Trent Alexander-Arnold returns to Anfield in white, and Liverpool are trying to convince everyone they’re fine again after finally finding some form against the stooges of Aston Villa.
There’s no shortage of narratives this midweek, with Alexander-Arnold’s Real Madrid back at Anfield in the Champions League and holders Paris Saint-Germain hosting their biggest threat to the throne, Bayern Munich.
Tottenham Hotspur have a huge clash with Copenhagen after being booed off against Chelsea, while Rangers and Coventry City are both looking to bounce back from weekend defeats.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are all in action too, but somehow, they’ve all missed the cut for a jam-packed Big Midweek.
Player to watch: Trent Alexander-Arnold
There’s no guarantee that Trent Alexander-Arnold will start for Real Madrid at Anfield to face Liverpool, but there’s a chance nonetheless. That’s enough for us.
It’s the biggest story of the week by far, with Alexander-Arnold viewed as a traitor by many Liverpool fans after he denied them a fee by walking to Madrid on a free transfer at the end of his contract.
There’s not much to say about the England right-back that hasn’t already been said, but the prospect of him actually lacing up to face Liverpool at Anfield is incredible. He doesn’t deserve the boos he’ll inevitably receive, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him struggle under the daunting Anfield lights as an opposition player.
There were even Liverpool fans who revelled in his latest injury setback — which occurred in the opening minutes of Trent’s Champions League debut for Los Blancos against Marseille, when he pulled up with a sore hamstring. Thankfully, Alexander-Arnold has recovered just in time to be considered for selection against his former club.
It’s not Alexander-Arnold’s fitness that’s the concern, it’s whether or not he should even start. The Champions League is an opportunity for Xabi Alonso to rotate, and after being an unused substitute in Madrid’s last two La Liga games, there could be a change at right-back, with Federico Valverde potentially moving back into midfield after helping his side win 4-0 against Valencia.
Trent starting against Marseille suggests Alonso wants him to play in Europe, and while he is paid a lot of money to do a job against anyone, the Madrid boss might consider keeping him out of the firing line. Then again, Alonso will want his best players on the pitch.
We just know it’s going to be juicy. And that’s all we’re here for.
And you can watch it for free...
Team to watch: Liverpool
Speaking of Liverpool and their match against Real Madrid…
Bouncing back against Aston Villa was crucial for Arne Slot and his players after losing six of their last seven games, and doing so while keeping their third clean sheet of the season sets them up perfectly for an extremely difficult match on Tuesday.
Mohamed Salah has now scored in consecutive Premier League games and Ryan Gravenberch is back in the side, which cannot be underestimated. His calming presence in midfield goes a long way to making Slot’s Liverpool look much more composed and calm, in and out of possession.
He has to start against Madrid, and it wouldn’t be a shock if Slot’s side are unchanged. Despite rotation being important, momentum and confidence are key at this stage. Liverpool need to prove they are still contenders for the Premier League and Champions League, and are through the other side of a historically poor run of form.
It’s a huge week in general for the Premier League champions, who face Manchester City on Sunday. It’s not a season-defining week for the Reds, but their results will provide a huge indication of where they’ll be at the end of 2025/26.
Liverpool vs Real Madrid predictions: Liverpool’s revival will be tested by Europe’s form team
Game to watch: Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
It’s just a belting tie, isn’t it? It’s definitely the best thing about the transformation from a group to a league phase.
The rematch of the 2020 lockdown final is now a clash between the two favourites for the 2025/26 title, and it’s not hard to see why. Bayern are currently nine from nine in the Bundesliga and look as dominant as ever with Harry Kane flying under Vincent Kompany, while PSG are unsurprisingly top of Ligue 1. Farmers’ leagues be farming, folks.
The fixture really does all the talking for us, but similar to Liverpool and their week ahead, the result here could say a lot about both teams — more about the winner, anyway. Losing won’t make either of them pretenders instead of contenders, especially when Arsenal brushed PSG aside in last season’s league phase before losing to the eventual winners in the semi-final.
You’d probably fancy Bayern to win if they were at home, but in Paris? Who knows? Let’s just hope for an entertaining 90 minutes. With the lack of jeopardy involved for these two European Goliaths, it’s hard to imagine it being anything but entertaining.
Manager to watch: Thomas Frank
Questions are being asked about Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur after a limp home defeat to London rivals Chelsea on Saturday, with a clip of Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven snubbing their manager after the full-time whistle surfacing on social media. It wasn’t a good look and sent out all the wrong messages, even if it was just two footballers being p*ssed off after losing an important game.
It’s already water under the bridge, which is fantastic news ahead of a very winnable Champions League match for Spurs against FC Copenhagen.
Spurs, in truth, were handed an absolute beauty of a league phase schedule, but edging past Villarreal at home before lucky draws at Bodo/Glimt and AS Monaco is a very underwhelming — albeit unbeaten — start.
Pressure is on Frank to make Spurs look like an exciting team, and working out how to get the best out of £51million summer signing Xavi Simons would go a long way. There’s a plethora of attacking talent in Frank’s squad, but we’re yet to really see anything to prove that statement.
Not only that, but Frank really needs to sort out his side’s confusingly abysmal home form. Sixth in the Premier League after 10 games under the former Brentford boss is pretty good going, but winning at home to Wolves should be your bread and butter.
Spurs are 17th in the home table this season with one win from five games, but are top with four wins and one draw when playing away from their beautiful stadium.
Copenhagen are obviously a good side — good enough to be in the Champions League — but they are the Wolves of the competition. Spurs will be botching the most favourable league phase draw imaginable if they don’t make light work of the Danes on Tuesday.
READ: Thomas Frank is small-timing the Spurs job and that could kill him
EFL game to watch: Coventry v Sheffield United
Knowing the Championship, Coventry’s first defeat of the season will probably be followed by an awful run of form, with questions asked of Frank Lampard only weeks after he was the best thing since sliced bread. It’s just how things work in that crazy league.
Coventry were unbeaten after 12 Championship games, which is an almighty impressive start to the season, but it’s a relentless division and even a home match against a shocking Sheffield United side feels like a potential banana skin. It was only Wrexham’s fourth league win of the season and came via a Kieffer Moore hat-trick from 1-0 down. Seriously, anything is possible.
The Blades can also earn their fourth win of the campaign on Tuesday evening but are on a two-match losing run after winning three from five following Chris Wilder’s return. Looking at this game the other way, they are shipping goals for fun and Coventry have scored a frankly ridiculous 36 goals already this term, so it could be a mauling as Coventry bounce back from Friday evening’s drama at the Racecourse Ground.
Europa game to watch: Rangers v AS Roma
Rangers have been snuck in, so this will be short and sweet.
Roma have been very, very good this season. Atalanta legend Gian Piero Gasperini has come in and steadied the ship with some brilliant results, with Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at second-place AC Milan only their third from 10 in Serie A.
Gasperini’s side take on a dejected Rangers team at Ibrox in the Europa League, where they haven’t found much success — winning one and losing two. That’s not as bad as rock-bottom Rangers, whose first game under new boss Danny Rohl was a 4-0 battering at Brann.
Despite that heavy defeat to Brann and losing 3-1 after extra time against Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup, this is Rohl’s biggest test yet. There’s nothing like a rocking Ibrox on a Thursday night, if the supporters are behind the man in the dugout, which they are…for now.
We should see a comfortable night for Roma or one of those special Ibrox nights. Either way, it’s must-watch football.