The final week before Christmas saw four clubs win the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, each one step closer to lifting a first major trophy of the 2024/25 season.
Liverpool and Arsenal recorded narrow wins over Southampton and Crystal Palace respectively, while Newcastle United were more comfortable beating Brentford. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United then went head-to-head in north London to wrap things up 24 hours later.
With help Footmob player ratings, 90min He chooses the best player from each of the four links…
The best player on the field like Liverpool narrowly beat Southampton without a coach At St Mary's there was no Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, or even top scorer Darwin Nunez. Instead, Wataru Endo earned this honor due to his powerful and empowering presentation.
The Japan international made an unusual start in the back four due to injuries and the rest of Virgil van Dijk. But he was brilliant, barely missing a pass, winning all four tackles, all eight ground duels and three of five aerial duels.
For Dominic Solanke, this week's game marked his fourth and fifth goals against Manchester in the 18 months since the start of last season – he simply scored He loves scoring against themNo matter who is playing.
He was the first of the pair to have a real poaching instinct, reacting quicker to the rebound and keeping his composure to trick the goalkeeper by finishing at the near post when the far post was the obvious choice. The second saw him cut in from the left and fire home from 18 yards.
Following his ten-month ban for betting breaches and returning to football in August, Wednesday night's performance against Brentford looks like it could have been the catalyst for Sandro Tonali to justify his place as the most expensive Italian player in history.
The Newcastle United midfielder scored two goals in the first half at St. James Park alone, the first with a shot from a distance and the second with a direct shot from a corner kick. Goals are not usually his game, but Tonali had five shots in total and, in one night, equaled his tally from the entire 2022/23 season for Milan. He clearly has the potential to be a real star for the Magpies.
Imagine waiting a year and a day for a home goal, and then three goals come in less than half an hour. this Exactly what happened to Gabriel Jesus this week.
The humble Brazilian has not scored a goal at the Emirates Stadium since December 17, 2023 when Arsenal hosted Crystal Palace, and that does not appear to be changing after the visitors surprisingly took the lead and Arsenal looked particularly meek.
The first half substitutions changed everything. This in turn gave Jesus three chances and he took each one of them with the same confidence as someone who routinely scores.
