The reigning champions face an uphill battle on Thursday evening, as Arsenal welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium for a crucial Premier League showdown. The Reds arrive on a longer unbeaten run than the hosts, but defeat in North London would leave Mikel Arteta's side a commanding 17 points clear with 17 games remaining. Arsenal began the New Year brightly, capitalising on dropped points elsewhere during Gameweek 20 despite a nightmare start away to Bournemouth, where Gabriel's early error was punished by Evanilson.
Just as Spurs seemed to be finding their rhythm under Thomas Frank-following a spirited comeback draw against Newcastle United and convincing home victories over Brentford and Slavia Prague-disaster struck at the City Ground. Nottingham Forest pair Ibrahim Sangare and Callum Hudson-Odoi ran riot, combining for three goals and three assists in a 3-0 demolition of the Europa League holders, who have now suffered three defeats in their last five Premier League outings.
After his acclaimed documentaries profiling the likes of Ayrton Senna, Diego Maradona and Amy Winehouse, Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia has chosen a subject close to his own heart for his latest movie. While the trio of aforementioned documentaries were made as a trilogy examining child geniuses and fame', Kapadia is a lifelong Liverpool fan and has opted to mix his hobby with the day job, with a feature-length documentary about Reds legend Kenny Dalglish.
Upon closer examination, though, you'll find they're 11-1-10 on the season (if you include the Community Shield, which I do). They've scored and conceded the same number of goals in those 22 games: 35. They're 8th in the Premier League and 13th in the Champions League - more or less mid-table. Not horrible, but certainly nothing the reigning champions of England should be patting themselves on the back about.
