Weekend talking points: Pogba’s penalty, on-song Salah and a Madrid mare
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Round-up of the weekend’s action
Another weekend has come and gone, with events overshadowed by the tragic incident at Leicester.
We’ve wrapped up the weekend’s talking points right here:
Paul Pogba show isn’t good for Man United or Mourinho
Manchester United impressed in patches during their 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday.
Goals from Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial downed the Toffees, but the former is again claiming the headlines.
The Frenchman took 26 steps in the run-up for his penalty. Usain Bolt ran his world record 100m quicker than the time it took Pogba to connect with the ball.
It was all a touch unnecessary, especially as Jordan Pickford saved the initial spot-kick, and again suggested that rather try and haul his side out of their current struggles, Pogba is more interested in satisfying his own ego.
United are now five points off the top four, with 11/4 saying they finish in the leading quartet this season.
Liverpool’s goalscoring problems are over
After a difficult few weeks in front of goal, Liverpool’s famed trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah are firmly back in business.
The Reds beat Cardiff City 4-0 on Saturday, with Salah and Mane (2) on the scoresheet. It follows on from last week’s 4-0 thrashing of Crvena Zvezda in the Champions League, when all three players netted.
And it means that after bagging the winner against Huddersfield Town a week ago, Salah has now scored four goals in his last three games.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are 5/2 to win the league, and now firing in the goals again, are 11/10 to win at Arsenal next weekend.
No Messi no problem for Barcelona
Sunday’s El Clasico was the first fixture not to include Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo since 2007.
But Barcelona didn’t miss their star player as they hammered Real Madrid 5-1. Luis Suarez grabbed a hat-trick as Real capitulated at the Camp Nou.
It’s been a nightmare start for under-fire Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui and such a hammering against Real’s biggest rivals could be the nail in the coffin.
It’s believed that the side are already in talks with Antonio Conte to succeed the Spaniard at the Bernabeu, and the Italian is 1/2 favourite to be the next Real boss.
Galaxy collapse to miss out on playoffs
Sunday was decision day in MLS, as the final round of regular season fixtures took place.
But it proved to be a disastrous day for LA Galaxy, who threw away a 2-0 lead at home to Houston Dynamos.
Houston had nothing to play for, while the Galaxy were looking to steal the final playoff spot from Real Salt Lake. But after going 2-0 up in the first-half, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s side conceded three times after the interval to bring a sombre end to their campaign.
Hamilton wins fifth world title in Mexico
Lewis Hamilton can now call himself a five-time world champion after finishing fourth in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.
The Mercedes ace now sits alongside Juan Manuel Fangio on five championships, with only Michael Schumacher on seven still ahead of him.
Max Verstappen won the race from Hamilton’s title rival Sebastian Vettel.
There are two races remaining this year, but Hamilton will now turn his attention to next season, for which he is 5/6 favourite to win the 2019 title, ahead of Vettel at 11/4.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
