Kevin de Bruyne scored four goals as Manchester City hammered Wolverhampton 5-1 away on Wednesday night, reopening a three-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
City were under pressure at kick-off after Liverpool’s 2-1 win away to Aston Villa that drew them level on points 24 hours earlier, but De Bruyne quickly got the game under control with a hat-trick within 24 minutes.
The first goal came after he ran onto Bernardo Silva’s pass on seven minutes and although Leander Dendoncker drew Wolves level soon afterward, De Bruyne slotted home a loose ball in the 16th minute to put his side back ahead.
De Bruyne then scored a stunning left-foot shot in the 24th minute to add a third before smashing home from 10 meters to assure the points in the 60th minute.
Raheem Sterling added a fifth in the closing minutes to also improve City’s goal difference in relation to Liverpool.
Chelsea took a big step towards assuring a top-four finish while deepening Leeds United’s relegation worries with a 3-0 win at Elland Road.
Mason Mount fired Chelsea in front in the 4th minute and Daniel James then made life easy for Chelsea when he was sent off for a bad challenge on Mateo Kovacic 20 minutes later.
Playing against 10 men, Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku rounded off the win for Chelsea in the second half.
After the game, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said Kovacic would probably miss this weekend’s FA Cup final due to his injury.
Everton are two points above Leeds after missing a chance to move further clear as they were held 0-0 away to Watford, who had lost their last 12 home games in the league.
Finally, Jamie Vardy scored twice, while James Maddison also got on the scoresheet as Leicester City beat Norwich 3-0.
The Premier League fixtures have been announced and it seems Manchester United have been handed headache with the Red Devils set to face Chelsea and Wolves in the first two games.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping for a positive start to his first full campaign in charge of the club when United host Chelsea on the opening day and follow it with a trip to Wolves.
Wolves picked four points from United last season after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford before a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture. Wolves also eliminated the Red Devils from the FA cup.
United might be more confident of points in their following fixtures against Crystal Palace and Southampton but with Arsenal and Liverpool both to visit Old Trafford in the opening nine fixture, it is clear to see why some supporters are already concerned.
The league will kick off on Friday, August 9, as Liverpool, runners-up last term, host newly-promoted Norwich City.
The fixture was announced on Thursday morning, with defending champions Manchester City starting away at West Ham at 12.30pm on Saturday, August 10.
Tottenham kick off a season in their own stadium for the first time in three seasons, as they face Aston Villa. Unai Emery will be hoping to improve upon last season’s start—back-to-back losses—when Arsenal travel to Newcastle United.
Other fixtures worth looking out for are the first heavyweight clashes of the new season.
The first north London derby of the season between Arsenal and Spurs will be played on August 31 at the Emirates Stadium, while the first Manchester derby will take place at the Etihad Stadium on December 7.
Wolvehampton striker Raul Jimenez has warned Newcastle’s record buy Miguel Almiron he must adapt quickly to be a Premier League hit.
The Magpies broke their 14-year-old transfer record to sign attacker Almiron from MLS side Atlanta United last month.
The Paraguay international is available to make his debut against Wolves at Molineux tonight.
Mexican Jimenez has been an instant success for Wolves since moving from Benfica on loan, scoring 11 times, and has told Almiron the Premier League is a level up.
He said: “It’s a very big step, it’s very, very different. I wasn’t in the MLS but it’s more or less like Mexico and I think it’s a very big step for him.
“(To be a success you need) to have confidence, to be part of the team as quickly as possible, to feel you are an important part and do what you have to do, as always.
“The things you were doing before are the things which are going to give you more experience. Moving here is another type of league but it’s good for him.
“He’s a good player, Newcastle saw something in him to take him to the Premier League.”
Almiron has been in the MLS team of the year for the past two years and scored 13 goals as Atlanta won their first MLS Cup last term.
Jimenez has four goals in his last four games in all competitions, having been a consistent performer for Wolves this season.
And he believes his experience at Atletico Madrid and Benfica has been key.
He said: “I have been in Europe for four years, it’s easier to make the jump from Spain and Portugal to here but since the first match here at Wolves I’ve done the good things with the team.
“I’ve shown some good skills and want to keep going and improving.
West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic could be ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a suspected broken foot in their humiliating 3-0 defeat to Wolves on Tuesday.
The Austrian international was immediately replaced by Javier Hernandez after he fell awkwardly in the second half following an aerial challenge.
Arnautovic was making his first appearance since the 1-0 win against Arsenal on January 12 and after reports linking him to Chinese club which saw him sign a new contract with the Hammers.
Arnautovic return to the first team ended in the worst possible way, as he left Molineux on crutches
Speaking on the injury, Manuel Pellegrini expressed his frustration, saying his squad has been depleted by injuries.
“Our hope is that he hasn’t any problems but we must review him with an examination,” he said adding that he only has just 15 fit players now.
“We don’t have any creative midfielders in this moment so it’s difficult playing so many games with the same players.”
Jack Wilshere, Manuel Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko, Lucas Perez, Samir Nasri, Fabian Balbuena, Aaron Cresswell, Winston Reid and Carlos Sanchez all missed the Wolves clash.
Manchester City moved to within four points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Wolves on Monday night
Brazilian Gabriel Jesus finished a City’s counter with a close-range finish in the 9th minute to pave way for an easy win.
Wolves’ miseries were compounded in the 20th minute when Willy Boly was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Bernardo Silva.
Jesus who led the line in the absence of Sergio Aguero doubled City’s lead from the spot five minutes before half-time.
Wolves came out more defensive in the second half, but an own-goal from Conor Coady earned City their goal of the night.
The win sees them hanging on the coattails of leaders Liverpool, while Wolves stay 11th, a point off the top half.
Liverpool will also be wary of City’s improved form.
“All we can do is win our own games,” Guardiola said on Sky Sports.
“We spoke many times in the last hours about this to our players. We cannot control what they do. We can control what we do. The only way to do that is by being there. Maybe one day they fail and we try to be there.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has defended his team selection after Wolves defeated Liverpool2-1 in the FA Cup third-round tie.
Klopp made nine changes to the team that played Manchester City in the league last week and lost with the same margin.
Speaking to Sky Sport after the loss, Klopp said the changes were necessary going by the many number of games they have played recently.
“I changed a lot because I thought we had to not because I wanted to. The problem was that we played a similar line-up in three tough games, so it was clear we had to change.”
The defeat also came with another cost after defender Dejan Lovren suffered what looked like a hamstring injury ahead of their tie with Brighton on Saturday.
“Dejan was not in the plans; he should have been only on the bench, but had to change for some adjustment in the last minute,” said Klopp.
Fabinho, playing as a makeshift centre-back, was joined by 16-year-old Hoever after Lovren went off inside the first five minutes and they were among those culpable for the opening goal by Raul Jimenez.
Liverpool forward Divock Origi levelled things up after the break but Ruben Neves blasted a long-range strike beyond second choice goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and though Xherdan Shaqiri hit the post, there was no way back.
“Everyone on the pitch struggled with the wind, with controlling the ball, and the first touch was very often not good,” said Klopp.
“We wanted to start the second half with a positive approach, improve a few things, and we scored the goal. Then Neves, with the wind in his back, hit a nice little shot.
“Then we hit the crossbar. That was the story of the game. So we brought on Salah and Firmino and looked obviously a little bit different.
“But the intensity of the last few games gave me the information that it was not possible to play with the front three.”
Wolves have today confirmed the signing of yet another Portuguese star: Joao Moutinho. The midfielder has joined the newly promoted side from AS Monaco for a reported – minuscule – fee of £5m.
Moutinho has signed a two-year deal at the club following the completion of his medical on Tuesday afternoon.
The club’s official announcement of the signing reads:
“Wolves have made experienced Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho their latest new signing ahead of the 2018/19 Premier League campaign.
“The 31-year-old midfielder has put pen to paper on a two-year deal and becomes the third new face to arrive at Molineux this summer.
Moutinho becomes the eighth – yes, eighth – Portuguese national to sign for Wolves in recent years; and he’s probably the most impressive acquisition yet. The midfielder has won an astonishing 113 caps for his national team, and played an integral part in Portugal’s shock Euro 2016 triumph, featuring in the final win over France.
Coupled with his success at international level, Moutinho has also enjoyed a trophy laden club career. The 31-year-old won three consecutive league titles, as well as the 2010/11 Europa League at Porto, before moving to AS Monaco, where he enjoyed further success; winning Ligue in 2017 and reaching the UEFA Champions League semi final.
The former AS Monaco man will undoubtedly add some much needed experience to an already impressive Wolves side.