Mikel Arteta has fond memories of playing alongside Danny Welbeck (Picture: Getty Images)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has raved about the talents of Brighton striker Danny Welbeck, as the forward prepares to face his old club on Wednesday night.
Welbeck is now 35 years old but is on course to have the best season of his career in front of goal, having scored 10 times in the Premier League and 11 in all competitions.
The England international has never really been prolific, but is on course to beat his previous best of 12 in all competitions for Manchester United in 2011/12.
This campaign is not out of the blue as Welbeck netted 11 times last season and his form has led to calls for an England recall for the first time since 2018.
He will look to further his case for a World Cup call when Brighton host Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday, with Arteta knowing what to expect from his former teammate.
The pair played together with the Gunners and the Spaniard could hardly praise the England international more fulsomely.
‘As a person, top. So good in and around the dressing room with the players,’ Arteta said of the Seagulls striker.
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Danny Welbeck is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Whether he was a starter or a finisher, when he had some long-term injuries as well, always a really positive person around the place.
‘As a nine, I think he has everything. He can hold the ball up, he can run in behind, technically very, very good. He can finish actions in the box in different ways. Top player.’
The Arsenal boss added: ‘I’m really happy with him. Obviously we were teammates. He’s an exceptional guy, a really professional guy. I’m very happy for him.
Welbeck scored 32 goals in 126 games for Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images)
‘He had some difficult moments in his career, he really had to show his character and probably go against the odds.
‘[People said] “No, he cannot do it”, and he’s doing it and probably better than ever.’
An England World Cup call still feels unlikely, but there is a chance Thomas Tuchel could turn to the in-form striker as back-up to Harry Kane.
Arteta said of the possibility of the 42-cap forward adding to his tally: ‘I don’t know if he wants to be there, but if he [does] I will be very, very happy for him.’
Welbeck and Arteta in Arsenal training back in 2016 (Picture: Getty Images)
Asked during an international break in November if Welbeck was considered for a return to the England squad, Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Yes, he was close.
‘I think it’s always an option because he’s a fantastic leader in Brighton and a very special player.
‘He’s scoring regularly and, yes, he was close. He’s not out of the picture. He’s in contention.
‘We see what he can bring and it was a close one. We decided for other options.’
Sunday’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace was United’s sixth win in seven since Carrick took over as interim boss, a remarkable turnaround in form lifting them to third in the table.
Their return of 19 points from a possible 21 is five more than leaders Arsenal have taken over the same period, and three more than second-placed Manchester City, with United having beaten both in Carrick’s first two games in charge.
With 10 games left to play they sit 13 points behind the Gunners with a game in hand, and eight points behind City going into Wednesday’s match away at Newcastle.
No side has come from this far back to take the title in Premier League history – in 1997-98 Arsenal were 12 points behind United at the start of March before winning the title by one point, but they had three games in hand.
However Carrick’s old boss Sir Alex Ferguson would surely not have conceded defeat in a similar position, and nor will Carrick, even if he had a wry smile when asked the question.
‘You can’t rule anything out in football, but we’ve got to be realistic and know where it’s at,’ he said. ‘I think we’ve just got to try and keep winning games and see.
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Benjamin Sesko scored Manchester United’s winning goal against Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty)
‘Above us now there’s two fantastic teams. There’s some really good teams in and around us. We’ve had a good run, we’re certainly not getting carried away in. You’ve got to be patient but you’ve got to be living in the moment a little bit, certainly, take the confidence.
‘Wherever that’s going to take us, we’ll just have to see. But we’ll keep pushing anyway…
‘Definitely a glass is half full on what you can achieve more than the negative side, that’s for sure. Of course, I’m being realistic about it. We have to win a lot of football matches for that to happen, so we’ll do what we’ve been doing and go one at a time.’
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Jan 17 – Man Utd 2-0 Man City
Jan 25 – Arsenal 2-3 Man Utd
Feb 1 – Man Utd 3-2 Fulham
Feb 7 – Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
Feb 10 – West Ham 1-1 Man Utd
Feb 23 – Everton 0-1 Man Utd
Mar 1 – Man Utd 2-1 Crystal Palace
Each victory strengthens Carrick’s own case to get the United job on a permanent basis come the summer.
The former United skipper, 44, signed a deal until the end of the season when he was named as Amorim’s replacement in January with United wanting to give themselves time to consider a long-term appointment, but the remarkable turnaround he has overseen has made him the bookmakers’ favourite.
‘There’s no getting away from the situation of course,’ Carrick said.
‘There’s not really an awful lot I can say about it to be honest. I love being here. I love doing what I’m doing.
‘I’ve said it from the start, I’m not making any decisions for short-term or quick fixes. I think it’s the responsibility, however long I’m here, to make decisions that are the best for the football club in the long term.
‘Of course winning games helps and the boys are doing great with that. We’ll just have to see where it ends up. There’s not really much I can give you on top of that at the moment, really.’
Arsenal have a huge chance to end their wait for Champions League glory, says Joe Cole (Picture: Getty)
Joe Cole has backed Arsenal to win this year’s Champions League, telling fans to ‘book their tickets’ for the final in Budapest as the draw has ‘opened up’ for the Gunners.
Arsenal enjoyed an outstanding group-stage campaign to sail through to the last 16 of this year’s competition, winning eight from eight while conceding only four goals.
It saw Mikel Arteta’s men finish top of the league phase with a three point advantage over six-time European champions Bayern Munich.
The Premier League leaders were joined by a strong English contingent in the next round as Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City also secured top-eight finishes, while Newcastle advanced via the play-offs.
European heavyweights Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain all find themselves on the other side of the draw, leading fans and pundits alike to talk up Arsenal’s chances of finally breaking their Champions League duck.
A quarter-final clash against Bodo/Glimt or Sporting awaits should Arteta’s side come through their two-legged last-16 contest with Leverkusen. Newcastle, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Spurs are the other teams on Arsenal’s side of the draw.
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‘I think, personally, it’s going to be an Arsenal versus Manchester City final. I think it will be an epic.
‘I look at it, my only bet would be Arsenal going to the final. I’m not sure on the other side, with Manchester City you still don’t know because there’s too many good teams.
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‘Arsenal get to the final. They’re going to beat Bayer Leverkusen, they ain’t no cop [good], Sporting or Bodo/Glimt…’
On Arsenal’s chances, Cole concluded: ‘In summery, the Champions League draw, they’ve opened it up, someone has rolled it across the goal for Arsenal. They cannot blow it… or can they?
‘Arsenal fans, book your tickets for Budapest, in my opinion.’
Barcelona ‘can’t win’ the Champions League, says Cole (Picture: Getty)
Five-time winners Barcelona enter their last-16 tie with Eddie Howe’s Newcastle as the slight favourites to progress through to the quarter-finals.
However, Cole is not convinced by the high line that Hansi Flick tends to play and would be shocked to see the La Liga champions go all the way in this year’s competition.
‘Barcelona can’t win it, not with that high line. Hansi Flick plays a high line,’ he explained.
PSG thumped Inter in the final to win last year’s Champions League (Picture: Getty)
‘He won the Champions League six years ago with Bayern Munich when it was Covid and he played this way of football.
‘But I think football was a little bit… with Covid, there’s an asterisk there. I don’t think you can do it again with this Barcelona team.
‘So Arsenal are in the final for me and, yeah, I think they can do it.’
Arsenal need to win the Premier League over the Champions League 🚨 A big question that could shape Arsenal’s future success: do they need to win the Premier League or the Champions League more? In the latest Real Quick Tho episode, we break it all down. #arsenal#championsleague#footballopinions#premierleaguefootball#footballfans
According to Cole, this gives the Champions League holders a significant advantage and he is anticipating a ‘very difficult’ couple of games for his former club.
He said: ‘In between the two Chelsea games, PSG have just gone, “We’ll cancel that league game to prepare for it”.
‘Ligue 1 have helped PSG, they’ve moved it. It’s the equivalent of the Premier League going, “You know what? Forgot that game!”, Chelsea have to play Newcastle at home in between the legs… it’s a massive advantage [for PSG].
‘So I think Chelsea will find it very difficult to beat PSG under those circumstances.’
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Iran players lined up in silence ahead of kick-off (Picture: Getty)
The Iran women’s team refused to sing the country’s national anthem ahead of their opening match of the Asian Cup.
South Korea beat Iran 3-0 in their group stage match on Monday night.
As the team lined up ahead of kick-off for customary pre-game anthems, cameras panned across the Iran team with each player starting straight ahead in silence at the Gold Coast Stadium.
Some of the players appeared to be holding back tears during the somber moment.
Iran head coach Marziyeh Jafari was seen smiling from the touchline having earlier refused to answer questions on the military strikes and the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A small section of Iran supporters inside the stadium held aloft Pahalvi-era Iranian flags.
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Pahalvi-era Iranian flags were held aloft inside the stadium (Picture: Getty)
Iran will continue their Asian Cup campaign this week despite the chaos in the Middle East and in are in action again against competition hosts Australia on Thursday.
‘Obviously it’s really tough what’s going on around the world,’ Matildas captain Sam Kerr said this week.
Iran lost their opening group match 3-0 (Picture: Getty)
‘But you know, they’re just young girls and young footballers.
‘We’ll treat the game like any other game, show the team the utmost respect and prepare properly.’
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The conflict in the Middle East has raised huge doubts over the Iranian men’s national team and their participation in this summer’s World Cup, taking place in North America.
Iran are scheduled to play three games against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in Group G, all on American soil – two in Los Angeles and the other in Seattle.
While there has been no official word on their participation, Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj has suggested they may have little choice but to withdraw.
‘With what happened today and with that attack by the United States, it is unlikely that we can look forward to the World Cup, but the sports chiefs are the ones who must decide on that.’
Arsenal should hold off Manchester City and win the Premier League title, says Alan Shearer (Picture: Getty)
Alan Shearer isn’t surprised Arsenal have looked ‘nervy’ and ‘edgy’ in recent matches, but the ex-England striker is still backing Mikel Arteta’s men to ‘go ahead and do it’ in the race for the Premier League title.
The visitors had looked on course to take a point away from north London after Piero Hincapie directed the ball into his own net on the stroke of half-time to cancel out William Saliba’s headed opener.
The Gunners dug deep, though, and, for the second time in the contest, made their breakthrough came from a corner, with Jurrien Timber beating Robert Sanchez to restore the hosts’ advantage in the 66th minute.
While Chelsea were reduced to ten men following Pedro Neto’s sending off for a second bookable offence, David Raya had to be at his best to protect Arsenal lead’s with a fine save to deny Alejandro Garnacho in stoppage time.
‘A proper London derby,’ Arteta told reporters after his side’s win over the Club World Cup holders.
‘We expected that because of the quality of the opposition, because of the individual quality that they have, and because we played them four times already, so we know how good and difficult they are to play against.
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Arteta’s side sit five points clear at the top ahead of their midweek trip to Brighton (Picture: Getty)
Timber scored the winning goal at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)
‘After we started the game so well, the first half was very, very dominant. I think the margin and the scoreline should have been bigger. But we were 1-1, so game on.’
After Hincapie’s own goal, Arteta was keen to remind his players what had happened just a week earlier when they blew Tottenham away in a dominant second-half performance.
‘I reminded them that we were in exactly the same position against the Spurs seven days ago in that dressing room,’ he added.
‘They said, “Look what happened in the second half, so we’re going to do it again, but probably we’re going to have to go through some difficult patches to end the right to win the game.”
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‘We certainly did that. We took the moment to score the second goal and after the red card, we all expected a very different outcome in the last few minutes.
‘But we didn’t manage to control and dominate that scenario as well as we wanted.
‘On top of that, Chelsea did some very, very good things in that period and we needed David [Raya] to win us the game.’
City defeated Leeds to stay within five points of the leaders (Picture: Getty)
Timber’s header took Arsenal’s goals from set-pieces to 22 for the Premier League this season – a statistic that has been used against Arteta’s side by pundits and rival fans alike.
But despite the gritty nature of the victory and a perceived overreliance on dead-ball situations, Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer – remains confident that Arsenal will go on and end their long wait for the trophy.
‘Yeah, I would perhaps go along with that [the suggestion Arsenal need to be better from an attacking perspective],’ Shearer said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
‘But I’d much prefer, obviously, to still be in their position. If they win every game then they win it. As do City, I guess, but I’m not too concerned with that. I just think the bigger picture is that they find a way.
Social media ‘noise’ is a constant distraction for modern-day players, says Shearer (Picture: Getty)
‘They found a way against Chelsea, they weren’t brilliant, but their set-pieces have done it for them again and there’s nothing wrong with that.
‘They’re going to be nervy, they’re going to be edgy because of the pressure that they’re under.
‘They’re human, I’ve been there myself, and it’s a huge ask, it is tough mentally and physically. It drains you.’
The Gunners have suffered just three league defeats this season (Picture: Getty)
According to Shearer, modern-day stars have it ‘worse’ than players during his time at the top in the Premier League due to the incessant ‘noise’ they face on a daily basis on social media.
‘I don’t care who or what you are, and it’s worse now than it was in the 1990s when we won it for the first time at Blackburn, because of the noise around social media and what have you,’ he explained.
‘We didn’t really have that and it was still very tough then.
‘I get that they’re not going to be perfect but they’re in a really strong position and I still think that they will go ahead and do it.’
Arsenal will look to tighten their grip on top spot when they return to Premier League action away to Brighton on Wednesday night.
Second-placed Manchester City welcome Nottingham Forest to the Etihad that same evening and will hope to keep keep themselves within touching distance after seeing off Leeds at the weekend.
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