Anfield slaughter a freak result or reality check? Premier League talking points

Liverpool — Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has a huge task on his hands, trying to put the hammering his side received at Anfield on Sunday behind him.

Liverpool not only put a halt to any ideas United had of challenging for the league title, they shot Ten Hag’s good work over the past couple of months down in flames.

The red half of Manchester, including former United defender Gary Neville, is hoping it was a once-in-a-lifetime result.

These and other talking points from the Premier League weekend.

Freak result or reality check for United? Manager Erik ten Hag has been lauded as the man to restore Manchester United’s place on the summit of English football during an impressive first season at Old Trafford but Sunday's 7-0 hammering by Liverpool opened up old wounds.

United had lost 5-0 at home to Liverpool in 2021 and 4-0 away in 2022 but those dark days were supposed to have been swept away by Dutchman Ten Hag. Their record defeat in the fixture told a different story.

Former United defender Gary Neville labelled Sunday’s display a disgrace but suggested Ten Hag had earned enough credit to be given the benefit of the doubt that it was a one-off.

“I’ve got faith in what he is doing at this moment in time but he deserves more than what he got from the players today,” Neville told Sky Sports. “The second half was out of character, that’s not the norm over the past two or three months, he’s sorted out the dressing room and that second half was a freak.”

Arsenal cannot afford repeat of Bournemouth escape:  Reiss Nelson’s stunning winner seven minutes into stoppage time sparked pandemonium at The Emirates on Saturday as Arsenal hit back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and maintain their five-point lead in the title race. It was, some suggested, a pivotal moment in the season and the kind of escape that wins titles. But after the euphoria subsided, manager Mikel Arteta will know that his team cannot afford to take their eye off the ball as they did against bottom club Bournemouth.

Champions Manchester City have been here before and can be relied upon to keep churning out victories so Arteta’s young Arsenal side will have to be ultra-efficient too and not expect to be bailed out by substitutes as they were on Saturday.

Nine clubs in relegation battle:  With six points between 12th place and the bottom in the Premier League standings, this season’s battle for survival could be shaping up to be one of the tightest ever.

After losing 1-0 at Aston Villa, Crystal Palace are tied on 27 points with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who beat visiting Tottenham Hotspur by the same scoreline. Below them, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, West Ham United and Leeds United are all within touching distance of the relegation zone after failing to win at the weekend, while the bottom three clubs Everton, Southampton and Bournemouth are separated by one point.

“There are eight or nine teams fighting for the same thing,” Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves said. “We’re not the worst when we lose a game and we’re not the best when we win.”

Everton need to cut out midfield mistakes: Relegation-threatened Everton did more than enough to win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday but once again this season an error in midfield meant they had to settle for a 2-2 draw. Abdoulaye Doucoure had scored Everton’s second goal to give them a deserved lead at the City Ground, but it was his cheap giveaway in the centre of the park that allowed two-goal Brennan Johnson to equalise again.

Everton manager Sean Dyche has seen his side improve in a lot of areas since he arrived at Goodison Park but what has not yet changed is their unhappy knack of giving up the ball in midfield that puts them under pressure. Unless he can stamp that out, relegation remains a very real possibility for a side who do not score enough themselves to be able to concede sloppy goals.

Moyes and Rodgers next in firing line? Six clubs in the bottom half of the table have sacked their managers this season and the heat is now being turned up on West Ham United’s David Moyes and Leicester City’s Brendan Rodgers.

West Ham fans vented their anger at Moyes as his side were thrashed 4-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday — a result that left them one point above the bottom three. “We need them behind us. Good supporters support when it’s bad as well as when it’s good, and for the last few years it’s been really good here,” a defiant Moyes said.

Meanwhile, some Leicester fans called for Rodgers to be sacked as his side went down 1-0 at Southampton — their seventh defeat in their last 10 league games. “I never take any support from the board for granted, I just do my best with what I have,” Rodgers, who led Leicester to FA Cup glory in 2021, said.

Reuters