Rebecca Welch is not the first footballer to have told a referee just how they should do their job – but a decade later, it is her own decisions which are now set to be front and centre in the Premier League.

On December 23, Welch will break new ground once again when she takes charge of Fulham against Burnley at Craven Cottage.

Yet but for taking one of her friends to task, Welch, 40, might never have given refereeing a go herself.

“I played football and didn’t even think about refereeing until one of my really good friends, who is a referee, refereed us,” she said in an interview with the Independent in November ahead of becoming the first female to act as fourth official in a Premier League match for Fulham against Manchester United.

“I spent the whole game telling her how to do her job! Her response was, ‘If you think it’s that easy, give it a go’. That’s how it happened and 10 years later, here I am.”

Welch’s love of the game stemmed from playing, but it was with the whistle where she made her mark.

At the start of her refereeing career in 2010, Welch, who is from Washington in Tyne and Wear, was still working in an administrative capacity for the NHS.

After gaining her badges through the Durham County Football Association, Welch began taking charge of university games as well as in Sunday leagues.

It was, though, not long before she took it up on a full-time basis and soon climbed through the ranks.

Welch has regularly refereed high-profile games in the Women’s Super League and took charge of the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley.

She has also officiated in the Women’s Champions League, the latest fixture being Benfica’s 1-0 win over Frankfurt on December 13.

Added to FIFA’s elite list of international officials during December 2020, Welch was part of the team at the 2022 Women’s Euros as well as this year’s Women’s World Cup, which included refereeing hosts Australia in their last-16 win over Denmark.

Welch is also no stranger to firsts in the men’s game.

In 2021, she was the first woman to be appointed to referee a match in the Football League for the Sky Bet League Two fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.

Walsh later took on matches in the Championship – she was in charge of Hull’s 4-1 win over Rotherham on November 28 – and also the third round of the FA Cup.

Despite Welch now set to find herself in the spotlight, with every decision under the microscope at Craven Cottage on December 23, she is not about to let anything distract her from just getting on with the job, according to referee’s chief Howard Webb.

“Rebecca is a really calm, focused individual on the field. She does command a lot of respect in a pretty understated way. When you meet her, she’s got a presence about her,” Webb said.

“She has a good reading of the game, she is an accurate decision maker, a good athlete on the field too and has really worked hard to get to this position over several years.

“She has good reading of the game, good subtle management of the players as well and I have got no doubt she will show all of those qualities at Fulham on the 23rd.”

Rebecca Welch will make history as the first woman to referee a Premier League match later this month, while on Boxing Day Sam Allison will become the first black man to officiate a top-flight game in 15 years.

The 40-year-old Welch will take charge of the Fulham v Burnley match on December 23, while Allison will be the man in the middle for Sheffield United’s home game against Luton three days later.

Uriah Rennie was the last black referee to take charge of a Premier League game in 2008 having officiated in the competition for 11 years up to that point.

Welch started out as a referee in 2010 while working in an administrative capacity in the NHS before going into officiating on a full-time basis. She made history in April 2021 when she became the first woman to be appointed to referee an EFL match, taking charge of the League Two fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.

Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), said: “Rebecca is a really calm focused individual on the field. She does command a lot of respect in a pretty understated way. She has a good reading of the game, she is an accurate decision-maker, a good athlete on the field, too.

“When you meet her, she’s got a presence about her, she’s not got huge stature in terms of being really tall but she has a presence about her. She’s a really determined official. She is similar in some ways to Stephanie Frappart, the French official who has worked on the Champions League this year

“She’s really worked hard to get to this position over several years. She’s worked hard physically, technically and really does deserve this opportunity. I went to see her myself recently in a game in the Championship and was highly impressed by what I saw in terms of her command of the game.

“She has good reading of the game, good subtle management of the players as well and I’ve got no doubt she’ll show all of those qualities at Fulham on the 23rd.”

Welch has also regularly refereed high-profile games in the Women’s Super League and took charge of the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley, as well as matches at the 2022 Women’s Euro and this year’s Women’s World Cup.

She was also the first woman to officiate in the men’s Championship and FA Cup third round, and was the fourth official for last month’s Premier League encounter between Fulham and Manchester United.

Allison, 42, played with Swindon, Bristol City, Bournemouth and Exeter and had worked as a firefighter before focusing full-time on officiating.

“Both Rebecca and Sam were part of the development group that was created last year. They went through a selection process to be part of that,” Webb added.

“Credit to them they have delivered good performances in the Championship this season and deserve their opportunities due to their quality and the talent that they have.

“Of course it’s significant in terms of Rebecca being the first female to take the whistle in the Premier League, she was the fourth official a few weeks ago for the first time, and we have lots of talented female officials working in the game.

“We have Kirsty Dowle taking charge of her first Football League game this weekend at Doncaster Rovers, she’s another FIFA-registered official.

“I just hope that other people will see the success of these female officials, young girls and young women, and think that refereeing might be for them.

“Sam being the first black referee in the Premier League since Uriah Rennie back in 2008, again we know he has performed well in the Championship this year at a consistent level and we are confident he will deliver a strong performance.

“The profile of the game will serve as a role model for others in under-represented communities and that is undoubtedly a positive.

“We need greater diversity because undoubtedly there is quality in all communities and previously for whatever reason we have not been able to bring people through from those groups and now it’s happening at last thankfully.”

Allison has taken charge of over 100 matches in the EFL and his first Premier League exposure came in October 2022, when he was fourth official in the fixture between Brighton and Chelsea.

Rebecca Welch will become the first female referee in the Premier League when she takes charge of Fulham against Burnley on December 23.

Welch became a referee in 2010, balancing the role alongside her job in the NHS.

In 2021, she was the first woman to be appointed to referee a match in the Football League for the Sky Bet League Two fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.

Welch, who comes from Washington in Tyne and Wear, was also the first woman to referee matches in the Championship and third round of the FA Cup.

Last month she became the first female to act as fourth official in a Premier League game as part of the officiating team for Fulham against Manchester United.

During her career, Welch has also officiated high-profile matches in the Women’s Super League, twice refereeing the Women’s FA Cup final and she has also taken charge of international matches, including at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Mikel Arteta has escaped punishment following a Football Association charge after the Arsenal manager’s recent post-match rant at refereeing standards.

The Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s goal to stand in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Newcastle on November 4 as “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”.

Arteta was later charged by the FA for breaking Rule E3.1 – which could have resulted in a ban but has instead been cleared of any wrongdoing.

“An independent Regulatory Commission has found the charge against Mikel Arteta for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven,” an FA statement read.

“The manager was charged following various comments in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Saturday 4 November.

“It was alleged that his comments constituted misconduct in that they were insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or brought the game into disrepute.”

There were no set sanctions for if Arteta had been found guilty – but a fine or touchline ban would have likely been the outcome.

Arteta has since said he would continue to speak out against poor officiating and the use of VAR if he felt the standards were not being met.

In the written reasons for the rule not being proven, it was revealed Arteta claimed that: “The word ‘disgrace’…‘has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish ‘desgracia’…the Spanish word has connotations of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck rather than the connotations of the English equivalent which suggest contempt, dishonour or disrespect.

“While the English meaning may lead to interpretations of abuse or insult, this was not the intended meaning.”

Despite Arteta’s comments at St James’ Park, Professional Game Match Officials Limited chief Howard Webb later said the process to award Gordon’s goal had been correct and VAR had been right in not overruling the on-field call.

Arsenal came out in support of Arteta by issuing a statement the following day – although the club avoided an FA charge for also questioning the capability of match officials.

The outcome of Arteta’s charge means he is free to return to the dugout for Arsenal’s visit of Brighton on Sunday, having served a one-match touchline ban in last weekend’s 1-0 loss at Aston Villa, having accrued three yellow cards this season.

Ange Postecoglou has warned Tottenham defender Cristian Romero that his tackles will be under the spotlight for the rest of the season.

Romero only returned from a three-match ban for his red card against Chelsea earlier this month but faced criticism on Sunday for a poor challenge on Callum Wilson towards the end of Spurs’ 4-1 win over Newcastle.

VAR did review the incident, which stayed as a caution, but if Romero had been sent off, he would have faced a four-match suspension and that would have further depleted a Tottenham team already without eight first-team players for Friday’s trip to Nottingham Forest.

Postecoglou said: “It’s fair to say the spotlight will be on him for the rest of the year.

“Any challenge he does, whether it’s something that’s pretty clear like the Chelsea game or last week, which I thought was as much clumsy as anything else.

“He knows that, he understands that. He’s just got to make the adjustments that he needs to do during the game, but I don’t think it’s a subject for long chats.

“It’s pretty evident the impact he has on us when he’s playing and when he’s not and we much prefer to have him out there.”

Spurs failed to win any of the matches which Romero missed through suspension and his ban coincided with fellow defender Micky van de Ven being sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Van de Ven will not play again until January and, while Postecoglou is pleased with the partnership struck up between Romero and Ben Davies, a left-back by trade, he is keen to bring in another centre-back in January.

“As a team I thought we were a lot more organised with our press (against Newcastle),” Postecoglou added.

“Romero makes a big difference to that but I thought Ben Davies was outstanding as well last week. He’s getting a run of games now but we’ve always got to be mindful he is not a centre-back.

“We’ve been very fortunate that Ben’s been able to fill in for us there. He’s really good at taking in information, he really understands the game, not just his own role but how we want to play and that’s helped him.

“Having Romeo next to him helps in that sense and Vic (Guglielmo Vicario) because he’s taken a bit of a leadership role back there as well.

“Ultimately, we still need to sign another centre-back because at the moment we are a little bit on tenterhooks because if something happens again we are short and we are already short.”

Postecoglou revealed Giovani Lo Celso would miss the clash at Forest with a niggle picked up in training this week.

Manchester City youngster Micah Hamilton marked his senior debut with a dream goal as the holders finished the Champions League group stage with a 3-2 win at Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday.

With fellow 20-year-old Oscar Bobb also on the scoresheet, here the PA news agency looks at who these fresh faces are.

Who is Micah Hamilton?

The midfielder was born and brought up in Manchester and has been in the club’s system since the age of nine.

Also a City fan, he was a ballboy at the Etihad Stadium and pictures have emerged of him and manager Pep Guardiola on the touchline six years ago.

He is a versatile player who can play centrally or wide and has represented England at various youth levels.

Why has he been relatively low key until now?

Hamilton is highly rated and is currently the captain of City’s elite development squad but his progress has been hampered in recent seasons by injuries.

This is perhaps one reason why other recent City academy graduates such as Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and James McAtee have had more attention.

He has been on the fringes of the first-team squad this season and was an unused substitute at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup and against Young Boys in the Champions League.

Who is Oscar Bobb?

Bobb is another attacking player who is rated in his native Norway as one of his country’s most promising prospects.
He joined City from Valerenga in 2019.

Having shone in the club’s youth ranks, he is now with Guardiola’s first-team squad full-time. He has made regular substitute appearances this season with the game at Red Star being his second start of the campaign.

What has been said about them?

Brian Barry-Murphy, the former Rochdale manager who is now in charge of City’s EDS, speaks highly of both players and gave Hamilton a label of “street footballer” that seems to have followed him a little.

Barry-Murphy said: “I say to him he’s a street footballer. You see Oscar Bobb who’s very exciting to watch. Micah is the same, someone who can eliminate players one by one, no matter how the game evolves.”

What are their prospects?

Bobb’s involvement this season clearly indicates that he is in Guardiola’s thinking and further opportunities are likely to come his way. History suggests he will have to be patient, however.

Phil Foden was only introduced to the first team gradually and still, at 23 and one of England’s best midfielders, is not a regular starter. The process is still ongoing for Lewis.

Cole Palmer recently decided to leave to seek more chances elsewhere, as did the likes of Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz in the past.

Hamilton will have to work hard to even reach Bobb’s level of involvement in what is a star-studded squad.

Jonny Evans was left to reflect on what might have been for Erik ten Hag’s stumbling Manchester United at the end of a miserable European campaign, with a “massive day” against rivals Liverpool now looming large.

Boos echoed around Old Trafford for a second straight match as Saturday’s 3-0 Premier League humbling at the hands of Bournemouth was followed by a meek 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich.

Tuesday’s lifeless defeat confirmed United’s place at the bottom of a Champions League group many expected them to progress from, meaning they also missed out on a Europa League spot.

The manner of the Red Devils’ European exit increases the spotlight on underfire boss Ten Hag and leaves the side kicking themselves over the mistakes that cost them dearly in Group A.

“You expect to get out of every group being Man United,” deflated defender Evans said after the match.

“I think we made it difficult for ourselves and to go into the last game needing to win and a result to go your way in the other side, the probability of that’s very small.

“Obviously tonight playing against a good Bayern side and once they got the goal it was it was difficult then.”

A paltry four points from five Group A games meant United needed to beat Bayern and hope there was a draw between Copenhagen and Galatasaray to progress in the Champions League.

Asked if it was any consolation that the Danes’ 1-0 victory meant United would only have been able to reach the Europa League had they won anyway, Evans told beIN SPORTS: “I suppose because, I mean, if the result had gone the other way you can kick yourself.

“But, you know, on the flip side of that, I felt like we give absolutely everything tonight. It wasn’t a case of, you know, we could look back…

“Not many chances for either side. They got their one chance and took it.

“It was a very even game but probably whoever got the first goal (was key) and they got it and that’s the way it went.”

United managed the game well in the early stages, restricting Bayern to half-chances in an opening period that ended with Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw picking up injuries.

Evans came on as part of the enforced defensive reshuffle and did a solid enough job, but there was barely anything in terms of threat at the other end.

United managed just one shot on target in what was a must-win match, having blown leads in the 4-3 defeat at Copenhagen and 3-3 draw away to Galatasaray.

Asked if United could have done more in the previous games to avoid facing such a predicament in the group finale, Evans said: “Of course.

“There’s six games. To be able to get down to the last game, we’re sitting bottom of the group going into the match.

“The two away games, especially Copenhagen and Galatasaray, were big moments in the group where we felt like we probably slipped up a little bit and made it more difficult for ourselves tonight.”

United players looked drained as they left Old Trafford, where no players stopped to speak to non-rights holders in the mixed zone and face questions about their 12th loss in all competitions of the campaign.

Some took a shortcut to avoid walking through the interview area. Even in-house broadcaster MUTV did not get to speak to a player.

United fans will be hoping their players instead do their talking on the pitch against bitter foes Liverpool this Sunday as they return to Anfield for the first time since March’s 7-0 annihilation.

Skipper Bruno Fernandes is suspended for a match that Ten Hag’s side head into without a string of injured players, increasing the incline on what already looked to be an uphill battle.

“Massive day for the club, you know, away at Anfield,” homegrown defender Evans said.

“We’ve got a couple of days now between the game and you’ve got to dust ourselves down. We’ve got a big match, a huge match.

“I’m sure in the next day or two once the feeling of this match sort of passes by, we’ll only be excited leading up to that game.”

Manchester United are out of Europe after they lost to Bayern Munich in their final Champions League group game on Tuesday.

It is the sixth time they have failed to qualify for the knockout stages and just the second they have finished bottom of the group, the other being in 2005-06.

Here, the PA news agency compares United’s struggles this season to one 18 years ago.

Results

United had to qualify for the group stage in 2005-06 after finishing third in the Premier League the previous season, but did so with ease. They were drawn in, what looked to be on paper, a favourable group alongside Villarreal, Lille and Benfica.

An opening draw against the Spanish side was followed by victory over Benfica, but then things went wrong. They took one point from a double-header against Lille, drew again with Villarreal before crashing out by losing to the Portuguese side.

The current crop of United flops were up against it from the beginning as they lost their opening two games to Bayern and Galatasaray. A home victory over Copenhagen was undone by defeat in the reverse fixture and when they squandered a lead in Turkey the writing was on the wall.

Harry Kane’s Bayern then delivered a knockout blow in the final group game to ensure United did not even drop into the Europa League.

Squad

The 2005-06 United squad was one in transition but they still had some heavyweight names, especially in attack where they had a front three of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ryan Giggs was still in his prime while in Rio Ferdinand they had one of the best defenders in Europe.

It was a squad that should not have been going out in the group stages.

The recruitment that has seen the 2023-24 United group put together has been heavily criticised, with several underperformers and average players. Andre Onana’s wayward form in goal has arguably been crucial in their demise while Marcus Rashford’s displays have not matched last year’s.

Antony appears not to have justified his hefty price tag while Scott McTominay, Diogo Dalot and Viktor Lindelof may not be up to the standard required.

League form

United were hanging on the coat-tails of Jose Mourhinho’s Chelsea and Arsenal, with their utter domination of English football a thing of the past.

But they were still consistent and ended up being the second best team in the league that year, behind the Blues. United lost just five games all season, four of them away, and finished with 83 points.

This season’s side have already lost seven of their 16 games so far, four of them at Old Trafford, which is no longer the fortress it once was. The fact they have not drawn any games has helped them into a position where they could mount a top-four challenge in the second half of the season but consistency would have to improve immeasuarably.

Manager

Alex Ferguson remained in total control at Old Trafford, even with the disappointing European campaign. He was in the process of rebuilding a squad that would win the Premier League and Champions League again in the coming years. He was still respected and feared by his players and opponents and was very much the boss.

Erik ten Hag has some similar traits to Ferguson, especially surrounding discipline, but he is being undermined by poorly performing players. A promising start to his reign last season has capitulated this time around and he now appears to be in a fight to save his job.

Destiny Udogie has signed a new long-term contract with Tottenham, the Premier League club have announced.

The Italian left-back, who has made a huge impression in the first part of the current season, has committed himself to Spurs until 2030.

The 21-year-old joined Tottenham from Udinese in a £15million deal in 2022 but spent last season back on loan with the Serie A club.

He returned to London in the summer and has thrived under new manager Ange Postecoglou, starting 14 of the club’s 16 Premier League games this term.

He also made his Italy debut this autumn and scored his first Spurs goal in the 4-1 victory over Newcastle on Sunday.

Udogie told the club’s website: “I’m happy because I think to be here at this club is a big joy for me, so I’m really happy for this opportunity and it’s a pleasure.

“From the first day I came in, I’ve felt at home.

“There’s just been one objective – to show my best and help the team.

“I’m happy how it’s going but obviously we can do more and I will keep working to do more.”

Chelsea have confirmed skipper Reece James sustained a hamstring injury in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Everton.

The England right-back was one of three players who went off injured for the visitors during the Premier League contest at Goodison Park, along with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and left-back Marc Cucurella.

A statement on Chelsea’s official website on Tuesday said: “Captain Reece James has undergone medical assessment following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Everton.

“The defender was withdrawn during the first half at Goodison Park and scan results have confirmed a hamstring injury. Reece will now begin his rehabilitation programme at Cobham.”

Speaking after Sunday’s match – about his disappointment at losing the 24-year-old to injury – Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino emphasised James’ importance, describing him as “one of the best full-backs in the world”.

Pochettino also said Sanchez had departed due to a knee issue, and Cucurella because of a twisted ankle.

Those problems add to an already-lengthy injury list for the west London club, who are 12th in the table.

Liverpool expect to have 57,000 fans in attendance for the visit of Manchester United providing the new Anfield Road Stand receives a safety certificate this week.

A test event on Monday evening is set to be attended by 7,500-plus supporters, who will watch a LFC Foundation mini-game and listen to a question-and-answer session from manager Jurgen Klopp.

If everything runs smoothly then on Sunday 7,000 seats in the upper tier will be filled for the visit of their arch-rivals, leaving only facilities for 2,000 hospitality guests and some minor work on the lower tier to be completed next month to bring the capacity up to 61,000.

Work on the £80million upgrade was due to be completed for the start of the season but an initial delay was complicated by contractors Buckingham Group going into administration, leading to a phased reopening which has seen only the lower tier in operation.

“It’s been really challenging,” said Paul Cuttill, vice-president of Stadium Operations.

“Our priority was to get fans back into the stadium as soon as possible safely. Billy (Hogan, the chief executive) said back in October it would likely be 2024 before we would open so to get ahead of that for the Man United game is a bit of an early Christmas present.

“What it has cost us is the amount of time it has taken.

“Being able to bring in people earlier has been a massive benefit to us, but we won’t know the true nature of the costs until we have got a proper programme in place towards the end of the season.”

Aston Villa’s stunning home form stretched to a club-record 15 games as Saturday’s success against Arsenal took them into elite Premier League company.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at fortress Villa Park.

Record run

Going into their midweek game against Manchester City, Villa’s run of 13 home league wins dating back to last season was already their longest of the Premier League era – but with the champions and their main challengers coming to Birmingham back-to-back, the fun looked set to end.

Instead, winners from Leon Bailey and John McGinn saw Villa kick on to the longest run in their history as their resurgence under manager Unai Emery gathers pace.

Crystal Palace, Brighton and Fulham, twice apiece, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Tottenham, Everton, West Ham and Luton are their other victims.

They have scored 39 goals – conceding only seven, and never more than one in a game. Ollie Watkins is their top scorer in that time with nine goals, one ahead of Douglas Luiz.

Elite company

Villa’s streak ranks among the five longest home winning runs in the Premier League era, with Emery matching Pep Guardiola’s recently concluded streak of 15 with City – who won 10 straight to end last season and their first five this term before draws with Liverpool and Tottenham.

Next in Villa’s sights is Manchester United’s 19 successive home wins between October 2010 and October 2011 – a far cry from United’s current home form.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had the chance to stretch their run to 20 and a full year with maximum points at Old Trafford, only for the run to end in astonishing style as Mario Balotelli inspired City to a 6-1 derby romp.

City hit 20 earlier in their current era of dominance, Roberto Mancini’s side with a perfect Etihad Stadium record from March 2011 to March 2012 when Sunderland, vanquished 5-0 earlier in the sequence, drew 3-3 – the only two points dropped on home soil that season by Mancini’s title-winners.

The record belongs to Liverpool, who won their final seven home games of 2018-19 as they pushed champions City all the way and then their first 17 of their title-winning 2019-20 season – again, the 1-1 draw with Burnley that ended the run marked their only dropped points at home.

They went on to win their next eight and went 68 league games, and over three-and-a-half years, unbeaten at Anfield before remarkably then losing six in a row – a warning to Villa regarding how suddenly things can change.

Good omens

Villa top this season’s home league table with eight wins from eight. Liverpool also have a perfect record but from seven games, while Newcastle have won seven out of eight.

They are third outright with 35 points, only the fifth time in their history they have had such an impressive record after 16 games.

The other occasions when, converting to three points for a win, they would have been on 35 or more are their 19th-century title-winning seasons of 1898-99 and 1899-1900, a runner-up finish in 1910-11 and their most recent title in 1980-81.

Aston Villa are just two points off the Premier League summit after their victory over Arsenal on Saturday.

Not only did Villa boss Unai Emery get one over his former club but the 1-0 triumph saw his side extend their winning league run at home to 15 games.

Emery and his players are not entertaining talk of a surprise title run but, here, the PA news agency looks at how Villa are defying the odds to fight at the top of the table.

What impact has Emery had?

When Emery was chosen to replace Steven Gerrard in the Villa Park hotseat last November, the club were among the sides that could have been dragged into a relegation battle. The Spaniard, however, turned things around and Villa finished the season in seventh, qualifying for the Europa Conference League. This season, things have improved even more, and since Emery’s arrival he has overseen 26 wins from his 41 Premier League games in charge.

Who has shone under Emery?

Any team wanting to compete towards the top of the table is likely to need a prolific goalscorer – and Villa can call on Ollie Watkins as the man to consistently find the back of the net. Emery can again lay claim to helping the England striker improve his output and the 27-year-old has hit eight Premier League goals this season, while also laying on six assists. Watkins has also seemingly taken the spot as back-up to Harry Kane in the England squad and he will be keen to continue his club form in the hopes of heading to Euro 2024 next summer.

Anyone else?

Several players inherited by Emery have improved under the Spaniard – the likes of Ezri Konsa, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and the aforementioned Watkins, for example. Villa also added Pau Torres, Youri Tielemans and Moussa Diaby in the summer with the trio playing their part in helping Emery’s side make improvements. Emery can also call on World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez, who was also crowned the world’s best goalkeeper at the Ballon D’Or ceremony last month.

Hitting a home run

Villa have won all 15 of their Premier League home games since losing 4-2 to Arsenal in February. It is a club-record run that has turned them into, at this stage of the season, bona fide title contenders. In the space of four days, Villa beat reigning champions Manchester City and last season’s runners-up Arsenal to show they can mix it with the best the league has to offer.

What are their festive fixtures like?

Villa have a great chance to further extend their winning home run as relegation-threatened pair Sheffield United and Burnley are next up at Villa Park. A trip to Brentford on Sunday follows the final game of their Europa Conference League group, where they travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina to take on Zrinjski Mostar knowing a point is enough to progress as group winners. They then face a Boxing Day trip to Manchester United but, with Old Trafford no longer the fortress it once was, Villa will fancy their chances.

Manchester United’s comprehensive defeat by Bournemouth means they have lost more home league games in the 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement than they did in his 21 Premier League seasons at Old Trafford.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the declining status of the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.

Home invasion

While Ferguson took charge of United in 1986, United’s dominant era began after the top flight’s breakaway and rebranding in 1992.

From that point until his retirement in 2013, United lost only 34 home Premier League games at an average of 1.6 per season.

Bournemouth on Saturday inflicted the 35th in less than 10 and a half seasons since with a 3-0 rout of Erik ten Hag’s side that could have been even more emphatic.

It was the Cherries’ first ever win at Old Trafford and Andoni Iraola’s side are by no means the first of the Premier League’s lesser names to shock United at home since Ferguson’s exit.

While Manchester City have six wins on enemy turf and Liverpool and Tottenham three each, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho all suffered home defeats to West Brom while Crystal Palace twice defeated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team and also won 1-0 this season.

The teams to win three times or more at Old Trafford in Ferguson’s Premier League tenure are topped by Chelsea with six wins and Liverpool four. Arsenal and Man City managed three apiece and even the one surprise name, Middlesbrough, were in an era when they won a League Cup and could boast players such as Juninho, Gaizka Mendieta and Alen Boksic in their line-ups.

United have already lost at home this season to Brighton, Palace, Man City and Bournemouth. Only once under Ferguson did they lose four or more Premier League home games in a season, six in 2001-02.

They topped that mark in the first season after his departure with seven, and also had six in 2020-21 and four in 2021-22.

Solskjaer’s reign accounts for 13 of the 35 home losses, with six for Moyes and Ten Hag joining his countryman Van Gaal on five. Mourinho had four, with one each for Giggs and Ralf Rangnick.

Season of struggle

United’s seven losses in 16 games home and away is their most at this stage of a Premier League season – indeed, on 19 occasions out of 31 they have gone a full campaign with fewer defeats.

The last time United racked up as many losses this early was in 1989-90, when they finished 13th but an FA Cup win saved Ferguson’s job.

They have a negative goal difference at this stage – scoring 18 league goals and conceding 21 – for the first time since 1986-87, when Ferguson replaced the sacked Ron Atkinson.

Scott McTominay is their Premier League top scorer with five goals. Bruno Fernandes (three) and Marcus Rashford (two) are the only other players to score more than once, ranking joint-lowest with Sheffield United, Luton, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace in that category.

They are the only team in England’s top four tiers not to have drawn a league game this season and that run stretches 23 games in all, since April’s 2-2 draw with Spurs. That is United’s longest such run since the 1934-35 season.

West Ham sacked manager Alan Pardew on this day in 2006.

Pardew had joined the Hammers in September 2003, having resigned as Reading boss after the Royals rebuffed West Ham’s initial request to speak to him about their vacant position.

In his first season, Pardew guided West Ham to the Championship play-off final but fell at the final hurdle against his former club Crystal Palace.

They were back in the play-off final the following summer after a season in which they failed to sustain a strong push for automatic promotion, albeit going up anyway after beating Preston 1-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The Hammers made an encouraging start to life in the top flight as Pardew guided them to ninth place and the FA Cup final, where they were beaten on penalties by Liverpool at the end of a match which finished 3-3 following extra-time.

Optimism was high at the start of the following season as Argentinian pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano arrived at the club, but with European football added to their commitments, West Ham took a backward step.

An eight-game losing streak matched a 74-year-old club record and included an exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of Palermo and a humiliating League Cup defeat to League One Chesterfield.

When Eggert Magnusson’s consortium arrived as new owners in early November they initially backed Pardew, but patience ran out with a 4-0 defeat to Bolton and Pardew was shown the door two weeks before Christmas.

Former West Ham player Alan Curbishley was named as his replacement two days later, having recently ended a 15-year spell in charge of Charlton, and he steered them to safety.

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