SETTABLOID

The Premier League has chosen to appoint Andy Madley as the referee for Arsenal on Wednesday night when they travel to Nottingham Forest.

Madley was at the centre of controversy at the weekend after officiating Manchester United’s draw with Everton at Goodison Park. With the scores level in stoppage time at the end of the game, the referee awarded the Toffees a penalty after he had adjudged that Harry Maguire had fouled Ashley Young in the box.

VAR Matt Donohue saw a different view and requested for Madley to go to the pitchside monitor. After a lengthy stoppage where several angles were checked, Madley chose to overturn his decision and award a drop ball in favour of United.

After the match, the process was widely criticised as replays showed that while Maguire may not have fouled Young, Matthijs de Ligt did. It was later suggested by former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Ref Watch that if Madley had seen the angle through the goal, he would not have overruled his initial decision.

Despite the decision, neither Madley nor Donohue have been dropped from the next round of Premier League fixtures this midweek. As mentioned, Madley will be refereeing the Gunners at the City Ground while Donohue will be the lead VAR for Brighton and Hove Albion’s clash with AFC Bournemouth and Liverpool’s home game with Newcastle United.

Arsenal will be hoping that they can redeem themselves at Forest having lost ground in the title race on Saturday following a 1-0 defeat to West Ham United. Couple this result with Liverpool’s victory at Manchester City and Mikel Arteta’s side are now 11 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.

Alexander Isak’s Newcastle United future may not actually be decided by whether the club qualifies for next season’s Champions League.

Isak, 25, has become one of the most in-demand strikers in Europe, with both Arsenal and Liverpool being linked with the Sweden international ahead of the summer transfer window. Isak has been in sensational form this season, netting 21 goals and providing five assists in 30 appearances across all competitions, including strikes against the north Londoners in Newcastle’s Premier League and Carabao Cup victories.

His eye-catching performances have led many to believe his departure is inevitable, but the Magpies are expected to demand a hefty £150million fee while still looking to extend his contract beyond 2028.

But while correctly predicting that Newcastle would not let their talisman leave in the January transfer window, Emile Heskey previously stated that the club’s ability to secure a return to Champions League football will be a deciding factor in whether Isak leaves. The former Liverpool and England striker even hinted at a possible ‘gentleman’s agreement’ being in place, allowing Isak to leave St. James’ Park in the summer if the club fails to qualify.

However, former Chelsea and Sunderland midfielder Bolo Zenden has now weighed in, claiming that missing out on Europe’s elite club competition may not be a deal-breaker for Isak. Zenden suggested playing European football in any capacity, such as the Europa League, may be sufficient, while stating that Isak may even struggle to hit the same heights at Arsenal or Liverpool.

Arsenal could be able to sign Dusan Vlahovic for a bargain transfer fee, with the Italian media naming two other top clubs who are keen on the Juventus striker as the Gunners make contact with a Brazilian forward.

The Gunners have been in desperate need of a top-quality striker for some time. With Gabriel Jesus injured and Kai Havertz not scoring as frequently as he did last season, Arsenal made a futile attempt to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa in the January transfer window.

Alexander Isak is Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s “dream target” for the summer, while RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko is another player that the north London club like.

Vlahovic has long been on Arsenal’s radar. The Gunners tried to sign the Serbia international from Fiorentina in January 2022 before he moved to Juventus for £66.6million.

The Gunners did not bid for Vlahovic in the end, but it has now emerged that they are still keen on him.

According to TuttoJuve, Arsenal, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Vlahovic in the summer transfer window.

The report in the Italian news outlet has claimed that Juventus are ready to sell Vlahovic for €35million (£29m / $36.6m).

That is an incredibly low figure for a player who has been described as “the strongest striker” in Serie A by his Serbia international teammate Filip Kostic, who is on loan at Fenerbahce from Juventus at the moment.

Vlahovic scored 49 goals and gave eight assists in 108 matches in all competitions for Fiorentina, and has scored 55 goals and provided 11 assists in 132 appearances for Juventus.

Gary Neville has given two reasons for Arsenal to hold onto over their chances of winning the Premier League after Liverpool’s win against Manchester City.

Arne Slot’s side claimed a 2-0 win over City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, extending their lead at the top of the table by 11 points. Goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai sealed the victory for the Reds, who have played one game more than Arsenal.

Neville, who was on Sky Sports’ coverage during Liverpool’s win, was asked about what could potentially stop the Reds from winning the league title. “Complacency and injuries, I think, are the two things [that could stop Liverpool]. I can’t see complacency – they’ve got a lot of experience, they’ve looked completely in control,” Neville explained.

Neville then suggested other reasons which could offer Arsenal encouragement and harm Liverpool in the title race. “I’ve seen here in the last two years when Arsenal came here late on in the season, you’ve got to go and win games like this and they never did,” Neville added.

“It just tells you something that they’re not quite ready. What Liverpool have done today is really important. Psychologically, it helps you get over the line – not that it sends you 11 points clear but in your mindset you feel unbreakable. There’s still two or three months to go, the Champions League, Carabao Cup finals and plenty of league games so there’s a job to do still, but they’ll be almost impossible to stop from this point in.”

Arsenal suffered a damaging blow to their hopes of winning the title as Liverpool extended the gap to 11 points after beating Manchester City and West Ham secured a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners’ problems with goalscoring continued and the experiment to start Mikel Merino could not have gone worse.

Mikel Arteta’s hopes of securing any late goals was made worse by his side getting yet another red card, this time Myles Lewis-Skelly saw a yellow changed to a red by VAR. The question however is, should it have been a card at all and instead a free-kick to Arsenal?

Myles Lewis-Skelly sending off

Let’s talk about the action which got Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off in the first place. Naturally there were comparisons made to the William Saliba sending off from earlier in the season.

At Bournemouth, the Frenchman pulled down Evanilson, denying him the chance to run onto a loose pass from Leandro Trossard. The positions of David Raya and Ben White were deemed to have been they key factors in why the red card was given after initially a yellow was shown.

Again, Raya and Saliba’s position were as such that had Kudus got away from Lewis-Skelly, it would have been a clear goalscoring opportunity. Lewis-Skelly takes the Ghanaian international down and denies him that run.

Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher have both agreed that the Premier League title is heading to Anfield this season after the Reds opened up a commanding 11-point lead at the summit and with the former Manchester United skipper forced into something of an awkward admission about Liverpool’s biggest strengths.

Arne Slot has proved an inspirational appointment at Anfield in succession to Jurgen Klopp and has put his side on pole position to win the league title in his first season at the helm – just the second time in 35 years that Liverpool will have been crowned as the champions of England. Their dominance at the summit was reinforced on Sunday as they pulled off an impressive 2-0 win at the home of four-time reigning champions Manchester City, with goals from the irreplaceable Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai doing the damage in the first half.

While nearest challengers Arsenal do have a game in hand on the Reds, Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to West Ham illustrated their lack of options in attack, with both Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus out for the remainder of the season.

As a result, Carragher expects them to drop more points after effectively ruling them out of the title chase.

The 22-year-old has earned praise throughout the season, with Ange Postecoglou naming Delap a “real top striker” after Tottenham’s 4-1 win against Ipswich.

Jorginho has a ‘verbal agreement’ to leave Arsenal and join Flamengo this summer – but ‘family pressure’ could impact his thinking according to reports.

The 33-year-old has struggled for game time at the Gunners this season and has started just six Premier League matches, playing just 473 minutes in the process. Jorginho has been a little more prominent in other competitions, such as the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, but it’s safe to say he is not in their first-choice XI.

And that, accompanied by the fact he is out of contract in the summer, means he is expected to leave the Emirates Stadium at the end of the campaign. Jorginho signed a one-year extension last May with the 18-month deal he signed in January 2023, following his £12million move from Chelsea, coming to an end.

Reports earlier this month suggested that Jorginho could be on his way to Flamengo and RTI Esporte have since claimed that there is a ‘verbal agreement’ in place to join the Brazilian side this summer.

However, it’s added that ‘family pressure’ could impact his decision making after an offer from the South American outfit. Their preference would be for the experienced midfielder to stay in Europe, with the report claiming they feel that a move to Serie A would be best for Jorginho, and a switch to Flamengo has cooled as a result.

But with his contract into its final six months and Declan Rice preferred in the No.8 position by Mikel Arteta, an exit from north London is still on the cards. And last month, Jorginho offered an update on his future, admitting he is focused on each game as it comes rather than an immediate exit.