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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim did say the storm would come for his side and after back-to-back defeats, things don't get any easier at the conclusion of 2024 and start of 2025.

Out of the next eight, just two will be played at Old Trafford.

• 12 Dec: Viktoria Plzen (a) - Europa League
• 15 Dec: Man City (a)
• 19 Dec: Tottenham (a) - Carabao Cup
• 22 Dec: Bournemouth (h)
• 26 Dec: Wolves (a)
• 30 Dec: Newcastle (h)
• 05 Jan: Liverpool (a)
• 12 Jan: Arsenal (a) - FA Cup

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Former Premier League defender Stephen Warnock questioned on Sky Sports News today whether it was time to allow VAR to intercede when players are sent off for a second yellow card.

"It is a shame because it is a game-changing moment," said Warnock, in reference to Rico Lewis' sending off for a second yellow card in Manchester City's 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.

"It can effectively change a game if you are getting a wrong decision [when issuing a second yellow card]. If VAR was brought in to help the referee then this is exactly the prime sort of situation, where you go '[the referee] needs a little bit of help, got the decision wrong, overturn it' and everyone goes 'OK we understand that'.

"Now Rico Lewis has to miss a game, which is unfair because it is not a sending off. So he is being punished by a system that is flawed, in a way.

"We have got VAR, can we adapt it and move it forward? I think [VAR should be used] for the second one [yellow card] because that is the game-changing moment, rather than the first one."

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VAR was unable to overturn the red card shown to Rico Lewis because it was for a second yellow card, rather than a straight red.

Had Rico Lewis been awarded a straight red card for the challenge, VAR could have intervened and overturned the decision.

According to IFAB, the four factors VAR can overturn are:

• goal/no goal
• penalty/no penalty
• straight red cards
• mistaken identity (when the wrong player is shown a red or yellow card)

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Manchester City's Rico Lewis was sent off in the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace after receiving two yellow cards.

The second yellow in particular sparked huge debate and saw City manager Pep Guardiola confront referee Rob Jones on the pitch following the final whistle.

Speaking to BBC's Match of the Day after the match, Guardiola gave a bizarre answer when questioned on the situation, twice stating: "It is because it is Rico."

When pressed on whether he believed it was a second yellow card, he simply added: "It is Rico Lewis."

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The last ever Premier League Merseyside derby at Goodison Park was put on the backburner due to Storm Darragh on Saturday.

A busy festive schedule for both means the game will now take place in 2025.

The first available midweek for the game to be rescheduled and the one that is looking the most likely is the week commencing 17 February. With Liverpool all but guaranteed a place in the top eight of the Champions League - it leaves this midweek block free for the Reds.

Both clubs have only two Premier League fixtures scheduled for March but with a two-week international break and a potential Carabao Cup final to juggle, that may put a halt to this option.

Nigel Reo-Coker
Former West Ham midfielder on the Premier League Review

The best managers that win things are willing to adapt. If you are not willing to adapt then you are not going to be a successful manager.

Even if it goes against your principles slightly, you can still set up your team for success and to be successful.

You have to adapt and you have to be willing to change and if you're not going to do that teams are going to keep finding you out and every team that plays Tottenham will be licking their lips thinking these guys are fragile.

Listen to the Premier League Review.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at the Frankfurt Arena

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Anon: Hey Phil, as an Aussie manager in the EPL is Ange Postecoglou under more scrutiny than a manager from Europe or the UK or do you think the criticism is justified? As a Chelsea fan in Oz I feel if he had a squad with the depth that Maresca has then life could be quite different. The view from afar perhaps?

Maybe a view from afar. I don’t think his nationality has been a factor in the scrutiny.

He has been lavished with praise as a breath of fresh air for large parts of his time at Spurs.

He is under the spotlight now because results are poor, Spurs are wildly inconsistent and he is sticking rigidly to high-risk principles that are being scrutinised because his team are not winning enough games and simply too easy to play against.

The fact he is Australian has played no part in that. Nor should it.

Stephen Kelly
Former Tottenham defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

He doesn’t want to hike pressure on the team because even though they have spent a fortune over the last few years, they have been a mess and they don’t want to commit to something.

But the consistency level is starting to go up and yes they have Palmer but also a group of players that are performing consistently and he’s found his players that he wants.

He was really harsh at the start of the season with the players he didn’t want, but that’s what he needed to be, to call that squad to a level.

You feel the club squad wise, will be as good as anybody and now you are seeing that on the pitch and realistically they are up there, which no one expected.

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Stephen Kelly, however, believes that Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has found the winning formula...

BBC 5 Live Breakfast

Former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live earlier on the naivety shown by Ange Postecoglou's side: "The naivety shown. If you have a manager who wants to play beautiful football and you are 2-0 up, you would just say let’s keep the ball and condense shape, to prevent these mistakes from happening.

"When they lose a goal, their heads go and they make crazy decisions.

"The decision-making at times from players really lets the side down.

"At some point in the game as a player, you have to go and say 'okay let’s consolidate for a while'."

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

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Andrew: Are too many teams chasing a certain brand of ”entertaining” football (when they don’t have the squad to do that) and is the art of defending being lost in the process?

Hi Andrew. I think all teams are trying to find that perfect balance.

The two teams that figure most prominently in this conversation are Southampton and Spurs and I do think they have spent a lot of time this season contributing to their own downfalls through styles that make them too easy to score against along with crass individual errors.

If we take Southampton as an example, the style that served them so well in gaining promotion to the Premier League, easy on the eye passing out from the back, is filled with risk as they are operating against a much higher quality of opponents and we have seen plenty of examples of this costing them very dearly.

“Pragmatism” is the word thrown at Southampton’s Russell Martin and Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou.

You have to adapt – as Jamie Carragher said after watching Spurs collapse yesterday, it is ok to have shorts and t-shirt on when it’s sunny, but if it’s raining you have to put a coat on.

Liverpool

While Federico Chiesa was notable by his absence, Portugal forward Diogo Jota returned to training for Liverpool today.

Jota has been unavailable since the middle of October with a muscle injury but was back in full training with Arne Slot's side on Monday afternoon before Tuesday's Champions League match against Girona.

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Liverpool

A quick Champions League update for you.

Federico Chiesa was missing from open training, though reports suggest it is through illness rather than another injury for the Italian.

The 27-year-old made a return to action with Liverpool Under-21s last week, scoring in a 4-3 defeat to FC Nordsjaelland.

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Riley Taylor on X: Should Cole Palmer's second penalty be considered goal of the month?

I’d have no problem with that, purely for its technique, quality and having the courage to pull it off in such a big game.

We all know the score - you look great when it works and a fool if it doesn’t. Palmer was confident enough in his ability to take that risk and looked great.

Image source, Getty Images

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Cole Palmer is proving that last season was no fluke with the impressive numbers he is yet again putting up in the Premier League.

He's already scored 11 goals and provided six assists in 2024-25, up from the five and two that he had put up at this stage in the last campaign.

Palmer did significantly up those numbers in the second half of 2023-24 and finished with 22 goals and 11 assists but even so, he is currently on pace to blow those figures out of the water.

As it stands, only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (13) and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (13) sit ahead of him in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at the Frankfurt Arena

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Lee Clarke on X: Where would you rank Nikola Milenkovic when it comes to signings of the season?

He has been a top-class signing, and a real bargain at just £12m from Fiorentina. He was very good for Serbia at Euro 2024 and Nottingham Forest are getting the benefits.

He is powerful, a leader and, as we saw at Old Trafford, a force in both penalty boxes. A very smart piece of business and a key part of Forest’s really good start to the season.