theScore examines the most important developments and biggest talking points from Saturday’s slate of action in England’s top flight.
Foden can fill De Bruyne’s shoes
It’s time to let Phil Foden cook.
With superstar midfielder Kevin De Bruyne sidelined long term after a relapse of the hamstring injury he suffered in last season’s Champions League final, Pep Guardiola turned to the young Englishman to assume the mantle as Manchester City’s central creator – both literally and figuratively – on Saturday against Newcastle United.
Foden didn’t disappoint.
The 23-year-old playmaker was the focal point of City’s progressive play at the Etihad Stadium, consistently finding dangerous pockets of space and breaking free from the shackles of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali to create chances for his teammates. He popped up everywhere and crafted City’s winning goal by identifying a hole, bursting into the Newcastle penalty area with his quickness and cutting the ball back for Julian Alvarez, who picked out the top corner with a wicked strike.
Foden is a very different player to the Belgian superstar he’s currently replacing. De Bruyne is a more domineering physical presence who powers forward with the ball at his feet before picking out killer passes. Foden, meanwhile, glides across the pitch, using silky dribbling and his cerebral understanding of space to carve up the opposition. He’s constantly scanning the field, seeking out areas between the lines, and has the technical ability to twist and turn and create passing lanes that otherwise wouldn’t exist.
Losing De Bruyne is obviously a huge blow. But in Foden, City, now sitting on a club-record 17 consecutive home wins in all competitions, have someone with all the tools necessary to keep things ticking in his absence.
Big issues for Ten Hag to solve
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was afforded a certain amount of leeway by supporters and pundits alike last season – and with good reason. The Dutchman, in his first campaign at the helm of the storied club, took an unbalanced team with glaring weaknesses and began to instill a clear identity, winning a trophy and creating newfound hope and excitement at Old Trafford in the process.
Now comes the hard part.
Ten Hag, following another summer of significant transfer expenditure, is expected to take the Red Devils up another gear. It’s a difficult task considering the level of competition within the Premier League, but a lateral season won’t be considered a success. Two games into the young campaign, there’s plenty of work to be done.
It’s important to reserve full judgment until we see how his team functions with marquee addition Rasmus Hojlund in the lineup, but regardless of the young Danish striker’s impact, Ten Hag needs to sort out the midfield. Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, and the increasingly creaky Casemiro were overrun for the second consecutive match in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur. The Brazilian, in particular, looks like he’s aged 20 years in the offseason, and as a whole, the trio looks extremely wobbly when out of possession. Mount, meanwhile, is having very little impact for someone who cost £60 million.
United were lucky not to be punished by Wolverhampton Wanderers in their season opener – Wolves somehow wasted multiple opportunities after breaking free of the Red Devils’ press – but Spurs weren’t as generous.
There have been some positives early in the season – Andre Onana has completely transformed the team’s buildup play from the back – but if Ten Hag and his staff can’t get the middle of the pitch functioning and firing, United will take a step backward this season.
Liverpool seek balance in midfield
Speaking of midfield shake-ups …
Jurgen Klopp opted for the same ad hoc midfield trio in Saturday’s 3-1 comeback win over Bournemouth that started the season opener against Chelsea. In theory, deploying a forward (Cody Gakpo) along with attack-minded summer signings Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister – with Trent Alexander-Arnold tucking inside while in possession and adding his outstanding array of passing – should be nearly impossible to handle for the opposition. Szoboszlai, who won a penalty at Anfield on Saturday with some nifty footwork just inside the area, was the best player on the pitch versus the Cherries and seems to have settled very quickly. The Hungarian looks like a blossoming superstar.
Concerns remain about the functionality of the trio, though.
Mac Allister is more than willing to do some dirty work and cover large amounts of ground in defensive transition, but that’s not the best part of his game. Meanwhile, the setup doesn’t maximize Gakpo’s attacking attributes; the Dutchman had fewer touches than any Liverpool starter, and his only two touches inside the Bournemouth penalty area came on the same sequence early in the second half.
Klopp is likely going to get an extended look at new signing Wataru Endo in the coming weeks after Mac Allister was shown a contentious red card on his home debut for a challenge that, while not malicious, was high and a fraction late. Even if there’s a reprieve upon appeal – Klopp suggested the club will make an effort to have the Argentine’s ban overturned – introducing Endo and shifting the World Cup winner further forward could ultimately be in Liverpool’s best interest. Could Klopp reinvent the wheel and tailor a system to a team without a prototypical holding midfielder? Sure. The German tactician is certainly innovative enough. Should he, though? Probably not.
Endo, who looked tidy after coming off the bench in the second half following Mac Allister’s dismissal, would provide more balance to the Reds’ midfield, especially against better opposition, and in turn allow Gakpo to move into the front three – either from the start or off the bench – where he’s clearly far more comfortable playing. If the electrifying Luis Diaz can stay fit, then he must start opposite Mohamed Salah, leaving just the central attacking role up for grabs between Diogo Jota, Gakpo, and Darwin Nunez. A good conundrum for Klopp to have, but a conundrum nonetheless.
Quick free-kicks
Reality check for Newcastle
Newcastle’s return to the upper echelons of English football has been rapid since the club hired Eddie Howe and started flexing its Saudi-backed financial muscle. But Saturday’s defeat to standard-bearers Manchester City, the ultimate measuring stick in world football, was a reminder that there’s still plenty of room for growth if the Magpies are going to become an elite side. City, despite contesting the UEFA Super Cup final on Wednesday in the baking Greek heat and returning to England the following day, looked comfortable for the bulk of their 1-0 win. They held Newcastle to just a single shot on target – and even that was a 69th-minute effort from well outside the box that Ederson handled with ease. There’s no shame in losing an away match against the reigning treble winners, but, considering the circumstances, you’d have expected a little more from Howe’s team. On limited rest, missing De Bruyne and John Stones, and with a subpar outing from Erling Haaland, City were still in complete control.
Stars in the making for Spurs
Tottenham may have struck gold with Pape Matar Sarr. The Senegalese midfielder, signed in 2021 from Metz, took center stage in Saturday’s win over Manchester United, scoring his first goal for the club in just his third league start. The 20-year-old has all the tools of a dominant all-around midfielder. He’s neat on the ball, picks the right passes, has outstanding athleticism to cover lots of ground and contribute defensively, and attacks the penalty area with precision and pizzazz, as evidenced by his opportunistic goal that put Spurs on course for their victory Saturday. Paired with Yves Bissouma, Sarr looks like an ideal player for Ange Postecoglou’s high-octane style of play. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Rodrigo Bentancur returns to the fold. Young Italian left-back Destiny Udogie stood out, too. Spurs have cycled through so many calamitous full-backs in recent years, but the energetic 20-year-old looks like the real deal.
Fernandes needs to be careful
With referees instructed to be more aggressive in their efforts to root out dissent this season, players will need to recalibrate very quickly after years of remonstrating with officials without consequence. The learning curve has been steep in the opening weeks of the season. Fernandes, more than most, will need to exercise restraint to avoid racking up yellow cards. The Portuguese midfielder is one of the most vocal players in the league when it comes to arguing even the most innocuous calls. It was no surprise, then, when he picked up a caution Saturday for protesting a yellow card that was shown to teammate Antony for a tackle from behind. Even without the captain’s armband, Fernandes always seemed to be first on the scene when a contentious decision was made. With it, he’ll have more power to discuss on-pitch matters with referees. That seems like a bad recipe.
Trouble ahead for Fulham
Opening the season with a road win only masked the problems for Fulham. The team that won at Everton last week showed its true colors Saturday, treating Craven Cottage to a dreadful display en route to a lopsided defeat against Brentford. It was the definition of a disheartening loss, as the Bees scored twice after Tim Ream was sent off. But things may only get worse for the Cottagers. Where the goals come from now that Aleksandar Mitrovic finally got his desired move to Saudi Arabia is the biggest issue facing Marco Silva – who might be starting to regret his decision to reject his own big-money move to the Middle East nation. If Fulham don’t move fast before the window closes, there’s no way this team can come close to replicating last season’s impressive 10th-place finish.
Stat of the day
Brighton & Hove Albion, despite losing Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo this summer, keep hitting new heights under Roberto De Zerbi. Their perfect start to the season continued with a breathtaking 4-1 obliteration of Wolves on Saturday. Is there a better team to watch in England right now?
Breaking down thrilling EPL title race with 10 games left
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One of the most intoxicating title races in Premier League history is, mercifully, ready to resume.
The quirks of the calendar – an FA Cup weekend succeeded by an agonizing international window – means the titanic tussle between Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City will have been on hiatus for a full three weeks before it gets back underway on Sunday.
But there are no more impending interruptions. With 10 matches remaining for each title contender, we’re barreling toward a resolution to the type of three-way battle that’s exceedingly rare in England’s top flight. There’s never been a season in the Premier League era where three teams went into the final day with a chance to hoist the trophy. This could be it. The last time it happened was the 1971-72 campaign, when Derby County won an incredible four-team fight, narrowly beating Leeds United and, ominously, Liverpool and Man City to the crown. We’re overdue for that kind of drama.
That three sides have converged this way at all is, frankly, remarkable.
These are the three best teams in the country by an enormous margin. They’re the only ones with an expected goal difference per game of plus-1.0 or greater this season. The next best mark, surprisingly, belongs to Mauricio Pochettino’s erratic Chelsea team at plus-0.36. So, yeah, it’s not close.
The three of them are also on a tear and show no signs of slowing down. Arsenal have won all eight of their league games in 2024, scoring 33 goals in the process; Liverpool have collected 22 of a possible 27 points in that time; reigning champions Manchester City have racked up 23 of 27 points. They’ve combined for just one loss since the calendar flipped – Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat against Arsenal in early February.
The only sides that look capable of halting their progress are each other, which makes this weekend’s clash between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad all the more significant.
Euro 2024 playoffs: Miraculous Ukraine comeback, big result for Wales
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Wales, Greece, and Poland registered statement wins Thursday, joining three other teams in next Tuesday’s playoff finals for the three remaining places at Euro 2024.
Ukraine staged an incredible late comeback against Bosnia and Herzegovina in its semifinal to keep its Euro dream alive.
The highest-placed team in FIFA’s rankings that’s no longer in contention to reach the tournament in Germany is 60th-placed Finland.
Here’s how the playoff semifinals across Path A, B, and C played out.
Path A
Mateusz Slodkowski / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Poland 5-1 Estonia
Estonia barely stood a chance. Down to 10 men as early as the 27th minute, the northern Europeans could only muster a consolation goal in a 5-1 loss to Poland. The Polish achieved the rout without Robert Lewandowski getting on the scoresheet and remain unbeaten in 21 Euro qualifiers at home, a magnificent run dating back to September 2006. Poland is trying to make up for a poor qualifying campaign in which it finished third in Group E, four points behind the Czech Republic and Albania. The country hasn’t missed the Euros since 2004.
Wales 4-1 Finland
The Red Wall might descend on Germany this summer. Wales’ raucous supporters have legitimate hopes of traveling to another major tournament after the Dragons scorched Finland without the retired Gareth Bale and with Aaron Ramsey, 33, on the bench after more injury problems. Teemu Pukki gave the visiting team some hope just before halftime following well-taken finishes from David Brooks and Neco Williams. But Wales needed just 73 seconds of the second period to restore its two-goal cushion via Brennan Johnson’s tap-in. Daniel James took advantage of a defensive error before rounding the goalkeeper in the 86th minute to give the host a resounding victory.
Playoff final: Wales vs. Poland, Tuesday 3:45 p.m. ET
Path B
David Balogh – UEFA / UEFA / Getty
Israel 1-4 Iceland
Iceland’s Albert Gudmundsson stole the show with an emphatic hat-trick against Israel on Thursday. His stunning free-kick into the top right corner canceled out Eran Zahavi’s opening goal for Israel, and he created a nice cushion for his country with a pair of markers in the final 10 minutes. Just before that, Zahavi blew an incredible opportunity to equalize the match at 2-2, missing a penalty awarded for handball against Iceland’s Gudmundur Thorarinsson. A red card to Israel’s Haim Revivo didn’t help the trailing side. Iceland is now a game away from making only its second-ever appearance at the Euros following its quarterfinal run in 2016.
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2 Ukraine
Ukraine scored twice with just minutes remaining in regulation to snatch what seemed to be a sure victory from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday. Bosnia controlled play for most of the match and took the lead in the 56th minute when Mykola Matviyenko turned in Amar Dedic’s shot into his own net. But a colossal defensive lapse cost the Bosnians a chance to make it a record four countries from the former Yugoslavia at Euro 2024. Roman Yaremchuk came off the bench to equalize in the 85th minute and teed up Artem Dovbyk’s sensational winning header three minutes later to turn the playoff semifinal on its head. Ukraine now faces Iceland with a third consecutive Euro appearance at stake.
Playoff final: Ukraine vs. Iceland, Tuesday 3:45 p.m. ET
Path C
GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE / AFP / Getty
Georgia 2-0 Luxembourg
Two clever finishes from Budu Zivzivadze in Tbilisi assured Georgia of a place in Path C’s final – and all without the help of suspended talisman Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. But it wasn’t that simple for the host. Luxembourg thought it equalized during the second half, only for the goal to be eventually snatched away due to Maxime Chanot’s apparent foul 45 seconds earlier. Luxembourg’s Chanot was controversially sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and Zivzivadze effectively ended the match six minutes later with his second strike. Kvaratskhelia is available for the final.
Greece 5-0 Kazakhstan
Anastasios Bakasetas lashed home a penalty, Dimitrios Pelkas headed into the net’s roof, Fotis Ioannidis tapped in from close range, and Dimitrios Kourbelis added another header. And that was all before halftime. Kazakhstan’s impressive 2022-23 Nations League campaign and notable Euro 2024 qualifying wins over Denmark, Northern Ireland (twice), and Finland suddenly seemed ages ago, as Greece recorded its biggest halftime lead since October 1978 (5-0 against Finland). Aleksandr Marochkin’s embarrassing own goal in the 85th minute made Kazakhstan’s day even worse.
Playoff final: Georgia vs. Greece, Tuesday 1:00 p.m. ET
Look: Nike unveils beautiful kit selection for Euro 2024, Copa America
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Nike released a stunning batch of threads ahead of Euro 2024 and Copa America on Monday.
Days after Adidas launched its lineup for the summer’s top two tournaments, Nike followed suit with an array of colorful designs.
The U.S. manufacturer also announced redesigns for Canada and Poland, even though they’ve yet to qualify for their respective tournaments. The Canucks face Trinidad and Tobago in a one-off Copa America qualifier on Saturday, while Poland must navigate a four-team playoff to reach Euro 2024.
(All images courtesy of Nike)
Euro 2024
Croatia
Home
The square-shaped design that gives Croatia its unique look gets a slight upgrade. The home shirt features larger squares than ever before.
Away
Croatia’s away shirt plays on the national flag, with the traditional checkered pattern now on a slant.
England
Home
Influenced by England’s 1966 training gear, the home shirt has a classic feel with a rich blue collar and gorgeous trim along the cuffs.
Away
England embraces a deep purple hue for its away selection. The crest stands out with a contrasting off-white tint that makes the three lions pop.
France
Home
France’s home shirt may have the biggest crest of all of Nike’s offerings. The oversized rooster defines this shirt as much as the royal blue that’s made France’s kits a crowd-pleaser.
Away
The pinstripes mirror the colors of France’s national flag and span the width of the shirt in a simple, yet elegant design.
Netherlands
Home
Nike could’ve offered anything orange here, and it would’ve been perfect. But the Netherlands has something bolder and better to wear. The zig-zag pattern adds edge.
Away
The orange collar and cuffs pop alongside the three shades of blue Nike has chosen to create the abstract design on this work of art.
Poland
Home
Poland dedicates premium real estate on the country’s home shirt to its imposing crest.
Away
Poland’s away shirt is a daring choice. The graphic treatment adds texture, giving it a rugged feel while separating from the red tones of years past.
Portugal
Home
With possibly the best home shirt in Nike’s collection, Portugal leans heavily into its traditional red-and-green motif with a polo collar and thick cuffs. The logo sits prominently as well. A smash hit.
Away
Here’s another winner. Portugal’s away strip has a stunning textile imprint that gives off a cool summer vibe.
Turkey
Home
This is a menacing look. Turkey will look like a whirring red army with these imposing shirts.
Away
The classic red band returns to Turkey’s away uniform. Like the others, it features an oversized crest in the middle of the shirt.
Copa America
Brazil
Home
Nike goes big with Brazil’s crest and adds an intricate design to the same yellow hue the Selecao have used for decades.
Away
Brazil’s secondary strip feels like the beach. A horizontal wavy pattern covering the entire shirt mimics the country’s picturesque coastline.
Canada
Home
The only blemish in Nike’s lineup. Why is there a circle around the swoosh? And why are the shoulders so much darker than the body? None of it makes sense.
Away
The 13 pinstripes are supposed to represent the 10 provinces and three territories that make up Canada. Unfortunately, the rest of the shirt looks incomplete.
United States
Home
The United States men’s national team gets a classic home shirt with patriotic detailing along the color and sleeves.
Away
The gradient works perfectly with the red shorts the U.S. will wear at the Copa America.