Reds’ awkward axing dilemma; verdict on ‘turning point’ in Spurs’ relegation dogfight — Talking Pts

Tottenham offered a glimmer of hope in their fight against relegation, while a Manchester United great urged his old clubs to look away from interim boss Michael Carrick in their search for a permanent manager.

Last year it would have been unthinkable for questions about the future of Liverpool manager Arne Slot to be raised, but after the Reds were booed off at Anfield the Dutchman is being queried.

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Arsenal’s march towards the Premier League featured a historic contribution from teenager Max Dowman and a big boost from Manchester City’s slip up.

Erling Haaland’s barren run has raised concerns for Pep Guardiola’s side as they fell nine points behind the Gunners.

Scroll down for the biggest talking points from the weekend’s Premier League action!

SPURS HOPE FOR SALVATION

Just moments away from another damaging defeat in a dismal season that threatens to end in the humiliation of relegation, Tottenham savoured a moment of hope when Richarlison’s scuffed strike hit the back of the net at Anfield.

Trailing to Dominik Szoboszlai’s 18th-minute free-kick, Igor Tudor’s side salvaged a 1-1 draw against Liverpool thanks to Richarlison’s 90th-minute goal.

Instead of sitting level on points with third-bottom West Ham and fourth-bottom Nottingham Forest, 16th-placed Tottenham hold a slender one-point advantage over their relegation rivals.

The gritty draw was just reward for an improved second-half display as Tottenham ended a run of five successive league defeats.

They are still winless in 12 league games, but the sight of Tudor jubilantly punching the air after Richarlison’s goal underlined the significance of the result.

With a crucial clash against Forest scheduled for next week, Tottenham still have their fate in their own hands.

No wonder a relieved Tudor called the draw a potential “turning point” in the relegation fight.

The change in attitude on the pitch was evident.

“[Spurs strikers] gave them an outlet and Liverpool struggled to deal with it. You always think there is a softness to Spurs but the physicality of the two players up front were a huge bonus,” Manchester United great Roy Keane said on Sky Sports.

“They were knocking people over. Between now and the end of the season they’ll have battles every week. Forest are their next game – huge.”

Former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp agreed with Keane that Spurs appeared to have found something that could hold them in good stead for the remainder of the campaign.

“All game, [Richarlison] was a thorn in their side, Gomez and van Dijk. He had a bit of physicality,” he said on Sky Sports.

“Spurs might have fallen on a system here, with two strikers: Richarlison and Solanke. They’re a handful. They were powerful.

“It wasn’t pretty, but they had opportunities. It just became uncomfortable for Liverpool. The longer it went on, you thought they would get something.

“Jamie Carragher said it best – Liverpool were sleepwalking into it.”

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‘BETTER OPTIONS OUT THERE’: UTD GREAT’S MANAGER CALL

Manchester United picked up a significant three points with a 3-1 victory against fellow top four team Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Sitting in third place, five points clear of fifth placed Liverpool and six points clear of sixth placed Chelsea, United are in the box seat for a Champions League berth next season.

The result was also a significant boost to interim manager Michael Carrick’s chances of being appointed permanently.

Villa boss Unai Emery has been touted as a potential option for United, even though former Red Devils captain Gary Neville believes the Spanish manager’s time at a rival will rule him out of contention.

“I think he’s the second best manager in the league,” Neville said on his podcast.

“Unai Emery is exceptional, but I can say now: if Manchester United finish in the Champions League, which I think they will – I don’t think they will take Michael Carrick out and put Unai Emery in.

“I don’t think they’ll do that- and that’s not because I think Michael Carrick’s a better coach than Unai Emery.

“I think that Unai Emery is exceptional and he’s proved himself all over Europe and won trophies all over Europe.

“However I just think that they’ll think – because of his record previously at Arsenal – that it’ll be too big a risk to bring him into Manchester United, a bit too much upheaval.”

Neville’s treble winning teammate Roy Keane stopped short of choosing his preferred appointment.

But the former Premier League hard man said he would not give the job to his former teammate Carrick.

“I think there’s better options out there,” Keane said on Sky Sports.

“I think the games where he’s come in – there’s been no jeopardy. Three weeks to prepare for the matches.

“If Carrick would have been mentioned three months ago, you would have been locked up.

“It was a good time for him to go in, and he’s done a good job.

“But I think there’s far better options out there to be the manager of Man Utd. Simple as that.

“Man Utd will have to go out and interview people, and see what’s out there.”

United were well and truly out of the title race, had no European football and were eliminated from both domestic cups at the first stage before Carrick was brought in.

Many have been impressed with the charge towards the Champions League under Carrick.

But Keane believes it has been overstated because aside from a European berth, the squad have had nothing on the line.

“Most players love a caretaker manager. He hasn’t had any distractions,” Keane said.

“When you get appointed manager, you have a lot of different responsibilities.

“I think Man Utd need someone with more experienced of winning trophies, competing in Europe, and he hasn’t got that.

“All this chat that everyone loves him – I don’t know if everyone was loving him last week when they couldn’t beat a Newcastle team with 10 men.

“The timing was good for Man Utd. Remember this is the same team who finished 15th. People get giddy that United are third in the league – I don’t. I’m not one of them.

“I get excited when teams are winning trophies.”

‘BIG QUESTION ON EVERYBODY’S LIPS’: REDS BOSS COULD BE THE PROBLEM

Speaking of managerial matters, Arne Slot has a few headaches.

Liverpool were booed off by their own fans at Anfield after the 1-1 draw to Tottenham.

The result means they are winless in their last two league games – having been beaten by last-placed Wolves in their previous outings.

They were also defeated at Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash in Turkey midweek.

The Reds have similarly failed to harness any momentum this season.

They won three league matches in a row before the Wolves loss.

Liverpool great Jamie Carragher was left dumbfounded by the showing against Spurs and believes now questions must be asked of Slot, who won the league in first season on Merseyside.

“It was an awful performance. No disrespect to Tottenham but they are the worst team in the Premier League now, probably for the last couple of months,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“They are exactly who you want to play, playing at home, the incentive of your results this weekend and to put in performance like that. But it’s been like that all season.

“And the big question on everybody’s lips is that down to the manager or the makeup of the squad? Could a new manager completely revitalise these type of players and bring that energy and sort of intensity back into this team? I’m not sure.

“I think a lot of it goes back to what happened in the summer, the profile of the players that came in and there’s just too many players who just want to play when the ball’s at their feet. They don’t want to dig in and make it difficult. That’s why it’s so easy to play against this Liverpool team.”

Dominik Szoboszlai’s 18th-minute free-kick gave the Reds the lead, but the Hungarian was left frustrated by his team’s fade out.

He also shared that he could understand the supporters’ disappointment.

“We have to wake up. If we keep going like this, next season we should be happy if we play Conference League,” Szoboszlai told Sky Sports post-game.

“In the first half, we played very well. We controlled the whole game, they hardly created many chances.

“Second half, I don’t know, we just don’t do the same things like in the first half. The question is why? We will sit down together. This is the most difficult time. We have to stick together.

“I didn’t hear the boos [at full-time] but I can understand because last season we became champions and this season we are not performing in the way that we should be.

“They should stay behind us because last season, when we were champions four games before the end, everybody was happy. Support us now when we’re in difficult times.”

WUNDERKIND ANNOUNCES HIMSELF TO THE WORLD

Questions over Arsenal’s lack of guile and ability to handle the mental strain of going for a first league title in 22 years were about to be raised once more — until Mikel Arteta’s men were saved by 16-year-old Max Dowman.

“He changed the game every time he got the ball,” Arteta, who tore down the touchline in manic celebration at both his side’s late goals in Saturday’s dramatic 2-0 win over Everton, said.

Dowman was the creator for the opener as his cross deceived Jordan Pickford, handing Viktor Gyokeres a tap-in.

Pickford was stranded upfield moments later after going forward for a late Everton corner when Arsenal broke.

Dowman collected possession deep inside his own half and wove past Vitaliy Mykolenko and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall before running free towards an open goal and becoming the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history.

“To do it at that age, in this context, with the pressure and expectations to win the game, it’s just not normal,” Arteta added.

The Gunners boss has a delicate balancing act to strike between giving Dowman the minutes to flourish while not putting too much expectation on his shoulders.

But his impact has taken Arsenal a giant strike towards ending their long wait for the title, with the leaders now nine points ahead of second-placed Manchester City.

“You think of magical Premier League moments,” Gary Neville said on his podcast.

“I’m not an Arsenal fan but I felt a little bit emotional watching that last night just for the young kid.

“It was really special in a number of ways. One, the celebration, just the players on the pitch, the way in which you know that’s how football should be.

“I thought it was an absolute beautiful goal – you need to be exceptional to be able to do that.

“He made it look so easy that it looked like anybody could do it but honestly, there are very few who could do that – and to do it at 16.

“It felt like a defining moment in Arsenal’s modern history.”

CITY SLUMP, HAALAND BARREN SPELL

Manchester City remain alive for now in four competitions, but their season is at risk of unravelling quickly.

Draws against two of the sides in the relegation battle — West Ham and Nottingham Forest — in their last two league games have allowed Arsenal to gallop clear at the top.

City have a mountain to climb when 15-time European champions Real Madrid visit the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday protecting a 3-0 first-leg lead.

And they go head-to-head with Arsenal for the first silverware of the season in next weekend’s League Cup final.

Early in the campaign, City were able to rely on a steady stream of Erling Haaland goals to keep pace at the top of the table, but the Norwegian’s form has tailed off in 2026.

Of Haaland’s 42 goals for club and country this season, 38 came in his first 28 appearances of the campaign.

And two of his four in the 18 games since have come from the penalty spot.

“Erling knows it, we need his goals but we need to create more,” City boss Pep Guardiola said.

“For him to be involved we have to create that threat. He will be back soon.”

Guardiola was also unwilling the say the title race is over, saying his team has the ability to run down Arsenal.

“No, it’s not over. We didn’t lose. We continue,” he told TNT Sports.

“We have an incredible team spirit and we fought after an incredible amount of effort in Madrid, the result and how we play.

“First, we have more control for the shape, for the quality of the players, and we put energy in the second half with incredible talent players. The last two games, nothing for us.

“We played much, much better. Not just the stats, the feelings. We are an incredible team. We play so good. The players guide and go, until the end, we continue.

“It will happen that season. We didn’t score enough goals when we had the quality to score and with a lack of scoring goals, the punishments.

“Because a team can score one goal, even two, but we always had that team’s ability to score a lot, a lot, a lot. I don’t know how many times we scored five goals in ten years, having incredible stats and that.

“And this season, we had the chance. I remember perfect Sunderland and Chelsea at home, Brighton at home and today, nothing for us.

“That, of course, today in modern football, playing 90, 95 minutes, being consistent is difficult, but our momentum is there and the stats are always there.

“Except for two games, Arsenal away, United away. We didn’t deserve anything. The rest, we have been better. And unfortunately, we didn’t score enough goals. That is the punishment this season when we had the quality to score.”