Author: Joe Soriano

Juventus thought they would be in Serie A title contention this season after hiring the exciting Thiago Motta to replace Max Allegri at manager, hoping that the man who led Bologna to a fairytale Champions League qualification would be able to bring more attacking power and youthful energy to the Bianconeri. Instead, Juve have, more or less, been the same as last season. They are a plodding, defensive side with decent youth contributions but an overall anemic attack that is far too reliant on whether or not the streaky Dusan Vlahovic has a good game in front of goal. With little talent on the wings and better playmaking on paper than in reality, Juventus are sixth in the table, seven points behind underdogs Atalanta in first. They are technically still title contenders, but they are,...

Tottenham had a 2-1 lead over Chelsea at the half, and, in typical fashion, blew it just as easily. They lost to the Blues 4-3 in the biggest matchup of the Premier League weekend, surrendering two penalties to Cole Palmer while playing rather poorly overall. In addition to the loss, Tottenham have to deal with new injuries to star center backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, adding injury to insult after another heartbreaking collapse to a heated rival. What doomed Tottenham in the end was a phenomenon that has plagued them throughout the 2024/25 season - one of the key reasons why Spurs were just 10th coming into the weekend fixtures. Just like their 3-2 loss to Brighton all the way back in the beginning of October two months ago, Tottenham lost this game in midfield and w...

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui seemed to have his job saved a couple of weeks ago with a massive 2-0 win over Newcastle, but that optimism was short-lived after losses to Arsenal and Leicester City. While there is no shame in losing to one-time title contenders Arsenal, a 3-1 loss to Leicester City is untenable, and since it came against a relegation side coached by a new manager in first-time coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, Lopetegui's defeat looked that much worse. Lopetegui and West Ham will face the Spanish manager's former employers on Monday night in a must-win game, as Wolve are currently in the relegation places while West Ham themselves are only a few points higher from the relegation battle. As Lopetegui faces more pressure on his job, West Ham continue to be linked to new ...

Arsenal dropped more valuable points in a Premier League title race that is beginning to look more and more like a landslide in Liverpool's favor, as the Gunners could only muster a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon in a marquee matchup with local rivals Fulham. Although Fulham are back in the European places for the second time in three seasons, everyone expected Arsenal to get another win against the Cottagers, who are not on the same talent level as the Gunners. Yet Arsenal failed to impose themselves on the game, and their substitutes after the hour mark failed to significantly improve things either, with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli continuing to struggle to offer a legitimate goal threat. Arsenal suffered from a host of disappointing performances on Sunday ag...

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui saved his job a couple of weeks ago on Monday night with an excellent 2-0 win over Newcastle, but he may have put himself even deeper in the doghouse with his latest defeat, 3-1 to Leicester City. A 3-1 loss to a team that just made it back to the Premier League and is currently in a relegation fight would be bad enough, but what hurt Lopetegui even more is the fact that the Foxes were riding high off the debut of an exciting young manager in Ruud van Nistelrooy. Likely on the West Ham shortlist before his Leicester City appointment, Van Nistelrooy impressed as the assistant manager for Manchester United and is one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history, having dominated the 2000s with the Red Devils. Now, it looks like West Ham, facing...

Tottenham have been hit as hard as any team in the Premier League this season with injuries, but they came into Sunday's match against Chelsea with optimism that their defensive woes may soon be behind them. Although star goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is still out until at least February with an ankle injury, Tottenham had a surprise in store for their fans with both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven back together in the starting lineup at the same time for the first time in the Premier League since Oct. 27. Romero had been out since the November international break after suffering an injury with Argentina, while Van de Ven had been out since late October with a more serious ailment. Van de Ven was, therefore, a surprising inclusion in the starting lineup, though Romero was expe...

Chelsea are back in the Champions League conversation for the first time in the Todd Boehly era, as new manager Enzo Maresca has guided the Blues to their best start in years, coaxing bounce-back seasons from a couple of key transfer investments. Midfielder Moises Caicedo's rebound as one of the world's best has been the most striking, but Nicolas Jackson's newfound consistency has been just as impactful of a storyline at Stamford Bridge. This weekend, Jackson added a seventh goal to his Premier League tally, as he proved decisive with yet another fine all-around performance for the Blues in a 2-1 win over Maresca's former employers, Leicester City. In the spirit of Jackson's improved displays in the 2024/25 season, let's take a look at where the Chelsea star ranks in comparison t...

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui came into Monday night's match at St. James's Park against Newcastle with everything to play for, because the word on the street was that he could be fired with consecutive losses in his next two matches - or even a bad enough blowout to the Magpies. Instead of withering like in so many fixtures this season, West Ham fought with a gutsy performance defensively and a highly opportunistic one offensively, taking down one of the better teams in the Premier League 2-0 to keep their new manager's job alive. Here are four West Ham stars who played the biggest role in making sure Lopetegui will live to fight another day. RB Aaron Wan-Bissaka Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been a revelation as the new right back at West Ham, an undeniable upgrade of massive proporti...