Arsenal
Calafiori and Hincapié return gives Arteta choices to counter Carrick’s wide approach
Calafiori and Hincapié back in training give Arsenal defensive options to blunt United’s wide game .
Arsenal welcomed Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié back to first-team training ahead of Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Manchester United at the Emirates, a development revealed by The Athletic that offers Mikel Arteta fresh options at left back.
Both players have been preferred by Arteta in that role for a reason. The draft explains Calafiori and Hincapié provide a natural ease on the left which Timber lacks and are more defensively sound than Lewis-Skelly. Their returns are therefore a timely boost, although Arteta declined to confirm their involvement for the weekend.
“We have another training session [on Saturday], so we’ll see tomorrow after that,” the innately guarded manager told assembled media at Friday’s pre-match press conference. “Assess everybody and [then make] a major decision.”
The choice matters because United under Michael Carrick have shown clear strengths down the flanks. Carrick had limited time with the squad before last weekend’s derby but his side produced a marked tactical shift. Aside from an overall increase in intensity, the most notable change was in switches of play.
United managed just 32% possession at Old Trafford against Manchester City, but City ceded the wide channels. Kobbie Mainoo would recycle possession centrally before sending the ball out to the right, where the combination of Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot created a string of clear chances in the first half. A switch from Patrick Dorgu to Amad opened City again in the second half, and Gianluigi Donnarumma later denied Casemiro from point blank range.
Arsenal are familiar with pressure on the flanks. Chelsea’s emphasis down their right during the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg earlier this month exposed uncomfortable moments for Timber when he was used at left back.
Calafiori and Hincapié cannot fully negate a double team on the wing, but the pair bring more assurance in that area than some alternatives. Carrick’s United also posed a threat on the break: Bryan Mbeumo’s opening goal against City came from a rapid surge through the middle, one of four United shots from a fast break. Per Opta, only once in the last eight seasons have United had more counterattacking chances in a Premier League match, and no top-flight contest on record saw United progress the ball upfield as quickly as they did against City.
Arsenal
Henry Urges Caution After Max Dowman’s Record Goal
Thierry Henry: protect Max Dowman after record goal. Rooney’s rise and Vaughan’s decline warning. NB
Thierry Henry has urged restraint from supporters after Max Dowman’s record goal, saying the teenager must be handled carefully if his potential is to be realised. Henry made his comments on Sky Sports Monday Night Football following the moment that prompted widespread reaction.
“I had goosebumps, I’ll be honest with you,” Henry said. “I don’t often get goosebumps watching a game, but I had goosebumps because I remember my first goal, my first moment. Even if you are not an Arsenal fan, at the particular moment I think everyone could relate and was happy for him and put the Arsenal thing on the side.”
The programme also revisited the context of the Premier League youngest goalscorer mark. Wayne Rooney was a previous holder of the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer crown, having scored a stunner against Arsenal in 2002. This week, the retired legend revealed that his weekly salary at the time was just $100 because he was too young to even sign a professional contract. Rooney later went on to become one of the greatest players in English soccer history, winning numerous trophies, captaining Manchester United, the England national and breaking decades-old goalscoring records for both.
Henry used those contrasting career trajectories to make a plea for perspective. He pointed to examples of players who fulfilled early promise and those whose careers were curtailed by circumstance. One such case was Vaughan, who came from the same Everton academy as others mentioned on the show; Vaughan made only 52 Premier League appearances in a career limited by injuries and finished in League Two in 2021. The best season of his career was a 24-goal campaign for Bury in League One in 2016–17.
If Dowman is to follow in Rooney’s footsteps and realise the superstar potential that has been apparent for years now, Henry challenged fans to be patient and protect the teenager at this early stage of his career.
Arsenal
Money Talks: CIES Ranks the World’s Most Valuable Squads
CIES values nine squads over $1bn; Real Madrid leads at $1.78bn while Tottenham exceed $1bn. Values.
The surge in transfer prices and squad valuations has reshaped how clubs are measured. The CIES Football Observatory produces those estimates by weighing a player’s quality, age, position and length of contract, and those individual valuations are then summed to give each squad a market value.
The scale is striking. There are nine clubs with squads valued above $1 billion. At the top is Real Madrid with a squad valuation of $1.78 billion and Kylian Mbappé listed as the most valuable player at $221 million. Barcelona follow with $1.60 billion, Lamine Yamal accounting for $403.9 million of that total. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain each sit at $1.55 billion, with Bukayo Saka ($131.5 million) and Désiré Doué ($150.3 million) named as their most valuable players respectively.
Liverpool’s roster is valued at $1.20 billion, most valuable player Florian Wirtz ($149.8 million). Bayern Munich come in at $1.15 billion with Michael Olise ($162.6 million) as their top-rated asset. Tottenham’s squad is valued at $1.03 billion; Xavi Simons is listed as their most valuable player ($98.1 million), despite the club’s current relegation fight and Igor Tudor’s assessment that players “are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal.”
The list also includes Manchester United ($953 million, Benjamin Šeško $100.3 million) and Inter ($942 million, Lautaro Martínez $117 million). Earlier-positioned squads under $1 billion include Atlético Madrid ($903 million, Julián Álvarez $136.5 million), Juventus ($896 million, Kenan Yıldız $152.5 million) and Brighton ($894 million, Diego Gómez $86.4 million).
Several voices in the game have reflected on the market changes. Karl-Heinz Rumminegge said, “There are some players who do not come with a price tag.” Robert Lewandowski complained, “You are young, you score 10 goals in six months and some club will pay 60 or 70 million,” adding, “Before, you had to achieve something.” Vincent Kompany warned players about hype: “I always tell my players, ‘When there’s hype please don’t believe it, you’re not that good.’”
Whether the valuations mirror on-field quality or the inflation of a transfer market remains the central question CIES data brings into focus.
Arsenal
KMI: Brighton Were Wrongly Denied Penalty in 1–0 Loss to Arsenal
KMI rules Brighton were wrongly denied a penalty in Arsenal loss, marking a third post-match review.
The Premier League Key Match Incidents panel has concluded that Brighton & Hove Albion were wrongly denied a penalty in their 1–0 defeat to Arsenal earlier this month. The panel found that on-field referee Chris Kavanagh should have awarded a spot-kick and that VAR Michael Salisbury was wrong not to intervene.
During the match Kavanagh did not call for a foul and VAR Michael Salisbury cleared the incident, with the Match Centre then taking to social media to confirm “no clear and obvious error” was detected. The KMI panel, which is made up of three former players or coaches and one representative from both the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials Limited, has now overruled that assessment.
Arsenal’s victory over Brighton took them seven points clear at the top of the standings after Manchester City were held by Nottingham Forest. It is impossible to predict how the award of a penalty for Brighton might have impacted both that specific game and the wider title race. If converted, it would have changed the trajectory of the game, but Arsenal could still have gone on to win.
This is the third time this season that the KMI panel has issued a ruling that has gone against a decision which benefited Arsenal. Earlier this month the panel decided Declan Rice should have conceded a penalty for handball in a 2–1 victory over Chelsea, noting he wrapped his hands around Jorrel Hato and deflected the ball away with his arm. The Blues did score moments later in an unrelated play.
In December the panel ruled that William Saliba was wrongly saved from conceding a penalty against Everton striker Thierno Barry in a game that ended 1–0 in Arsenal’s favor. Salisbury was the VAR for that game as well.
The repeated post-match findings raise questions about the application of video review in key moments and the consistency of on-field and VAR decisions, as highlighted by the panel’s latest statement.
