The Mirror

The Premier League have confirmed that Declan Rice was sent off against Brighton for 'delaying a restart' despite the Arsenal star being kicked.

The England international is now set to be banned for Arsenal's match in two weeks against fierce rivals Tottenham after picking up two yellow cards. Rice was furious after his controversial red card, having been booted by Joel Veltman after slightly kicking the ball away.

Rice clearly felt that Veltman was lashing out having gotten tangled up with the Arsenal star and ending up on the floor just moments before. But to his shock, Rice was the one who was shown a yellow card by the referee, who had clearly deemed that Veltman was trying to take the free-kick.

According to the FA rules, kicking the ball away or delaying the restart is an automatic cautionable offence. Despite angry protests from Rice and his team-mates, the referee's decision was backed up by VAR as the England star was forced to trudge off the pitch after being shown a red for the first time in his career.

The Premier League Match Centre, which was brought into effect at the start of this season as a dedicated account on social media to offer live refereeing and VAR clarifications from all matches, confirmed that the reason for Rice's second yellow card was due to him 'delaying the restart'.

TNT Sports commentators Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist were left bemused by the sending off with the latter saying: "I don't know what Declan Rice is meant to do. It looked like it was a kick-out at him! I think Joel Veltman is lucky to stay on the pitch with his kick out."

However, they both suggested that Veltman could've been trying to kick the ball up field and Rice's nick caused him to take the brunt. Some fans on social media were shocked by the decision, with renowned Arsenal fan Piers Morgan taking to X to write: "This is the worst red card decision in football history."

Arsenal were made to pay almost instantly with Joao Pedro equalising just nine minutes later as the match finished all square.

Following the game, Peter Crouch had his take on the controversial sending-off when speaking to TNT Sports as he said "Veltman has played the referee" while adding that Rice was the victim of "housery" by the Dutch defender.

The former Liverpool striker commented: "I don't think there's anyone in football that thinks he's genuinely trying to play a pass there. He's tried to put the ball there and hoping he kicks it away and then he's bringing it to the referees' attention and got him sent off."

Rice is now facing a one-match suspension for receiving two yellows, meaning he'll be unavailable for Arsenal's trip to Tottenham on September 15. Arsenal won't be able to appeal the decision either as clubs can only appeal straight red cards and for two yellows in the case of mistaken identity.

Grace Clinton wants to set the record straight. Because she knows how the whole I’m happy in the present, the future is for another day response comes across: cliched. A media copout.

“People probably think I’m lying when I say that I don’t actually know [what the future holds],” the 21-year-old Manchester United midfielder says. “My contract does end [next summer], but I’m really looking forward to this year. I’ve not given any thought at all beyond that. I want to see how my year goes, then we’ll see what happens.”

At a club whose previous two summers have been contoured by the free departures of big names and bigger personalities - most recently Katie Zelem, Mary Earps and Lucia Garcia - Clinton understands this line of questioning is about to become very familiar to her, if it hasn’t already.

Equally, the reply is less PR-trained circumventing, more quintessential Clinton. When handed a ready-made script to laud the importance of the McDonald’s Fun Football Day at Bollington United in north Macclesfield, the young Lioness spurns it. She insists she can speak for herself. Off the cuff, led by gut instinct and her own convictions. No plan, just do.

The philosophy has worked well for Clinton in recent months. The former Everton academy product’s ingenuity and intuition have cut her women’s football’s most exciting young talents, restoring audiences with a jittery fever as they consume matches with her at their heart.

Reaching this space has taken plenty of patience and mistakes. “Five years!” Clinton interjects when told she’s about to embark on her fifth season of professional football since her senior debut with Everton.

Asked what she sees for herself five years in the future, the starlet is frank. “I see a lot more lessons, bloody hell. I see a lot more of those coming my way,” she says.

“But I want to see trophies with United this year. And trophies with England, lots of them.”

She adds: “I think if five-years-ago me saw me now she would just be… really, really happy for me. And she would think I was very strong and determined. She’d be happy with how happy I am. That’s the main thing, be happy.”

Clinton has plenty to be happy about. She has just been crowned the Professional Footballers’ Association Young Player of the Year after a scintillating season on loan with Tottenham Hotspur. Her Lionesses debut was notable for how seamlessly her display left audiences attempting to recall the team without her.

But being within Clinton’s orbit is to suddenly know a different degree of happiness, like being swept over by the colour yellow. Clinton is engaging and strikingly sharp, while somehow perennially being on the verge of a contagious laughing fit. It is not difficult to see why United forward Geyse succumbs to a hug from Clinton on a daily basis.

“She doesn’t speak the most English,” Clinton says of her Brazilian teammate. “Everyday, we don’t even speak. But everyday I go up to her and go like this” – Clinton extends her arms and grins lovingly – “and she just gives me a hug. She hugs no one else. The translator told me she doesn’t hug anyone else. Just me.”

Clinton beams triumphantly, as if she’s just scored a screamer from 30 yards out. By her own admission, Clinton is fiercely competitive. “I want to win every single game,” she says, before considering the children running around the Bollington leisure centre pitches. She jokes: “I’ve had to bite my tongue a few times here.”

Clinton is full of jokes. As we discuss her summer and the trip to Ibiza she took with fellow footballers Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Ella Toone, Maya Le Tissier, Alessia Russo, Jordan Knobbs, Katie McCabe, Victoria Pelova and Teyah Goldie — a collection of women’s football stars so elite, the sheer energy is almost too overpowering for one sentence – Clinton deadpans that “it’s all for show”, before giggling to herself.

“No, it was carnage. We had a party, but we didn’t tell our clubs that.”

The experience is likened to an American spring break. Clinton dubs Miedema and Mead the group mums, while she and United teammate Le Tissier were always the first to catch the morning sunrise – due predominantly to the fact they hadn’t gone to bed.

“The trick is to send the spring break mum home early, then stay out and party,” Clinton says mischievously.

Party mode is officially over for Clinton, who is now at the tail-end of pre-season preparations ahead of her first full season as a Red Devil. The spectre is both titillating and nerve-shredding.

“It was a bit overwhelming for me at first,” Clinton says of returning back to United in the summer. “Because I’m not a new player anymore. I’ve been at the club for a while. I know everyone but coming back and being the player that they might want to utilise a bit more, I feel like a new player, playing with new people and under new tactics. So it’s something that I’m still getting used to now. But I’m hoping that with a long pre-season, we’ll gel together and do well this year.”

Clinton’s first official season coincides with a summer of turbulence for United’s women’s team. News of the women’s team’s relocation to portacabins to accommodate the men’s senior team – whose facilities are undergoing a £50million revamp – arrived shortly after new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe admitted plans for the women’s first team were still “to be determined”. The departures of veterans Zelem and Earps exacerbated perceptions of a team caught in chaos.

“It’s going to be weird not having them around,” says Clinton, who knows both well from her time with England. “They were such big leaders and characters in the group. Zel, she practically organised everything for the group at United. Whenever I played with her, she would tell me where to go, where to stand, so I’m definitely going to miss them.”

She pauses, then grins almost wistfully. “But the person I’m going to miss the most is Celin [Bizet].”

From here, Clinton sprints into memories from last season, pulling out a mental photo album of her and Spurs forward Bizet. In Clinton’s own words, the two matched each other’s freak. When presented with potentially apocryphal tales relaid by former teammates and staff of walking into a room at the training ground only to discover Clinton and Bizet staring at each other in total silence, or the two making animal noises from across the room, Clinton releases a cackle of laughter.

“We just knew from the start it would click,” Clinton explains. “We lived in the same house together, we have a player house, so there was three of us, and when we met, we just knew. She was weird, I was weird. It took us about two weeks to realise how cool the other one was. Then we were like okay. Ever since, we spent every second together.”

Texts are still exchanged daily, with Facetime calls scattered in between. Bizet keeps her former teammate up to date with life, training, how the club at which Clinton found her footing and blossomed is getting on.

Clinton, familiar with the nomadic style of the loan system, describes the situation as a break-up. “A friendship break-up,” she says. “I loved Tottenham. I really loved it. Robert [Vilahamn] gave me a lot of confidence. I had the best year.

“But towards the end, I started preparing myself for things that were out of my control. Compartmentalising, you know? Because I knew I was going back. So I had that in the back of my mind. And as a footballer anyway, you go here, there and everywhere. It’s something you have to get on with.”

A few weeks after her departure, Clinton says she penned a long text to Vilahamn, thanking the manager for his guidance.

“We had our clashes like any manager and player, but he would always just give me tips, help me know how to deal with things in the future and that wasn’t just when I left the club but throughout the whole year he helped me with my mindset,” she says.

Vilahamn has been credited with unlocking myriad talent in his first season in the Women’s Super League, some young and raw like Clinton and Jessica Naz, others in a more dormant state, such as Clinton’s former United teammate Martha Thomas. Vilahamn’s secret has been ascribed as simply “freedom”, an explanation which can risk sounding vague and rootless in a world of buzzwords.

“I didn’t get to experience Tottenham without Robert, so I couldn’t speak about the environment before that, but when I went there, the way he held himself, the way he went into meetings, he was a confident guy in what he could bring to us,” Clinton says.

“He oozed that and that gave us confidence in ourselves in return. Then when we got onto the training pitch, he’d always reiterate to us to just keep trying things, keep doing things. He wouldn’t get mad or put too much pressure or put too many rules in tactics. He’d just say, you do you. You be free. That was a really nice thing for me.”

While rumours circulated earlier this year of a lucrative bid from Spurs to reclaim Clinton this summer, she underlines that her present is with United.

“I’ve made so many friends at Tottenham, I met my best friend there and made loads of others. So I do miss some of the people, but I’m making more memories now with United with people like Millie [Turner], Tooney, and I’m meeting new people,” she says, adding that Toone is one of the key players she is most looking forward to playing with this season. “I love the way she plays. We understand each other really well. And I’m going to throw Elisabeth Terland in there. I think she’s a perfect striker for a midfielder to play behind.”

Surrounding Clinton are over 500 screaming kids, begging for autographs, photographs and whatever other physical vestige they can scamper off with from Clinton and fellow ambassadors Rio Ferdinand, Kirsty Hanson, Virgil van Dijk, Daniel James.

“It’s nice to see so many girls playing football,” Clinton says. “It’s something I didn’t have growing up but also seeing young boys wanting to know who I play for, some of them knowing who I am, asking for my autograph. It just shows the growth of the women’s game, and it's nice to see all these kids have access to free football.”

Appropriately, a young girl clad in last season’s United away strip asks Clinton for her autograph. She obliges, penning her name beside the emblazoned TOONE on the back.

“Tooney is the most loved United player ever,” Clinton says with a smile. “When people think about United, they think of Tooney.” One day, could that be her? Clinton smiles thoughtfully. Having operated outside the United theatre last term, Clinton knows the expectations and scrutiny that will be awaiting her in the coming months.

“Rio [Ferdinand] actually asked me over there, what’s the best part about playing for United?” Clinton says. “And I said the pressure. Comments and stuff come from fans, but our real fans, they just want to see good football. That pressure is a privilege. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

Tottenham have finally given Giovani Lo Celso the green light to complete a deadline day switch to Real Betis - but only after holding out for a favourable deal.

The Argentina midfielder, 28, has spent the last two seasons on loan at Villarreal and is surplus to requirements at Spurs, who were open to selling him before Friday night.

Ange Postecoglou confirmed in the morning that Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon, who is also available for transfer, were "exploring their options".

A report from Sport Witness had outlined that Tottenham were demanding €15million (£12.6m) for Lo Celso, even though he's now inside the final year of his contract. The report also outlined the player's 'crazy' desire to leave, though that didn't soften Spurs' negotiating stance.

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However, it has since emerged through reports in Argentina that talks between the two clubs have struck an agreement which sees Tottenham gain a 'priority option' to sign Johnny Cardoso from the La Liga outfit in the future as part of a deal for Lo Celso.

Postecoglou had earlier stressed that neither Lo Celso nor Reguilon will feature in his plans should they fail to secure a move away before Friday night's 11pm deadline.

The Australian said: "No, they don't have to get integrated back to the squad. It's their decisions. It's pretty clear where they sit in terms of where we are as a squad and where we are as a team, but, you know, I've never been one to force people out.

Join the debate! Do you think Spurs should sell Lo Celso? Let us know here.

"They've got decisions about their own careers and what they want to do, and if they're still here, they're still here. We'll work around that scenario, but it certainly won't affect the way we work in the first team."

Postecoglou hinted that both players could yet be offered to clubs whose transfer window remains open beyond Friday night. Clubs in Turkey and Saudi Arabia will still be able to sign players and could come into play.

Postecoglou added of the situation: "I don't get too involved in that part of it, that's between players, players' representatives and the club.

"But there's other windows open as well, so we'll see what activity there is, but they're both exploring options."

Former Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit was on the verge of joining rivals Tottenham before hopping in a cab and heading to Highbury.

After securing a Premier League and FA Cup double in his debut season at Arsenal, the hijack proved money well spent. French enforcer Petit formed an impervious midfield combination with compatriot Patrick Vieira during his spell in north London between 1997 and 2000.

He impressed after moving to England, becoming a World Cup winner with France in 1998 and one of the more recognisable and most composed players in the Premier League with his ponytail-rocking appearance.

However, the 53-year-old admitted how his career could've chartered a very different course, as he was originally lined up to join Gerry Francis' Tottenham Hotspur.

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Speaking to fellow ex-Gunner David Seaman on his Seaman Says podcast via Betway, Petit recalled the saga that saw him snub one half of north London and head for the other.

"The same day I joined Arsenal, I was in the Spurs office," revealed Petit. "They paid for a cab for me to go and sign for Arsenal. It's been 26 years now. You can turn the page, close the books and move on."

Legendary Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was influential in persuading Petit to reject Spurs, as the great manager was the one who handed the midfielder his debut at the age of 18 while he was on the books at Monaco.

"Sometimes you have to feel what your heart is telling you, not your head," Petit continued. "I wanted to reunite with Arsene. He brought me into the first team in Monaco.

"He took me from the academy, I was not a professional, and was playing for the first team for European finals, French cup final, for the big prizes all the time.

"I was enjoying my life, and I know what I owe to Arsene, more as a person than as a player because he was acting as a father with me for years and years."

Petit left the Gunners to join Barcelona in 2000 alongside team-mate Marc Overmars but returned to English soil a year later, signing for Chelsea under Claudio Ranieri. He swapped Vieira for Frank Lampard – who joined from West Ham in 2001 – in west London and formed an impressive midfield duo that secured Champions League football during his second season.

The Frenchman announced his retirement in 2005 after being released by the Blues due to a string of injuries and failing to completely recover, but could have had a vastly different career had he not snubbed Spurs.

Manchester United will have a tasty reunion with Jose Mourinho after discovering their opponents for the first phase of this season's Europa League alongside Tottenham.

UEFA have revamped this season's competition and discarded the traditional group phase. Instead, teams will play eight different opponents - four home and four away - in a league phase before the knockouts in early 2025.

Aside from a trip to face Mourinho's new side, Fenerbahce, United and Spurs will both play Rangers. The Scottish giants will visit Old Trafford in September, October, November or December while Tottenham are due to travel to Glasgow at some stage. Dates for each fixture will be confirmed on Saturday.

Mourinho hasn't faced United since he was, coincidentally, Tottenham manager in April 2021. The ex-Red Devils and Spurs boss took charge of Fenerbahce this summer but failed to guide them into the Champions League.

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United could also face former midfielders Fred and Sofyan Amrabat, the latter of whom is close to joining Fenerbahce ahead of the transfer window closing in Turkey on September 13. Fred has already spent a season in Istanbul and even scored his first-ever hat-trick in his last appearance.

The final of this season's Europa League takes place at San Mames, the home to Athletic Bilbao in Spain on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. United won the competition in 2017 under Mourinho, beating Ajax 2-0 in the final in Stockholm.

Four years later, the Red Devils came agonisingly close to lifting the trophy for the second time in their history. But after a 1-1 draw, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side lost on penalties to Villarreal in Gdansk.

Your turn! Will Manchester United or Tottenham win the Europa League? Give us your prediction in the comments section

Tottenham are already two-time winners of the competition, winning the inaugural UEFA Cup in 1972 before being crowned champions again in 1984. They last competed in the Europa League during the 2020-21 season, with Mourinho overseeing a shock defeat to Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb in the last 16.

Fixtures in full

Manchester United will play - in no confirmed order: Rangers (H) Porto (A), PAOK (H), Fenerbahce (A), Bodo/Glimt (H), Viktoria Plzen (A), Twente (H), Steaua Bucuresti (A)

Tottenham will play - in no confirmed order: Roma (H), Rangers (A), AZ Alkmaar (H), Ferencvaros (A), Qarabag (H), Galatasaray (A), Elfsborg (H), Hoffenheim (A)

Manchester United and Tottenham will be eagerly awaiting Friday's Europa League draw, with an expected start time of 12pm.

United and Spurs will be the Premier League's only representatives in this competition this season, with no clubs dropping down from the Champions League at any point this season. Instead, like the premier competition, the Europa League will use a League phase this season.

That means the 36 teams will shape up in a single league, with sides playing eight different opponents home or away. Clubs will be seeded according to their coefficient, but instead of being hand-picked, matches will be randomly drawn by dedicated software.

Teams will face two clubs from each pot. Both United and Spurs are in Pot 1, but cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is set to start at midday on Friday and will likely take around an hour once the ceremony gets underway.

Follow the draw live with Mirror Football below...

A reminder of the who the Premier League teams will face

Manchester United:

Rangers (H)

Porto (A)

PAOK (H)

Fenerbahce (A)

Bodo/Glimt (H)

Viktoria Plzen (A)

FC Twente (H)

FCSB (A)

Tottenham

Roma (H)

Rangers (A)

AZ Alkmaar (H)

Ferencvaros (A)

Qarabag (H)

Galatasaray (A)

Elfsborg (H)

Hoffenheim (A)

Draw done

And that's the draw completed.

RFS's games

Ajax (h), Frankfurth (a), PAOK (h), Tel-Aviv (a), Galatasaray (h), Kyiv (a), Anderlecht (h), FCSB (a)

Nice's matches

Rangers (h), Lazio (a), Sociedad (h), Ferencvaros (a), Bodo/Glimt (h), Union SG (a), Twente (h), Elfsborg (a)

FCSB's games

Man Utd (h), Rangers (a), Olympiacos (h), PAOK (a), Midtjylland (h), Qarabag (a), RFS (h), Hoffenheim (a)

Anderlecht's matches

Porto (h), Praha (a), Ferencvaros (h), Sociedad (a), Ludogorets (h), Plzen (a), Hoffenheim (h), RFS (a)

Twente's games

Lazio (h), Man Utd (a), Fenerbahce (h), Olympiacos (a), Union SG (h), Malmo (a), Besiktas (h), Nice (a)

Athletic Club's games

Praha (h), Roma (a), Alkmaar (h), Fenerbahce (a), Plzen (h), Ludogorets (a), Elfsborg (h), Besiktas (a)

Elfsborg next

Roma (h), Spurs (a), Braga (h), Alkmaar (a), Qarabag (h), Galatasaray (a), Nice (h), Athletic Club (a)

Hoffenheim's games

Spurs (h), Porto (a), Lyon (h), Braga (a), Kyiv (h), Midtjylland (a), FCSB (h), Anderlecht (a)

Besiktas' matches

Frankfurt (h), Ajax (a), Tel-Aviv (h), Lyon (a), Malmo (h), Bodo/Glimt (a), Athletic Club (h), Twente (a)

And finally Pot 4

A reminder of those teams:

Athletic Club (ESP)

Hoffenheim (GER)

Nice (FRA)

Anderlecht (BEL)

Twente (NED)

Besiktas (TUR)

FCSB (ROU)

RFS (LVA)

Elfsborg (SWE)

Plzen's games

Man Utd (h), Frankfurt (a), Sociedad (h), PAOK (a), Ludogorets (h), Kyiv (a), Anderlecht (h), Athletic Club (a)

Qarabag's games

Ajax (h), Spurs (a), Lyon (h), Olympiacos (a), Malmo (h), Bodo/Glimt (a), FCSB (h), Elfsborg (a)

Midtjylland matches

Frankfurt (h), Porto (a), Fenerbahce (h), Tel-Aviv (a), Union SG (h), Ludogorets (a), Hoffenheim (h), FCSB (a)

Kyiv's matches

Lazio (h), Roma (a), Ferencvaros (h), Sociedad (a), Plzen (h), Galatasaray (a), RFS (h), Hoffenheim (a)

Galatasaray's games

Spurs (h), Ajax (a), PAOK (h), Alkmaar (a), Kyiv (h), Malmo (a), Elfsborg (h), RFS (a)

Malmo's fixtures

Rangers (h), Praha (a), Olympiacos (h), Ferencvaros (a), Galatasaray (h), Qarabag (a), Twente (h), Besiktas (a)

Ludogorets' matches

Praha (h), Lazio (a), Alkmaar (h), Lyon (a), Midtjylland (h), Plzen (a), Athletic Club (h), Anderlecht (a)

Union SG's games

Roma (h), Rangers (a), Braga (h), Fenerbahce (a), Bodo/Glimt (h), Midtjylland (a), Nice (h), Twente (a)

Time for Pot 3

Those teams are:

Qarabag (AZE)

Galatasaray (TUR)

Viktoria Plzen (CZE)

Bodø/Glimt (NOR)

Union SG (BEL)

Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)

Ludogorets (BUL)

Midtjylland (DEN)

Malmo (SWE)

Lyon's matches

Frankfurt (h), Rangers (a), Olympiacos (h), Fenerbahce (a), Ludogorets (h), Qarabag (a), Besiktas (h), Hoffenheim (a)

Alkmaar's games

Roma (h), Spurs (a), Fenerbahce (h), Ferencvaros (a), Galatassaray (h), Ludogorets (a), Elfsborg (h), Athletic Club (a)

Sociedad's fixtures

Ajax (h), Lazio (a), PAOK (h), Tel-Aviv (a), Kyiv (h), Plzen (a), Anderlecht (h), Nice (a)

Braga's games

Lazio (h), Roma (a), Tel-Aviv (h), Olympiacos (a), Bodo/Glimt (h), Union SG (a), Hoffenheim (h), Elfsborg (a)

PAOK's games

Praha (h), Man Utd (a), Ferencvaros (h), Sociedad (a), Plzen (h), Galatassaray (a), FCSB (h), RFS (a)

Ferencváros's matches

Spurs (h), Frankfurt (a), Alkmaar (h), PAOK (a), Malmo (h), Kyiv (a), Nice (h), Anderlecht (a)

Fenerbahce's games

Man Utd (h), Praha (a), Lyon (h), Alkmaar (a), Union-SG (h), Midtjylland (a), Athletic Club (h), Twente (a)

Tel Aviv's games

Porto (h), Ajax (a), Sociedad (h), Braga (a), Midtjylland (h), Bodo/Glimt (a), RFS (h), Besiktas (a)

Pot 2 next

Pot 2 is next up, a reminder of those teams:

Real Sociedad (ESP)

AZ Alkmaar (NED)

Braga (POR)

Olympiacos (GRE)

Lyon (FRA)

PAOK (GRE)

Fenerbahçe (TUR)

M. Tel-Aviv (ISR)

Ferencváros (HUN)

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The Europa League has followed the Champions League by adopting a completely new format for the 2024/25 season.

FA Cup winners Manchester United, and Tottenham, who finished fifth in the Premier League last season, plus Scotland’s representatives Rangers, are awaiting the new-look draw which will take place from midday UK time on Friday.

Like the Champions League, UEFA’s second-tier competition will have 36 teams in a single league, with sides playing eight different opponents as they strive to reach the knockout phase, which will feature an extra play-off round before the round of 16.

Here’s all the need to know about how the new-look Europa League draw will work…

The draw process

Traditionally, the names of teams, according to their seeding status, were completely hand-drawn. However, under the new format, that would take up to four hours and is therefore unworkable, according to UEFA.

So in keeping with modern life in general, AI technology will do most of the leg work. Clubs still be seeded according to their coefficient. But instead of being hand-picked, matches will be randomly drawn by dedicated software. To avoid accusations of draw-rigging, UEFA insists the automated system will be independently monitored regularly.

Teams will be split into four pots. For example, when a team in pot one is manually drawn, the technology will pick eight opponents, two from each pot. The software will also randomly decide which side plays are at home and away.

HAVE YOUR SAY! What do you think of the changes? Tell us in the comments section.

Each team will face one side from each pot at home and one away. Clubs from the same country will be kept apart in the league phase while each team will play a maximum of two opponents from one other nation.

While United and Spurs cannot play each other in the league phase, one of them could face Rangers. United, Tottenham and Rangers will be joined by the likes of Roma, Lazio and Porto in Pot 1.

Knockout phase

Where you finish in the league will determine your future in the competition. The goal for every team after their eight matches will be to finish in the top eight, which means an automatic spot in the round of 16.

Sides finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the last 16. Clubs from 25th to 36th will exit the competition.

What about the Conference League?

UEFA’s recently-introduced third-tier competition will follow a similar format with a subtle difference. Teams will be seeded in six pots, with each team facing six opponents, one from each pot.

In the garden of Edam, Micky van de Ven garnished a rout with an 80-yard run and told Tottenham : “We need to reach another level.”

The big Dutchman’s electrifying gallop to set up skipper Heung-min Son’s second goal, from one box to another, was the crown jewel of a 4-0 demolition of Everton. But as rampant Spurs unfurled an impressive opening statement at home for the 2024-25 campaign, Van de Ven called for tangible evidence of success.

Taking the temperature among his giddy flock, the 6ft 4in centre-back surveyed 16 years of barren sycophancy on White Hart Lane and admitted: “We want to win a trophy this season, that’s clear.”

At the meeting of English football’s two great under-achievers - one of them 16 years without a trophy, the other 29 - it was painfully obvious where the prospects for tying ribbons round a pot’s handles are brightest.

Everton we can deal with in short measure. They are in for another grim survival battle this winter. From England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford ’s howler for Son’s first goal to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s anaemic scuffling up front, they were woeful.

But Tottenham’s win, culminating in Van de Ven’s surging run, was more comfortable than a hammock. They carried a goal threat from all over the pitch, and the Toffees looked like bewildered guests at a swingers’ party: They knew what they were going to get, but they didn’t know where it was coming from.

When Van de Ven was on the charge, it brought this famous old stadium to its feet and he laughed: “I just decided to keep going, hopefully nobody could stop me, and nothing happened.

“I knew Sonny was on my left so I kept driving at the centre back and at the right moment I played Sonny in. Was I tempted to have a crack? No - Sonny was there and I knew he would finish it off.

“When I was dribbling with the ball you could sense everyone in the stadium was getting really hyped and, yeah, it felt good.”

Van de Ven says Spurs messiah Ange Postecoglou gives his defenders licence to venture forward instead of needing a visa to cross the halfway line, and it gives Tottenham a multi-dimensional attacking threat.

He said: “Ange gives us the possibility to do it and I feel comfortable to play like this. He trusts his defenders, and he trusts everybody in the team, to play that way and it’s really important for us to feel that trust. We need to reach another level this season - last year we were fifth, so it was a good season, but we want more. We want to win a trophy, that’s clear.”

Yves Bissouma, banished to the naughty step for the 1-1 draw at Leicester after posting footage of himself inhaling laughing gas on social media, began the long march to redemption with his first goal in 56 games for Spurs.

Then dawdling Pickford had his pocket picked by Son, Cristian Romero decorated his 100th appearance for Tottenham with a soaring header and Van de Ven’s excursion ended Sonny side up.

Everton boss Sean Dyche was unhappy with his side’s “subservient” approach, growling: “We know they are a good outfit who have spent money on some real talent. They are in a big stadium, their first game at home and everything, and we just started a little bit subserviently.”

Neal Maupay has slammed abuse from Everton fans after being labelled a “f***ing rat” and a “w****r” in a furious showdown.

The Frenchman was at the heart of an angry tirade from supporters in the aftermath of Saturday’s 4-0 defeat to Tottenham. Toffees supporters had spotted Sean Dyche ’s squad at Euston Station as they prepared to travel back to Merseyside.

Among the furious comments, supporters shouted at Maupay: “F*** off, you f***ing rat. F***ing 80 grand a week? You f***ing w****r.”

And the Everton striker has now responded to a video of the incident that had gone viral on social media. He replied: “Imagine another job where it’s normalised to get abuse like this. Hanging around at a train station to scream at men who are trying their best…”

The incident is just the latest difficult chapter during the Frenchman’s miserable Everton career. He signed for the Toffees in a £15m deal back in the summer of 2022.

But he has scored just one goal across 32 appearances in all competitions for the club. Maupay was even sent back to his former club Brentford on loan last season.

He found brighter form while back in West London with eight goals in 31 outings for the Bees. Brentford did have an option to make the deal permanent but elected not to, meaning Maupay was forced to return to Goodison Park, where he has a year remaining on his deal.

Another return to Brentford could still be on the cards though. Thomas Frank’ s men have been linked with the 28-year-old, while French side Marseille are reportedly among his admirers.

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Everton are back in action on Tuesday evening as they take on Doncaster in the Carabao Cup ahead of clashing with Bournemouth at the weekend. Boss Dyche will certainly be hoping for a response having torn into his players following the defeat to Tottenham.

He said: “What about taking responsibility at 0-0? Strangely, it is easier to take responsibility when you are one or two goals down. Every manager will call it 2-0 football and then everyone starts playing. What about playing when it is 0-0?

“So within all the challenges, which are quite obvious, we have got to remind ourselves of the truth of what we are, and what we are trying to achieve, and that part of the mentality of the group, we have shown before how positive it can be, we let it go too easily.

“And today, we know they are a good outfit who have spent money on some real talent. They are in a big stadium, their first game at home and everything, and they started like that, and we just started a little bit subserviently.

“We had good organisation but the first goal was a sign of it, everyone just backing off and just letting players run into the box and that kind of - it is only two or three yards but it is two or three yards of intent to go and stop moments like that.”

Everton fans made their feelings clear towards players as the Toffees boarded a train following their 4-0 humbling by Tottenham on Saturday.

Sean Dyche's side were well beaten in north London thanks to strikes from Yves Bissouma and Cristian Romero as well as a brace by Son Heung-min. It leaves Everton bottom of the Premier League with no points and no goals from their opening two fixtures, sporting a goal difference of -7.

Some fans gathered at Euston Station to make their voices heard as a clutch of Toffees players strode along the platform to catch a train back to Liverpool. Jordan Pickford and Mason Holgate were among those to acknowledge the peeved supporters.

One player that attracted particular ire was former Brentford and Brighton striker Neal Maupay. He has managed just one goal in 32 appearances for the Blues and returned to the Bees on loan last term.

But he is back on Merseyside now and was an unused substitute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As he was met by angry jibes from Everton fans, he appeared to bite back from the platform.

That triggered a torrent of abuse, with one fan heard shouting in a clip shared on social media: "F*** off, you f***ing rat. F***ing 80 grand a week? You f***ing w****r."

After the clip had gone viral, Maupay posted on X: "Imagine another job where it’s normalised to get abuse like this. Hanging around at a train station to scream at men who are trying their best."

Everton started the Premier League season in the worst-possible fashion, losing 3-0 at home to Brighton. Another defeat at Spurs has already turned the atmosphere toxic within the fanbase amid fears another relegation battle could be on the cards.

The Toffees now have back-to-back home fixtures before the international break with Dyche desperate for results. They take on League Two Doncaster in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday before taking on Bournemouth in the top flight.

Everton will move into their new stadium next season and have been subject of takeover interest with two separate deals collapsing over the summer. Dyche has admitted Everton may sell players before Friday's transfer deadline, even if they cannot be replaced.

"Until I'm told different, there isn't any finance to go and change things. This is what we are," he said. "There's so many stories, so much noise every day and it's not very often about the football.

"Is there a reality it's tough to come down here [to Spurs] anyway? Yes. Is there a reality it's even tougher when you've got a thin squad and you haven't invested like these have? Yes.

"Does that mean they win? No. I've shown that many times before, the players I've worked with... But you have to make games like today work in your favour and we didn't have enough to do that today.

"We finished strongly last season. We sell a player [Onana] who's growing and maturing and become a very important player. And then we bring in other players who we've got to start the process with again and make them grow and mature and become important players. It's a cycle that keeps going and going and going.

"That's just the reality of the club and I always try to work on realities. There's plenty of myths about it - the latest one being, it's the last season at [Goodison Park] so we're going to be in Europe. And I went, 'how's that then? So what happened to the last three seasons? Do you think they weren't trying to be in Europe?'

"There has to be some reality to the storyline and I've tried to bring that."