Castle replacement genius, Arsenal turn to Zubimendi, Lazio falconers’ unusual sacking

On By Littum

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Hello! Tuesday night served a battle royale in Nottingham Forest – but Liverpool will not be moved.

On the way:

Arne Slot’s Midas touch

Arsenal in pursuit of Zubimendi

St. Pauli country chess god Carlsen

Lazio falcons and a penis prosthesis

Instant effect: Slot subs Tsimikas and Jota assist and score after 22 seconds

Premier League title dreams washed over Nottingham Forest last night as Arne Slot, with Liverpool 1-0 down, blinked and turned to his bench.

Substitutions in football are fickle trump cards because they are easy to criticize when they don’t work: the timing of them, the selection of players, whatever else goes wrong. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

But they are also opportunities for coaches to earn their corn, and Slot did so by reining in a Forest team that began to believe in magic. Kostas Tsimikas entered the field with 64 minutes and 57 seconds left. Diogo Jota was right behind him. Twenty-two seconds later, Tsimikas’ corner found Jota on the prowl, perfectly placed to glance in a header to settle Liverpool’s no. 9 debate.

In terms of a substitute striking so quickly, the first comparison that came to mind was Nicklas Bendtner for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in 2007. The resemblance is uncanny. And for Liverpool it meant something. A second league defeat of the season was averted. They remain six points clear at the top. The upstarts were held back. For now.

Wood from the trees

A 1-1 draw at the City Ground was pure Premier League theatre. Forest played as they always do, giving the ball but sneaking on the counter, the tactic that did for Liverpool at Anfield in September. Chris Wood’s goal after eight minutes nicely put the cat among the pigeons.

Wood has lived with an unsexy reputation – don’t do this, don’t do that, can be too one-dimensional – but god, he knows how to finish. It is his 13th goal of the season and he is a player who contradicts Slot’s claim that Forest’s spending partly explained their lofty position.

Wood cost about 15 million pounds ($18 million), loose money for a Premier League team. Forest paid a third of that for goalkeeper Matz Sels and his brilliance prevented Liverpool from pulling level with a late winner. Forest are overachieving for money spent, no doubt, but last night they proved they are second on their merits.

Three-horse race?

We are almost at the point where we can call it a three-horse race for the title: Liverpool, Forest and Arsenal.

Chelsea are stuck in the mud without a win in five league games after a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. And Manchester City’s 2-0 capitulation in front of Brentford reiterated two points: one, that Bournemouth, Brentford and clubs like them are becoming harder to sell; two, that City have forgotten how to defend (as seen above when Yoane Wissa was given plenty of time to play in) or control play. To turn the ship around, Pep Guardiola can start there.

News overview

  • At least City have fresh troops on the way. After agreeing a fee for Abdukodir Khusanov, they have agreed terms with Palmeiras for defender Vitor Reis. The 19-year-old, a £19.5m signing, has been flown in for medical treatment.
  • Chelsea want £65m for Christopher Nkunku, who is firmly on Bayern Munich’s radar. Considering they paid £50m to sign him and he’s pretty much flopped, they’ll be lucky. Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca has recalled Trevoh Chalobah from Crystal Palace.
  • Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund to Aston Villa complete for an initial £19.4m.
  • Match of the Day – the BBC’s famous Premier League highlight show in the UK – has a new presenter to replace Gary Lineker. Or rather, three new presenters: Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan.
  • Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor is at war with French football authorities over an attempt to relegate another club he has invested in, Ligue 1 side Lyon. It’s messy.
  • A chance for US youth international Bajung Darboe – he has left LAFC to sign for Bayern Munich.

Live transfer blog

No foresight? Arsenal’s pursuit of Zubimendi is raising eyebrows

Just as we hit send on TAFC yesterday, it all blew up about Arsenal and Martin Zubimendi. The club want the midfielder to join from Real Sociedad this summer and, unlike Liverpool’s inability to lure him in August, they have a good chance of striking gold.

Zubimendi is a silky soft footballer of high class. Let’s put it to bed first. But Arsenal’s activity raises questions. The contracts of Thomas Partey and Jorginho are running out, but after signing Declan Rice and Mikel Merino, they need a No. 6? Is it a priority?

Mikel Arteta has his hands all over transfers to the Emirates and he’s pushing this one. Recruiting on his watch has focused far more on deep-lying or defensive signings – and it shows. Following the confirmation of Gabriel Jesu’s anterior cruciate ligament, their title prospects are a bit of a wing and a prayer.

Zubimendi as an asset? All day long. But when will Arteta address the elephant in the room?

Money talks: No top clubs commit crimes against PSR

This time last year, the Premier League’s Surplus and Sustainability Rules (PSR) were the enemy of the people, temporarily toppling VAR from first place. Those rules haven’t made many friends since, but 12 months on there’s nothing to argue about.

What happened in early 2024 was that the PSR properly bared its teeth for the first time. We had charges, point deductions and appeals over those point deductions. There were groans aplenty about clubs going untouched (despite suspicions they must be close) and plenty of bad blood.

But maybe that tough love worked because this season’s calculations yielded no PSR charges at all. Leicester City’s situation is complicated and they may be feeling their collarbone yet, but widespread compliance must tempt the Premier League to believe its members have finally fallen into line.

Next step? To reach a day when we stop talking about PSR altogether. You are tired of reading about it. We are tired of writing about it. Nobody’s love of football was derived from calculations that would have baffled Stephen Hawking.

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Catch a match

(ET/UK time)

Premier League (all Peacock/TNT Sports unless otherwise noted): Everton vs Aston Villa, 2:30/7:30 p.m. — USA Network, Fubo/ TNT Sports; Leicester City vs Crystal Palace, 2.30pm/7.30pm; Newcastle United vs Wolves, 2.30pm/7.30pm; Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, 3pm/8pm.

Copa del Rey last 16: Barcelona vs Real Betis, at 3 p.m./8 p.m. — ESPN+ (US only).

Serie A: Inter Milan vs Bologna, 2.45pm/7.45pm — CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime/OneFootball.

And finally… infuriates


(Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

Lazio’s club crest famously features an eagle. For branding and aesthetic purposes, they fly a real bird of prey around their stadium. They also have a falconer, Juan Bernabe.

Or they did until late Sunday, when the club announced they were leaving the Bernabe. He’d had a certain part of his body altered or enlarged, and he’d proudly posted pictures of his, er, upgraded appendage on social media. Suitably shaken, Lazio sent him packing (so to speak). Just when you thought you’d heard it all.

(Top photo: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)