Chelsea lose at Leeds and Liverpool scrape a point – Football Weekly

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:30Once again, Aston Villa a third, a brilliant comeback at Brighton on a great run. And now Ollie Watkins has started scoring. Also today, Wolves still have only two points and it's December. Doesn't feel like enough points while Palace win at Burnley. We'll look ahead to the weekend's games, ask if Barney was right about how to get to Selhurst Park. Answer your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

0:53On the panel today, Barry Glendening, welcome. Hi, Max. Hello, Jacob Steinberg. Hello. And welcome, Jonathan Wilson. Morning, how you doing? Very good. Mike says, why has punditry got so bad? Not a single paid journalist expert pundit predicted Liverpool to fall off a cliff. Villa's resurgence, Sunderland's success, Chelsea supposedly having a good season, and Amarim a stinker, yet level on points after tomorrow night. Experts know nothing, do they? Barry, why are you all so terrible? I don't know. I mean, I think that's slightly unfair. We're pundits, we're not psychics. The predictions we made at the start of the season, things change, Max.

1:35It's quite difficult to foresee the massive drop-off in form that Liverpool are going to have, to foresee that Virgil van Dijk will not be up to his usual high standards, You'll see also Ibrahima Kanate, Mo Salah. You can only speculate as to how new players will fit into systems. Sunderland's new players have all hit the ground running. Other teams' new players, not so much. I think everyone presumed Alexander Izak, for example, will be a very good addition to the Liverpool squad. Thus far, he hasn't been due to his own shortcomings and due to the fact that Liverpool players seem incredibly reluctant to get the ball to them at speed.

2:22But no, the short answer is, I suppose, yeah, we're all rubbish. But I've no problem with being called rubbish. What I do object to is people calling me or other people rubbish when they have the benefit of 2020 hindsight. So unless you have also made predictions at the start of the season, and put them in the public domain, then I don't think you're really in a position to criticise. Yes, there you go, Mike. Anyway, shall we start at Ellen Road, Leeds 3, Chelsea 1. I certainly didn't predict this one, Jacob. No, but maybe Chelsea fans might have because after such a good week with beating Barcelona so emphatically and getting the draw with Arsenal with 10 men playing so well in that game, I think they came into it wondering what they might do against a supposed lesser side.

3:11It's been a bit of a problem for Chelsea down the years, especially in the last few years, is that they're capable of raising themselves in the big games. And then in the games that you need to win, they don't turn up. And that's part of why they haven't won the title since 2017. So this was a really big test that Maresca kind of talked about post-Barcelona. He very quickly brought up the Leeds and the Bournemouth game coming up on Saturday as being massive for them. and they weren't able to pass that. He made the changes, which when it's been done this season, the rotation, it's worked in certain games, certain other times, it's not quite clicked.

3:52The Carabag game away in the Champions League last month comes to mind, which they were kind of lucky to draw 2-2. And last night, again, he was out, obviously was in forced changes in midfield without Caicedo after the suspension against Arsenal. but he left out Neto, he left out Fofana, brought in players who just weren't quite up to it and it seemed like that inexperience kind of kicked in a little bit as well where perhaps they weren't able to withstand that early barrage from Leeds and were they quite appreciative of what a Leeds v Chelsea game was going to be like at Ellum Road I mean they might have expected a promoted side to really get into them But were there the players in that team who quite appreciated the historic significance of what this would actually mean to Leeds?

4:41And were there the players to get them through that? So the first 15, 20 minutes were they able to withstand everything that Leeds leads through at the minute. It just kind of looks like they weren't able to get through that and then start playing their football, you know, conceding a goal from a set piece. It just looks like they were bullied throughout that period and didn't do any of the basics right. and so they end up losing a game that ultimately they should have won. That's probably why they're very insistent that they aren't title challengers. And Wilson, I guess, Daniel, you know, Leeds, they're big, aren't they?

5:14And as Jacob Aluso leads Chelsea, you know, it has that historic significance. Did Daniel Farker play that match of the day from the 60s when everyone just beat each other up? Because they really, it's such a cliche, but it just felt like Leeds wanted it more, Brian. So it's the 1970 FA Cup final and replay, isn't it? the two incredibly violent games from Chelsea and Leeds, which I think was responding to stuff that had happened previously. Jacob will know this better than me, but it seems to me that Fafano is absolutely huge, that his injury has really sort of hurt Chelsea this season, with Colville being out as well.

5:48And he obviously can't play or struggled to play more than one game a week. And I think if you look at games when Fafano's played this season, I don't think they've let in more than one in a game when he started, apart from a Brentford game where he went off at half-time. And obviously, it was the second half of that game where things went wrong. So I think they really need Fafana's presence there to give them a solidity at the back. That is a problem they've got, that they are lacking experience and they are lacking calm heads. And so if a couple of them are out, they do struggle a bit. The fact that Farker went for the two up front, the 5-3-2 he'd finished with against City, or that he changed to half-time against City, I think playing against a strike pairing is difficult for defenders now they're not familiar with it so if you've got two fairly inexperienced defenders and most of their football has been one picks up the loan centre forward the other covers behind and suddenly you've got two players to deal with that's a challenge that even experienced players have sort of forgotten how to deal with never mind you know the the the inexperienced players Chelsea had last night and big man big man was quite fun Barry wasn't it Metcher and Calvert-Lewin yeah and they're really bullied the Chelsea centre-halves.

7:01Both of them played really well. I don't know if it's fair to say Maresca underestimated Leeds, but with Moyes Casado out to suspension, maybe resting Rhys James was a mistake, but apparently his minutes have to be managed carefully, so it may have been the sensible decision to leave him out, even though Chelsea clearly missed him. Adyashili and Tosin Adurbayo did not play well at all. Tosin Adurbayo gave away two goals, but that was because Leeds bullied them. They're a very aggressive side. The Ellen Road crowd really got behind them, and I think Chelsea were intimidated by the atmosphere there last night.

7:50They're a very young team, and that's quite the cauldron to go into. The Leeds were just more aggressive, more determined, and thoroughly deserved their win. You often hear commentators say, you know, X won't score an easier goal in his career. And the Match Today commentator did say Dominic Calvert-Lewin won't score an easier goal in his career. But has anybody scored an easier goal in their career? I'm trying. Now, obviously, all memory goes to David Nugent. But does anyone have an easier goal than that for Calvert-Lewin? Not off the top of my head. Does that mean that is the easiest goal ever then?

8:27If a chance is too easy, does that then bring it back around a little bit to the other side? That there's a bit of you going, oh God, if I miss this, this will be the worst miss in the entire history of this sport that's been going on for 150 odd years, 160 odd years. Does that then put pressure on because it's too easy? And I think the fact that it is Dominic Calvert-Lewin has to be factored in as well. Does that affect the XG? If you were going to put your house on anyone to miss that. chance he would definitely be on the shortlist but i don't think it's possible to miss it that's the point i see what you mean about the pressure wilson because the ball is stopped and he like he's it's in it's basically in the goal he's in the goal i mean i suppose jacob it's really good for him that he's got two and two because he has now got this kind of reputation of being a guy that doesn't a striker that doesn't score goals and there was a time when he was kind of the next off the rank if harry kane got injured for england yeah he had that little period um in the 2021 season, I think, under Ancelotti, where he looked like he was potentially some kind of challenger to Harry Kane.

9:32And he was starting for England in a couple of friendlies, I think. I think he scored at least one around that period. It's kind of that blurry COVID period with empty ground. So I can't quite remember the games. But he even went to the Euros, the Euro 2020, where they got to the final. I don't think he actually played for England in that. I just think there was points at which he wasn't even in the matchday squad. But at that point, he did look like a really top striker. And there were bigger teams looking at him. But I think it's just after that, partly, I guess, what happened at Everton. The funk that they got into and also just the injuries with Calvert-Lewin.

10:11I think it's really held him back. But I actually do think he's a pretty good player. It's been the fitness with him. and that's ultimately why he's at Leeds and not ended up with a bigger move. There have been clubs higher up the table who have looked at him and points last season where I think it was the summer of 2024 where there were some bigger teams wondering if he might make a good backup in certain situations, just didn't go with it and he's ended up in this situation instead. But if he's on form and if he's fit, then I think they've got a pretty good experienced Premier League striker.

10:46I think Armando Brogia has very much cornered the Premier League market for big strikers who don't score goals. Who are also part of the Everton funk. I mean, the Everton funk is a real thing, isn't it? If you want to be a striker that scores no goals, get into the Everton funk, of course. And the two they have at the moment, I mean. For Barry and Beto, the lead singers of Everton funk right now, aren't they? Tanaka's goal was a brilliant strike and good to see Cole Palmer back on the pitch let's go to Anfield oh Wilson Wilson Isidore it's Wilson comma Wilson Isidore in injury time what a ball from roofs and you know how he's he's sort of one on one you know it's just an extraordinary moment in a football match that isn't it yeah he was he was too straight I think is the problem that ideally in that circumstance as a forward you want a slight angle unless Alisson left a space which and Alisson is very good in one-on-ones he pretty much had to go around him and by doing that you know he made the angle a bit tighter so the shot didn't have a power and Kears was able to get back it just shows I think the the sort of the the intelligence of both Isidore and Rufus that suddenly been under real pressure for 10 minutes like barely able to get out of their box and Isidore's smart enough to think well if I just hang around 10 yards inside my own half I can make my run so I'm hitting speed before I can be offside Rufus has clearly been aware of that I don't know if that's something they've talked about, maybe that is something they can do.

12:16But I guess the pass is easier out of your hands, but still, it's a great pass. I don't think Sunderland will live to regret it, but it does feel like two more points they could have snapped up. And they did hit the... I know Liverpool hit the woodwork as well, but Sunderland did hit the woodwork twice in that game as well. Yeah, I thought they were really impressive again, Barry. I mean, we've talked about the impressive parts of Sunderland, but, you know, Brobby held it up. It was a really good focal point. Xhaka again. And they've got this really good mix of, you know, your tough guys like Ballard and then your Lefay's and your Talby's have got real quality.

12:47Yeah, they were fearless, pretty confident in what they were doing. I think they were somewhat held by the fact that Liverpool did not play well at all. They were very slow and ponderous. I'm perfectly happy with that point. It would have been nice if they had nicked it at the end, but they've been massively impressive. I do worry about the festive period. You know, it's Manchester City next, then Newcastle at home. Then they've loads of players going to AFCON. But that will give quite a few of the players who helped them win promotion, who haven't really got much of a look in this season, it'll be time for them to step up and they'll be eager to prove themselves.

13:33So I think it speaks volumes that the fact Sunderland went to Anfield got a draw and could have won and nobody's massively surprised i think that speaks volumes of what they've brought to the the premier league a lot of neutrals seem to really like watching sunderland and like what they're doing and uh that's that's nice two wins in seven at anfield for liverpool salah came on jacob didn't really do a lot i only watched the second half live but when isak came off i i didn't actually know he was playing like genuinely like i was like ah he is there like it it is quite extraordinary how little fluidity this side have yeah there's a there's a tweet doing the rounds at the moment among west ham circles which which is um every team thinks their systems clicked when it just turns out they were playing west ham that's all it was so he went with the same the same setup as he did on sunday and perhaps that was just a one-off and it's not going to be a long-term solution for them yeah it just looks like they're so low on confidence and when when when the away form is seeping into the home form then that's a huge worry for Liverpool because you you would just expect them to get through this kind of game even when it's been a struggle away from home but instead it's now the Forest game the PSV game and okay they got away with this one but they were really they were really lucky i mean the i suppose they they take a the one positive is uh the speed that kiesa showed to get back um to clear that off the line if anybody was wouldn't he wouldn't have been the player you would have expected to to get back to stop isidor scoring there so slot took that positive and said you know because he was saying it kiesa could have decided that's not up to me it's up to up to someone else to get back but he at least showed the desire to get back there but otherwise it's just it just feels like it's a slump that they can't get out of and it's another hard game on um on saturday because they've got to go to lead so they're probably going to be really really up for it after both after what they've done last night and just when they when they look at liverpool and think that this is just such a such a vulnerable vulnerable team i think that probably the the win at west ham who was so poor and obviously the the thing that happened with paquette at the end um skewed it as well may just be a one-off and and this is where they are at the moment how would you fix if you were on a slot wilson what would you do i mean i think not picking salah makes sense and it's going to be forced on them anyway by the cup of nations i think it's now the 15th that they have to release players although fifa does seem to have said that clubs can come to individual arrangements which that's that's a whole other issue but it is sort of disgraceful how the cup of nations has been treated given that any other tournaments for 14 day window this is six days and clubs have been told actually you can come to your own arrangement so that's kind of scandalous but yeah i don't I don't know.

16:31There's so many players are out of form, confidence is low. They're clearly short of defenders. I'm sure they'd love to give Kanate a break from the team, but they can't. They could have brought in Joe Gomez earlier, I guess, but now they don't have any fit right back, so Gomez has to play a right back. It's not a case of writing this season off, but I think it's pretty obvious now that the future does not include Salah. The future will be on the end of this season, maybe beyond January. And so I guess building towards that future is all they can do, while hopefully from their point of view getting in the top five and getting getting in the Champions League yeah the league's gone yeah do you think Salah that's you know because he was so brilliant last season so and look we've talked about the impact of Jota on on all the squad and the players and maybe it's affected Salah more but is it physically you think that they need to plan without Salah I think if you look at the players they signed in the summer and clearly that as well was slightly influenced by Jota that they had to buy an extra centre forward that maybe they wouldn't have bought at this stage and yeah i'm every time i say that i'm conscious that it feels uh slightly jarring in the context of a tragedy but um it did clearly mean they had to slightly change their transfer plans i i don't see how the players they've brought in given that witts was signed apparently with a promise he could play centrally i don't see how you do that with the right-sided forwards he doesn't really track back if the future is that 4-2-3-1 which slot used at Feyenoord he seems to be trying to transition Liverpool towards I don't really see the Salah fits in that other than there's a sub given that he's not scoring goal he's got like four goals this season which is not terrible but it's it's not to his standards it doesn't justify uh the lack of defensive work he does the lack of cover he gives to to his right back which is part of the problem I think they they do have to look to the future and look at how this is going to work and even if they're almost using the second half of the season to to hone what their transfer their plans are next summer so if there is still significant money on the table from Saudi Arabia for Salah I think the right thing to do would be to to look to take it it depends if Salah can adapt as well I mean is he is he willing to adapt to being a sub a squad player for them I mean it doesn't necessarily seem like the character who would happily happily take to that I mean I remember being at the uh the West Ham Liverpool gaming towards the end um with Klopp which was one of the very few games on the clock where Salah was dropped.

18:55And there was the whole thing where he, the row over when he was coming on and he walked through the mix zone afterwards. And I think he said, if I, if I talk now, there'll be fire. So not sure if he's the kind of player who would, who would think that I need to adjust in this way. I'm in my thirties, maybe my minutes get managed, but it's not actually, it's not actually wouldn't be out of this world for that to, for that to happen. I mean, you know, you look back at how Ferguson used to deal with Giggs and Scholes, for example, when they got into the 30s, the minutes would be managed. They'd be targeted for certain games and they accepted it and their careers were prolonged.

19:32And I mean, Salah, it's not like it's just this season. If you look back to last season, the goals kind of dried up after the City away win in February. So this is actually quite a long dip in form by his standards that he's having. at the same time he's still capable of coming up with some amazing moments like the the goal at Brentford this season so there's probably still a use to him it's just whether or not you he's willing to I think to adapt that use um I don't I personally I don't think he is and I think the more likely scenarios as Jonathan says is the money from Saudi on the table he's not going to go anywhere else on that contract yeah uh lovely to see Luke 09 make his Premier League debut people who watch Sunderland till I die will remember him as the second nicest person in it after that cabbie who I think was called Pete and great to see Super Kevin Phillips in the crowd you know interestingly while cutting away to famous people really annoys me cutting to club legends in the cheap seats I think is absolutely brilliant more of it please and Jacob mentioning Liverpool's away form seeping into the home form I'm desperate for Spurs away form to seep into their home form but see if that happens at the weekend against Brentford anyway that'll do for part one part two will begin at the Amex

20:46welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly brighton three villa four villa a third wilson six straight winners all competitions and this was a great comeback from them yeah i mean two nil down at brighton they've got a great home record you sort of thought i mean villa have been on this you know incredible run it didn't win any of the first six games of the season and then was it 12 out of 14 since everyone was it 13 out of 15 now but yeah on an extraordinary run they they come back and they yeah these are coming in for um martinez at fault for the first goal but then makes that astonishing save from welbeck later on uh one of those saves that actually when you see the replay doesn't look as good as it felt in real life but well not in real life but in in real speed it's great reactions from welbeck to to get his head on it and direct the goal it's then great reactions from b's up to to save it so uh they won the xg quite comfortably villa which i was slightly surprised by but but yeah they if they hadn't had that that sort of funk at the start there's a lot of funk going around today isn't there the uh the villa funk isn't it the start of the season where they literally just seem to be they were sulking because they hadn't gotten the champions league last season and then psr stopped them spending a billion pounds on players or something but once they got over that and noticed actually we do have a really good squad then they're really reaping the benefits and i think donald marlin uh i sort of did the game when they won at Leeds, was it two weeks ago?

22:08He came on at half-time, made a huge difference in that game. I think he's a really gifted player. Oli Watkins, Jacob, they've gone on this great run without Watkins scoring any goals. He scored a couple. His second, or was it his first? The one that put them just before half-time, I think, where Morgan Rodgers plays a brilliant pass and he finishes it like a striker in form. Like, if they add his goals, it's sort of interesting that they are now third and have not been any part of any conversation about the title. I guess because Arsenal are probably better. But, you know, they are putting themselves in the mix.

22:38Yeah. Did you see a celebration when he scored as well, that second goal? He sort of ran into the net and sort of shouted at the Brighton fans behind the goal. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did he say fuck off? It looked like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something like that. I don't know what it was. They didn't really. It was hard to tell in the highlights what that was all about. But I quite enjoyed that, that bit of needle from Olly Watkins. He's kind of got that a little bit. I think he did it against Brentford a couple of years ago when he went back there. And I think he always feels a little bit that he's a bit underestimated.

23:09I know there was sort of a bit of that feeling around England, the Euros. He sort of thought people wouldn't have him in their squads and everything. And then I think he uses that as a bit of motivation at times. And obviously that summer goes and scores the goal against Holland to get him to the final. and I think this season again probably he's probably feeling a bit miffed at really being really being written off quite a lot and uh obviously his form hasn't been fantastic and I think Emery said before the game that they're having to manage him because of this knee pain that he's playing through last season they probably would have been able to take him out because they had um for the start of the season they had Duran and then Rashford comes in this season having to play through it much more that's coupled with having to play in the Europa League as well Thursday, Sunday.

23:55So it's been probably a physical grind for Oli Watkins, but we do know that he's one of the best strikers in the Premier League when he's on form, and it's good to see him get back amongst the goals. Another tough one on Saturday to come, because they've got that Arsenal a bit weakened Arsenal defence to come, but still probably the best defence in the league, even with that. But he'll be feeling so much more confident from those two. The first one's just a poacher's goal, but the second one is such a good finish. Just, as you say, it looked like it hadn't been, what, 10, 15 games since he scored.

24:35I think he'd only scored one all season. That was against Fulham. As you say, for them to do that without him scoring, it's a bit like Chelsea going on that massive unbeaten run without Cole Palmer. He is so important to them. So if they can get him going again then I don't think the title but I think they'll be up there for the top four top five that second goal Watkins scored was very serious end-to-end stuff because Villa thought they'd scored from a corner cash sent the ball in Konza headed the ball against the post but as the ball hit the post Bartford Brogan fell into the net so the net rippled and I think Villa's players thought they'd scored certainly the fans did Brighton broke upfield I think it was Brian Gruder shot straight at Bezos.

25:25He gave the ball to Torres, who sent Watkins away on his bike. It was quite fun because Watkins had three defenders breathing down his neck as he went through on goal. So it was a very well-taken finish under quite a lot of pressure. Yeah, I think it was Rodgers that put him through. But you're right. I really thought, I was waiting for goal line technology. I was waiting for them to say that. For me, it's like the ball had crossed the line completely. And it was a sort of not quite a Wilson scenario. possible Wilson scenario variant without a handball in it or whatever your scenario was. But I guess, Barry, that win for Villa really sets up the Arsenal game at the weekend.

26:01Or should we not go on where the wins set up games after what we did to the Chelsea Arsenal game? Lewis Dunk made his 500th appearance for Brighton. So well done to him. This club is my whole life. I've been here since I was 10 or 11. So it means everything to me. The pride and the honour to put on the shirt and the captain's armband every game to play every day in training is still there and it always will be um that's some feat isn't it should we go to the emirates arsenal 2 brentford nil you were there jacob did you have a nice time yeah i had a nice time good i'm pleased it wasn't a it wasn't a particularly memorable game i mean luckily i do remember what happened less than 24 hours on so that's okay but by by tomorrow i think i might have forgotten a lot of this game because yeah it was very much one of those when they if they win the title no one will go back to this game i think whoever was on co-com said that and i was like yeah that's exactly the right thing to say about this game yeah i suppose the one the one two little bits away from it it's it's the night after manchester city conceded four at um at fulham you know brings you know the whole marino back in 2004 5-4 as a hockey score and then the night after arsenal just run through a very efficient 2-0 win in a home game against mid-table side.

27:15I suppose that brings up the contrast. You look at all their rivals or closest challengers, teams around them at the moment, Villa can see three, Chelsea can see three, City can see four, Arsenal without Mosquera, who went off in the first half after Bab Ful, I think he hurt his knee, and Saliba and Gabriel already out. They very easily get the clean sheet. There was one Brentford chance through Kevin Shard to hit the bar they had quite a lot of pressure at certain points in the second half quite a lot of set pieces a lot of long throws so the crowd gets a bit nervous Arsenal weren't really playing that well after after good start in which Mourinho scored but they never really they were never really allowed to test Raya they never really looked like Brentford never really looked like scoring and that's probably what's going to to set Arsenal apart this season is just that solidity.

28:10The other element is Marino scoring again, gets the assist against Tottenham to open that game up, the equaliser against Chelsea, and then 11 minutes into this one, he's there on the end of a Ben White cross. Ben White looking very good on his second league start of the season. It's now a little, I don't know if it's a dilemma for Arteta, but it's an interesting situation up front because they've been calling for a striker for two or three years for him to spend big on a striker. They get one in Giocarez, he's injured, in comes the false nine in Marino and suddenly they're going, well, they've got to play with a false nine because he's got three assists, three goals and four assists in the last month.

28:52So it'll be interesting to see how he plays that, whether Giocarez is able to actually get ahead of this guy who I think a lot of people, there's nothing particularly interesting about Mikel Moreno, but he's so efficient and he keeps coming up with big moments for them. It'll be an interesting one for him to go with, but I don't think it's a dilemma because it's just, he's got so many options now. He can probably use Giocarez in certain points to get them through probably a game like last night if he'd been fit and then Moreno or a player like Havertz in the difficult away games, which they've got coming up on Saturday.

29:29Was Moreno actually playing as a false nine though, or was he just playing as a centre forward? Yeah, I mean, he's not a striker. They signed him as a midfielder and he's been pushed up there. He's not running in behind at any point. He's not stretching defences, but he is really good in the air and he's got the knack for goals as well. He's very good when the ball comes into the box and he is clever. It wasn't just the goal last night. I should say that obviously he got the assist for Saka for the second goal as well, the through ball for Saka. Again, this is one of the things for Arsenal. Last season they probably would have dropped points in this game because they wouldn't have had the options to withstand some of the injuries that they've got.

30:19This season they're able to get through that much, much easier than in the past. he's you know madueke started on on the right for sacca so he's able to manage those minutes before the before the villa game uh ben white came in for uh for timber who had to come on because of mascara going off but um but the squad is just the squad is just so deep and you know it's it's pretty nice when you're able to just leave esay on the bench for for an hour because you've brought in odegaard yeah this is probably again one of the things that's going to set them apart from the others. I guess the only thing, Wilson, is there was a possible injury to Declan Rice.

30:57And okay, look, Marino dropped into midfield, Jokos went up front and they were fine in this game. But if there is one player that you sort of think they can't do without, it maybe is Declan Rice if that is a longer-term injury. Yeah. I mean, I think he and Gabriel probably are the two, you'd say, are very hard to replace. As it turns out, they played perfectly well without Gabriel and the squad has been deep enough to cover for that. Rice, I think, does give them something different. And I mean, in terms of his energy and his engine, as much as anything, Marino can do a lot of the technical things, Rice can, but is he going to have that stamina to keep going, covering in front of the back four, also occasionally breaking into the box, creating a threat?

31:35His dead ball delivery is a huge thing as well. They will miss that, because I think he probably is the best deliverer of a dead ball in the Premier League at the moment. So I think Arsenal have significantly the deepest and most coherent squad in the Premier League, but rice is probably the one where you know that that that could hurt them if it is a longer term injury yeah worth saying that i think david raya to give him credit or to give him his some flowers or whatever the kids say uh he uh he um he i think he got a fingertip to that shard ahead that is an absolutely brilliant save but apart from that you're right brentford didn't create a whole lot anyway that'll do for part two part three we'll begin at molyneux

32:21welcome to part three of the guardian football weekly uh ted says when do we start having the conversations about walls and 0708 derby county i can't remember who we're doing about southampton last year barry did they celebrate when they got over 11 points two points after 14 games and that isn't that isn't enough points barry no i think there is precedent of a team staying up with six points on Boxing Day at Sheffield United. That might have been when there was 22 teams in the Premier League. So I can't see this Wolves side doing that, but you never know. I thought Wolves played well against Villa on Sunday, even though they lost.

33:03But they were dismal in this game against Forrest. First half performance was just hopeless. Forrest had a goal ruled out. Igor Jesus, completely unmarked, headed home at a corner, but Dan Ndoy was apparently abheeding Sam Johnson's view. So the goal was ruled out, but Igor Jesus went on to score the winner with a header. Omari Hutchinson-Cross, he's playing well for Forrest at the moment now. He's getting more time on the pitch. But was Jan Arias, who I think has been a very disappointing signing for them. he looked really good during the club world cup even though i can't remember who he was playing for but he was one of the standout players uh he's been massive disappointment for wolves but this was yeah after a very promising performance at the weekend albeit in defeat this was back to square one i think wilson i mean should they be planning for the championship already and how different is planning for the championship to carrying on playing the premier league games as if you're trying to stay in the Premier League?

34:11I don't know. What would planning for the championship look like? To play more front football because they're probably going to have to try and win more games next season. I think they've just got to... I mean, it's short-term targets, isn't it? So the first target is, can we win a game? The second thing is, can we win either an away or a home game, depending where the first one is? Then can we get more than 11 points? This is quite a nice sort of bite-sized approach to football. It seems quite a nice way to do it. Simplified football. But I think the honest truth is this season, I think maybe Burnley don't quite fit into this, but 17 or 18 teams are much of a muchness.