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Xavi Simons is in London to hold talks about his future amid interest from Chelsea and Tottenham.

RB Leipzig excused the 22-year-old from training on Thursday, according to Sky in Germany, as he explores a potential Premier League transfer.

Leipzig want a package worth around £60m for the Netherlands international and it looks as if London rivals Chelsea and Spurs will fight it out for his signature.

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Spurs are in talks over the signing of Simons, with one source describing those discussions as positive.

Simons is highly regarded inside Spurs, who have a good relationship with Leipzig.

Chelsea are still considering whether to make an offer for Simons, who is a long-term target.

Spurs have made signing a No 10 a priority and Simons fits the bill. He is a player they have an interest in but, after missing out on Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, Spurs may be wary of competing with another rival for another attacking midfielder.

Simons played predominantly as a No 8 on the left side of Leipzig's 4-3-3 midfield last season but he can also play off a striker and come in from wider positions in the attack.

That makes him an ideal rotation option for Cole Palmer, or an alternative either to Chelsea's wide players or Joao Pedro.

Simons came through La Masia, the famed Barcelona academy, from where he initially attracted Chelsea's interest, before going on to Paris Saint-Germain and then RB Leipzig.

Spurs in the hunt for three positions

As well as Simons, West Ham's Lucas Paqueta and Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers are well liked at Spurs - but both are considered not for sale.

Nico Paz is also admired, but a deal for the Como attacking midfielder is considered a non-starter due to Real Madrid's financial interest in the player. They have a 50-per-cent sell-on inserted in his contract and a buy-back clause worth £8.7m.

Spurs also missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White this summer when he signed a new Nottingham Forest contract.

As well as a No 10, Spurs want to sign a left winger and have targeted Man City's Savinho. However, City do not want to sell and would only negotiate once they had signed a replacement.

A left-sided centre-back is also a position Spurs would like to strengthen before the window closes.

Thomas Frank giving the green light for Luka Vuskovic to join Hamburg on loan could be an indication that there is confidence at Spurs that a centre-back will come in. Ideally it would be a left-footed one.

Xavi Simons is in London to hold talks about his future amid interest from Chelsea and Tottenham.

RB Leipzig excused the 22-year-old from training on Thursday, according to Sky in Germany, as he explores a potential Premier League transfer.

Leipzig want a package worth around £60m for the Netherlands international and it looks as if London rivals Chelsea and Spurs will fight it out for his signature.

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Spurs have made signing a No 10 a priority and Simons fits the bill. He's a player they have an interest in - although, right now, Chelsea are considered frontrunners. After missing out on Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, Spurs may be wary of competing with another rival for another attacking midfielder.

Simons played predominantly as a No 8 on the left side of Leipzig's 4-3-3 midfield last season but he can also play off a striker and come in from wider positions in the attack.

That makes him an ideal rotation option for Cole Palmer, or an alternative either to Chelsea's wide players or Joao Pedro.

Simons came through La Masia, the famed Barcelona academy, from where he initially attracted Chelsea's interest, before going on to Paris Saint-Germain and then RB Leipzig.

Spurs in the hunt for three positions

As well as Simons, West Ham's Lucas Paqueta and Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers are well liked at Spurs - but both are considered not for sale.

Nico Paz is also admired, but a deal for the Como attacking midfielder is considered a non-starter due to Real Madrid's financial interest in the player. They have a 50-per-cent sell-on inserted in his contract and a buy-back clause worth £8.7m.

Spurs also missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White this summer when he signed a new Nottingham Forest contract.

As well as a No 10, Spurs want to sign a left winger and have targeted Man City's Savinho. However, City do not want to sell and would only negotiate once they had signed a replacement.

A left-sided centre-back is also a position Spurs would like to strengthen before the window closes.

Thomas Frank giving the green light for Luka Vuskovic to join Hamburg on loan could be an indication that there is confidence at Spurs that a centre-back will come in. Ideally it would be a left-footed one.

Tottenham Hotspur's priority in the final days of the transfer window is signing a No 10 after missing out on key targets Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze.

Spurs have registered an interest in RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons, Sky Sports News understands - however it is nothing more than that at this stage with Chelsea considered frontrunners for his signature.

Lucas Paqueta is admired but there is currently no indication West Ham would consider a sale.

Similarly, Morgan Rogers is another player of interest but Aston Villa consider him not for sale and there has been no movement, as things stand.

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Gibbs-White was seen as the ideal player for head coach Thomas Frank - but Spurs insist they could not have done much more in what they felt was a bizarre few weeks with Nottingham Forest.

Eze joining Arsenal at the last-minute was a huge blow for a number of reasons and the information that has emerged since he signed has only reinforced why a few figures at Spurs were never totally convinced he was going to play for the club.

Spurs maintain, as they did with Gibbs-White, that they did all they could to get a deal over the line. They felt they had an agreement in place with both Crystal Palace and the player.

Nico Paz is well-liked internally at Spurs but a deal for the Como attacking midfielder is considered a non-starter due to Real Madrid's financial interest in the player. They have a 50 per cent sell-on inserted in his contract and a buy-back clause worth £8.7m.

Will Spurs sign a winger before the deadline?

Left-wing is another position that Spurs are looking at before the window closes - and it is no secret that they want to sign Savinho.

As it stands, Man City do not want to sell and will only negotiate if they get a replacement and it is believed that target has been Rodrygo at Real Madrid.

What about defence and midfield?

Bringing in a defender is considered the third most important priority.

Frank giving the green light to for Luka Vuskovic to join Hamburg on loan could be an indication that there is confidence at Spurs that a centre-back will come in. Ideally it would be a left-footed one.

Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Piero Hincapie had his admirers inside the club but is not a player they're considering amid interest from Arsenal. With Frank often switching to a back three, a late move for a senior defender remains possible.

One of the early plus points for Frank's reign has been the midfield. Joao Palhinha has been outstanding since arriving from Bayern Munich on loan and its clear Spurs were crying out for a tough tackling midfielder last season.

The midfield trio he formed with Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Sarr - arguably the most impressive player under Frank thus far - played a key role in Saturday's impressive win at Manchester City.

Spurs are now looking to further bolster their new coach's options, particularly in attacking and creative areas, as Frank looks to build on a promising start to life in north London and prepares for a demanding Champions League campaign.

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Gyokeres has lift-off at Arsenal

Following a difficult debut against Manchester United, Viktor Gyokeres endured more of the same in the first half of Arsenal's meeting with Leeds. There were heavy touches, a snatched shot inside the box and a general over-eagerness to impress.

But it only took three minutes of the second half for everything to change. Finally given a chance to run in behind by Riccardo Calafiori's ball over the top, the striker showcased his power and cutting edge, driving inside and sending a low finish past the goalkeeper.

"It's clear that Victor is really dangerous," said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta in his press conference afterwards. "That's his superpower. Let's put him as much as possible in those kind of scenarios, because something will happen."

Kai Havertz's injury has added to the onus on Gyokeres' shoulders but this was exactly the response Arsenal needed. Clearly, there is still work to do to provide him with the level of service he requires. As at Old Trafford, his touch count was low against Leeds.

But his first goal altered the trajectory of his performance and Arteta will hope it serves as the lift-off he needs. The impact on his confidence could certainly be seen in the manner in which he dispatched the late penalty won by the brilliant Max Dowman.

He will need that same confidence at Anfield next weekend. But following a short pre-season, he is sharpening up physically too. "It was important for me to get 90 minutes, get the rhythm and to get to know the team even more," he told Sky Sports. "I felt more comfortable in how we're playing. I think you can see that as well."

Nick Wright

Would the real Man City please stand up

Manchester City fans will have left the Etihad on Saturday with more questions than answers after a performance that was the complete antithesis of last weekend's win over Wolves. Creative, fluid patterns were replaced by unimaginative, misplaced passes.

James Trafford's mistake will hit hardest because it led to a goal but he was far from the worst offender. City were sloppy, undone by a team who looked more confident and assured in their specific roles.

Man City 0-2 Tottenham - Report and highlights

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Cristian Romero did a number on Erling Haaland. Joao Palhinha, who won more duels than any other player, and Rodrigo Bentancur were more assertive than Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez in midfield. Mohammed Kudus more direct in attack.

Defensively they were excellent, too, drawing particular acclaim from Thomas Frank for a 'top mentality'. No signs of Spursy Spurs here.

As for Man City, this is a confusing start. Are they back in contention as title candidates or was matchday one just a ruse? Pep Guardiola insisted his side would "make the click" - but offered no assurances as to when that might happen. Until then, we will be left to ponder what this Man City side, complete with its extravagant summer remodel, are truly capable of.

Laura Hunter

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Bournemouth's best bit of business? Keeping Iraola

Some players might be different but the ethos and tactics remain the same for Bournemouth. That is why perhaps the best bit of business the Cherries did this summer was to keep hold of Andoni Iraola. This was very much business as usual for them.

Bournemouth 1-0 Wolves - Match report & highlights

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Wolves were swept away at times by the brave Bournemouth press and aggression without the ball. That was on show for the only goal of the game where Tyler Adams robbed Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde in a typical Iraola pressing trap that the visitors fell into. It ended up the game-winning moment. It's this style of football that has played a huge part in the captures of Ben Gannon-Doak and Amine Adli, who offered the home fans a glimpse of his talents in an impressive cameo. With Iraola at the helm, another season of excitement awaits.

Lewis Jones

Ouattara's 'selfless' display lifts gloom over the Gtech

There was, understandably, some doom and gloom around the Gtech after Brentford saw Bryan Mbeumo leave for Man Utd this summer and then Yoane Wissa also ask to join Newcastle United, a double blow compounded by a limp opening-day loss at Nottingham Forest - but Dango Ouattara's impressive debut in the win against Aston Villa has given the Bees and new head coach Keith Andrews a real spring in their step.

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It did cost the west London club £42m to replace Mbeumo with the Bournemouth forward, but that looks money well spent on the basis of his match-winning display that saw off Villa on Saturday afternoon to give Andrews his first win as the new Bees boss.

It was not just the confident manner in which the 23-year-old took his goal after being played clean through by Igor Thiago's clever flick that caught his boss' eye.

But also the way the Burkina Faso international spent much of the rest of the game tracking back, man-marking Lucas Digne and going on to win more duels than any of his team-mates, before rightly receiving a standing ovation when he was substituted late on.

"His goal will get the headlines but for me, it was the aspects of the game, the selfless nature of how he approached the game, and knew what was needed to get a result," Andrews said after the game.

"If he didn't stick to that it would've been very difficult to deal with them. He was amazing in the space of a few days [since joining]. I know he'll be a big player for this club, his attributes are there for everyone to see.

"You'll see that more as we get more control of games and feed him a bit more, but the out of possession shift he put in was selfless. I'm not too surprised, right from the first moment I spoke to him I was really impressed with him."

Rich Morgan

Played two, won none, scored none

The third statistic should worry Aston Villa more than the second because results will not follow until Unai Emery's side can look more dangerous.

For a second weekend in a row they were ineffective in front of goal and despite improving after a below-par first 45 at Brentford, managed just a solitary shot on target from their second-half showing.

Emery pointed out after the game that the backs-to-the-wall shift the Bees put in was reminiscent of each of his side's visits to the Gtech since he took over.

But this victory for the hosts ended a six-game unbeaten streak for the Villans. Yes, these are normally tight affairs, but Villa normally have the guile to edge things.

It is easy to point to the loss of attacking players since the end of last season but this was still a line-up including Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans, with one of the Premier League's most willing runners - and deadliest finishers - in attack.

On the odd occasion, patterns of play worked well and they looked dangerous. But something is not clicking, and it's not just a lack of new faces.

Ron Walker

Promoted sides showing the fight to stay up

It took until October for all three promoted sides to win a game in the Premier League last season. This season, it has only taken two weeks.

Burnley, Sunderland and Leeds United have already won half as many home games as last Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton last season, too.

It is early days for the newly-promoted trio but all three teams are showing the bravery, determination and quality to secure points in the top-flight.

Burnley 2-0 Sunderland - Match report & highlights

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Whether or not they can maintain this momentum throughout the course of the entire season remains to be seen. However, the early signs are promising.

All three promoted teams dropped back into the Championship last season - that might not be the case this time round. Patrick Rowe

For the second straight year Tottenham triumphed at the Etihad, beating Manchester City 2-0 with a composed and clinical performance to end City's 10-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League.

Spurs are only the second side to win away to a Pep Guardiola-managed team in back-to-back seasons. And this one was far too easily achieved.

City fans will have left the Etihad on Saturday with more questions than answers after a performance that was the complete antithesis of last weekend's win over Wolves.

Creative, fluid patterns that led to goal-scoring opportunities were replaced by unimaginative, misplaced passes, that resulted in very little positive. City underwhelmed for the majority, but you have to wonder how much of that underperformance was down to Spurs' organised and aggressive gameplan.

From the first time James Trafford was offered the ball in open play, it was evident that Thomas Frank had directed his players to rush the City box. Richarlison nearly nicked the ball off his toe in the ninth minute of the game. They swarmed in packs and never let City settle, eventually forcing the mistake for Joao Palhinha to score a well-timed second goal. City had no response.

The visitors were content conceding possession, but hit City where it hurt, with more efforts at goal and a greater number of shots on target. Each of the two big chances they created ended in a goal. The two Man City generated ended in a miss.

Man City 0-2 Tottenham - Match report and ratings

City were being confronted by a team who looked more confident and assured in their specific roles, like they had played this way for years. Like it came naturally.

Cristian Romero did a number on Erling Haaland. Palhinha, who won more duels than any other player, and Rodrigo Bentancur were more assertive than Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez in midfield. Mohammed Kudus more direct in attack.

"I have a feeling the performance was a little bit better than the result," reflected Guardiola, generously. His reading of the game will be incompatible with most others.

Saturday's result was not only a statement victory for the Frank regime, but a triumph of managerial style.

Having also won with Brentford in November 2022, Frank becomes only the third manager to beat Guardiola away from home with two different clubs. There's no coincidence in that. "I definitely believe in the aggressive press, as you saw today, and as you saw with my Brentford team.

"I believe in being front-footed. I like that mentality, it's a more offensive way of defending. It's more fun to defend on the opponents' half. So, yeah, let's go for it."

Spurs may have started the campaign under the highly Spursy contradiction of having endured their worst domestic season for nearly 50 years, while simultaneously landing a first trophy since 2008, but Frank is out to change perceptions for good.

"We have been working so hard on our defensive principles. Mentality is the key thing - you need mentality to win games like this," he added post-match.

Tottenham have long been mocked for an absence of big-game mindset. The term Spursy is rooted in that all-too-familiar shortcoming, evident just three weeks ago in Super Cup defeat to PSG after blowing a 2-0 lead.

But they have passed the real acid test with flying colours in these opening two weeks, with Frank's fingerprint also all over the 3-0 downing of Burnley.

Even failed pursuits to sign a No 10 - losing out on Eberechi Eze to Arsenal just this week - have not derailed focus. Spurs' creative side has shone, scoring five times, while registering two clean sheets.

Six points and a goal difference of +5 represents their best start to a league season. A small sample size, yes, but a big change in identity and fortitude. The question now will be: how long can it last?

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Eberechi Eze has signed for Arsenal in a £67.5m deal from Crystal Palace after his move to Tottenham Hotspur was hijacked by their north London rivals.

The Gunners, who revealed the signing ahead of Saturday's game against Leeds, live on Sky Sports, will pay a guaranteed fee of £60m plus £7.5m in add-ons for the forward, taking their summer transfer spend to £267m.

Eze has signed a four-year deal with Arsenal, with the option of a further year, and will wear the No 10 shirt - previously worn by the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Mesut Ozil and Robin van Persie - as well as academy players Jack Wilshere and Emile Smith Rowe.

Spurs felt they had an agreement in place with Palace and Eze on Wednesday before their north London rivals reignited their interest and swooped in following an injury to Kai Havertz - though it is understood the German's injury is a contributing factor - not the primary reason - for signing Eze.

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Eze was one of a number of players Arsenal looked into in the first few weeks of the window, where, significantly, a lot of the work was carried out in June when they explored the conditions of a deal. The Gunners consider Eze as an option on the left, in the middle of the pitch - but also on the right.

Spurs were considering offering Richarlison in a deal for Eze. That would have freed up striker space for them to try and sign Yoane Wissa, who played under Thomas Frank at Brentford. Wissa still wants to join Newcastle, who had a second bid rejected on Wednesday.

How battle for Eze unfolded

Arsenal have held a long-standing interest in Eze, who was previously on the books of their academy and has said he was a supporter of the club growing up. It us understood Arsenal were very evident Eze wanted to join the club from their first conversation with him.

They explored a potential deal earlier in the window, but chose not to pursue a deal at that stage as they prioritised strengthening other areas of the squad and agreeing new contracts with existing players.

Spurs then came in for Eze after Morgan Gibbs-White chose to sign a new contract at Nottingham Forest and they lost James Maddison to an ACL injury.

Talks were held between Tottenham and Palace, and Spurs felt they had an agreement in place on Wednesday with the club and the player.

However, Arsenal then came in to hijack the deal in a major twist on Wednesday evening. The Gunners consider Eze as an option on the left, in the middle of the pitch - but also on the right.

Premier League spending record broken!

The Eze deal also means Premier League clubs have now broken the record for the most spent on transfers in a single window.

The previous record was the summer of 2023 with the record at £2.4634bn.

However, the £67.5m Eze deal means all 20 Premier League clubs have now spent £2,511,693,000 between them in this window.

Analysis: Electric Eze will unlock defences for Arsenal

Sky Sports' Peter Smith:

Eberechi Eze is electric. The 27-year-old is a delight to watch with his poise and swagger on the ball and craft to open up defences, not to mention his penchant for scoring spectacular strikes himself.

He finished last season as one of the hottest prospects in the country, scoring in six games in a row, including both the FA Cup semi-final and final at Wembley as he helped inspire Crystal Palace to their first-ever major honour.

Last season wasn't all plain sailing, though. "I think Ebere has had a strange season," said Palace boss Oliver Glasner at the end of March. "He hasn't had many goals in the Premier League and he has been unlucky, but he keeps going. He's also struggled with strange injuries."

Those comments came after Eze had ignited Palace in an FA Cup tie at Fulham, scoring one and setting up another. That standout display came on the back of a first goal for England. Fit and full of confidence, Eze was back to his best during the run-in.

It is that livewire maverick Arsenal will hope can unlock deep defences and bring a spark to their previously at-times predictable patterns of attack. He offers something completely different to Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, the current wide left options and Viktor Gyokeres will be relishing the prospect of latching onto the type of passes which have proved so productive for Jean-Philippe Mateta.

After being released by the Gunners as a 13-year-old, Eze will be motivated to seize a second-chance in north London - and, in his prime, he looks set to do just that and make a big impact for Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal transfers

In

Kepa Arrizabalaga - Chelsea, £5m

Martin Zubimendi - Real Sociedad, £51m

Christian Norgaard - Brentford, £15m

Noni Madueke - Chelsea, £52m

Cristhian Mosquera - Valencia, £13m

Viktor Gyokeres - Sporting, £63.5m

Eberechi Eze - Crystal Palace, £67.5m

Out

Jorginho - Flamengo, free

Kieran Tierney - Celtic, free

Nuno Taveres - Lazio, £4.3m

Marquinhos - Cruzeiro, undisclosed

Takehiro Tomiyasu - released

Thomas Partey - released

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games this season

From this season, Sky Sports' Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games this season are on Sky Sports.

Tottenham extended their perfect start to life under new boss Thomas Frank by stunning Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad to claim their second win of the Premier League season.

Spurs have developed a reputation as City's bogey team in recent years, taking their tally of wins in the blue half of Manchester to three from their previous five meetings, which included a 4-0 thrashing last November amid City's famous collapse.

Frank's tactical approach, like predecessor Ange Postecoglou, highlighted all City's most prominent weaknesses. This is only the sixth time under Pep Guardiola that they have trailed in a home league game by two or more goals at half-time, with Tottenham now responsible for half of those.

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Spurs struck clinically on the counter via a breakaway Brennan Johnson goal, needing VAR to overturn a wrongful offside decision, before home debutant James Trafford revealed himself to be far less composed on the ball than the absent Ederson - who has been the subject of intense transfer speculation this summer, and watched on from the bench.

Speaking about Trafford's selection post-match, Guardiola said: "James made a good first game, I made the decision for him to continue. The goalkeeper is a special position, to have more consistency in the goal, but I have learned for many years, with this amount of games everyone will play."

Trafford's howler gifted Joao Palhinha his first goal in Tottenham colours in first-half stoppage time, and, despite the reintroduction of both Phil Foden and Rodri in the second period, City were far from the creative-rich outfit that stuck four past Wolves last weekend.

The visitors came away with the points their performance deserved - an impressive response to the disappointment of having their move for Eberechi Eze hijacked by Arsenal this week - and allowed the away fans to gleefully chant "we are top of the league". How long the early-season ecstasy will last remains to be seen.

Pep bemoans lack of 'simple things'

Man City boss Pep Guardiola:

"What we miss, we miss the simple things. The effort and ability to run has been extraordinary for many years, so I don't have any doubts, it's not for a lack of energy. Trainings have been really good. But in the pressure we missed the simple things, read better what we should do.

"In the final third we create chances, it's never easy, but we create enough. It's happened, it's football, it's just the second game. Last week after Wolves people say 'ok, now everything is fine', and I say 'it's just the first game'. Many things are going to happen. I know what we're working on and the many good things I have.

"We have to improve, step by step, we will make the click, the good connections and many things are new."

On the absence of Manuel Akanji and Ilkay Gundogan: "I've said many times with a deeper squad I have to rotate. The next game maybe there will be another one. I try for everyone to be involved."

Frank lauds 'exceptional' Spurs

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank:

"Very delighted. Extremely proud of the players' performance, it was exceptionally good. The first 35 minutes were fairly even, but with Man City top. There was a big mentality shift in terms of staying in the game, and then we scored a great goal.

"Second half we were very good. We were very aggressive in the high pressure, very front-footed, with the mindset to go for the 3-0. The clean sheet makes me very happy. It's a big thing we have been working on, the defensive side of the game. You need top mentality to win games like this."

On transfer activity: "We got a few questions about the transfer market yesterday, lots of 'why nots' and 'what ifs'. But what is 100 per cent sure is we have brought two top-class players into the club in Joao Palhinha and Mohammed Kudus. Both performed very well. Palhinha, wow, he's definitely helping the team."

On missing out on the signing of Eberechi Eze: "That's very easy. I never use any words about a player who is not at our club."

Would the real Man City please stand up

Analysis by Sky Sports' Laura Hunter:

Manchester City fans will have left the Etihad on Saturday with more questions than answers after a performance that was the complete antithesis of last weekend's win over Wolves. Creative, fluid patterns were replaced by unimaginative, misplaced passes.

James Trafford's mistake will hit hardest because it led to a goal but he was far from the worst offender. City were sloppy, undone by a team who looked more confident and assured in their specific roles.

Christian Romero did a number on Erling Haaland. Joao Palhinha, who won more duels than any other player, and Rodrigo Bentancur were more assertive than Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez in midfield. Mohammed Kudus more direct in attack.

Defensively they were excellent, too, drawing particular acclaim from Thomas Frank for a 'top mentality'. No signs of Spursy Spurs here.

As for Man City, this is a confusing start. Are they back in contention as title candidates or was matchday one just a ruse? Pep Guardiola insisted his side would "make the click" - but offered no assurances as to when that might happen. Until then, we will be left to ponder what this Man City side, complete with its extravagant summer remodel, are truly capable of.

Story of the match in stats...

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