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Hello! There was a battle royale at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night – but Liverpool couldn’t be moved.

On the way:

🥇 Arne Slot’s Midas touch

🏃 Arsenal in the Zubimendi chase

♟️ St. Pauli country chess god Carlsen

🦅 Falconer from Lazio and a penile prosthesis

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Immediate effect: The slot substitutes Tsimikas and Jota assist and score after 22 seconds

The dream of a Premier League title swept over Nottingham Forest last night when Arne Slot, with Liverpool 1-0 down, blinked and turned to his bench.

Substitutions in football are capricious trump cards because they are easy to criticize when they don’t work: the timing of substitutions, the selection of players, whatever else goes wrong. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

But they’re also a way for coaches to make a living, and Slot managed to do that by controlling a Forest team that was starting to believe in magic. Kostas Tsimikas entered the field after 64 minutes and 57 seconds. Diogo Jota was right behind him. Twenty-two seconds later, from a corner, Tsimikas found Jota, who was perfectly placed to fire in a header and end Liverpool’s number 9 debate.

When it came to such a quick substitute, the first comparison that came to mind was Nicklas Bendtner for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in 2007. The resemblance is uncanny. And for Liverpool it was important. A second league defeat of the season was averted. They are six points ahead at the top. The upstarts were held back. Currently.

Wood from the trees

A 1-1 draw at the City Ground was pure Premier League theater. Forest played as usual, dropping the ball but shooting on the counter-attack, the tactic Liverpool practiced at Anfield in September. Chris Wood’s goal after eight minutes put the cat among the pigeons.

Wood has lived with a reputation for being unsexy – he doesn’t do this, doesn’t do that, can be too one-dimensional – but thankfully he knows how to break up. That’s his 13th goal of the season and he’s one of the players who contradicts Slot’s claim that Forest’s spending partly explains their lofty position.

Wood cost about 15 million pounds ($18 million), chump change for a Premier League team. Forest paid a third of that for goalkeeper Matz Sels and his brilliance prevented Liverpool taking the lead with a late winner. Forest are undoubtedly doing better compared to the resources used, but last night showed that they are second in terms of performance.

Three-horse race?

We are almost at the point where we can talk about a three-way battle for the title: Liverpool, Forest and Arsenal.

Chelsea are stuck in the mud after a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth and have not won in five league games. And Manchester City’s capitulation after taking a 2-0 lead against Brentford reiterated two points: firstly, that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Bournemouth, Brentford and clubs like them to give up; Secondly, City have forgotten how to defend (as seen above when Yoane Wissa had enough time to get into position) or manage games. To turn things around, Pep Guardiola could start there.

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News summary

• At least the city has new troops on the way. After agreeing on a transfer fee for Abdukodir Khusanov, they have agreed terms with Palmeiras for defender Vitor Reis. The 19-year-old, who was bought for £19.5million, has flown in for a medical.
• Chelsea want £65m for Christopher Nkunku, who is firmly on Bayern Munich’s radar. Considering they paid £50m to sign him and he largely flopped, they’ll be lucky. Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca has recalled Trevoh Chalobah from Crystal Palace.
• Donyell Malen has moved from Borussia Dortmund to Aston Villa for an initial £19.4 million.
• Match of the Day – the BBC’s famous Premier League highlights show in the UK – has a new presenter replacing Gary Lineker. Or rather, three new hosts: Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan.
• Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor is at loggerheads with French football authorities over an attempt to relegate another club he invested in, Ligue 1 side Lyon. It’s chaotic.
• An opportunity for US youth international Bajung Darboe – he left LAFC to move to FC Bayern Munich.

📲 Live transfer blog

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No forward thinking? Arsenal’s pursuit of Zubimendi is causing a stir

Just as we pressed send on TAFC yesterday, everything about Arsenal and Martin Zubimendi exploded. The club want the midfielder to join from Real Sociedad in the summer and unlike Liverpool, who failed to sign him in August, they have a good chance of winning gold.

Zubimendi is a smooth, first-class footballer. Let’s finish this first. But Arsenal’s activities raise questions. Thomas Partey and Jorginho’s contracts are expiring, but do they need a number 6 after signing Declan Rice and Mikel Merino? Is it a priority?

Mikel Arteta has all transfers at the Emirates under control and he is pushing them forward. Recruiting under his watch has been much more focused on deep or defensive buys – and it shows. Following the confirmation of Gabriel Jesus’ anterior cruciate ligament tear, their title prospects are on a bit of a high and a prayer.

Zubimendi as an enrichment? All day long. But when will Arteta address the elephant in the room?

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Money negotiations: No top club comes into conflict with PSR

This time last year, the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) were the enemy of the people, temporarily pushing VAR out of the top spot. Those rules haven’t made many friends since then, but 12 months later there’s no reason to argue about them anymore.

What happened in early 2024 was PSR really baring its teeth for the first time. There were accusations, points deducted and appeals against these point deductions. There were lots of complaints about clubs being left untouched (despite suspicions that they must be close) and lots of bad blood.

But perhaps tough love worked because this season’s calculations showed no PSR claims at all. Leicester City’s situation is complicated and it may be that they have not yet made up their minds, but widespread compliance must lead the Premier League to believe that their members have finally joined in.

The next step? We want to reach the day when we stop talking about PSR altogether. You’re tired of reading about it. We’re tired of writing about it. Nobody’s love of football was derived from calculations that would have amazed Stephen Hawking.

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All about Athletic FC

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Catch a match

(ET/UK time)

Premier League (all Peacock/TNT Sports unless otherwise noted): Everton vs. Aston Villa, 2:30 p.m./7:30 p.m. – USA Network, Fubo/TNT Sports; Leicester City vs Crystal Palace, 2.30pm/7.30pm; Newcastle United v Wolves, 2.30pm/7.30pm; Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur, 3pm/8pm.

Copa del Rey Round of 16: Barcelona vs. Real Betis, 3:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. – ESPN+ (US only).

Serie A: Inter Milan vs Bologna, 2:45 p.m./7:45 p.m. – CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime/OneFootball.

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And finally… arouse anger

An eagle can be seen on the Lazio club crest. For branding and aesthetic reasons, they have a real raptor flying around their stadium. They also have a falconer, Juan Bernabe.

Or they did, until the club announced late Sunday that it was giving up on Bernabe. A certain part of his body had been altered or enlarged and he had proudly posted photos of his, er, enhanced member on social media. Appropriately horrified, Lazio sent him away (so to speak). Just when you thought you’d heard it all.

(Top photo: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)