Manchester City are the ninth side to top the Premier League table this season after they thrashed West Brom 5-0 at The Hawthorns last night. Pep Guardiola's side needed just six minutes to open the scoring against the relegation-threatened Baggies and led 4-0 at the interval, before Raheem Sterling rounded off the scoring in the second-half. Elsewhere Bukayo Saka impressed as Arsenal came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 at St Mary's and avenge last weekend's FA Cup defeat. The Gunners have now won five of their last six league fixtures. West Ham are up to fourth as they fought back from an early Wilfried Zaha goal to beat Crystal Palace 3-2, Tomas Soucek impressing again with a brace at Selhurst Park. And Newcastle's dismal run continued as they were beaten 2-1 by Leeds at St James' despite a much improved second-half performance. There are five top flight fixtures tonight, with new manager Thomas Tuchel in the Stamford Bridge dugout against Wolves after his Chelsea appointment was made official on Tuesday (kick-off 6pm). Elsewhere, Aston Villa travel to Burnley (6pm), Brighton take on Fulham (7.30pm) and Everton meet Leicester City at Goodison Park (8.15pm). Meanwhile, Manchester United can return to the Premier League summit with victory over Sheffield United at Old Trafford (8.15pm).
In his column this morning Gordon D'Arcy has looked ahead to the Six Nations and he suggests this year's Championship won't be the same competitive spectacle with fixtures being held behind closed doors. "On the drive home I realised that home advantage barely exists anymore. Right when we need it most, with England and France coming to Dublin, the value is next to nothing." Ireland finished third in last year's Six Nations and D'Arcy believes coming second this year would represent a successful campaign - however, it is vital new forwards coach Paul O'Connell can have a galvanising impact on a lineout which too often malfunctioned in 2020. He writes: "I do not believe that Paulie's role is to rouse the troops as he did so effectively as a player. The likes of James Ryan crave his technical expertise as much as his experience. They need O'Connell the lineout coach to be on a comparable level to the mentors that have come before him. The Ireland lineout has to move past the mess of 2020."
From Mayo's Keith Higgins to Dublin's Paddy Andrews, there have been a number of high-profile intercounty retirements throughout January, with senior stalwarts announcing the decision to hang up their boots through county board statements and social media. And in his column this morning Seán Moran has asked when these retirements became big news stories, rather than players slipping away into the night unnoticed. He writes: "There is within the GAA a certain school of thought that sees such individual spotlighting as inimical to the collectivism of team sport and anathema to the Spartan protocols of being carried out on your shield and therefore well beyond reflecting on the fact that you were on your way."
Katie Taylor has been voted Ireland's most admired athlete, according to a survey by the Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI) for 2020. Taylor's world title win over Delfine Persoon was ranked as 2020's most memorable sporting moment, and also the year's greatest sporting achievement, while the Dublin men's footballers were named team of the year.
A high number of Ireland's rugby professionals across the four provinces are yet to sort new deals despite being out of contract at the end of the current season. This includes some Ireland A-listers, with the likes of Tadhg Furlong and Peter O'Mahony still to agree new terms with the IRFU. Gerry Thornley writes: "This is the first seasonal round of negotiations in 25 years of professionalism that wages have contracted rather than increased, and with budgets similarly affected in England and France, where Top 14 clubs have been encouraged to reduce their quota of imported players."
And Sunday's rescheduled card at Thurles is set to take place today, with Cheltenham Festival hopeful Allaho lining out in the Grade Two chase (12.45pm).
