Man City won, but they are still a long way from being back
“Man City will come back,” Pep Guardiola said confidently ahead of his 500th game in charge.
His team managed to secure all three points that afternoon, but the performance was far from convincing.
Leicester did enough to win this game. After hitting the post, seeing a clear penalty denied due to the offside flag and a shot off the line, Man City once again tempted fate and could easily have gotten away with nothing.
The fact that Erling Haaland is back in the goals and Kevin De Bruyne plays 90 minutes are both positive points. But City will need to improve on all fronts if they want to build on this victory in the new year. No one is more aware of this than Guardiola. himself.
“Erling broke his moment and Kevin is back, step by step,” he said. “Step by step.” Patrick Rowe
Leicester's loss underlines the need for investment
“It is a foundation to build on,” said Ruud van Nistelrooy after the match. And he was right.
Before conceding Savinho's opener on the rebound in the first half, Leicester looked solid defensively and possessed a real – and regular – threat on the counter.
Even after he conceded, this threat continued, and Vardy will probably lie awake at night thinking about the chance he spooned over the bar from close range.
1.33 xG against the champions and pushing them to their limits is something to be proud of, but it also underlines the need for investment in the January transfer window.
Leicester created the chances today to walk away with something, but if they have no one to finish them they will return to the Championship in the summer.
Vardy and Patson Daka offer solid options, but Leicester need a frontman who can keep them safe. That's a profile Van Nistelrooy will know all about, having scored just under 100 goals in the competition.Patrick Rowe
Juric represents Mission Impossible at Southampton
Southampton will have to do what no side has done before in the Premier League to stay top, having claimed just six points from their opening nineteen games.
Only Sunderland in 2005-06 (6) and Sheffield United in 2020-21 (5) have also scored six points at this stage. Both are of course relegated.
Ivan Juric, the new Southampton boss, has lost both of his games in charge but there have been promising shots in the two games, especially against West Ham on Boxing Day.
The former Roma coach has simplified the system, allowing the players to be more direct when the scenario calls for it, while demanding an aggressive press.
Southampton took advantage of their early adjustments at Crystal Palace before surrendering a first-half lead and suffering a 2-1 defeat after losing their way in the second half.
Juric needs time with his team to implement his ideas, but he doesn't have time to play along. Keeping Southampton afloat feels like an impossible mission.
For context, West Brom's recovery from 10 points after 19 games in 2004/05 is the fewest points any team has achieved midway through a season and avoided relegation.
A repeat of that performance and equaling their paltry tally of 34 points would require Southampton's greatest escape. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that such a small return could be enough – if they can achieve it. Zinny Boswell
Forest are who Everton want to be
Sam Blitz from Sky Sports:
When Everton and Nottingham Forest met in April this year, there was only two points separating the sides.
This was once a relegation six-pointer in the Premier League, now one team is a street away from the other. In fact, Nottingham Forest have become the team Everton wants to be – and has wanted to be for some time.
Forest are clinical in both boxes and have the team depth to produce what Nuno expects from his team.
The difference between the two was best summed up in the 74th minute of this match when Nuno took off Wood and Gibbs-White, knowing the result was sealed in the same minute when Beto was brought on by Dyche as Everton tested their third difference. combination first.
Bos has a manager who can deal effectively with unrest. Nuno saw Murillo limping away during the warm-up, forcing him to change formation at the last minute. His players still delivered, with Morato's performance as a defensive understudy epitomizing this culture.
With zero points in seven of the last nine games, Dyche is still working out his formula for getting results.
There is also a difference between the back above. Everton have suffered years of ownership turmoil, recently ended by the takeover of the Friedkin Group, while Forest are finally experiencing stability under Evangelos Marinakis. The difference between the two clubs could not be greater.Sam Blitz
Ouattara typifies Cherries' 'never-say-die' attitude
Dango Ouattara came into the Fulham match with an injury. The Burkinabe winger had been in the war following the goalless draw against Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, but Andoni Iraola was forced to call on the man who is quickly becoming his replacement specialist.
Scoring his 89th-minute equalizer at Craven Cottage, Bournemouth have now scored ten goals in the last five minutes of Premier League matches this season, at least three more than any other side.
Two of those were scored by Ouattara, who also played a role in the first of the Cherries' remarkable saves at Everton in August.
Iraola said: “I have to appreciate Dango's effort when he finished the match against Palace with some negatives and probably wouldn't have played in a different situation. He made a great effort and I have to appreciate it because in the end it is the was worth it.”
Marco Silva had to regret that more points had been lost due to winning positions. It is now 19 this season and Ouattara's late intervention kept them above Fulham in the table and dreaming of Europe. It is the kind of resilience needed to make these ambitions a reality. Ben Grounds
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