It’s a question most Crystal Palace supporters and perhaps even Roy Hodgson must be wondering – what would this season have been like if Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise had not spent the vast majority of it on the treatment table? A third successive victory for Oliver Glasner’s side thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 10th and 11th goals of the season ended Newcastle’s recent revival and left Eddie Howe’s side knowing they face a battle to secure European football again. It had been almost exactly a year since Palace last won three in a row after Hodgson returned to replace Patrick Vieira in a bla ..read more

Newcastle’s manager a long-term admirer of the Swede who is now back to full fitness to spearhead European qualification Alexander Isak was back on the pitch at St James’ Park last week, posing languidly alongside a Formula E car as cameras whirred and a commercial film shoot began. Isak does languid very well, but that was not why Saudia, the national airline of Saudi Arabia and a key sponsor of both Newcastle United and Formula E, decided the club’s Sweden striker was the right choice to drape his rangy limbs over a cutting edge, all electric, racing car. After becoming the first Newcastle f ..read more

Manchester United snatch chaos from jaws of serenity, Nicolas Jackson misfires and Liverpool stay in hunt Jammy, jammy Man United. To be fair, they did find a new way to be hopeless. Instead of the usual mayhem, they were in total control for 70 minutes, barely letting Coventry have a shot. But then, somehow, they snatched chaos from the jaws of serenity. ITV, and all their teatime viewers, couldn’t believe their luck as a cakewalk turned into a classic. United threw away a 3-0 lead, and for a minute, right at the end of extra time, they were 4-3 down – only for the VAR to come to their rescue ..read more

Adam Wharton shines on Merseyside, Mateo Kovacic displays City’s depth and Erik ten Hag gets tetchy Joachim Andersen was named Sky’s man of the match at Anfield and with good reason. But while the Danish centre-back won header after header and made clearance after clearance, and while the front three of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise caused repeated problems on the break, there was one figure who stood out in midfield for his calmness: Adam Wharton, perhaps the brightest of the hugely promising generation brought through by Tony Mowbray at Blackburn. The 20-year-old moved ..read more

From Newcastle’s forward line to a comical series of own goals, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the top-flight weekend Arsenal were stunned by Aston Villa 2-0 at home to hand Manchester City the advantage in the title race. If you’re looking for a microcosm of Ollie Watkins’s season, look no further than his goal on Sunday ..read more

Micky van de Ven had a game to forget as Eddie Howe’s side ran amok in the face of surprisingly feeble resistance from their visitors Read Louise Taylor’s match report from St James’ Park 1 min: Tottenham get the ball rolling, their players a vision in – I’m going to say – mauve. Both sets opf players are wearing black armbands as a tribute to the late Joe Kinnear. Not long now: Referee Tim Robinson and his team of match officials lead both sets of players on to the St James’ Park pitch. The home side’s mascots are young members of the local deaf community, who got to meet Dan Burn and Kiera ..read more

At least it was not quite as bad as last year for Tottenham. Almost exactly 12 months ago, Antonio Conte’s interim managerial successor, Cristian Stellini, presided over a 6-1 defeat here that served to confirm things were seriously awry in north London and set in motion a chain of events concluding with Ange Postecoglou breathing new life into the team. The Australian’s rescue and reform act remains a work in progress but seemed to be generally working pretty nicely, until Tottenham suffered a relapse on Tyneside sufficiently severe to threaten their hopes of Champions League qualification ..read more

Welcome returns at Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa juggle ambitions and Guimarães’s discipline under scrutiny Should Bruno Guimarães be booked against Tottenham at St James’ Park the Newcastle and Brazil midfielder faces a dilemma. Given that Guimarães is on nine yellow cards, a 10th would trigger an automatic two-game suspension, depriving Eddie Howe of a key player for forthcoming games at Crystal Palace and at home to Sheffield United. Alternatively, Guimarães could make sure he collected a second yellow card, ideally late in stoppage time, and be sent off. In such a red card scenario, the san ..read more

Pioneering use of haptic technology to be implanted into shirts Fans will get fuller sensory match-day experience at Spurs game Deaf Newcastle supporters will be able to experience a fuller sensory match-day experience at St James’ Park on Saturday thanks to the club’s pioneering use of haptic technology. Newcastle’s shirt sponsor, Sela, is spearheading a new initiative named “Unsilence the crowd”. It involves the technology being implanted into shirts worn by deaf or hearing-impaired supporters attending the Premier League match against Tottenham ..read more

Tottenham defender and Ireland international who kept Wimbledon in the top division as manager in the 90s Joe Kinnear, who has died aged 77, had a lively and successful career in three footballing arenas – as a trophy-winning defender with Tottenham during the 1960s and 70s, as a 26-cap international with Ireland, and as a combative, resourceful manager of Wimbledon in the 90s, when they defied the established order by maintaining their status as members of the Premier League throughout his seven-year reign. A fleet-footed right-back, Kinnear won the FA Cup, League Cup (twice) and Uefa Cup wit ..read more