That will be all from us for today. Thanks for following today’s updates - there will be plenty more where this came from over the weekend, starting with Newcastle’s visit to Liverpool in tomorrow’s early kick-off. See you soon!
Can Roy Hodgson mastermind another rousing away victory for Crystal Palace - this time against Tottenham Hotspur?
Dominic Fifield thinks it over:
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he hopes in-form Raheem Sterling won’t read too much of the positive press he’s receiving after some sparkling recent displays for club and country.
“It would be good for him,” insists the Spaniard. Watch the video:
More match previews ahoy:
Southampton manager Ralph Hassenhuttl has sensationally ‘revealed’ that he took his players on a sailing trip during the international break, telling the club’s website:
In the first week we didn’t have so many players here, but we tried to work out on the pitch, and we had one very good team event where we went sailing.
I think the players enjoyed it, it was fantastic weather, and we took the time to have a good team event.
I think it’s always interesting for the players to do some things that are not very normal. To go together on the boat and work hard was fun, and I think they enjoyed it.
There’s no doubt Hassenhuttl steadied Saints’ ship after being appointed last season. Fans will be hoping they’re not all at sea come next May.
Oh, in team news, Michael Obafemi and Ryan Bertrand are both fit again for the trip to Sheffield United, but Nathan Redmond is still out with an ankle injury. Defender Kevin Danso is suspended, while Moussa Djenepo may be fit to make his first start for the club.
Updated
Neymar is in line for a return in front of the PSG faithful for the first time since his summer dalliance with former club Barcelona.
Ahead of the Ligue 1 meeting with Strasbourg tomorrow, manager Thomas Tuchel said: “He’s ready to play. I understand that not all supporters are happy at the moment with the situation [after Neymar was heavily linked with Barça] but I cannot influence that reaction, I can’t control it.
“When you [the media] talk about it all the time, you make it much more important than it is. Nothing in life is so important.”
Sorry, Thomas. It won’t happen again. (It will.)
Updated
Klopp celebrates that Manager of the Month gong
“The start was good so far and this is proof of that. Thank you very much.”
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 13, 2019
The boss reacts to winning @premierleague Manager of the Month 🙌
Updated
Aston Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia will be out for ‘two-three weeks’ with a fractured cheekbone, says manager Dean Smith.
Kodjia and Marvelous Nakamba accidentally clashed heads in training, and Kodjia had an operation after the fracture was detected.
Smith said: “He just clashed heads with Marvelous in a non-competitive part of training.
“We thought it was fine but they picked up a fracture at the hospital and he’s had an operation which means he will be out for two-three weeks.
“He will come back initially non-contact and then we will have to see how he goes.”
Updated
“There will be a few debuts, perhaps,” says Norwich City boss Daniel Farke as he weighs up a selection from an injury-hit squad for the visit of Manchester City tomorrow evening.
“For instance Adam Idah ... it could be that he’s involved tomorrow. This brings the group together, it’s a chance for some other lads to shine.”
Cork-born 18-year-old forward Idah has represented Ireland from under-16 to under-21 level, but is yet to make his Premier League bow for the Canaries after signing in 2017.
“We won’t cry, it’s tricky, but we will try to search for some solutions,” Farke added.
Updated
Bad news for Liverpool fans - Alisson will remain sidelined until the middle of next month:
Updated
Lacazette out!
Arsenal have just announced that striker Alexandre Lacazette will be sidelined until next month with an ankle problem he’s recently been battling against. A story on the Arsenal website reads:
After assessments to an ongoing ankle issue, we have advised that Alex will need to rest and strengthen his ankle to regain full fitness. Alex has been playing through this injury for several weeks. He is likely to be back in action in October.
Updated
Steve Bruce and Newcastle have a bit of positive team news as a counterpoint to the Sean Longstaff injury we mentioned earlier. Bruce says Matt Ritchie is making a ‘remarkable’ recovery after being on the end of a strong challenge by Leicester’s Hamza Choudhury recently:
He’s shocked us all. We weren’t expecting to see him for at least a couple of months. The way he trained yesterday and the day before - as long he doesn’t have any reaction - then I don’t think he’s very far away so that’s good news to us.
Updated
Arsenal can see light at the end of the tunnel where their injury problems are concerned although Sunday’s match at Watford will come too soon for Héctor Bellerin, Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding.
Of the two full-backs, who are both back in training, Unai Emery said this afternoon that they are “now closer to us” and will probably play at least one under-23 game to “take confidence and better their rhythm”.
Holding is further ahead in his recovery from a cruciate injury, having already played some under-23 football, but Emery suggested he needs more minutes at that level. Emery confirmed Nicolas Pépé will be fit to play at Vicarage Road despite pulling out of Ivory Coast’s squad that faced Benin and Tunisia, and revealed that he will take a final decision on the identity of Arsenal’s captain for the season next week.
Updated
Full story on that injury to Aymeric Laporte.
More Zinedine Zidane.
On Luka Modric, who suffered a thigh injury playing for Croatia.
Luka has had two games in three days and now we can’t think about that anymore. I hope Luka recovers quickly for us. He is injured, cannot play tomorrow and we must accept that. We are without Modric but there are also some players who are coming back in. The squad is what we have got, there are no more changes and we have got a lot of players. Everyone will have their chance to contribute to the team. Injuries happens to every club, especially at the beginning of the season. We have lot of players who never stop because they are internationals. We work well and I trust the people who work here, they are the best, but injuries happen. I hope that after Luka we don’t have more injured players, but it could happen.
On Gareth Bale, back in from the cold:
He is happy now and so am I. We have to pull forward now. Gareth is one of my players and it’s my philosophy to believe in all of my players. We are all guilty of the things we do right and wrong. We are in the same boat.
More injury news: Norwich defender Max Aarons will be out until the next international break - mid-October - with the ankle injury he sustained during an England U21 game this week.
“His foot is still in a boot,” said Daniel Farke.
Jamie Jackson on the doubts around Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Manchester United.
More Klopp, on Alisson and Naby Keïta.
On Alisson: “He’s improving but we cannot put any pressure on it. It was a really serious injury in the calf and it’s now much better. That’s good for us and good for him but we don’t know exactly. The target was always after the next international break he could be ready but we don’t know. Hopefully everything will be fine for the rest of the season, that’s the plan.”
On Keïta, who has not played since the Community Shield because of a hip/groin injury: “Naby is close. He could be in training when we come back from Napoli next week.”
More Pep:
“[Benjamin] Mendy is good. His knee is reacting well so hopefully in the next few games. We want to be careful and sure when he starts to play.” Ilkay Gundogan has recovered from a stomach bug and Gabriel Jesus is fit and in contention this weekend. Guardiola also confirmed that central defender John Stones is fit but he is expecting Aymeric Laporte to be out for “a long time, five or six months”.
Quick spot of Liverpool team news. Jürgen Klopp has just held his press conference.
Klopp is here.
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) September 13, 2019
"Alisson is improving, but we cannot put any pressure on him. It was a really serious injury but he is much better.
Naby is close, he could be in training when we come back from Napoli."#LFC
Eden Hazard is set to make his Real Madrid debut against Levante on Saturday and Zinedine Zidane, under a bit of pressure and coming in for pelters from members of the Spanish press who have Florentino Pérez’s phone number, has been talking.
There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations. We know the situation. He is ready, and that’s the most important thing. We all want to see Eden, to see what happens. We have to go slowly, he was injured for three weeks, he has been back for a week. We have seven games in 21 days and we’re going to have to take it easy. It will be up to me to measure his minutes and his playing time, because we need him for a long time, for several matches, not just for one.
Updated
Important piece from Eni Aluko.
Laporte out for 'five-six months'
Injury news for Manchester City; John Stones is back, though. Leroy Sané back December-January-February, says Pep, a little mysteriously.
Guardiola says Laporte will be out for a long time - maybe five or six months.
— Jonathan Smith (@jonnysmiffy) September 13, 2019
Updated
Glad somebody noticed.
Per PA Media:
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini believes everyone must respect Declan Rice’s decision over his international future.
The Hammers midfielder, 20, revealed his switch from the Republic of Ireland to England led to threats against him and his family in some vitriolic online abuse.
Rice made his fifth senior appearance for the Three Lions in the Euro 2020 qualifier against Kosovo, and Pellegrini feels it is time to move on.
“I think Declan delayed his decision and had a think and a talk with the people important to him so I don’t have any doubt that it was the right decision Declan took for his life,” the West Ham manager said at a press conference.
“Of course, not everybody is happy, but everyone has to respect him for that and he shouldn’t give them too much importance because it doesn’t matter what other people think.”
More previews...
Ole Gunnar Solskjær isn’t enjoying much sunshine.
Frank Lampard has said Chelsea will still be without N’Golo Kanté when they visit Wolves tomorrow.
Kanté has missed Chelsea’s last two games with an ankle injury and the trip to Molineux has come too soon for the midfielder, who faces a race against time to be fit for next week’s Champions League game against Valencia at Stamford Bridge.
“N’Golo is not fit yet,” Chelsea’s manager said. “He still has issues with his ankle. The medical team are working with him. He is in a transition period and we are trying to get him on the pitch. He is doing some physical work but this game comes too soon for him. “Hopefully he is close. I don’t want to jump the gun because we are waiting for improvements for that final step to get him where we want him to be on the pitch. Hopefully that will be in the next week or so.”
The good news for Chelsea is that Mateo Kovacic, Pedro and Antonio Rudiger are fit after shaking off injuries, but Emerson Palmieri is a doubt with the thigh problem he picked up on international duty. Meanwhile Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is close to signing a new deal, and Reece James will make their comebacks from long-term injuries when they play for the Under-23s tonight.
“Callum is going to play for the 23s this evening along with Reece James,” Lampard said. “They will get minutes and it’s important now because Callum has been training with us for a while but there are still issues that we need to make sure are OK with the injury itself, in terms of the strength and where the injury is. He’ll need to get match fit, which is why these games are really beneficial for him. It will be great to see that.
“Reece James is similar, not such a long time out but he needs games for similar reasons. I’m pleased with that. They are two young players that are going to be big for this club going forward and we’ll all be watching tonight.”
Updated
Roy’s rope-a-dope plan for Spurs
🗣 Roy on away record: “We are often tight at the back and away from home, spaces often open up when teams start to chase the game."
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 13, 2019
💻 https://t.co/TTogt6KZzQ
📱 Official club app#CPFC pic.twitter.com/fXUPLpnjyU
Updated
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has been speaking to media ahead of his side’s visit to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London.
“If we come away tomorrow with points, we’ve got to give an exceptional performance at both ends of the field,” Hodgson said. It’s only three weeks since the Eagles emerged from Old Trafford with three points, so victory against Spurs is hardly beyond them.
Team news-wise, Hodgson confirmed that defender Martin Kelly and striker Connor Wickham are both sidelined by injury, added to which “there are a couple of people we need to assess in the morning”.
Scott Dann and James McArthur are the two players whose fitness remains in question.
Updated
If you missed it, yesterday’s edition of The Fiver led on the disagreement between Napoli and their builders: manager Carlo Ancelotti insisting he had ‘no words’ for the failure to finish changing rooms at the San Paolo in good time for their first home fixture of the season against Sampdoria tomorrow.
Rumours on the ground in Naples, however, are suggesting it’s all part of a cunning plan by club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, who wants to purchase the stadium from the city, and is keen to paint their management of the venue as inadequate.
The plot will no doubt thicken. When it does, we’ll have it in The Fiver, so sign up now!
Pochettino on Ryan Sessegnon, whose Tottenham career is yet to get under way.
You can be a very good player, but you need a platform, team-mates and good coaching staff to help you. Then you need time and luck and training hard and hard work. Sometimes the people don’t realise that for a player with talent to have a good career and be successful you need a platform. Tottenham, I hope, will provide that platform.
It’s the platform provided for Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Harry Winks and different players that were very successful in their moment. I hope that happens with him too because he’s a great talent.”
We’ll see. Because Thursday was the first day he was involved with the whole team and still he’s not had one tactical session with us. We were six or seven players training in the last week and still I cannot tell if he’s going to play in one or another position. We’re going to assess him and see how he adapts to the new club and new level of football. From the Championship with Fulham to Tottenham in the Champions League is going to be completely different The good thing is that he has the capacity to play in different positions. That’s an interesting quality and maybe he can play in different positions for us. It will be very helpful
And on Troy Parrott, who the Irish are rightly getting excited about after three goals for their U21 team this week.
I think he needs time, we need to be relaxed. We cannot put his name in the spotlight every day because we’re not going to help him by doing that. He’s still so young. The best way to help him is to be calm and relaxed about him. If he’s going to be involved, perfect. If he’s going to be involved with the Under-23s instead, perfect. Sometimes he’ll train with us, good. Now it’s a process where he needs to be relaxed. If we put too much pressure we’re going to force or push him to make a mistake and that’s what we don’t want.
Updated
The Premier League previews are coming in.
Looking through Billy Gimour’s eyes.
Congratulations to @ChelseaFC midfielder @billygilmourrr!
— PL Youth (@PLYouth) September 13, 2019
Your #PL2 Player of the Month for August 👏 pic.twitter.com/K39Btkrwce
Manager of the month for August is none other than Jürgen Klopp.
Another W for Jurgen Klopp 👊
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 13, 2019
The @LFC boss is your @BarclaysFooty Manager of the Month for August #PLAwards pic.twitter.com/0lHGTkvTpj
More on that Sean Longstaff injury for Newcastle. It sounds nasty.
Steve Bruce: “It’s one of those awful ones. He goes to stop a cross and gets his ankle caught. It’s one of those freak ones that unfortunately happen. You come off the pitch and we’re all disappointed. We’ve lost a player to a freak accident, but that’s what happens in football. Sometimes, you miss out.”
Well done to Teemu Pukki, who has made a real splash in the Premier League.
Did someone say #PukkiParty? 🥳
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 13, 2019
Congratulations to @EASPORTSFIFA Player of the Month for August… Teemu Pukki!#PLAwards pic.twitter.com/uvCeRBjnVn
Vincent Kompany was back in Manchester for his testimonial and had kind words for former central defensive partner John Stones, who has a big task on his hands in the absence of Aymeric Laporte. Stones is expected to play at Norwich on Saturday evening after returning from a hamstring problem.
I’ve always said John is one of the most talented defenders. He’s got such a bright future. He’s already achieved a lot, let’s not forget that. He’s not a young defender anymore that hasn’t got any experience. He’s a multiple Premier League-winning central defender that is growing. The one thing I wish for him is consistency - consistency of games and consistency of fitness - and then he will show the world how good he is. By the end of it, if City can win a Champions League or something, all of a sudden he’ll be mentioned in a completely different category. He just has to get himself on the pitch, be himself and he’ll be fine. I’ve not seen signs of weakness I need to be worried about. He’s just a top-class defender. If now he gets to play games things will sort themselves out, no doubt.
Watford have an old/new manager in charge this weekend in Quique Sánchez Flores. Nick Ames covered this in this week’s Ten Things. They take on Arsenal on Sunday.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? Well, up to a point. Watford being Watford, only six of the players Quique Sánchez Flores managed in his previous spell are still on the scene so it may take time before he is fully reacquainted with the place he describes as “my home”. It was no surprise Watford’s owners blinked at the first sign of trouble for Javi Gracia and it would take some bravery to predict Flores’s return lasting longer than his previous 11-and-a-half-month tenure. He has a tough job and, given Manchester City await after Arsenal, things may deteriorate before he can steady the ship. Even if he is not familiar with most of his new charges yet, one of them knows Sunday’s opponents especially well. Danny Welbeck was eased back by Gracia, having missed most of last season. But 90 minutes in last month’s League Cup win over Coventry boded well and a fortnight’s training over the international break cannot have hurt. Giving Welbeck his first start might be the early masterstroke Flores needs; if one ex has come back to help Watford, another could boost their cause by downing his former employers.
Quiz! Quiz! Quiz!
The admission by PGMOL chief Mike Riley that VAR has got four decisions wrong in the Premier League this season has led to a certain TV broadcaster loading their coverage with questions about the infernal machines.
Per the BBC the decisions were:
- Appeals for a penalty from Manchester City for a foul on midfielder David Silva in their 3-1 win at Bournemouth on 25 August should have been given.
- A foul on West Ham striker Sebastien Haller in their win against Norwich on 31 August should have resulted in a penalty.
- Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans should have been sent off for his foul on Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson on the same day.
- Also on 31 August, a handball by Newcastle United’s Isaac Hayden was missed in the build-up to Fabian Schar’s equaliser against Watford.
Eddie Howe, who speaks at 8am every week, was first on the blocks: “It’s a positive thing that mistakes have been admitted, there will be things that need to be ironed out. I’m still on the fence.”
Updated
Overnight Tottenham news.
Manchester United injury crisis
Ole Gunnar Solskjær could be missing up to seven Manchester United players for Leicester City’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday.
Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly are unavailable, while Jesse Lingard and Aaron-Wan Bissaka are doubts.
Solskjær said: “The treatment room’s been busy and still is so we don’t really know who’s going to be available – there’s maybe Aaron, maybe Jesse and I think maybe that’s it but I can’t promise those two will be available either.
“Pogba won’t be fit, no, unless he’s had a miraculous recovery overnight from yesterday to today or tonight to tomorrow; he’s not been ready to do 100% training, no.
“We hope more can be ready for West Ham next week and Paul and Anthony are in that category, I think they’ll be ready for then and can’t say more than that really.”
Updated
Culture corner, a book review no less.
Big news: Paul Pogba is OUT of Manchester United’s game with Leicester with an ankle injury he limped from the Southampton pitch with two weeks ago.
Also out: Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw. Probably out: Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jesse Lingard. Oh dear.
Good news from last night’s Women’s Champions League, he says in the style of Clive Tyldesley, when he used to talk of good tidings of Liverpool scoring during a Manchester United live match in the old ITV Champions League days. Anyway, two good results for WSL teams. Scratch that, brilliant results.
Get your rumours here.
Fast forward to the present. Bad news for Newcastle. Andy Carroll is still not fit for an emotional return to Anfield, either, while Allan Saint-Maximin is likely to miss out.
SB: “Unfortunately Sean Longstaff turned an ankle in training so won’t be in contention for Saturday. It’s one of those freak injuries. We won’t know how severe it is for a couple of days.” #NUFC pic.twitter.com/xg6nloNaoV
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) September 13, 2019
Talking of 4-3, here’s Rob Smyth from the vault, bravely choosing to question the greatest ever game in the greatest league in the world ever. Who still remembers Skins, by the way?
Updated
Preamble
And we’re back. Away from the Euro 2020 qualifiers and that odd conundrum where Scotland can still qualify despite being absolutely gubbed, back to the calming, soothing waters of the Premier League.
What have we learned during the prorogue? Raheem Sterling is still excellent, Harry Maguire can be turned easily and Tottenham continue to have misfortune with injury, with Giovani Lo Celso coming back from the United States with a knackered hip.
This weekend, the prime fixture looks to be Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime. Manchester United v Leicester is a test of Leicester’s claims for the top six and beyond, while Norwich’s leaky defence has Manchester City to contend with on Saturday evening. Wilfried Zaha sacked his agent over failing to get to Tottenham, it has been reported, so Saturday offers chance for him to look longingly at what he could have won. And there were whispers that Nuno Espírito Santo might have been a contender for Chelsea so his Wolves team have a chance to show their manager’s credentials. Has the international break allowed Frank Lampard to come up with a Plan B, or something that will last beyond half-time?
All that and more through the day.
Updated
Can we have some more punk references atl?