» Not just a goal machine: new model Haaland can deliver early body blow to Arsenal
Striker is getting better in a changing Manchester City team and in the sort of goal form to strike fear even into Arsenal’s elite defence
“Everyone was a machine.” But, you know, in a good way. With Pep Guardiola this is always going to be meant as a positive thing, a sign of a team starting to fizz.
These are benevolent machines: not so much joyless droid-football, more perfectly functioning jam factory assembly line, interlocking units, systems in perfect concert. A chess computer playing padel against a chess computer, coached by 25 even more powerful chess computers. A conversation about Bauhaus architecture in a New York food-science restaurant where dessert is a cube of fibreglass flambéed at your table by a hologram.
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» David Moyes has the weaponry in Everton attack to loosen shackles at Anfield
Manager has never won at Liverpool but the arrival of Jack Grealish has enhanced his armoury to trouble the champions on Saturday
A 21st is supposed to be a joyous event, a milestone on the path to adulthood, leaving behind the immature mistakes of the past. David Moyes is at risk of reaching that figure without receiving a key to the door at Anfield.
In 20 Premier League visits to face Liverpool Moyes has garnered nothing better than six draws and experienced nine straight defeats with four clubs. In order to change the record, it may be time to do something different with Everton on Saturday. The club won at an empty Anfield under Carlo Ancelotti during Covid but have not silenced the stadium since 1999.
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» Ruben Amorim says ‘not even the pope’ can make him change his system at United
Ruben Amorim has claimed “not even the pope” could make him deviate from his 3-4-3 formation, despite Manchester United’s poor start to the season.
Amorim has drawn criticism for sticking rigidly to one system after a start to the season in which United have taken four points from four league games, suffered a shock exit from the Carabao Cup after a second-round defeat to Grimsby, and generally performed poorly. The Portuguese has insisted throughout that run that he is not for turning, a message he reiterated in emphatic, dramatic fashion prior to Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford this evening.
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» Maresca tells exiled Sterling and Disasi: real hardship is being a fisherman like my father
Enzo Maresca has told his exiled Chelsea players, Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi, that they should try working through the night as a fisherman – like his father – if they want to understand real hardship.
Sterling and Disasi have been cast into a two-man bomb squad by the club after failing to secure transfers away over the summer. They have been told they cannot use the first-team facilities, which has meant training on a different pitch, changing in a different dressing room and eating in a different area.
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» Unai Emery needs progress but goalless Aston Villa have faith and blame PSR
Transfer spending curbs and a grim start weigh on Sunday’s Sunderland trip. Could the Europa League offer a boost?
The statistic doing the rounds this week was that Chris Wilder has been sacked and reappointed as the Sheffield United manager since Boubacar Kamara scored Aston Villa’s last league goal four months ago. Villa have been slow out of the blocks and this is unusual territory for Unai Emery, who has spent the best part of three years almost exclusively exceeding all expectations, elevating a team who were near the bottom of the Premier League into one capable of bloodying the noses of European superpowers in the Champions League.
But a sticky start, of four Premier League matches without a victory or goal – they are the only team in the English professional pyramid to carry that ignominious mantle – and a midweek Carabao Cup exit, has been rather in keeping with a difficult few months. Villa headed into the summer knowing incomings would be limited owing to the financial picture and they sold Jacob Ramsey, a homegrown and well-regarded player, plus some on the fringes, to help balance the books. But uncertainty lingered around key players until the September transfer deadline, none more so than their goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who had been keen to move. The additions of Harvey Elliott, who will join permanently next summer, Jadon Sancho and Victor Lindelöf belatedly provided a much-needed boost.
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» Garnacho’s return is a referendum on Amorim – he cannot afford to be embarrassed | David Hytner
The 21-year-old became an Old Trafford outcast under Amorim – on Saturday he has the chance to pile the pressure on his former manager
Alejandro Garnacho left Manchester United for Chelsea at the end of August under a cloud. The quintessential Gen Z footballer, who appears to divide his time evenly between having his head up on the pitch and his head down in his phone off it, had made one faux pas too many on social media.
The 21-year-old’s attitude had been slated: he was petulant, self-absorbed; he played for himself and not the team, failing to follow tactical instructions. It was certainly the view of Ruben Amorim, who did not take long after his arrival at United last November to feel the hackles rise when it came to the young Argentinian.
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» ‘Maybe I’m the way I am because I lost Jeremy’: Espanyol’s unexpected Englishman Tyrhys Dolan
As he prepares to take on Real Madrid, the former Blackburn forward talks emotionally about the pain of his close friend’s death and why football has to change
In the final moments before Saturday’s match, Tyrhys Dolan will pick up his phone and look at the photo of Jeremy Wisten, the best friend for whom he would give it all up. He will touch the No 24 on his shirt, chosen to commemorate the day Jeremy died, aged 18. And then he will head out to where it all comes to him and it all leaves him too. “I feel nervous every game,” Dolan says, “but when I’m walking though the tunnel it’s like it’s all dropping off me, the shackles fall. All the graft, everything you gave to get here, this is it, now you’re free. You have responsibility, but it’s like the playground again.”
Some playground. This is not the Dales Estate, Salford. This time the Santiago Bernabéu awaits. “These are the stadiums any kid dreams of, but it’s not even for me. I’m quite selfless,” Dolan says. “I’ve always got satisfaction from other people’s enjoyment. It’s a moment for everyone around me, friends and family, to be there, to see these places and say: ‘Remember when he was in the park,’ to look back and think: ‘We’ve been through so much, now we’re here.’”
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» FA investigates claim that Liverpool keeper Rafaela Borggräfe made racist comment
The Football Association has launched a racism investigation after the Liverpool goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe allegedly made reference to skin colour in a comment overheard by some staff and teammates.
The alleged incident is understood to have been heard while Liverpool were preparing to take a squad photograph, and the club are believed to have promptly looked into the matter internally.
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» Women’s Champions League draw: mouthwatering games await in new phase
Chelsea to face Barça, holders Arsenal tackle Bayern
Manchester United play OL Lyonnes in 18-team league
Manchester United were handed a tricky-looking set of opponents on their debut in the main draw of the Women’s Champions League, while Chelsea will host Barcelona in one of the most eye-catching games of the new 18-team league phase.
United, who were in the lowest-seeded pot, have been pitted against OL Lyonnes, the renamed record eight-time champions, the former winners Wolfsburg and Juventus among their six opponents. They also face a reunion with their ormer goalkeeper Mary Earps when they host Paris Saint-Germain, arguably the toughest-available opponent in the second pot. Arsenal, the holders, will also host OL Lyonnes, as well as travelling to Bayern Munich. Chelsea also take on Wolfsburg.
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» Your Guardian sport weekend: Women’s Rugby World Cup semis, Azerbaijan Grand Prix and more
Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports
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» Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Robertson looks a better bet for Merseyside derby, a fresh test for Bournemouth, protests at West Ham and more
It would be a surprise to see Arne Slot start Milos Kerkez against Everton, given the left-back’s struggles against Burnley last weekend. Kerkez was booked for diving and was lucky to avoid a second yellow after fouling Jaidon Anthony before being substituted for Andy Robertson after 38 minutes at Turf Moor. Surely Slot will not risk a similar performance in the cauldron of the Merseyside derby, especially with such a dependable option in Robertson and the tricky Iliman Ndiaye on the right wing for Everton? “It’s a massive jump,” said the Scot of moving to Liverpool as he came to the defence of Kerkez this week. “I came from Hull City, he’s come from Bournemouth, and it’s probably quite similar. He will be the starting left-back for Liverpool in the future and it’s up to me to push him this season and help him improve.” Kerkez is lucky to have such an experienced mentor, but may face a wait to get back into Slot’s starting XI after Robertson started against Atlético Madrid in midweek. Michael Butler
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» Champions League review: PSG stroll, Belgian rise and Rashford reborn
PSG brushed aside Atalanta despite mounting injuries, Belgium’s clubs stole a march on Dutch rivals and Marcus Rashford reminded Barcelona of his worth
The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, got off to a stylish start in beating Atalanta 4-0, though their injury problems continued. Joining a lengthy casualty list is João Neves, who limped off with a thigh problem. Luis Enrique’s team are suffering the wear and tear of last season’s triumph being followed by summer endeavors at the Club World Cup. Désiré Doué, Lucas Beraldo and Ousmane Dembélé, the latter the Parisian lobby’s chosen candidate for Monday’s Ballon D’Or award, were missing. Without them, PSG still showed the same form as last season, with 19-year-old Senny Mayulu in attack. Atalanta looked much reduced without the coaching of Gian Piero Gasperini, now at Roma, after a summer of sales and discontent, with Ademola Lookman exiled after being denied a move.
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» Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney: ‘Promotion has been the aim ever since I broke into the team’
Popular midfielder is a lifelong Boro fan and is adamant they can return to the Premier League after nine seasons
Hayden Hackney has seen the public display of affection. In other words, he has seen Bob Mortimer’s slew of social media posts. “YOU BEAUTY!!” the Middlesbrough-born comedian posted to his millions of followers in the minutes after the transfer deadline passed this month, accompanied by a picture of Hackney, who rejected a move to Championship rivals Ipswich earlier in the window. “One of my family told me so I looked at his profile and it was just a photo of me,” the 23-year-old says, laughing. “‘Oh my God. No way.’ It was funny.”
That came a few days after Mortimer, part of Boro’s under-16s in the 70s, stressed he could not contemplate a Boro team without Hackney. The midfielder, who joined Middlesbrough at eight years old after being spotted playing for his home town team Redcar Town, is central to the club’s hopes of returning to the Premier League after nine seasons away. He has racked up more minutes than any other Boro player last campaign and played all but seven minutes of this one. He is living his dream. “Everyone in my family supports Middlesbrough,” Hackney says. “My dad used to go to all the games when he was younger and I think back then his excuse to go to the games was to take me as well. I loved it.”
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» Rashford’s double silences Newcastle’s party and eases Barcelona to victory
A little over 24 hours before kick-off, Hansi Flick spoke about how lucky he felt to have acquired Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United.
Barcelona’s manager was not remotely bothered that the forward’s stock had fallen so far at Old Trafford. Rashford, he said, was a player he had long admired and could help improve.
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» Haaland with ‘monsters Ronaldo and Messi’ in Champions League 50 club, says Guardiola
Pep Guardiola hailed Erling Haaland’s 50th Champions League goal in a record 49 games and said he was now in the company of the “monsters Cristiano and Messi” in the competition’s all-time greatest scorers, as Manchester City beat Napoli 2-0 in the opening group match.
Haaland’s 56th-minute opener was his 12th in seven appearances for City and Norway, Jérémy Doku’s second clinching victory for Guardiola’s side. Haaland beat Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previous 62-appearance mark for 50 goals.
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» West Ham identify Slaven Bilic and Nuno as potential Potter replacements
West Ham will consider turning to Slaven Bilic if they sack Graham Potter, who is under growing pressure after a poor start to the season. Although there is a belief that Potter’s immediate future does not hinge on the outcome of Saturday’s home game against Crystal Palace, the wider picture is less than encouraging for the former Chelsea manager.
West Ham are 18th in the Premier League after losing four of their first five games and there is growing alarm at board level. David Sullivan, the largest shareholder, is not ready to make a change yet but contingency plans are being put in place.
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» Doku decorates Manchester City’s win over Napoli after De Bruyne return ends early
Pep Guardiola said of drawing Napoli and having Kevin De Bruyne return: “It was always going to happen, right?” He might have spoken, too, of his No 9’s ruthlessness, as Erling Haaland broke this game open with Champions League goal No 50 in a record 49 matches, a feat that handsomely beats Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previous 62-appearance mark.
His strike was a seventh in five for City – form as ominous as the Norwegian’s in the 2022-23 treble season.
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» ‘Mourinho is more than a man – he’s a global brand’: coach returns to Benfica with plenty to prove
The ‘Special One’ is back working in Portugal after more than two decades away but his homecoming has divided opinion
Less than three weeks after being dismissed by Fenerbahce, José Mourinho is back in the dugout. The “Special One” has taken over at Benfica, marking his return to his home country more than two decades after his move from Porto to Chelsea. In an unusual twist he has signed a contract to June 2027 with a break clause next summer related to October’s club presidential election. Will this be a fresh start for Mourinho, or another step down in his career?
Hélder Postiga, a former Tottenham forward and one of Mourinho’s key players at Porto, regards the appointment as a win for an entire nation. Postiga, who scored five goals in Porto’s triumphant 2003-04 Uefa Cup campaign, believes the coach’s return will elevate Portuguese football.
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» Four games, four defeats, no points: do Wolves face a relegation battle?
This is Wolves’ worst start to a season in their history but there are reasons to be optimistic
By WhoScored
Four games, zero points and just two goals scored: this is Wolves’ worst start to a season in their history. Vítor Pereira’s side are rooted to the bottom of the table. Seventeen sides have started a Premier League season with four losses and just eight have avoided relegation. More worryingly, only one of the past five have managed to stay up: Everton last season.
Three straight one-goal defeats in the league – 1-0 against Bournemouth, 3-2 against Everton and 1-0 against Newcastle – show Wolves are losing by fine margins. Is this a blip or are there deeper problems? Either way, with the three promoted teams coming up in the next five weeks, they need points quickly. Wolves are not getting blown away but there is a clear pattern from their opening games: self-inflicted errors, a lack of cutting edge up front and a disjointed structure that collapses under pressure.
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» Rare talent Rashford emphatically announces himself at Barcelona’s summit | Andy Brassell
The first two goals of his loan spell suggest that England forward’s stay at Barcelona could become more than a marriage of convenience
It was the day that Uefa confirmed, as kick-off approached in Barcelona’s Champions League season, that La Liga’s champions would begin their home campaign in the competition against Paris Saint-Germain next month where they ended the last one, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. With their supporters getting ready to renew their journey up the slopes of Montjuic that few of them care for, their climb to potential glory mirrors the hopes of one of their new arrivals.
And how he has arrived. Flags do not get planted at the summit much more emphatically than this, and Marcus Rashford could not have picked his moment better to announce himself with Barcelona. His first two goals for the club, setting them on the road towards a trophy this team is determined to make theirs on a night back in his homeland, with the vacuum of the transcendent but injured Lamine Yamal waiting to be filled, didn’t so much state an intent to become important for Hansi Flick’s side as yell it from the top of the Cheviots.
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» The MLS Supporters’ Shield race is the closest in recent memory – here’s who could win it
The trophy for the best regular season record has numerous contenders, which of which have reasons to think they’ll lift it (or not)
Are you a Cup or Shield person? For those who choose the latter, this part of the season is for you. The race to claim the title for best regular-season record is coming to a head with several teams still in serious Supporters’ Shield contention – it’s shaping up to be the wildest finish in recent memory.
As evidence of this: The standings are led by a team who lost their most recent match 7-0. Behind them – by just one point – are an expansion side. Then it’s a team who have won just two of their last six games followed by an outfit on a record-tying nine-game winning streak. And then there’s the team lurking in the shadows, boasting the greatest player of all-time, still within striking distance thanks to games in hand.
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» Football’s greatest scorer with initials XG and most goals and assists with initials GA | The Knowledge
Plus: national teams with top-10 scorers in the 21st century, different kits in the same match (2) and a referee’s coin toss
“Who is the most prolific player with the initials XG?” asks Oliver Forrest. “And who has the highest goals and assists of players with the initials GA?”
There are only a handful of male* footballers with the initials XG – here is an exhaustive list. The diminutive journeyman Greek midfielder Xenofon Gittas scored 17 goals across his club career (plus three for Greece Under-21s) but cannot match the scoring exploits of Xhevdet Gela, who is our winner with 44 goals across all competitions including the Europa League with the Finnish sides MyPa and Lahti. Unusually, during a spell between 2019-2022 in which Gela was playing for Ekenäs in Finland, he was also the full-time manager of a fourth-tier side, Esbo, a club around 80km away. Gela returned to the manager’s role at Esbo in January this year, although not in a playing capacity.
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» ‘I am contemplating my choice of team’: disabled WSL fans call for more to be done
With stadiums across the Women’s Super League varying widely, fans’ needs can often be short-changed
The Women’s Super League has built a reputation for its inclusive and welcoming environment for all, but does that feeling always ring true for supporters with disabilities or children with neurodiverse needs?
Experiences across the division can be hugely contrasting, often depending on whether your team are sharing their men’s team’s ground or a lower-league venue, meaning that half the WSL clubs do not currently have specially designed sensory rooms, for example.
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» Serie C club Crotone placed under judicial administration due to mafia infiltration
The Italian third-tier club Crotone have been placed under judicial administration for a year because police found “sufficient evidence” of pervasive mafia infiltration, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Crotone, based in the southern Calabria region that is home to the powerful ’Ndrangheta mafia, are seventh in Group C of the Serie C league, on five points from four games. They played in Serie A for two consecutive seasons almost 10 years ago, and in 2020-21.
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» Köln spoil Wolfsburg’s birthday party with latest ever Bundesliga goal | Andy Brassell
Home team were heading for a win to celebrate their 80th, but then up popped Jakub Kaminski in the 14th minute of added time
“I thought we got off to a good start until the thunderstorm.” In context it was a standard, anodyne, flat-batted answer by Köln’s Marius Bülter as he strove to analyse his team’s efforts. Quite unwittingly, it captured the chaos of the afternoon perfectly. It was an afternoon that was supposed to be about VfL Wolfsburg as the club celebrated their 80th birthday with as much flourish as this industrial corner of Lower Saxony could muster, with billowing clouds of green and white smoke accompanying club legends including 2009 champion Grafite and iconic defender Naldo leading the team on to the pitch in front of a (rare) sold-out crowd.
Yet typically Köln, the club that does football drama like few others, rudely barged in and made it all about themselves. In Lukas Kwasniok they have a new coach who, like the club’s best down the years, knows how to lean into the emotion and Effzeh are already an invigorating watch. As they trailed 2-1 going into stoppage time, Kwasniok had thrown attacking substitutes such as Ragnar Ache and the lively teenager Said El Mala into the mix to make something happen. Little did the coach know his team would have to equalise not just once, but twice in that period.
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» Emanuel Emegha’s move to Chelsea provokes fresh fury at Strasbourg
The team is climbing up the Ligue 1 table but fans are sick of being treated like ‘pawns’ by the Chelsea owners
By Get French Football News
Strasbourg are a club torn between inertia and evolution. Change is visible all around the Meinau: in its recently developed stands and on the pitch where, in two years, they have gone from perennial relegation strugglers to Champions League candidates. The motor for change was BlueCo’s purchase of the club in 2023. The takeover was met with stout opposition and the team’s upward trajectory since has done little to remould public opinion.
“I feel like we are back at the beginning. I am so disappointed with the reaction,” complained Liam Rosenior on Sunday, exasperated by the latest fan protests. You needn’t scratch too much to uncover the resentment that bubbles beneath the surface of the Meinau. The 15-minute strike, where the club’s ultras remain silent at the start of matches, is now just a common feature of Strasbourg fixtures, and you are never more than a few weeks away from a lengthy and often explosive supporters group communique denouncing some facet of the management of the club.
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» The road to the 2026 World Cup: who has qualified and who is at risk
Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup and 30 places are still up for grabs
Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup, with the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the United States, granted automatic entry. A further 43 places are determined by qualifying competitions from the six confederations and the remaining two will be decided at March’s six-team intercontinental playoffs in Monterrey and Guadalajara. After this month’s internationals, 18 countries have places booked. The draw is due to take place on 5 December at Washington’s Kennedy Center.
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» Scoring goals and spreading terror, it’s safe to say Erling Haaland is back to his best | Jonathan Wilson
The ferocious Manchester City striker can undo the best laid plans and he left Napoli staring at an inevitable Champions League defeat once they were down to 10 men
Everybody has a plan until Erling Haaland charges at them. Familiarity, perhaps, has dulled in Premier League minds just what a terrifying prospect he is, nearly 90kg of Norwegian muscle capable of moving at ferocious speeds yet blessed as well with a deft touch and a range of finishes. Manchester United couldn’t stop him, and neither could Napoli. Even when Haaland isn’t scoring he is spreading terror.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo is an experienced defender. He is the Napoli captain. He has won half a century of caps for Italy. But when Phil Foden – the signs of rejuvenation he showed on Sunday happily maintained against Napoli – slipped an angled pass through the back four after 21 minutes, Di Lorenzo, presumably aware of the presence of Haaland and worried about the unstoppable force he represents when he gets going, stepped across his line.
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» Uefa backs off overseas league fixtures but the struggle for power goes on | Paul MacInnes
Decision to begin consultation is likely a sensible one and a break from the present way of doing things in world football
Never underestimate the attraction of a good can-kick. That would appear to be the message coming out of Tirana on Thursday when Uefa announced it had not taken the epochal decision on overseas league fixtures that the world of football had anticipated. Instead, the executive committee decided it would embark on a round of consultation, one that would even take in the considerations of supporters to boot.
This is likely a sensible decision. There has been a fair amount of surprise in some quarters that the question of whether and by how much football leagues should be allowed to move from domestic to international is only now being properly debated in the corridors of power. After all, the first writ in this debate was served by the promoter Relevent against the United States Soccer Federation in 2019. Only with the prospect of La Liga staging a fixture between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami as soon as December has the issue come into focus. But to have discussion at all will be regarded by many as better late than never. It is also a break with the current way of doing things.
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» Ronaldo’s sudden interest in return to US is World Cup Trump card that Fifa craves | Barney Ronay
Portugal star will hand Gianni Infantino the perfect publicity coup if he does play in America for the first time in more than 10 years, having already begun cosying up to Donald Trump
Is it still safe to stage the World Cup in the United States? After more headline evidence this week of the extreme nature of American gun violence, some may conclude that the answer is no. Nine months out from the opening game, it is now almost impossible to ignore this. But believe it or not statistics suggest more than 300 people will have been shot in America last Wednesday alone.
The same number will also be shot on Friday, Saturday, every day next week, and every day of World Cup year. On average 127 of these unnamed, largely non-famous people not called things such as the superstar influencer Charlie Kirk will die each day. Within this, youth gun deaths will be both alarmingly high and a register of social injustice: a disproportionate 46% of all young people shot will be black.
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» Florian Wirtz is a sure bet at Liverpool but Newcastle are gambling on Nick Woltemade | Philipp Lahm
Two of the summer’s biggest transfer moves from Germany to the Premier League are starkly contrasting prospects
What must a footballer who costs €80m, €100m or more be able to do and prove? He should be a promising prospect at the age of 17 to 20; occupy a clear position on the pitch; be one of the five most important players in a team; perform consistently over many years; prove himself in international competition; and be physically strong. This applies to virtually all those players in this price range: Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Ousmane Dembélé.
Two German footballers moved to the Premier League for such a sum in the summer. One of them meets these criteria. Florian Wirtz’s career has been impressive. He caught the football’s attention as a teenager. It was only a matter of time before he made his breakthrough.
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» David Squires on … Nottingham Forest’s mythical quest for a new champion
Our cartoonist tells the ancient Greek tale of one godlike figure’s pursuit of glory at the City Ground
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» From Shearer to Pogba: how 10 British record signings fared in the Premier League
With £125m Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debut near, we look back at five record-breakers that flew – and five who flopped
Southampton to Blackburn, £3.6m
Shearer’s move to Blackburn was a pivotal moment in the Premier League’s inaugural season, backed by the ambition of their new owner Jack Walker. After an injury-hit first campaign where he scored 16 goals, Shearer exploded in the 1993-94 season with 31 goals from 40 games. The following season, he formed a formidable strike partnership with Chris Sutton and his 34 goals were crucial to Blackburn’s title win, the only major honour of his career. He broke the British and world-record fee again in 1996 after his £15m move to Newcastle.
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» ‘I was lost but football gave me strength’: Afghan women refugees on their fight for recognition
Exiles from the Taliban in England and Australia are using the sport to battle prejudice and give a voice to women and girls in Afghanistan
“I felt quite lost,” says the goalkeeper Elaha Safdari. “I didn’t know anyone, but little by little football gave me the strength and power to start again, to start from zero, to build, to keep going and to keep pushing myself forward.”
It is four years since a 17-year-old Safdari arrived in England, part of the Afghanistan women’s development team evacuated first to Pakistan then to the UK after the US withdrawal of troops and the concession of power to the Taliban.
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» Tuchel uses history and a boyhood dream to fuel England World Cup ambitions | David Hytner
Major step to qualification with win in Serbia brings back memories of Waddle, Gascoigne and Italia 90 for head coach
Thomas Tuchel has not been short of recommended reading material since his appointment as England’s head coach. Or documentaries to watch. The suggestions have come from everywhere, but especially the media, who are eager to help out with presumed gaps in his knowledge of the nation’s football history. This is the real cost of turning to a guy from overseas.
Has Tuchel seen the fly-on-the-wall programme with Graham Taylor from 1994: An Impossible Job? No? He has to put that right. In fact, wouldn’t it be great if Tuchel could allow the cameras in for a sequel as he targets glory at the 2026 World Cup? It was put to him a few months back. Strangely, he did not seem keen.
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» Ivan Toney: ‘If Al-Ahli were in the Premier League, we’d be close to the top four’
Former Brentford striker missed out on England’s qualifiers but he believes the standard of Saudi football should not be ignored
Ivan Toney is aware of the outside noise. He hardly needs reminding that plenty of people have had their say since he swapped the Premier League for the Saudi Pro League just over a year ago. An Asian Champions League winner’s medal and 35 goals for Al-Ahli later, the striker is defiant, even if he found himself on the outside as England played their latest World Cup qualifiers.
“Those that know me, know that I do what I want to do,” Toney says. “If there is something I want to go for, to try, then I will do it. If people want to talk, they can talk. It doesn’t hurt me, doesn’t bother me, I just concentrate on myself. I do what makes me happy.”
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» Football Daily | Manchester United and a mess that perhaps only Barry Fry could fix
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How to cure the curse of Manchester United? Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s helicopter landed at Carrington on Thursday for a meeting with Ruben Amorim that was always scheduled, according to the club. Yes, apparently it had absolutely nothing to do with a Manchester derby pumping that had early-season optimism draining faster than the United end once Erling Haaland had scored City’s third. It has not been denied team performance was on the agenda. After all, what else could there possibly be to discuss? Now that Big Sir Jim has shunted much of his business interest to the USA USA USA, in recoil at the UK government’s green policies, and was already based off-shore for tax reasons, it is unlikely he and Amorim were discussing the return of Tyrone Dobbs’s mum, previously feared dead, to the cobbles of Coronation Street.
My father is 75 years old and for 50 years he has been a fisherman, working from two o’clock in the morning to 10 o’clock in the morning. This is a hard life – not a player and the way that they work” – it’s fair to say that Enzo Maresca is not hugely sympathetic to the plight of Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi as they labour alone in the two-man bomb squad at Chelsea after failing to secure moves away from the club.
My god, you got one right (yesterday’s Newcastle v Barcelona score prediction). Is this a first? I’ve only been reading the column for about five years so I can’t be 100% sure” – Janet Crane (who clearly hasn’t seen our consistent Friday night scorelines).
Given that ‘Wycombe Wanderers head coach Mike Dodds is now former Wycombe Wanderers head coach Mike Dodds’ (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs – full email edition), do they not have doors marked ‘Do One’ in High Wycombe? It’s probably all chairs given their history. He could have been ‘chairboyed’ through the door marked ‘Do One’” – Sean Boiling.
Yesterday’s edition summarised in under 10 words: Simeone misunderstands scouse tormentor, who was just Larkin around” – Phil Taverner.
OK, so we now know for sure that Big Website is purely generating content to drive traffic to Football Daily, instead of the other way around. ‘Will Postecoglou favour Wood or Jesus?’ Really? Class, no smirking at the back, please …” – Noble Francis.
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
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» Gaborone United ‘break all records’ to put Botswana on world football map
After becoming first club from the country to win a regional trophy, team set their sights on the CAF Champions League
First there was Letsile Tebogo, who put Botswana on the sporting map when he won gold in the 200m at the Paris Olympics. Now, there is Gaborone United Ladies, who became the country’s first football team to win a regional trophy and will make history when they appear at the CAF Champions League this year.
United claimed the Cosafa Women’s Champions League Cup – a tournament played among southern African clubs – when they defeated the Zambian side Zesco Ndola Girls 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in August and their victory means they will represent the region at the eight-team CAF Champions League tournament this year.
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» After a strange down season, Phil Foden looked back to his best in the Manchester derby | Jonathan Wilson
The attacking midfielder sparkled against United, giving City a boost for the season and England hope for the 2026 World Cup
One of the many mysteries of last season for Manchester City was Phil Foden. When he was a teenager, everybody knew how good he was. He had been probably the key player shortly after turning 17 as England won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, and there had been a clamour for him to play for Manchester City long before Pep Guardiola began to start him regularly in 2020-21. For four seasons he was one of the best players in the league and then, suddenly, there was nothing – at least by the exceptionally high standards he had set.
Foden had not had a good Euros in 2024. He has never really produced his best for England, a function perhaps of him playing for a club with such a specific style of play. Take him out of that regimented environment where he knew exactly what runs to make, exactly where his teammates would be moving, and he found it hard to adapt. And England generally did not play well at that Euros, despite reaching the final; the front end of the team was a mess, lacking the balance of previous Gareth Southgate sides.
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» Premier League top scorers 2025-26: who is leading race for golden boot?
See which hot shots are leading the way in the English top flight’s goalscoring charts this season
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» Arsenal and Spurs kick off Champions League campaigns with wins – Football Weekly
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Philippe Auclair as Arsenal win in Bilbao and Spurs host Villarreal to start this season’s Champions League
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On the podcast today: The Champions League returns - a great night for Gabrielle Martinelli as Arsenal win in Bilbao. He and fellow not really forgotten man Leandro Trossard come off the bench to win it. Spurs just about get the job done thanks to some disastrous goalkeeping. Thomas Frank will take the win in his first ever Champions League game however it came.
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» High fives for Arsenal and Manchester United – Women’s Football Weekly
Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Emma Sanders and Tom Garry to round up all the weekend’s WSL action
On today’s pod: the panel rounds up all the weekend’s WSL action as Manchester United and Arsenal both scored five in convincing wins, with Alessia Russo and Melvine Malard stealing the headlines. Chelsea were far from their best but still saw off Aston Villa, with Sam Kerr only needing 13 minutes to mark her return with a goal.
Elsewhere, Leicester held on for a gritty win over Liverpool, Spurs cruised past Everton at Goodison Park, and Manchester City came from behind to beat Brighton. The panel also touches on drama in the Championship, Ash Thompson’s suspension at Sheffield United, England’s newly announced autumn friendlies, and whether Barcelona could really sell off their women’s team.
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» Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Newcastle’s new striker makes his mark, Martínez is in Villa’s good books again and Madueke has dream week
• Premier League top scorers 2025-26: who is leading race?
Is Gianluigi Donnarumma a Pep Guardiola goalkeeper? He may or may not be, but he is an exceptional goalkeeper. Manchester United didn’t offer enough of a test even to begin to assess whether Donnarumma is good enough with the ball at his feet to allow City to play as Guardiola would like them to. Nor did they test whether his starting position is advanced enough to sweep up behind a high defensive line and prevent the sort of chances City yielded up to Tottenham and Brighton. But his save to keep out a Bryan Mbeumo volley, hurling himself to his right to push the ball wide, was spectacular, and drew congratulations from pretty much all his teammates. Even if he is not the perfect stylistic fit, Donnarumma’s presence, his commanding stature and the aura he projects make him the right goalkeeper for now as City begin the process of rebuilding with a notably young squad. Jonathan Wilson
Match report: Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United
Match report: Burnley 0-1 Liverpool
Match report: West Ham 0-3 Tottenham
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» Women’s transfer window summer 2025: all deals from world’s top six leagues
Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide
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