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Premier League Club Power Rankings: Week 12

By Nicholas MendolaNov 12, 2018, 5:10 PM EST
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We told you this weekend could provide big tumult in the power rankings, as several clubs in close proximity tangled in the Premier League, and the matches delivered in a big way.

[ ARCHIVE: Premier League club power rankings ]

20. Fulham — Much better against Liverpool than recent opposition, but still on pace to break the Premier League record for goals allowed.
Last week: 20
Season high: 11
Season low: 20

19. Huddersfield Town — A nice point against West Ham, but it’s difficult to look at the match and think the Terriers would’ve managed a point from performances of that ilk more than once in a great while.
Last week: 19
Season high: 18
Season low: 20

18. Burnley — Still capable of solid performances, but the attack looks like a relegation candidate more often than not.
Last week: 15
Season high: 13
Season low: 20

17. Crystal Palace *New season low* — A victim of the schedule? Sure, but there’s little to like about the attack as even Wilfried Zaha appears shaken in confidence.
Last week: 14
Season high: 6
Season low: 17

Zaha (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

16. Cardiff City — Aided in a big way by Dale Stephens red card, but the Bluebirds are looking less and less like the automatic relegation team of early weeks.
Last week: 16
Season high: 16
Season low: 20

15. Southampton — Probably deserved all three points against Watford, but looking ready to take the next step despite a miserly start points-wise.
Last week: 17
Season high: 13
Season low: 17

14. Newcastle United — Rafa Benitez‘s men are the pound-for-pound defensive champions of the league. Only six teams have allowed fewer goals, and only one is lower than 7th on the table (Wolves, 11th).
Last week: 16
Season high: 13
Season low: 19

13. Brighton and Hove Albion — Two-straight losses following the 2-1 defeat at Cardiff, in what draws Bournemouth as the top disappointments of the week.
Last week: 10
Season high: 9
Season low: 19

12. West Ham — Manuel Pellegrini‘s men had to work hard to get a point from Huddersfield Town, and is hoping Samir Nasri can help fill the hole left by Andriy Yarmolenko‘s injury. A big ask?
Last week: 13
Season high: 9
Season low: 20

11. Watford — Hornets looking more and more like early over-performers. 
Last week: 12
Season high: 4
Season low: 14

10. Wolves — Gave Arsenal all it could handle, but fans should be demanding more from a club which thrives against big clubs but has not performed against several seemingly lesser sides.
Last week: 13
Season high: 5
Season low: 13

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

9. Leicester City — To take four of six points with a trip to their owner’s funeral in Thailand sandwiched in between is a serious achievement.
Last week: 9
Season high: 7
Season low: 13

8. Bournemouth — Eddie Howe will be raging with his Cherries for their performance at Newcastle United, a lost chance to sit a point back of Arsenal.
Last week: 8
Season high: 6
Season low: 12

7. Manchester United — Count our own Joe Prince-Wright among those tired of the excuses for Jose Mourinho’s struggles at Old Trafford. The gulf between his men and Man City is huge.
Last week: 6
Season high: 4
Season low: 14

6. Everton — Two weeks to prepare for a visit from Cardiff, and then the away Merseyside Derby. If the Toffees manage a draw at Liverpool, it’s not unreasonable to think they should nab 10 from their next 12 points.
Last week: 7
Season high: 5
Season low: 13

5. Arsenal — Beat Everton in September, and that will keep the Gunners ahead of the impressive Toffees… for now.
Last week: 4
Season high: 2
Season low: 9

4. Chelsea — Surely the draw vs. Everton is a case of a decent opponent and Europa League lag, but championship winners generally find a way to get the winner at home.
Last week: 3
Season high: 1
Season low: 5

3. Liverpool — It seems unrealistic to expect blowouts each week, but the Reds’ 2-0 win over a defensively-weak Fulham was tepid at best.
Last week: 2
Season high: 1
Season low: 4

2. Spurs *New season high* — Despite injury and form problems for pretty much all of its biggest stars, Spurs sit three points back of second, are two rounds from the League Cup final, and aren’t dead in the Champions League. Yes, Spurs were by far second-best in a Sept. 15 home loss to the Reds, but it’s been two months.

Their next two league matches are home to Chelsea and away to Arsenal, so the heights could be brief, but what Spurs have done in the face of wild injuries is impressive.
Last week: 4
Season high: 2
Season low: 8

1. Man City — For everyone mentioning the absence of Paul Pogba for United in the derby, City was missing Kevin De Bruyne. This team is hearkening back to Pep’s best Barcelona teams, without a Lionel Messi in the bunch.
Last week: 1
Season high: 1
Season low: 2

Newcastle tops Bournemouth behind Rondon brace

By Nicholas MendolaNov 10, 2018, 12:01 PM EST
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  • Rondon scores twice in 1st half
  • Lerma pulls one back before break
  • Magpies win second-straight

Salomon Rondon scored a pair of goals as Newcastle United won its second-straight match, this one a 2-1 win over Bournemouth at St. James’ Park on Saturday.

Newcastle has won seven of its nine points in its last three matches, the last two wins, as the Magpies rise 14th with nine points.

Bournemouth sits sixth with 20 points. Jefferson Lerma scored the Cherries’ goal.

[ STREAM: Watch every PL match live ]

Bournemouth wasn’t shy to start the match, with Jordon Ibe’s promising chance thwarted by a sliding Federico Fernandez.

But Newcastle opened the scoring when DeAndre Yedlin raced onto the end of a Mohamed Diame cross, cutting back for Rondon to score on the second of two bids on Asmir Begovic.

The Magpies were very much under siege for the next 20 minutes, with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka very busy.

Bournemouth’s Adam Smith pulled up with a non-contact injury in the run-up to a free kick, and needed a stretcher.

But Rondon struck again, rising high to latch onto a Kenedy cross and deliver a trademark goal.

Begovic stopped a point-blank shot from Kenedy just before halftime, and was called into action again when a Ki Sung-yeung free kick was nearly headed in by Fabian Schar.

Lerma headed a close-range effort home to make it 2-1 before the break, and Ayoze Perez almost answered toward the end of 8 minutes of first half stoppage.

[ MORE: Latest Premier League standings ]

[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]

Perez cued up a sliding Ritchie effort that spun wide of the far post in the 63rd minute.

Ibe missed a bid to level the score in the 73rd minute.

Newcastle tested Begovic through substitute Christian Atsu in the 81st minute.

Ex-Magpie midfielder Dan Gosling thought he’d scored when Dubravka pawed a hard shot onto his path, but the Bournemouth man was offside.

Rondon came close to completing his hat trick in the 89th, but Begovic kicked it aside.

Premier League Club Power Rankings: Week 11

Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaNov 8, 2018, 8:39 PM EST
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Call it the calm before the storm: Liverpool and Chelsea face winnable matches at home while No. 1 Man City tries to navigate the Manchester Derby.

[ ARCHIVE: Premier League club power rankings ]

And we’ve got a new bottom team on our rankings with few signs of improvement at Craven Cottage. How long will Fulham stay 20th?

20. Fulham *New season low* — The Cottagers held the opposition to less than two goals for the first time since Sept. 22, but that’s not achievement against the anemic attack of Huddersfield Town. Losing 1-0 is comparable to its 4-2 loss to Cardiff City. Bad, bad games to lose.
Last week: 18
Season high: 11
Season low: 20

19. Huddersfield Town — Monday’s win was very nice, but we’re not going to break out the party horns and streamers because a goal was scored against Fulham. A result against visiting West Ham would have us at least Googling where to find said celebratory items.
Last week: 20
Season high: 18
Season low: 20

18. Cardiff City — Kudos to the Bluebirds for their classy handling of a difficult occasion in Leicester City’s visit following the death of Foxes owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. A visit from Brighton is a different sort of test.
Last week: 16
Season high: 16
Season low: 20

17. Southampton — Had its moments in a 6-1 loss to Man City, really, but has to take advantage when inconsistent Watford comes to town.
Last week: 15
Season high: 13
Season low: 17

16. Newcastle United — And exhale (but only for a moment). Newcastle finally gets its first win of the season. The Magpies are better than their record suggests, but not by much. Getting a result from high-flying Bournemouth at St. James’ Park this weekend would be a nice respite for supporters heading into an international break.
Last week: 18
Season high: 13
Season low: 19

Rafa Benitez wants the January transfer window to open early (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

15. Burnley — Three-straight losses to very good attacks, and Leicester City can score, too. Can Burnley stop its four-match winless run?
Last week: 17
Season high: 13
Season low: 20

14. Crystal Palace — Losers of five of six in all competitions, with the sixth being a 2-2 draw at Arsenal. These Power Rankings’ patience with the Eagles is tooth floss thin.
Last week: 14
Season high: 6
Season low: 15

13. Wolves — Have lost to Spurs, Brighton, and Watford since beating a Palace team we’ve already described as not quite there.
Last week: 12
Season high: 5
Season low: 13

12. Watford — Javi Gracia‘s men have a maddening way of disappearing, and they really should’ve found a way to a win at Newcastle. Those are the breaks when you’re on a losing run and, either way, when you give a team its first win of the season, you’re going to drop down our table.
Last week: 8
Season high: 4
Season low: 14

11. West Ham — Manuel Pellegrini can start to aim higher on the table with a win at Huddersfield Town this weekend.
Last week: 13
Season high: 9
Season low: 20

10. Brighton and Hove Albion — Chris Hughton‘s men will hope the Everton loss was a blip on the radar of a well-run vessel. A visit to Cardiff City should help right the ship.
Last week: 10
Season high: 9
Season low: 19

9. Leicester City — Finding a winner on such a wildly-emotional day at Cardiff City is wonderful, but how will the Foxes be able to perform in their return home from Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s funeral in Thailand? All our best to the LCFC family.
Last week: 11
Season high: 7
Season low: 13

Leicester City’s Demarai Gray celebrates scoring his side’s first goal of the game and reveals a shirt that reads ‘For Khun Vichai’ (Simon Galloway/PA via AP)

8. Bournemouth — Losing to the cardiac kids of Manchester United is no shame, but a bounce back is necessary.
Last week: 7
Season high: 6
Season low: 12

7. Everton — That’s a fine win over Brighton, and the Toffees are finally where we expected them to be this season. Now can Marco Silva and Co. claim a result at Chelsea?
Last week: 9
Season high: 5
Season low: 13

6. Manchester United — It’s not sexy, but it’s working for Jose Mourinho. This first derby of the season is a big, big one for this Red Devils side.
Last week: 6
Season high: 4
Season low: 14

5. Arsenal — No shame in drawing Liverpool.
Last week: 4
Season high: 2
Season low: 9

4. Spurs — For as unimpressive as Mauricio Pochettino‘s men have been from time-to-time, Spurs are three points off second place Chelsea and third place Liverpool. If they can get through the Champions League group stage without dipping too far off the Top Four, anything short of the title is possible.
Last week: 5
Season high: 3
Season low: 8

3. Liverpool — For all the Reds’ struggles with mojo, Mohamed Salah finding his finishing boots is really all they need to challenge for the title. The Egyptian is finding loads of chances but just not putting them away.
Last week: 2
Season high: 1
Season low: 4

2. Chelsea — They just kinda go about their business, don’t they? Won in Belarus on Thursday despite leaving much of the club at home.
Last week: 3
Season high: 1
Season low: 5

1. Man City — Look out: For as good as City has been, a loss in the derby could easily see them third on the table.
Last week: 1
Season high: 1
Season low: 2

USMNT announces roster for England, Italy friendlies

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaNov 6, 2018, 6:52 PM EST
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Dave Sarachan is bringing 28 players to Europe for two November friendlies.

The interim boss will manage the Yanks against England and Italy, beginning with a Nov. 15 date at Wembley Stadium and ending four days later in Belgium against Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri.

[ MORE: Champions League wrap ]

There aren’t many, if any, surprises in the bunch, although just two center forwards will raise an eyebrow or two.

LA Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget and Club Brugge backstop Ethan Horvath are the lone players not previously called up this year.

ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew)

Defenders: John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Swansea City), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Matt Miazga (Nantes), Shaq Moore (Reus Deportiu), Antonee Robinson (Wigan Athletic), Jorge Villafaña (Portland Timbers), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United), Walker Zimmerman (LAFC)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls), Luca De La Torre (Fulham), Marky Delgado (Toronto FC), Romain Gall (Malmo), Julian Green (Greuther Furth), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Schalke), Darlington Nagbe (Atlanta United), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Kenny Saief (Anderlecht), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew), Tim Weah (Paris Saint-Germain)

Forwards: Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen), Bobby Wood (Hannover 96)

Champions League: Mexican stars shine for Porto; Draws for Barca, PSG (video)

AP Photo/Manuel Araujo
By Nicholas MendolaNov 6, 2018, 5:36 PM EST
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Of the four UEFA Champions League groups at play on Tuesday, only one emerged with any measure of top-to-bottom tightness.

You might be surprised which one, too, as Liverpool floundered in Serbia while Napoli and PSG drew to keep the group very much in question with two match days to play.

[ UCL: Full lineups, stats, box scores ]

Elsewhere, two El Tri stars again starred for Porto, while an American midfielder was a part of Schalke picking up a knockout round bid strengthening defeat of visiting Galatasaray.

Napoli 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain

A bit of magic from Kylian Mbappe led to a sliding first half stoppage time finish from Juan Bernat, but the visitors were able to equalize from the spot in the second half. Lorenzo Insigne bested countryman Gianluigi Buffon to get it level.

Red Star Belgrade 2-0 Liverpool — RECAP

The Reds had plenty of shots, but couldn’t find the goal as Red Star Belgrade used a Milan Pavkov double to sink Liverpool.

Group C
Team W D L PTS
Napoli 1 3 0 6
Liverpool 2 0 2 6
Paris SG 1 2 1 5
Red Star Belgrade 1 1 2 4

Schalke 2-0 Galatasaray

Guido Burgstaller and Mark Uth scored in Germany, and USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie played the final half-hour plus in the win.

Porto 4-1 Lokomotiv Moscow

Mexican duo Hector Herrera and Jesus Corona were again amongst Porto’s goal scorers, and Moussa Marega also scored in the win.

Group D
Team W D L PTS
FC Porto 3 1 0 10
FC Schalke 04 2 2 0 8
Galatasaray 1 1 2 4
Lokomotiv Moscow 0 0 4 0

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 PSV Eindhoven — RECAP

Luuk De Jong scored after 61 seconds of play to give PSV a shock lead at Wembley Stadium, but Spurs peppered their Dutch visitors with 30-plus shots. Two of those were authored by Harry Kane and found their way across line as Spurs stayed alive for the knockout rounds.

Inter Milan 1-1 Barcelona

Malcom’s 83rd minute goal looked like it would be enough for one of the tournament’s favorites to clinch the group, but Mauro Icardi answered with an Inter goal four minutes later at the San Siro.

Group B
Team W D L PTS
Barcelona 3 1 0 10
Inter Milan 2 1 1 7
Tottenham Hotspur 1 1 2 4
PSV Eindhoven 0 1 3 1

Atletico Madrid 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

Saul and Antoine Griezmann scored in a dominant performance for Diego Simeone’s men. USMNT attacker Christian Pulisic played 59 minutes in the loss.

Monaco 0-4 Club Brugge

Hans Vanaken scored twice in the first 17 minutes as the visitors heaped misery on Thierry Henry’s struggling Ligue 1 mainstays. USMNT goalkeeper Ethan Horvath kept the clean sheet for Bruges.

Group A
Team W D L PTS
Borussia Dortmund 3 0 1 9
Atlético de Madrid 3 0 1 9
Club Brugge 1 1 2 4
Monaco 0 1 3 1