The Guardian

Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa: Premier League – live reaction

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 19/09/2026 - 12:30

Tottenham v Aston Villa: Premier League – live - The Guardian

Key events

Spurs were just so toothless (when it mattered).

With 65% possession, and more shots at goal, they really ought to have taken a lead.

They thought they’d squared things to make it 1-1 when Kudus swept home from close range, but Robertson, who had a decent game despite making a horrible mistake for the Villa opener, was just a shoulder length off-side.

Some correspondence from readers:

“Redknapp in,” says Filip Gieldon. “Never have I seen a collection of more mediocre players and signings being called great. Tottenham should sack the manager and get Harry Redknapp in, he’d fit right in.”

Alexander Whitney: “Regarding De Zerbi’s comments about Spurs’ mental block, he’s been in charge for, what, 6 months now? In the worst Opta fashion, let’s end with one word. Accountability.”

“Is there any truth in the rumour that Spurs will do a lap of honour if they win the toss in the next game?” – don’t bet against it, Malc Shuttleworth.

Cian O’Mahony: “Spurs are summed up by the way Maddison got out of the way of Buendia’s shot for 0-3.”

Villa move up to 15th.

Spurs drop into the bottom three where they’ll stay for the international break.

Full-time! Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa

No time for a comeback as boos meet the final whistle.

Spurs showed some fight but there’s no doubt the right team won today.

Spurs were the better team in the first half but didn’t take their chances. Villa did and ran away to a 3-0 lead before two late consolation goals from the home team.

GOAL! Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa (van Hecke, 90+7)

Now then! Rather than shoot, Robertson chips to the back post where van Hecke is totally unmarked and he heads the ball down and into the goal!

Updated at 15.34 CEST

Villa haven’t won yet. Savio at the byline on the left pulls a pass back that is cleared away for a corner. It’s played short and the dinked cross is met by van de Ven who gets a decent header on it and steers it towards goal, but it’s just wide. Suzuki had it covered anyway.

Was it an own goal? It counts all the same. Good work from Kudus down the right as he burst into the box and found the byline before cutting the ball back in. Gallagher got there and hacked it towards goal. Was that strike on target before it took a deflection off Cash? Not sure. Either way, the ball settled in at the back post and Spurs’ long wait for a league goal is over.

GOAL! Tottenham 1-3 Aston Villa (Gallagher, 86)

The duck is broken! It won’t matter much in the context of this game, but at least Spurs have scored.

Updated at 15.26 CEST

Bentancur and Tonalie are off for Spurs, replaced by Bergvall and Gallagher.

Even more fans are leaving now.

Now the visitors are in complete control, knocking the ball around as if on the training pitch. Oles ring out from the away stand.

Justin Kavanagh points out:

double quotation markIf they don’t score today, Spurs will have gone over 8 hours without doing a goal. That’s long enough to read a lengthy novel. If I was a Spurs fan walking out early today, I’d head for Waterstones and spend the next few weeks perusing something more convincing than this fiction that Spurs are still a functioning football club.

Oh my word, the second viewing is even better!

Just an incredible strike. Joao Gomes ran from midfield and fed Hemmings on the right. The pass came back infield to Buendia who puts his foot through it and rifled it into the top corner.

That has sparked a small exodus from some Spurs fans.

GOAL! Tottenham 0-3 Aston Villa (Buendia, 80)

STUNNER! He did it in the Europa League final and this one might be even better! Smashed into the top corner and that is that!

Updated at 15.18 CEST

Did anyone catch Jackson’s celebration? Got to say I missed it.

Michael Cosgrove didn’t: “Whatever else, I thought Jackson’s post second goal ‘celebratory’ throat slitting gesture was way beyond the pale.”

The cross from the free-kick comes to nothing. Spurs seem to have lost their oomph (if they had any to start with).

Manzambi is off for Hemmings.

He’s well off-side so wouldn’t have counted as he got himself free down the left inside the Villa box, but he scuffed it with his left foot, skewing it across the face of goal as if he was squaring the ball.

GOAL! Tottenham 0-2 Aston Villa (Jackson, 67)

Brilliant from Jackson and Spurs are sinking! Wonderful feet from the striker. He plays a quick one-two with Manzambi off a long kick, then flicks it over van Hecke before keeping the ball low to the corner with a (not) volley strike. It’s saved, but only half as it trickles in off the far post.

Updated at 15.08 CEST

That’ll be Solanke’s last act as he’s replaced by Maddison. That’ll push Marmoush further forward.

Maddison warming up for Spurs on the side.

NO GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Aston Villa

The drought continues! Robertson was half a yard off-side as he had the beating of McGinn down the left. The cross was half blocked before it was swept in by Kudus from close range, but there’s no doubt the left back was off-side.

Oh no! Was Robertson off-side? I think he is. Hang tight….

GOAL! Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa (Kudus, 60)

They’ve done it! The duck is broken!

Up the other end, Jackson’s shot is blocked.

End to end now.

The Guardian

Police on high alert before Millwall v West Ham, Spurs and Villa face crunch clash – matchday live

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 19/09/2026 - 08:22

Key events

The first and most pressing question that Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola was asked at his press conference on Friday, before his side’s trip to former club Bournemouth on Sunday?

Whether Dominik Szoboszlai’s goal against Tottenham in midweek was a volley.

Iraola smashed it, 100% the correct answer. It is categorically not a volley, neither a half-volley. “We need a new word for it,” said the Spaniard.

I enjoyed this, from Andrew Beasley, on Tottenham’s failures so far this season. Spurs have failed to score a single goal in their four matches to date.

Updated at 11.24 CEST

Inter legend Sandro Mazzola dies aged 83

Former Italy forward Sandro Mazzola, who spent all 17 years of his senior career ⁠at Internazionale, has died at the age of 83, the club said on Saturday.

Mazzola, considered a club icon at Inter, scored 158 goals ⁠in 565 appearances, helping ⁠them win four Serie A titles and two European Cups. He was part of the Italy side that won the Euros in 1968 and reached the World ⁠Cup final in Mexico two years later.

“Sandro Mazzola was one of the greatest footballers in history. Not only in the history of the Nerazzurri,” Inter said in ⁠a statement on their official website, using a nickname for the team. “He was Inter’s history: he joined the club as a boy and never left ‌it.“

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said ‌Italy had lost one of the most beloved figures in its soccer history. “He brought joy and ‌passion to generations of Italians, leaving an indelible mark on our nation,” she posted on social media.

Mazzola was six years old when his father Valentino, also an Italy international, died in the Superga air disaster, a plane crash in May 1949 that killed the entire Torino team on their way back from a match in Lisbon.

At 18, Mazzola made his senior debut when Inter fielded ‌their youth side in a match against Juventus, after the Italian federation overturned a decision awarding Inter a 2-0 victory following a pitch invasion by Juventus fans and ordered a replay.

A former Inter club mascot as a child, Mazzola made his senior debut at 18 and quickly became a first-team regular, helping Inter win their first European Cup in 1964 by scoring ⁠a double as they beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the final. He played a key role when Inter won the title again the next season.

Mazzola retired as a player in 1977 and later served as Inter’s sporting director. He also became ‌the sporting director of Torino, his father’s club.

“The star with the moustache shone on the pitch, and still does today. As he often said, he had one final wish: to be remembered as a good man, someone who keeps fighting even when winning is impossible, like in that 9-1,” Inter said. Reuters

Regarding Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England recall, here’s what Tuchel had to say …

… and here is Sid Lowe’s analysis, the view from Spain:

Thomas Tuchel said Trent Alexander Arnold had enjoyed a good start to the season, which came as news to those in England who have not been watching him at Real Madrid. It also, in truth, came as news to those in Spain who have. If the England manager did not see enough in Alexander-Arnold to include him in the World Cup in the summer he has not really had the chance to see enough to change that decision as autumn begins. Two unremarkable league starts provide insufficient evidence with which to make a case for the full-back’s recall, or indeed his exclusion, but he is in the squad.

The Ben White/England situation continues to be frustrating. After missing out on the World Cup squad through injury – a tournament which Reece James struggled for fitness, Tino Livramento was sidelined for and Trent Alexander-Arnold was dropped (and White’s relationship with Saka on the right wing could have proved invaluable) – the versatile Arsenal right-back was again omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s squad on Friday, with the German admitting that he would have called up the 28-year-old – possibly instead of Trent Alexander-Arnold – had he not been injured.

“Ben White pulled out with an injury after a fantastic start to the season with Arsenal. He’s not available now – which has been the story with Ben,” said Tuchel on Friday.

All of which is fine, until Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta announced later on Friday that White was fit enough to be in contention for Arsenal to face Brighton this weekend. Hmmm. With England not playing their first match of the international break for another week, something does seem to be up. Just what, we don’t know.

That Malen has better numbers than even Kane since January is remarkable. Especially as the Englishman is continuing to break scoring records with Bayern. Kane scored two on Friday as Bayern roared past Union Berlin 7-0 – smashing the 49-year-old record for the fastest player to reach 100 Bundesliga goals (in 98 games). Cologne’s Dieter Müller set the previous mark in 1977, but it took him 129 matches.

Quite the match later on in Serie A, as Internazionale travel to Roma. The two teams are leading the way at the top of the table. Defending champions Inter are very much the team to beat in Italy, but the story really is Roma and free-scoring Donyell Malen

Malen has six goals from four league games this season and no player in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals since his Roma debut on 18 January, when he joined on loan from Aston Villa. Roma made that deal permanent in the summer – a snip at £21.6m. Malen also has more combined goals and assists (22) than any other player, putting Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes (20), Bayern striker Harry Kane (20) and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal (19) in the shade.

There is no doubt Roma are making great strides under Gian Gasperini, surely one of the finest managers on the continent. After qualifying for the Champions League last season, the Giallorossi now have their eyes set on a first Scudetto since 2001 – Batistuta, Totti, Montella et al.

Roma v Inter kicks off today at 5pm BST.

There was a fabulous WSL game at the Academy stadium in Manchester last night. City were made to work very hard by an improving Liverpool side, with the defending champions scoring two in stoppage time to edge a 4-2 thriller. Here’s Tom Garry’s report:

Elsewhere in the Championship, Wrexham host Southampton with the Welsh side looking to bounce back from that harrowing 6-0 shellacking at West Ham eight days ago.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, Wrexham’s co-chairmen, have previewed the game with the Saints with this video …

Possibly more interesting is the progress of the new Kop Stand at the Racehorse Ground. Which you have to say looks magnificent.

Plenty of Championship storylines to go around today – as per – but the headline act is definitely Millwall v West Ham. It is the fierce rivals’ first clash in 14 years, and their 100th competitive meeting. Jacob Steinberg has penned this excellent preview:

The mood will still be tense. There is an odd dynamic to the game. West Ham have at times found it awkward because some of their fans care far more about beating Chelsea and Tottenham. But a trip to Stamford Bridge or N17 is a familiar experience. Going south of the river to Millwall is somehow viewed as different, the short train ride from London Bridge treated as an intrepid journey into some hostile alien planet.

Updated at 10.01 CEST

Very early days, of course, but this is the current Premier League table. That’s quite the top six, even at this stage of the season.

Let’s start with Brentford’s drubbing of neighbours Chelsea, who were soundly beaten 3-0. Quite a funny result for the neutral, but Brentford are no joke these days. Thiago is a starting striker for Brazil, Vitaly Janelt has just been called up by Jürgen Klopp to the Germany squad, Mikkel Damsgaard remains criminally underrated, Kevin Schade is quietly turning into one of the most efficient forwards in the Premier League and Jannik Schuster – signed for around £14m in the summer from RB Salzburg – has apparently inherited the spirit of Franco Baresi.

This is what Jonathan Wilson, at the at the Gtech Community Stadium on Friday, had to say about Brentford’s victory:

Those early-season thoughts that Chelsea might be the team best-placed to challenge Arsenal are beginning to look extremely over-optimistic. The two chaotic wins with which they began were always difficult to read: they might have been useful points picked up on the way to a more solid structure, or they might have represented evidence of significant problems. After three games without a win, and 12 goals conceded in five games this season, it’s beginning to look like the latter.

At the final whistle, Keith Andrews tipped his head back and roared at the sky, celebrating Brentford’s first home win over Chelsea since 1938. They remain unbeaten, coherent and disciplined, and moved up to third in the table. The comparison is impossible not to draw: as one side flail in an orgy of structured spending, their far less wealthy neighbours thrive with a clear plan and sense of direction. “It was a performance I felt was bubbling,” said Andrews. “I could see it in the players’ eyes over the last two days. They were very focused, very determined.”

Updated at 09.39 CEST

Preamble

The last weekend before the international break. The final beer of the holiday. Savour it, drink in the sunset (Millwall v West Ham), ignore the kids screaming in the background (Tottenham v Aston Villa) and reminisce about all the memories you have created (Brentford 3-0 Chelsea).

There is, of course, plenty more besides to enjoy. We’ll have WSL, a full set of Scottish and Football League fixtures, four more Premier League matches, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1. You’ll be a lot of things today, but one thing you won’t be is bored.

The Guardian

Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur: Carabao Cup third round – live

Submitted by daniel on Tue, 15/09/2026 - 20:00

Key events

GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Gallagher 69)

Marmoush curls the corner in from the left. Mamardashvili flaps under it, missing the ball altogether, and Gallagher can’t miss with a header from a couple of yards!

Updated at 22.40 CEST

GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Gakpo 54)

Ngumoha cuts in from the right and rolls across to Kerkez, who cushions the ball back to Mac Allister. No shot this time. Mac Allister finds Gakpo inside the box on the left. Gakpo takes a touch inside and lashes a shot across Dubravka and into the right-hand side of the net. No stopping that!

Updated at 22.19 CEST

Liverpool get the second half started. They’ve made one change, Jacquet coming on for Gomez. A reminder that if the game ends level after 90 minutes, there will be no extra time. It’ll be straight to penalties.

Half-time postbag. “At least you can’t accuse Roberto De Zerbi of parking the bus. No. It’s no use throwing players under a parked bus” – Justin Kavanagh

“What a week for Liverpool! Ian ‘Mac the Mouth’ McCulloch and Echo & The Bunnymen are releasing a new album, and Alexis ‘Mac the Foot’ Mac Allister is scoring goals for fun at Anfield” – Peter Oh

“Re: Andy (not that one) Flintoff, I recently saw correspondence from Andy Flintoff to the paper and thought, I bet it’s not that one. Is tonight’s Andy Flintoff not that one, or not that one or that one?” – Craig Fawcett

The doctor will see you now. “Thanks for your comment about colourblind supporters on 20 minutes,” begins Euan Lawson. “The Premier League have largely sorted appalling kit clashes out, and so I wonder if it’s a Carabao Cup thing. Yes, I can confirm, as a colourblind person, that the game is almost unwatchable. Or more unwatchable than normal with any game featuring Spurs. Red-green colourblindness affects one in 12 blokes - pretty much one in every men’s football team. It’s a nonsense that Spurs aren’t in white here.

“Also a message for Adam Kent Ibáñez - it might be worth double-checking that he’s not colourblind. A lot of men get through life without realising and it can have health consequences: spotting blood in various bodily emissions can be missed and we all know those kind of things needs checking. Awareness can help. (I’m a GP.)”

HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Mac Allister blazes the free kick over the bar, and that’s the end of an open and entertaining first half. The Argentinian scored a fine goal, both keepers have made one crucial stop, and Kudus has missed a sitter. It’s been fun.

The Guardian

Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Everton: Premier League – as it happened

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 12/09/2026 - 17:05

Key events

James Wallace

That’s all from us, I hope your evening is not a 0-0 draw. Goodnight.

“Didn’t trouble the scorers golden boot standings”

“Earlier this week, some Brazilian sports site referred to “Rodrigo De Zerbi” when talking about Richarlison’s self-created situation, and I just thought, wow wouldn’t it be nice if Roberto could just blame this whole thing on his fictional evil twin?”

He might be thinking something similar, Leo Addor.

Ambassador you are spoiling us:

Billy Munday is on the tools for the late Kick Off.

Everton remain unbeaten and pick up another point away from home.

Spurs? Well. Jamie Redknapp has his say on Sky Sports:

“After spending £300m, I didn’t think there would be a problem scoring goals. But to not score in six hours of football is absolutely diabolical.”

De Zerbi strides onto the pitch and still seems to be in coaching mode, giving his players instructions after the final whistle. It was a toothless performance from his side, they had a sprightly first 15 minutes without creating a clear cut chance and Everton gradually settled into the game and had the better of it.

Updated at 21.02 CEST

FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Everton

Booooos ring out around Tottenham’s stadium as their goal drought continues. It’s the first nil nil at the place.

Updated at 21.00 CEST

*Surely just writing that gets us a goal?

Updated at 20.26 CEST

Seconds later he is subbed off for Hackney. O’Brien also comes on for Everton – Maitland-Niles the man to come off.

Updated at 20.18 CEST

Updated at 19.53 CEST

“Hello Jimbo, not sure if you were referring to Withnail or a Guinness advert when you wrote ‘tick follows tock’ earlier, but if it’s the former then this sprang to mind from Uncle Monty de Zerbi...

“It is the most shattering experience of a young manager’s life when one morning he awakes and quite reasonably says to himself: ‘I will never play the Dane.’ Erickson left six years ago and none of the others want to come here.”

George Ronczy raises his head over the parapet: “Spurs fan here. This team is an improvement every game, they are starting to gel. Ten out of today’s 20-man are new to the team, it’ll take time. Today’s passing is crisper, faster, more accurate. Defense is solid, midfield is solid.

And I wish I had a dollar every time I’ve heard or read “He’s got to do do better.” Of course he does, it didn’t go in. If half of those did, teams would be scoring four times every game.”

“Here is my early prediction” writes JP. “Teams will struggle to reach 70 points. The team getting 75 will surely be champions. Whether Arsenal get to ninety or they just about scrap to 70-75 remains to be seen.”

Both these sides would snatch your hand and plenty else off for that. Here the come for the second half, can Spurs end their goal drought? Can they even get a shot on target? Let’s find out.

“Very unusual to have gotten to half-time in an Everton MBM without a nervous/exasperated/very occasionally contented email from Mary Waltz on the West Coast of America” writes Justin Kavanagh. “I can understand those Spurs fans who have given up the ghost on this season already, but Everton seem to have steadied the ship, so presumably she’s got something more important on today.”

Jamie Redknapp has the audacity to disagree with Chris in Corfu and says on Sky Sports that “Savio has looked sharp, he’s been the bright one on the pitch.”

Half Time: Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Everton

A scruffy half comes to a close with Everton’s corner being cleared away easily. Spurs go another half, three on the bounce now, without a shot on target. Everton have come back into it after being nowhere for the first fifteen minutes, De Zerbi’s men started quickly out of the blocks but just had no killer pass or end product.

Updated at 19.23 CEST

have you done you coaching badges Stephen McCrossan?

The Guardian

Spurs and Villa hunt first league wins, Arsenal face Sunderland test, early kick-offs and team news – matchday live

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 12/09/2026 - 08:00

Spurs and Villa hunt first league wins, Arsenal face Sunderland test, early team news – matchday live - The Guardian

Key events

Crawley 1-0 Cheltenham: The hosts lead after some good work down the right side. A low cross from Osman Kamara comes in and Dylan Morgan finishes it off with a nice side of the boot finish.

Early EFL kick-offs

Early games in the Championship, League One and League Two get underway.

Bolton 0-0 Cardiff

Derby 0-0 Birmingham

West Brom 0-0 QPR

Leyton Orient 0-0 Wycombe

Notts County 0-0 Bradford City

Crawley 0-0 Cheltenham

Grimsby 0-0 Bristol Rovers

Updated at 13.32 CEST

Jamie Jackson

Our Manchester football correspondent has the news on what’s happening off the pitch as United’s home supporters are expected to protest their club’s drive against ticket touts.

Febrile Manchester derby awaits amid growing rift between United fans and club

A United victory would send those of the red persuasion home happy, bragging rights secured in the workplace and local hostelries. But an underlying discontent will remain: at the longstanding grievance regarding the Glazers’ ownership that has haemorrhaged resources and saddled the club with a near £1.3bn debt, and at the recent initiative designed to eliminate the black market resale of tickets.

It is a worthy act but the accusation from fans is of a draconian approach. In July United began contacting supporters who used six or more devices to access accounts linked to the club or to forward tickets, on the basis this suggested the potential buying of seats to resell. Those in question were asked why multiple accounts were accessed, to identify the differing devices used, and for photo ID to prove validity.

Read the full story from Jamie Jackson below.

Manchester derbies have always had moments where tempers flared and heads were lost. But United’s Lisandro Martínez has called for cool heads and humility against Manchester City as the Manchester United defender prepares to resume battle with Erling Haaland.

City look to be in a stronger spot heading into the derby, having won their first three Premier League matches and opened their Champions League campaign with a win away to Porto on Tuesday.

United’s start has been patchier, with Carrick’s side collecting four points from a possible nine before making a morale-boosting return to European football’s top competition as Sabah were dispatched 4-0 on Thursday.

“I’m happy with the performance and with the clean sheet,” Martínez said after his goal wrapped up victory. “I’m a defender and if I score it’s good, if I don’t score it doesn’t matter. For me, it’s important to get the three points and winning and playing good football, that’s the most important for me and that’s it.

“For sure when you win your confidence is going up, you know, but now we have to be calm, we have to be humble and enjoy, and then we have to think about the derby that is really important for us.”

Martínez impressed in United’s derby triumph eight months ago, when the 5ft 9in defender won a duel with the towering Haaland that was highlighted in the buildup by club greats Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

The latter joked the City striker “would pick Martínez up and run with him” like a “dad after school running down the road with a little toddler” before Scholes laughed and said that “he’d score then throw him in the net”.

When that impressive display against Haaland was put to him, the Argentina international said: “Yeah, but that is the past. It’s the past, you know, it’s gone and now we have to, I have to be ready for this game because it’s going to be so different than the last one.” Press Association

Andrew Beasley

Our data visual journalist has been analysing Manchester City’s squad, which used to be a model of stability under Pep Guardiola but many of the group Enzo Maresca oversees are recent recruits.

All change for Maresca: the data behind Manchester City’s rapid player turnover

Rayan Cherki was the fifth-longest-serving player and he joined the club last summer. Only one of the five men in the key defensive positions of goalkeeper, centre-back or holding midfield was a City player when the 2025-26 season began. It would have been different had Enzo Fernández not needed to start in place of Nico O’Reilly, who was injured in the warm-up, but not by much.

Here is one way we can attempt to quantify turnover within a squad. With 11 men playing 90 minutes for 38 games, a club’s Premier League campaign consists of 37,620 player minutes. There are players who covered 13,998 minutes for City in 2025-26 who have not appeared for them in the league this season, and most of them will not because they have left. This means that 37.2% of the club’s minutes need replacing – this is their turnover rate.

Across Guardiola’s 10 seasons, this figure averaged 14.5% and was no higher than 7.5% four times. Almost everyone who contributed significant playing time in a given season would do so the following season. There was a seven-season period of supreme stability in the middle of Guardiola’s tenure, though the current squad evolution had begun in his final campaign.

Read the full piece below:

Thanks Tom and hello all. Earlier we looked at David Hytner’s piece on Kobbie Mainoo’s influence and what he can bring to Manchester United during the derby on Sunday. But what about the blue side of Manchester?

Right, that’s it from me on the matchday live blog. Yara El-Shaboury is here to take over.

Team news: West Ham v London City Lionesses

West Ham XI: Picaud, Riesen, Nystrom, Cascarino, Piubel, Zelem, Kumagai, Belloumou, Gago, Ueki, Asseyi.

Subs: Walsh, Dowsett, Endo, Siren, Tinnebo, Salmon, Wareing, Peacock, Wandeler.

London City Lionesses XI: Lete, Thomsen, Kardinaal, Leon, Pattinson, Geyoro, Kennedy, Godfrey, Putellas, Kafaji, van de Donk.

Subs: Earps, Fernandez, Perez, Linari, Arques, Parris, Cascarino, Diani, Goodwin.

A first start of the season for England international Freya Godfrey, who replaces Delphine Cascarino in the London City side. West Ham change things up after losing to Spurs with Kelly Gago, Eva Nyström and Inès Belloumou all coming into the team.

Richarlison’s in limbo as Vasco move collapses

Richarlison’s proposed move to Vasco da Gama is off and the forward is expected to remain at Tottenham until January.

Spurs made clear to the Brazilian forward in advance of the transfer window in England closing that he was not part of the first-team plans for this season. However, Richarlison failed to finalise a return to former club Everton before deadline day on 1 September and after he was left out of Tottenham’s 25-man Premier League squad last week, a potential transfer to Vasco has fallen through.

Roberto De Zerbi started Richarlison during the club’s league opener at Brentford, but claimed last Friday that the 29-year-old “decided everything alone” following his squad list absence.

With the Turkish and Saudi Arabian transfer windows closing without Richarlison landing a move, combined with Spurs using up their six overseas loan spots, one of the few remaining options for the striker was a permanent move back to Brazil.

Boyhood club Vasco emerged as a realistic solution and agreed a fee with Tottenham on Friday, but Richarlison failed to agree personal terms.

With the transfer window in Brazil now closed, Richarlison is expected to stick around at Spurs for the first half of the season – even though he cannot play in the Premier League.

Asked for the latest on Richarlison during Friday’s press conference, De Zerbi said: “I don’t know.

“It’s not my job. What I can say is I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison and I know very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last month, two months.

“I know, the club knows, he knows, his agent knows. Everyone knows better than you (the media).”

Richarlison was reportedly this week trying to explore whether the final nine months of his contract at Spurs could be terminated. Press Association

Jules Boykoff

What can halt Fifa’s authoritarian turn under Infantino? Change from the outside

The 2026 World Cup was a whirling swirl of scintillating soccer that prompted much-needed conversations about the vitality of diaspora, the fortitude of the underdog, the power of sport. In a world fractured along myriad cultural axes floating in an entertainment system dominated by on-demand content, the tournament provided a moment, perhaps unlike any other event, that brought together people from different backgrounds to simultaneously experience something meaningful.

After the tournament concluded, Fifa president Gianni Infantino dropped a political pipebomb into the after-party, proposing to privatize the World Cup by injecting $20bn in private capital, with an assist from JP Morgan and Thrive Capital, the investment vehicle orchestrated by Joshua Kushner, brother to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Turns out, Infantino hadn’t just been sucking up to Trump the whole time – from hand-delivering the confected Fifa peace prize to obliging him with the red card reversal heard ’round the world – ostensibly to ensure the World Cup money spigot remained winched wide open. Apparently, Infantino was also studying Trump’s nepotism-flecked smash-and-grab techniques.

The World Cup and its aftermath made clear that Fifa needs independent oversight by governments and NGOs dedicated to preserving the people’s game, writes Jules Boykoff:

Email from Dave Estherby: “I think United’s main objective tomorrow is a clean sheet to be honest. Strange transfer window; Tielemans is a solid buy and at least we haven’t seen £100m+ spaffed on anither ‘superstar’ (Garnacho, Antony, Hoijland, Zirkzee etc, even Pogba to be honest) but the back line is worrying. Maguire and Shaw can’t be trusted over a season, RB has been a problem position for years and even Lammens has looked a bit suspect recently – that howler in the WC seems to have eroded some of the calmness he had last year.

“No doubt everyone will turn up on Sunday but there’s a wiff of Chelsea at the moment in terms of goals scored v conceded and City (particularly Haaland) aren’t messing about at the moment.”

Shaw is a strange one. He played all 38 league games last season, started the first three this season but then missed Thursday’s Champions League game.

Suzanne Wrack

It was tough watching Manchester United’s players labour ineffectively against the hungry and aggressive press of London City Lionesses in the Women’s Super League’s opening match. Simi Awujo’s late consolation goal did little to ease the mounting concern for a side that have several teams nipping at their heels.

Don’t panic; that has to be United’s message. To an extent, it is very early to be writing the team’s obituary. The new head coach, Eva Olid, had only three weeks to try to implement her ideas about the way the team should play before that match in Bromley on Friday 4 September. That is not long enough for her to peel away Marc Skinner’s imprint on the team.

Read Suzanne Wrack’s full piece on United’s new era here:

The only game in the Women’s Super League today is the 12.45pm (BST) kick-off in Dagenham at the Chigwell Construction Stadium (what a name that is by the way) between West Ham and London City Lionesseses. Star-studded London City lived up to the hype in their opener against Manchester United, whereas West Ham were handily beaten by Tottenham. London City are attempting to upset the applecart in English women’s football as they take a well-financed approach to becoming one of the league’s leading clubs without being attached to a men’s team. After establishing themselves last season, signing more big names really feels like they are trying to go up a level this time around. What do you make of it? Thoughts below the line or via the email link at the top of the page.

Jacob Steinberg

Ballon d’Or shortlist shows up Premier League’s attacking failings – but tide could be turning

Premier League representation is low when it comes to the 16 attacking players on this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland are there but Cole Palmer, one of the nominees in 2025, is out after an injury-hit year and English football’s shift towards physicality and set pieces last season is summed up by none of the forwards from the best team in the country making the cut.

The trio giving Arsenal a presence – Gabriel Maghalhães, Declan Rice and William Saliba – are all defensive minded. Arsenal won the league but their forwards are not regarded as elite. Injuries played a part, denying Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka fluency, but Mikel Arteta’s side were not loved by neutrals. There was respect rather than admiration for their defensive rigour. There was an argument that a lack of ambition after going 1-0 up stopped Arsenal from beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

It was a close-run thing, but a second consecutive European title for PSG was a victory for attacking football over the Premier League’s attrition. Luis Enrique’s side keep beating English opponents, and there was a similar vibe at the World Cup. Games flowed more in North America, in part because of officials clamping down on the “meat wall” at set pieces.

Read Jacob Steinberg on the Ballon d’Or here:

Mudryk picks up ankle injury in training to halt comeback with Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur winger Mykhailo Mudryk injured his ankle in training and is expected to be sidelined until after the international ⁠break.

The ⁠25-year-old joined Spurs on a season-long loan from rivals Chelsea on transfer deadline day and made his debut off ⁠the bench in last weekend’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest.

Mudryk previously played under Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi on Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk before joining ‌Chelsea in January 2023. ‌He struggled to establish himself at Stamford Bridge, however, and his career ‌was put on hold after an adverse analytical finding for meldonium in an anti-doping test in 2024.

The Football Association handed him a four-year ban, but he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and his suspension was later reduced following an agreement between the ‌FA and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“(With) Mudryk, it was a stupid injury and we hope he can come back as soon as possible. For him and for us,” De Zerbi told reporters on Friday.

“For him because he suffered too much and for us because we lost an important player.

“He played 15 minutes in Nottingham, he ⁠played well, but it’s in the normal process when one player doesn’t play for a long time.“

Updated at 11.28 CEST

Email from Joshua Keeling: “I think Hull will finally come unstuck and get a hammering today. They’re good in defence, but not good enough to stop Chelsea. And they’re not good enough in attack to make it one of those high scoring games Chelsea have been having.

“As for the Manchester derby, I think City will win it, unfortunately.

“Hope I’m wrong on both counts.”

I see goals at the Bridge today too, Joshua.

What do you make of Mainoo? Everytime I watch him I’m amazed that he is not a starter for England. He seems like exactly the kind of midfieder we always decry the lack of, someone to control the tempo and knit things together. Let me know via the email link at the top of the page.

David Hytner

Our chief football correspondent has been writing about how the overlooked England midfielder is key to Manchester United in derby…

Mainoo moves from outsider to main man after summer of hurt

It was a sight the England press pack became increasingly used to seeing after the team’s World Cup matches over the summer. Kobbie Mainoo was invariably the first to leave the dressing room, walk through the mixed zone – eyes dead ahead, features impassive – and board the bus.

It was as if he could not get out of the stadiums quick enough and the further England progressed the more pronounced it started to feel. There was a real gap between Mainoo and the next England player to depart the stadium in the knockout rounds. The Manchester United midfielder is inscrutable, even in the heat of battle. It is part of his enviably unflappable temperament. It was no great leap to imagine what lay behind the mask – tremendous frustration as Thomas Tuchel kept on leaving him out.

Mainoo did not play a single minute at the tournament. He was an unused substitute all the way to the semi-final exit against Argentina, and when everyone expected to see him in the third-place playoff against France he did not make the bench. The Football Association said before the game he had picked up an unspecified injury.

For Mainoo it was a lost summer and yet it was physically and mentally draining all the same, what with the training and travel; the demand to stay focused as he waited and waited.

Read David Hytner’s latest on the resurgence of Kobbie Mainoo:

Any thoughts on today’s games or anything else football, do get in touch. The email link is at the top of the page.

With no 12.30pm kick-off in the Premier League, if you want your early Saturday football fix there is plenty of EFL action. West Brom and QPR are among the early form teams in the Championship, the Baggies can go back to the top of the table if they can win this one at home. In one of the early League Two fixtures, Bristol Rovers v Grimsby is another pick for me.

Preview: Sunderland v Arsenal

Saturday 8pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Stadium of Light

Referee John Brooks This season G2 Y11 R0 5.50 cards/game

Sunderland

Subs from Ellborg, Alderete, Methalie, Hume, O’Nien, Ahoka, Rigg, Isidor, N Angulo, Talbi

Doubtful None

Injured Diarra (hamstring, 25 Oct) Mundle (knee, 31 Dec)

Suspended None

Form LWD Leading scorers Angulo, Le Fée, Isidor 1

Arsenal

Subs from Arrizabalaga, Meslier, Timber, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Guimarães, Merino, Dowman, Eze, Harriman-Annous, Ibrahim, Madueke, Gyökeres

Doubtful Timber (groin)

Injured Saliba (back, unknown), Mosquera (hamstring, unknown)

Suspended None

Form WWW Leading scorers Havertz, Ødegaard, Saka 2

Preview: Tottenham v Everton

Saturday 5.30pm Sky Sports Premier League Venue Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Referee Darren England This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game

Tottenham

Subs from Dubravka, Davies, Udogie, Gallagher, Bergvall, Maddison, Kudus, Williams-Barnett, Savinho, Mudryk, Adarabioyo, Senesi, Ramsey, Adedeji

Doubtful Maddison (shoulder)

Injured Simons (knee, 1 Jan), Kulusevski (knee, unknown), Odobert (knee, unknown)

Suspended None

Form LLD Leading scorer n/a

Everton

Subs from Travers, King, Maitland-Niles, Keane, O’Brien, Hackney, Alcaraz, Dibling, Johnson, Graham

Doubtful None

Injured Nørgaard (muscle, 11 Oct)

Suspended None

Form WDD Leading scorers Barry, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Maitland-Niles, Tarkowski 1

Preview: Liverpool v Fulham

Saturday 3pm Venue Anfield

Referee Tom Bramall This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game

Liverpool

Subs from Mamardashvili, Woodman, Jaros, Frimpong, Gomez, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Nyoni, McConnell, Ngumoha, Koumas, Gakpo

Doubtful Gakpo (muscle), Gomez (muscle)

Injured Chiesa (back, 11 Oct), Bradley (knee, unknown), Leoni (knee, 11 Oct), Ekitike (achilles, 1 Jan), Endo (ankle, unknown)

Suspended None

Form DDW Leading scorer Isak 3

Fulham

Subs from Lecomte, Tete, De Fougerolles, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Reed, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Muniz, Bobb

Doubtful None

Injured Cairney (knee, 10 Oct)

Suspended None

Form LLL Leading scorer King 2

Preview: Crystal Palace v Ipswich

Saturday 3pm Venue Selhurst Park

Referee Chris Kavanagh This season G2 Y11 R0 5.50 cards/game

Crystal Palace

Subs from Benítez, Matthews, Tomiyasu, Ahanor, Mingueza, Chilwell, Doucouré, King, Hughes, Lerma, Timber, Osorio, Gozo, Guessand, Drakes-Thomas, McNeil

Doubtful Nketiah (knock)

Injured Riad (knee, unknown), Mateta (thigh, 11 Oct) and Sarr (groin, 20 Sep)

Suspended None

Form LLW Leading scorer Mitchell 2

Ipswich

Subs from Walton, Kipré, Furlong, Ouattara, Humphreys, Florentino, Ogbene, Akpom, Clarke, McAteer, Walle Egeli, Philogene-Bidace, Matusiwa

Doubtful Philogene-Bidace (ankle), Matusiwa (ankle)

Injured Taylor (knee, unknown)

Suspended None

Form WLL Leading scorers Akpom, Clarke, Davis, Emersonn 1

Preview: Chelsea v Hull

Saturday 3pm Venue Stamford Bridge

Referee Farai Hallam This season G1 Y3 R0 3.00 cards/game

Chelsea

Subs from Sharman-Lowe, Penders, Barco, Gittens, Welbeck, Watson, Quenda, Chavarria, Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Estêvão, Anselmino

Doubtful None

Injured Caicedo (calf, 18 Sep), Palestra (thigh, 18 Sep), Henderson (wrist, 18 Sep), Emegha (knock, 18 Sep)

Suspended None

Form WWL Leading scorers Palmer, Pedro, Rogers 2

Hull

Subs from Phillips, Morita, Millar, Akintola, Hjertø-Dahl, McNair, Herrington, Targett, Dowell, Omur, Sellars-Fleming, Crooks, Gelhardt, Vaz, Thomas, Norton-Cuffy, Mouzakitis

Doubtful None

Injured Butland (shoulder, 7 Nov), Gyabi (thigh, 7 Nov), Hughes (groin, unknown), Matazo (knee, unknown), Ansah (back, 11 Oct), Morita (muscle, 25 Sep)

Suspended None

Form WWD Leading scorers Ajayi, Mendy, Millar 1

Preview: Bournemouth v Brentford

Saturday 3pm Venue Vitality Stadium

Referee Jarred Gillett This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game

Bournemouth

Subs from Di Gregorio, Diakité, Soler, Toth, Juanlu, Rodríguez, Brooks, Gannon-Doak, Jebbison, Adams, Cook

Doubtful None

Injured Kroupi (foot, 7 Nov), Araujo (thigh, 28 Nov), Adli (unknown, 18 Oct), Milosavljevic (unknown, 10 Oct)

Suspended None

Form LDD Leading scorer Tavernier 2

Brentford

Subs from Valdimarsson, Collins, Henry, Hickey, Meghoma, Diouf, Yarmoliuk, Anthony, Wilson, Carvalho

Doubtful Collins (calf)

Injured Van den Berg (knee, 10 Oct), Milambo (knee, unknown), Jensen (knock, 10 Oct)

Suspended None

Form WDD Leading scorer Janelt 2

Preview: Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest

Saturday 3pm Venue Villa Park

Referee Andy Madley This season G1 Y3 R0 3.00 cards/game

Aston Villa

Subs from Bizot, Mings, Abraham, Jimoh-Aloba, Bogarde, Manzambi, Alysson, Cissé, Burrowes, Garnacho, Madjo, Mbaye, Harwood-Bellis, Cash, Ruggeri, Goretzka

Doubtful Manzambi (knee)

Injured Onana (knee, Apr), Madjo (unknown, 19 Sep)

Suspended João Gomes (last of three)

Form LLD Leading scorer n/a

Nottingham Forest

Subs from Victor, Benda, Yates, Netz, Kalimuendo, Wood, Aina, Diomande, Hudson-Odoi, Domínguez, McAtee, Ndoye

Doubtful None

Injured Savona (knee, 11 Oct)

Suspended None

Form LDD Leading scorers Gibbs-White, Ndoye 1

Right then, today’s games. We have seven in the Premier League, four of those are 3pm kick-offs. Let’s start with the fixture at Villa Park…

Barney Ronay

May I recommend you start your Saturday by reading Barney Ronay’s latest column on the Premier League’s work with the Together in Suicide campaign.

If you watched US television adverts during the World Cup for any length of time one thing just kept leaping out. I’ve mentioned this before here, but it still seems both jarring and significant. Every third or fourth rotation in that endless daytime scroll, in between the Chicken Megadeth Hyper-Box Family Meal Deal, either side of David Beckham expertly consuming a light beer, is an advert for antidepressants.

The format for these is always the same kind of thing: contented, wholesome people throwing frisbees, or strolling through a small-town antiques fair, while a warm, honeyed, reassuring voiceover talks about how horrifying their lives are, with the suggestion that only a lengthy course of Smileothorium can solve this.

In another world there would be a call to study this phenomenon, to consider why a nation of such dazzling abundance and opportunity should also feel glazed, worthless and deprived of hope. But this is not that world. More than 50 million Americans have depression. This is demand and supply in action, a battle for market share in a £6bn industry. The US often worries about itself in its post-industrial age. What are we now? What can we still make? Where is the new frontier? Well, human misery is looking pretty hot right now.

The reason for talking about this here is that English football is doing a good thing this week. Between 4-14 September the Premier League is sponsoring the Together Against Suicide campaign. Harry Kane and Prince William have spoken warmly in support. The league is posting words of solidarity on its X account, which is probably not the best way to cheer yourself up if we’re being honest.

Read Barney Ronay’s column in full:

Good morning football fans, before we start looking ahead to today, shall we have quick recap of last night’s action?

There’s not much to recap, to be honest, although West Ham did pump Wrexham 6-0 in east London. Jarrod Bowen got the first just before the half hour as one of six different scorers.

North of the border, Hearts won 3-0 at Stenhousemuir to reach the Scottish League Cup semi-final.

Preamble

Tom will be here shortly, but just to get you in the mood for today’s football action, here are the Premier League games:

Bournemouth v Brentford (3pm, all times BST)

Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest (3pm)

Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town (3pm)

Chelsea v Hull City (3pm)

Liverpool v Fulham (3pm)

Tottenham v Everton (5.30pm)

Sunderland v Arsenal (8pm)

And here are all of today’s fixtures. Get in touch to let us know if you’re going to a game, or following any in particular, at matchday.live@theguardian.com.

The Guardian

Transfer deadline day: Man City sign Fernández and Ndiaye, Mudryk and Tosin join Spurs – as it happened

Submitted by daniel on Tue, 01/09/2026 - 08:00

Key events

Balogun's Everton move falls through

Some last-gasp breaking news, and it’s not good for Everton fans – the move for Monaco forward Folarin Balogun is off (unless, of course, a certain satsuma-hued powerbroker decides to step in). Andy Hunter has more …

Updated at 01.59 CEST

Time to call it a night. Here are the day’s big stories – and keep following our interactive guide for every last deal before we take our ball home until 1 January.

Updated at 02.00 CEST

Late moves aplenty still going through, with Zian Flemming joining Ipswich for £20m, and Hull City making their sixth deadline-day signing in the shape of Greek midfielder Christos Mouzakitis. Follow along with our transfer interactive …

Updated at 01.15 CEST

Andy Hunter

Everton have completed the signing of Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon for a fee of around £4.2m. The 29-year-old has signed a three year contract.

Jamie Jackson

More on Enzo Fernández’s arrival at the Etihad, via an official statement.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Enzo Fernández from Chelsea on a five-year contract. The Argentina international’s deal means he will remain at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2031.

Fernández says he could not be happier to have joined City at this stage of his career. “Manchester City are the most successful club in England in recent times. Every player wants to be part of a club like this because everyone knows how well-run City are.

“I could not be happier to be here, and I am ready for the challenge of helping City continue winning trophies. This is a club built for success,” Fernández added. “If you look across the squad, City have quality in every area. I want to learn from my new teammates and become a better player.

“I pride myself on continually improving my game. Anyone who’s worked with me will know how hard I train every single day and how much I put into matches. I give absolutely everything and I can promise Manchester City that will continue now I’m here.

City’s director of football, Hugo Viana, added: “At Manchester City, we are always looking to bring in world-class players and Enzo fits the bill. He is a complete midfielder: technically gifted, hardworking, tenacious and a goalscorer.

“He is adept at playing different styles of football. He is comfortable playing a possession-based game, and he can play on the counter effectively, too. We are delighted to bring him here and feel very strongly he will improve our team.”

Manchester City sign Enzo Fernández for £125m

It’s the biggest transfer fee of the window, and now it’s official: Manchester City have signed Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández for a club-record £125m.

You wait 17 years for a Spurs-Chelsea transfer deal, and two come along in one evening. After agreeing a loan move for Mykhailo Mudryk earlier, Tottenham have signed Chelsea centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo for around £7m.

According to Sky Sports, there are at least six deal sheets in the Premier League’s inbox, with three of those coming from Selhurst Park, as Ed Aarons reports below. There’s also Folarin Balogun’s Everton move and Malick Fofana on his way to Sunderland; the other deal sheet comes from Leeds, for Eintracht Frankfurt winger Jean-Matteo Bahoya.

Chelsea unhappy as Camara move collapses

Jacob Steinberg

Chelsea’s move for Lamine Camara collapsed after Everton’s move for Monaco’s Folarin Balogun was revived. Balogun’s move looked in doubt after complications with his medical, meaning Monaco needed funds from elsewhere, leaving Chelsea to swoop for Camara as a replacement for Enzo Fernández before his move to Manchester City.

However Everton have persisted and renegotiating their fee for Balogun led to Monaco pulling out of the Camara deal. Chelsea are livid, with sources calling Monaco’s behaviour deeply unprofessional. Chelsea had a written agreement with the Ligue 1 side. It’s important to add this development won’t scupper the Fernández deal to City.

Ed Aarons

Crystal Palace have submitted deal sheets for Ben Chilwell, Dario Osario and Quinten Timber after dramatically missing out Malick Fofana earlier. Pierre Sage wanted to bring in more reinforcements ahead of a season that will see Palace play in the Europa League. Chilwell will replace Borna Sosa as cover for Tyrick Mitchell after the Croatia defender joined Köln on loan.

Palace turned to Osario – the Chile winger who plays for Midtjylland in Denmark – after Fofana opted to join Sunderland. They have also revived a move for Netherlands midfielder Timber (the twin brother of Arsenal’s Jurriën) from Marseille after failing to agree a fee for Mainz’s Kaishu Sano earlier in the day.

More on the weirdest transfer story of the day, as Sunderland and Crystal Palace practically fought on the runway to sign Lyon winger Malick Fofana.

Lamine Camara’s move to Chelsea is OFF, Jacob Steinberg confirms. It looked like the Monaco midfielder was set to complete a £47m move, but that won’t be happening. Enzo Fernández’s move to Manchester City is not affected by the Camara deal.

Updated at 00.27 CEST

Here’s the first mention of a deal sheet, in relation to Everton and their pursuit of Folarin Balogun, who could probably live without any more admin drama.

“Everton have submitted a deal sheet to complete the Balogun deal after trying to renegotiate the structure of the fee with Monaco. Maitland-Niles deal expected to go through,” reports Andy Hunter.

Transfer window is closed

Daniel Gallan

There will still be deals to go through (plus the dreaded deal sheets) but here are the main headlines so far in the Premier League …

Manchester City agree £125m deal for Enzo Fernández

City also complete £65m deal for Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye

Chelsea’s £47m deal for Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara in doubt

Tottenham sign Mykhailo Mudryk on loan from Chelsea

Sunderland race to complete signing of Malick Fofana

Grealish returns to Everton on loan from Manchester City

Newcastle sign Lille’s Matias Fernández-Pardo for £51m

Gabriel Jesus leaves Arsenal to join Barcelona on three-year deal

Juventus bring in Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade on loan

Manchester United fail with late move for City’s Aït-Nouri

Everton unable to secure late Joshua Zirkzee loan deal

Updated at 00.22 CEST

Jamie Jackson

Enzo Fernandez has penned a -long – heartfelt message to Chelsea fans after his £125m move to Man City.

Want to read it?

double quotation markDear Chelsea.

I want you to know that these have not been easy days for me. Writing this is not easy either. The truth is, I haven’t been in a good place.

Three years ago, Cobham and Stamford Bridge became home for me and my family. I grew attached to the people, to the shirt, and to the badge of this incredible club.

Believe me when I say that, from the moment I arrived, I became obsessed with winning and with bringing this club every trophy that its history deserves. We suffered, we cried, I got angry many times, but we also celebrated titles and unforgettable victories. Together, through the good times and the difficult ones.

I live football the same way I live my life: with passion and with all my heart. That is why I want you to know that I understand you. I truly understand you, from the bottom of my heart.

But life is about making decisions, and right now I find myself having to make one of those difficult decisions. I’ve said it before, but I want to say it again: I have grown incredibly fond of this club. Chelsea will always have a place in my thoughts and, above all, in my heart.

But I also understand how football works. I know how passionate you are, because I am the same. And if I were in your position, I would probably be thinking the same way.

I want to thank every single one of you: the staff, the coaching team, the medical team, the physios, and everyone who works at Cobham and throughout this great institution.

To all my teammates over these years, thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing so many moments with me. I was truly happy here, and I wish you nothing but the very best for the future.

Thank you for all the love and support you have given me and my family throughout these years. I will never forget it.

This group will give you many more reasons to be happy, and I will be happy for you too. Never doubt that.

You will always be in my heart, Blues. I will always wish you, always, nothing but the very best.

Always Blue.

Thank you, Chelsea.

Enzo.

Updated at 23.58 CEST

Drew is copping quite a lot of heat from fellow Arsenal fans behind the scenes.

I can’t share them all but let’s just say he doesn’t speak for all Gooners.

And as Rory Hoare points out, things could be worse than winning the league:

double quotation markAll my thoughts are with you Drew. As a spurs fan I cannot imagine the pain of winning the league, selling a couple of players and still looking like you’ll win the league again. You poor lamb.

I know it’s late because this from John Nielsen-Gammon brought out a chuckle from me:

double quotation markWell, Crystal Palace tried to keep their interest in Malik Fofana secret as long as possible, but you can’t hide your Lyon eyes.

Jamie Jackson

Understand Everton’s offer for Joshua Zirkzee was in the region of £10m for the loan of the Manchester United forward and to cover his wages for the season - and Utd felt this was too low.

Drew Lundgren [great name by the way] is back for some more Arsenal ranting:

double quotation markI dont think you can call Arsenal favorites with their turgid attack (turgid for YEARS now), and their front office spiraling out of control, ready to close the window with 2 fewer attackers than last year. They are 1 injury away Arteta dressing as back up striker.

Just under half an hour to go?

Will there a be a deal secured that future generations look back on with awe? Will you, our dear reader, tell your grandkids that you were here, on our blog, to read all about it?

Jamie Jackson

Tottenham v Newcastle: Premier League – as it happened

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 29/08/2026 - 16:27

Key events

Roberto De Zerbi: "I am not angry"

“I think for 60-65 minutes we play better than Newcastle,” says Tottenham’s head coach in an interview with Sky. “We had chances to score but we didn’t score and then after the goal we lost the distances. If you analyse the numbers of the game, we had more chances. We are not a team yet, we are improving a lot of things. The result is important but I am not angry. I think we are working well and we were unlucky today, especially for the result.”

Anthony Elanga: “Since Day One I feel like we’ve clicked,” says the Newcastle winger of his new head coach. “He spoke to me and he spoke to all the lads as well. We know what he expects from us and he pushes us every single day. I feel you can see in the performances that we really want to keep a clean sheet and pushing forward we have the speed and the quality to hurt teams. There’s a lot of external noise but we’ve got to focus on what we can do. We believe in ourselves, we believe in our qualities and all we can do now is just let our football do the talking really.”

Matthias Jaissle: “Incredible, I’m really proud,” says Newcastle’s head coach in an interview with Sky. “We are really proud as a club and coaching staff to see a team on the pitch delivering already on a high level the match plan but also totally committed to what we are doing. This is a good start so I’m really, really proud and it’s a moment to enjoy.”

On players following and understanding his match plan: “We did well also last week. This was another step in the right direction against a strong opponent with huge signings during the window. This was something we were aware of but how we handled that challenge was amazing.”

Yoane Wissa: “Of course we lost so many players but the club worked well,” he told Sky. “It is challenging and we need players to step up, like me for instance. I didn’t play last year and now I have a chance to play. So many players have to step up and enjoy the challenge and with the fans behind us nobody can stop us.

“I am not injured and I feel confident now. I trust myself and I trust the manager and even though I didn’t play last year I have trained a lot with the players and they know my movements.

“Eddie Howe did a top job and the new manager [Matthias Jaissle] came with a new identity and that [first goal] is something we have been working on. Every part of the game we are really precise. He is a really dynamic manager, so we have to give everything and I think he is the best signing of Newcastle so far.”

Updated at 20.58 CEST

Nico Gonzalez: “It was amazing,” said Newcastle’s new midfield maestro in an interview with the BBC. “I have been four days here so it wasn’t easy for me to start but I am really happy for the work I have done and the team has done.

“The idea [in the second half] was the same but we made a few adjustments and were a little more aggressive on them. I think that this group has so much potential, we are really young and have so much space to improve and even today I felt like we kept on improving and feeling more comfortable and that is the way we need to keep going.”

On his precision pass to Amar Dedic for Newcastle’s opener: “It is something I spoke a lot about with the coach,” he says. “He wants me to see these kind of balls and I tried a few in the first half and the second half and we scored. It is something we have tried to work on. In the second half we said: ‘We have to keep doing this because it is really hard to defend these types of players’. I hope it gives us many more goals this season.”

Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Newcastle United

Premier League match report: “If ever you wanted to understand the distinction between ‘winning the transfer market’ and winning an actual football match, then this was the game for you,” writes Paul MacInnes from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

An email: Seeing Sandro Tonali getting spun around by Elanga for the first goal and then playing Wissa onside for the second,” writes Tanay Padhi. “Oh to be a Newcastle fan today.” While I appreciate they will have loved it, as a Sunderland fan, can I say: let’s not go mad.

Tottenham Hotspur: Tottenham have now lost their last three top flight matches at home against Newcastle and are without a league goal after their opening two games of this season. It’s obviously not time to sound the crisis klaxon and while there’s little or no point in perusing the league table until 10 matches have been played, Arsenal and Hull City fans – among others – may enjoy clicking the link below.

View the Premier League table

Some correspondence: “After playing one match, it’s nice to see Arsenal three points and eight goals clear of Tottenham already,” writes Daniel Rice, who may be Declan in disguisse. “I’m almost glad they weren’t relegated last season.”

“Loving the Jaissle chest bumps,” writes Mags fan Chris Paraskevas from Down Under, where it’s way past everyone’s bedtime. “Nothing wrong with a bit of positive testosterone. Good to see some mongrel back into us. If nothing else, Elanga and Wissa look like completely different players. Even everyone’s favourite N’Sync backup dancer/ Car Yard Tube Man/Dude, Where’s My Car extra (Nick Woltemade) managed a positive attacking contribution. Can you believe Pedro Porro is a World Cup winner?”

Updated at 20.36 CEST

A word on Nico Gonzalez: He may only have arrived on Thursday but Nico Gonzalez was outstanding on his debut for Newcastle today. Matthias Jaissle had a clear plan to isolate Andy Robertson against Dedic and Elanga by attacking down the right flank with long balls pinged from deep by the Spaniard. Having tried it several times without success, the move led directly to Newcastle’s opening goal.

Yoane Wissa: “These fans, they are so lovely,” he says in an interview with Sky, gesturing towards an away end in which his wife and child are sitting. “They love their club, they love their players. What they want is for us to give them everything we have in our bodies. We try and it’s been difficult today but they never stopped singing, shouting. So today is for them today. Today is for them.”

Full time: Tottenham 0-2 Newcastle

It’s an outstanding result for Newcastle, who rode their luck in the first half before putting in a much better shift after the break to win courtesy of goals from Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa. It’s two league defeats on the bounce for sorry Spurs, who were much improved from last weekend’s showing against Brentford but still contrived to lose from a position of almost total first-half dominance.

Newcastle double-substitution: Jacobs Ramsey and Murphy replace the goalscorers, Elanga and Wissa.

Updated at 20.10 CEST

GOAL! Tottenham 0-2 Newcastle (Wissa 73)

Lads, it’s Tottenham: From a corner, the ball’s floated to Woltemade at the far post. HIs downward header hits the ground and bounces up. Standing unmarked with his back to goal, Wissa gets down to hook the waist-high ball over his shoulder and past Kinsky into the Tottenham goal.

Updated at 20.12 CEST

Tottenham substitutions: Mikey Moore, Mohammed Kudus and Destiny Udogie on for Robertson, Gray and Tel.

GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Newcastle (Elanga 62)

Crikey! Anthony Elanga scores with a low shot that goes in off the foot of the far post after rolling along the goalline.

Updated at 19.57 CEST

Second half: Tottenham 0-0 Newcastle

Half-time correspondence: “So ‘Savio’ is suffering from muscle fatigue,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Who knew that shortening your name could be that much of a stretch? Careful with those nicknames now, kids.”

“It’s vital Spurs win today to try to close the six-point gap to Hull City,” writes Phil Moseley.

“Spurs have gone Double Dutch in central defence, so it’s no wonder that Newcastle’s attackers are struggling to find space in or near the Tottenham box without getting caught up in a tangle of ropes,” writes Peter Oh.

Half-time: Tottenham 0-0 Newcastle

The deadlock remains resolutely unbroken at the break but Tottenham will wonder how on earth they aren’t at least one goal ahead. After a slow start, Pedro Porro (x2), Mathys Tel, Omar Marmoush, Andy Robertson and Sandro Tonali will all go in for their half-time brew feeling they should have scored against a Newcastle side whose only chance of note fell to Yoane Wissa.

Updated at 19.17 CEST

The Guardian

Newcastle v West Brom, Tottenham v Charlton, Preston v Everton: Carabao Cup – live

Submitted by daniel on Wed, 26/08/2026 - 18:30

Key events

Bradford 0-0 Burnley: We’re in a penalty shootout.

Goal! Tottenham 5-1 Charlton (Lloyd-Jones, 88)

It’s a set-piece consolation, and Lloyd-Jones climbs high over a rather lax Spurs defence to nod in. The Addicks fans have their moment. Those that have not gone down the Seven Sisters Road, that is.

Goal! Tottenham 5-0 Charlton (Davies, 85)

Savio and Porro link up, and then as the ball comes loose, the £85m man cuts in a shoots, and that looks to come off Davies. Savio celebrates like it’s his.

Goal! Tottenham 4-0 Charlton (Savio, 83)

It had to be. The new man, the big purchase, cuts inside, and back inwards, his finish a beauty, right inside the post.

Goal! Preston 0-4 Everton (Johnson, 73)

Brennan Johnson just set up Barry for the hat-trick, Barry returns the favour, and Johnson scores his first goal for his new club, burying the ghosts of his time at Crystal Palace.

Goal! Preston 0-3 Everton (Barry, 70 hat-trick)

A big night for the big striker. That’s four goals in two games and his first treble for the Toffees.

Tottenham 3-0 Charlton

The main event is here…on comes Savinho/Savio. We also missed a Kevin Danso goal, distracted by goals going in elsewhere.

Updated at 22.29 CEST

Goal! Newcastle 3-2 West Brom (Barnes, 82)

Dedic’s cross and that’s a lovely finish from Barnes, who is a good finisher. Elanga played his part in that.

Updated at 22.33 CEST

Newcastle 2-2 West Brom

Newcastle go close twice. Hall hits a post, and then Barnes, from Miley’s cross, sets up Wissa to miss a chance he might have done better with. West Brom have just subbed off Isaac Price, and he didn’t look happy.

Goal! Newcastle 2-2 West Brom (Price, 78 pen)

The Baggies are back in it, and do so via a penalty, with Lewis Hall committing yet another foul in his own area, Isaac Price’s kick was very cool indeed.

Updated at 22.26 CEST

Goal! Preston 0-2 Everton (Barry, 59)

That man again. He enjoys himself in front of the away fans. Ndiaye forces a save from the keeper, and the ball comes loose for Barry to smash in.

Updated at 22.21 CEST

Newcastle 2-1 West Brom

Matthias Jaissle, who seems something of a cult hero among the Toon Army, is urging his men forward to kill the tie off. James Morrison, his opposite number, is making a series of changes, including taking off Diakite for Jason Molumby, the Ireland player.

Bradford 0-0 Burnley

Nick Powell, the veteran, though he is just 32 still, smashes a shot that almost causes problems for the Burnley keeper, Grégoire Coudert.

Preston 0-1 Everton

The home team are giving it a go, and looking for a way back into the game. Everton are rocking back a little.

Bradford 0-0 Burnley

Let’s give this game a bit of love. Lord knows, it might need it. Bradford manager Graham Alexander has made four changes against the club he served so well as a player, including his 1000th game as a pro.

Tottenham 2-0 Charlton

Ben gets in touch: “How can everybody look Tottenham off after one game?! They still look far from cohesive but with the talent they’ve acquired I think it will be a different story come November. I heard a broadcast say “It was game one but it was the manner in which they lost.” They lost like a club who is fielding eight players that haven’t had a competitive fixture alongside each other hahaha.”

Tottenham 2-0 Charlton

After the break, Mikey Moore is enjoying himself further, and goes on one of his runs, doing much to lift the home crowd.

Updated at 22.08 CEST

Goal! Newcastle 2-1 West Brom (Barnes, 48)

A quick start to the second half sees Harvey Barnes, a player with plenty on his shoulders with no Anthony Gordon around, notching after the ball bounced around at a corner.

Updated at 21.58 CEST

Half-time: Preston 0-1 Everton

David Moyes spoke earlier about how he’d rather not be relegated than win this competition – ever the fantasist – but he’s picked a good team that should be winning by more here.

Preston 0-1 Everton

Tyler Dibling, not given much of a run last season, has just hit the post, via a save from the Preston keeper. Thierno Barry’s finish, by the way, was a beauty. A confidence player, you might say.

Chris Paraskevas gets in touch: “Not too sure goalkeeping errors, own goals and Nick Woltemade’s impersonation of a car dealership tube man / air dancer are worth waking up before 5am for.

Having said that, Jaissle has put out a fairly strong lineup and is clearly trying to win this game - but after the highs and lows of the Lpool fixture, this feels like a more accurate reflection of the challenges he’ll face this season. Is it OK to have a donut (no icing) at this time and call it breakfast?”

Half-time: Tottenham 2-0 Charlton

Mikey Moore’s goal set the tone, in rescuing the mounting gloom and after that Tottenham have looked ever more comfortable. Charlton’s rearguard effort in vain, after so much effort.

Half-time: Newcastle 1-1 West Brom

That early free-kick was a big blow to Newcastle but they came back well enough, having played like the strangers they currently are.

Hearts beat Rapid Vienna on penalties and thus will go into the Conference League. Well done, Jambos, and Colin Chisholm’s passport will see more action.

Updated at 22.04 CEST

Half-time: Bradford 0-0 Burnley

That’s the game we haven’t mentioned, not for anti-EFL bias but because it appears very little has happened.

Goal! Tottenham 2-0 Charlton (Solanke, 45)

Charlton fail to clear from a corner, and the ball falls loose and Solanke keeps his shot down to fire in. More relief.

Updated at 22.02 CEST

Goal! Tottenham 1-0 Charlton (Moore, 41)

The youngster scores his club’s first goal of the season to settle nerves. He took it on all for himself, cutting inside and blasting home. Do they really want to loan him out?

Updated at 21.41 CEST

Goal! Preston 0-1 Everton (Barry, 25)

The man who scored at the weekend notches again.

Updated at 21.35 CEST

Newcastle 1-1 West Brom

It’s been awarded to Toure, which seems generous. Ah well, it will do him good. One of the new broon of Toon signings.

Goal! Newcastle 1-1 West Brom (Mepham, 38 OG)

It’s an own-goal, as Dedic’s cross is whipped in, and new signing Toure looms behind the veteran, Chris Mepham, who can only knock in. Toure celebrates as if it’s his, for a while at least.

Updated at 21.32 CEST

Tottenham 0-0 Charlton

We’re past the half hour at Tottenham and it’s quiet. This can’t be another season like the last one, can it? Can it?

Updated at 21.24 CEST

Newcastle 0-1 West Brom

Niall Mullen gets in touch, and he has some memory on him. “That West Brom goal reminded me of Fabio Aurelio all those years ago. If anything Cech’s goalkeeping was even worse than Jaouen’s”

Preston 0-0 Everton

Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye, one of those wide players linked with Arsenal, among others, is annoyed with himself, when he mishits a shot.

Preston 0-0 Everton

It looks positively tropical at Deepdale, where Harrison Armstrong, who played well at Preston last season on loan, is in midfield as there are number of absentees.

Goal! Newcastle 0-1 West Brom (Price, 19)

As we said, the Baggies were in the ascendancy and Isaac Price’s free-kick was a beauty, though the Newcastle keeper, Ewen Jaouen, might have done far better.

Updated at 21.21 CEST

As an aside, in the Conference League playoffs, to follow their loss in the Champions League and Europa League playoffs, Hearts are winning 2-1 at Rapid Vienna, and they are in the second half of extra time.

Preston 0-0 Everton

Away we go in the Moyes derby. No goals anywhere yet.

Tottenham 0-0 Charlton

There’s been a heavy casualty list for Charlton. Collins Sichenje took a heavy knock and could not soldier on. And then Billy Koumetio has twanged his hamstring.

Newcastle 0-0 West Brom

The better team so far, as the visitors, with Ousmane Diakité running the show at the moment. Nick Woltemade has started for the home team.

Newcastle 0-0 West Brom

New signing Nico Gonzalez was shown off to the St James’ Park squad before the game.

Updated at 21.04 CEST

Newcastle 0-0 West Brom

No Dan Burn, Joelinton or Osula for the Toon. Lewis Hall has an early effort, a player who has been in the news, and gave away that penalty against Liverpool last weekend.

Tottenham 0-0 Charlton

We’re already being treated to the Nathan Jones show on the sidelines. He’s got his guns out.

Updated at 21.07 CEST

Tottenham 0-0 Charlton

It’s a loud crowd at Tottenham, with Charlton fans loud despite Nathan Jones playing an under-strength team. And despite beating the Hammers at the weekend.

Carabao kick-off is here

The 7.45pm games are underway.

Here’s the first part, for the teams in Europe, though not Brighton in the Europa Conference League. Essentially, it’s whether they are home and away.

Crystal Palace v TBC

Manchester United v TBC

Manchester City v TBC

Sunderland v TBC

TBC v Arsenal

TBC v Aston Villa

Bournemouth v TBC

Liverpool v TBC

Half the third-round draw is taking place. Yes, half. The rest will follow after the Preston v Everton game. It’s split over two weeks, as the Champions League and Europa League is being played on the week of 7 September.

Soccer, it’s just bloody relentless, isn’t it?

Preston v Everton teams

Preston: Nicholls, Valentin, Storey, Gibson, Vukcevic, Thompson, Leroy, Small, Moran, Burgzorg, Erabi. Subs: Iversen, Clarke, Lindsay, Devine, McCann, Lang, Hughes, Gryba, Nolan.

Everton: Pickford, Rohl, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Armstrong, Garner, Dibling, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Barry. Subs: Travers, Patterson, Beto, O’Brien, George, Johnson, Alcaraz, Aznou, Foster.

Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland)

Newcastle v West Brom teams

Newcastle: Jaouen, Dedic, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Steur, Ramsey, Murphy, Willock, Toure, Woltemade. Subs: Hornicek, Schar, Bamba, Wissa, Barnes, Elanga, Shahar, Neave, Miley.

West Brom: Ingram, Williams, Mepham, Campbell, Townsend, Whitwell, Nzingoula, Diakite, Price, Stewart, Morgan. Subs: O’Leary, Phillips, Styles, Myhre, Molumby, Bany, Galves, Crowther, Bostock.

Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)

Looks like Spurs fans will get to see some of Savio(inho), he’s on the bench. Maybe a last look at Mikey Moore before he goes on loan to Köln for the season.

Tottenham v Charlton teams

Tottenham: Kinsky, Gray, van Hecke, Davies, Udogie, Fernandes, Bentancur, Tel, Bergvall, Moore, Solanke. Subs: Dubravka, Robertson, Danso, Gallagher, Richarlison, Savio, Porro, van de Ven, Williams-Barnet.

Charlton: Brooks, Sichenje, Koumetio, Mesik, Asiimwe, Knibbs, Ouma, Apter, Docherty, Alli, Mbick. Subs: Okonkwo, Jones, Coventry, Leaburn, Carey, McNamara, Rankin-Costello, Nwamba, Tagoe.

Referee: Thomas Bramall (Sheffield)

Bradford v Burnley teams

Bradford: McCracken, Pennington, Welch, Gillesphey, Phillips, Lapslie, Cartwright, Touray, Jackson, Swan, Beesley. Subs: Dawson, Joe Wright, Connolly, Neufville, Sarcevic, Pointon, Powell, Ibbitson, Lunn.

Burnley: Coudert, Roberts, Ekdal, Ahmedhodzic, Lucas Pires, Raghouber, Laurent, Amdouni, Satpaev, Ndayishimiye, Broja. Subs: Weiss, Walker, Alleyne, Bruun Larsen, Edwards, Flemming, Ramsey, Sonne, Mejbri.

Referee: Martin Coy (County Durham)

And last night’s was a settling win for Coventry.

double quotation markA midweek jaunt to Devon always had the makings of a tricky trip for a Coventry team focused on Premier League survival. Such feelings quickly evaporated when Frank Lampard’s side raced into a two-goal lead with just four minutes and six seconds on the clock, Taiwo Awoniyi opening his account for his new club before Jack Rudoni doubled Coventry’s advantage. But, ultimately, Coventry were made to toil before chalking up a welcome first victory of the season.

Plymouth have form for a cup upset and another was brewing when Xavier Amaechi pulled Tom Cleverley’s side level nine minutes into the second half. Coventry, to their credit, roused once more, the substitute Ephron Mason-Clark regaining the lead before Victor Torp sealed progress to the Carabao Cup third round from the penalty spot. “You’ve got to enjoy a win, always,” Lampard said. “A win is a big deal because it’s a nice feeling to take back on the bus for four hours.”

Big wins for Leeds and Brentford last night in the competition.

Preamble

The season has fizzed into life already and the Carabao Cup always offers some fizz at this stage. It’s a year to the day on Thursday that Ruben Amorim reached for the tactics board at Grimsby. So what awaits this evening? Tottenham have their weekend wobbles to ride out, while Newcastle hope to build on their weekend promise. Preston v Everton is a fixture dating back to 1888-89, and is rhe David Moyes derby, though not even Moyesthesulah was around back then, and there’s a reassuring trans-Pennine feel to Bradford v Burnley.

All kick-offs 7.45pm UK time unless stated.

Bradford v Burnley

Newcastle v West Brom

Preston North End v Everton (8.00pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v Charlton

The Guardian

Brentford 3-0 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 22/08/2026 - 17:30

Key events

Jacob Steinberg was at the Gtech Community Stadium. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.

Keith Andrews talks to Sky Sports. “As good as I was feeling about where we were, you never truly know … so I’m really happy with what we produced … it was us from the first whistle … intensive … relentless … individual quality and personality … but underlined with that togetherness that we have in abundance … I think [Mamadou Sangaré] is a top player, the one we were after in the window … he deserves a lot of credit … he could have gone elsewhere for a few more bob but he recognised this would be a good place for him to come … he’s settled quite nicely! … when you bring in a really good player, it brings the level of the team up … that’s not to underestimate what we already had … it’s a long, long season and we need strength in depth … there are going to be bumps in the road … we’re going to try to enjoy the journey … the plan is to get better … keep pushing … keep striving … today is just the start hopefully.”

Archie Gray, who at 20 became Tottenham’s youngest-ever captain this evening, fronts up on Sky. “It was simple really … we lost too many duels … they just outfought us all over the park … we need to watch it back … for whatever reason we weren’t up for the fight as they were … that’s on us … the fans were incredible and for us to let them down like that on the first game, there’s not really words for it … we need to bounce back from that … I don’t think there’s any excuses to be honest … we’ll all look ourselves in the mirror.”

Roberto De Zerbi speaks to Sky. “We suffered the physicality … we knew that before the game … we were not ready to fight in the duels … we made a lot of mistakes in the timing of the pressure … with Mikey Moore on the left … we arrived too many times late … then we lost too many duels to compete with Brentford … I am sorry for that … I am sorry for the defeat … we have to improve our physical condition … in the organisation … there were many new players … it is the first game … a part of our journey … we knew before the game … too many … a lot of new players … to become a team … there was the soul … but in the end we didn’t fight in the right way … Brentford is one of the most important teams in the Premier League in terms of duels … we were not in the right position to make the pressure … like I said, with Mikey Moore … if you analyse the game, you can see how many duels we lost in the first half … we didn’t play well … we didn’t fight in the right way … all the players are good people … the first XI was able to compete … I don’t lose confidence in my players … we have to work … improve … analyse better to find the improvement … we cannot destroy everything because we are working well … we are improving the physical condition for sure … we need to find the spirit to fight … I did not expect this result but I knew the problems.”

The final xG: Brentford 3.96, Tottenham Hotspur 0.47. As for the table … well, it might not mean too much at the moment, but try telling that to Brentford, because they’re joint top with the champions. Spurs fans meanwhile are advised to concentrate on the first clause of that statement. There’s a long way to go, and plenty of time for everyone to get to know each other.

Post-match postbag. “It will be lost amongst everything else that’s been going on, but the decision to not give a penalty to Brentford right before their third goal is horrendous. Basically Oliver and VAR have now said this season shirt pulling is allowed. Except you know that’s not how it works and next week someone will get a pen for the slightest of tugs. The inconsistency is what aggravates me the most” – Espen B

“Bentancur helpfully ensuring Romero isn’t missed. What a team player!” – Matt Dony

“Any player coming to Spurs, whether he’s a big signing or just a ground staff boy, must be dedicated to the game and to the club. He must never be satisfied with his last performance, and he must hate losing” – Bill Nicholson (via Grant Tennille)

“The mistaken identity incident was certainly more baffling than the abject Dundee United performance which sadly has become commonplace under Jim Goodwin. The opening-day draw against Rangers has been followed by two 4-0 defeats and now this. I’m sensing a shoogly peg” – Simon McMahon (whose beloved Dundee United lost the Dundee derby 2-0)

Nathan Collins talks to Sky Sports. “We wanted to fucking … sorry! … show people what we’re made of … last season it hurt, we were one point off [Europe] … this year we’ve added quality … good people to the squad.” Collins is then asked about Mamadou Sangaré, who is standing next to him. He grins and quips: “He’s alright! He started OK, huh? We want more from him though! More goals, more tackles, huh?!” Both players grinning widely, big buddies already.

Then it’s Sangaré’s turn to speak. “It’s really good … since my first day here, everybody was really good with me … so it’s good to start with a win … I hope we can continue like that … it’s everything I can say, really!” Sangaré is then given the player of the match award, and charms the nation: “I think this is for all the team, everyone worked hard … but thank you, thank you, thank you!” To repeat: a new Premier League star is born.

Roberto De Zerbi goes over to clap the Spurs fans. He has the good grace to look sheepish. He doesn’t get much back, and one punter in a Spurs top stands, arms spread out, palms up, top lip kinked quizzically, the internationally recognised pose for What The Eff Was That?! But while this story can’t not be about Tottenham – they were abysmal, and everything’s gong to be viewed through the lens of their summer spending spree – it really should be mainly Brentford focused. The Bees were superb to a man, though one stood out, the debutant Mamadou Sangaré, who modestly claps the Brentford support before being shoved forward by Michael Kayode, who makes sure his new mate receives his flowers. What a cheer Sangaré’s given! And he’s worth it, having set up two goals and buzzed around a pitch that he quickly made his own. A new Premier League star is born.

FULL TIME: Brentford 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Brentford beat Spurs at home for the first time since Bill Nicholson’s playing days.

Updated at 20.25 CEST

Thiago misses penalty

Updated at 19.57 CEST

Penalty for Brentford!

Updated at 19.55 CEST

Updated at 19.40 CEST

GOAL! Brentford 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Kayode 48)

… but it doesn’t matter, because from the resulting corner, hit long from the right, Collins heads down for Sangare, who pearls an instant shot goalwards. Kinsky parries, a decent save from a well-struck shot, but the ball drops for Kayode, who roofs the loose ball from a couple of yards!

Updated at 19.47 CEST

Updated at 19.38 CEST

Brentford get the second half underway. Spurs have made two changes, replacing Bergvall and Gallagher with Fernandes and Bentancur. Spurs now have five debutants on the pitch.

The reports are in from the earlier Premier League games. Get clicking, but don’t forget to come back now.

Hull City 2-0 Manchester United

Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace

Ipswich Town 2-1 Sunderland

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Leeds United

Half-time postbag: Spurs sorrow special. “Have to say Spurs look absolutely miles off it so far although Brentford have been excellent. If anything, this looks as bad as last season’s Spurs. At least there are 37 games left to improve” – Martin Gamage

“Last season Spurs were lousy, and they will not be better this season, just like Manchester United. It is an utter disgrace, and also a reflection on society, that players like Tonali are bought for 100 million and yet so many people live in poverty in England” – Jeff Sax

“Gotta admire Tottenham’s resilience; despite failing to get relegated two years on the bounce they finally look like a proper Championship team” – Dave Estherby

“In the as-it-stands table, Spurs are currently 17th. The more things change…” – Kári Tulinius

“Dear old Spurs. I’m sure we all wish them well, but perhaps if they’re to be humbled again this season, better it be kept out of sight? Sympathetic MBMers would, I think, be happier were you to devote the afternoon entirely to, say, Simon McMahon’s posts from the Dundee derby. Probably also Spurs supporters” – Charles Antaki

(It’s goalless at Tannadice at the moment.)

Updated at 19.22 CEST

HALF TIME: Brentford 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

At the risk of belabouring an obvious point: Brentford look like a team who have been together for a good while; Tottenham do not. Roberto De Zerbi disappears down the tunnel with a face on.

Updated at 19.20 CEST

GOAL! Brentford 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Janelt 33)

Richarlison is robbed 35 yards from his own goal. Jensen drives forward and sends a swerving shot at Kinsky, who parries … and tees up Janelt, who can’t miss from six yards. This scoreline doesn’t flatter Brentford at all.

Updated at 19.07 CEST

The Guardian

World Cup 2026 news; Al-Mubarak on City’s 134 charges; Spurs sign Robertson – as it happened

Submitted by daniel on Fri, 05/06/2026 - 08:56

World Cup 2026 news; Al-Mubarak on City’s 134 charges; Spurs sign Robertson: football– live - The Guardian

Key events

To close out the blog for the day.

double quotation markWorld football’s governing body introduced a social media protection service after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and has offered its moderation element for free to all football associations at the 2026 tournament, which starts next Thursday. The Football Association has not confirmed whether it is taking up the offer.

An increasing number of Premier League clubs are using AI to hide racist, homophobic and misogynist content from players on their social media channels. Tottenham, who condemned the “vile, dehumanising racism” aimed at defender Kevin Danso following his mistake against Brighton last season, are among them.

Some USMNT news on Chris Richards: the Crystal Palace defender, is unavailable for Saturday’s friendly against Germany. Richards has a continuing ankle problem, and may yet miss out.

“He’s still not ready to compete and to play,” Mauricio Pochettino said ahead of a training session. “We have the next few days to assess him … and then make a decision.

“Maybe if it’s the final of the World Cup he can play. But the advice of the medical [team] is that he doesn’t play.”

Southampton have continued their, er, busy summer, with signing Cyle Larin, 31, on a permanent move from Real Mallorca, a two-year deal with an option for one more.

Larin: “From the first day I came into Southampton I was very welcomed, and we just had a great season. I really felt I wanted to continue.”

The UK prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has criticised Fifa’s decision to ban plastic water bottles from World Cup stadia.

This from an interview with LBC.

double quotation markHow do you respond to Fifa’s announcement overnight, the decision they’re going to ban plastic bottles from the World Cup - some people will think that sounds a bit odd?

PM: It’s just wrong. And I can’t help but think that it’s about making money. So you can’t bring plastic bottles in but you can buy a bottle of water when you get in the crowd. And then it’ll be expensive. The tickets themselves cost a fortune, far too expensive in my view. So the ticket sales are too high. And this is the wrong policy.

Will you be writing to Fifa to ask them what they’re going to be doing about it?

PM: Well, I would call on Fifa to just look again at this. Think about it. Think of the fans. They are football fans from all sorts of backgrounds across our country, across the world. They’re already spending a fortune getting there. They’ve got to pay a lot for tickets, too much in my book. Don’t impose further costs on them. So I’d say Fifa, look again.

Daniel Tunnard gets in touch: “Ello, please note it’s Elo, named after Arpad Elo, not ELO, which is the Electric Light Orchestra. (Scrabble geek here).”

The World Cup guides keep rolling in; here’s Saudi Arabia, penned by John Duerden.

double quotation markThere is talent and, now, perhaps a little less pressure. There are also other things to think about. Saudi Arabia are hosting the Asian Cup for the first time in January and seeking a first continental title since 1996 and this is where preparations for hosting the 2034 World Cup really start.

Les Street is heading to North America to watch his third World Cup.

double quotation markMy search for accommodation began the moment Australia were drawn in Group D. Stays in Vancouver and Seattle were already eye-wateringly expensive, upwards of $1,000 a night. Knowing the demand for the USA match, I booked an overpriced backpackers near the stadium even though I have well crossed the age and comfort bar for lodging in hostel dormitories. For Vancouver, I played 4D chess and discovered a stay not found on booking search engines at a university campus for cost price.

Here’s the story on those free World Cup tickets.

Behnam Jafarzadeh reports from Tehran, where the World Cup has a different hue considering real-world events.

double quotation markEconomic pressure, declining purchasing power and the shadow of war (which had not yet happened) contributed to football’s importance for Iranians falling to its lowest level in decades. There is a stark contrast to the atmosphere around the 2014 World Cup, when even a 1–0 loss to Argentina in the second group game led to hopeful street celebrations. During the 2018 World Cup the team’s matches were shown on the big screens at Azadi Stadium and received a great response.

Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal has been named La Liga player of the season.

The 18-year-old helped Barca retain their domestic crown, became the first player to win the league’s Player of the Month award three times in one season and finished as the club’s top scorer in La Liga with 16 goals and 11 assists. Barcelona’s Hansi Flick was named the coach of the year on Thursday.

Bad news for those World Cup ticket holders who thought they had a freebie.

Per Reuters: Fifa has cancelled World Cup tickets for about 60 fans who were able to mistakenly purchase them for free due to a website error, and world soccer’s governing body is now asking for them to be paid in full.

The affected fans were notified on Wednesday about tickets that were “allocated at no charge (0 USD) due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process“.

“The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount. FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience caused.”

Here’s David Hytner’s report on Tottenham’s signing of Andy Robertson.

double quotation markSpurs tried and failed to sign Robertson in January but they have got the deal done now and without having to pay a fee, the left-back’s contract at Liverpool having expired after nine hugely-successful seasons with the club. Robertson is the captain of Scotland and is preparing for the World Cup with them.

Thomas Frank 'will not rush into new role'

Thomas Frank, sacked by Tottenham in February, and set to be a pundit at the World Cup, has released a statement to the League Managers’ Association. It nixes talk of him being linked with Fulham, Crystal Palace and various other vacancies.

double quotation markI wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has reached out over the past few months. Your support and encouragement have been greatly appreciated.

Leaving Tottenham has given me the chance to step back and reflect on my journey so far. Football management is a profession that demands complete commitment every single day, and periods like this are a rare opportunity to assess, learn and gain a fresh perspective. From the outside, it may have looked like a time of many challenges at Tottenham when results were not what we wanted. From within, however, it becomes clear why the club is so special - full of talented people who work tirelessly every day. I have no doubt Tottenham has a bright future.

Football remains a huge part of who I am, and I have chosen to use this time productively. Over the coming months, besides spending time with family and friends, I will continue studying, observing and learning from other leaders both within sport and beyond it.

I am also looking forward to covering the World Cup for Danish television and the BBC, as well as experiencing the Tour de France. Time away from the touchline is allowing me to broaden my perspective and gather insights that I look forward to bringing into my next challenge.

There have been conversations and opportunities since leaving Spurs, but I have decided not to rush into the next role. For me, this summer is not the right time to go back into management.

When the time is right, I will look forward to my return as a manager, ready to embrace the job with great energy and dedication.

Transfer news: Inter have announced their triggering of a buyback clause to re-sign Aleksandar Stankovic from Club Brugge, with the Serbia midfielder penning a five-year contract.

The 20-year-old player is the son of former midfielder Dejan Stanković, who spent almost a decade in Milan.

Some more detail on Brooklyn Earick, whose Eight Sports company claims to have purchased a 24.99 per cent stake in Tottenham’s parent company, via PA Media.

“Earick is said to be a lifelong Tottenham fan, according to sources close to the deal, who has raised more than $25 billion from family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and leading institutions worldwide.

“Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he worked as an engineer at Nasa Ames Research Center, contributing to small spacecraft and satellite technology.”

Updated at 15.42 CEST

Fancy a World Cup stroll? A scenic walk to the MetLife here.

The World Cup fashion parade has begun.

double quotation markFashion moments range from the outfits players wear to get to training, to the suits worn on planes and their training gear. The French team’s training camp in Clairefontaine became something of a catwalk this week thanks to the style of players such as Jules Koundé and Kylian Mbappé. Meanwhile, brands including Loewe, Gabriela Hearst, Patta and the rapper Drake’s Nocta have worked with teams on suiting and training gear.

Since the last tournament in 2022, fashion’s influence on football has skyrocketed, with brands working with players and clubs, and the personal style of players influencing what young men wear, often thanks to carousels of images on Instagram and the outfits photographed when they arrive at training. This is set to increase further at the World Cup, with players including the Spanish ace Lamine Yamal, the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Koundé already posting outfits to their Instagram accounts.

Lawrence Shankland, the Scotland striker, has been speaking about his move from Hearts to Rangers.

“Obviously I finished the season pretty strong, so confidence was already high.

“To join my boyhood club, somewhere that I’ve always had a dream to play, and to get that opportunity, especially in the later stages of your career, I’m just happy and excited to get that opportunity. It can give you that wee boost and hopefully it does going into these games.”

“Obviously, I was due to meet up with Scotland on the Tuesday but I had to delay to the Wednesday for my medicals and stuff,” he said. “I felt like it was pretty important for me to get it done before I came here. I think when you come to a World Cup, you want to enjoy that experience. I don’t think I wanted anything hanging over my head with my club football so I was quite keen to get things wrapped up.

“Obviously, it was a big decision for me, leaving Hearts. It’s a great club. I’ve got a lot of good times and good memories there. But the opportunity to go and join Rangers is one that I couldn’t really turn down.:

Scotland play Bolivia in New Jersey on Saturday.

Eight Sports Capital claim to have bought Levy shares

Good afternoon, let’s start with some more Tottenham news.

A press release drops: “Eight Sports Capital Limited today announces the signing of a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a 24.99% interest in ENIC Sports and Developments Holdings Limited, the parent company of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, from the trustee of Daniel Levy’s family trust.

A spokesperson for Eight Sports Capital Limited stated: “We are delighted to have signed this agreement to acquire a significant stake in ENIC. We look forward to working with the Club’s shareholders, management, staff, players and fansto support Tottenham Hotspur’s continued growth and success.

“The parties have agreed that no further public comment will be made regarding the commercial terms of the transaction.”

Eight Sports Capital is a firm owned by Triller which is owned by Wing-Fai Ng and Richard Tsai. Eight Sports Capital CEO is Brooklyn Earick, reported to be a Tottenham fan and behind previous interest in purchasing the club.

The family of Joe Lewis, the former owner, are the majority owners of Spurs, and that holds an 86.58 per cent share in Tottenham. Last week, the family stated they are “all in”.

Updated at 15.41 CEST

Okay, time to brush up on Curaçao’s likely starting XI. John Brewin is now your man in the hotseat. Give him a big hand.

Real Madrid will launch a £130m bid for Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise if Florentino Pérez wins re-election as the club’s president this weekend. Rival candidate Enrique Riquelme had earlier promised to sign Erling Haaland from Manchester City if he got in. You guys.

Here’s a good omen for England. The ELO rankings are considered a better guide to who sits where in football’s pecking order. The FIFA rankings only go back to 1993 and they’ve tinkered with their workings several times. The ELO version was actually adapated from chess but they’re the rankings of choice for the football hipster.

Looking at past World Cup winners, eight of the last 10 champions were ranked in the top four of the ELO rankings pre-tournament. The current list has England in a top-four slot:

Updated at 14.49 CEST

Thoughts on Andy Robertson joining Tottenham on a free from Liverpool? A bit odd? More likely to get first-team football? A chance to experience the bright lights? More opportunities to hang out with Michael Dawson?

Tottenham sign Andy Robertson

Tottenham have unveiled a truly inspirational video welcoming Andy Robertson to the club ahead of his move from Liverpool.

Starring ex-Tottenham defender Michael Dawson, a former teammate of Robertson’s at Hull, he sends this heartwarming message:

“This shirt, the cockerel, that’s us since 1882. Worn by those who came before you, and everyone supporting from the stands.

“This club has been family to me, and we always have room for someone new.

“On the back, where your name is, that’s your chance to add something of your own to our story. As your old teammate and captain, I’m proud that I can welcome you to Spurs. Robbo, this is yours now too.”

The Scotland captain will officially join on 1 July when his Liverpool contract expires.

Sporting Director, Johan Lange, said: “We are delighted to welcome Andy to the club.

“First and foremost, he is an outstanding left-back - one of the best of all time in the Premier League, and someone who will improve our squad.

“In addition, his quality, character and leadership have been evident throughout a career in which he has regularly competed for - and won - major honours.

“Andy’s professionalism and commitment will also be invaluable to the development of our squad, and he shares our ambition and determination to bring success back to the Club.

“We are excited for Andy’s new chapter with us and look forward to having him here after the World Cup.”

Head Coach, Roberto De Zerbi, said: “Andy is someone I’ve admired for a number of years and he will bring outstanding technical qualities, experience, leadership and mentality to our team.

“He is a proven winner at the highest level over a long period and is someone who can be a big player for us, both on and off the pitch.

“I can’t wait to start working with him and seeing the positive impact he will have on everyone around him.”

Updated at 14.32 CEST

Al-Mubarak on Man City's 134 charges

Jamie Jackson

Khaldoon al-Mubarak has vowed to set the record straight once the verdict is returned on Manchester City’s estimated 134 Premier League charges related to alleged financial wrongdoing.

The chair was asked whether there was an update, more than three years after the charges – which City deny – were brought. It remains unclear when there will be an announcement.

“Until we have a ruling, I can’t say much,” Al-Mubarak said. “Once we have a ruling, believe me, we’re going to have a wonderful sit down together and I’ll say everything I’ve wanted to say for the last three years.”

City are the flagship club of City Football Group, the organisation that has 12 teams across of the world. A Sheikh Mansour company owns most of CFG, with almost 17% controlled by the American company Silver Lake and a small stake held by China Media Capital and CITIC Capital.

Mubarak said the group was worth at least $10bn (£7.4bn). “Over the years we’ve had multiple stop points where the value went from $120m to $1bn, then $2bn, $3bn, then we had investors come in and invest in the club at $3bn,” he said. “We went up to $5bn and more money came in, investors buying into this strategy. And Sheikh Mansour took a very important choice, which was that the money stays in because we’re going to keep building. If you’re going to sell all today in the market, you wouldn’t sell it for less than $10bn minimum. That’s value creation.

“There’s no intention to sell. There’s only intention to keep growing this because the view here is this will only grow and this is a beautiful business to own.”

If you were reading earlier about England’s 6-1 win over Panama in the 2022 World Cup, there was a quiz question. Harry Kane got a hat-trick but I also asked which player scored an unlikely brace?

The answer: John Stones. Yes, really.

Thanks Luke. Player-guide session a little compromised due to a parcel delivered to the wrong door, a phone call about US Open golf shifts and a ham omelette that wouldn’t cook itself.

That’s the lot from me: David will be back from his marathon player-guide reading session imminently.

Updated at 13.58 CEST

Craig McLeish has been given the St Mirren job on a permanent basis after he maintained their Scottish Premiership status.

“I want to thank Keith [Lasley, chief executive] and the board for giving me this opportunity and I’m ready to grasp it. I’m delighted that my vision aligned with the club’s and they feel I’m the best person to take us forward,” McLeish said.

“It feels like maybe the end of a cycle with where we were at. We’ve achieved a lot over this last period, and we have to now look at what we do and how we operate as a club.” PA Media

Fresh from Premier League title success, Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard wants to play a significant role for Belgium at the World Cup.

“I really can’t wait to get started,” he said on Friday, a day after belatedly joining up with his teammates after last Saturday’s Champions League final.

“Everyone is starting the World Cup campaign full of enthusiasm, which is very positive. I’ve only been able to take part in one training session so far, so not much has stood out to me yet, but I can see that everyone is focused and ready to begin the World Cup.”

Asked if he is in his best form ever, Trossard added: “That’s always difficult to answer. But I’m certainly in very good form, and I hope to carry that into the World Cup.”

Winning the Premier League is also a positive for Belgium’s hopes, he said.

“It’s very good when players arrive here having won titles, but that doesn’t change your status. Not mine either but I will try to bring that experience into the national team.

“We’ve had a very good season with Arsenal. Of course, it’s disappointing how the Champions League ended. Penalty shootouts are a lottery, and it was stressful to experience it from the sidelines. But we’ve still had a fantastic season and we’re very proud of winning the English title.

“The title celebrations and the parade were fantastic. We were able to celebrate properly with the squad.“

As for his club future Trossard gave nothing away: “At the moment I am still an Arsenal player. We’ll see what happens in the summer,” he said.

Belgium have a friendly against Tunisia in Brussels on Saturday before Monday’s departure to the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the US, where they begin their Group G campaign in Seattle, on June 15, against Egypt. Reuters

Updated at 13.50 CEST

How is Sergiño Dest getting on for the USMNT?

I know it’s a question you’ve been pondering.

Jeff Rueter has all the relevant details here:

Updated at 13.45 CEST

Ewan Murray

The summit of Scottish football provides a wonderful environment for those who value long-term career stops. Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the Scottish Professional Football League, arrived at the then Scottish Premier League in 2009. Ian Maxwell, bizarrely headhunted from relegation-bound Partick Thistle, has been the Scottish Football Association’s chief executive since 2018. Scot Gemmill’s tenure as the nation’s under-21 manager has lasted a decade despite underwhelming results.

Glass half-full or half-empty; either this is a domain that delivers admirable continuity or one in which no one makes sufficient progress to appeal to those in bigger ponds.

Against this backdrop, Steve Clarke’s four-year extension as Scotland manager is really no surprise. “It’s pretty staggering for anyone to say that giving him a new contract is a gamble,” said Maxwell. The Scottish FA’s president, Mike Mulraney, delivered standard bluster when assessing the deal. “I don’t need other people to vindicate my decision,” insisted Mulraney.

Next up on Friday’s football content smorgasbord: a piece from Ewan Murray on Steve Clarke, the Scotland head coach. (They’re in Group C with Haiti, Morocco and Brazil. Their first match is against Haiti on Sunday 14 June, at 2am UK time.)

And here, for good measure, is their team guide by Ewan Murray:

Updated at 13.43 CEST

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