Updates
Player ratings as wasteful Red Devils squander chances
From Leigh Sports Village – Manchester United dropped points in the WSL for just the third time this season after being held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Everton.
The Red Devils, who will now see Chelsea go back above them at the top of the table, probably did enough to win on balance but saw a number of chances go begging throughout the game. Everton also deserve credit for hanging on and keeping a clean sheet against a side they have conceded seven against already this season.
Marc Skinner’s side have made a habit of starting home games fast this season, particularly at Leigh. Yet Everton threatened to make it interesting right from the off when a flicked header from defender Rikke Sevecke was a little too close for comfort, missing the far post.
That moment seemed to give United a splash in the face. Although Everton continued to work hard, half chances were coming from the hosts. A tame Hayley Ladd shot and a deflected Leah Galton cross were both collected by Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.
In her first appearance since multiple world record bids from Arsenal were turned down, Alessia Russo was playing with energy and determination, clearly unfazed by the events of the last week.
United were still being kept at bay as half-time neared, although Ona Batlle’s just too high effort from the edge of the box after a short corner had Brosnan more than a little worried.
In a flurry of late chances, Lucia Garcia struck the bar after being played in on the right, while Ladd and Russo each had great opportunities that missed to the left and right respectively that would have given Brosnan no chance had they been on target.
United started the second half the way they finished the first and Ella Toone had struck the base of the post only moments after the restart after Galton cut in from the left and laid the ball off. Hannah Blundell should then have done much better in acres of space on the left with a shot on her stronger right foot that went straight at the grateful Brosnan.
Having seen a number of United shots miss the target, Brosnan reacted instinctively to somehow keep out a Katie Zelem volley from the centre of the penalty. Moments later, Ladd couldn’t set her feet and a poor shot squirmed over the bar as Galton knocked it to her in space 10 yards out.
One of Everton’s first clear sights of goal since the early stages came with under 20 minutes left to play as Batlle’s miscued back-pass gave Jess Park the chance to round Mary Earps, but the Toffees winger couldn’t find the target from a narrow angle.
United continued to probe until the end but Brosnan’s goal remained un-breached.
GK: Mary Earps – 6/10 – Didn’t have a lot to do for a long time.
RB: Ona Batlle – 6/10 – Had to initially keep a close eye on Park over her shoulder but still got forward at every opportunity and forced Everton to switch things up.
CB: Maya Le Tissier – 6/10 – Lost a couple of 50/50 balls but won most of her tackles.
CB: Millie Turner – 6/10 – Made a few important clearances that prevented more dangerous situations.
LB: Hannah Blundell – 5/10 – Spent a lot of time in Everton’s half. Put a shot from an incredible position straight at Brosnan in the second half.
CM: Katie Zelem (c) – 6/10 – Denied by a top Brosnan save in the second half. Appeared to be getting frustrated with the movement of her teammates as United chased a goal.
CM: Hayley Ladd – 5/10 – Heavily involved in winning the ball back and springing attacks. Guilty of squandering a few good chances to score.
AM Ella Toone – 5/10 – Probably not as involved as she would have liked in the first half, before striking the post early in the second. Moved wide later on.
RW: Lucia Garcia – 6/10 – Hit the crossbar in the first half when she probably should have scored. Direct running did cause problems but Everton just about managed her.
ST: Alessia Russo – 7/10 – Played with her usual intensity, pressuring Everton defenders and moving all over looking for the ball. Did everything but score.
LW: Leah Galton – 6/10 – Ran in behind Everton full-back Finnigan a few times and became more involved as the game progressed. Managed 67 minutes after injury.
Substitutes
SUB: Nikita Parris (67′ for Galton) – 6/10
SUB: Rachel Williams (77′ for Garcia) – 7/10
Manager
Marc Skinner – 6/10 – Largely resisted making changes because his team were creating chances.
GK: Courtney Brosnan – 6/10 – Tested less than she would have expected.
RB: Megan Finnigan – 5/10 – Beaten for pace by Galton more than once and was withdrawn relatively early in the seond half.
CB: Nathalie Bjorn – 8/10 – Repelled everything that came her way.
CB: Rikke Sevecke – 8/10 – Narrowly missed an early header that could have made it a very different game. Impressive display overall.
LB: Gabby George (c) – 8/10 – Had to face a lot of different challenges defensively and cme through it. Didn’t have a lot of the ball but created one of Everton’s few chances.
RM: Nicoline Sorensen – 5/10 – Swapped to the left during the first half and had to do a lot of defending against Batlle, before going back to the right. Didn’t have a lot of the ball herself.
CM: Karen Holmgaard – 7/10 – Often showed great positional awareness to drop into the back four when needed. Covered plenty of ground and all-action.
CM: Aurora Galli – 6/10 – Kept good shape, although struggled to get invovled with the ball.
LM: Jess Park – 6/10 – Looked like she could be a threat when running in space but it didn’t happen enough to make much of an impact overall. Swpped between left and right multiple times.
ST: Katja Snoeijs – 5/10 – Had to chase a lot of lost causes.
ST: Aggie Beever-Jones – 5/10 – Worked tirelessly for not much gain.
Substitutes
SUB: Clare Wheeler (56′ for Galli) – N/A
SUB: Lucy Hope (56′ for Finnigan) – N/A
SUB: Hanna Bennison (56′ for Sorensen) – N/A
SUB: Izzy Christiansen (67′ for Holmgaard) – N/A
SUB: Elise Stenevik (86′ for Snoeijs) – N/A
Manager
Brian Sorensen – 7/10 – Made changes in certain areas just as it looked like United were starting to exploit them. Took advantage of being able to use five subs, although the result probably still rested on the hosts missing chances.
Player of the match – Nathalie Bjorn (Everton)
For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter!
The general manager of Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle has confirmed that the club are close to striking an agreement to sell 15-year-old wonderkid Kendry Paez.
90min reported in February that Paez had attracted significant interest from a number of Premier League clubs, with Chelsea understood to have moved closest to striking a deal by lodging a bid for the teenage midfielder.
Chelsea have remained in talks with Independiente del Valle ever since, looking to finalise a deal for a player who is widely seen to be one of South America’s brightest young prospects.
Now, Independiente del Valle chief Santiago Morales has confirmed that a deal has almost been reached to sell Paez, although he declined to mention with which club he has been speaking.
“There are no pre-contracts,” Morales told Mach Deportes. “The interested clubs continue to find out how to negotiate with Kendry Paez.
READ NEXT
“There is a club with which we are in advanced conversations and we agree on the value of Kendry Paez.”
Morales also backed Paez to make a significant impact in this season’s Copa Libertadores, with the Ecuadorian starlet’s stock continuing to rise.
“Surely Kendry will play in the Copa Libertadores and don’t be surprised if he plays a great game against Corinthians,” he added.
Chelsea have made an effort to recruit a number of the game’s top youngsters this season and have not shied away from paying significant fees to land their targets, with the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesar Casadei costing close to £40m combined.
Paez is a key target for Chelsea’s new recruitment team and it appears as though they are close to getting a deal done.
LISTEN NOW
On this edition of Son of Chelsea, part of the 90min podcast network, Daniel Childs examines what Thomas Tuchel’s move to Bayern Munich could mean for Chelsea.
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
It’s not just the Premier League that has a tantalising title race on its hands. Over in the Women’s Super League, the current top four are separated by just three points.
Emma Hayes’ Chelsea have long been considered the favourites to win their fourth consecutive title, but they were leapfrogged in the table by Manchester City after they beat the Blues 2-0 in Manchester last weekend. City’s first victory over Hayes’ side since 2017 ignited their title hopes and they currently sit level on points with Man Utd at the top.
Chelsea, however, are just a point adrift having played a game less, while Arsenal aren’t out of the running either. The Gunners, who have also played one less game than the two Manchester clubs, are three points off the summit in fourth.
FiveThirtyEight uses its Forecasts and Soccer Power Index (SPI) ratings to predict every fixture throughout the WSL season. Here’s who they think will end the 2022/23 season as champions.
|
Position |
Team |
Current points |
Projected points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. |
Chelsea |
37 |
53 |
|
2. |
Man Utd |
38 |
50 |
|
3. |
Arsenal |
35 |
49 |
|
4. |
Man City |
38 |
49 |
|
5. |
Aston Villa |
29 |
36 |
FiveThirtyEight don’t expect the table to expand too much before the end of the season, but they do project Chelsea to win the league by a three-point margin.
The Blues are expected to claim 16 points from their last seven outings with their only remaining fixture against a fellow title rival arriving on the penultimate matchday of the season against Arsenal.
The two London clubs also have the Champions League to consider, but the supercomputer doesn’t believe their European ventures will derail their domestic campaigns. Arsenal are projected to finish level on points with Man City in third.
Despite their huge win over Chelsea, the computer predicts City to claim just nine points from their remaining six games. They do have the disadvantage of playing both Arsenal and Man Utd away from home before the end of the season.
As for the current leaders, the computer projects a bright enough end to the campaign (12 points from six games) but that won’t be enough to stave off Chelsea’s threat.
READ NEXT
The WSL title race will take its next twists and turns at the start of April, with Man Utd the first on the contenders in action when they visit the south coast to face Brighton.
The clash between Arsenal and Manchester City in Sunday’s early kick off is undoubtedly the game of the weekend, while Chelsea will be hoping to make up some lost ground when they travel to Aston Villa.
Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino would both be open to succeeding Antonio Conte at Tottenham, but would prefer to wait until the summer to decide their next respective moves, 90min understands.
Spurs confirmed on Sunday night that they had mutually agreed to part ways with Conte following a dismal run of results, notably capping off his tenure by labelling his players as ‘selfish’ in an explosive press conference after drawing 3-3 with Southampton.
Conte’s former assistant, Cristian Stellini, has been placed in interim charge until the end of the season with the hunt for a new permanent boss underway – this search could be complicated by FIFA’s decision to enforce managing director of football Fabio Paratici’s footballing ban, subject to appeal.
Two of Spurs’ targets are currently out of work, with Nagelsmann recently having departed Bayern Munich and Pochettino unemployed since leaving Paris Saint-Germain last year.
READ NEXT
However, sources have told 90min that both of them would prefer to wait until the summer to decide their futures.
Nagelsmann would like to manage in the Premier League one day but it is by no means a priority for him right now.
An interesting wrinkle in Spurs’ potential pursuits of Nagelsmann and Pochettino is that both are holding out to see whether the Real Madrid job will become available.
Carlo Ancelotti’s future at the Santiago Bernabeu remains uncertain following a limp defence of their La Liga title. 90min understands that even retaining the UEFA Champions League may not be enough to save his job.
Real Madrid have been linked to Nagelsmann and Pochettino in the past, but were concerned about their records in regards to winning titles. However, these doubts have been alleviated after leading their respective sides to Bundesliga and Ligue 1 glory.
Beyond Nagelsmann and Pochettino, another candidate high on Spurs’ shortlist of candidates is Luis Enrique, who has been out of a job since December when he left the Spain job following their 2022 FIFA World Cup exit.
Enrique’s last club job saw him spend three years at Barcelona from 2014 to 2017. He notably won the treble in his first season back at Camp Nou and won at least one trophy every year of his reign.
LISTEN NOW
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Julian Nagelsmann’s future and links to the vacant Tottenham head coach role, Barcelona’s ambition to bring Lionel Messi ‘home’, Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson, Florian Wirtz, Kalvin Phillips and more!
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Independiente del Valle chief makes major admission over Chelsea target’s future
Supercomputer predicts WSL title race after Man City’s victory over Chelsea
Tottenham handed double blow in pursuit of new manager
Best site to watch football live (Free and premium)
Best app to buy sports tickets 2022
10 Footballers who went to university during their careers
-
EPL1 week agoGraham Potter provides N’Golo Kante injury return plan
-
EPL1 week agoSir Jim Ratcliffe won’t pay ‘stupid’ price to buy Man Utd
-
Football1 week agoDe Jong responds to new Man United transfer link after El Clasico win
-
EPL1 week agoChelsea star pays visit to Barcalona’s locker room after El Clasico win
-
EPL1 week agoAleksandar Mitrovic facing extended ban over referee push (Details)