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• O’Neil could be in charge for visit to Chelsea on Saturday

• Was sacked 11 months ago by relegation-threatened club

Gary O’Neil is increasingly likely to make a shock return to Wolves, with the club in advanced talks to appoint their former head coach.

Wolves have held positive discussions with O’Neil about returning to the post from which he was dismissed last December. Wolves, who visit Chelsea on Saturday, could finalise his appointment in the next 48 hours. O’Neil would replace Vítor Pereira, who was sacked after an alarming eighth defeat in 10 matches at Fulham on Saturday that left Wolves bottom of the Premier League with two points.

Brighton still find goals despite Agyemang blow, West Ham eye an upturn and Everton leave it late to level

If Jocelyn Prêcheur needed an example of how far his London City Lionesses team have come in a few weeks, it was Saturday’s encounter against Chelsea. It ended in a 2-0 defeat to the champions but his side impressed at Stamford Bridge and asked several questions of their opponents. London City controlled 43% of possession – perhaps more than expected – and managed the same number of shots on target (three), with Isobel Goodwin providing a particular threat running in behind. “When we compare it to September when we played other top-four opposition, it was really good,” Prêcheur said. “What I like is that we start to see a team – [that] was my biggest challenge. We saw a team that defended and attacked together. We still need to improve.” SD

Match report: Chelsea 2-0 London City Lionesses

Spurs’ rally against Liverpool reveals Ho’s and Taylor’s tasks

Vincent Kompany’s side continued their magnificent form to end opponents’ record-breaking away run

If it was going to end, it was always likely to end here. That it was going to end exactly like this, though, was not so predictable. Bayer Leverkusen arrived at the Allianz Arena on a run of 37 Bundesliga away games unbeaten, and they never looked like extending it. You will forgive the Bundesliga neutral for mourning not the loss of an incredible record-breaking sequence which stretched back to 27 May 2023 – when Xabi Alonso’s team were heavily beaten by relegation-battling Bochum – but the demise of a competitor to Bayern Munich not seen since Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund were in their thrilling pomp.

This was less an authentic Topspiel and more a piercing afterparty hangover, a tough supermarket-bread pretzel and lukewarm coffee, a Monday morning letter from HMRC, a black and white declaration of unavoidable dues owed. All of which, of course, was great for Bayern as they limbered up for this week’s Champions League meeting (a real deal Topspiel) against holders Paris Saint-Germain, with the recently re-signed Vincent Kompany able to show the authority and pragmatism that led him to this point by leaving Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Michael Olise on the substitutes’ bench.

• Hard to recreate ‘higher calling’ of England job, he says

• Southgate trying to ‘make a difference’ in other areas

Sir Gareth Southgate says he is not looking for a return to football management, saying it would be hard to recreate the “higher calling” he found as England’s manager.

Southgate indicated he intends to focus on working with young people and helping to counter the “negative narrative” he says is found in the country.

Arsenal’s run without conceding goes on, Thomas Frank plays down tensions, and Eddie Howe’s gamble backfires

First the P45, then the pints. Vítor Pereira could be excused for having a drink on Sunday after his departure from Wolves, with the silver lining for the Portuguese being a decent payout. It is the fourth mid-season dismissal this campaign – there have never been more permanent sackings in Premier League history at this stage of the year (3 November). And while Evangelos Marinakis might have something to answer for, trigger-happy owners and directors are becoming increasingly erratic: that Pereira lasted just 45 days into a new three-year contract reflects as badly on the Wolves board as on the manager, just as Erik ten Hag’s sacking this time last year, coming less than three months after his own contract extension, reflected badly on the Manchester United hierarchy. Backing a manager and then pulling the rug so quickly is baffling, while a board’s desire for a “new manager bounce” so early in the season stinks of desperation and should be seen as an admission of guilt. Michael Butler

Match report: Fulham 3-0 Wolves

Match report: Burnley 0-2 Arsenal

Match report: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United

The willingness of players to put the side’s best interests ahead of their own has fostered a sense of togetherness that has reaped rewards on the pitch

When David Moyes resigned as Sunderland’s manager in May 2017, after a calamitous 10 months culminating in relegation to the Championship, he waived all entitlement to a payoff. Moyes knew he had failed but, in mitigation, he inherited a poisoned chalice, something arguably confirmed as the club swiftly plummeted into League One. Now Moyes is back in his Merseyside comfort zone and Sunderland have finally returned to the top tier. When he leads his Everton team into the Stadium of Light, the Scot may be startled to see players of the quality of Granit Xhaka, Enzo Le Fée, Nordi Mukiele and Reinildo wearing red and white stripes. That quartet arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid respectively. And to think Moyes regularly reiterated the belief that top footballers would not relocate to Wearside because they invariably wanted to live in the London or Manchester areas. Despite that, club sources indicate not one prospective signing queried its geography this summer. Much as the local council is attracting outside investment and IT professionals by rebranding Sunderland as a technology hub situated in “the city by the sea”, the football club is fast becoming a magnet for ambitious young players from across Europe.

• Season-ticket holder injured protecting young girl

• Evangelos Marinakis says he will fund any medical care

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has vowed to help fund medical care for any fan involved in the Huntingdon train knife attack after a season-ticket holder suffered serious injuries protecting a young girl.

British Transport Police (BTP) said two people remain in a life-threatening condition, with a further nine treated in hospital, following the incident on a high-speed train on Saturday evening.

• Saints won just two of his 13 league games in charge

• Youngest EFL manager leaves team in 21st place

Southampton have sacked Will Still after the club dropped closer to the Championship relegation zone. The 33-year-old, who was the youngest manager in the English Football League, departs five months into a three-year contract.

Still won just two of his 13 league matches in charge, recording a sole victory in the division since a stoppage-time opening-day win against Wrexham.

In an exclusive extract from her forthcoming autobiography, the former England goalkeeper reveals how her life unravelled during the Covid lockdowns of 2020

In early 2020, on the eve of lockdown, Phil Neville, then head coach of England, dropped Mary Earps from the squad.

For the first time ever, I began to feel something unimaginable; I felt disillusioned with football and unsure what I was doing in life, chasing this dream that was constantly in reach but never fully within my grasp. And then, abruptly, lockdown hit. And the world changed, at either the best possible time for me – or the very worst.

A new documentary shows community unity helping a football club rise against a backdrop of a tragedy-hit building that is only now coming down

Every weekend they arrive with their boots and their grief, their studs and their memories of the Grenfell Tower fire which changed their lives for ever and killed 72 people. But the Grenfell Athletic football players, in two men’s teams and a women’s side, also bring hope, pride and even joy as they climb up their Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning amateur league tables with growing conviction that their club is a rising force.

Grenfell Athletic were founded by Rupert Taylor, a community leader and local inspiration, and Paul Menacer, who was asleep in the tower on the night of 14 June 2017 when the building turned into a blazing inferno. Together, they started a football club to help their community cope with the devastating loss.

In her new book the former England star describes how she triggered a campaign against Nike over its refusal to sell replica Lionesses goalkeeper shirts

There were three huge talking points from the 2023 World Cup. One was the unspeakable kiss that Spain’s football federation president Luis Rubiales planted on Jenni Hermoso as she collected her gold medal, which would later lead to his resignation and prosecution.

The other two talking points both related to me.

• Moyes back at old club for first time since he quit in 2017

• Everton manager believes lows have helped shape him

David Moyes has said he was almost sickened by football after resigning from Sunderland but believes the experience made him more determined to rekindle his fortunes with West Ham and Everton.

Moyes returns to the Stadium of Light with Everton on Monday for the first time since leaving Sunderland in 2017. The Scot tendered his resignation after the only relegation of his managerial career so that the then financially troubled club would not have to pay compensation for the remainder of his four-year contract.

• Tony Scholes will move to the US after the 2025-26 season

• USL to start new D-1 league with promotion and relegation

Tony Scholes is moving from the most popular top-tier league in the world to the newest one, which is still two and a half years away from kicking a ball.

The USL, operators of lower-division leagues in the United States, will announce on Monday that Scholes, the Premier League’s director of football, will be named president of its upcoming first division. The USL’s planned new competition will operate in US Soccer’s first division – the same level as MLS – and is set to start play by 2028. In his role, Scholes will oversee the launch of the still-unnamed league and participate in the USL’s implementation of promotion and relegation between that league and the USL’s other men’s professional competitions – the Championship and League One.

• Guardiola: Bournemouth goal was ‘due to the official’

• Man City manager hails ‘incredibly coachable’ striker

Pep Guardiola praised Erling Haaland after the striker’s two first-half goals inspired Manchester City to a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth and took them second in the table, though the manager also criticised officiating at the Etihad Stadium during his nine years in charge.

Haaland’s 12th and 13th league goals of the season came on 17 and 33 minutes, Nico O’Reilly’s third for City coming on the hour. Tyler Adams equalised in the 25th minute for the visitors but it was a controversial goal as David Brooks placed a hand on Gianluigi Donnarumma at Alex Scott’s corner, removing it from the goalkeeper at the last moment.

Nuno Espírito Santo said that his West Ham team had given their fans “something small” to cling on to with a first victory of his tenure and that he hoped a performance of grit, ability and, perhaps most importantly, belief would give them momentum in their fight against relegation.

“I’m very happy with the result and think we should be proud of the way we did it,” Nuno said after Newcastle were beaten handily.

There have been wackier weeks in the history of Celtic, but not many of them. This one concluded with their 73-year-old interim manager being serenaded by an adoring support having guided the team past the 10 men of Rangers and into Scotland’s League Cup final. Will Martin O’Neill still be in charge when Celtic return to Hampden Park in mid-December? O’Neill claimed he did not even have any knowledge of when the final would take place. He was sticking to his theory that Celtic would have a permanent manager in place during the upcoming international window.

“I don’t think there will be that conversation,” said O’Neill when asked whether he was open to an extended spell in charge. “It is all about results and whether the board think about taking their time.” There is also surely an element of whether the hierarchy view O’Neill as a more credible candidate than he will admit. His standing in the eyes of supporters helps directors who have been subject to vehement protest in recent times.

More than 40 goals in the Premier League have come from corners already this season – is this the new orthodoxy?

A ball played in behind Conor Bradley for Kevin Schade to chase. Giorgi Mamardashvili leaves his goal and sidefoots into touch. The sense of expectation is palpable. Michael Kayode trots over from right-back to the opposite flank to take the throw-in. He dries the ball, measures his run, steps back and then in one languid fluid movement hurls the ball in to the near post. Liverpool clear. Two minutes later, it happens again. This time, Mamardashvili tries to play the ball to Bradley, who miscontrols to concede the throw-in. And this time, Kayode’s throw is flicked on by Kristoffer Ajer and volleyed home by Dango Ouattara. There are still only five minutes of Brentford’s game against Liverpool played. Welcome to the modern Premier League.

Only nine of the 241 goals scored in the Premier League going into this weekend have come from throw-ins, but it feels like far more. Forty-five have come from corners – 18.7%. Were that proportion to be maintained over the season it would present a remarkable leap on the high of 14.2% from 2010-11. The reality is there’s likely to be a regression to the mean: if a glance at the proportion of goals scored from corners shows anything, it’s that there really isn’t much of a pattern at all. The proportion hovered at 11 or 12% most years to 2009, since when it has been at 13-14% – a trend which, if anything, goes against the assumption that everybody stopped taking corners seriously in the peak years of guardiolismo only to rediscover their love of a booming inswinger last season (when, in fact, the proportion of goals from corners fell to its lowest level since 2013-14).

Bethany England sealed for Tottenham a 2-1 win that shows one new manager has made a quicker impression than the other

Liverpool’s search for their first points of the season goes on, after Tottenham defeated Gareth Taylor’s side 2-1 at Brisbane Road. It was an illustration of the parallels and contrasts between two teams who are, in a multitude of ways, on relatively similar trajectories in the Women’s Super League but who are equally experiencing contrasting fortunes in the opening stages of this season.

With this win, Tottenham consolidated their fine start to life under Martin Ho to remain fourth, while Liverpool are rooted in the danger zone. The disparity between the two sides is underlined by the data – Spurs are the team who have outperformed their expected points by the biggest margin this season; Liverpool are the side who have underperformed the most.

Former England goalkeeper reveals full story behind her international retirement, her problems with eating and alcohol, and why she’d struggle on The Traitors

• Read an exclusive extract from Mary Earps’ book

“I’ve learned a lot about what truly matters in life,” Mary Earps says on a quiet and cloudy afternoon as, at Paris Saint-Germain’s training centre on the outskirts of the French capital, the former England goalkeeper reflects on the achievements and drama of her last five years. “My life has accidentally come into the court of public opinion. People talking about your performance comes with the territory but when it starts to become about your character, and assumptions people make about you, that can be really, really challenging.”

Between 2020 and 2023 Earps overcame depression, a drinking problem, eating issues, won the Euros with England, forced Nike to change their attitude to female goalkeepers, saved a penalty in a World Cup final and won the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Feyenoord coach on how a chat with his daughter changed his life, memories of Arsenal and Manchester United and a lunch with Guardiola

Robin van Persie was warming to his theme, imparting wisdom to his children, Shaqueel and Dina, then 14 and 10. “We were at the kitchen table in our new house and I was giving them a speech: ‘You have to find your passion as soon as possible!’” He is, however, self-aware enough to realise how parental monologues are received. “I was ‘passion this, passion that’. It went on and on and on.”

It was Dina who brought him up short. “Yeah, Dad, but what is your passion now?”

Manchester United are determined to avoid ‘rinse and repeat’ of past 10 years but was Anfield really the coach’s Mark Robins moment?

The excitement of a new era at Manchester United was almost palpable, according to one observer. The part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox were full of optimism. What owner isn’t energised by making a coaching appointment, especially their first? It was a chance for Ratcliffe to put his imprint on United after years of drift under the Glazers.

The coach, who had regained the title at Sporting, had youthful vivacity, an admirable track record and emotional intelligence. Ruben Amorim, appointed a year ago this Saturday, was one of the most desired young coaches on the market, which is why Tottenham and Liverpool had also considered him.

How Arsenal-supporting family put the youngster on road to history-making appearance at Emirates on Wednesday

There was never a question about which club Max Dowman wanted to join after he was spotted playing up an age group for Billericay Town’s colts in 2015. In the Essex town best known these days for being one of the backdrops for the popular BBC comedy series Gavin and Stacey, and where allegiances have often been split between Tottenham and West Ham, Dowman had caught the eye of scouts from London’s biggest academies at the age of six.

“He had the pick of clubs,” says Nick Hutt, the chair of Billericay’s youth section, who saw a four-year-old Dowman play. “But the whole family are Arsenal supporters, so they chose Arsenal.”

The 46-year-old didn’t fulfil his potential as a player but as manager has climbed from the bottom of the pyramid to fifth in La Liga

The driver of the Tusa bus went from Badalona to Barcelona and regional catalana to primera división, stopping everywhere in between. On Thursday night, Atlètic Lleida host Espanyol in the Copa del Rey first round. Lleida play in Spain’s semi-pro fourth tier, a world away from their opponents, who celebrated their 125th anniversary last Saturday by climbing into a Champions League place, but there will be something familiar about the man sitting on the visitors’ bench, if he ever actually sits. “I know Manolo because we’ve faced each other at our level,” Lleida’s coach, Gabri García says. “We come from the depths.”

Depths is right, but Manolo González wouldn’t change a thing, proud to have been in García’s place. A symbol of some day, he reached the top flight via the long route, having coached at every age group and every level in Spain, from the regional league to tercera, with its 397 teams across 18 groups; from Segunda B, still theoretically amateur and made up of four regional divisions with 80 teams, to segunda; and on to primera, no guarantee he would get there. Which is why it took years to give up the day job at the wheel of the interurbano to Barcelona.

Club’s winless streak finally ended on Wednesday against Udinese but a significant task awaits the next manager

It was an oddly coy way to announce Serie A’s first sacking this season. “Igor Tudor is no longer the manager of Juventus,” read the Turin club’s social media post on Monday – as though this had happened by accident or mutual consent. The Bianconeri had not, in fact, lost him down the back of the sofa, but instead relieved him of his duties after an eight-game winless run.

That was their longest dry stretch since 2009. Claudio Ranieri got the boot back then, and it was no surprise to see Tudor meet the same fate now. Juventus had failed to score a goal in his final four matches, culminating in a 1-0 loss to Lazio on Sunday night. “I’m living in the present,” he insisted afterward. “I don’t give a stuff about the future.” Yet it came for him the next day all the same.

Habib Beye’s job is on the line but simply sacking another manager is not the route to success for the Pinault family

By Get French Football News

“It’s been a bit of a crazy week,” said Rennes manager Habib Beye after his team’s 2-2 draw with Toulouse on Wednesday night. After a run of five games without a win, the former Newcastle and Aston Villa player did not know if he would be in charge for the game – his sacking was even hastily announced in some places – but he was in the dugout in Toulouse and is still holding on.

“The momentum at the club isn’t good and finances are relatively fragile, which puts pressure on us,” said the club’s president, Arnaud Pouille, after the game before announcing that the manager would stay. “We met with the staff on Monday to ask them whether they still had the energy to keep going, and they proved it tonight.”

It was just like old times as Dani Carvajal sparked a full-time ruckus with Barça’s teenage star after his pre-match barbs

“As long as I win they can’t say anything,” Lamine Yamal said once, but this time he didn’t win and they were coming for him. They said he spoke too much; they replied that, yeah, they would see him outside; they told him talk is cheap. And that was just the players: there was more from the preachers in their pulpits, men who never lose.

On the eve of the clásico, the teenager who claims he left fear behind in Mataró suggested that Real Madrid rob and moan, or so it goes. He also offered a reminder that the last time he had been at the Santiago Bernabéu – a kid with blaugrana braces, a glint in his eye and a right foot they didn’t know he had – he beat them 4-0. But that was then and this was now. And, an adult now, exactly a year on, he was beaten back. He knew, they told him so.

With ticket sales phases under way and prices reaching eye-watering levels, my experience raised a crucial question: who is this World Cup for?

For months, people in my life had been asking me when and where to get World Cup tickets. In the absence of any actionable information from Fifa before the first round of the pre-sale opened up, they hoped, I guess, that I had inside knowledge.

In truth, I only knew that Fifa would be using the universally despised dynamic pricing model, and that the bid book for the 2026 World Cup had promised an average group stage ticket price of $305. Mind you, that was seven and a half years ago and an awful lot of inflation has happened since then. In the bid, Category 4 tickets for the group stage – the cheapest seats available – were priced at $21. (As we would soon learn, the actual price would start at $60, and category 4 tickets are almost non-existent.)

The Australian coach’s legacy in Scotland is best left untouched while he needs a period of reflection – not to take the next job that comes along

It is fair to say that Ange Postecoglou had a hard time during his 40-day stint at Nottingham Forest, but there is perhaps a more difficult test on the way. Being out of work means that his name is automatically going to be linked with available coaching jobs in Europe. It’s a nice problem to have, especially as the northern winter approaches and axes start to fall. There are few available coaches whose fingerprints are still on a major European trophy and who also have recent and major Premier League experience.

There have already been changes in England’s top tier with Forest being the main driver, firing Nuno Espírito Santo who then went on to replace Graham Potter at West Ham United, then bringing in Postecoglou and then replacing him with Sean Dyche. In the coming weeks and months, more will follow. There are lots of skill sets that a successful head coach must have, but one of the most important – and the least talked about – is knowing when to shake the head instead of hands when there is an approach.

Incidents in both games generated a lot of noise, not least the yellow card for Dorgu when Minteh was running towards goal

Two fixtures at the weekend generated a lot of noise in terms of refereeing decisions: Manchester United v Brighton and Brentford v Liverpool. In each case there were incidents that can serve as good educational pieces for understanding the calls that match officials make.

Starting at Old Trafford, the yellow card for Patrick Dorgu after fouling Yankuba Minteh, when the Brighton man looked as if he was through on goal, frustrated a lot of people. Everybody screams: “Last man, you’ve got to go” – which is absolutely false. Just because you’re the last defender it doesn’t mean you have to be sent off. In this kind of incident, the referee awards a foul and then has to consider the criteria of what fits the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

With their election looming, the Argentinian club hope stable leadership can reverse worst form in four decades

Stefano Di Carlo was two months old when, in 1989, his grandfather, Titi, became the president of River Plate, taking over after the resignation of Hugo Santilli. He was seven months old when, that December, his grandfather narrowly lost the presidential election. He was three years old when his grandfather took him to his first River Plate game.

Titi Di Carlo remained a senior figure at the club and was on the board when he went to a Copa Libertadores quarter-final against Banfield with the 16-year-old Stefano. The first leg had finished 1-1.

Our cartoonist dons his best threads to check out which aesthetics are back to dominate the football fashion world

• Buy a copy of this cartoon in our Print Shop

• David’s latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Former Liverpool and Sunderland forward on buying Ed Woodward’s house, his padel business and how his new coach is similar to Ancelotti

Fabio Borini’s house witnessed a major disagreement over football but it was not related to his recent move to Salford City. The forward bought the property from the former Manchester United executive vice-chair Ed Woodward, who had fans at the gates showing their displeasure during his time at Old Trafford. “Because of the protest outside, everybody was worried, so I said: ‘Don’t worry I’ll buy it, get the price down,’” Borini jokes.

The former Italy international has a business mind and knows a good deal when it comes along. Joining Salford, however, was certainly not about the money. Following his departure from Sampdoria, where he endured a difficult final season after being ostracised, Borini wanted to play for the love of the game. He returned to his wife Erin’s native north-west, where they had their Cheshire home, and searched for work.

Mikel Arteta’s side have experience of being top of the table but have been unable to finish the job in previous seasons

All the signs point to it finally being Arsenal’s season. But given that they have spent almost 800 days top of the table since last being champions in 2004, nothing will be taken for granted at this stage. After an outlay of more than £250m in the summer, Mikel Arteta has a formidable squad that has been able to cope with injuries to important players such as Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard – a problem that derailed them in three successive runner-up finishes.

In an embarrassing climbdown, the game in Miami is off with the league having alienated the players and even Villarreal, the club that was on its side

If there is a moment that defined La Liga’s fourth failed attempt to play in Miami, an image to explain why everything went wrong, it may have been the moment it was all over. On Tuesday night, Spanish television broadcast reaction to the news from the Estadio de la Ceràmica, live and unfiltered.

Cameras caught someone else who felt dismissed and disrespected, treated as if they didn’t count. This time it was someone who was supposed to be on the league’s side, but now appeared as a portrait of poor planning and poorer communication, a lack of consideration that pushed the project to collapse.

The Liverpool legend is the subject of a new film directed by Asif Kapadia on the Scot’s remarkable career in football and connection with his adopted city

‘We got the bus and went down to Sheffield to visit the supporters who were in hospital,” Kenny Dalglish says as he remembers how he spent the Monday after the tragedy of Hillsborough in April 1989. “All the players were there so we split up and they walked into different wards to see people. We were trying to give them a wee bit of confidence or belief of anything that could help them. And there was a family around a young boy’s bed and he was unconscious.”

Sean Luckett was 20 years old and one of the thousands of fervent Liverpool supporters who had travelled to Hillsborough to support the team who Dalglish managed and had played for with such sublime talent since arriving from Celtic in 1977. Ninety-seven Liverpool fans eventually lost their lives after the unbearable crush during the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and go even further back. Here’s our Premier League class of 2025

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 … and go even further back. Here’s our 2025 world picks

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Is nobody safe from the cold, dead hands of artificial intelligence? Certainly not if you’re in the business of attempting to write a borderline humorous weekday mailshot. Take this, punched into a smartphone, belched out by ChatGPT in mere seconds after the instructions: “Write 100 words on AI in football in the style of the Guardian’s Football Daily email.”

Ah, football and AI — the game’s newest double act. From tracking player movement with eerie precision to whispering tactical tweaks into analysts’ ears, artificial intelligence is now as common at training grounds as bibs and banter. Clubs crunch mountains of data to predict fatigue, refine pressing triggers, even scout teenagers before they’ve finished growing. VAR, of course, remains the clumsy cousin — still learning when ‘clear and obvious’ actually means clear and obvious. But love it or loathe it, AI isn’t leaving the pitch anytime soon. The algorithms are watching — and your xG just twitched slightly higher.”

I’m sure I am stepping out of my lane here (I’m an A&E doctor here in Canada and a keen amateur triathlon participant when I can). But surely the match schedule you mentioned for Crystal Palace as being ‘Manchester City, Arsenal, KuPS Kuopio and Leeds in a novel Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday Premier League, Fizzy Cup and Tin Pot triathlon’ (yesterday’s Football Daily) is actually a quadrathlon, which comprises four events (typically swim, cycle, kayak + run). I’ve never tried one, and my Quebecois wife says I couldn’t do the kayaking leg if my life depended on it” – Adam Simpson.

Re: Sid Lowe’s interview with Espanyol head coach and former bus driver Manolo González (yesterday’s Quote of the Day). I assume he sets his team out with a low block: he’s known for parking the bus. Sorry. Kudos to Sid for writing a long piece without stooping to the obvious: Señor, you’re a better man than I” – Pål Jørgen Bakke.

The reference to Rory Delap (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) reminds me of an amusing incident at Stoke in February 2011. West Brom, who usually lost there, had equalised in the 87th minute. Happy with the point, they began to play out for a draw. It was a wet evening and Delap had been hurling the ball into the Albion box all night following careful use of a towel provided by the ball boy. After the equaliser, Albion got a throw midway in the Stoke half and Steven Reid called for the towel. After spending some time carefully drying the ball he threw it five yards to the nearest Albion player and received a return pass” – Les Andrews.

Reading of the difficulties (and expense) of buying tickets for the Geopolitics World Cup (yesterday’s Still Want More, full email edition) triggered a memory that took me back to the summer of 1966. My dad and his friend decided at the last minute that they fancied watching the opening match (England v Uruguay). They drove to London (from Portsmouth) in the afternoon and paid at the gate to get into the ground. He wasn’t very impressed (fairly dull 0-0 draw) and the next morning announced that he wasn’t going to bother going to any more games. I am 70 years old and this does seem incredible, so on my wife’s advice I checked with my brother that he also recalled this excursion. He did and furthermore reminded me that on the day of the final my dad (an enthusiastic player but only occasionally picked to play cricket), was a surprise selection due to a shortage of available players (I wonder why) and so didn’t even get to see the final on TV. So for him, the World Cup really was over” – Steve Beaton.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Banyana Banyana squeeze through but assistant Thinasonke Mbuli insists they must learn from countries such as Malawi

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will welcome two new participants next March after Malawi and Cape Verde qualified for the first time. For Cape Verde, the island archipelago with a population of just over half a million people, it’s a double celebration after their men’s team qualified for the World Cup for the first time. The women’s team was only founded in 2018 and in seven years have enjoyed a rapid rise. As far as records show, no other team has progressed as quickly from formation to major tournament.

They will play in a field that includes hosts Morocco, 10-time champions Nigeria, Kenya and Burkina Faso, who have both qualified for just the second time in their history, and six other teams who were involved at the 2024 edition: Zambia, Tanzania, Algeria, Senegal, Ghana and 2022 champions South Africa, who required a 91st-minute winner against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to confirm their spot.

Today’s newsletter looks at the most clinical forwards at the tournament in Morocco, which has reached the last-16 stage

The 2025 Under-17 Women’s World Cup is well under way in Morocco with Brazil, China, Canada and Spain among the countries who have reached the last 16. After an intriguing group stage here are some of the young stars who have stood out so far:

Giulia Galli (Italy): Italy have been one of the surprise packages of the tournament, spearheaded by the goals of Galli. The 17-year-old has enjoyed an eye-catching year for club and country: she was at the heart of her nation’s run to the semi-finals of this summer’s Under-17 European Championship, their highest finish in more than a decade that booked their spot at this World Cup. Since then, she has found herself around the Roma senior team, scoring her first goal for the club – the winner – in their Serie A Women’s Cup fixture against Milan. She has led the charge once again in Morocco as Selena Mazzantini’s side won all three group games to progress. All five goals to date have demonstrated her uncanny knack of breaking defensive lines as well as her instinctive clinical ability inside the box.

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Recent history has seen all three sides promoted from the Championship be relegated the same season – Régis Le Bris’s side could break the spell

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Last season, all three promoted sides in the Premier League were relegated. The season before that, all three promoted sides were relegated. The fear was that the gulf between the Premier League and Championship had become too big, with the increasing stratification of the English game essentially making it impossible for the promoted sides to survive, much less to thrive. It’s a self-perpetuating issue; the longer the other 17 remain in the Premier League, fattened on television rights, the harder it will be for teams coming up to make an impression.

There was a need for the promoted sides to put up a better fight than they managed last season when, between them, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton collected just 59 points. Nine games into this season, not quite a quarter of the way through, Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley already have 38 points between them. None of the three are currently in the relegation zone. But most striking have been the performances of Sunderland, who have taken 17 points already and, to widespread surprise, lie fourth in the table.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Robyn Cowen, Jordan Jarrett-Bryan and Ewan Murray as Liverpool lose again, Arsenal keep a clean sheet again, the panel preview the Premier League and Ewan Murray joins for the latest from Scotland

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On the podcast today: Liverpool lose to Crystal Palace for the third time in a row; it was a very rotated and young side … so does it matter in the wider context of their crisis? Crystal Palace’s reward is a trip across town to Arsenal, who keep another clean sheet and beat Brighton.

Plus: more early English managerial exits, the player hitting the woodwork four times in a game and P45 structures

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“My beleaguered Tranmere played Barnet a couple of weeks ago,” begins James. “I was amazed that this was the first ever meeting between two clubs who have spent so much time in the Football League. It made me wonder: what is the most surprising or eye-catching fixture in English club football that has never been played?”

We were surprised to hear that Middlesbrough’s 1-1 draw with Wrexham on Saturday was the first ever league match between those two sides, though they have met in both domestic cup competitions.

222 seasons Everton (127) v Rochdale (95), West Brom (127) v Rochdale (95)

218 Everton (127) v Hartlepool United (91)

217 Manchester United (123) v Gillingham (94), Manchester City (123) v Exeter City (94)

216 Arsenal (122) v Southend United (94), Arsenal (122) v Exeter (94)

213 Liverpool (122) v Hartlepool (91)

206 Manchester United (123) v Mansfield Town (83)

205 Everton (127) v Torquay United (78)

204 Manchester United (123) v Darlington (81)

203 Newcastle United (122) v Darlington (81), Sunderland (125) v Torquay(7 8)

201 Manchester United (123) v Torquay (78)

200 Arsenal (122) v Torquay (78), Aston Villa (127) v Newport (73), Liverpool (122) v Torquay

3 days: Bill Lambton, Scunthorpe, April 1959

4 days: Dave Bassett, Crystal Palace, May 1984

7 days: Tim Ward, Exeter City, March 1953
Kevin Cullis, Swansea City, February 1996

8 days: Billy McKinlay, Watford, Sept-Oct 2014

9 days: Martin Ling, Cambridge, Jul-Aug 2009

The board of directors of Raith Rovers FC announces that we have parted company with manager Gary Locke and assistant manager Darren Jackson, with immediate effect.

Raith Rovers FC announces that we have this evening parted company with manager John Hughes and assistant manager Kevin McBride

Mail us with your questions and answers

The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions on a regular basis. In today’s column, Graham Ruthven endeavors to answer three of them

Rory Delap was apparently ahead of his time. The spirit of Stoke City’s legendary ball flinger lives on with the long throw-in enjoying a renaissance in the Premier League this season. Indeed, statistics show that the number of long throw-ins per match has more than doubled from last season, pointing to a very real and meaningful trend.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Júlia Belas Trindade and special guest Mary Phillip to discuss England’s defeat to Brazil. Plus, Beth Fisher joins to reflect on Jess Fishlock’s emotional farewell

On today’s pod: England fall 2-1 to Brazil as the Homecoming Series begins with questions over Maya Le Tissier’s best position. The panel unpack the Lionesses’ defensive issues, Khiara Keating’s landmark debut and what’s next before their Australia rematch.

Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland edge closer to promotion to League A after beating Belgium, Spain cruise past Sweden, and Jess Fishlock bows out in style for Wales. We hear from Beth Fisher on Fishlock’s legacy and what comes next for Rhian Wilkinson’s side.

Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

• Men’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves