Kai Havertz climbed off the bench to fire Arsenal to the top of the Premier League with a late winner to sink Brentford 1-0. Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at lunchtime left the door open for the Gunners to hit the summit for the first time since May 2. They did not look like doing so for 89 minutes against a stubborn Brentford side, and at times were grateful the hosts did not punish some rudimentary errors from goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. But 10 minutes after coming off the bench, Havertz struck at the far post to convert Bukayo Saka’s cross and lift Arsenal back to the top for the first time since last season’s title bid fizzled out. Ramsdale was back in the spotlight on his first Premier League appearance since September 3 with David Raya, now seemingly the club’s undisputed number one, still on loan from Brentford and ineligible to face his parent club. The England keeper made a nervous start with a shanked clearance into touch, and, with his every move mocked by the Bees fans, then proceeded to almost gift Brentford an early goal. Having exchanged passes with Gabriel from a goal kick, Ramsdale suddenly developed a bout of the yips, hesitating with his clearance and allowing Yoane Wissa to pinch the ball away. Luckily for Ramsdale, Declan Rice had already spotted the danger and got back to clear Bryan Mbeumo’s shot off the line, before Wissa put the rebound wide. But Ramsdale hid his face under his shirt following another embarrassing error before half-time, somehow letting the ball slip out of his hand. Instead of throwing it up-field he ended up looking like a fast bowler delivering a bouncer which went straight to Bees midfielder Frank Onyeka. The danger was quickly cleared, however. The Gunners were faring little better at the other end with striker Gabriel Jesus, making his first Premier League appearance in a month, heading into the side-netting and blazing a shot over. They did get the ball in the net just before half-time thanks to more inauspicious goalkeeping, this time from Mark Flekken, who palmed a Jesus header into the air, allowing Leandro Trossard to bundle it home, but VAR ruled the Belgian was offside. Mikel Arteta, who launched his recent VAR rant after his side were beaten by a goal scored from a very similar position by Newcastle, looked on impassively from the touchline. Brentford had chances after the break, with Mbeumo firing off target, Yehor Yarmoliuk shooting straight at Ramsdale and substitute Neal Maupay prodding wide from close range. But the Gunners won it when Saka swung in a cross from the right and Havertz ghosted in at the far post to plant his header past Flekken and send them back to the top of the pile. Read More Jannik Sinner stuns Novak Djokovic to send Italy through to Davis Cup final We have to be better – Brendan Rodgers says Celtic’s penalty record must improve Mauricio Pochettino angry as ‘soft’ Chelsea fall apart at Newcastle Brighton boss explains ‘big, big celebration’ and says no disrespect was meant Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola full of praise for two-goal Marcus Tavernier Joe Root joins England captain Ben Stokes in skipping next Indian Premier League

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England go into the season’s first international break with cause to worry once more about the lack of homegrown players in the Premier League. Less than 30 per cent of playing time in the early stages of the campaign has gone to players eligible for England, continuing a running concern for national team boss Gareth Southgate. Here, the PA news agency looks at what the data can tell us. Struggle for playing time Of 86,710 minutes played by Premier League players this season, 25,399 have gone to players eligible for England. That equates to 29.3 per cent of the available playing time, a slight decline on recent seasons as a peak to nearly 40 per cent in the 2020-21 season was not sustained. Southgate said during March’s international window: “It has been around 32 per cent (in 2022-23) but that’s down from 35 per cent when I took over and 38 per cent in the years before, so the graph is clear.” The issue has been part of the ongoing ‘New Deal For Football’ discussions between the FA, Premier League and EFL, which covers the post-Brexit system of Governing Body Endorsements (GBEs) for overseas players, as well as financial distribution, cost controls and the domestic calendar. There have been 161 England-qualified players (EQPs) used in the 39 games so far, with 20 of those playing over 400 minutes including stoppage time. Eight of those 20 made Southgate’s squad for the upcoming games against Ukraine and Scotland, including Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, who joined Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah in earning a first senior call-up. Leading clubs Six clubs have so far given over 40 per cent of playing time to EQPs, a list headed by Everton at 49.4 per cent. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been ever-present for the Toffees along with veteran compatriot Ashley Young, with James Tarkowski just seven minutes behind. James Garner has been a mainstay in midfield, while defender Michael Keane was replaced after two games by fellow Englishman Jarrad Branthwaite. Newcastle have three English ever-presents in Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn. Trippier is in this month’s England squad though Pope was surprisingly left out. Anthony Gordon is another regular, with significant playing time too for Callum Wilson, Harvey Barnes and Sean Longstaff. Newcastle’s total includes just under 90 minutes for Elliot Anderson, the midfielder selected by Scotland for this window but who remains eligible for England until he makes a competitive debut – potentially against the Three Lions next Tuesday. Crystal Palace have three players in Southgate’s latest squad – Pope’s replacement Sam Johnstone, Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze – after giving over 45 per cent of playing time to EQPs. Arsenal are at 43 per cent, Luton 42 and Chelsea 40. Fulham lagging behind At the other end of the scale, Fulham have used only two EQPs so far this season and one of those, Tosin Adarabioyo, has played only 12 minutes. That leaves Harrison Reed carrying the load in a paltry total of just over seven per cent, the only single-figure mark in the top flight. Tottenham have fared little better at 11 per cent following the departure of Southgate’s captain Harry Kane for German side Bayern Munich – one of four members of the England squad playing his football overseas, along with Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham, Fikayo Tomori of AC Milan and Jordan Henderson following his controversial move to Al-Ettifaq. Brentford are at 13 per cent without suspended England striker Ivan Toney, with the ever-present Rico Henry instead leading the way. Burnley are next lowest at 15 per cent with Wolves, Aston Villa and Henderson’s former club Liverpool all giving between 17.5 and 18.5 per cent of playing time to EQPs. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Luke Donald ‘blown away’ by Ludvig Aberg as Swede handed Ryder Cup wild card Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher feeling ‘unbelievably healthy’ ahead of World Cup Owen Farrell says high tackle that led to World Cup suspension ‘a mistake’

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Pep Guardiola lost back-to-back Premier League games for only the third time as Manchester City went down 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday. It has happened only six times in all competitions for City under Guardiola and here, the PA news agency looks at the Spaniard’s overall managerial record. No points from six Gabriel Martinelli’s winner for Arsenal followed Hwang Hee-chan’s for Wolves against City last weekend. It was the first time City had taken no points from a pair of league games since losing to Crystal Palace and Leicester across Christmas 2018. Luka Milivojevic’s penalty proved decisive for Palace before Kevin De Bruyne cut the final margin to 3-2, and Leicester then overcame Bernardo Silva’s Boxing Day opener to win 2-1 through Marc Albrighton and Ricardo Pereira. The Foxes were also the team to inflict City’s second successive loss in December 2016, Jamie Vardy with a hat-trick as Claudio Ranieri’s side won 4-2. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were suspended after late red cards as City lost their previous game 3-1 to Chelsea. Long run at an end Before this weekend, City were out on their own in terms of time without back-to-back Premier League defeats. Ten teams had suffered that fate this season – Burnley, Sheffield United and Bournemouth most recently, plus West Ham, Brentford, Luton, Manchester United, Wolves, Newcastle and Everton. Eight more of the 20 current top-flight sides – Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Crystal Palace – lost back-to-back games earlier in 2023. The one other exception, Brighton, last did so in October of last year – almost four years more recently than City, whose run since Boxing Day 2018 stood at 178 games. City host Brighton in their next game after the international break. Three in a row Albion will be the team looking to inflict a first hat-trick of Premier League defeats on Guardiola, whose team are alone in losing no more than two in a row since his arrival in 2016. Arsenal and Spurs are closest with their longest run being three defeats. Fulham had the longest losing run overall, nine games, with eight for Sheffield United and Palace. Guardiola has twice lost three in a row across all competitions with City, first in April 2018 when a 3-2 league defeat to a Paul Pogba-inspired Manchester United was sandwiched between losses in both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool. The other sequence spanned three competitions and two seasons – the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea followed by the Community Shield against Leicester and the 2021-22 Premier League opener at Tottenham. The recent Wolves loss came on the back of a Carabao Cup exit against Newcastle, while the December 2018 Premier League defeats were uninterrupted by any other competition. The other pairs came in early 2020, to Manchester United in the League Cup and Tottenham in the league, and January of this year when Southampton knocked them out of the Carabao Cup – and denied them a shot at a quadruple – before the Red Devils beat them in the league. Long-term pattern for Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side lost back-to-back LaLiga games only twice in four seasons, both in 2009 – first to Espanyol and Atletico Madrid, then Mallorca and Osasuna. They also lost Champions League and league games consecutively twice, to Wisla Krakow and Numancia in his second and third games in charge in 2008 and to Chelsea and Real Madrid in April 2012. With Bayern Munich in May 2015, he suffered consecutive defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg domestically and Barca in the Champions League. They won the return leg of that tie but Freiburg then made it three straight league defeats. His only other consecutive Bundesliga losses came in April 2014 against Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund. Read More Beating Manchester City will only boost Arsenal’s belief – Gabriel Martinelli John Eustace sacked amid reports Birmingham keen to make Wayne Rooney manager Ireland wings Mack Hansen and James Lowe on mend ahead of New Zealand showdown Jos Buttler concerned by ‘poor’ outfield ahead of England clash with Bangladesh Football rumours: Wayne Rooney in the running for Birmingham job Quarterback Brock Purdy stars as San Francisco 49ers thrash the Dallas Cowboys