Thursday’s briefing: Arsenal march on and Celtic unveil new manager

Arsenal increased their stranglehold on the Premier League title race with a routine 2-0 home win over Brentford, but Liverpool and Chelsea dropped points on a dramatic Wednesday night.

The Gunners were indebted to goals in either half from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka for another professional victory, which made it 18 unbeaten in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s side.

Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland and Chelsea tasted defeat on the road at old rivals Leeds, which has opened the door for Manchester United to go fourth on Thursday against West Ham.

Injuries put negative note on latest Arsenal win

Arteta fears Arsenal’s latest three points in the Premier League has come at a major cost.

The Gunners cruised past Brentford by a 2-0 scoreline, but with first-choice pair Wiliam Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes already sidelined, the hosts’ lost Declan Rice to what seemed a calf issue and Cristhian Mosquera limped off

“Obviously it’s never good news. Declan had to come off. We don’t know. We have to see tomorrow what he’s got,” Arteta said.

“He can walk. He cannot play. The thing is, he’s played a lot of minutes but as well, now we played Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well.

“We can play minutes but if they can please give us just a little more time to recover and to make the welfare of these players a little bit easier, that would be great.”

No more Anfield fear-factor, says Slot

Arne Slot admitted Anfield may be losing its fear factor for opposing teams after Liverpool had to come from behind to draw 1-1 with Sunderland.

Chemsdine Talbi’s 67th-minute goal threatened to shock the defending Premier League champions until Florian Wirtz danced through the defence and saw his shot go in off Nordi Mukiele.

“It is clear that teams who play us think they can get a result,” said head coach Slot, whose side narrowly avoided a 10th defeat in 14 matches.

“In the second half there was only one team that had the ball, but if they had one free-kick they could bring it to our half with a long ball, that is a danger with them.”

Leeds ease pressure on Farke with classic Chelsea win

Daniel Farke toasted a great night for Leeds after they claimed a memorable 3-1 win over Chelsea.

Slovenia defender Jaka Bijol’s thumping header and Ao Tanaka’s superb 25-yard effort gave Leeds a 2-0 interval lead before Pedro Neto pulled one back for Chelsea, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin settled the contest late on.

Farke, whose side halted a four-game losing run, said: “It felt like it was a long time coming, but the players deserve to have a night like like this because I can’t really remember one poor home performance in the last 15 months.

“We wanted to be back in the big time, to play against the best sides in the world, and to have Elland Road rocking at its best, in the unbelievable atmosphere. A great night for everyone who is involved with Leeds United.”

O’Neill leaves to acclaim as Celtic turn to Nancy

Wilfried Nancy declared himself ready to meet the “high standards and real demands” of the Celtic fans after being confirmed as the club’s new manager.

The appointment was announced just before Martin O’Neill’s final game as caretaker manager, against Dundee at Celtic Park.

Nancy, who has signed a deal until 2028, arrives following a protracted move from Columbus Crew, where he won the MLS Cup.

The Frenchman thanked O’Neill and Shaun Maloney for their “fantastic” work in interim charge, saying: “Now it’s up to me to carry on this great work and carry our great club forward and I can’t wait to get going and become part of such a brilliant institution.”

Amorim offers backing to fit-again Cunha despite goal struggles

Ruben Amorim suggested Matheus Cunha has been obsessing over his lack of goals as the fit-again Manchester United forward returns to the fold.

The 26-year-old became the Red Devils’ first signing of the summer when completing a £62.5million switch from Wolves in June.

Cunha has impressed in his early months at Old Trafford but has only scored once in 11 appearances, compared to the 15 Premier League goals and six assists he provided last term.

“I think he has more levels to go,” Amorim said. “He is in a different club, different pressure, but I think he copes with that really well.

“He was struggling because he was not scoring and he was thinking too much about the numbers. The influence that he has in the team is so important for us, but I think Cunha has so much to grow defensively and offensively.”

What’s on today?

Man United can go joint level with Chelsea in fourth spot, whilst there is domestic cup action in both Spain and Italy.