Premier League Update: Hammer Drops On Lopetegui As Graham Potter Return To Premier League; New Everton Owners Sack Manager Sean Dyce; Spurs and Magpies Take First Legs of Carabao Semifinals; FA Cup Weekend

The short and torturous tenure of Julen Lopetegui ended with West Ham dismissing the manager on Wednesday. Lopetegui leaves after losing nine of his 20 Premier League matches with the Hammers, his side conceding more goals (39) than all but three league clubs. West Ham supporters who clamored for the scalp of David Moyes should have been more careful of what they wished for. His replacement not only failed to deliver results, but he clashed with several players, most publicly with Mohammed Kudus and Jean-Clair Todibo, and had a difficult relationship with Technical Director Tim Steidten. Steidten, who also had his issues with Moyes, could well follow Lopetegui out the door.

Graham Potter

Lopetegui, meanwhile, may well be done as a Premier League manager after having previously walked out on Wolverhampton before the beginning of last season due to differences with ownership there. Graham Potter is the replacement for Lopetegui who faced several difficulties not of his own making. The club was shook earlier this season when star Michail Antonio was injured in a horrific car crash which ended his season. More recently, leading scorer Jarrod Bown fractured his ankle and will be out multiple weeks. Potter will take over a club in 14th position, seven points above the drop line despite significant investment this past offseason. The former Brighton and Chelsea manager has been out of action since his termination as Chelsea’s manager in April of 2023. Potter has been biding his time, a luxury of his departing monetary gift from the Blues, and was ironically linked with the England job ultimately taken by the man Potter replaced at Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel. Should Steidten go, there could be a reunion in the cards for Potter and the currently unemployed Dan Ashworth, the technical director who collaborated well with Potter at Brighton but was recently released by Manchester United ownership.

Everton, meanwhile, sacked Manager Sean Dyche on Thursday. The Toffees’ new owners, the Friedkin Group, are alarmed at the prospect of  relegation and introducing the new Everton stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock with Championship division rather than Premier League football. Dyche’ club had battled valiantly in recent weeks, largely muting opponent attacks but unable to mount a threat of its own. In Dyce’s final match, a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth, the Toffees were unable to mount a single shot on target. Everton scored just one goal across Dyche’s last five Premier League matches in charge of the Toffees. The club dangles just a single point above the relegation line, a perilous position the Friedkin Group deemed worthy of immediate corrective action. In fairness, a poor roster fielded by a financially strapped club has been as much the problem as any deficiency on the part of Dyche who successfully guided the club to safety after a relegation battle last season. Speculation on Dyche’s successor has included names such as Jose Mourinho and the former longtime manager of Everton, David Moyes. Moyes, who concluded a run at West Ham after last season, has previously indicated he did not want a relegation challenge to be his next posting. The prospect of saving his former club and ushering in a new era at Bramley-Moore Dock, of course, might change that thinking.

As sackings dominated the headlines, there was also cup action this week in the Carabao Cup semifinals where the top two Premier League sides lost their opening legs. Both Liverpool and Arsenal not only lost but failed to register a goal. Arsenal were 2-0 losers at home to Newcastle on Tuesday while Liverpool fell 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur the following day. Alexander Isak scored once again for Newcastle, his seventh goal in his last five appearances and 14th in his last 15 matches. Transfer rumors have long linked the center forward with Arsenal though Newcastle will also be surely hearing from other potential suitors offering rich sums for one of the league’s top strikers. Newcastle Manager Eddie Howe, of course, will be doing everything possible to ensure Isak remains a Magpie after the center forward found the net for the 50th time in a Newcastle shirt. Isak’s brilliance on Tuesday more than made up for the absence of suspended Newcastle star Bruno Guimares even though Newcastle had not won a Premier League match this season without Guimares in the lineup.

Tottenham Hotspur has fared poorly in the league but took a step toward cup silverware by defeating Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday in the opening leg of their semifinal matchup. Liverpool was stung by an 86th minute goal from Spurs’ Lucas Bergvall, one of two 18-year-olds along with Archie Gray in Tottenham Hotspur Manager Ange Postecoglou’s lineup.

The focus of Premier League clubs now shifts to the FA Cup which commands the weekend schedule as league action goes on hiatus. Arsenal, smarting from Tuesday’s Carabao Cup defeat and having dropped points in the Premier League at Brighton last weekend, will try to get a better result in a third competition when the Gunners host Manchester United at the Emirates in the FA Cup’s third round. The matchup at the Emirates is the headliner of FA Cup matches pitting Premier League sides though West Ham Manager Graham Potter will make his debut for the Hammers at Aston Villa.

Premier League Results: Match Week 20

Manchester United showed up and grabbed a point in a 2-2 final at league leading Liverpool on Sunday. Manager Reuben Amorim and Captain Bruno Fernandes, however, joined supporters after the match in wondering why the 13th place Red Devils seldom play in such inspired fashion. Amad Diallo nailed the equalizer in the 80th minute for the Red Devils after Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah had put the home side ahead on a 70th minute penalty kick. For Salah, it was his 18th goal of the season, a haul which tops the league. For Diallo, it was only his third goal of the season but the second game winner against a rival after the 18-year-old bagged the winner in Manchester United’s victory at Manchester City earlier this season. The problem is that Diallo and his teammates usually fail to match these performances against the rest of the league, something that the Red Devils’ manager and captain lamented in postgame comments.

Of the top four clubs, only Nottingham Forest was a winner this week. The Tricky Trees were 3-0 victors at Wolverhampton as Nottingham Forest extended their winning run to six league matches. The 12th of the season for Forest was three more victories than the Tricky Trees accomplished over the entirety of their relegation threatened 2023/24 campaign. The Wolves defeat was the first Premier League loss for new manager Vitor Pereira, managing his third league contest for Wolves. The victory for Nuno Espirito Santo, meanwhile, over the club he once led to Premier League promotion, now has Nottingham Forest level on points with second place Arsenal, six points off the top of the table.

🇧🇷❤️ pic.twitter.com/dswyZkcH1n

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 7, 2025

Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea made up ground on Liverpool as they shared points with opponents over the weekend. Arsenal’s attack is ravaged by injury and illness. Bukayo /Saka is out long term with a hamstring which required surgery. Illness benched Kai Havertz on Saturday and reduced Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli to substitute roles in a 1-1 draw at Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Ethan Nwaneri scored to give Arsenal an early lead before controversy erupted around Brighton’s equalizer. The Gunners’ lead disappeared when a questionable call was made on a headed clearance by Arsenal’s William Saliba which was deemed to have also clipped the head of a Brighton attacker. Joao Pedro made good on the ensuing penalty try as the clubs shared the points. In yet another stroke of bad fortune for the Gunners, Nwaneri needed to be removed from the match with a muscle injury.

Chelsea, meanwhile, experienced some uncharacteristic frustration at Selhurst Park. The Blues have been virtually invincible at the home of London neighbor Crystal Palace but settled for a 1-1 draw when the Eagles’ JP Mateta equalized in the 82nd minute to the delight of Selhurst supporters. Cole Palmer scored his 13th goal of the season, but it was not enough as Chelsea’s winless run extended to four matches.

Newcastle United is just a point behind fourth place Chelsea after the Magpies recorded their fifth consecutive Premier League victory in a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur. Alexander Isak scored for a seventh consecutive league match to provide the winner for Newcastle over a hapless Tottenham Hotspur side which lost for a fifth time in its last seven league outings.

Manchester City won a second consecutive match for the first time since October with its 4-1 conquest of West Ham. The Hammers committed an own goal in the 19th minute and Manchester City went on to find the net three more times before a meaningless consolation goal from the Hammers. Erling Haaland closed the gap on Mohamed Salah in the scoring race with his 15th and 16th goals of the season. West Ham has been outscored by an aggregate 9-1 margin in two consecutive losses as the pressure mounts on Manager Julen Lopetegui.

Bournemouth stayed on Manchester City’s heels with a 1-0 home win over Everton. The seventh place Cherries got a goal from David Brooks to keep them a point behind Manchester City and only three points removed from a top four berth. Everton, meanwhile, has remarkably scored just a single goal in its last five matches as the Toffees hover dangerously near the drop zone, just a point above currently relegation bound Wolverhampton and Ipswich Town.

The Tractor Boys followed up last Monday’s 2-0 win over Chelsea with another point in a 2-2 draw at Fulham on Sunday. There will be frustration, however, as Ipswich Town twice relinquished the lead and both of Fulham’s goals came by way of Raul Jimenez penalty kicks, including the stoppage time equalizer after the striker was fouled by a tiring Ipswich Town defender.

Leicester City is sinking deeper into the relegation zone after its 2-1 loss at Aston Villa. The Foxes have now lost five consecutive Premier League matches after beginning life under new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy with a win and a draw. With a possible off-the-pitch point deduction looming, Leicester could be in trouble. Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey scored his first goal of the season for the winner in a match where the Villans were missing two of their top three goal scorers in suspended attackers Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers.

Southampton’s dreary march to oblivion can’t end soon enough for the Saints as the homestanding club was routed 5-0 by visiting Brentford at St. Mary’s Stadium. A 16th loss of the season leaves the Saints 10 points from safety and eight points below the next nearest club in Leicester. Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo scored a brace in the blitz by the Bees and now has 13 on the season, joint third in the league scoring race with Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak.

Premier League Preview: Match Week 20

Historic rivals Liverpool and Manchester United face off at Anfield on Sunday in a derby which has become increasingly one sided. Liverpool has lost just once in the last seven seasons of Premier League matches between the sides. The Reds are the current Premier League leaders and lead the league in both goals scored and, along with Arsenal, fewest goals conceded. Manchester United, meanwhile, is a mess. The 14th place Red Devils appear in need of a vast rebuild with new manager Reuben Amorim unable to get results from his inherited roster. While Amorim’s start in the Premier League has been miserable, Liverpool’s Arne Slot has lived a charmed life in Merseyside to date. The Dutch manager has the Reds atop the Premier League while the Reds are still contending for additional silverware in Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Slot has suffered just one loss across all competitions, that being a Premier League defeat to currently third place Nottingham Forest. Amorim already has five losses in his first eight Premier League outings and number six is highly probable on Sunday.

Vitor Pereira, Manager of Wolverhampton

Second place Arsenal will be at Brighton on Saturday trying to extend the Seagulls’ current seven match winless run while third place Nottingham Forest faces an interesting challenge in a Monday Premier League matchup. Wolves would have been thought to be easy prey just weeks ago, but new Wolverhampton manager Vitor Pereira has pulled the club out of the relegation zone with two victories and a draw in his first three league matches. Molineux Stadium should be rocking for the Monday night clash with the Tricky Trees.

Chelsea will have little fear as it embarks on a visit to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace. The Blues have come away with a victory on 12 of their 15 Premier League visits to their London neighbors.

Further north in London, Tottenham Hotspur will be hosting Newcastle in a contest of clubs in far different form. Spurs has won just one of its last seven Premier League matches while Newcastle is challenging for a top four spot after winning four consecutive league matches. Spurs already has four home losses this season and a further defeat on Saturday before the home supporters will not be good for the declining standing of Manager Ange Postecoglou.

The seat is even hotter for another London manager, West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui, as the Hammers visit Manchester City. A 5-0 drubbing at Liverpool last Sunday was the eighth time this season that West Ham lost by three or more goals. Another heavy loss at the Etihad could push the unpopular Lopetegui closer to the door. Making a turnaround more difficult for Lopetegui will be the fractured ankle of the Hammers’ leading goal scorer and assist maker, Jarrod Bowen, who was injured in the Liverpool debacle. Bournemouth, Fulham and Aston Villa are all within two points of Manchester City and crashing the top six party. All three clubs face opponents from the lower end of the table this weekend.

The Cherries are home to Everton. Fulham hosts Ipswich Town and Aston Villa entertains Leicester. Bournemouth and Fulham are both riding seven match unbeaten runs. Aston Villa has the fourth best home record in the Premier League this season with five wins and four draws against only one loss. Southampton, meanwhile, has the worst home, and overall, record in the league as the bottom of the table Saints prepare to welcome Brentford to St. Mary’s on Saturday. It is likely to be a swarm of angry Bees anxious to end a winless run which has seen Brentford lose three of its last four matches. Southampton is an attractive foe to cure those winless woes.