The Guardian

Son Heung-min, the Tottenham captain, has expressed his “love” for his teammate Rodrigo ­Bentancur, despite the midfielder making an alleged racist remark about the South Korea forward over the summer.

The Uruguay international was charged by the Football ­Association last Thursday with an alleged ­misconduct breach in relation to a media interview. In the clip, which emerged in June, the host of a Canal 10 show asked Bentancur to show the shirt of a Spurs player, with the 27-year-old allegedly replying: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

While an apology from Bentancur was swiftly ­forthcoming, due to this being an “aggravated breach”, if an ­independent regulatory commission panel upholds the FA charge he could be suspended for six to 12 domestic matches.

Speaking before Thursday’s Europa League home tie against Qarabag, Son said: “At the moment, because of the FA process, I can’t say much about it. But I love ­Rodrigo, I love him. We’ve a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined [in January 2022]. He knew. He apologised straight afterwards when we had holiday. I was at home. I didn’t even realise what was going on. He sent me a long message and you could feel it was coming from his heart.

“When we came back for pre-season, he felt really sorry and he almost cried when he apologised publicly and personally as well. He felt like he was really sorry. We are all human and all make mistakes and we learn from it.”

Son is one of only two players, along with Ben Davies, left at Tottenham from the squad that reached the Champions League final in 2019. Defeat in Madrid to Liverpool extended the club’s trophy drought and it now stands at 16 years, but Son is determined to end the wait for silverware this season.

“Yeah, it’s a dream [to win a trophy]. There is no hiding this. That’s what we work for,” Son said. “Obviously, we are looking for another big competition that everybody wants to win. It’s going to be tough, a tough competition, a lot of games and a lot of travelling, which makes it even harder. We’ve just got to be ready and take it seriously, the competition, because it’s a massive competition.”

Son also reflected on his contract situation after he entered the final 12 months of his current deal at Spurs. The club hold an option to extend his terms by a further year and, it is understood, plan to activate it.

“We haven’t talked [about] anything yet,” said the 32-year-old. “ It was very clear for me, I’m very focused for this season. I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves. That’s what I’m working for.”

Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou has become the latest high-profile figure to express concern at the increasing number of games players at elite level are having to take part in, with the Spurs manager appearing to back the idea of them striking in protest.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri suggested last week that players could strike over fixture congestion before days later suffering a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

“They may take things into their own hands,” said Postecoglou. “They’re the ones most affected to be honest, so you would understand if they started to think as a collective, how much are we going to have to continually not have a say in?

“I have spoken already about the fact we’re getting to a real ­dangerous level about what our expectations are around players. Instead of ­focusing on one or two tournaments, it’s about the calendar. That is more of an issue.

“Players don’t get a break between seasons any more like they used to. There are more tournaments both at club level, international level and continental level. So, it’s going to get to a point where we are not going to have the best players out there playing and even worse them breaking down for various reasons. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed.”

The issue is of particular significance for Son, who regularly travels across the world to feature in South Korea matches before a quick turnaround back to domestic matters. “A lot of games, a lot of travelling. We’ve got to look after ourselves, which sometimes is very hard,” he said. “Mentally, physically, you’re not ready. Then going on to the pitch and then the risk of injury is massive. We’re not robots.

“Don’t get me wrong, we love playing football. It’s about adding more games. It’s normal that everyone is at high risk of injury. We play 50, 60 games and not more than 70 games. When the fixtures come, the players have to play. There’s a lot going on. It’s not fair. Rodri said the right things.”

Ange Postecoglou had spoken of Tottenham’s perceived frontline scoring issues and how they would be resolved internally. As it transpired, goals from Dominic Solanke – his first for the club – Brennan Johnson and James Maddison earned a workmanlike three points, while also exhibiting character after conceding a goal by Bryan Mbeumo which put Brentford in front with only a minute gone. This triumph of patience should provide increased faith from the fans towards their manager who was quick to acknowledge them afterwards.

Tottenham had a more familiar appearance than the one which eked out a late Carabao Cup win at Coventry in midweek. Solanke, the club’s record signing, only had to wait until the eighth minute on this occasion for his moment, while Johnson added the second goal with admirable aplomb.

Thomas Frank’s injury-plagued Brentford, meanwhile, approached north London in a respectable ninth place. With the in-form Yoane Wissa the latest to succumb to the sidelines with an ankle problem, there was an opportunity to see if Mbeumo and Fábio Carvalho could stretch the hosts and score on the Bees’ customary counterattacking policy.

That desired moment came earlier than even Frank would have dreamed of. Twenty two seconds, to be precise. Keane Lewis-Potter clipped a cross in from the left, and from 12 yards out, Mbeumo was perfectly poised to execute a hooked volley into the top corner of the Tottenham net.

Spurs’ response was impressive. An uncharacteristic loose pass from Ethan Pinnock was snapped up by Maddison inside the Brentford penalty area – and the midfielder’s shot was only parried by the visiting goalkeeper, Mark Flekken, into the path of a grateful Solanke to casually stroke home.

Suitably emboldened, Heung-min Son and Johnson both went close to scoring against the west Londoners’ rattled defence.

If Postecoglou was anxious about profligacy, the second goal, after 27 minutes, will have been particularly satisfying for the Australian. Son surged forward, causing the Bees’ defence to backtrack before delivering a neat pass to Johnson. The attacker forged a yard of space to fire low into the corner of the Brentford net from an acute angle.

A dribbling error by the Spurs keeper, Guglielmo Vicario, almost allowed Carvalho and then Mbeumo to take advantage before the interval. Vicario then denied Mikkel Damsgaard with a fine save.

Brentford experienced a collective blast of frustration in the second half when it appeared Vicario handled the ball outside the penalty area, which Frank and the defender Kristoffer Ajer were cautioned for understandable protests.

Fuelled by injustice, both Mbeumo and the substitute Kevin Schade were denied by two great Vicario saves, while, at the other end, Johnson pulled a shot wide from an inviting position.

With six minutes remaining, Son caught Brentford off-guard, supplying Maddison, who curved the ball over Flekken. A day of significant relief for Postecoglou where Tottenham can properly move forward.

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That result means Chelsea go second, for a couple of hours at least. West Ham have lost their first three home matches of the season for the first time in their 129-year history.

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FULL TIME: West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea. Julen Lopetegui hasn’t had much of a honeymoon period in his new job as Hammers coach, if at all. His team have been thoroughly outclassed by in-form Chelsea, who are in no way flattered by this scoreline. It could have been more. David Tindall lays out the details in minute-by-minute style as the hosts are booed off.

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GARY SHAW (1961-2024). Aston Villa have already dedicated their win at Young Boys to the beloved star of the team that won the 1981 title, the 1982 European Cup and the 1982 Super Cup. Shaw has also been honoured at Villa Park today by another club legend.

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Team news: Tottenham v Brentford

Spurs are unchanged despite defeat in last weekend’s north London derby. Fabio Carvalho makes his first Premier League start for the Bees, who are without Yoanne Wissa and Christian Norgaard.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Son.

Subs: Forster, Dragusin, Bissouma, Gray, Bergvall, Werner, Spence, Sarr, Moore.

Brentford: Flekken, Ajer, van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins, Lewis-Potter, Janelt, Yarmolyuk, Damsgaard, Carvalho, Mbeumo.

Subs: Valdimarsson, Schade, Mee, Meghoma, Konak, Trevitt, Roerslev, Kim, Yogane.

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Updated at 15.11 CEST

Team news: Southampton v Ipswich

Saints respond to their thumping at the hands of Manchester United by calling up Charlie Taylor, Ryan Fraser and Adam Lallana. Ipswich follow up their draw at Brighton by naming Jens Cajuste in place of the absent Kalvin Phillips.

Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Taylor, Downes, Lallana, Dibling, Fernandes, Fraser, Archer.

Subs: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Aribo, Armstrong, Stewart, Wood-Gordon, Brereton, Cornet, Ugochukwu.

Ipswich Town: Muric, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy, Cajuste, Szmodics, Giraud-Hutchinson, Burns, Delap.

Subs: Walton, Chaplin, Taylor, Johnson, Ogbene, Townsend, Luongo, Hirst, Jack Clarke.

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Updated at 15.09 CEST

Team news: Liverpool v Bournemouth

Liverpool are without the injured Alisson so Caoimhin Kelleher makes his first start of the season … as does Darwin Nunez. Federico Chiesa is on the bench. Bournemouth make three changes after their unlucky loss to Chelsea, Dean Huijsen, Julian Araujo and Kepa Arrizabalaga replacing Mark Travers, Adam Smith and Marcos Senesi.

Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Nunez.

Subs: Jaros, Gomez, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Jota, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.

AFC Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga, Araujo, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier, Evanilson.

Subs: Travers, Senesi, Brooks, Scott, Ouattara, Smith, Sinisterra, Hill, Unal.

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Updated at 15.07 CEST

Team news: Leicester v Everton

Bilal El Khannous replaces Oliver Skipp as the only change for Leicester from the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. Everton welcome back Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski.

Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen, Winks, Ndidi, Ayew, El Khannous, Mavididi, Vardy.

Subs: Ward, Coady, Fatawu, De Cordova-Reid, Choudhury, Ricardo Pereira, Skipp, Edouard, Buonanotte.

Everton: Pickford, Garner, Keane, Tarkowski, Young, Mangala, Doucoure, Lindstrom, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.

Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Harrison, Beto, O’Brien, Iroegbunam, Armstrong, Dixon.

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Updated at 15.08 CEST

Team news: Fulham v Newcastle

Fulham name the same XI after the draw with West Ham. Newcastle line up with Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes in attack.

Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson, Andreas Pereira, Lukic, Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Jimenez.

Subs: Benda, Reed, Rodrigo Muniz, Cairney, Berge, Nelson, Castagne, Sessegnon, Diop.

Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Kelly, Willock, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Gordon, Isak, Barnes.

Subs: Dubravka, Tonali, Krafth, Osula, Hall, Livramento, Jacob Murphy, Almiron, Longstaff.

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Updated at 15.10 CEST

Team news: Aston Villa v Wolves

Villa make one change to the side that won 3-0 at Young Boys during the week. Diego Carlos comes in for Lamare Bogarde. Wolves name the same XI that started the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.

Subs: Gauci, Barkley, Duran, Buendia, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey, Young.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Nelson Semedo, Mosquera, Dawson, Ait Nouri, Lemina, Andre Trindade, Joao Gomes, Bellegarde, Matheus Cunha, Larsen.

Subs: Jose Sa, Doherty, Bueno, Hwang, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Sarabia, Borges, Goncalo Guedes.

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Updated at 15.07 CEST

Preamble

Six BIG games on the 3pm card today; football just won’t stop happening! (Join a union, kids, the management classes are not your friends.)

Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Fulham v Newcastle United

Leicester City v Everton

Liverpool v Bournemouth

Southampton v Ipswich Town

Tottenham Hotspur v Brentford

Team news coming right up.

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Ange Postecoglou agrees because he knew just as well as anyone how it would have been painted. “Firstly, you can say that if we lost the other night, we would have been in crisis,” the Tottenham manager says. He is discussing the Carabao Cup tie at Coventry on Wednesday, which came three days after the home loss to Arsenal, a result that left Spurs with four points from the opening four Premier League games.

Postecoglou had fallen at the first hurdle in last season’s Carabao Cup, going out on penalties at Fulham, having made nine changes to his starting XI. He swapped eight players at Coventry and there is no doubt that relief was the most prominent emotion when the substitutes Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson scored late goals for a 2-1 comeback win.

Postecoglou had not finished his argument. “If we won our first game of the season, I’d probably be sitting here and people would have been saying: ‘Can you win a title this year?’ Both of them are just not the reality of my world.”

The reality for Postecoglou these days is volatility, extreme judgments from game to game because the climate has shifted for him since that stirring start to last season, his first at Spurs, when his team took 26 points from an available 30. Since then, it has been 44 from 30 matches, which equates to a 56-point season or mid-table mediocrity.

Some of the fans are not only booing at matches (they do that regularly when unhappy with the scoreline) but grumbling about where they are going under Postecoglou. The tone of it all was reflected in many of the questions he faced in his media conference to preview Saturday’s visit of Brentford. There is a lot of noise around Spurs, plenty of it taking in the merits of Angeball, the entertainment-value-versus-results debate. And more about individual players.

Take Johnson, for example, and Postecoglou wanted to do so after the forward’s bolt from zero against Arsenal to match winner at Coventry. Johnson received such abuse on social media after his poor performance in the derby that he deactivated his Instagram account.

“He won a game of football for us the other night with a really good finish and at the critical moment,” Postecoglou says. “I reckon you put any of his critics in that situation and they would be looking for a change of pants pretty quickly. But they don’t think about that in the moment.”

It was when the conversation centred on Dominic Solanke that Postecoglou laid bare his exasperation. The striker, signed for a club record £65m, has not scored in his three appearances; he missed Spurs’s second and third games of the season with an ankle injury.

“People are just so quick to judge,” Postecoglou says. “If he has gone 15 games without a goal or 15 games where he hasn’t contributed … I just think take a breath. Do a bit of yoga. Think about the world for a second and make an assessment after that.”

For Postecoglou, there were two obvious questions. Does he do yoga? “No mate, jeez, I don’t have the patience for it … nothing wrong with yoga by the way.” And, more seriously, how does he cope with the intensity and craziness of the professional realm that he inhabits?

“I have always been pretty good at staying clear-eyed and focused about what is important,” Postecoglou says. “The external noise, whether it’s valid or not, I just find it’s a massive distraction. I learned along the way … whether things are going well or not going well … not to let that external noise distract me.

“In many parts of my life, I’m not very disciplined, especially around eating. But when it comes to football, I’m really disciplined. Nothing will take me away from what I think needs to be done.”

A section of the Spurs support booed when Postecoglou substituted the midfielder Lucas Bergvall at Coventry but the manager said such negativity did not affect him.

“I’ve always said fans are more than free to feel what they feel,” he says. “We’ve just got to stay clear-eyed on what we’re trying to achieve and the kind of football team we want to be. If that’s swimming against the tide sometimes, that’s all right – it makes you stronger.”

Postecoglou clarified that he was not swimming against the tide at present. “The point I’m trying to make is I ignore the tide and just keep swimming,” he says. “Others may feel that way and if they do, there’s nothing wrong with that. You need to embrace the struggle. You don’t get success just by everything rolling out perfectly. But I ignore it.”

Postecoglou was reminded that he is the first Spurs manager to complete a full season since Mauricio Pochettino in 2018-19. “Yeah, they had a cake for me the other day,” he deadpans. All he feels his team needs is a spark in the final third.

“In our first four games we were about as dominant as we were last season for any series of games,” Postecoglou says. “In all four, we’ve out-possessed the opposition, created double the chances, played the game mostly in the opposition half. But we haven’t really got a reward for our dominance and that’s the area we are trying to focus on – in that front third.”

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 6th (NB: this is not necessarily Suzanne Wrack’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 6th

The plan

After narrowly avoiding relegation in 2022-23, the sixth-placed finish and FA Cup final in Robert Vilahamn’s first season will be hard to be top. Is there pressure to do better? No one would turn it down, but more importantly than the outcome last season was the team playing with coherence and an identity. If they can continue to develop their style of play and progress as a group, fans will likely be happy even if the team fall a little short of last season’s highs.

The number of additions has been carefully managed and the squad go into the new season with a degree of consistency. Spurs are playing the long game, hoping to avoid the fate of teams that finished high up, spent big to try to crack into the top three and ruptured the dynamic of their squads in the process.

“I know we can compete against all the teams this year,” said Vilahamn. “I know we can become better this year, if everything works well. But, to beat the top three teams, I cannot tell [the players] this is the year it’s going to happen because they have been in the women’s game for a long time.

“On the other hand, there’s a lot of stuff going on in those clubs as well, with new recruitments and new coaches. So it’s going to be an interesting year, especially when the other teams around us are doing the investment. It is going to be more competitive.”

The manager may be cautious regarding ambitions but that does not mean they are not dreaming of big things. “If we are in the Champions League for the next season, that would be amazing,” he said. “But as long as we develop and take steps, that’s what the club want to do.

“Organically, we want to be better and better and better. We don’t force us, we don’t risk anything. We are in a good spot, but I cannot really say that if we are ready for the top three or not. We need to wait and see.”

The manager

Vilahamn is fast building an impressive reputation. Before his arrival, the team looked lost. Vilahamn is not a loud manager but focuses on the individual. “I’m very individual-based there, so if you need love, I’m going to give you love; if you need other stuff, I’m going to give you that as well.

“I was a teacher. I use that quite a lot in my journey as a coach. I never ever treat them the same. I’m trying to treat them as individuals.”

Off-field picture

In their latest accounts, Tottenham’s revenue stood at £2.26m for the year ending June 2023, an increase on the preceding year’s £1.9m. They had an operating loss of £3.1m, up from £1.6m. The investment is increasing and accounts for last season will probably show further growth in both figures, but they are still far below the level of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. High-quality training facilities and an increased number of games played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will boost revenue further but greater investment from the parent club will be needed if they are to challenge for the top four.

Breakout star

Is this Jessica Naz’s year? The 23-year-old has shown huge promise and won her first senior England call-up in May, after Lauren James withdrew, having been placed on the standby list for England’s Euro 2025 qualifying matches. Naz signed a new three-year contract in May, having scored three goals and provided four assists in 10 starts under Vilahamn. “I like quick players, I like players that can be brave one-v-one and beat them,” said Vilahamn of Naz before the Cup final. “I saw last year that she could have done that, but she didn’t do it too much. She was one of the players I really liked when I watched the games last year and when I signed for the club.”

A-lister

Hayley Raso comes with a high profile similar to that of Beth England, who was a huge and influential addition in January 2023, fast becoming Tottenham’s top scorer. Raso, an Australia forward, joins after a year with Real Madrid, where she scored four times and competed in the Champions League. Having played at Everton and Manchester City, she comes with strong WSL experience. “Can she be a really dominant player in this league with an upcoming team?” Vilahamn said. “I feel like she’s a good match. We talked about where she is and she’s fitting into the way we play in a very good way.”

This summer’s business

Recruiting experienced players and young talent was made all the easier by Spurs’ achievements last season. Last summer, players were joining a side fresh from a relegation battle; now they are joining a team going places. Tottenham changed tack in this window, focusing on key areas rather than an overhaul. “We signed many players last season,” said Vilahamn. “When I look at the squad, I think we have 12 or 13 new players from when I came in, which is many players. The main thing was to find the key targets. So [the centre-back] Claire Hunt was a key target. We looked into what we need to develop in that position and competition in that position. Then you have Ella Morris [another defender], who is a typical Tottenham signing perhaps she’s not ready to play 90 minutes the first game, but she’s definitely a future Lioness. It’s just a question of time before she can do it at Tottenham as well.”

Where do they play?

Tottenham primarily play their home games at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road. Close to Leyton station and on several bus routes the ground is fairly accessible. The club have put in a lot of effort into building an atmosphere and making a red ground feel more like home. The pre-match beatboxers and street dancers have developed a small cult following. Last season, the club hosted the women’s team three times at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and there are three more WSL fixtures scheduled – against Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. “We have a clear strategy, how we’re going to keep growing the fanbase and the games at the stadium,” said Vilahamn. “Last year, we had three games there and all of them we won, and all of them had a really good atmosphere … We’re looking into how we can grow that.”

Ange Postecoglou lauded the “real spirit and character” that he admits has been missing from the first four games of Tottenham’s season after late goals from substitutes Brennan Johnson and Djed Spence prevented Coventry City recording another remarkable underdog yarn.

The Championship side deservedly took a lead through Brandon Thomas-Asante midway through the second half that Ellis Simms twice came close to doubling before Spurs recovered to sneak through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. At least that is one route to a trophy still in Postecoglou’s sights.

Penalties did for Mark Robins’s team when they lost the Championship playoff final to Luton Town 16 months ago and the FA Cup semi-final to Manchester United last season and they looked set for another trial from 12 yards after Spence, sent in by Dejan Kulusevski, stabbed home from close range in the 88th minute.

Yet until the introduction of James Maddison, Son Heung-Min and Kulusevski, Spurs had at times been outplayed – and certainly out-fought – by the spirited second-tier side. Then, in stoppage time, Rodrigo Bentancur played Johnson in on goal and the Wales winger, abused online so badly after his efforts in the north London derby defeat on Sunday that he deleted his Instagram account, slipped in the winning goal.

Both teams may have made middling starts to their respective league campaigns, but the pressure was clearly more on Spurs. Neutrals love a manager who shows ambition and shoots from the hip, after Postecoglou’s conviction that he “always wins things in my second year”.

This he may have done in Australia, Japan and Scotland, where he won the title in his second seasons in charge, but the Premier League is a completely different beast. All of which suggests he will need to win a cup, a feat Spurs haven’t managed since 2008, to maintain his successful second-season streak, and this competition offers an easier target than the FA Cup or Europa League.

Still, he gambled by making eight changes from the side that lost 1-0 to Arsenal, and while he argued that the likes of summer signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, making their first starts for the club, will benefit from the extended minutes they played here, they could not match Coventry’s tempo in the middle hour of this game.

“It was a typical cup game,” Postecoglou conceded. “Coventry had a real energy to their game. We had to hang in there and it was really hard just to stay in the game. But we [did] and showed some real spirit and character, which has probably been missing in the first four games of the season. But the last 10 minutes we got some really good belief going.”

An audible minority of Spurs fans booed their team off at half-time, and there were indignant cries when Bergvall, the Swedish teenager signed for £8.5million from Djurgardens, was replaced by Son just after the hour, when Maddison came on for Dominic Solanke, who showed moments of quality but is still seeking his first goal since joining from Bournemouth for £55m. “I don’t think there are any quick fixes,” Postecoglou said, pointing out that with Qarabag visiting when the Europa League campaign starts next week, Spurs will need to rotate.

Robins rightly identified Maddison as the difference-maker, as he started dictating possession and taking the sting out of Coventry’s high-tempo approach.

The excellent Jack Rudoni had almost scored after 45 seconds, Fraser Forster saving his shot after playing Bergvall a difficult first touch on the edge of his own area. With Spurs vulnerable down their defensive right, Norman Bassette, a Belgian teenager signed from Caen in the summer, was also outstanding and it was from his low cross that Thomas-Asante, a £2.25million capture from West Brom, adjusted his feet nimbly to sidefoot Coventry into the lead.

Ephron Mason-Clark almost slid home at the near post after Simms’ header from Jake Bidwell’s long cross but Coventry paid for not getting that crucial second goal. “We have to be more ruthless,” Robins said. “Life presents you with chances and we seem to not take those chances.

Preamble

If you want glamour ties, you’ve come to the wrong place. By all means, head over to our Manchester City v Internazionale liveblog, if that’s your sort of thing.

This clockwatch – bridging three different competitions and multiple different kick-off times – will instead bring the latest from a series of genuinely enthralling ties, each more obscure, intriguing and hipster than the last.

Women’s Champions League qualifying

Anderlecht v Vålerenga (6.30pm kick-off, all times BST)

Fiorentina v Wolfsburg (7pm)

Carabao Cup

Brighton v Wolves (7.45pm)

Coventry v Spurs (8pm)

Champions League (all 8pm)

Celtic v Slovan Bratislava

Club Brugge v Borussia Dortmund

PSG v Girona

We will also have the latest from the early kick-offs: Bologna v Shakhtar, Sparta Prague v RB Salzburg.

In the Women’s Champions League qualifying, Anderlecht host Norwegian champions Vålerenga. Wolfsburg – Champions League royalty who reached the final in 2016, 2018 and 2023 and won both the thing in both 2013 and 2014 – travel to Fiorentina, who came through qualifying after finishing third in Serie A last season.

The two Carabao Cup ties throw up an all Premier League clash and a classic banana skin of a tie for Tottenham at last season’s FA Cup semi-finalists Coventry City. Woof.

Some seriously interesting subplots in the men’s Champions League on just the second night of its new incarnation/league phase. There are five tournament debutants in this year’s competition, and two of them feature here (with Bologna having also kicked off against Shakhtar at 5.45pm BST).

Slovan Bratislava have made it through to the group stage at the 12th time of asking, having made it through four qualifying stages. Managed by Vladimir Weiss, his son of the same name also features in the squad. You may remember Weiss Jr from spells at Manchester City, Bolton and … um … Glasgow Rangers. Under the lights at Parkhead, rarely have Celtic had a better opportunity to get off to a winning start.

Borussia Dortmund, last year’s unlucky finalists, start this season’s campaign against Club Brugge. Dortmund added Maximilian Beier, Waldemar Anton, Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Gross, Yan Couto among others, and shipped out a whopping 18 players (including Marco Reus, Youssoufa Moukoko, Sebastién Haller, Mats Hummels and Niclas Füllkrug) and it will be interesting to see how Nuri Sahin moulds his new-look side this year.

Kylian Mbappé-less PSG seem revitalised, perhaps even stronger since the departure of their talisman to Real Madrid. So far this season the French side have played four, won four. Goals scored: 16. Goals against: three. They host Girona, another debutant, and remain a fascinating prospect despite the departures of Artem Dovbyk, Aleix García and Savinho. The Spanish club’s manager, Michel, promised earlier this week that 37-year-old striker Cristhian Stuani that he would give him the captain’s armband against PSG. “Stuani deserves to be in the starting XI. He has been wearing this shirt for many years. He deserves it more than anyone,” Michel told reporters.

That’ll do you, for now. We’ll have some team news shortly!

Ange Postecoglou has urged Tottenham to embrace the challenge of trying to end their long trophy drought and said he is happy to be regarded as a failure if he does not win anything this season.

The Australian was in a defiant mood before visiting Coventry in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night and is determined to maintain his record of lifting silverware in his second year in a job.

Spurs’ most recent trophy was the League Cup in 2008 and Postecoglou, who has faced criticism since losing to Arsenal last Sunday, wants the club to adopt a fearless mindset in pursuit of glory.

“It’s why I came here,” the former Celtic manager said. “I came here to try to win things. I think that should be our measure and if we fall short of that then we’ve fallen short and we need to be better. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with embracing that.

“It’s just the way I’m wired, I think it’s the way forward and you need to embrace that if you want to become a successful club and not shy away from it. If I said: ‘This is going to take three or four years,’ then yeah it would relieve pressure. But I don’t want to wait three or four years. This year’s an opportunity.”

Postecoglou, who has made an inconsistent start to his second season, insisted he had no problem with being judged a failure if Spurs end up empty-handed again.

“I failed last year in my head because that’s how I’m geared,” he said. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear what my expectations are. But that doesn’t mean that I stop. That just fuels the fire of ‘why didn’t I do it?’ That gets me going for this year and this year it’s about progress. That’s been my whole career.

“Have I ever downplayed anything since I’ve been here? So I’m willing to be measured against that – that means that I’m fair game. I’m happy to be judged against that standard because that’s my standard, that’s what I’ve done in the past and I don’t want to dilute that. I have no problems with people using that as a yardstick.”

A potential issue for Spurs, whose heavily rotated side lost in the Carabao Cup second round to Fulham last season, is that it is 11 years since anyone other than Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United won the competition. But Postecoglou remains undaunted.

“I don’t think there’s anything limiting this club having success,” he said. “I really don’t believe that. That’s why I’m here. But that doesn’t mean we’re ready for it now. It just means it’s what we should be striving for.”

Spurs have lacked a clinical touch this season but Postecoglou defended Brennan Johnson after the winger deleted his Instagram after receiving abusive messages on the back of his performance against Arsenal.

“I hate how we’ve just normalised all that stuff,” Postecoglou said. “You’re talking about a young guy who is probably lacking a bit of confidence at the moment. Things haven’t gone his way.

“But he comes here every day, he’s working his backside off, he’s doing everything right, he’s trying so hard to become the player he wants to be. It’s hurting him a lot. It’s not like he’s out on the town and he doesn’t care and he rolls up late. So what’s his crime? His crime is he isn’t performing at the level that people expect of him.

“As a professional footballer you’ve got to expect that you’re going to get criticism. He’s still a young player and I think there is so much more of Brennan that we’re going to bring out in him.”

It was, as everybody pointed out, inevitable that the north London derby would be decided by a set-play, Gabriel heading the only goal in the second half as Tottenham in general, and Cristian Romero in particular, switched off. It was a win that kept Arsenal within touching distance of Manchester City – and that it’s not absurd to think in such terms even at this early stage of the season suggests just how City’s relentless excellence has affected the perspective – but it also raised further doubts about Ange Postecoglou.

The heady start to last season, in which Spurs took 26 points from their first 10 games under the Australian, feels a long time ago. It was inevitable there would be some sort of regression to the mean but 44 points from their subsequent 32 games is a poor enough record to raise concerns. Extrapolate that over a season and you get 52, which is what West Ham got last season in finishing ninth. For Tottenham, with their expenditure and their stadium, that would be far from acceptable. Cherrypicking isolated parts of a season is never entirely fair, but 32 games is a hefty sample size.

“For some reason people think I don’t care about set pieces and it’s a narrative that you can keep going on for ages and ages,” Postecoglou said on Sunday. “I understand that. We work on them all the time like we do for every other team. You know that they’re a threat, as I said, for the most part, we handled them really well today, but we switched off for one and we paid a price and you learn from that and you move on.”

There was an obvious grumpiness there, which is perhaps only to be expected, but the “for some reason” seemed needlessly passive aggressive. The reason is that Postecoglou dug himself a hole last season, saying of working specifically on set-pieces, “I’m just not interested in it. I never have been.” He did clarify that to explain that, on a philosophical level, he prefers to see the game holistically rather than hiving off one aspect to a specialist set-piece coach, as Arsenal have done with Nicolas Jover.

“It’s something that we work on along with everything in our game,” he said in May. “There are far more important things that we need to concentrate on at the moment in terms of the team we’re building.” Assistant coach Nick Montgomery was brought in during the summer and while he is not a specific set-piece coach, he does appear to have responsibility for them. But then if Tottenham let teams crowd Guglielmo Vicario as Arsenal did, and if Romero is so easily brushed aside by opponents, the problem soon becomes less abut structures than about individuals.

Which may be true, but as a proportion of total goals conceded only Nottingham Forest let in more from set-pieces than Tottenham last season – and the Premier League is ruthless; no weakness goes unexploited. Gabriel’s goal was the first that Spurs have conceded from a set-play so far this campaign, but another pattern, just as damaging, is emerging. In all four games so far this season, they have had at least 60% possession, yet they have won only one of them. In all four they have been ostensibly the better team – although Newcastle did ultimately register the better xG – but they have not created the chances they probably should have, have not, other than against Everton, taken their chances, and then have had their soft underbelly exposed.

Postecoglou sides tend to be at their best in his second season in charge: he himself made reference to that on Sunday, correcting a journalist who had said Postecoglou “normally” wins a trophy in his second season to insist he “always” does – and it did happen with South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic; at the last three of those that trophy was the league. Even if City are handed an enormous points deduction, it seems hard to imagine that happening this season.

Yet what must be frustrating for Postecoglou is that his side don’t seem that far off. It sounds vaguely ludicrous to say of a team on four points but it really wouldn’t have taken too much to go differently for them to have won four out of four at the start of this season. In the expected points world, Tottenham are just one point behind Arsenal. But back in the real, actual world they’re already six points behind their rivals and four points off the Champions League spots. The basic processes seem there: they just need a little more ruthlessness, a little less carelessness, a little more confidence and decisiveness. The problem is that Tottenham, of all clubs, have heard this before: that is the very essence of Spursiness.

At the beginning of last season, it seemed as though Postecoglou’s uncomplicated gruffness might be just the thing to cut through the years of underachievement. The problem now is that, as manifested in the problem of set-piece defending, it may have become a contributory factor.

Mikel Arteta paid tribute to ­Arsenal’s set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, for injecting his players with belief after their narrow win in the north London derby kept up the pressure on the Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Gabriel Magalhães’s second-half header from a Bukayo Saka corner was enough to give Arsenal a third successive ­victory at their arch-rivals for the first time since the 1980s as Arteta’s side overcame the absences of the suspended Declan Rice and injured captain Martin Ødegaard in midfield. It was the 17th goal they have scored from a corner since the start of last season and 42nd from a set piece since Jover was recruited from City in 2021.

The Frenchman led the wild cele­brations with Arteta in the dugout, and asked whether he is the best in his field, the Arsenal manager said: “In his field, in other fields and as a person. And the relationship that we have – that’s why I made the decision to bring him to City when I was there and then to Arsenal.

“Him and the rest of the staff have injected the belief to the players that there are many ways to win football matches. This is a really powerful one and he has given us a lot. So a big ­compliment to all of them.”

Tottenham found themselves 3-0 down at half‑time in the corre­sponding ­fixture in April after conceding two goals from set pieces. Ange ­Postecoglou insisted last season that “there are far more important things that we need to concentrate on” but he has since recruited the former Hibernian mana­ger Nick Montgomery to take charge of that area of the team.

Asked if they had spent more time working on set pieces during the week to counter Arsenal’s threat, Postecoglou said: “For some reason people think I don’t care about set pieces. It’s a narrative that you can keep going for ages and ages. I understand that. We work on them all the time but we paid the price today. It’s my burden to carry and I’m happy to do that. For us the way forward is to try and turn the football we are ­playing into something meaningful.”

The victory means that Arsenal head into the showdown at the Etihad Stadium next weekend trailing the champions by two points. They must first travel to Italy to begin their Champions League campaign against Atalanta on Thursday. Arteta revealed he is waiting for news on Ødegaard’s ankle injury and on Saka, who was replaced late on here after sustaining an injury.

“We have won three years in a row here. That’s a big thing,” the Spaniard said. “We have a big week coming up and that is going to give us a lot of motivation, energy and belief.”