Depleted Arsenal face huge test at Tottenham

Ten Hag under scrutiny at Southampton after three defeats

MANCHESTER, UK:

An under-strength Arsenal face a huge test of their Premier League title credentials at rivals Tottenham, while Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag desperately needs a response from his side at Southampton.

Arsenal have already blinked first in the title race to fall two points behind Manchester City and Liverpool.

The Gunners were held 1-1 at home by Brighton last time out after Declan Rice was harshly sent-off early in the second half.

Rice is therefore suspended for Sunday's north London derby to compound injury woes for Mikel Arteta.

Captain Martin Odegaard is expected to miss three weeks due to an ankle injury picked up on international duty with Norway.

New signing Mikel Merino is also absent from the Arsenal midfield with a shoulder injury.

However, there was some good news for Arsenal as Arteta signed a new three-year deal on Thursday.

"Together with the players and everyone at the club, we are looking forward to the coming years, with our supporters, who have emotionally transformed the club and the team," said the Spaniard.

Arteta has led Arsenal to second-place finishes in each of the past two seasons but he must come up with a masterplan to avoid leaving his side with an early mountain to climb in the title race.

A trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium kicks off a daunting run of three tough away games in eight days.

Arsenal face Europa League winners Atalanta on Thursday in the Champions League before a showdown against City.

Just three games into the new Premier League season, Erik ten Hag is under pressure once more after consecutive defeats for Manchester United.

A 3-0 humbling at the hands of Liverpool on the back of a 2-1 loss at Brighton has done little to suggest the Red Devils have made substantial progress from finishing eighth last season.

"We will see where we are in May. It is very early in the season and it is about winning trophies (and) being as high as possible in the league," Ten Hag said on Thursday.

"It (noise around the club) doesn't impact me - I know in the process where we are. We have to integrate a lot of young players in the team."

United head to promoted Southampton on Saturday lunchtime looking to avoid suffering three successive league defeats for the first time since December 2015.

The Saints are yet to register a point from their opening three games after bouncing back into the top flight.

Erling Haaland has started the season in ominous form for anyone hoping to snatch away City's crown after a record four consecutive titles for Pep Guardiola's men.

The Norwegian has scored back-to-back hat-tricks against Ipswich and West Ham, after also netting in the opening weekend win at Chelsea.

Haaland now has eight hat-tricks in just 69 Premier League games and is one of six players to score a hat-trick in two consecutive games.

No one has ever done three in a row, though, and the visit of Brentford to the Etihad offers the prolific 24-year-old a shot at more goalscoring history.

Maradona medical team's trial postponed

An Argentine court on Thursday delayed to March 2025 the long-awaited criminal trial of seven of the eight medical professionals accused of negligence in the death of Argentina football legend Diego Maradona.

The trial was set to start next month, after a previous postponement in May, but is now on track to begin on March 11 next year, according to a ruling seen by AFP.

Maradona died in November 2020 at age 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, after decades of battling cocaine and alcohol addictions.

He was found dead in bed two weeks after going under the knife, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighborhood where he was brought after being discharged from hospital.

He was found to have died of a heart attack.

In 2023, an Argentine appeals court said that neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and six others, including nurses, would stand trial in the matter, rejecting an appeal.

One of the nurses, Gisela Dahiana Madrid, has asked to be tried by jury separately, and her trial will proceed as planned on October 2.

Prosecutors have accused the eight medical professionals of providing "reckless" and "deficient" home treatment to Maradona.