The Warm-Up: Liverpool’s calamity is Arsenal’s gain

It’s a question that everybody’s struggled with this season, but Mikel Arteta might have cracked it. How do you beat Liverpool? Why, you wait until after they’ve won the title, help them light their huge cigar, hand them an extra-large margarita, and: profit!

Liverpool had 23 shots, and scored one of them. Arsenal had three, and scored two. Football is a silly thing. But it makes a certain amount of moral sense that the team that really wanted the points would get them, while the team that had no use for them would go without. From each according to their need, and so on. Virgil Van Dijk: radical redistributor.

Every silver lining has a cloud, however, and Arsenal need to be careful. Much more of this and they’ll end up qualifying for the Europa League, and that would ruin everything. Obviously it’s a nice competition and all, but they’ve just appointed a new manager to do some much-needed coaching. Give the man the midweek training sessions he needs. There’s an “enormous” gap to be made up.

The other consequence of this bizarre win is that Liverpool can no longer reach the 100 point mark. This will have a seismic impact on future debates regarding “the bestest best Premier League team ever”. Had Liverpool equalled Manchester City’s mark from two seasons ago, everybody might have been able to argue for whichever team they like best. Now, however— oh hang on, everyone’s going to do that anyway.

Juventus are going to win Serie A. You know this, they know this, everybody has known this since the season kicked off 13 years ago. But they are at least trying to make things interesting, by introducing some exciting defensive collapses to the final act.

That’s two points from three games, and two 2-0 leads thrown away. Admittedly, Milan, Atalanta, and Sassuolo are three of the most in-form teams in the division, but still: it doesn’t feel very Juventus. Last season they waited until the title was won to stop winning. This time they’re having a nap with the line in sight.

But despite this slump, they still have a seven-point gap back to Atalanta in second place. Juve have been stumbling, but the teams that were supposed to be challenging them — Lazio, Inter — have been clattering about the place with buckets stuck on their feet. Lazio are eight points back in third. Lazio have dropped 14 points since the restart. And Lazio’s next game is against … ah yes, Juventus.

Right now, Brentford are the best side in England. Since returning from the corona-break they’ve won seven on the bounce, and last night’s 1-0 win over Preston North End moved them to within three points of Championship leaders Leeds, and one point of West Brom and automatic promotion. Slaven Bilić doesn’t seem the nervy type, but maybe now’s a good time to start?

It’s an open secret that the Championship is England’s most exciting football competition, and the vicious, vindictive genius of the play-offs bears much of the responsibility. Every year, three teams end up trying to squeeze into two places; every year, some club ends up missing out, feeling sick, and then having to go out and play some more. It’s an awful thing to do to a collection of people, even as it is simultaneously a wonderful thing to watch.

Anyway, this particular aspect of the Warm-Up hivemind is fully behind Brentford’s late surge. Why, it only seems like yesterday we were watching a pink-and-blue shirted Ethan Pinnock gliding around the Isthmian League. And now he’s on the verge of the big time. What a ridiculous, wonderful sport this is.

In some other harsher, stricter universe, this was ruled out for dangerous play. But in that universe the stadium airhorn operator didn’t get to have the best 30 seconds of his life, and I think we can all agree that would have been a shame.

Another tribute to the late great Jack Charlton, courtesy of David Squires, resident cartoonist at the Guardian. Obviously it’s tricky to find a pull-quote from a comic strip, particularly one that has so few words, but cheers to Alf Ramsey for stepping up.

You know, on some level the practical reality of the Qatar World Cup hadn’t really sunk in. A World Cup in the middle of the regular season sounds unusual, sure, but we hadn’t actually thought the implications through.

Then FIFA published the schedule. And we looked at it. And our thinking went like this, more or less: Four games a day. Heavy going. Later kick-offs, that makes sense. And oh wow there’s going to be a World Cup final one week before Christmas. Then we kind of passed out for a bit.

Leeds are hoping to open up a six-point gap at the top of the Championship against Barnsley. Manchester United will renew their push for the top four against Crystal Palace; Leicester the same against Sheffield United. And everybody in La Liga is playing, though not on the same pitch. That would be silly.