West Ham beat West Brom for fourth straight win
Leicester beat Chelsea to go top before Wednesdays fixtures
Man City v Aston Villa (18:00 GMT), Fulham v Man Utd (20:15)
Liverpool (13:00) and Burnley (13:30) news conferences
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Manchester United can return to the top of the Premier League later as theRed Devils visit Fulham(20:15 GMT), after Manchester City have the chance to hit the summit for the first time this season as theBlues host Aston Villa(18:00). Well be back for live text commentary on that one from 16:45.
Thanks for joining me for reaction to Tuesdays Premier League games, plus transfer updates and the best lines from todays news conferences, which featured Jurgen Klopp saying thatLiverpools form is not perfect but not a catastrophe.
Ill leave you with some of todays top stories:
Man Utd or Man City to end the day top? Cassia bassist Lou Cotterill takes on Lawro
Why Ramos and Real Madrid are at a stand-off – Balague
Celtic: Neil Lennons government agenda claim is appalling, says deputy first minister John Swinney
We are 10-15 years behind outfield players: How womens goalkeeping is playing catch-up
Get Involved – Lampard under pressure?
published at 14:54 Greenwich Mean Time 20 January 2021
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Re: Adam, 13:45. Klopp had a reputation as one of the best managers in the game and got to the Europa League final in his first season and Champions League final in his second, whilst securing a top 4 finish. Clear progression. Lampard has no experience and Chelsea have made no progress during his time in charge.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes the strong backing he has received from the Manchester United hierarchy hasbeen justified by his sides recent improvement.
Solskjaer has faced heavy criticism in spells during his two years in charge. In November, it was widely reported he was on the brink of the sack but United won a key game at Everton and now sit second in the Premier League.
Hopefully I have proved I can help the club going forwards, said Solskjaer.
Personally I have felt very strong backing and leadership from the club, which has made the journey that weve been on – ups and downs – clear. We have always had a long-term view on it.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
And finally from Burnley boss Sean Dyche, whose side are four points above the bottom three afterlosing 1-0 at West Hamon Saturday.
We are not a million miles away, he said. West Ham was an interesting one because we had more possession and created some chances. There were a lot of good things.
We got some wins and draws in that nice little run we had [in December] and we had a tough situationat Leeds [1-0 defeat],which wasnt our performance.
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Lampards Chelsea is overrated and inconsistent. Lots of money spent on average players. OGS has managed to improve Man Utd with less money.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
Burnley boss Sean Dyche said that left-backCharlie Tayloris back in contention for the Clarets after missing the last two league games with a thigh problem.
We gave him an extra few days from the last game, he is back in the thinking, said Dyche.
The hardest job is to get them all Premier League fit because that comes when you get out and play.
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Richard:A few weeks ago, Chelsea were flying high and in the title race. Now Frank is under pressure? A few weeks ago, Man United were 15th and Ole was under pressure. Now were in a title race? People need to realise things are rarely as good or as bad as they seem.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
Burnley havetoday been linked with Norwegian striker Joshua King,,externalwho played for Bournemouth in TuesdaysChampionship defeat at Derby.
But, true to form, the Clarets bossSean Dychemade it quite clear he wouldnt be giving anything away during todays news conference.
Theres nothing I can share on anything to do with any players coming in, I never have shared anything, he said. I dont know why you think I am going to share it now but I wont be sharing anything at all.
I still think we need a bit of freshness, we needed that last window, Dyche added. I think we need freshness and talent, people who can move us forward, but we have a talented, balanced group.
We are working with the new ownership defining roles and the organisational point of view [regarding transfers]. It is very difficult at the moment with Covid. We are working behind the scenes to see if and when anything can be done.
The Premier League has confirmed that all fixtures from Saturday, 30 January, to the last weekend of February will be shown live in the UK.
Matches will continue to be shown via the existing services of broadcast partners Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC.
Details of all broadcast selections will be announced later on Wednesday, along with early additional selections.
The Premier League and its clubs are committed to an accessible solution for fans, reads a league statement. These plans have been made with the cooperation of our broadcast partners, working with us to deliver these additional matches while stadiums are missing the supporters who are such an integral part of the game.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos has left Arsenalafter agreeing to end his contract six months early.
Manager Mikel Arteta left the defender, 32, out of his Premier League and Europa League squads for this season.
The Greek, whose deal was due to expire at the end of this season,joined in 2018from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund and made 69 appearances.
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Response to Alan, Horsham (12:38): Cross out Brendan Rodgers and replace with Claudio Ranieri and that could be a quote from 2015/16. Why dont people ever learn?
Re Alan, Horsham – thats harsh. Leicesters squad has better quality this season. Weve beaten many of the top 6 and have players returning from injury. Let us dream…we have an outside chance of winning it with luck and keeping Vardy fit.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
Burnley go into Thursdays game in 17th place – four points above the relegation zone – after losing to Manchester United and West Ham, yet their win over Sheffield United over the festive period means theyve earned the same number of points as Liverpool over their last four league games – three.
Sean Dycheis aware what the defending champions are capable of though. After all, theyre unbeaten at home in the league in 68 games – a run stretching back to Crystal Palaces win at Anfield way back in April 2017.
Theyre a really strong outfit, said the Clarets boss. Anfield is a very tough place to go and they are a top, top side.
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When Manchester United struggled to score last season, before Bruno Fernandes arrived, we at least stopped conceding. Lampard cant even get Chelsea to stop doing that.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
And finally from Liverpool bossJurgen Klopp, heres his thoughts on Thursdays opponents: When you look at Burnleys goal difference, it says they dont concede a lot. Its a proper fight against Burnley, [because of the way they] defend second balls and their intensity.
Ben Mee is a very important player for them. They have a settled line-up, with James Tarkowski, Nick Pope and Ben Mee the heart of the team.
Sean [Dyche] is always able to squeeze really good performances out of a squad that isnt the biggest. They deal with it very well and we have to face it.
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If anyone thinks Chelsea was going to compete against City and Liverpool for the title they are crazy! New Manager and New Squad, this will all take time to gel together. Yes we should be competing for top 4. I say give Lampard another Season. Like Liverpool did Klopp. Be patient for once Chelsea.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
If Liverpool are to retain their title, bossJurgen Kloppsaid they now have to play close to perfection. There is no perfect season, it is just dealing with the situation and the amount of games. All the teams had a dip here and there. Some sorted it. I understand the need to talk about it but we cant change it in a minute.
The day is 24 hours and we think about a lot of stuff. Most of the things the public thinks of we do as well but we have to be calm. Its no catastrophe, just not perfect. We need to be as good as we can be.
I think I heard somewhere I have to rebuild this team, he added. The world is a crazy place now and not just because of the pandemic. No-one has time anymore. We have to change this by playing, not talking.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
On Liverpools lack of goals,Jurgen Kloppadded: Its about the whole team. Goals are not flying in, so we have to work on it. We will score again.
Look at John Stones at Manchester City, he scores three and you cannot explain it. We need to stay calm, greedy and make good decisions, and the situation will change. That is it.
Klopp also said that no-one is fatigued. We are as fresh as possible. No team can defend for a whole game. Other teams know what were doing, they knew last year but it was difficult to defend. We have to finish the chances off better. Teams defend with all they have, we know that.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
Jugen Klopp has also provided a fitness update before Thursdays game at Burnley.
He said: Joel Matipis in full training and well make a decision. Hes trained as normal.
Diogo Jotais a few weeks away. It will not be next game or two. He needs time. How much I miss him is not important, I am not allowed to miss him! He is not there and we [must] deal with it.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
Liverpool have slipped to fourth in the table having failed to score in their last three league games while Roberto Firmino hasnt scored in five in all competitions.
The Brazilian forward has scored just five goals all season but asked if he is worried about his and the teams form,Jurgen Kloppsaid: We didnt score a lot, that doesnt mean our performances have dropped. Its not always about our approach, its about the other teams too.
We know we are not where we want to be but the reasons are not too important. We just fight. People get unhappy with performances when results are not there. You can win the game with one lucky strike. We have to play our football to a high level. In the final third we havent.
Liverpool v Burnley (Thu, 20:00 GMT)
Manchester United recently replaced Liverpool at the top of the table, before Leicester hit the summit on Tuesday, and Manchester City will do so if they beat Aston Villa later – but could then be replaced by United after that!
Liverpool bossJurgen Klopphad this to say on the Premier League title race: It changes all the time because its so close. That makes it a different title race this year. We have to be ready. I know that in this business, only results count. But you need performances before the result. The last one was good [0-0 against United].
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