moved on, and the clubs have moved on. And then later down the line someone comes along and says ‘Sam’s done it before, can he do it again?’.
In the early years it wasn’t like that. I was about building your reputation as a good manager through all the divisions, and finally building a reputation by taking Bolton to where they were.
But most of that has been forgotten again now, it’s about who I am at this moment in time.
I have already had texts from my mates calling me ‘Red Adair’. I can’t get away from that tag.
So if I keep West Brom up, sue me.
Perhaps the masterplan to stop Manchester United coming from behind to win away games (six times out of six after the 3-2 success at Sheffield United) is not to score in the first place. There’s an idea for you Jose. Take the 0-0 and then claim the best team drew.
Here’s Ole Gunnar Solskjær scratching his head a bit on why Man Utd keep having to be spurred into action:
From when I was playing, we seemed never to make it easy for ourselves.
Of course the start was so sloppy, slow again and I’m very surprised about that because we’d spoken about it, showed videos. We knew exactly what was going to happen and it happened.
We jogged around the pitch and that’s not good enough. But then the character is fantastic by every single one of us. They just started playing.
Opening the blog with a line about custard has sparked the inevitable. So thanks for the early efforts - John Flanagan, Jelly Alli and Tart au citron Atkinson.
Here’s a line from The Fiver archives on a similar subject:
When Rafa Benitez took over at Valencia in 2001, he immediately antagonised his players by banning paella, olives and ice cream from the club’s menu. “We reached two [Big Cup] finals and won the Spanish Cup with the old one,” Kily Gonzalez sulked at the time. “Now we’re not allowed to eat ice cream. We’ve been commanded to eat flans and custard.”
It’s not a trifling matter.
More from Mikel. Basically, he’s telling Gunners fans not to fall victim to recency bias. The whole year; that’s the real quiz.
I think it has been one of the most challenging years in the club’s history for many, many different reasons. I think we have made a lot of progress and implanted a lot of positive things that have worked really well.
We have gone through structural changes right across the club that has obviously shaken the club, big time.
I would say the highlights of the year are the two trophies that we have won together, and the most disappointing thing is that we haven’t had our fans with us to take us through this difficult moment.
I think it could have been a really, really positive year, but the recent form in the Premier League is taking the gloss off what we have done in the calendar year.
But we have to accept that our Premier League form in recent weeks is not good enough for this football club.
This is Arsenal’s worst start to a top-flight season since 1974-1975. On this very day 46 years ago, Mud were top of the charts with ‘Lonely This Christmas’ but Mikel Arteta insists he feels anything but as the Gunners prepare to take on Everton this Sunday.
Arsenal are stuck in the mud.
I said it from the start that I felt really supported by the owners, by the board, the technical director, and then by everybody at the club
At the end of the day, it is the feeling that I feel with the staff, with the coaching, with the players, which is the most important – what chemistry do you have? What understanding do you have? Will they follow you? Do they believe in what you are trying to do.
And I have to say thank you because I have not seen anything that goes against what we are trying to do – but it is like anything in this industry, you need results.
Is Thiago Alcantara back for Liverpool? Or is he just doing a promo for his new Christmas fitness video?
Well, neither for the time being it seems. The midfielder looked imperious in Liverpool’s win over Chelsea before getting crocked in the Merseyside derby. And we’ve not seen him in action since that October clash with Everton.
Some quotes here straight from the thoroughbred’s mouth after being asked if he has a comeback date in mind:
No, just taking it step by step.
We always try to [do it] like we have a wall in front of us, saying ‘OK, you have to make a step back before you can advance.’
Now we think we are in a right mood and looking forward to the end of the year to try to train another time with the team.
Thiago Alcantara at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images
Interesting interview here with David Ginola on Jean-Marc Bosman. The Belgian, who changed football 25 years ago, is the subject of a new BT Sport documentary.
The PFA says its members ‘overwhelmingly support’ continuing to take the knee.
From the PA:
Taking the knee as an act of solidarity against racism continues to have the overwhelming support of professional footballers, according to the players’ union.
The gesture was booed by Millwall supporters before their home Championship game against Derby on December 5, and in the Lions’ next match against QPR a decision was taken for the players to stand arm in arm instead.
However, the Professional Footballers’ Association says it has consulted with its membership and the vast majority want to continue taking the knee.
“Players overwhelmingly support continuing this act of solidarity despite any adverse responses that may be received,” a union statement said.
“The decision to take the knee before matches was initially made by Premier League captains during Project Restart, to show solidarity with black people facing discrimination globally.
“This powerful symbol of solidarity represents the players’ commitment to anti-racism and is not an endorsement of any political position. It is a peaceful act of unity that highlights a persistent and systemic issue.”
The Premier League going with a 4-4-2 line-up this weekend...
Saturday 12:30 C Palace v Liverpool
15:00 Southampton v Man City
17:30 Everton v Arsenal
20:00 Newcastle v Fulham
Sunday
12:00 Brighton v Sheff Utd
14:15 Spurs v Leicester
16:30 Man Utd v Leeds
19:15 West Brom v Aston Villa
Monday
17:30 Burnley v Wolves
20:00 Chelsea v West Ham
Like overly-powdered custard tipped from a great height, the games are coming thick and fast now as we hurtle towards Christmas. Liverpool head into the weekend on top of the pack again after claiming victory in the “best team lost” showdown against Spurs in midweek. Will they now stay there for a while after the merry-go-round of league leaders? The Reds try and sort out their dodgy away form at Crystal Palace while Manchester United host Leeds in the M62 (delays at Chain Bar) derby. Oh, and Big Sam’s back! All this and more as we build up to another weekend in that there Premier League.
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