Tag: Manchester City

10 Best Strikers in the Premier League Right Now, Ranked (2026/27)
9Nov By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Rankings

10 Best Strikers in the Premier League Right Now, Ranked (2026/27)

The Premier League has no shortage of elite attacking talent, but identifying its best centre-forwards requires looking beyond the Golden Boot standings. Some strikers are devastating finishers who need only one opportunity to change a game. Others bring an entirely different dimension, using their physicality, movement and link-up play to make everyone around them better. Then there are the forwards who combine both qualities, making them particularly difficult to defend. Erling Haaland continues to set the standard, but Liverpool, Chelsea and several clubs outside the traditional elite have their own compelling attacking weapons. Here are the 10 best strikers in the Premier League right now, ranked by their overall quality, individual impact and current performances. 10. Eli Ju...
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10 Best Playmakers in the Premier League This Season, Ranked (2026/27)
8Nov By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Rankings

10 Best Playmakers in the Premier League This Season, Ranked (2026/27)

There is more to being an elite playmaker than racking up assists. Sometimes the best pass of a match goes unrewarded because a teammate misses a glorious opportunity. Other times, a seemingly simple ball unlocks an entire defensive structure and creates a chance that should be converted. That distinction is particularly interesting when looking at the Premier League's leading creative players in 2026/27. Some of the division's most productive creators have not received the statistical recognition their performances deserve, while others have combined consistent chance creation with the finishing quality of their teammates. From established stars to some increasingly important creative forces, these are the 10 best playmakers in the Premier League this season, ranked. 10. Declan ...
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Ranking Every Premier League Big Six Club by How Convincing They Have Been This Season
8Nov By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Ranking Every Premier League Big Six Club by How Convincing They Have Been This Season

The Premier League table tells one story. The performances behind it tell another. Ten matches into the 2026/27 campaign, the traditional Big Six have offered wildly different reasons for optimism, concern and outright frustration. Some have established themselves as genuine contenders through tactical discipline and defensive excellence, while others are struggling to translate ambitious tactical ideas into consistent results. Manchester United are enduring a nightmare, Tottenham are struggling to find goals, and Chelsea's attacking ambition continues to come with considerable defensive compromises. Further up the table, Liverpool are showing signs of improvement, Manchester City remain frightening going forward, and Arsenal have established themselves as the most complete side in t...
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Premier League winners and losers: 5 clubs who changed the narrative this weekend
8Nov By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Premier League winners and losers: 5 clubs who changed the narrative this weekend

The Premier League weekend delivered a few unexpected twists, some desperately needed victories and a couple of results that could have significant consequences for the months ahead. Nottingham Forest produced one of the results of the season by dismantling Manchester City, Liverpool reminded everyone of their quality with an impressive away victory, and Leeds United finally found a way to stop the rot. Elsewhere, Tottenham and Manchester City were left licking their wounds after damaging defeats, with both clubs facing some increasingly uncomfortable questions. Here are five of the biggest Premier League winners and losers from the weekend. Nottingham Forest – A tactical masterclass that nobody saw coming Nottingham Forest have delivered one of the most remarkable results of th...
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10 Best Players of the 2026/27 Champions League Season So Far, Ranked
8Nov By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Rankings

10 Best Players of the 2026/27 Champions League Season So Far, Ranked

The Champions League has a habit of producing unexpected protagonists. While the usual superstars are always expected to dominate Europe's biggest stage, the early stages of the 2026/27 competition have offered a fascinating collection of individual performances from established world-class operators and emerging talents. There are familiar names making their presence felt, including Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal and Joshua Kimmich. However, there are also some rather unexpected additions to the conversation. Como have emerged as one of the competition's most intriguing stories, with Nico Paz and Anastasios Douvikas putting together extraordinary individual campaigns. Elsewhere, Declan Rice is demonstrating why he has become such an important figure for Arsenal, while Paris Saint-Germ...
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Aston Villa exposed a huge Enzo Fernandez problem to Manchester City
24Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Aston Villa exposed a huge Enzo Fernandez problem to Manchester City

Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the 2026/27 Premier League season, losing valuable ground over reigning champions and perennial title rivals Arsenal with a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa. There were a few disappointing performances in the game, but the worst of the worst has to be Enzo Fernandez. While he did create some chances on the ball and was crisp as ever as a passer, the real problem is how he played defensively. The Premier League is shifting more from possession football to transition football, which is almost fitting with Pep Guardiola walking away from the game for a sabbatical, and Man City got exposed by that against Nicolas Jackson and a great Aston Villa side in transition. Enzo was horrendous defensively. He struggled badly as the main anchoring point for ...
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The Iliman Ndiaye and Erling Haaland connection has officially taken off
24Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

The Iliman Ndiaye and Erling Haaland connection has officially taken off

It seemed like it might be another quiet game for Erling Haaland, but as he so often does, the Manchester City superstar striker emerged with the equalizing goods from seemingly out of nowhere early in the second half of a huge road game against Aston Villa to match Nicolas Jackson's earlier scorcher. The goal was the third assist of this very month from Iliman Ndiaye, who absorbed a simple pass out wide from a clever Enzo Maresca set piece routine, and then Ndiaye did all the rest, trademarkly working the space for himself before floating an inch perfect cross into the heart of the box for Haaland with precision and placement that not even prime Aaron Rodgers could beat. Ndiaye was amazing for Everton last season, and he was one of the most efficient dribblers in the Premier League....
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Ranking the 10 best players of the 2026/27 Premier League season heading into Matchday 6
8Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Ranking the 10 best players of the 2026/27 Premier League season heading into Matchday 6

Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 Premier League season is upon us after a lengthy international break. Let's take a reset and rank the top 10 players of the season so far. 10. Liverpool LW Cody Gakpo Cody Gakpo is having a phenomenal start to the season under Andoni Iraola, and hopefully the Liverpool forward does not miss much time with injury. He is one of the best creators in the league and can also finish off his chances. 9. Manchester United AM Bruno Fernandes The reigning Premier League Player of the Season can be too one-dimensional, but with 3 goals and 2.6 key passes per game, Bruno Fernandes is once again carrying a pretty subpar Man United team that is sitting in the bottom half of the table. 8.  Leeds CB Tarik Muharemovic Tarik Muharemovic looks even better than advertised at Sa...
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Ranking the 10 best goalkeepers of the 2026/27 Premier League season so far
8Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Ranking the 10 best goalkeepers of the 2026/27 Premier League season so far

The Premier League returns this weekend after an even longer international break than usual. So let's hype up the games being back by giving some love to the goalkeepers, using analytics to rank the best 10 keepers using only the first five games of the season. 10. Emiliano Martinez, Chelsea The save percentage does not fully capture how well Emiliano Martinez has been playing. He's not an elite Premier League goalkeeper anymore, but he is still excellent and a definite upgrade on Robert Sanchez for Chelsea. And honestly, his defense isn't making him look any better. 9. Bart Verbruggen, Brighton Bart Verbruggen needs to get more love as one of the world's top goalkeepers, and there's a reason why so many club have tried to steal him from Brighton. The Seagulls are getting a lot of pres...
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Projecting the Premier League top 5 heading into Matchday 6
6Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Projecting the Premier League top 5 heading into Matchday 6

It's time to start thinking about the Premier League again now that the September/October international break is wrapping up. After 5 Matchdays, it's time to project the teams that will make it to the Champions League from the English top flight next season by finishing in the top 5. And with the way the season has gone thus far and how poorly a few of the big clubs have been, it's not easy to predict who is Champions League bound for the 2027/28 campaign. 5. Manchester United Why they could be this high: We can't forget that Manchester United finished third in the Premier League last season and showed real improvement in terms of how they created chances and played with the ball under Michael Carrick, who was a great midfielder himself. When everyone is healthy, Man United are above ave...
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