And that is quite literally that. Thanks for reading, emailing and tweeting, as always, and good luck to your team this weekend. Have a good one!
We’re edging steadily towards the end of today’s weekend football countdown. The top lines?
The Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær has vowed to fight to turn the fortunes of the team around and emulate Sir Alex Ferguson.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that Mateo Kovavic sustained a hamstring injury in the last minute of training yesterday.
The Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, despite his unbeaten team hammering Man Utd 5-0 last weekend, says they have to defend better.
Christian Eriksen, meanwhile, may be forced to move on from Internazionale as he is not be permitted to play in Serie A with the pacemaker he had fitted after that cardiac arrest at the Euros.
Injury-hit Manchester City Women may have Vicky Losada and Hayley Raso available for selection for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, according to news on the official club site.
The teenage goalkeeper Khiara Keating has a fractured elbow, and Alanna Kennedy and Ruby Mace are cup-tied, while longer-term absentees Lucy Bronze and Ellie Roebuck remain sidelined.
If by some freak chance you missed it earlier, here’s 10 things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend:
“If the screen-watching, millimetre-hawkeyeing, line-drawing, mouse-clicking referees in the back room have any sense of humour, they would dress up in VARmpire costumes this weekend,” emails resident pun monster Peter Oh.
QPR kick off against Nottingham Forest in the Championship in a couple of hours. Courtesy of the match preview on the official QPR website, some thoughts from both managers:
Mark Warburton (QPR manager): “It will be a very good test, they (Forest) have a very good squad. You look at the backline, the midfield, with the likes of Colback and Yates, of course Grabban up front is very strong. The options they have from the bench as well, they are a very talented team, they have a huge amount of pace, Steve [Cooper] has come in, had a good run of games and done well, so we must meet a challenge.”
Steve Cooper (Nottingham Forest manager): “In the second half of last season, they (QPR) were as good as anybody in terms of form and the way they played. They have good experience in the team and players who have had success in the league, so it’s a tough away game, but one we are looking forward to.”
A piece here from a couple of days ago, by Richard Foster, on the hidden work done by football’s army of statisticians (featuring the thoughts of the top footie commentator, Peter Drury):
A little more from David Moyes below, who said earlier that he’s unsure of the latest news regarding Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky’s rumoured investment in the club, but said ‘it sounds as if something is happening’. Asked about West Ham’s good form in general before Sunday’s meeting with Aston Villa, the Scot said:
“I’ve had the feel good factor here for over 12 months, ever since we got rid of the feeling that there was a chance of relegation,” said Moyes. “I think we’ve blossomed, and we’ve all become much better. I think it’s probably been hanging over West Ham for a couple of seasons, maybe longer, and I think we are feeling much better than that.
“We feel like we can be a side who can be different, a side who can be competitive in the league and hopefully in the cup competitions as well. The way I thought West Ham needed to go was I needed to try to make the team better. To grow the team. We needed to become a better side, and I’m sure there are people off the field who are looking at ways to make West Ham a better football club off the field as well.
“But at the moment my job is to try and get the team right. I couldn’t tell you an awful lot about the other stuff. I’ll wait with interest as much as you’re waiting.” West Ham head to Aston Villa on Sunday with Declan Rice and Michail Antonio back in the squad after being rested in midweek.
Updated
The Norwich manager Daniel Farke believes he retains the support of his club in the wake of last week’s 7-0 drubbing by Chelsea. The Canaries are bottom and still searching for a Premier League win.
“I know that I’ve got the trust. We are working together nearly five years,” the German said of Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber. “We have had an amazing time together, we have created so much for this club and our relationship is always full of trust and honesty and we are there shoulder to shoulder ...
“For us as a group it [the defeat by Chelsea] was not acceptable. We are not happy with just two points after nine games, we are not happy with position 20, and we are especially not happy with conceding seven in the last game. Each and every game on this level is difficult, especially for a newly-promoted side. But we know right now it’s a bit like a crunch time period for us. In these next games we need to win as many games as possible and the jury will be out after the season, not nine game days. It’s always where you are after 38 games, for that we haven’t given up hope. We are not happy with the status quo but we will keep fighting, keep going.”
“Emma Hayes has warned Chelsea not to be complacent when they attempt to reach the FA Cup final at the expense of struggling Manchester City on Sunday.”
It’s the prolific Jacob Steinberg again, this time with some news from women’s football:
Updated
Jacob Steinberg talks to Antonio Rüdiger, of Chelsea and Germany.
“Pressing is a finely tuned skill. “It’s automatism,” Rüdiger says. “You have to do it in training and everyone has to be switched on. Sorry to say it, but there shouldn’t be any fuck-ups. Any little detail which you don’t put in, it can cost you a lot. When you press so high, somewhere there’s space on the pitch. If one sleeps it can be chaos.””
The Brentford head coach Thomas Frank admits he does not know how progressing to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals will affect his side’s Premier League form. The Bees, who booked their place in the last eight with a 2-1 win at Stoke on Wednesday, travel to Burnley on Saturday.
Brentford are unbeaten away and will face a side still searching for their first league win – but Frank harbours cup as well as league aspirations. “I just know one thing. We would like to do as well as possible in the League Cup. We’re now in the quarter-finals, why not try to win it?” he said. “There are some massive clubs there but we’ll do our very best. Last year we managed to get to the semi-finals even though we were in the Championship and played even more games in December than we are planning to do this year. I know my staff is so skilful everything will be planned, we’ll be on top of that, so if we’re not unlucky with injuries like I think we have been then I can’t see a reason why we shouldn’t give it a big shot.”
Brentford will be without first-choice goalkeeper David Raya, who sustained knee ligament damage in Sunday’s defeat by Leicester and is expected to be out for four to five months. Fellow Spaniard Álvaro Fernández, who signed on loan from Huesca in August, played on Wednesday and could make his Premier League debut this weekend. “100% [he is ready)]” Frank said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have got him in the summer. We’ve got a lot of belief in Álvaro, I think he’s a very talented goalkeeper.
“He arrived a little bit late because of the Olympics, so he had a little bit of a staggered pre-season, but I’m pleased it’s now two or three months into it because now he knows our principles, the way we want to do it, the demands we have of him and his position, and he’s just gradually done better and better and better.” (PA)
Richard Jolly reports on Jürgen Klopp’s press conference earlier, in which he called on his unbeaten team to defend better:
Some fairly generic football-manager-pours-praise-on-one-of-his-own-players here from Brendan Rodgers, of Leicester, regarding Youri Tielemans. The 24-year-old Belgian Tielemans, they say, is attracting interest from Europe’s top clubs.
“I think he’s progressing well, he’s doing very well,” said Rodgers. “He came in January 2019 and he has progressed into one of Europe’s top midfielders. He’s only going to get better. An incredible professional. His mindset is to work at the highest level. He’s progressing and that’s what you want to see in your players. It will come with even more experience, even more games. He’s one of the best professionals I’ve ever worked with. His job is to create goals and score goals but he’s proven himself to battle physically in the league. He’s really worked on that aspect of his game.
“If you look across the board in terms of ideal footballers, being mentally tough, being intelligent, having bravery, having quality, he ticks every one of those boxes. At 24 years of age, he’s a brilliant player. He is so efficient in games.” (Quotes via PA Media)
Updated
Celtic will be without injured Tom Rogic until after the international break, but the manager Ange Postecoglou hopes the rest will allow the midfielder to maintain his early-season form. The Australia international suffered a hamstring injury during the midweek win over Hibernian and will miss games against Livingston, on Saturday, plus Ferencvaros and Dundee.
Postecoglou said: “He had a scan on his hamstring. It’s going to put him out for at least two to three weeks. It’s not a major one but he definitely won’t be involved in these games. Then obviously we have the international window, and if everything goes to plan he should be available once we get back from that.” (PA)
Again, as we reported earlier, Liverpool’s Naby Keita is fit and firing despite that horror tackle by Paul Pogba of Manchester United last weekend. (Halloween puns R us.)
Fabinho is still out, and Thiago is nearing fitness, but again, won’t be fit for the weekend.
📋 The boss brings you the latest team news ahead of #LIVBHA ⤵️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 29, 2021
Ole Gunnar Solskjær had a chat earlier, as you know. Here’s a snippet of his press conference. The poor guy is wearing a haunted look after a very tough week, which is all too appropriate for Halloween.
Wolves had an open training session today, and great banter ensued when the players walked out sporting various Halloween masks:
It’s good, but it’s not Napoli’s official Halloween kit, which they’ve now worn twice in anger:
👻 Halloween kit 🕸
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) October 18, 2021
🛒 Official SSC Napoli Web Store: https://t.co/omc6T1Px4r
🛍 Amazon Brand Store: https://t.co/taeD6Mwbk2
🏪 Official SSC Napoli Store: https://t.co/bwdpsPabJR
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/tX6aiyWMFc
Chelsea are setting off nice and early to make it to Newcastle by 3pm tomorrow, which seems sensible:
Next stop: Newcastle. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/3o4tdmlxMU
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 29, 2021
The Tottenham manager Nuno Espírito Santo is not concerning himself with the long-term futures of Dele Alli and Harry Winks. Alli was unable to make a nine-man bench for the midweek Carabao Cup win at Burnley, while Winks has barely featured under Nuno. Winks has been outspoken about his desire for regular action while Alli seems unlikely to allow another season to be wasted.
“They are our players, they are here with us,” Nuno said. “There’s nothing to be worried about. It’s a situation that we have to work, we have to improve all the players, build momentum on the performance of the players ... We are talking about January, so far away, so far away. We have to focus on what we do now. With all of the players, all of the personal situations of the players, I address them personally ... you will never see me in a press conference addressing issues with players. I deal with it personally.”
Regarding his Manchester United counterpart, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who is under considerable pressure following last weekend’s heavy defeat by Liverpool, he added: “There’s no manager in the world that’s not under pressure. It’s part of our job ... My focus is on what I can control and what I can impact. It’s on the players, on the squad, on the work we do, on the players when we are together, hours we spend here in the training ground ... if you focus on that, that will go to your home also as you keep thinking what I should do the next day. Keep focusing on what you think about and ignore the noise.”
Bryan Gil will be assessed ahead of the game after picking up a hamstring injury at Burnley, while Ryan Sessegnon is definitely out. (PA)
Updated
Here’s Nick Ames with some news from the WSL:
The Arsenal Women head coach, Jonas Eidevall, believes international football needs a shake-up to avoid overwhelming margins of victory that risk putting off the game’s burgeoning audience.
“Football is boring when the scoreline gets like that – I don’t think it’s entertaining to watch,” he said. “At the same time you understand the need to grow women’s football, that we need to have a lot of nations participating, but maybe you could do it in another format.”
“Just over a year ago, Solskjær fronted up after the 6-1 home thrashing by Tottenham, calling it his “worst day”. After Sunday’s 5-0 humiliation, he experienced his “darkest day”. He’s given himself nowhere to go.”
Gregg Bakowski is here with an Ole-themed The Fiver:
And yet more from Vieira, this time via the magic of the PA news wire:
Patrick Vieira insisted it was a “joy” to work with Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher and believes that the youngster can continue to improve at Crystal Palace. Gallagher is on loan at Selhurst Park this season after coming through the Chelsea youth system, and has made nine appearances, scoring two goals. He is likely to be part of the team when Palace travel to Manchester City on Saturday, and Vieira was full of praise for the 21-year-old midfielder.
“Working with Conor, it’s a joy really because he is a player who wants to fill his potential, he wants to learn and he wants to work hard and he’s bringing this energy to the team,” Vieira said. “The staff and myself are really enjoying working with him. He comes in every morning with a big smile on his face and is leaving the training ground with a big smile as well. When he’s on the field he’s working hard every single day and he is a player that wants to fulfil his potential and I think that is a really important tool to have as a player, to improve yourself and keep challenging yourself.”
Vieira would not be drawn on whether the club would be interested in permanently signing Gallagher at the end of his loan deal next summer. “It’s really too early to talk about these kind of decisions,” he said. “We are really glad that he decided to come to our football club and I think we had the tools to attract him to our football club and I believe that he made the right decision, but what will happen in the future I think we have to wait a couple of months to talk about that.”
Updated
Words from Patrick Vieira before he takes Crystal Palace to the Etihad tomorrow:
“We have to be brave, try to play our game and play with personality. I want the players to take responsibility on the field and express themselves, because we have the talent to make it difficult for them.”
Bravery x personality. 💪#CPFC
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 29, 2021
Updated
From the Premier League’s official Twitter: Robin van Persie was pretty, pretty good:
🔟 years ago Robin van Persie collected the match ball as @Arsenal and Chelsea played out a #PL classic #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/SqgQx26vYk
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 29, 2021
Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal - 10 years ago today.
Can Newcastle build on last week’s point at Crystal Palace when Chelsea come to town tomorrow? Match preview:
The Wolves manager Bruno Lage is content with progress made during his tenure but has urged his players not to get too comfortable. Wanderers have collected 10 of 13 available Premier League points from their previous four fixtures after Lage lost four of his opening five top-flight games.
Wolves welcome Everton to Molineux on Monday and their manager is eager to continue accumulating points in order to ease pressure during a “very hard” winter, which includes seven league games in December and defenders Willy Boly and Romain Saiss potentially travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
“I am happy but I want more,” said Lage. “That’s what I say to my players every day. Every time I push them to their limits because I don’t want anyone to be comfortable in their position, I don’t want anyone to be comfortable in the way we are. Our mentality is to do always more. The players need to have that mentality: ‘I want more from my career, I want to improve to arrive to the next level’. I am happy but every time with the pressure that I want more from them. We need to conquer a lot of points now because the winter will be very hard because as you know we have a small squad and maybe we can lose some players for CAN (Africa Cup of Nations).” (PA)
Burnley v Brentford seems like a particularly tricky match to call. Sean Dyche is celebrating nine years in charge, but his team remain one of three winless outfits in the Premier League, along with Newcastle and Norwich. Burnley badly need a win but Brentford will not be easy opponents – even if they have most recently suffered two league defeats, by Chelsea and Leicester.
“The absence of the suspended Paul Pogba might not be a bad thing,” writes Stephen Hollis in his match preview for Tottenham v Manchester United:
Updated
QUIZ!
In France, galactico-studded Paris Saint-Germain are in action this evening, against the current champions Lille. PSG top the table with 28 points, while the title holders are languishing in 10th place, already 13 points adrift:
Friday
PSG v Lille
Saturday
Metz v Saint-Étienne
Olympique Lyonnais v Lens
Sunday
Angers v Nice
Bordeaux v Reims
Montpellier v Nantes
Strasbourg v Lorient
Troyes v Rennes
Brest v Monaco
Clermont v Olympique Marseille
What are this weekend’s Bundesliga fixtures, I hear you cry?
The top five are all in action tomorrow, with fifth-placed Union Berlin meeting the leaders Bayern Munich at home.
Friday
Hoffenheim v Hertha BSC
Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v Köln
Bayer Leverkusen v Wolfsburg
Union Berlin v Bayern München
Freiburg v Greuther Fürth
Arminia Bielefeld v Mainz 05
Eintracht Frankfurt v RB Leipzig
Sunday
Augsburg v Stuttgart
Borussia Mönchengladbach v Bochum
Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly has started posting on social in three languages in one hit, which is handy for those of us trying, in a very slap-dash fashion, to learn a bit of Italian:
Serata perfetta. 3 punti, 4º clean sheet consecutivo e ritorno in campo di Faouzi.
— Koulibaly Kalidou (@kkoulibaly26) October 28, 2021
Une soirée parfaite. 3 points, 4ème clean sheet consécutif et le retour de Faouzi sur le terrain.
3 points, 4th clean sheet in a row and the return of Faouzi to the field.#NapoliBologna 3-0 #KK pic.twitter.com/2HyrUNGLTA
‘Serata perfetta’ meaning ‘perfect evening’, of course, which didn’t make the cut for the English translation.
Updated
Thanks for holding the fort, David.
Let’s take quick a look across continental Europe, starting with this weekend’s Serie A fixtures. Napoli top the table heading into the weekend following last night’s 3-0 win against Bologna, in which Lorenzo Insigne scored twice from the penalty spot.
Roma v Milan on Sunday has to be the pick of these ties:
Saturday
Atalanta v Lazio
Hellas Verona v Juventus
Torino v Sampdoria
Sunday
Internazionale v Udinese
Fiorentina v Spezia
Genoa v Venezia
Sassuolo v Empoli
Salernitana v Napoli
Roma v Milan
Monday
Bologna v Cagliari
And that’s my brief stint over. I shall hand you back to the freshly fed and watered Luke McLaughlin.
Newcastle’s interim-manager Graeme Jones has spoken. He says those “what happens next?” discussions with the new owners will take place after Saturday’s game against Chelsea.
A permanent replacement for the departed Steve Bruce is expected to be appointed before Newcastle’s following game at Brighton a week on Saturday.
“I’ll have a chat with the owners and see where we are. No more than that and take it from there,” said Jones, who became first-team coach at his hometown club under Bruce in January.
“I think our job here, right now, is to make this football club as united as it possibly can be for the next manager that’s coming.
“We’re a point better off than last week and obviously after tomorrow’s game we’ll see where we are, but the new guy needs to walk into a really healthy football club.
“With 52,000 people, plus 20 players and staff pulling in the same direction and that’s my target.”
Fun fact... although its subject won’t find it fun on any level. Do we think he’s been informed?
- Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t scored in any of his last four league matches, his worst run since November 2017 for Real Madrid (also four in a row). He hasn’t gone five in a row without a goal since a run of nine for the Red Devils between November 2008 and January 2009.
Jonathan Wilson will surely know this. Talking about CR7 on Monday’s Football Weekly podcast, he said: “Of course, Ronaldo’s made everything worse. Solskjaer, last year, in this type of game was actually quite good. I think the six games against Liverpool, City and Chelsea last season they kept five clean sheets. But they can’t play like that now because they’ve got Ronaldo, they’ve got this lumbering figure up front who has to be accommodated and that causes everything else to break down.”
West Ham boss David Moyes says he is in the dark over potential new investment at the club but admits to sensing some rumblings beneath the surface.
The Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is in talks with the Hammers over a deal to buy a minority stake. The co-owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, have been looking for investment for some years but have turned down offers to sell outright.
West Ham have yet to formally comment on the potential deal and Moyes offered no further clues. When quizzed on the talks at his pre-match press conference, Moyes said: “[I’ve heard] just the same rumours you have heard. I do not know any more than you know but it sounds as if something is happening, yes.”
Updated
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has issued an update on the fitness of three of his players. It’s good news for Jamie Vardy but there are doubts over Ricardo Pereira and Ayoze Pérez for the visit of Arsenal.
Here’s Brendan, live from the LCFC Training Ground in Seagrave. “There’s maybe a question mark on Ricardo Pereira. We’ll see how Ricardo is. He just felt a bit tight from the game the other night.
“Ayoze Pérez has had a bit of a bug so he was kept away today and we’ll see how he responds. Apart from that, all the players are fit and healthy and ready to go.”
That includes Vardy, who was taken off during last week’s win at Brentford before sitting out the midweek Carabao Cup victory over Brighton. “He’s okay. He’s trained the last couple of days so he’s fine,” said Rodgers.
And now for some Magic Numbers...
- Tottenham have lost more Premier League games against Manchester United than they have versus any other side in the competition (36).
- Nuno Espírito Santo has lost four of his first nine Premier League matches as Spurs manager (W5) – the only manager to lose more than four of his first 10 Premier League games in charge of Tottenham was Christian Gross in 1997-98, who lost five.
- Manchester United have lost three of their last four Premier League matches (D1), as many as in their previous 37 league games (W23 D11). The Red Devils have not lost three Premier League games in a row since December 2015 under Louis van Gaal.
- Manchester United have conceded 10 Premier League goals this October, more than any other side. They have only conceded more than 10 in two calendar months, shipping 11 in October 1996 and December 2018. They have also conceded 4+ goals in their last two league games (2-4 vs Leicester, 0-5 vs Liverpool), last doing so in more consecutive league games in December 1961 (three in a row).
A bit more from Solskjær, who wants to get something off his chest.
The United boss has described a report that Paul Pogba did not speak to him after the 5-0 humping by Liverpool and had put contract talks on hold as “blatant lies”.
Pogba earlier this week tweeted an image of the report’s headline with the words “fake news” over the top of it, and the message “big lies to make big headlines”.
Solskjaer said: “I don’t tend to read social media, but when Paul came up to me, angry…
“We expect to be criticised, because hands up, the performance wasn’t good enough, you expect to hear it from right, left and centre. But we can’t accept when lies are being made up, and Paul came to me told me what he had put out on his social media account.
“We’re better than that as a group. The culture is better, the environment is better. When it’s blatant lies, they have to stand up and say so. All the opinions and reports, fine, but don’t make lies about players or me.”
Thanks Luke. Hello from me. Some great stuff on the blog although, let me be clear, you won’t be getting Queen puns during my one-hour slot because - call me controversial - I don’t like them. For balance, I will admit that Bohemian Rhapsody is an incredible single and I liked that film with Rami Malek. But let’s not dwell on that, the show must go on... shit, fell into the trap.
Updated
Right, I’m off for a sandwich and a cup of tea, and will hand you over to David Tindall for the next little while as the team news continues to drop for the weekend.
Solskjær vows to fight back and lead Manchester United to trophies
Ole Gunnar Solskjær insists he can emulate Sir Alex Ferguson and “fight back” from his precarious position as Manchester United manager and lead the club to trophies. The Norwegian’s job is under serious threat following Sunday’s 5-0 loss to Liverpool, with United having taken only one point from 12.
While Solskjær will take the team to Tottenham for Saturday’s late kick-off there are no guarantees he is to remain as the manager in the long term. Ferguson came close to being removed in 1990 after more than three seasons without a trophy but he survived, winning the FA Cup in May that year, which started a 23-year spell of unprecedented success.
Solskjær was asked if he can do the same, and if he spoke with the Scot when he visited the club training ground on Tuesday. “Yes, on both accounts, if that’s the short and sweet answer. I’ve been through some very bad moments as a player here and when I’ve been a manager I’ve dealt with setbacks,” he said.
“There have been two or three crises at least since I became manager here and one thing I can say is I’ll always give it a good shot and fight back. We had a commercial day [on Tuesday] and we spoke for a brief moment because he [Ferguson] was with Cristiano [Ronaldo].”
Solskajer was asked about reports that stated some of his players doubt his managerial abilities. “The players come in and they are proper professionals – good people, we have an environment in and around the place where we have loads of respect for each other,” the 48-year-old said. “When you come in for criticism then you its like you go into the trenches with your teammates – that’s the reaction.
“Whatever this club has been through before – it’s [all about] courage, self-belief, sticking together and this group has done that. I think it [criticism] affects everyone around, I spoke about it last week [pre-Liverpool] and Mikel Arteta [Arsenal manager] said something about what we have to deal with as managers in high profile situations and that’s what we’ve got used to. I’m as focused as ever.”
Updated
Chelsea's Kovacic ruled out with hamstring injury
Thomas Tuchel is up next, speaking before Chelsea’s visit to Newcastle.
He is asked if defending is the key to win the title: “It is one of the keys. It is not enough to only have one key. You have a lot of doors to open, you need a lot of different keys. Let’s be honest: we were relying a little bit too much on our goalkeepers this season ... we believe we can overcome [difficult situations] ... we are a tough team to score against, but it’s not only about defending, the best way to defend to have the ball in your opponent’s half ...
“How good is our pressing, how high is our concentration level ... and never forget you need an amount of luck to escape with clean sheets in the Premier League. Defending is one key but not the only key.”
On the improvement in Mateo Kovacic this season: “I forgot to tell you, very sad news yesterday, he suffered an injury in the last minute of training yesterday, a hamstring injury ... hopefully after the international break he will be back.
“You can call Matteo at 3 o’clock at night [for training], and he will be there, with a smile, and do what is needed to do. He is such a fantastic guy, and such a great team player ... I watched Clásicos with him [in Spain], and I could feel big potential when I met him, such a friendly guy with such a big heart and a passion for training ... it’s such a joy to be his coach.
“We ask him to simplify his game a little bit ... he always thinks about the others, he would pass the ball on the goal line if there was somebody else to score and not him ... I’m very very happy to have him ... he did a huge step in this season in terms of proven statistics ... he still can improve in that in composure in the last pass, to be more decisive ... maybe we try to make his game a little bit more easy but ... he will never hide, it’s a pleasure to have him as a coach ... and also as a teammate. I would have loved to have played with guys like this, he’s a real fighter and a top player.”
Do we go too far when we call for football managers to be sacked?
Whatever you think about the ethics of demanding that managers to lose their jobs, this is nothing new, write Chris Evans:
Updated
The Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær speaks after that 5-0 hammering by Liverpool last week: “I’ve been through some very bad moments here as a player and a manager ... I’ve had to deal with setbacks ... there have been two or three crises since I’ve been here ... one thing I will say is I’ll always give it a good shot.
“When you come in for criticism ... you get into the trenches with your teammates, and that’s what I’ve seen this week. It’s about sticking together and that’s what they [the players] have done.
“Of course we have to hold our hands up and that performance is not acceptable. You’ve got to look at why it wasn’t acceptable, and why it went as it did. It felt like we were a boxer, being punch drunk, getting knocked down in the first round ... we went a bit too frantic and bit too open against a good team. When you see Tyson Fury, when he gets knocked down, it’s remarkable how composed he is when he counts to six, and he gets up again, and he’s ready.”
And a fitness update: “Paul [Pogba] is suspended but apart from that, it’s a fully fit squad, which has been very strange, to have 25 outfield players and five keepers training. Thirty men training this week, all fit.””
Updated
How can Benítez get the defensive solidity back at Everton after the Watford match? “I was frustrated ... we were not expecting that. You can make a mistake, they score from a set-piece, fine ... in this case we were winning, so after scoring the second goal, with Richarlison coming back and scoring the goal ... everything was positive ... you try to analyse what was going on, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“OK, we need to have some experience after that, and be sure it cannot happen again.”
Is zonal marking the right approach? “We must make sure we attack the ball and show some character when we challenge ... it’s a question of how to defend, to show the aggression you need to show to defend a free kick or a corner of whatever.”
Updated
Benítez on Wolves’ threat: “They have pace, they have ability, they have a system they know quite well. They will be dangerous ... in the first games they were quite dangerous, they were creating chances but not winning, now they have a better balance.
“We have been working on four at the back ... with this idea we have been working during the week.
On his 350th PL match as a manager: “I didn’t know ... I don’t count, normally someone will count the games you have been in charge not just in the Premier League. It’s good to have some good numbers, but I will be happy if we can celebrate with three points.”
Rafael Benítez speaks and is asked about the absence of midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré and when he may be back and fit: “The reality is we are missing some players, some important players ... Doucouré was doing really well in the middle of the pitch, and to lose him would be important for any team ... it seems he’s progressing well, so I cannot say exactly, maybe a couple of weeks ... yes, it’s a big miss for us but it’s an opportunity for other players to show their level.
Was the defeat by Watford demoralising? “The main thing is to be sure we stick together as a team, be compact, and the main thing is winning the next game ... I am sure that Wolves will not agree with me ... but we will try to be as competitive as we have been in the rest of the season.
And on the boos in the stadium: “Football is very emotional ... you can understand the frustration ... I was really disappointed after the game ... my job is to analyse what’s going on, and to find the solutions ... it’s part of the job, and after so many years, I am used to doing it.”
On what Richarlison brings: “He’s getting better. In terms of mentality, yes, in terms of fitness, he is not 100%, but I feel confident that he will give us something.”
Updated
“Absolute torture.”
Ryan Reynolds, the new Wrexham co-owner, describes watching the team lose 3-2 to Maidenhead on Tuesday.
“I’m reticent to get into the pie-in-the-sky type of stuff,” Reynolds sensibly adds of their future plans for the club and its potential. “The perfect ending is promotion.”
More from Watford’s Claudio Ranieri here, courtesy of the official club website, before Saturday’s home meeting with Saints:
“Of course the boost [winning 5-2 at Everton] was very important, as were the three points on the table, but we must forget what happened and continue in this way. We have a difficult match because every match in the Premier League is difficult, we must be careful and play with intelligence ...
“I think we played so badly against Liverpool and very well against Everton, now I want to see the next match against Southampton,” he explained. “They are a very tough team, they press together, they are all together and we must be very intelligent to play against them.”
Manchester United – not in a good moment:
The Manchester United captain Harry Maguire says the players let down manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær in their “embarrassing” 5-0 loss to Liverpool at Old Trafford last Sunday and need to take full responsibility and stick together.
United visit Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday after a week of intense criticism and speculation over the future of Solskjaer. “I hope every player in the dressing room is looking at themselves, taking full responsibility on their shoulders and not pointing the finger and blaming anyone else,” Maguire told Sky Sports. “You look at yourself first and foremost when you have a result like this and a period like this. We let the manager down against Liverpool. We let the fans down, the club down, us as players. So we have to take huge responsibility for that.”
Maguire said it had been difficult to process the defeat, which saw United 4-0 down at halftime. “It’s been tough, it’s been disappointing. When you look back at the result and the performance it was embarrassing. Nowhere near good enough for this club,” he added. “It’s been a tough week. I’m not going to say we’ve moved on easily. It’s one of the lowest I’m sure all the players have felt in their career. You go home and you don’t sleep much, you’ve got thoughts running through your head. ‘If only I did this or this’. If I’m being honest I went home and I just looked at myself and what I can do better and take full responsibility on my shoulders,” he said. (Reuters)
Updated
Fresh from Watford’s late heroics in that 5-2 win at Everton, Claudio Ranieri has said that Southampton are a ‘dangerous, dangerous team’ before the match at 3pm tomorrow at Vicarage Road:
“After [the Everton game], I think immediately of the next match, I thought immediately to Southampton ... I went to watch Chelsea v Southampton in the Carabao Cup, and I saw a good, well organised team. They made a lot of changes and played so well ... it’s a dangerous, dangerous team.”
🗣 “It's a dangerous, dangerous match.”
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) October 29, 2021
Hear from Claudio Ranieri ahead of #WATSOU as we approach Matchweek 10...
Updated
Graham Potter has spoken!
Brighton boss Graham Potter knows his side must strike the right balance between defence and attack to avoid being swept aside by Liverpool. Brighton, who won at Anfield last season, return to Merseyside on Saturday to face a free-scoring side in scintillating form. The former Liverpool and Brighton defender Mark Lawrenson told media this week that attacking Jürgen Klopp’s team would be committing “footballing suicide”.
But Potter feels overly-defensive tactics would play into the hands of their ruthless opponents. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that is the world we are in and, I respect that opinion,” said Potter. “We have to be balanced clearly because the opponent is of a high level, and that is normal in football, and you have to try and get the balance right between defence and attack.
“If you just do one thing like defend then, it can also be suicide as you can never get out of your own box and you can never do anything, and in the end their quality beats you. So I think we have got to offer both, but in a balanced way.” (PA)
Of his 200 games in charge at Manchester City, when Guardiola said ‘milestones’, with his Spanish accent it sounded more like ‘millstones’. That seemed fitting because, as usual, he looked like he was losing the will to live by having to speak to the media yet again.
A bit of news from late last night: The Chelsea and Matildas forward Sam Kerr has again been nominated for the BBC women’s footballer of the year.
“It’s nice to be nominated against so many other great names, it’s a huge honour,” she said.
Updated
Xavi ready for Barça job, says Guardiola
Pep on this week’s news at Barcelona: “Me and Ronald [Koeman], we know exactly that we depend, and we live, and we expect, and we are there for the results .. nobody can survive without good results. No one. Not Koeman, not Pep. Like a friend of mine, I wish him all the best, we will catch up soon, and I’m pretty sure he did good things for the young, young players in the academy [at Barcelona].
“Everybody knows it ... we all the time depend on the results.”
On Xavi:“He’s a really, really close friend of mine ... sooner or later it will happen [taking the Barcelona job] ... I don’t have any doubts that he’s ready to do the job. He knows the house, the environment ... and I’m pretty sure he has more experience right now than I had when I took over at Barcelona.
“The success you have depends on the quality and the commitment of the players ... our influence [managers and coaches] is much more minor than people believe. The success I had in Barcelona was because of the quality of the players I had, Xavi included ... I wish Xavi all the best and I hope step-by-step they can become the team they deserve to be.”
Updated
Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola on exiting the Carabao Cup: “You cannot win all the time ... in football, like in all sports, winning is an exception.”
On reaching 200 games at Manchester City: “I have been many years here ... when you are [at a club] 200 games ... it’s because we won some games. We are judged for the results. We are not judged how good or how bad we are ... we are judged on results ... these milestones [come] because we have done decent with the players.
Did Patrick Vieira visit him, when the Frenchman was doing he coaching badges, at Bayern Munich? “[Yes, is the answer] Listen, when a person like Patrick came to Munich, you cannot imagine the honour it was for me and for the staff to get a visit from him, what he’s done in world football ... it was a privilege, an honour for him to visit us. With Crystal Palace, he’s changing many things, and they’ve always had good players, so it will be a good task tomorrow.”
Another 200 games? “No, I don’t think so. I was incredibly happy [with the impact I’ve made on the league]. We saw the team grow and grow and that’s the best signal ... I cannot be more satisfied ... I will try to continue to do it.”
“No secrets ... no secrets ... you have to win, otherwise, you will be sacked.”
And a bonus quote here about Zinchenko playing at left-back:
PEP 💬 Oleks has a huge personality. He handles the pressure easily. A player with a lot of quality. At left back, he's always incredibly concentrated. He doesn't make mistakes, so reliable. We struggled a lot to have left backs apart from first season with Kolarov and Clichy.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 29, 2021
Updated
For all the Gooners out there, Arsenal have kindly written up the full transcript of head coach Mikel Arteta’s press conference, which you can see here.
‘Not a nice moment’ for under-pressure Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Manchester United or slightly-less-under-pressure-but-still-under-pressure Nuno Espírito Santo at Tottenham, Arteta observes:
“It’s always about the results, and we all know that and the rest it doesn’t really matter. So when you are having difficulties getting results, then you’re going to be in that position. There’s nothing new for anybody. But yes, obviously you feel [for them] because you know what you have to go through. So you feel that obviously it’s not a nice moment for those that are going through that.”
Updated
Christian Eriksen is not permitted to play in Italy this season as a result of the cardiac arrest suffered at Euro 2020, Internazionale have said, but the Serie A champions are open to letting the Denmark midfielder leave.
Eriksen suffered the cardiac arrest during his country’s opening game of the tournament in June and received life-saving treatment on the pitch. He later had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device implanted, a type of pacemaker which can prevent fatal cardiac arrests by discharging a jolt to restore a regular heart rhythm.
Over on Sky Sports, the Leeds and England midfielder Kalvin Philips says LeBron James is his sporting hero and his idol.
“I want to be like him, I want to be as professional as him, I want to be exactly like him.”
Great to sit down with @SkySports to talk about my personal sporting hero @KingJames and what inspires me about him on and off the court, not just during #BlackHistoryMonth but every day. pic.twitter.com/YhwuGJu0At
— Kalvin Phillips (@Kalvinphillips) October 29, 2021
Klopp on Adam Lallana, previously of Liverpool, now playing for tomorrow’s opponents Brighton: “Adam set the standard from the first day to the last. This type of work ethic is really rare ... he is one of the best players I ever worked with, and if he had not had so many injuries, he would have been even better ... I’m really looking forward to seeing him again.”
Updated
Klopp continues: “You win 5-0 against United, and [people think] everything is perfect, but it was not. They had chances, clear chances that we gave them ... [at half-time against Manchester United I told the players] you have to believe me, you have to play better, otherwise you open up the game for them ... I saw in the first half, we gave too much away ... not only in that game, but in general. On the other side, when you do offensive stuff, you have to finish the situations off. So far it clicked in a lot of moments, that’s why we’ve had some good score lines ... winning a game 1-0 is OK but a bit more nervy ... we have to improve and be more consistent defensively. Because we are human beings, things [mistakes] can happen.”
Updated
Klopp on Brighton: “We know what they are capable of ... in the second half [against Manchester City], they were incredible, the way they kept the ball, it’s not easy to do that against City ... [so] we have to be really good ... this is not a game where you dominate an opponent, they will have their moments ... we have to run a lot, we have to close gaps ... it will be a tough one, but I’m looking forward to it ... I’m a big admirer of Graham’s work, he’s a top-class manager, nothing else to say.”
Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool's Naby Keita is fit to play
The Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is speaking now and is asked if they need to be at their best to win the league, given their unbeaten run, and the fact they are still not top of the table: “Yes, but that’s the case for all of us ... this is just the standard of the league ... to be there in March, April or May, in that area of the table, it means you have to perform at an incredibly high level ... at this moment, we don’t know if we will be. It’s so important that you have a good start ... we try to be as consistent as somehow possible, and for that, we need to be ready for example, for tomorrow [against Brighton], because it’s one of the trickiest games in the Premier League with the work that Graham [Potter] is doing there.”
Asked how he keeps the players happy: “I want them to be happy but I want them to be angry as well, when we play an opponent who wants the points, who wants our points ... It’s matchday 10, with 28 to come, so really nothing happened yet ... we have constantly things to improve, that’s the only thing we are concerned about ... to win a football game, first and foremost, you have to be ready to defend, and that’s what we will do tomorrow.”
On current injury concerns: “Naby Keita looks good, he was obviously lucky [in the challenge that Paul Pogba was sent off for last weekend], so I think he will be ready. Fabinho doesn’t look that good, it’s a bit more complicated ... he wasn’t in team training yet, so that’s never a good sign. Thiago [Alcântara] did team training for the first time yesterday, he did most of the session, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to play.”
Updated
In more Aston Villa news, here is Barry Glendenning on the post-Jack Grealish era Villans, and their need of a victory this weekend:
League Two Fixtures (all Saturday 3pm unless stated)
Northampton Town v Carlisle United (Saturday 2pm)
Barrow v Rochdale
Bradford City v Forest Green Rovers
Colchester United v Scunthorpe United
Crawley Town v Port Vale
Harrogate Town v Bristol Rovers
Leyton Orient v Hartlepool United
Mansfield Town v Tranmere Rovers
Newport County v Stevenage
Oldham Athletic v Swindon Town
Salford City v Exeter City
Sutton United v Walsall
Let’s hope the Norwich goalie won’t be ‘The Invisible Man’.
@LukeMcLaughlin in the spirit of Queen puns would we suggest that Norwich would not want to go “Seven Goals Awry” again this week…I’ll get my coat
— JasonWardWork (@WhatJasonDoes1) October 29, 2021
League One fixtures (all 3pm Saturday)
Cambridge United v AFC Wimbledon
Charlton Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Cheltenham Town v Sheffield Wednesday
Crewe Alexandra v Milton Keynes Dons
Fleetwood Town v Wycombe Wanderers
Gillingham v Accrington Stanley
Lincoln City v Shrewsbury Town
Oxford United v Morecambe
Plymouth Argyle v Ipswich Town
Portsmouth v Bolton Wanderers
Rotherham United v Sunderland
Wigan Athletic v Burton Albion
As usual on a Friday, the press conferences will be coming thick and fast around lunchtime, so we’ll bring you news from those as speedily as we can.
Match preview: Liverpool v Brighton
Arsenal will make a late call on including the left-back Kieran Tierney in their squad for Saturday’s Premier League match at Leicester City, head coach Mikel Arteta said.
“He’s progressing, training. Let’s see how he is today. He felt a bit better in the last few days but wasn’t 100% to start the other day,” Arteta said on Friday. “There have been a few of them that haven’t been able to train. We picked up some knocks during the game against Leeds. Hopefully today we’ll have better news.”
Arteta said defender Ben White missed training due to a sickness bug while the forward Eddie Nketiah had to continue taking his chances after scoring against Leeds. “He’s another one that is constantly pushing,” Arteta said. “Every time he’s got a chance he takes it. There are other players involved in that position. “He’s the same as other players without many minutes because we don’t have Europe this season.”
Arteta, a former Barcelona youth player who had previously been linked to the manager’s job at the Spanish La Liga side, ruled himself out of contention following the dismissal of Ronald Koeman.
“I’m extremely happy at Arsenal and privileged to be here. My focus is here,” he said. “There’s been a lot going on there in the last few years... you have to overcome a situation like the departure of Lionel Messi who’s been a key player for many years and I know that takes time. I hope everything works out well.” (Reuters)
The Liverpool full-back Andrew Robertson, quoted on Sky Sports News just now, firstly on Mohamed Salah: “At this moment he’s the world’s best, and he’ll want to continue that ... not just for nine or 10 games, he’ll want to do it for a whole season, like he’s done previously.”
On Salah’s ongoing contract negotiations: “He’s said he would be happy to stay here, and that’s up to the club and him to come to an agreement ... I love playing with Mo, and all the lads around me ... and hopefully they can get to a solution.”
And finally, after Robertson was shown on camera, willing his teammates on after they went four or five up against Manchester United last weekend: “We have to be ruthless in everything we do ... in terms of defending, and in terms of scoring goals at the right moments ... first half against Manchester United, we were clearly ruthless ... that has to be the motto.”
Updated
The Newcastle goalie, Karl Darlow, is hoping for a big atmosphere when Chelsea visit this weekend - kick-off is at 3pm tomorrow.
“We’re excited ... back at home, and after the atmosphere we witnessed a couple of weeks back at Tottenham [at St James’ Park] we’re hoping to give the fans more of a buzz to cheer about on the pitch. When that first goal went in against Tottenham, I don’t think anyone had heard a noise like it in a football stadium ... We went away to Palace and we’ve ended up with a point, which on the road, is probably not a bad point. Hopefully we can build on that. We know the challenge that Chelsea are going to set us, and we need to be ready for that, and we will be ready for that.”
🗣 "We know the challenge that Chelsea are going to set us. We need to be ready for that and we will be ready for that."
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) October 29, 2021
⚫️⚪️
Updated
The end finally came for Ronald Koeman this week, as you will have seen. Read Sid Lowe’s take on the latest twist in Barcelona’s sorry soap opera – including his talking points from around the rest of La Liga heading into the weekend:
“Re: your comment on Dean Smith’s press conference, is it not time we added expected good moments to the battery of football statistics?,” emails Michael Smith.
“I’d get on to Opta but I need your endorsement to give me some much needed credibility.”
Pretending for a moment that I didn’t register that distinctly sarcastic sign-off – expected good moments - I like it, Michael!
Lilian Thuram has been speaking to Paul Doyle about issues of race, among other things, to mark the release of his new book: ‘White Thinking: Behind the Mask of Racial Identity’.
“No one is born black or white,” Thuram says. “It is important that people who are said to be white understand what it is to be white. We all need to be aware that history has led to us wearing skin-colour masks.”
Watford can welcome back Danny Rose for the visit of Southampton after a minor calf injury, but fellow full-back Kiko Femenia is a doubt with a hip problem. The Hornets will be without the suspended forward Emmanuel Dennis.
Southampton will be without Armando Broja due to an ankle issue, James Ward-Prowse returns from a three-game suspension, while Mohamed Elyounoussi is set to recover from minor hand surgery.
Here’s our match preview:
Sean Dyche is celebrating his nine-year anniversary at Burnley. They’ve edited together a nice video of various former players and luminaries of the club – and long-standing fans such as Alastair Campbell – congratulating him on his achievement. A win against Brentford this weekend would be a fitting way to celebrate ...
To celebrate The Gaffer's 9️⃣ Year Anniversary, some familiar faces who he has worked with over the years have some special messages for the occasion 👏 👊 #9YearsStrong | #UTC pic.twitter.com/9fcGKYujXr
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) October 29, 2021
In Burnley news: Matt Lowton believes one result can turn Burnley’s season around as the search for a first Premier League victory continues. The Clarets host Brentford on Saturday stuck in the bottom three with only four points from their first nine league games of the season.
“It’s been frustrating,” Lowton said. “We’ve actually played quite well and the attitude has been spot on. We’ve just not performed in key moments and in this league you’re going to get punished. The results haven’t been there but we’ve been playing quite well. It’s about getting that first win on the board and Saturday is a good opportunity ...
“We went ahead (at Southampton) and started really well, on the front foot, and were all over them. We managed to get ahead but for some reason found ourselves behind and then we showed great character. It’s just about working hard. We’ve been down this road before and one result can turn it all around. Hopefully we get that one soon.” (PA)
Shameless plug alert: are you signed up to The Recap, our editors’ pick of the Guardian’s award-winning sport coverage?
We’ll email you the stand-out features and interviews, insightful analysis and highlights from the archive, plus films, podcasts, galleries and more – all arriving in your inbox at every Friday lunchtime.
This week’s version will be sent at 12pm today, so why not sign up now? Here you go:
While there’s a vague excuse to post it, here’s the riff-tastic live version of Queen’s ‘Now I’m Here’:
“I see what you’re doing with Alan Gomes’s e-mail,” writes Peter Van. “You’re trying to hijack this weekend countdown into a thin excuse to do puns with Queen song titles. I suppose you expect Manchester City fans to burst in with “We are the champions”. Or someone to point out that Norwich staying up will be “The Miracle”. Or that Harry Kane might be muttering “I Want to Break Free”. Or that the Saudi ownership promises Toon fans things will improve “Now I’m Here”.
“I’ll have none of that. Instead, this message aim to correct one Mr. Gomes’s assertions: Vanilla Ice was not a one hit wonder. He also released “Ninja Rap” - a wildly popular tune from a Ninja Turtles movie. Now let’s try and do Premier League puns with that!”
Just the 12.2million views on YouTube for Ninja Rap, so I guess that must count as a hit:
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has been speaking to the media before Sunday’s visit of West Ham.
A spot of team news: “Emi Martinez will be back training with us today. He’s had some personal issues that he had to fly back home for, but he’s back today so I have no worries about his availability. Other than that, Morgan Sanson and Jaden Philogene-Bidace are both off ill, and Trezeguet is still coming back from injury.”
“West Ham are in a really good moment ... they’re a very good team with a very good coach, I’m full of respect for David Moyes and what he’s done at West Ham ... I expect a tough game but one that we’re looking forward to.”
“In a really good moment”?? - clearly, Smith has been taking notes out of Carlo Ancelotti’s press conference handbook.
Updated
Let’s talk Leicester, seeing as they are first name on the Premier League team sheet this weekend, with the Gunners visiting at lunchtime tomorrow.
After a sketchy run of form, the Foxes have now won four matches on the bounce in all competitions, which seems to have crept up rather quickly. It all started with that encouraging 4-2 drubbing of Manchester United. Harvey Barnes has told the official club website that ‘confidence is massive’, which is hard to argue with. Three points, he insists, will be the main focus against Arsenal.
“We’ve said previously this week that confidence is going to be massive for us, and that momentum of winning [against Brighton], we’ve got four wins on the bounce now, we’ll be going into that game full of confidence,” Barnes said. “For us, it’s another chance to get three points and get high up the table.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game. They’re on a good run of form and for us, we had a tough start but we’ve really come together as a team and hit a good run of form ourselves, so it’s going to be a battle, but the stadium will be bouncing, and for us, three points will be the main focus. Hopefully we can do that.” Full story here.
And while we’re on the subject, here is a by Ben McAleer on Patson Daka:
Updated
“Dear Luke, I love the expression “under pressure”,” emails Alan Gomes. “Always makes me think of the great Queen/Bowie song or, if I’m being truthful, of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”. However, I must protest at the description of Nuno Espírito Santo as “under pressure”. He has managed less than ten games in the Premier League with Spurs. He is currently sixth in the standings - an improvement on last season. Is it really fair to describe his situation as “under pressure”? I mean, your photo caption reads: “Nuno Espírito Santo (left) and Ole Gunnar Solskjær are both under pressure” ... whatever one’s opinions on Ole’s and Nuno’s abilities, I think it’s a bit of a stretch to assume OGS and NES are both “under pressure” this weekend. At the very least, it should be noted that there are different levels of pressure. Maybe you could write OGS is under heavy, two-rock-legends, intense “Under Pressure” kind of pressure; while NES is merely under poppy, one-hit-wonder “Ice Ice Baby” kind of pressure. But I suppose this can’t fit in a caption?”
Thank you for the email Alan, which has made me chuckle. Would this be a good moment for me to mention, in true journalist style, that I didn’t write the photo caption? Also, as you imply, I suppose all football managers are under pressure to an extent. In that sense, the caption writers’ point stands.
But who, do we think, will be the next manager to bite the dust?
Updated
The Premier League’s official Twitter is getting us all excited for Newcastle v Chelsea (tomorrow 3pm) with this absolute banger from Papiss Cissé back in 2012:
Papiss Cisse 🆚 Chelsea. Enough said.#GoalOfTheDay pic.twitter.com/b61VAwDX9W
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 29, 2021
The former Senegal international Cissé is still going, at the grand old age of 36, and plays for Fenerbahce after a spell in China and two years with Alanyaspor.
Updated
Marcelo Bielsa says Leeds’s failure to create as many goalscoring chances this season is not solely down to the absence of Patrick Bamford. Bamford, the second highest-scoring English player in the Premier League last season behind Harry Kane, has missed Leeds’ last six games due to an ankle injury and will not face Norwich on Sunday. “We’ve clearly lowered the amount of dangerous chances that we’ve created,” Bielsa said. “Of course, if Bamford was here his presence would be valued, but the fact we have not been creating as many chances is not linked solely to Bamford.”
Leeds have yet to replicate the same form which lit up the Premier League last season and Bielsa admitted his players were struggling for consistency. When asked to evaluate the contribution of winger Jack Harrison, Bielsa said: “You ask me a question where you know that I can’t praise his performances up until now. But what’s happening to Harrison is happening to all our players in the squad, where they have better or worse moments and nobody is able to maintain a regular consistency in their performances, especially when they are playing in attack.
“Harrison is a player with a lot of resources to be able to play on both wings and we’ve enjoyed his contributions. Harrison will continue to shine, or will shine again in proportion to the faculties that he has, and it’s my job to put him in situations in the game where he’s able to shine and to make him as important as I feel that he is.” (PA)
Updated
Premier League fixtures
Saturday
Leicester City v Arsenal (12.30pm)
Burnley v Brentford (3pm)
Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion (3pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (3pm)
Newcastle United v Chelsea (3pm)
Watford v Southampton (3pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United (5.30pm)
Sunday
Norwich City v Leeds United (3pm)
Aston Villa v West Ham United (5.30pm)
Monday
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton (8pm)
Championship fixtures
Friday
QPR v Nottingham Forest (7.45pm)
Saturday
Fulham v West Bromwich Albion (12.30pm)
Bristol City v Barnsley (3pm)
Derby County v Blackburn Rovers (3pm)
Huddersfield Town v Millwall (3pm)
Hull City v Coventry City (3pm)
Middlesbrough v Birmingham City (3pm)
Preston North End v Luton Town (3pm)
Sheffield United v Blackpool (3pm)
Stoke City v Cardiff City (3pm)
Swansea City v Peterborough United (3pm)
Reading v AFC Bournemouth (8pm)
League One (all 3pm Saturday)
Cambridge United v AFC Wimbledon
Charlton Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Cheltenham Town v Sheffield Wednesday
Crewe Alexandra v Milton Keynes Dons
Fleetwood Town v Wycombe Wanderers
Gillingham v Accrington Stanley
Lincoln City v Shrewsbury Town
Oxford United v Morecambe
Plymouth Argyle v Ipswich Town
Portsmouth v Bolton Wanderers
Rotherham United v Sunderland
Wigan Athletic v Burton Albion
League Two (all 3pm Saturday unless stated)
Northampton Town v Carlisle United (Saturday 2pm)
Barrow v Rochdale
Bradford City v Forest Green Rovers
Colchester United v Scunthorpe United
Crawley Town v Port Vale
Harrogate Town v Bristol Rovers
Leyton Orient v Hartlepool United
Mansfield Town v Tranmere Rovers
Newport County v Stevenage
Oldham Athletic v Swindon Town
Salford City v Exeter City
Sutton United v Walsall
Updated
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to the Weekend Football Countdown. A busy weekend of domestic action is on the menu, with Tottenham v Manchester United (5.30pm tomorrow) probably the most eagerly anticipated fixture in the Premier League.
Arsenal go to Leicester (12.30pm tomorrow) while Liverpool v Brighton and Manchester City v Crystal Palace are two of the five 3pm fixtures on Saturday.
There is life beyond the Premier League, too, with QPR hosting Nottingham Forest in the Championship this evening and Fulham v West Brom tomorrow at 12.30pm. League leaders Bournemouth are in action at Reading tomorrow night. I’ll bring you as much news as humanly possible from the Football League and across the European Leagues, too. Let’s get it on.
