What are we supposed to do when the form table says there are about four teams playing well across the Premier League, and one conceded two stoppage-time goals to draw their last match?
It’s nutty, dear reader.
[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]
Liverpool is a team of destiny and Man City unbeaten in seven across all competitions. After that, there’s a lot of long exhalations and ponderous glances at the form table.
Things might get nutty in our first power rankings since Week 22.
Green: New season-high ranking
Red: New season-low
[ MORE: PL Club Power Rankings archive ]
20. Norwich City — The Canaries have this awful penchant for getting no points when they should get one, and one when they should get three. The former happened against Spurs, and now they simply have to sweep Newcastle by winning at St. James’ Park in two weeks.
Last week: 20
Season high: 10
Season low: 20
Last match: Lost 2-1 at Spurs
Up next: 10 a.m. Feb. 1 at Newcastle United
Last week: 16
Season high: 5
Season low: 20
Last match: Lost 4-1 at Leicester City
Up next: 2:45 p.m. ET Wednesday v. Liverpool; 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 v. Brighton
Last week: 12
Season high: 6
Season low: 18
Last match: Lost 3-1 at Bournemouth
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 at West Ham
Last week: 18
Season high: 6
Season low: 18
Last match: Won 3-1 v. Brighton
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 v. Aston Villa
Last week: 17
Season high: 5
Season low: 17
Last match: Won 2-0 at Manchester United
Up next: 9 a.m. ET Feb. 2 v. Arsenal
Last week: 13
Season high: 13
Season low: 20
Last match: Lost 2-1 at Aston Villa
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Saturday v. Everton
Last week: 19
Season high: 6
Season low: 19
Last match: Won 2-1 v. Watford
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 at Bournemouth
Last week: 14
Season high: 5
Season low: 18
Last match: Lost 2-0 v. Southampton
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 v. Sheffield United
Last week: 15
Season high: 11
Season low: 20
Last match: Drew 2-2 at Everton
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 v. Norwich City
Last week: 3
Season high: 2
Season low: 16
Last match: Lost 2-0 v. Burnley
Up next: 12:30 p.m. ET Feb. 1 v. Wolves
Last week: 10
Season high: 5
Season low: 19
Last match: Drew 2-2 v. Newcastle United
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 at Watford
Season high: 1
Season low: 3
Last match: Won 2-1 at Wolves
Up next: 2:45 p.m. ET Wednesday at West Ham
Last week: 7
Season high: 2
Season low: 16
Last match: Lost 1-0 v. Liverpool
Up next: 11:30 a.m. ET Feb. 2 v. Man City
Last week: 11
Season high: 4
Season low: 13
Last match: Drew 2-2 at Chelsea
Up next: 9 a.m. ET Feb. 2 at Burnley
Last week: 9
Season high: 7
Season low: 20
Last match: Won 2-0 at Palace
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 at Liverpool
Last week: 6
Season high: 5
Season low: 17
Last match: Lost 1-0 v. Man City
Up next: 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 at Crystal Palace
Last week: 4
Season high: 2
Season low: 12
Last match: Drew 2-2 v. Arsenal
Up next: 7:30 a.m. ET Feb. 1 at Leicester City
Last week: 8
Season high: 3
Season low: 17
Last match:Lost 2-1 v. Liverpool
Up next: 12:30 p.m. ET Feb. 1 at Man Utd
Last week: 5
Season high: 2
Season low: 10
Last match: Won 4-1 v. West Ham
Up next: 7:30 a.m. ET Saturday v. Chelsea
Season high: 1
Season low: 6
Last match: Won 1-0 at Sheffield United
Up next: 11:30 a.m. ET Feb. 2 at Spurs
Last week: 1
Season high: 1
Season low: 3
Last match: Won 2-1 at Wolves
Up next: 2:45 p.m. ET Wednesday at West Ham; 10 a.m. ET Feb. 1 v. Saints
Fernandes scores first goal, says Ronaldo backed Manchester United move
It’s probably not a surprise that a young Portuguese player would fancy Manchester United given the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford early his career.
Bruno Fernandes admits that those images danced through his head well before he signed with the Red Devils in January.
[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]
It’s also not a shock that United would turn to their former player for a take on the playmaker before buying him from Sporting Lisbon.
Fernandes says he’s grateful that CR7 endorsed BF18. From Sky Sports:
“I know some people asked Cristiano what he thought of me and what I was like as a player and a person,” Fernandes said. “I know he spoke highly of me and gave me a good reference, so I sent him a message after to thank him for his kind words.”
Fernandes has 19 caps and two goals for Portugal, while Ronaldo has a few more with 164 and 99.
He now has a goal and an assist in four appearances for United. Ronaldo finished with 118 goals and 69 assists in 292 appearances for the Red Devils.
Here’s the finish:
🚨 BRUNO FERNANDES FIRST UNITED GOAL 🚨 pic.twitter.com/xnCTfDumSA
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 23, 2020
Eden Hazard suffers fracture ahead of Man City in UCL, El Clasico
Eden Hazard is set to miss the Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League first leg against Man City with a broken fibula.
Hazard had only returned to the lineup for two matches following a three-month absence with an ankle injury.
[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]
The 29-year-old has made just 15 appearances for Real since arriving in a big-money move from Chelsea, scoring once with five assists.
He has never appeared in less than 30 league matches over the course of his career, five times missing one or zero matches.
Of course, all of his absences show that Real is very comfortable playing and winning without Hazard. Zinedine Zidane’s men lost Sunday to drop behind Barcelona in La Liga, but that was just its second loss of the league season.
Real will be taxed in depth like its rivals, with Wednesday’s visit from Man City followed by an El Clasico at the Bernabeu on March 1. Barcelona hosts Napoli on Tuesday.
Whether you like the playmaker or despise him, there must be some sense of sympathy for his latest ailments (even if Man City and Barca fans will likely offer a Jerry Seinfeld-esque, “That’s a shame”).
Watch Live: Manchester United, Wolves host bottom three battlers
A pair of Premier League basement dwellers face stiff tests in their bids to win another season in the top flight.
Manchester United hosts Watford on NBCSN while Wolves welcome Norwich City on CNBC as both home sides aim to improve the health of their top four hopes in 9 a.m. ET kickoffs.
[ WATCH: Man Utd-Watford | Wolves-Norwich ]
Lineups notes from both matches:
- Mason Greenwood starts for Manchester United, who keeps Odion Ighalo on the bench.
- Watford’s front four stays in tact, with Troy Deeney, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gerard Deulofeu, and Roberto Pereyra.
- Adama Traore is rested by Wolves, who deploy Leander Dendoncker.
- Tim Krul backstops Norwich City, who starts Max Aarons.
LINEUPS
Manchester United
🕐 Time for some team news!
▪️ Six changes in total for #MUFC
▪️ @MasonGreenwood starts
▪️ @McTominay10 returns to the bench#MUNWAT— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 23, 2020
Watford
🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨
One change for the Hornets…
➡ Dawson
⬅ Mariappa@izosarr & Cleverley 🔙 on the bench! #MUNWAT pic.twitter.com/HOirsCNEKP— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) February 23, 2020
Wolves
Here's how Wolves line-up for this afternoon's @premierleague fixture against @NorwichCityFC. #WOLNOR
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 23, 2020
Norwich City
🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨
◾ Godfrey and Lewis return to starting XI
◾ Stiepermann and Idah named on the bench#WOLNOR— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) February 23, 2020
Three Serie A matches suspended due to virus deaths in Italy
ROME (AP) Three Serie A soccer matches scheduled for Sunday in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto were suspended late Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the virus from China.
On orders from the Italian government, the games called off were: Inter Milan vs. Sampdoria, Atalanta vs. Sassuolo and Hellas Verona vs. Cagliari.
Three other matches in Genoa, Turin and Rome on Sunday are going ahead as scheduled.
[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]
A dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lockdown on Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China, and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad.
“The government is working on urgent measures to decisively confront and contain the cases of coronavirus contagion,” read a letter from Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora to Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago shortly before midnight local time on Saturday. “Those measures also include the sports world in order to prevent risks and to better take care of the health of those involved in the events and competition.
“Following measures taken by the cabinet for protective reasons and maximum precaution, on orders of the government I’m asking you to suspend all sports events of every level and discipline planned for the Lombardy and Veneto regions on Sunday.”
The secondary contagions prompted local authorities in the Lombardy and Veneto regions to close schools, businesses and restaurants and to cancel sporting events and Masses.
The mayor of Milan, Italy’s business capital and the regional capital of Lombardy, shuttered public offices.
A 78-year-old man infected with the virus died in Veneto. A postmortem on a 77-year-old woman in Lombardy came back positive, though it wasn’t clear if illness from the virus caused her death.
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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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Andrew Dampf on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf