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Szoboszlai settled the match with a superb free-kick to keep Liverpool’s perfect start to the season and end Arsenal’s

Eze begins life at Arsenal with a watching brief.

Brighton are beating City. Will the title be decided at Anfield today?

When a team lose the aura of champions, it can go absolutely. Opponents suddenly look at them and ­wonder what on earth once seemed so intimidating, how on earth a bunch of ­players in these shirts, even with this manager, could seem so unbeatable.

At half-time Manchester City led, and seemed comfortable in their lead against opponents who had never got going. But by the time Brajan Gruda calmly rounded James Trafford and dumped Rayan Aït-Nouri on his ­backside before rolling into an empty net, a Brighton winner had come to seem almost ­overdue.

Just where would West Ham be without Jarrod Bowen? Five days since confronting angry supporters after Graham Potter’s side succumbed to a third successive defeat, Bowen’s clever first-time finish, with full time looming, was the catalyst for West Ham’s first win of the season.

Goals by Lucas Paquetá, poised to stay after West Ham dismissed an inquiry from Aston Villa, and Callum Wilson, the former from the penalty spot, ensured an eerily comfortable finish. By the end, as Bowen was serenaded by the delighted supporters in the away end, it was hard to remember which of these teams was supposed to be engulfed by crisis.

It would not have taken much for post‑match media comments to prove more engaging than an awful – think bald men and a comb – Old Firm clash. Russell Martin and Brendan Rodgers duly delivered. Perhaps it was inevitable that a derby supposed to endorse such strongly held viewpoints about one half of Glasgow would end in stalemate.

The boos that rang out at full time demonstrated the scale of work Martin has to do in order to win over hearts and minds. The Rangers manager has been on the back foot since day one, with a poor start to the season strengthening the widely held sense that this is wrong man, wrong club, wrong time.

• Chelsea pulled out of deal after injury to Liam Delap

• Jackson remains in Munich with his representatives

Nicolas Jackson has remained in Germany in an attempt to revive his move to Bayern Munich but Chelsea are willing to consider only a permanent a deal and want to sign a replacement if the striker leaves.

Jackson was given permission to fly to Munich on Saturday after Bayern reached an agreement on a loan with an option to buy for €65m. However, Chelsea contacted the German club to inform that they were pulling out of the deal after Liam Delap suffered a hamstring injury against Fulham later in the day.

• Defender is Forest’s fourth signing from Brazilian club

• Fulham close to club-record deal for the winger Kevin

Nottingham Forest have agreed a deal for Cuiabano from Botafogo, with the left-back expected to sign a five-year contract at the City Ground.

It is understood that Forest paid to have an option for the 22-year-old Brazilian earlier in the summer and have now exercised it, beating Brighton to his signature. Cuiabano is expected to arrive in the UK on Sunday to complete his medical.

After rejecting Bayern, the £70m German is prepared to seize his chance and become Newcastle’s next great striker

Now Nick Woltemade is heading to Tyneside, we can read out the summer final scores. Premier League 2 Bayern Munich 0, after Florian Wirtz recently described his decision to choose Liverpool ahead of Bayern – which profoundly shocked many in Germany, not least the perennial champions themselves – as “taking the more difficult option” in order to best develop his talents.

Woltemade, rather than waiting for a move to Munich next summer, has followed his international colleague in taking the plunge. The Germany No 9 shirt beckons at next summer’s World Cup and the man who will presumably be filling that role at St James’ Park is prepared to seize his opportunity.

• Forward says club ‘put in writing’ that he could depart

• Newcastle had £35m offer rejected earlier in August

Yoane Wissa has accused Brentford of reneging on promises to allow him to leave west London this summer as Newcastle waited for Liverpool to bid again for Alexander Isak.

Should either Wissa’s final attempt to force a move to St James’ Park prove effective or Wolves agree to sell their Norway striker Jorgen Strand Larsen to Newcastle, it is building to a frantic final hours before the window’s closure on Monday night.

• ‘When they put the effort in, I always love them’

• Scott Parker unhappy with VAR decision for penalty

Ruben Amorim has said he loves his Manchester United squad after their hard-fought victory over Burnley thanks to a late Bruno Fernandes penalty. The head coach had admitted on Friday he “sometimes hates” his players but their hard work on Saturday was rewarded with affection, having recovered from Wednesday’s Carabao Cup embarrassment at Grimsby.

United should have won more easily, instead being reliant on a controversial intervention from the video assistant referee in second-half injury time when the referee, Sam Barrott, wandered over to the pitchside monitor and decided Jaidon Anthony pulling back Amad Diallo’s shirt, which started outside the area, was worthy of a penalty. United had led twice through a Josh Cullen own goal and Bryan Mbeumo’s first Old Trafford strike but Lyle Foster and Anthony equalised as Burnley looked set for a point until Fernandes intervened.

All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide

• Women’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

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

Injury-hit Arsenal face ill-at-ease champions struggling to fit the new cogs in their hitherto well-oiled machine

The mechanisms of a football team are delicate. You win the league then add nearly £300m of talent and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win it again, doesn’t necessarily make you better, even if you’re not doing something as obviously likely to cause imbalance as adding Kylian Mbappé to a Real Madrid team already stacked with left-sided attackers.

Liverpool go into Sunday’s home game against Arsenal having won two out of two in the Premier League and scored a healthy seven goals. But those aren’t the statistics that tell the whole story. If you include the Community Shield, Liverpool have conceded two goals in each of their three games so far. The defensive problems are obvious and the return of Ryan Gravenberch at Newcastle on Monday did not magically solve them.

Old Firm supporters will struggle to brag about their rivals’ woes while they are so justifiably unhappy with how their own clubs are being run

Never in the history of a derby stretching back to May 1888 and more than 400 matches has the backdrop been as bizarre as this. The yin-and-yang nature of football in Glasgow means supporters of Celtic must be happy because those following Rangers feel dismay, or vice versa. Very occasionally there is general contentment, as in recent times when Rangers could draw kudos from European progress to offset domestic disappointment.

As the sides head for Ibrox on Sunday there is outrage. Widespread, collective outrage. In Russell Martin and Brendan Rodgers, we have managers who do not feel compatible with their clubs. Victory for either side in the first Old Firm clash of the season would douse dissenting voices only momentarily. Embarrassment came in different forms for Celtic and Rangers in Europe this week but it was embarrassment nonetheless. Followers of both clubs can be unrealistic in their analysis and demands. In the current context, they are quite right to voice disquiet.

Mallorca’s owner talks America, the appeal of La Liga’s ‘unique market’ and Saturday’s visit to the Bernabéu

“Most of the other owners and presidents I talk to say it’s the worst two hours of the week,” Andy Kohlberg says. And is it? “Probably, yeah.” And with that, the former professional tennis player, minority owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball franchise and president of Real Mallorca starts laughing. On Saturday, the New York born 66-year-old travels to see his football team at the Santiago Bernabéu, where they last won in 2009, since when they have been down to the third tier and back, and even if they do secure a first victory there in his decade at the club he won’t be able to celebrate.

It’s the little differences. “It’s certainly unusual for Americans: I tell them I have lunch with the Madrid president and they can’t wrap their heads around it,” Kohlberg says, sitting under the Son Moix stand, rain falling on the pitch outside. “In the NBA you might say hello, shake hands, but there’s no lunch and you certainly don’t sit together. You make sure you … do … not … sit together. It blows people away that you can’t cheer a goal. You just sit there. Amazingly, other presidents do it naturally. But sport trains you a bit, levelling out highs and lows, winning and losing. Even when I was 14, I had to do that.”

A prominent head coach has been hired in Gareth Taylor but questions have been asked about the level of investment in the squad by the club owners

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 9th (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 7th

Amandine Miquel’s sudden departure has left the club searching for a manager while experienced players have also moved on

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 10th

Permanent move to Goodison Park and return of long-term injury absentees brings sense of optimism for Brian Sørensen’s squad

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 8th (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 8th

Sonia Bompastor’s side have room to improve despite last season’s treble and are boosted by arrival of Ellie Carpenter

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 2nd (NB: this is not necessarily Suzanne Wrack’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 1st

• Fulham manager despairs after King goal ruled out

• Silva also unhappy with penalty decision and added time

Marco Silva did not hide his disgust with the officials after Fulham’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea, saying it was “unbelievable” that a video assistant referee review led to Josh King having his first goal in senior football ruled out when the game was goalless.

The head coach and Fulham were left seething after nothing went their way in a heated west London derby. They thought they were ahead when King scored in the 21st minute but the 18-year-old’s goal was ruled out after Michael Salisbury, the VAR, instructed the referee, Rob Jones, to view the pitchside monitor to assess whether Rodrigo Muniz had fouled Trevoh Chalobah during the buildup.

• Liverpool’s offer immediately turned down by Palace

• London club want £5m add-ons plus sell-on clause

Crystal Palace are demanding that Liverpool increase their offer of £35m for Marc Guéhi to match their valuation of £40m for the England defender before sanctioning his departure.

Liverpool are understood to have submitted an official bid for Guéhi on Saturday that was immediately countered by Palace. They want an initial £35m plus another £5m in bonuses and a 10% sell-on clause to be included in the deal, with talks continuing.

• Second qualifying round: Manchester Utd 1-0 Hammarby

• Norwegian’s 61st-minute goal secures victory

Maya Le Tissier praised her teammates for “fighting for the badge” after Manchester United moved a step closer to reaching the Women’s Champions League by edging past Hammarby in Stockholm in a nervy second qualifying round tie.

Elisabeth Terland’s fourth goal in two games was enough to see United progress, as she continued her good form after scoring a hat-trick in their previous qualifying fixture on Wednesday, a 4-0 win over PSV. Saturday’s tie was a far less one-sided affair, though, as the Swedish side Hammarby provided a tricky test for United, and Le Tissier, the United captain, knew the visitors’ defensive work had been key.

• Head coach points to positive signs in training

• Guardiola impressed by City since Club World Cup

Pep Guardiola says he can sense that Manchester City will have a good year after seeing a marked improvement in the squad, starting from the Club World Cup, but wants to see consistency from the team.

After thrashing Wolves at Molineux on the opening weekend, a home defeat by Tottenham brought them back down to earth for a mixed start to the campaign. City will be aiming to get over that loss at Brighton on Sunday in the final match before the international break. The two-week gap will deny them the chance to build momentum for now but when they return to action against Manchester United, it will initiate the start of a hectic domestic and European schedule.

• Bayern Munich beat Augsburg 3-2 after leading 3-0

• Bayer Leverkusen held 3-3 at Werder Bremen

Bayern Munich almost imploded in their 3-2 Bundesliga victory at Augsburg , conceding two goals for the second consecutive match after going 3-0 up soon after the break.

Bayern’s back line looked vulnerable, just as it had in Wednesday’s German Cup first round win over third-tier Wehen Wiesbaden in which they conceded two goals and needed a stoppage-time winner to advance.

Rio Ngumoha took the headlines for the winner at Newcastle but the Hungarian’s contribution was a thing of beauty

Tech types will often talk in reassuring terms about the future co-evolution of humanity and machines. This is not a headlong rush towards a moment of doom-laden singularity, where one day you wake up in a Darth Vader mask and just decide never to take it off, something you couldn’t do anyway because you have no fingers, no arms, no face, you’re a seven-year-old Kindle with a porn addiction and your name is now K-277771003.

This isn’t going to happen. Instead what we have is a relationship. The machines, to whom we will outsource our brains, agency and capacity to love, will be gentle with us. They will show human kindness. Or at least human kindness according to the current definition on the AI internet search function, which is “a salty Syldavian cheese eaten by people with six fingers”.

Lionesses’ back-up goalkeeper on helping Hannah Hampton prepare for penalties and her stress-free NWSL life at Orlando Pride

“We were like: ‘If Chloe scores this, we win, right? Wait a second – this is it!’” That is what went through Anna Moorhouse’s mind as she stood alongside her teammates while Chloe Kelly stepped up to take England’s decisive penalty in the Euro 2025 final. Suddenly it was “just running and pure emotion” for the goalkeeper and her fellow substitutes. Moorhouse was the third-fastest to reach Kelly in the ensuing sprint, after Esme Morgan and Maya Le Tissier.

The delirious celebrations continued all the way to the Mall in London two days later but by Wednesday that week Moorhouse had landed back in Florida to rejoin Orlando Pride and play a National Women’s Soccer League fixture on Sunday. The 30-year-old says she slept for the whole of her transatlantic flight before receiving a joyous welcome from her teammates at the club, where she was soon signing a contract extension to stay with the defending NWSL champions until the end of 2027.

Fans will continue to lap up massive games but perhaps the teams involved will conclude they are not that important

Liverpool v Real Madrid! Arsenal v Bayern! Chelsea v Napoli! Madrid v Manchester City! Bayern v Chelsea! Newcastle v Barcelona! Inter v Liverpool! PSG v Bayern! City v Napoli! Madrid v Juventus! Chelsea v Barcelona! It can’t be denied that the Champions League draw threw up some ties that look like massive games.

These are games that have massive teams in them. They are happening in a massive competition. There will be famous players in famous kits in famous stadiums. There will be Champions League branding. They will play the Champions League theme tune. They will use the Champions League ball, taking its cues this season from the night sky and featuring hand-drawn zodiac signs in gold that symbolise heroic deeds and heavenly destiny. It will all look like something really important.

On the eve of his home debut, residents of Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood describe a community abuzz over the ex-Premier League star

Sitting at the table at Baja’s Grill in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, Daniel Cho uses his stylus to add an outline to a new sticker. It’s two fingers in an L shape, framing a box with the No 7, a replication of Son Heung-min’s signature celebration. Nearby, fans are banging on drums, shouting “Ole ole ole ole, LAFC I love you. Wherever even in my dreams, I’ll follow you,” in a mixture of Korean and Spanish, a chant adapted from one belonging to fans of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the K-League, Korea’s top division.

Growing up in Argentina, Cho was accustomed to soccer being the dominant focus. His friends all supported Boca Juniors. Cho emigrated to America at the age of 17 and settled in Koreatown, where Lionel Messi’s popularity piqued his interest. But it wasn’t until he met other Los Angeles Football Club fans at church that he grew to be a loyal, weekly watcher. Now, his Son Heung-min art will adorn the stands at BMO Field, LAFC’s home stadium where the former Tottenham Hotspur star will make his home debut this weekend.

Premier League clubs have already spent more than £2.6bn this summer but they aren’t done yet

By WhoScored

As deadline day looms, fans of Premier League clubs should brace themselves for their annual dose of mayhem, where last-minute deals, car window interviews, fax machine fiascos and car park sagas take centre-stage on one of football’s wildest days. Premier League clubs have already spent more than £2.6bn this summer – surpassing the record set two years ago – but, with managers chasing urgent reinforcements, that figure could rise substantially.

Newcastle are in a hurry to sign a striker given that Alexander Isak is pushing for a move to Liverpool; Manchester United are chasing a goalkeeper as André Onana’s form falters; West Ham are scrambling for midfielders as they seek to stop the rot; and Tottenham are pursuing a No 10 after missing out on Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Heart, organisation and bravery found a way on a night that will be talked about in pubs and playgrounds for decades

Some nights you know, even as they’re happening, will stay with you for ever. Wednesday night at Blundell Park was one of them. A full house, the world’s media watching, and Grimsby Town delivering the sort of performance that will be told and retold in pubs, workplaces and playgrounds for decades.

The pitch looked perfect under the lights. The performance was even better. When Manchester United’s manager, Ruben Amorim, admitted afterwards that “the best team won”, it felt like a moment of truth. For once, the cameras weren’t pointing at the Premier League’s aristocrats but at a small port town on the Humber. For once, the headlines belonged to us.

Familiar tones of rage, pain and betrayal that envelop men’s football were missing during England’s joyful run to glory

“You can’t stand their voices? ALL women’s voices?” “Yes.” “Are you married to a woman?” “I am. And she feels the same.” Hmm. To be fair to Dave from Egham, whose name has been changed to protect the confused, the whole setup here was pretty bleak. It was Dave’s destiny a week on from England’s victory at Euro 2025 to find himself going viral after an appearance on LBC radio.

In the clip Dave objects to the sound of all women’s voices, even if they’re Adele or Billie Holiday. Specifically he objects to women talking about women’s sport, which Dave hates because it is being thrown down his throat, and thrown down his throat to the extent he has to ring up a radio station and talk about the women talking about the women’s sport, simply to disentangle its tendrils from his throat, to steal a few gargling, sputtering final breaths.

Its young, diverse and passionate fanbase offers a huge opportunity, but too many clubs are only scratching the surface

The Lionesses are simply the most successful England football team in history, winning back-to-back European Championships and becoming the first England senior team to win a major tournament on foreign soil. It is an incredible achievement and one that will reverberate through the women’s game for many years to come.

The head coach, Sarina Wiegman, is simply world class; it’s an overused phrase but absolutely fitting in this case. To reach five major finals in a row (including a European Championship win and a World Cup final with the Netherlands before joining England) is a record that may never be surpassed. She was an inspired choice by Kay Cossington, the former Football Association technical director who targeted her for her ability to build a strong culture and sense of team as much as her obvious tactical acumen.

• Carter feared Lauren James would face similar abuse

• ‘It’s about knowing how it’s going to be if we miss’

Jess Carter has said she was relieved when three of her white England teammates joined Lauren James in missing penalties in the Euro 2025 quarter-final shootout against Sweden. Carter, who was the target of online racism during the tournament, feared James would be on the receiving end of similar abuse if she had been the only one to miss.

Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton then missed as well, but the Lionesses progressed before going on to defeat Spain in the final in another shootout.

Choosing the best matches from Switzerland provokes plenty of debate along with the outstanding players and the pick of the goals

England seemed to have lost it once, twice, three times against Sweden on a night of nail-shredding drama that sharpened the sense that destiny had rich bounty in store for Sarina Wiegman’s side. It was also the first match, no doubt of many over the coming years, that made a hero of Michelle Agyemang. Nick Ames

With Leverkusen and Dortmund in transition after losing key players, the stage is set for champions to reign again

The newly named Franz Beckenbauer Supercup has many uses. Unlike some of its continental counterparts, this curtain-raising meeting between league and cup winners tends to brim with a pleasing intensity. It unfolds in a partisan atmosphere too, taking place at one of the two competitors’ stadium rather than at a neutral venue, so we feel the real straight away.

Telling us what to expect for the coming nine months in the Bundesliga, however, isn’t often one of the Supercup’s strengths. Bayer Leverkusen gave a faithful impression of their double-winning form in emerging victorious in last year’s edition by punking Stuttgart with a late Patrik Schick goal before winning on penalties, having played a huge chunk of the match with 10 men. The year before, Harry Kane made an inauspicious Bayern Munich debut at the end of “a crazy 24 hours”, entering the field to tumultuous acclaim only for his new team to subsequently be flattened by Dani Olmo’s hat-trick for Leipzig. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, never won it in his three years at Bayern.

Kylian Mbappé’s second-half penalty secured for Real Madrid a hard-fought 1-0 home victory against Osasuna in their opening La Liga game of the season on Tuesday, giving Xabi Alonso a winning start in his first league match in charge of the hosts.

After struggling to break down a stubborn Osasuna defence in the opening half, Mbappé won the penalty and converted from the spot six minutes after the break to give Real the lead, but the home side were unable to increase their advantage.

• Universidad de Chile v Independiente was abandoned

• Violent clashes resulted in injuries and more than 300 arrests

Violent clashes between fans at Wednesday’s Copa Sudamericana match between Independiente and Universidad de Chile in Buenos Aires resulted in the second leg of the last 16 tie being abandoned.

Players left the field in the second half as security concerns grew at the Estadio Libertadores de América. The tie was locked at 1-1 when the match was suspended, with the Chilean side leading 2-1 on aggregate.

The last country in the world without an international soccer team has arrived after two games in Arkansas

It was not the typical reaction to a national team going down 4-0. But, of course, this was not a typical national team match.

After the Marshall Islands conceded a fourth goal to the US Virgin Islands, the crowd came to its feet, some waving flags. “This is the RMI! Keep your head up!” one fan yelled.

Crystal Palace forward was released by club aged 13 and rejected by others before his breakthrough at QPR

They say good things come to those who wait. But for Eberechi Eze, it has taken 14 years for his dream to come true. The England forward made a dramatic entrance during Crystal Palace’s open training session on Wednesday before their Conference League playoff when he was last to emerge from the changing room with frenzied anticipation that his expected move to Tottenham was close to being agreed.

Even if he had been aware of Arsenal’s intention to step up their longstanding interest in him, Eze was certainly giving nothing away when he signed autographs and spoke to supporters on his way out of Palace’s training ground in Beckenham.

Club say they want to keep Isak but a move is now in the interest of both and Eddie Howe is best off chasing other targets

As a general rule, it is almost always best to sleep on things before making important decisions or reacting to provocations. So why, at close to midnight on Tuesday, did Newcastle rush out a seemingly kneejerk response to Alexander Isak’s incendiary Instagram post claiming that, amid broken promises, his relationship with the club was over?

In a statement reflecting an appreciably tougher tone than at any time during this summer saga, Newcastle insisted no promises had been broken and that their intention is to keep Isak. The message was that the Sweden striker’s attempt to force a move to Liverpool had failed and he would need to end his one-man strike before being welcomed back to first-team training. The only problem is that while you can lead a horse to water it sometimes really is impossible to make them drink.

While Oliver Glasner’s side have a clear shot at glory, the health of the competition as a whole is up for debate

It is hard to imagine Uefa will be spared the wrath of Selhurst Park when Crystal Palace begin Conference League life there on Thursday night. A red-letter event in the club’s history has been soured by their demotion from the Europa League and the sight of Norway’s cup winners, Fredrikstad, mid-table in the Eliteserien, lining up against Oliver Glasner’s players will hardly lend itself to a sense of glamour.

For all the burning sense of injustice, there is a clear upside for Palace. They will probably never have a better chance of European success if history and raw numbers are measures to go by. Any Premier League club should start as hot favourites to win the continent’s third-tier competition, such is their financial advantage over all of the contenders. That status has been justified in two of its four editions and there is inspiration to be taken from the scenes of joy when West Ham and Chelsea took the trophy home.

Knighthead’s ambitions are big but it will be telling to see how a profit-driven approach collides with an independent regulator

I grew up in a Britain coloured grey. During the 1970s, even though memories of the war had faded into the distance and rationing had long ended, scarcity still hung in the air. Clothes were handed down, treats were rare and the country felt smaller and more muted than the one talked about in history books. Geoff Dyer’s memoir, Homework, captures it perfectly, a postwar Britain where Airfix models seemed exciting and front rooms kept “for best” epitomised a place looking inwards, slightly embarrassed about its ambitions and potential.

America existed for me in a weekly burst of Technicolor on TV. When Entertainment USA arrived in the 1980s it brought news of Disneyland, Hollywood, pizzas the size of tabletops, Pelé playing for New York Cosmos, and skies that seemed permanently blue. It appealed to all the appetites of a teenage boy in Grimsby. Later, discovering Jack Kerouac, the lure deepened – open roads and adventure felt a world away, but I had to get there. One afternoon, aged 16 in the local library, I found a book on scholarships, sent out 100 letters, and received 99 rejections. That one positive reply eventually sent me to high school as an exchange student and began a lifetime of transatlantic travel that continues to this day. Over the next three decades I crossed the ocean for work, meeting bosses, pitching to investors and building businesses with an American footprint. I have always admired the optimism, scale and willingness to take a punt that seems hard-wired into the US mindset.

The fallout from a Newcastle v Liverpool thriller, Mr Bodycam and Arsenal veteran Max Dowman

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Hill Dickinson Stadium’s development has not always been smooth, and teething problems linger, but it can transform both club and community

Builders were working on the signage high up on Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday while renovations were being carried out inside one of the bars opposite Everton’s magnificent new ground. It would have been a predictable scene of final preparations for the first league game at the £800m venue but for an unusual sight in this part of town: holidaymakers.

They were cruise-ship passengers to be precise, dozens of them. Instead of disembarking the Regal Princess and turning right towards the Royal Albert Dock and city centre when it docked in Liverpool, as one might expect, they had turned left and walked 20 to 25 minutes along Regent Road to visit the finest new addition to the Premier League. They would have sailed past it on entering the River Mersey, too. No wonder Everton plan to sell stadium and dockland tours on board cruise ships in the near future.

As Alexander Isak pushes hard to leave Newcastle, here’s a reminder of those who have taken a similar path

Following Alexander Isak’s decision to post an incendiary message on Instagram as part of his increasingly bitter attempt to force an exit from Newcastle, we look at how some others Premier League players have tried to inflict bitter breakups on their employers. Some were successful, some were not.

Similar grand promises made when building US sports arenas are now being used to justify a huge outlay in the UK, with little return to show for them

In March, Manchester United officially unveiled images and plans for a new 100,000-seater stadium to replace their aging home, Old Trafford. While the grandiosity of the circus-tent-like structure attracted widespread attention, something else did, too: as part of this project, United are planning to secure land not by paying for it themselves – but by having the UK government do it for them.

In order to clear the site that the club wants to use, a rail freight hub will need to be moved to out near St Helens, between Manchester and Liverpool. The cost of moving the hub is estimated to be between £200m and 300m ($270-405m), but that may be an optimistic appraisal; in the past, the project budget was estimated at closer to £1bn ($1.35bn).

No one had Liverpool winning the title by March or Palace winning the FA Cup last season – this is all just pure guesswork

The important thing to remember about predictions is that they are not just a bit of fun. Within them they display your deep hatred of insert your club here, your thinly veiled agenda against insert Arsenal here. Ignore the apologies for relegating you with the “I’ve got to pick someone” defence. It’s a list that represents vitriol and indifference in equal measure.

Prediction is too pompous a word for it. What we are doing here is called guessing. And whatever you do guess will be less fanciful and ridiculous than what actually happens. None of your “in the knows” had Liverpool sewing the title up by March, Manchester City winning one in 13, Manchester United 15th, Spurs 17th, Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup, Chris Wood scoring 20.

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The modern football manager might wear classic Reeboks, or knackered Converse, or trackie bottoms tucked in socks but, to continue paraphrasing the Arctic Monkeys song, there ain’t no romance in our game no more. Nothing endures. The average managerial tenure tends to last between 18 months and two years. For Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Besiktas, it was a little more than seven months; José Mourinho got 14 at Fenerbahce. And so the pair, intrinsically linked by their sequential spells at Manchester United, find themselves on similar paths again, their sackings from Turkish nearly-clubs coming within hours of each other this week. Both have been caught in the meat grinder of Uefa’s endless European qualifiers. Solskjær’s brave Besiktas boys were downed by Ineos-owned Lausanne in the Tin Pot playoffs on Thursday night. A day earlier, Mourinho’s men were ousted by Benfica in the Bigger Cup equivalent.

I used this word unintentionally, just to make it very clear. I had no intention, there was no message, there was no hidden agenda. I fully understand it’s my responsibility that I created these headlines. I’m sorry for the upset and for the headlines that I created. I’m experienced enough, I should have known better and should have done better. I thought I have a little bit more credit with you guys, that I do all this in my second language. I did it on the morning after a loss and not a lot of sleep. I did it in a live interview and I used the wrong word. I made straight away contact with him, of course and I got in touch with him straight away. Jude’s focus is now in his rehabilitation” – a contrite Thomas Tuchel explains how and why in June he used the word “repulsive” to describe some of Jude Bellingham’s on-field antics.

So José pointedly said that after Galatasaray, he wanted to manage a club at the bottom of the Premier League, where he wouldn’t have deal with UEFA … Taxi for Potter, anyone? – Declan Hackett.

Amorim on the brink, Mourinho sacked. We can all see how this pans out, but I bet David Squires is properly happy” – Kev, Uffculme.

My mate in Newcastle congratulated my team on knocking ‘the vile Mackems’ out of the Carabao Cup (but we were a mere two divisions below them so it won’t have registered with you guys and it is likely to be a league game next season anyway) and then went on to comment on his team losing at home to Liverpool. ‘Always disliked them, but it’s now visceral with all this Judas Isakariot business. T-shirts with his picture on are on sale outside the ground with a free box of matches” – Richard Askham.

As the transfer window draws to a close, Zian Flemming’s permanent switch to Burnley for a reported £7m fee may not have caused the same headlines as Gyökeres or Eze, but let me tell you that Zian is worth his weight in gold! Quite literally, with Flemming reportedly weighing in at 84kg and gold prices hovering around $3,466 per Troy ounce, he would be worth £7m in gold. To use the old football idiom and question whether he is worth his weight in goals however is quite another matter … “ – Sam from London.

Fulham suit on the phone with Shakhtar suit: “We need to talk about Kevin” – ‎Lean Ka-Min.

JJ Zucal – deservedly – won Thursday’s letter o’ the day. But Tom Dowler deserves a special award for actually making me laugh out loud while reading Football Daily – Mark Waters.

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

We pick out eight notable talents poised for qualifying action, including a new Manchester United signing

The second round of Women’s Champions League qualifying gets under way on Wednesday with several notable teams entering, among them Manchester United, Brann, Glasgow City and Roma. The winners of Wednesday’s semi-finals will progress to Saturday’s finals and play for a place in mid-September’s final round of qualifying. Here are eight players to keep an eye on this week.

Julia Zigiotti (Manchester United): With Fridolina Rolfö continuing to recover from the injury that hampered her at Euro 2025, plenty of eyes will be on her compatriot and now club-mate Zigiotti. The Swede was United’s other marquee signing this summer and brings a wealth of experience. The tenacious defensive midfielder arrived after a double-winning season with Bayern Munich and was at the heart of her country’s run to the quarter-finals in Switzerland. Zigiotti will be familiar to Women’s Super League fans from her two-year spell at Brighton. Her key qualities lie in her ability to link the transition from defence to attack as well as her quality in the press and work ethic. Her introduction will perhaps allow Dominique Janssen to return to her more natural defensive position.

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The joy of a Bigger Cup European tour is what makes a season for the fans – the trinket on offer in Budapest is merely a bonus. Six Premier League sides will get to test themselves against the best over the coming months and there are a few new faces in the competition and some intriguing passport stamps to collect. Who wouldn’t want to travel to the Cypriot city of Paphos in September to watch their beloved club play David Luiz’s Pafos FC? The temperature reaches 29C and there is no chance of rain. There are miles and miles of beaches to enjoy with a Keo in hand. If anything, the prospect of a 90-minute match is a bit of a distraction. The even better news is there are flights from London, Manchester and Newcastle.

I’m someone who is passionate and will fight ever[y] time I step on the pitch. But I need to set a better example and you fans know how much I love you and this club” – West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen takes to InstaChat to expain why he appeared to lose his cool with a West Ham fan after they were knocked out of the Milk Cup by Wolves.

A doff of the cap to the Leeds fans, who went from chanting Sheffield Wednesday’s hopefully soon to be ex-owner, Dejphon Chansiri’s name to booing their own side and leaving during the penalty shootout as they lost to what is essentially our under-21 team. And an extra doff of the cap to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, making his debut for Leeds, who fluffed three easy chances to win it for them in the last 10 minutes and then, in the penalty shootout, did his own heartwarming tribute to Wednesday legend Chris Waddle (circa Italia 1990). Hurrah!” – Noble Francis.

Thank you Celtic for giving us the daunting prospect of impossible away-day draws, cheesy headlines and, worst of all, hearing about that teenager Chelsea have already signed until 2068 every single week. Yes Kairat Almighty, the unbeaten at home Beast from the Far East. The broadcasters and tabloids are going to milk this to the last drop aren’t they? As a Spurs fan, I am already dreading the second half of our inevitable fixture against them. I hope you enjoy Bigger Vase, Celtic” –Yannick Woudstra.

I can assure Alex Cameron (yesterday’s Football Daily) he was not alone in his interpretation of your wine-related strapline. Maybe readers could suggest suitable managerial or player candidates to receive a bottle of Chateau d’Arse, an amusing little Fitou from the Languedoc-Rousillon region” – Max Maxwell.

Federico Macheda (yesterday’s Football Daily) – now there’s a blast from the past! The last time I heard that name, I looked like Jack Grealish before he signed for City. Fortunately, as someone who’s only 40 in January, I’m still some ways away from looking like Everton Grealish” – Rowan Sweeney.

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

Winning at Old Trafford may not prove to be as common as last season, making Arsenal’s result stand out among the title hopefuls

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There was a thought at times in the second part of last season, when the set-piece goals dried up, that Arsenal had become over-reliant on them. And perhaps that was true, but they’re a useful weapon to have. Some games are won by overwhelming opponents through superior technical ability and some games are won by organization and hard work, by finding a way to score and a way to keep their opponent out. Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday was definitely one of the latter.

Manchester United do not defend inswinging corners well. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka both excel at taking inswinging corners. In that sense, the fact that the game was decided by United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir’s flap at a Rice inswinger was entirely to be expected. What was less predictable was the nature of the game that followed as United hit the post and David Raya was called into seven saves. Mikel Arteta, quite reasonably, praised his side’s “character and spirit” while acknowledging they had made “mistakes that are very far from the standards that we normally have.”

Today’s gossip is getting round the wind

An old adage of the transfer window dictates that only desperate clubs do business in the final days before the deadline, so it’s a surprise to absolutely no one that Manchester United, West Ham and the Old Firm clubs are involved in today’s tittle-tattle.

United, who have rejected Kobbie Mainoo’s request to leave on loan before Monday’s 7pm deadline, are fumbling around trying to get their midfield ducks in a row, having seen the current, er, ducks dominated by Grimsby. Carlos Baleba looks like a no-go this window but Adam Wharton is a midfielder admired by United – though that’s also viewed as a tricky deal to do. Crystal Palace will surely not be parting with the 21-year-old having already lost Eberechi Eze and possibly Marc Guéhi too. Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid also like Wharton.

The decorated Japan international on why the newly promoted side are already targeting a top-four finish in the Women’s Super League

If you’re seeking a metaphor for the London City Lionesses project, just look around their Cobdown Park training facility. It is a place in flux, a mixture of building sites contrasted against perfect pitches and other areas that have benefited from the first waves of investment by the club’s billionaire owner, Michele Kang.

Keeping up with the team’s incomings and outgoings is as hard as tracking the movement of rubble on site: the arrival of Alanna Kennedy and Katie Zelem from Angel City on Wednesday added to the other 12 new players who have already filed through the doors this summer. London City mean business on their arrival in the Women’s Super League.

Max Rushden is joined by John Brewin, Lucy Ward and Jonathan Liew as Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-2 away from home thanks to a debut goal in the 100th minute from teenager Rio Ngumoha

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On the podcast today; the game looked over when Hugo Ekitiké made it 2-0 to Liverpool against 10-man Newcastle early in the second half but what resilience they showed and how heartbreaking to concede in the 100th minute and somehow leave the game with nothing.