Premier League Soccer

Manchester United says it expects to make up to a further 200 jobs redundant as part of cost-cutting measures after five straight years of losses. United has already made around 250 roles redundant last year after British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe paid $1.3 billion for an initial 25% stake in the club and assumed control of its soccer operations. As part of what United called a “transformation plan,” the club “anticipates that approximately 150-200 jobs may be made redundant, subject to a consultation process with employees.” United CEO Omar Berrada says "these hard choices are necessary to put the club back on a stable financial footing.”

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says the team's over-reliance on Cole Palmer is affecting his form as the England star goes through his driest run since moving to the London club. Palmer hasn’t scored in his last six games and his last assist came 13 matches ago. His poor form is a big factor in the downturn in fortunes of Chelsea. The team has dropped from second to seventh in the Premier League amid a run of two wins from 10 games and has also been eliminated from the FA Cup. Palmer was visibly frustrated with his Chelsea teammates during the 2-1 loss at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Leicester has made a change to its coaching set-up following a run of dreadful results in the Premier League but manager Ruud van Nistelrooy remains in his post. Instead, Van Nistelrooy’s assistants Ben Dawson and Danny Alcock have departed in the wake of a 4-0 home loss to Brentford that left Leicester in next-to-last place and five points off safety. It was a sixth straight home defeat without scoring and that's a record in the Premier League. Van Nistelrooy took charge in November and has had 13 games in the Premier League, winning just two of them and losing 10 to leave his position under threat.

Paris Saint-Germain has extended its lead at the top of the French league to 13 points. PSG won 3-2 at Lyon on Sunday to stay unbeaten after 23 league matches. There appears little doubt that PSG will win a record-extending 13th league title. But a far tougher test looms in March against Premier League leader Liverpool when the two teams face off in a mouthwatering last-16 Champions League tie. Struggling Nantes moved five points clear of the relegation playoff spot with a 3-2 win against Lens. Second-placed Marseille made headlines for the wrong reason this weekend. It lost 3-0 at Auxerre on Saturday and its president has accused French league referees of corruption.

At the home of Manchester City, Liverpool produced a performance worthy of champions to move 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League. A 2-0 win at the Etihad on Sunday extended Liverpool’s lead over second-placed Arsenal and consigned four-time defending champion City to another humbling defeat in an ever-worsening season. On Wednesday a 3-1 loss to Real Madrid sent Pep Guardiola’s team crashing out of the Champions League. Back to domestic matters on Sunday and City was powerless to slow down Liverpool’s march toward the title. Newcastle scored four goals in 11 minutes against Nottingham Forest, but still had to withstand a late fightback to seal a 4-3 win.

Erling Haaland has been left out of the Manchester City squad for the Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday after failing to recover from injury in time. The Norway international was an unused substitute against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, having been forced off late in the previous game against Newcastle. City manager Pep Guardiola said Friday he did not know if his leading scorer would be available. Haaland has scored 27 goals in all competitions this season.

Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge has been dented by an unexpected 1-0 home loss to West Ham that featured a fifth red card of the season for Mikel Arteta’s team. Second-place Arsenal squandered a chance to trim the gap to Liverpool to five points as Jarrod Bowen’s first-half header secured a win for West Ham. Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off in the 73rd following a video review for a foul as the last man. Liverpool has an eight-point cushion ahead of playing Manchester City away. Manchester United came from two goals down before benefitting from a last-gasp video-review call to draw 2-2 at Everton and a goalkeeper error hurt Chelsea in a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa.

A controversial, last-gasp VAR call might have spared Manchester United another loss in a Premier League game against Everton in which manager Ruben Amorim said his players “didn’t exist” in the first half. United rallied from two goals down before benefitting from an overturned decision following a video review to draw 2-2. In the third minute of stoppage time, Everton was awarded a penalty by referee Andrew Madley for a foul by Harry Maguire on Ashley Young. The Video Assistant Referee advised Madley to view the incident again on the pitchside monitor, suggesting the referee might have made the wrong call. Madley wound up changing his mind. The final decision bemused Everton manager David Moyes.

Brentford has thrashed Leicester 4-0 in the Premier League. The win was its fourth consecutive victory away from home in the top tier, a record for the club. It also marked a new low for Leicester, which became the first club in Premier League history to lose six consecutive home games in the same season without scoring. Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbuemo, and Christian Norgaard put the visitors 3-0 up by halftime on Friday. Fábio Carvalho rounded off the scoring near time. Leicester remains second from bottom.

A big rebuild is coming at Manchester City and top of the list in the clear-out appears to be the injury-prone stalwarts who cannot hack modern-day soccer’s demanding schedule. Pep Guardiola has been very open about the new “reality” facing City after his most challenging season at a club that has set new standards in the Premier League but is now staring at the end of an empire. A record-extending fifth straight Premier League title is realistically out of reach. The dream of winning another Champions League is over after a two-legged humbling by Real Madrid. Guardiola says “teams are quicker, faster and stronger, and we cannot handle it right now.”

Chelsea will be without injured winger Noni Madueke for its next four Premier League games as it makes a push for a top-four finish. The 22-year-old Madueke, who has scored seven goals in 23 league appearances this season, sustained a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to Brighton a week ago. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says “Noni probably will be out until the international break.” Chelsea was already without striker Nicolas Jackson, the team’s second-leading scorer with nine league goals, because of a hamstring problem. Madueke is also set to miss Chelsea's two-legged round-of-16 tie against Copenhagen in the UEFA Conference League.