Diogo Jota's return boosts Liverpool's title bid, Marco Silva's Fulham thriving despite Joao Palhinha exit - The Radar
The Radar column also looks at Kieran Tierney's impending Arsenal exit and what it says about their evolution under Mikel Arteta; watch Fulham vs Southampton and Tottenham vs Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League on Super Sunday
Friday 20 December 2024 17:37, UK
Welcome to The Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a blend of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
🔴 Jota boosts Slot ahead of Spurs test
🔥 Fulham thriving despite Palhinha exit
⏲️ Tierney, Zinchenko and Arsenal's evolution
Jota's return gives Slot options
Arne Slot was rightly praised as his tactical adjustments helped 10-man Liverpool rescue a 2-2 draw against Fulham. But it helped that he could call on Diogo Jota. "He did ever so well to score," said Thierry Henry of his equaliser on Monday Night Football.
The goal was typical of a player with an incredible talent for finding space as Jota positioned himself between the lines in the build-up to the chance before darting, untracked, into the gap between Issa Diop and Jorge Cuenca to receive Darwin Nunez's pass then finish.
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Jota had only been on the pitch for six minutes, on his first appearance in two months following a muscle injury. But the 28-year-old has a habit of scoring big goals. His return to fitness - he also featured off the bench in Wednesday's Carabao Cup win over Southampton - is a timely boost.
The fact it was fellow substitute Nunez who set him up offered further encouragement. Nunez followed his assist with a first goal in a month when he scored the opener in the win at St Mary's Stadium. Slot will hope they are signs of a corner being turned.
With Federico Chiesa also back from injury, the Liverpool boss has a full complement of forwards to choose from for the first time. Mohamed Salah continues to lead the charge, of course, racking up a remarkable total of 16 goals and 13 assists in all competitions.
But he is not the only one contributing and all of them will be needed for what lies ahead. Sunday's trip to Tottenham, live on Sky Sports, kicks off a run of four Premier League games in 15 days and Chelsea have cranked up the pressure by cutting the gap to two points.
The stakes are high, even at this early point in the season. But Liverpool now have a big-game player to call on in Jota and the added unpredictability of a full selection of forwards.
Their strength in depth could be a crucial factor in the title race.
No Palhinha, no problem for Silva
Fulham face Southampton on Sunday having taken points off Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham during a four-game unbeaten run. Their strong start to the season is all the more impressive given they lost their most important player in the summer.
Joao Palhinha's exit to Bayern Munich left a huge void but Marco Silva's ability to evolve his side means the Portugal international, a wrecking ball of a midfielder who made more tackles than any other Premier League player in the last two seasons, has not been missed.
The signing of Sander Berge from Burnley has helped. But replacing Palhinha's extraordinary defensive work has required a collective effort, with Sasa Lukic also impressing. The duo have formed an effective partnership lately as part of an overhauled midfield.
It was Silva's willingness to adapt that brought Palhinha to the club in the first place, arriving as he did to replace Jean Michael Seri, a highly technical but slight playmaker, as the Fulham boss accepted the need for greater physicality to survive in the Premier League following their promotion from the Championship in 2022.
As it turns out, they have not just survived but thrived. Sunday's opponents Southampton, nine points from safety at the bottom of the table and without a manager following the sacking of Russell Martin, must wish they had adopted a bit of pragmatism themselves.
Tierney a reminder of Arsenal's evolution
Kieran Tierney made his first appearance for Arsenal since May 2023 in their Carabao Cup win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night but his time at the club is nearing an end. The Gunners will listen to offers for him in January, with his contract expiring in the summer.
He will doubtless have plenty of options. The left-back has been dogged by injuries but, at 27, he has a lot left to offer. There was a reminder of his quality with the low cross from which Raheem Sterling should have scored after half-time against Palace.
A £25m signing from Celtic a few months before Mikel Arteta replaced Unai Emery as manager in 2019, Tierney was one of Arsenal's best players for a period; a key part of the team that the team that won the FA Cup in 2020, albeit playing on the left of a back three. He was viewed by some as a potential captain.
But looking back at those early years under Arteta ahead of his fifth anniversary in the job was a reminder of just how much the side has evolved. Arsenal are unrecognisable, both in personnel and playing style. Tierney's qualities became redundant with the arrival of defender-cum-midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko in 2022.
Zinchenko, like Tierney, might soon come to be seen as another casualty of the side's evolution. Arteta's preferred left-back is now Riccardo Calafiori, a player who boasts the physical stature of a centre-back as well as the technical quality to operate in midfield.
And so it continues. Tierney is not quite Arsenal's longest-serving player. That is Bukayo Saka. But while Saka is synonymous with the new era, Tierney is the last link to the previous one.
Live Radar: What's on Sky this weekend?
Arsenal go to Crystal Palace for the Saturday Night Football fixture, with coverage starting on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 4.30pm ahead of the 5.30pm kick-off.
Super Sunday sees rivals Fulham and Southampton go head to head in the early game, kicking off at 2pm, with Tottenham and Liverpool facing off at 4.30pm. Coverage of that double-header begins on Sky Sports Premier League at 1pm.
Read last week's Radar column
Last week's column focused on how Ruben Amorim's Manchester United could exploit Manchester City's defensive vulnerabilities before they did exactly that at the Etihad Stadium. There was also a look at Daniel Munoz's runs into the box for Crystal Palace.
