Gameweek 20: The Headlines

Happy New Year! And kudos to Katie D, whoever you are. Katie D knows what's up.

Arsenal kicked off 2025 by beating Brentford, then promptly followed it up with an ultra-disappointing tie against Brighton. (Why can't we have nice things, Arteta? Why?!)

Newcastle continued their dominance, Tottenham are still 💩, Manchester United proved it's not all doom and gloom up there in the North, Manchester City were bound to get lucky at some point, and Ipswich gave us reason to hope.

2025! It's a New Year, but more of the same in the Premier League. I mean this in the best way.

Are you not entertained?

If you watch any match this week, make it Liverpool-Manchester United. With a final scoreline of 2-2, the game had something for everyone – Lisandro Martinez giving birth (metaphorically), a Mo Salah penalty that put him level on goals with the great Thierry Henry, more Amad Diallo brilliance, and a HUGE last minute miss by Harry "Slab Head" Maguire that would've won the Red Devils the game.

Given everyone thought the match was going to be a blowout (see below for initial score prediction), safe to say that it was instead the best Manchester United performance of the Ruben Amorin era.

The only thing missing? Marcus Rashford. Which brings me to...

Marcus Rashford: Persona non grata

27-year-old Marcus Rashford was once the face of Manchester United (and in some ways still is), but the past year+ has not been kind to him.

Once again, Marcus was not named in the squad that tied Liverpool on Sunday. This is a trend; remember in mid-December when Marcus posted a photo showing that he was watching the Manchester City game from home (just like the rest of us peons)?

But why was he home in the first place? Marcus isn't injured, and surely Manchester United want one of their best players – a player with a great goalscoring record and a sparkling history of charity work – on the pitch, right?

Nah. Turns out manager Ruben Amorin has grounded Marcus.

Shortly after the Everton match on December 1, Ruben found out that Marcus had been partying less than 48 hours before the game. When Ruben asked Marcus, Marcus denied it.

Cue Ruben taking his cues from the Dad in that movie "10 Things I Hate About You." No going out! No kissing boys! No football for you, Marcus!

People have a lot to say about Marcus' absence from the squad. What's interesting is that Marcus doesn't think he behaves differently from other Premier League players, but feels that he receives more media scrutiny than his teammates.

Clearly, Ruben doesn't care how Marcus feels because he's sticking to his guns. As the manager recently told Sky Sports,

"It [his playing time] depends on [Marcus] more than me. He has to want it really, really bad. He's here. He's ready to play if I decide."

Marcus also clashed with previous coach Erik Ten Hag over his partying habits, but where Erik took a softer approach, Ruben has gone full military dad. Overall, I wouldn't count on Marcus staying with the Red Devils much longer.

News actually broke on Tuesday that Borussia Dortmund are considering a loan move for the winger, so there you go. Does this situation remind you of anyone?

A closer look at Liverpool's run of games/title aspirations

Part of being an Arsenal fan is never giving up hope. It's not for the faint of heart, let me tell you!

That's why I have to believe league leaders Liverpool will drop points. At the very least (and without taking away from their accomplishments this year), they've enjoyed their fair share of luck.

For example, according to Opta's Power Rankings, Liverpool had the easiest start to the Premier League. A strong start doesn't guarantee a title, but starting off with a bunch of wins builds confidence and gives players a psychological boost. (The opposite is true, too – just ask Wolves.)

Liverpool did silence their critics by prevailing over several of the league's more difficult teams. But the context around those games isn't black-and-white. Consider:

Liverpool played Arsenal when Arsenal were without Martin Odegaard and William Saliba.
Liverpool played Tottenham when Spurs were ravaged by injuries and missing four of their starting back five.
Liverpool played Manchester City during one of City's worst spells in a decade.
And when Liverpool were stretched by injuries, their match against Everton was postponed.

So. This title race?

Angry Ange

I'm not going to remark on Tottenham's dearth of trophies (that's like the pot calling the kettle black), but they are certainly underperforming. Last weekend's 2-1 loss to Newcastle means that Tottenham have now failed to win any of their last six matches at home.

That comment manager Ange Postecoglou made about winning things in his second season hasn't aged well, has it?

But since I rambled on about Liverpool's good luck, it feels only fair to point out that Tottenham have been dealt a s**t hand. All their defenders are injured and now some sort of dystopian flu is sweeping through the camp? OY.

Ange talked about how Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray "literally got off sickbeds to play," and waxed poetic about how proud he was of his players. He also expressed his fury over (what he perceived to be) unfair decisions in the game – specifically, Newcastle's equalizer, which Ange said should have been ruled out for a handball. At the end of the match, he told media,

"If this was a different day and it was an even and fair playing ground, we would have won that game."

The Aussie elaborated,

"I'm just really, really angry – the angriest I think I have ever been in my career that [the players] were denied the right rewards for a fantastic performance."

Three cheers for Ipswich Town

I am cautiously optimistic about Ipswich's chances to stay up in the Premier League. The Tractor Boys pulled off an incredible 2-0 upset win over Chelsea, following it up with a 2-2 tie against Fulham.

Liam Delap continues to be an absolute star, the squad plays decent football, and most importantly, they don't give up.

Ipswich's fellow relegation zone teams (Leicester, Wolves, Southampton) have all fired their managers, while Kieran McKenna alone has remained. What does that tell you? This is a team that's united, and they believe in their manager and each other!

As Ipswich Town legend Mick Mills told The BBC,

"Southampton and Leicester are different to Ipswich as we've been away from the Premier League for a long time. If we do slip back down it's not a catastrophe and will be something we have to accept. But I'm absolutely convinced this team that might go down is better than the team that brought us up. ...Anybody that knows anything about football knows Kieran McKenna was a good appointment and is a good manager to have."

Other noteworthy things you might have missed:

Mo Salah's 175th Premier League goal put him in elite company
Southampton's 0-5 loss to Brentford was a new low in a season of lows
Wolves' Matheus Cunha offered to pay for the Ipswich staff member's glasses that he shattered in a fight a couple weeks ago (the bare minimum, but OK)
West Ham fired Julen Lopetegui and hired Graham Potter

See you next week! And may the odds be ever in the Gunners' favor!