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Nervous times for nine clubs in Premier League relegation scrap

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A two-horse race will almost certainly decide the destiny of the Premier League title this season with Arsenal leading Manchester City and the home straight in sight but almost half of the top-flight clubs are still battling to avoid relegation.

Last week’s results left bottom side Bournemouth and 12th-placed Crystal Palace separated by a mere six points and incredibly none of those teams in the mix meet this weekend.

For those not involved in the fight to stay away from the bottom three it makes for compelling viewing towards the end of a season and this campaign looks like being a blockbuster.

Unusually, no club has been cast adrift, meaning three from the bottom nine will fall.

Any win can have huge ramifications for a struggling club and those around them and this weekend could see the bottom three revolving door spinning again.

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Bournemouth could count themselves dreadfully unlucky to lose 3-2 at Arsenal last weekend — having led 2-0 and conceded the match-winning goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

It does not get any easier for the south coast side as on Saturday they host a Liverpool team finally looking like themselves and crowing after a 7-0 hammering of Manchester United which fired them firmly into top-four contention.

Bournemouth lost 9-0 at Anfield earlier in the season and with only one win in their 11 previous league games against the Merseyside club the odds on a surprise result are long.

Southampton, like local rivals Bournemouth, also have 21 points but a better goal difference. They will be braced for a Manchester United backlash on Sunday at Old Trafford.

Everton, who are third from bottom on 22 points, have played a game more than all the clubs around them and this Saturday host a Brentford side unbeaten in 12 league games and making an audacious bid to qualify for Europe.

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SOME DAYLIGHT

The three teams immediately above the relegation zone — Leeds United (22 points), West Ham United (23) and Leicester City (24) will all view the weekend as chance to put some daylight between themselves and those in the bottom three.

However, they all face tricky tests.

Leeds host eighth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham take on 11th-placed Aston Villa while Leicester host Chelsea.

A week ago Leicester would have relished the visit of goal-shy 10th-placed Chelsea but since then Graham Potter’s Blues have beaten Leeds and reached the Champions League last eight with a 2-0 home victory over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Leicester are on a three-game losing streak in the league and failed to score in any of those games.

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West Ham manager David Moyes has been backed by the club’s owners despite being jeered in last week’s 4-0 loss at Brighton.

He has a wealth of experience in relegation battles and, while that will count in his favour, a defeat by Villa at the weekend would put huge pressure on the Scot.

Nottingham Forest (26 points) have done well to rise to 14th place after a shaky return to the top flight and will fancy their chances against a Tottenham Hotspur side who exited the FA Cup and Champions League with a whimper in the past nine days as well as losing to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league.

Wolves (27), who are 13th, travel to out-of-form sixth-placed Newcastle United, while 12th-placed Crystal Palace (27) host a Manchester City side who will be hunting a win that would allow them to close provisionally within two points of Arsenal.

The Gunners face a tricky test at Fulham on Sunday.

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Reuters

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Premier League

Former Arsenal soccer player Partey charged with five counts of rape

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 Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - February 2, 2025 Arsenal's Thomas Partey during the warm-up before the match REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo

Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.

Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.

Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.

Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.

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He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.

-Reuters

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Rashford, Garnacho among five players seeking Man Utd exit

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Premier League - Manchester United v Newcastle United - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - December 30, 2024 Manchester United's Marcus Rashford warms up as a substitute during the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.

Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.

Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.

Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.

Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.

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United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.

“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”

Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.

Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.

-Reuters

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Fernandes rejects Al-Hilal offer to stay at Manchester United

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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.

The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.

“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.

“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”

Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.

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“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.

“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.

“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”

The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.

However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.

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-Reuters

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