What the Premier League is all about: Maguire’s successor in the national team stomped by Haaland, Arsenal with a powerful weapon

The weekend’s 24th round of the Premier League is over, the top and bottom three of the competition remain unchanged, yet there is still plenty to sort out. This time, in our weekly series on English football, we look at Arsenal standard situations, while also taking a peek under the hands of England national coach Gareth Southgate.

Harry Maguire hasn’t played much on league turf in recent seasons, yet he has featured regularly for the national team. Now the England international is part of the Manchester United squad, yet national coach Gareth Southgate went to see the rival from his post. And he looked good for a long time.

An hour-long gig, then two slips

Twenty-one-year-old stopper Jarrad Branthwaite is one of the reasons why Everton have a great chance of salvaging themselves in the Premier League despite a ten-point deduction. The young stopper has found himself alongside James Tarkowski, part of the reason Southgate came to watch him on Saturday.

Everton defended their own penalty area sovereignly in the first half, even with Branthwaite, Manchester were basically unsafe. But in the 71st minute, he mis-kicked the ball in the whitewash and Erling Haaland opened the scoring from a volley, and a quarter of an hour later, the Norwegian dispossessed him in a body-to-body duel to increase the score to 2: 0.

So although Branthwaite played a faultless hour, the two hesitations combined with Southgate’s confidence in Maguire did not play to the young stopper’s strengths. He needn’t be sad though, because if he keeps his form up he can at least make the wider squad for the summer Euros.

Goals out of the air as easily as ever by Arsenal

If Mikel Arteta is mentioned in the context of the Gunners’ progression, Nicolas Jover plays an equally important role. The coach on standard situations has made Arsenal’s biggest weakness a huge weapon. Centres in the penalty area are now what can put the Gunners back in contention for the title.

Arsenal have scored the most headed goals of any team in the league (13), three more than second best Luton Town. Gabriel Magalhaes is the most prolific in this regard, his four shots making him one of the best headers in the competition.

With 11 shots after corners, Arsenal are also the best in the competition, something that was absolutely unimaginable just two years ago. Gunners fans were shaking at every defensive standard situation, now they are causing the same emotion to the opponents.

Source: Premier League