Erik ten Hag praised Scott McTominay as an example for others after the super sub sealed Manchester United’s belief-boosting win at fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa.
Sunday’s clash between fifth and sixth at Villa Park began with Rasmus Hojlund – the winner when these sides met on Boxing Day – scoring in his fifth straight Premier League match.
United lost their way after that 17th-minute opener in a bright start and Villa eventually secured a deserved second-half leveller through Douglas Luiz.
But the Red Devils dug deep and McTominay made it 2-1 in the 86th minute after meeting Diogo Dalot’s cross with a powerful header – his fourth Premier League goal this season from the bench.
“This season, last season as well (McTominay made an impact), so I think he’s an example for many other players nowadays,” Ten Hag said of a player whose overall top-flight goal tally this term is seven this term.
“There are not many players who can come from the bench and bring this energy. He’s ready for every minute, always contributing to the team. Football is a team sport and we forget that often.
“But Scott is the example, always giving the spirit, in the week when he is training, doing the right things, working on himself, gives max.
“He’s ready for one minute, he’s ready for 90 minutes, he’s always ready. I think it’s great to have such a player.”
United rode their luck for large parts and Ten Hag appeared to indicate that Luiz’s shimmy goalscoring celebration fuelled his side in a win that breathes new life into their Champions League hunt.
The Red Devils are now five points behind Villa in fifth, and six adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.
“I think we can beat any opponent away or home,” the Dutchman said after winning a first Premier League away game to a top-eight side since taking charge.
“But sometimes away we have to believe it more because then we could have won in Arsenal, where actually we deserved to win.
“We could have won in Liverpool and it’s about belief and I think this team today believed they could win this game and that’s why I think, in the end, you win the game.”
Asked about the impact of this result on the race for Champions League football, Ten Hag said: “We have to catch up.
“We are firstly in February, many games to play, but we are returning. But, still, a long way to go and we have to improve our game.
“But, of course, we are pleased that we get a series of wins.”
This was the first time this season that United have managed to win four consecutive matches in all competitions, while the remain unbeaten in 2024.
As for Villa, boss Unai Emery felt hard done by after his side slipped to a third straight home defeat in league and cup.
“I want to tell you I am very proud of our work,” the Spaniard said. “I’m very proud as everything we planned before we more or less were doing on the pitch.
“We were focused on a very good opportunity to make a big gap to them, but of course no win (for us).
“We know how difficult this match was. Manchester United in the moment they are now and the last matches they won being confident.
“But we had control of the game, we created more chances than them, we deserved it more than them, we conceded less chances than them.
“They were clinical today, their goalkeeper was fantastic and we weren’t clinical.
“We played, maybe along with the match against Manchester City here, the best match here this season.
“Even from when we arrived here today, I think it was one of the best matches we’ve played but the result was not good and we have to accept it.”
Slot: Hard work got Liverpool to where they are this season
Arne Slot believes hard work and intensity have been key to Liverpool's form ahead of their Premier League meeting with Aston Villa on Saturday.
Slot has won 14 of his 16 matches in all competitions since taking charge at Anfield and, despite his magnificent start, he pointed out that it has not been easy.
"You only look at results. Brighton was a difficult one on Saturday where we were 1-0 behind and had to fight really hard and that is what you saw," he told the Independent.
"We have to work really hard with incredibly high intensity to win our games and that has a lot to do with teams who think Anfield is the best place to play, so every team we play against is at the top of their game. If you want to win you always have to be consistent in your intensity."
Having taken over from Jurgen Klopp, it was understandable that expectations had lowered when Slot took over, but after a stellar start to the season, Slot said he was unconcerned by the pressure.
"I think if you work at any club around the world there is always pressure. For some managers it is not to go down, for some they have to win a lot,” he added.
"In our position, there is always pressure and that is the pressure we give ourselves."
Villa, meanwhile, go into this game having lost back-to-back games against Tottenham in the Premier League and Club Brugge in the Champions League.
A bizarre penalty conceded by Tyrone Mings provided the winner for the Belgian side on Wednesday, but Unai Emery was still pleased with the intensity his side showed.
"The first half we played like we were planning... It was a mistake," Emery said after that game.
"It is difficult and here it is not strange. You watched the match and [Villa] playing, they finished exhausted. It was not intensity, it was that the match changed completely after our mistake."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
No player has been involved in more Premier League goals than Mohamed Salah (12) so far this season, with seven goals and five assists. He has also had the most touches in the opposition box this term (96), while of players to have had 20+ shots, no-one has hit a higher percentage of them on target (67% - 20/30).
The Egyptian has scored in four of his last five appearances at Anfield in all competitions, while he was also credited with two assists in the 4-0 victory over Leverkusen last time out.
Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins
Only Erling Haaland (16) has had more big chances than Ollie Watkins (14) in the Premier League this season.
While Watkins has only scored five league goals, with four of those coming from the big chances, he is still Villa's top goalscorer.
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool have won five of their last six home games against Villa (D1), while the visitors have lost 16 of their last 18 Premier League away games against sides starting top of the table (D2).
A large part of Liverpool's early-season success has come from their defence, with only Manchester City (32) facing fewer shots on target than them (34) in the league. Liverpool, meanwhile, have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League (six).
Slot is also only the fifth manager to win eight of his first 10 Premier League matches in charge, with the club also unbeaten in their last seven (W5 D2) against Villa.
Slot's side have won four and lost one of their five home games in the league this season, accruing the joint third-most points (12).
However, Liverpool have conceded the first goal in their last two Premier League games but avoided defeat in both (2-2 v Arsenal, 2-1 v Brighton). Indeed, their win against Brighton was the 100th time they have come from behind to win a Premier League match, the third team to reach this milestone in the competition.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Liverpool – 61.8%
Draw – 19.7%
Aston Villa – 18.4%
The Numbers Game: Can Chelsea dent title hopes of misfiring Gunners?
Ten matches into the Premier League season, Arsenal's hopes of ending their long wait for a league title are already in danger.
Last week's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United made it just seven points from five games, and they now trail leaders Liverpool by seven points.
Injuries and suspensions have taken their toll on Arteta's men, and things do not get much easier for them on Sunday, against a Chelsea team currently above them on goal difference.
Enzo Maresca's Blues fought back to draw 1-1 with Manchester United last time out, and only Manchester City and Liverpool have beaten them since the Italian took over.
We delve into the Opta data to preview Sunday's headline fixture at Stamford Bridge.
What's expected?
Given the two sides are only separated on goal difference ahead of Sunday's match, the Opta supercomputer finds it difficult to split.
Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 41.2%, giving them a slight edge over their hosts, who are a 33.2% shot.
The likelihood of a draw is rated at 25.6%, but you sense Arsenal need to take all three points after seeing their hopes of winning the title drop to 4.4% in Opta's season predictions. Chelsea's own hopes are rated at 0.3%, with City (61.9%) still clear favourites ahead of Liverpool (33.4%).
Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Arsenal (two draws, six defeats), a 2-0 away win in August 2021. The Gunners have managed three victories in their last four league trips to Stamford Bridge (one draw) – as many victories as they recorded in their previous 20 visits (seven draws, 10 defeats).
Arsenal have also won their last six Premier League London derby matches by an aggregate score of 22-3, winning six of those matches by five or more goals.
One such occasion was a 5-0 rout of Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium last April, their biggest-ever margin of victory against the Blues in all competitions.
Blues eye statement victory
When the Premier League fixture list was drawn up, even the most optimistic Chelsea fan may have struggled to visualise the Blues sitting ahead of Arsenal in the table after 10 games.
But Maresca's side have shown promising signs in the early stages of his tenure. Chelsea's last two Premier League defeats this season have come against last season's top three teams – 0-5 versus Arsenal in April, 0-2 versus City in August and 1-2 against Liverpool in October.
They are unbeaten in their last 21 matches against all other teams, winning 14 and drawing seven while scoring 57 goals in total across those games.
The future looks bright for Chelsea, who fielded a starting lineup with an average age of 23 years and 96 days at Old Trafford last week – their youngest-ever XI for a Premier League match against Manchester United.
However, they are still waiting on a first statement win under Maresca, and getting one over on the Gunners would earn him plenty of goodwill among the fans.
Their chances could be decided by the fitness of Cole Palmer, who is an injury doubt after suffering a knock against United.
He opened the scoring when the Blues last welcomed Arsenal to west London for a 2-2 draw last October, scoring his first Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge.
Since then, he has more home goals in the competition than any other player (21), also leading the way for goal involvements (12 – seven goals, five assists, alongside Mohamed Salah) and open-play chances created in 2024-25.
Can fit-again Odegaard get Gunners firing?
Last season, Arsenal won 42 of their 89 Premier League points on their travels, taking nine points from five matches at the homes of their Big Six rivals.
This campaign, however, their failure to hit top form on the road has threatened to end their latest title tilt before it truly got going.
Arsenal have collected seven points from five away matches this term, the same amount as Brighton and fewer than Liverpool (13), Nottingham Forest (11), Chelsea, City and Aston Villa (all 10).
While Arteta has long preached the importance of control, Arsenal have simply not been good enough going forward in those matches. They have attempted just 37 shots on the road in the Premier League this season (7.4 per game), with only Brentford (seven) averaging fewer per away match across the entire division.
The fact Arsenal played significant amounts of time at Manchester City and Bournemouth with a numerical disadvantage likely plays a part, but the fact five teams have attempted at least twice as many shots on the road does not make for good reading (Manchester City 90, Tottenham 83, Crystal Palace 79, Bournemouth 78 and Manchester United 74).
Martin Odegaard's return to training after two months out with an ankle injury is a major boost, with the Norwegian having led all players in the Premier League for expected assists (11.17 xA) and chances created from open play (88) last season.
Arsenal have actually outperformed their underlying attacking metrics this campaign, netting 17 league goals from 15.75 expected goals (xG), so their finishing does not appear to be an issue. The fact they rank eighth in the league for xG does, however, suggest chance creation is a problem.
Arteta will hope Odegaard's return can make the difference, or a title challenge may prove a bridge too far. The last time they lost three successive away Premier League games was in December 2021, and they went on to miss out on a top-four finish that season.
The Norwegian was a late substitute as they were beaten 1-0 by Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday. They have now lost three of their last six games in all competitions, as many as their previous 32 beforehand.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson
Since the start of last season, Chelsea striker Jackson has been involved in more London derby goals than any other player in the Premier League (10 goals, two assists).
All of his 12 involvements have come in his last nine such appearances, and he already has six Premier League goals this term.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka has provided more assists than any other player in the Premier League this season (seven).
He has also either scored (once) or assisted (twice) a goal in each of his last three away games against Chelsea in the Premier League, with Sergio Aguero (2013 to 2017) and Javier Hernandez (2012 to 2018) the only visiting players to do so in four consecutive appearances.
Simeone credits precision for Atletico's last-gasp win at PSG
Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid's precision is to thank for their last-gasp 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Warren Zaire-Emery had given PSG an early lead, though Atletico drew level through Nahuel Molina before substitute Angel Correa snatched the victory in the 93rd minute.
However, Atletico were far from dominant, managing just four shots, three of which were on target, to PSG's 22.
Last time out in the Champions League, they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Lille despite taking an early lead in that game. But Simeone feels his side have now put things right after ending a three-match losing streak on the road in the competition.
"You remember the last match against Lille, it was the same situation," Simeone said. "We had seven or eight goalscoring opportunities without being able to convert.
"In the end, football is about success. While collective play is beautiful, one can attack from all angles, but it's precision that positions you and brings success.
"Against Lille, we lacked that success, and in this match, Paris was better, but we managed to seize our opportunities.
"We defended with great collective work against a team that attacks very well. [Jan] Oblak had a great night, and we had a forcefulness that we did not have against Lille. We took a game that compensates for Lille's."
Three of Correa's UEFA Champions League goals for Atletico Madrid have come away from home, while it is their fifth 90th-minute winner in the competition since 2021-22, more than any other side.
He was brought on in the 67th minute to replace Julian Alvarez, and Simeone was pleased with the impact of his substitute.
"We believe in the footballers we have," he added. That was the compensation to have a goal option in Correa, who has the name of Angel for something.
"When you enter the field, things always happen. We argue. I tell him because he wants to play the 90 minutes, like all players. But he knows how important 12 of the team is."
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