1. Mejbri handed four-match ban and fine
Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri has been handed a four-match ban and £15,000 fine for misconduct in October’s game against Leeds. The midfielder was referred to an independent regulatory commission after spitting in the direction of visiting fans at Turf Moore around the 67th minute as Burnley won 2-0, the Football Association said.
An FA statement said: “An independent Regulatory Commission has sanctioned Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri for misconduct during their Premier League match against Leeds on 18 October. It was alleged that the player acted in breach of the laws of the game and/or in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or indecent behaviour by spitting at or in the direction of Leeds United supporters around the 67th minute.
“Mejbri subsequently admitted the charge, and the Regulatory Commission imposed a four-match suspension and £15,000 fine following a hearing. The Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for its decisions will be published in due course.”
Burnley, 19th in the table, have lost five matches in a row and visit 12th-placed Newcastle on Saturday. Guardian sport
2. Maresca singles out Tosin’s gaffes to prove a point
Enzo Maresca has argued that a lack of experience is not an issue at Chelsea, pointing out that Tosin Adarabioyo’s age did not stop the 28-year-old defender from playing poorly during a 3-1 defeat to Leeds United on Wednesday.
The Chelsea head coach has the youngest team in the Premier League but he does not feel that mentality played a part in the setback at Elland Road. Maresca made his case by singling out Tosin for criticism after Chelsea’s oldest player came into the XI and produced an error-strewn display in central defence.
“We always talk about experience when we drop points,” Maresca said. “When we beat Barcelona, we drew against Arsenal, no one was mentioning about experienced players. I understand that when we don’t win, we are always looking for the reason why, but I think the reason why we didn’t win against Leeds is not because of the experience, it’s because we were not good enough.
“Who is the oldest one for us in the pitch? Who was? Tosin. Did he play good? So, it’s not about experience. It’s about that 11 players, they were not good enough. I know that we are always looking for experience, but it was a bad game for all of us.”
Chelsea missed the suspended Moisés Caicedo against Leeds. The midfielder’s absence was compounded by Maresca, who made five changes from the 1-1 draw with Arsenal, resting Reece James, Pedro Neto and Wesley Fofana. However, he once again defended his rotation policy, pointing out that he has to protect players such as James and Fofana from injury.
“Most of the rotation we do is because the other one cannot play,” the Italian said. “We have players that are, in this moment, not able to play every three days. And this is the reason for most of the rotation. When you pick 11 players and you win, everything is fine. When you pick 11 players and you don’t win, there is always a reason why.” Jacob Steinberg
3. Guardiola’s defence ‘has to improve’
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City have learnt from their midweek scare at Fulham and the game has now been forgotten. City held on for a 5-4 victory in a remarkable clash at Craven Cottage on Tuesday having led 5-1 with almost an hour gone.
Coming after they fought off a Leeds fightback to win 3-2 in their previous game, it raised more questions about whether City are resilient enough to sustain a challenge to leaders Arsenal. “It’s forgotten,” Guardiola said. “Good learnings, hopefully. In the Premier League, at all the clubs, you have to learn from what happens in the good things and bad things and think of the next one. Of course I’m concerned. We try to understand what happened, to not concede the goals.
“With the three goals [scored] against Leeds, and the five goals against Fulham you can see the two versions, right? So, always we have done many good things. But how many shots on target had Leeds? Three? Scored two. It’s not bad. How many shots on target Fulham? Five, six? So, the average of shots conceded we can see is high. We have to improve.”
Guardiola also confirmed that Rodri, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, will play no part against Sunderland He is, however, “getting better”. Guardian sport
4. Newcastle focus on Livramento and Botman deals
Newcastle’s new sporting director, Ross Wilson, has placed contract negotiations with the key defenders Tino Livramento and Sven Botman at the top of his to do list at St James’ Park. Wilson arrived from Nottingham Forest in October and was reassured to learn the club’s Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali has a deal extending to 2029 and, potentially, 2030.
That has left Wilson free to prioritise talks with Livramento and Botman’s agents, but with the former’s agreement set to expire in 2027 and the latter’s a year later, Newcastle’s talks have assumed a certain urgency.
“My first three or four days in the job was when I found that Sandro’s contract situation as significantly better than the one I was expecting,” said Wilson, who does not want the club’s players running down their contracts down.
“But it’s no secret that we would want to extend Tino’s contract and we would want to extend Sven Botman’s too. Those discussions are ongoing. Some discussions are more difficult than others, but the desire would be to keep those players. Will they agree those contracts? At the moment, I think it’s too early to say.”
Eddie Howe will be without Botman at home to Burnley on Saturday and the defender is likely to be sidelined for at least another week. More positively, Newcastle’s manager hopes Yoane Wissa could make his long awaited debut. The £55m signing has been working his way back to fitness after sustaining a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo in early September. Louise Taylor
5. Nuno says Paquetá will start for West Ham
Nuno Espírito Santo has confirmed Lucas Paquetá will return for West Ham to face Brighton on Sunday after serving his suspension for the red card he received against Liverpool. “It is in the past. I am positive it will not happen again because he personally admitted his mistake,” the West Ham manager said. “We spoke about it in the dressing room. I am positive it is over and it will not be repeated.”
Nuno also understands the intense pressure on his side, who are 18th before the weekend firstures. “We cannot avoid it,” he said. “It is a reality. We have to face it. We are fighting for survival. We cannot hide it. The results of other teams we cannot control. It is up to us.”
Nuno hopes the injured Crysencio Summerville will return soon and said the left-back Oliver Scarles is expected to return to the squad after should he pass a medical on Monday. He added: “We are going to need him because we lose our full-backs to Afcon.”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka will join up with DR Congo and El Hadji Malick Diouf with Senegal for the tournament in Morocco, which starts on 21 December. Jamie Jackson
6. Arteta impressed by No 9 stand-in Merino
Mikel Merino could continue as Arsenal’s central striker even when their regular frontmen are fit again. The midfielder has been playing as an emergency No 9 in the absence of Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus through injury and scored Arsenal’s first goal against Brentford on Wednesday and set up Bukayo Saka for the second as a 2-0 win maintained their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta admits Merino’s performances as a forward mean he remains an option even though Gyokeres and Jesus are edging back to fitness. “I think he has earned at least to be in the thinking behind it for the way he’s performing and the impact that he’s bringing to the team, so that’s a yes,” said the Arsenal manager. “And playing together, those are the things that we have prepared during the summer because of the squad that we have, and so far we haven’t been able to.”
Arsenal are hopeful Declan Rice will shake off the calf knock he picked up against Brentford in time to face Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime. Cristhian Mosquera is a doubt due to an ankle problem while fellow defender Gabriel is still out with a thigh injury. PA Media