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• Updates from 8pm GMT kick-off at Ibrox
• Live scores: follow all Thursday’s goals

6 mins: Spurs play the ball out from their area – Bentancur moves up the field on the right but gets muscled off the ball. Rangers showing a bit of physicality.

3 mins: Two dangerous moves by Rangers reasonably well mopped up by Spurs. It’s a pretty active start from both sides.

Rasmus Højlund scored twice as Manchester United fought back after André Onana’s error had allowed the hosts to go ahead

Ok – about tonight and some team news:

Meanwhile – in Pilsen – United will be hoping to replicate their last win in Europe. And hoping to creep up that table.

Chelsea confirmed passage to the last 16 of the Conference League with a 3-1 win against Astana in Kazakhstan as Enzo Maresca handed full debuts to two academy graduates.

Defender Josh Acheampong, 18, and 19-year-old midfielder Samuel Rak-Sakyi each played for the club at under-eight level and enjoyed comfortable first starts in the senior team, as the visitors triumphed in temperatures of around minus 10 in the Kazakh capital Almaty.

The shamelessness of Fifa’s process was fully on show in Zurich during a display of contempt for governance, democracy, love, hope and good sense

Well, that’s that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa’s extraordinary virtual congress to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 World Cups.

First, exactly how disgusting would this spectacle turn out to be in the flesh? The answer to which, perhaps unsurprisingly, was: extremely disgusting. And second, how would the process actually work?

• Walker received racist abuse after 2-0 defeat to Juventus
• Man City player: ‘Instagram need to stop this happening’

The Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has called for more to be done to prevent online abuse after he revealed a “vile, racist and threatening” message he received.

Walker posted a screenshot of a racially abusive message he received on Instagram following Manchester City’s Champions League loss at Juventus on Wednesday.

• Hotel incident case closed due to lack of evidence
• Swedish media had reported Mbappé was suspect
• Mbappé’s legal team had dismissed reports as false

Swedish prosecutors have dropped a rape investigation that was reportedly launched in connection with Kylian Mbappé’s visit to Stockholm in October.

In a statement released on Thursday, lead investigator Marina Chirakova said there was not enough evidence to continue the investigation, which had centred on an incident at a hotel.

• City likely to have to settle for February playoff
• Gündogan suggests squad are low on confidence

Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City must scrap to secure the best-case scenario of a Champions League playoff tie in February after seeing their latest defeat, a 2-0 reverse to Juventus, all but scupper their chances of automatic progress to the last 16.

City have now won once in 10 games and were well beaten in Turin despite dominating large chunks of the match. Now-familiar failings at both ends returned to haunt them and when a loose Josko Gvardiol clearance set Dusan Vlahovic’s opener in train the die was cast. They are 22nd in the 36-team table with a visit to Paris Saint-Germain and a home match against Club Brugge to conclude their schedule. A fall of three more places would see them eliminated while they are five points behind the top eight.

• Staff member at Arsenal academy facing internal inquiry
• Bonnick could face investigation by the FA

Arsenal are investigating a series of antisemitic social media posts from an account allegedly belonging to a member of their staff.

Mark Bonnick, a kitman at the north London club’s academy, is understood to be facing an internal inquiry after posts on an account on X featuring his name and photograph were shown to have a number of exchanges with members of the Jewish community. The account was changed to ­protected status on Wednesday afternoon and appeared to have been deleted on Wednesday night.

• Remarks alleged to include reference to appearance
• De Pauw departs after less than six months as manager

Robert de Pauw’s departure from his role as Aston Villa’s women’s team manager on Wednesday came amid ­concerns regarding the way he had allegedly spoken to his players, including about their appearance, the Guardian has been told.

It is understood concerns were raised internally about the Dutchman’s allegedly unprofessional remarks and that this was looked into by the club. De Pauw and Aston Villa were contacted for a response.

• American bidders Rosen and Eltoukhy have EFL approval
• Prince Abdullah anticipating Premier League windfall

Sheffield United’s owner, Prince Abdullah, has put the sale of the club on hold in the hope of cashing in if Chris Wilder’s side are promoted to the Premier League.

Abdullah agreed a £105m sale to the American investors Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy last summer after relegation, with the English Football League giving approval last week.

The Guardian’s ranking of the world’s best female footballers overflowed with Americans. But their fellow players largely shunned them

Women’s soccer has grown exponentially in the 22 years since Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra marveled at the very existence of a professional game in the USA in Bend It Like Beckham.

In the film, the main characters went off to the USA to play collegiate soccer, while the UK had only the faintest whispers that local clubs might soon field professional teams. Today, the protagonists would have several professional options without ever straying from the reach of Greater London.

Even the reliable elder statesmen can’t help Pep Guardiola’s side move a game closer to a shock Champions League exit

Three minutes into the second half of a game that had very rarely threatened to defrost, Kyle Walker looked up and slid a simple 10-yard pass for Kevin De Bruyne. There was space on the right and here was the most routine opportunity to get things moving. Nobody would think twice about a combination near halfway between teammates who, over tens of thousands of rehearsals, could complete that drill blindfolded.

The pass might have been for De Bruyne, but it never reached him. It skipped out of play, no opponent providing an excuse by applying the faintest pressure, and anyone could have been forgiven a moment to pause and wonder how it had come to this. How had two brilliant, supremely reliable elder statesmen of Manchester City’s all-conquering era become so paralysed as to fluff a move both have had off pat for seven years?

The 18-year-old left-back excelled on his Champions League debut and showed he could be ready for more responsibility

It was the moment Myles Lewis-Skelly must have been dreaming about all of his young life. Making his full Champions League debut at left-back because of a defensive injury crisis, the 18-year-old born in Islington and raised in Arsenal’s Hale End academy for the past decade could easily have panicked when he was confronted by a charging Eliesse Ben Seghir just after the half-hour mark.

What he did next was absolute validation of Mikel Arteta’s decision not to recall 27-year-old Kieran Tierney for a victory that should go a long way to confirming that Arsenal qualify in the top eight of the new Champions League format. Neatly sidestepping the advancing Monaco forward, who at 18 months his senior was the next youngest player on the pitch, Lewis-Skelly penetrated the visitors’ defence with a piercing throughball that allowed Gabriel Jesus time and space to set up Bukayo Saka for the easiest of tap-ins at the back post.

Chelsea cruised to a 14th straight victory in all competitions with a crushing win over Twente in the Women’s Champions League.

There were six different home goalscorers at Stamford Bridge as Catarina Macario, Oriane Jean-François, Mayra Ramírez, Erin Cuthbert, Sjoeke Nüsken and Eve Périsset ensured the Blues remained ahead of Real Madrid in Group B. With qualification to the quarter-finals already secured thanks beating Celtic last time out, this ­victory ensured that the battle to finish top would go down to the final match day.

• Konaté injury gives defender a chance after lack of games
• Gomez nearly went to Newcastle in the summer

Joe Gomez says he is “blessed” to be at Liverpool after a summer in which the prospect of leaving was real. The England defender, who made his first Champions League start of the season at Girona on Tuesday, admits it has been difficult to sit out but he is relishing the chance to play after an injury to Ibrahima Konaté. “I love the club, I love being here,” he said.

A deal had been in place for Gomez to join Newcastle for £45m with Anthony Gordon going in the other direction for £75m but the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to Nottingham Forest and Brighton respectively allowed Newcastle to meet profit and sustainability targets. That left Gomez at Anfield, where he is the longest-serving player, but behind Virgil van Dijk and Konaté. He did not start a Premier League game until the win over Manchester City at the start of this month.

Missing in action during the past six torrid weeks: Manchester City’s ­pizzazz. It was absent here again, in the latest moping performance that has become the recognisable face of Pep Guardiola’s formerly supreme team.

There is now a surreal element about City’s plunge. Sides go on ­losing runs – sure they do – but for this champion group to lose for a seventh time in 10 games and extend their disturbing run to a meagre solitary victory in the sequence is baffling.

• Lewis Turner resuscitated after emergency at Gateshead
• Farsley say player is ‘conscious and talking’ in hospital

The Farsley Celtic captain, Lewis Turner, is recovering after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest during their FA Trophy third-round game against Gateshead.

Turner was resuscitated after suffering a medical emergency on the pitch at Gateshead International Stadium, and was later said to be “conscious and talking” after being taken to hospital.

It would normally be over by now, the Champions League group stage done and dusted, and yet Arsenal know they must go again for two more ties; a test of their physicality, the depth of their reserves, as well as their resolve.

The idea is to attack the extra games in January and make sure they do not have to play two more in the playoff round in February; to zoom straight into the round of 16. It continues to look pretty good.

• MLS runners-up sign 13-year deal for naming rights
• Stadium will be training site for 2026 World Cup

Red Bull Arena has become Sports Illustrated Stadium in a 13-year partnership agreement announced Wednesday by the Major League Soccer runners-up.

The 25,000-seat soccer specific stadium had been called Red Bull Arena since it opened in 2010. It is the home of the MLS team owned since 2006 by Red Bull GmbH, which also controls RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.

Aitana Bonmatí finishes top of our rankings for a second consecutive year, with Caroline Graham Hansen second and Sophia Smith third

• Bonmatí on top of world again | How every judge voted | Video top ten | 2023 list | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018
• Subscribe now to our free women’s football newsletter

The Spanish midfielder wins for a second consecutive year on a fast-moving list that sees 15 players appearing for the first time

• The top 100: check out the full list for 2024

Aitana Bonmatí emulates her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas and takes back-to-back wins in the Guardian’s 100 best female footballers in the world list.

The double Ballon d’Or winner received votes from all 99 of this year’s judges, finishing 667 points clear of her club teammate Caroline Graham Hansen, the Norwegian climbing to her highest ranking after a superb individual year for both club and country.

This year we had 99 judges on our panel – here you can see how they all voted and the points each player got

• The top 100: check out the full list for 2024

This year we had 99 judges from around the world on the voting panel for the best 100 female footballers in the world in 2024. There was an extraordinary amount of knowledge in that group, including the current head coaches of Lyon, PSG, Eintracht Frankfurt and Ajax among others.

For full transparency, we now publish the spreadsheet with all the votes on it for our readers to see. For example, how many points did Mariona Caldentey finish behind Naomi Girma and therefore the top 10 (the answer is 66) or how close was Kika Nazareth to making the top 100 (very, only four points seperated the Portuguese and Jess Carter in 100th place).

Erling Haaland has been voted the best player in the world for 2023 by our 218-strong panel, with Jude Bellingham finishing second

• 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
• Meet the judges | Best female footballers to launch in January

It will be in the winter again and many stadiums and hotels are yet to be built but there is a genuine love for the sport

Fifa’s bid evaluation report left no doubt: Saudi Arabia had put together the most convincing, highest-scoring package of all time. Staggeringly the fact 11 of the 15 stadiums are yet to be built provided little obstacle; nor did the fact Fifa itself pointed to “associated unknowns or challenges”. Many of the new venues have been designed by the US firm Populous, which also has a headquarters in London. Its work includes Spurs’ home and Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 World Cup final. The visuals are dramatic and the ambition sweeping: King Salman Stadium in Riyadh will hold 92,000, staging the opening game and final. Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, another Riyadh venue, has perhaps been the most widely trailed with its futuristic design and open side that looks out over cliffs. Numerous promises have been made regarding the arenas’ post-tournament legacies and sustainability prospects; hopefully those plans will be effected more quickly than those made for Qatar, where Stadium 974, yet to be dismantled and reconstructed elsewhere as mooted, is one example of a ground running beyond borrowed time.

This week’s newsletter looks at a historic vote next Monday whether to grant an independent women’s club a licence to compete in the female Eredivisie for the first time ever

A historic moment awaits for football in the Netherlands on Monday, as the country’s national governing body, the KNVB, puts a highly consequential vote to its members on whether to grant an independent women’s club a licence to compete in the Eredivisie for the first time.

For the three women who have co-founded the new club hoping to “change the system”, the irony is not lost on them that everyone voting in this crucial ballot is a man. Yet they have high hopes that their dream is going to become a reality. If they get the yes vote they crave, their new club Hera United, based in Amsterdam, will play in the country’s top division next season and stage matches in the city’s historic Olympic Stadium.

This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions.

Also: the highest-ranked team with London in their name. Plus: was one of the Kray twins president of a club?

• Mail us any of your questions and answers

“Brentford have played eight Premier League home games this season, scoring 26 and conceding 14. If they maintain an average of five goals per game, will Brentford 2024-25 be the most goaltastic season ticket in Premier League history?” asks Martyn Edgar.

Brentford have the best home record in the Premier League, with seven wins out of eight, yet they’ve also conceded in every game. Neutrals tend not to buy season tickets. If they did they’d get value for money at Brentford, such has been the ding-dong nature of most matches.

Luis Enrique’s side can be quietly hopeful of Champions League progress after deathly meeting of pop-up teams

It has often been said that the point of art is to ask the essential questions. Why does this thing exist? Why is this process happening? And is there any way of making it stop? In this context Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 defeat of Salzburg at the Red Bull Arena on Champions League match-day six was undeniably a work of art.

At the end of a fretful but still relentlessly soporific game, 90 minutes of Diazepam-ball dotted with moments of quality, PSG had upgraded their hopes of progressing to the next phase from dicey to quietly hopeful.

Arsenal’s Wednesday opponents reveal how an integrated policy of buy young, pay well, sell high works for them and their sole sister club, Cercle Brugge

Monaco’s training ground, carved into a hillside above the principality, overlooks the Côte d’Azur. It is the sort of glamorous setting expected for a football team in one of the world’s richest corners. Fifteen nationalities file out of the changing rooms and on to the pitch to be coached by an Austrian, driving home the club’s eclectic nature.

They are the senior partner in a multi‑club operation that involves one other team: Cercle Brugge, who were bought in 2017. Whereas others stockpile clubs, two is the height of the ambition here, the thinking being that it provides agility but ensures focus is not diverted. Clubs live and die by recruitment and investing in another team allows more access to talent and increased scope to develop it.

Men’s senior team will play their first match since 2019 with hope for a springboard to the sport’s future

Resilience. The England men’s futsal team will likely need more than a little of it when they kick off their Uefa 2026 Euros main-round qualifying campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday. Thankfully, resilience is something the players and staff are well-versed in.

The game will be the first for the men’s senior team since 2019 after the programme was axed when the Football Association cut all funding to elite futsal four years ago. Uncertainty has defined the period since, and while the fixture in Zenica, a city north of Sarajevo, will be a landmark trip, the journey has been far from straightforward.

Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host for the 2034 men’s World Cup, after the solitary bidder for the tournament was waved through by acclamation at a Fifa congress in Zurich. The news confirms an outcome expected for more than a year since Fifa expedited its bidding process for the event. The decision has been widely condemned by human rights organisations, who cite arbitrary detentions, the abuse and deaths of migrant workers and suppression of the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people in the country among their concerns.

• Saudi Arabia confirmed as 2034 World Cup host despite human rights concerns

A panel of 99 judges have submitted their verdicts on the best female players in the world in 2024. Together their votes determined a list of the top 100 players in the world. Here, Guardian football writer Suzanne Wrack talks through the top 10 players and why they made it to the top of the list this year.

• The 100 best female footballers in the world 2024

Manchester City suffered their fourth successive Premier League defeat for the first time under Pep Guardiola after a 2-0 loss away to Liverpool. During the game Liverpool fans serenaded Guardiola with 'sacked in the morning' chants.

'Maybe I deserve to be sacked, honestly,' the Manchester City manager said. 'Maybe I'm still in the job because we won six Premier Leagues. A lot of titles. Otherwise the hierarchy maybe would be thinking that this does not work.'

When asked on Guardiola's struggles, the Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, said: 'You feel sympathy or empathy with the managers that are in a really bad place. They've either lost many games or they are down at the bottom of the league ... Last season City were eight points behind Arsenal I think in February. No one has to feel empathy or sorry for Pep. Maybe for other managers but not for Pep. He has won so many things and he will be able to bring City back.'

• Salah seals dominant Liverpool win over Manchester City in major title race blow

• Liverpool 2-0 Manchester City: player ratings from Anfield

Hundreds of Manchester United fans gathered in front of Old Trafford to protest against a recent increase in matchday ticket prices. Prices, which previously started at £40 for adults and £25 for children, were raised to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners. The move comes as part of the co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s efforts to make United more financially sustainable in the face of losses.

Fans outside the ground called the move 'unethical' and directed a number of chants at the ownership. Some Everton supporters also joined their United counterparts while Manchester City and Liverpool fans staged their own protest at Anfield in solidarity to support the Football Supporters' Association's 'Stop Exploiting Loyalty' campaign.

• Manchester United raise member ticket prices to £66 and remove concessions

Ruben Amorim thanked Manchester United supporters after his team came from behind to beat Bodø/Glimt 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday night. Despite Alejandro Garnacho's early goal the hosts found themselves trailing 2-1 before Rasmus Højlund's double secured victory.

"Half of the stadium doesn't know me and I have done nothing for this club – yet – but the way they support me in the beginning, I feel like I am not alone," Amorim said. "Like I am one of them now. It was really special."

• Højlund sinks Bodø/Glimt to give Amorim first Manchester United win

Footage shows players from Lydney Town AFC in Gloucestershire heading the ball and swimming in waist-deep floodwaters as they refused to let Storm Bert stop them from taking to the pitch. The club shared the footage on social media alongside the caption: 'Can’t believe I’m saying this … but GAME ON! Teams are out and kick off is imminent'

Antoine Griezmann caps a 4-3 victory over Sevilla with a galvanising moment that has the faithful dreaming big

When at last the battle was over, the Little Prince picked up his shield, their shield that they had fought for, and raised it to the dark night sky. If a picture tells a story, try this one from Denis Doyle late on Sunday night, something epic in it, football made film, a gift: Antoine Griezmann and the grand gesture. A cliche, sure, yet cinematic too, a poster for the premiere and possibly even planned, overblown the way it’s supposed to be. Taken from the final scene, The End and also a beginning, another saga starting. “We go together,” the Frenchman said. “This is the path towards dreaming something big.”

With 93 minutes gone against Sevilla, a man falling at his feet, Griezmann turned and smashed a shot in off the bar, victory secured at the last with the 5,000th goal in the club’s history, From 3-1 down, Atlético were now 4-3 up, heading to victory while their opponents slipped to their knees. As the ball bounced back out the net, Alexander Sørloth sent it sailing over the bar and into the north stand and Griezmann ran west, throwing his shirt almost as high. It floated and fell, then he gathered it from the field. Now he stood in the wind, blond hair swept back, a little Legolas, red against a black sky, shield raised, sleeves like ribbons around it.

Bundesliga champions fend off a late St Pauli scare for third straight league win as injuries and schedule bite

Bayer Leverkusen had been here before so many times that deja vu doesn’t really cover it. Swarming over inferior opponents with a swagger and a nonchalance that few can match, only to be left sweating in the final stages over whether the reward would arrive. This time, though, they had the answer. Just about.

We always knew that Leverkusen’s 2024-25 season would be different; the morning after the night before, and what a night it had been. A below-elite stature of club might be expected to have its team dismantled after the sort of unprecedented season of success that they’d had but Leverkusen were about as future-proofed against that as it was possible to be – particularly after Xabi Alonso planted a flag by declaring that he would stay.

The series continues in which writers have the task of choosing a boiled-down team from club’s entire history

Stephen Kasiewicz for The Gentleman Ultra

The queen of the provincial clubs were crowned Europa League winners last season. Yet Atalanta have rarely been mentioned alongside the established Italian football royalty, the Bergamo side claiming just one domestic trophy before stunning Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin.

Despite this relative lack of success, plenty of recognisable names have featured for Atalanta in their 117-year history. I decided on an offensive-minded blend of players from three different generations, a combination of hair and flair which includes two forwards from the era of the notoriously demanding master tactician Gian Piero Gasperini.

Though out of favour early in the season, the 21-year-old now benefits from Pierre Sage’s possession-based tactics

By Eric Devin for Get French Football News

The unfortunate truth about many footballing mavericks, especially in the attacking third, is that they are defined by inconsistency. Within a career, within a season or even within a match, the same level of audacity that allows the sport’s most mercurial talents to succeed can also prove their undoing. One too many stepovers and possession is lost, pressing and tracking back is an afterthought, while the desire to arrow a shot into the top corner from a tight angle looks a misstep when a cutback to a late-arriving midfielder would be the better choice.

We’ve seen these outcomes time and again, but our love for these players, those capable of a moment of magic, never seems to cease, even as they are far less frequently seen in the modern game. Ligue 1 is no exception to this – witness the many lives of Hatem Ben Arfa, the meteoric rise and rapid decline of Eden Hazard, and even the contemporary hair-pulling over Ousmane Dembélé.

Marco Baroni’s team have been a surprise package this season: shaking off a wobbly start to win 11 of 12 games

Less than 72 hours after kicking off a Coppa Italia game at home to Napoli, Lazio lined up to face a different team dressed as the same one. Their opponents on Sunday wore the club badge of the opponents they had beaten 3-1 on Thursday, yet none of the faces were familiar.

That was because Napoli’s manager, Antonio Conte, had made a full 11 changes to his starting team. He would not say outright that he had deprioritised the cup, but it was clear he viewed the players used on Thursday as his second string.

Scotland internationals discuss facing Real Madrid, doing ‘far less’ heading and their linguistic horror stories

So, what was it that first attracted you to the island of Gran Canaria with its 235km of coastline, beautiful beaches, glorious golf courses, a climate where it’s 25C today, not nudging zero like back in Nottingham or Sheffield, and a football team where you can get the better of Kylian Mbappé and beat Barcelona? “Oli was here,” Scott McKenna says. There’s a smile and then the man sitting next to him starts laughing.

On 25 July Unión Deportiva Las Palmas announced they had signed Oliver Robert McBurnie, the first Scottish footballer in their history, and only the second Briton after Vinny Samways, an icon on the island. Two weeks later, they had another, McKenna joining his old mate. Now here they are in the sunshine at the Barranco Seco training ground: the original odd couple. One defender, one striker. One quiet, that first line delivered deliciously deadpan, the other forever falling about. “Me and Scott are so different, opposites,” McBurnie says. “He’s so laidback. In the best possible way, he’s like a grumpy old man. I call him mi abuelo, my grandad.”

• Australia beat Taiwan 6-0 in women’s friendly in Geelong
• Retiring great signs off with victory in 169th and final international

The Matildas’ 6-0 win over Taiwan was the end of at least one era. In the 64th minute, Clare Polkinghorne looked up from her position at the back and saw her No 4 displayed on the fourth official’s board. This signalled her substitution for Jessika Nash and, in game 169, marked the last time she would leave the field as a member of the Matildas.

As Polkinghorne moved towards the dugout, she paused to embrace interim boss Tom Sermanni, the coach who had given her an international debut in 2006, and who was again taking charge in her final game as the side’s caretaker. “I just said, can you believe we were both here?” Sarmanni smiled post-game. “I mean, who would have thought, from 18 years ago, and then suddenly it’s back to that stage again.”

• Atalanta beat Milan 2-1 to leapfrog Napoli at summit
• Inter third after comfortable win over Parma

A late goal from Ademola Lookman secured Atalanta a hard-fought 2-1 win over Milan on Friday, lifting the hosts to the top of Serie A. Three minutes before full-time, a corner sailed across the box and an unmarked Lookman headed in the winner.

The result propelled Atalanta to the top of the standings with 34 points, two ahead of Napoli, who will play fifth-placed Lazio at home on Sunday. Milan are seventh with 22 points.

Fiorentina and Inter players had squabbled over a VAR check before the hosts’ midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest

Before Edoardo Bove fell, it had seemed as though a disallowed goal was the most important thing in the world. Fiorentina and Inter were waiting for a VAR check to confirm whether the ball really had gone out as Denzel Dumfries set up Lautaro Martínez to score in the 17th minute of their top-four clash. Players and coaches voiced their disagreement in the usual theatrical terms.

And then, it did not matter at all. Bove had not involved himself in the discussion, waiting in the far half of the pitch. He dropped to a knee for a moment, presumed to be tying a shoelace, but in fact using his hands to steady himself on the turf. After standing back up, he took a handful of steps then collapsed beside Hakan Calhanoglu.

From Franco Mastantuono to Estêvão, we select some of the most talented players born in 2007. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Endrick, we select some of the best players born in 2006. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best Premier League talents

The two Americans were on our list five years ago but their paths show the professional game is rarely straightforward

Career paths are rarely straightforward, whether in football or any other area of life. Circumstances often change. Injuries and illnesses happen, there are often changes in leadership which have an impact on the individual while personal lives also play a part.

Career paths are therefore very difficult to predict. Looking down the list of our 2019 Next Generation, which we have now followed for five years, there were no guarantees any of the players would become household names. OK, Alex Holiga, who covers the Balkans for us, was confident that Josko Gvardiol would make it big – which he has – but apart from him, and perhaps Ansu Fati, Eduardo Camavinga and Jérémy Doku, there were no certainties.

A remarkable year for the youngster. Made his Bundesliga debut on 18 January and has not looked back since. He now has 23 first-team appearances and has established himself as a starter and one of the most talented young players in Europe. “I’m still learning a lot tactically,” he said in August. “There is a very big difference between youth and professional football. Making the right movements and creating space for myself and others is what I still need to learn the most.

A tumultuous year for the young American who was caught in the crossfire of a feud between his own family and the USMNT coach, Gregg Berhalter, after the World Cup, during which he played a mere 52 minutes of the US’s four games. Injuries have once again hampered him but he is back to full fitness now and a US return seems likely too after talks with Berhalter.

Eye-catching thrashings have been a feature of the revamped competition, but the cause is up for debate

If Paris Saint-Germain take an early lead at Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday they may wonder whether to stick or twist. The new Champions League format has, at least in part, been designed to ensure Europe’s superpowers have fewer opportunities to fail, so their position risks embarrassment. They will not even qualify for the playoff round in February unless they improve on 25th place and, with three league-phase games remaining, are two points and three goals shy of the cutoff.

A tight 1-0 would prise the door back open but that might not cut it in this season’s competition. Salzburg are a shadow of their former selves and it should be an invitation to rack up a big score. The majority of PSG’s rivals have done so at least once: this edition of the tournament has been hallmarked by booming scorelines and the question, in a week that promises more of them, is why.

The sporting director’s exit after only five months is further testing supporters’ faith in direction of travel at Old Trafford

To avoid rot: the characterisation employed by a powerful Manchester United executive to explain Dan Ashworth’s departure. As in: better that he left after five months as sporting director rather than stay and allow festering damage to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reset of the club.

In play, partly, here was a face‑off between Omar Berrada and Ashworth that had the chief executive emerging as victor. Ratcliffe’s recent interview with the United We Stand fanzine featured profuse praise for Berrada and none for the man now history.

As a player he could always manifest greatness but the club that adored him and the game he bestrode has left him behind

Occasionally, at various opportune or triumphant moments in his career – posing for a photograph, say, or receiving a medal or trophy – Steven Gerrard has been called upon to smile. This is a challenge that has almost invariably proven beyond him. Take – by way of illustration – his famous goal against Olympiakos in the Champions League, 20 years ago last Sunday. We all remember what happens: header, ball drops, Gerrard smashes it in from distance and tears off in celebration, fists flying, teammates in pursuit.

But is he smiling? Not really! Something is definitely happening to his face: a sort of simultaneous compression and explosion. And clearly he prefers this state of affairs to any alternative. But you would probably characterise his expression – at one of the most memorable and satisfying moments of his career – as more of a growl, a scream of rage and defiance and exorcism and vindication. Happiness: by and large, this was something Gerrard preferred to leave to others.

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You will be shocked, shocked, to learn the 2034 World Cup is going to be held in … Saudi Arabia. Niall McVeigh has all the latest news.

Here is an idea I’ve been incubating for quite a while now. I suggest that Premier League clubs are seeded for the FA Cup third-round draw. Year after year we get all-Premier League ties when most clubs below that are hoping (desperately in many cases) to land one of the big boys and boost their coffers. TV only add to the farce when they decide to televise the all-top-flight tie (see Aston Villa v West Ham this year) and awarding the rights/fees to clubs already financially better off. Elitism in football continues to get worse by the day” – Tony Dunbar.

Further to Jonathan Kendal’s missive on FC United (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), I’d like to note (as a founder member of AFC Liverpool) that the benefits of non-league are not just financial. The sense of community among fans, players and staff at clubs below the professional-ish league is worth the (low) cost of entry itself and would warm even the cold heart of a Fifa official. I implore those that don’t already have a second team to look for a local one in a lower division and enjoy yourself, or at least get rained on watching a 6-0 thumping for less than a mortgage payment for a change” – (not that) Andrew Tate.

Ah, Jonathan, get real. Your proposed model of supporting football offers me nothing. Why on earth should I support a club I can only read about by struggling to find an informed local paper that Reach hasn’t destroyed, when I can have constant vacuous clickbait piped into my very phone? Why should I actually bother going to a match and smelling Bovril and turf when I can go to a generic pub and drink the same overpriced lagers, and have constant hyped factoids deafeningly boomed into my ears? Why should I exert myself to travel to an away game when I can sit at home with football blaring in the background, while I distractedly scroll on about Strictly or Timothée Chalamet or some death that’s nothing to do with me? Look, I just want to don expensive nylon and claim to be into football without needing to support a team I ever go and see or even live anywhere near to. That way, when every game gets moved to the Middle East, I won’t even notice the difference” – Jon Millard.

Fulham certainly are coming up in the world. Not only did we appear in yesterday’s letters but we also got an honourable mention in David Squires’ latest take on modern-day football. Whatever next? By the way, please note that the Spursy equivalent term is Fulhamish and has long been established, in fact it’s the subject of a very well-produced podcast and more” – Marisa Cardoni (and others).

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Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Philippe Auclair discuss big wins for Liverpool and Villa, while Brest’s dream continues. Plus, David Squires joins to chat about his new book

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On the podcast today: wins for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the Champions League. Ross Barkley grabs a late winner in Leipzig and Liverpool keep up their 100% start with a somewhat unconvincing performance in Girona.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Chris Paouros, and Sophie Downey to round up the weekend’s Women’s Super League action

On the podcast today: there was a seven-goal thriller at the foot of the WSL table as West Ham came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 5-2, with five different scorers and Rehanne Skinner’s side climbing up to eighth. Is this a turning point for West Ham?

Chelsea notched their ninth consecutive win in a 4-2 victory over Brighton, while Manchester United and Arsenal cruised to 4-0 victories. Bunny Shaw leads Manchester City to a dominant win against Leicester. The panel also responds to Marc Skinner’s comments about criticism of his team.

Fulham’s Antonee Robinson shines against Bukayo Saka, Tottenham squander another lead and woe at Old Trafford

There are numerous issues when taking over a team mid-season. One is that a new head coach might not have the right players for his plan and he has very little time to implement what he wants with those he does. Ruben Amorim has arranged his players – in various combinations – into his preferred 3-4-3 formation and it is clear what the strategy is, although there are flaws. The defence is struggling, where the three centre-backs are not performing their main duty of keeping clean sheets. Against Forest every set-piece looked like it might result in a goal. Only Nikola Milenkovic did score from a corner but the others were more farcical as André Onana got confused by Morgan Gibbs-White and a seemingly harmless Chris Wood header was allowed to drop in off the post. Maybe chopping and changing is Amorim’s issue and he needs to back a first-choice back three to allow them to settle and offer a foundation to build on. Will Unwin

Sonia Bompastor continues to impress, Palace remain spirited and Liverpool’s formation switch backfires

West Ham may have got the better of Crystal Palace at Victoria Road but the WSL newcomers look far from destined for the drop. Palace took an early two-goal lead in the fierce wind before the Hammers rallied. By the break it was 3-2 to the home team and at the final whistle 5-2. Rehanne Skinner said afterwards that she does not think Palace will go down, comments Laura Kaminski took heart from. The south London side may sit bottom but they are in the mix, separated from Leicester only on goal difference and just five points from sixth place. “The team that went up last year [Bristol City] showed how difficult the gap is,” said Kaminski. “We’re in and around, before Christmas, the number of points they got on the board for all of last season.” She is right, Palace have five points, one away from the six accrued by Bristol across the course of last season. The gap between the WSL and Championship may be big but Palace have the foundation of a side capable of bridging it. SW

Match report: West Ham 5-2 Crystal Palace

WSL roundup: Chelsea equal record as Russo inspires Arsenal

Luxury tax on foreign sanitary pads is tainting the experience of some players and harming their progress

Portia Prempeh believes being comfortable brings out the best in every player, especially women – which is why she is particularly wary of how period poverty has tainted her experience as a footballer in the Ghana Women’s Premier League.

On days when Portia did not have enough sanitary towels, she had to lie that she was not well enough to play. This is the case for most footballers in the league.

Our cartoonist looks at the hard work that has gone on at the football factory to pave the way for Saudi World Cup

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Plus: players scoring the highest percentage of a club’s goals, ever increasing tallies of goals in scorelines and more

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“Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick of penalties for Bournemouth at Wolves. Who else has achieved this and who was the last player to do it in the English top flight?” asks Robbie Considine.

Kluivert’s hat-trick of penalties was the first in Premier League history and the first in the English top flight for 67 years. In December 1957, Manchester City’s Ken Barnes did the necessary three times in a big win over Everton. “No other explanation of Manchester City’s drastic 6-2 defeat of Everton at Moss Side, Manchester, on Saturday is possible except that of sheer brilliance,” wrote the Manchester Guardian’s correspondent. “Barnes had the unusual experience of scoring three goals – all from penalties. What is more, he seized the occasion to demonstrate how easily a goalkeeper may be beaten by the silkiest, gentlest of kicks, provided due regard is paid to placing.”

Enzo Maresca’s team started the season in chaos and uncertainty. But that was the case the last time they claimed the league crown

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Nobody saw Chelsea coming the last time they won the title. The key moment came in the sixth game of the season when they found themselves 3-0 down at half-time away at Arsenal. They’d lost at home to Liverpool the previous week and drawn at Swansea the week before that. Their manager, Antonio Conte, having tried to accommodate himself to the squad decided enough was enough: the squad had to bend to him. At half-time he switched to his preferred back three and in the comforting drabness of a goalless second half of a game that was already lost, was born the revolution.

Chelsea won their next 13 league games and by the time anybody had worked out how to deal with their 3-4-2-1, with N’Golo Kanté and Nemanja Matić an apparently impenetrable shield at the back of midfield, it was too late. There was no European football to worry about – the previous season had seen José Mourinho’s meltdown and a 10th-placed finish – and so Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso remained fresh enough to keep tearing up and down the field at wing-back. Elsewhere the stars aligned: Manchester City were still getting used to Pep Guardiola in his first season in English football, Arsenal were still in their late-Wenger drift, Liverpool still building under Jürgen Klopp, and so Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham were Chelsea’s closest challengers. But 93 points would probably have won the league whoever came second.

Team’s vulnerabilities were exposed again leaving more questions than answers over commitment to attack

It was another example of how things keep on conspiring against Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham. At least, that was how the manager wanted to frame it after the 4-3 home defeat by Chelsea on Sunday. At 2-0 up it was looking good but this is Spurs, where stability has proved elusive, where problems can strike at any time. Often at the best of times.

So it was that Cristian Romero had to go off with a thigh injury in the 15th minute. The influential centre-half had passed a fitness test, having missed the previous four games with a toe issue, and, of course, he just had to feel the new setback after an extravagantly risky backheel move inside his own area on eight minutes.

Male players must step up and add their voice to the campaign to stop our sport being sold out to the big polluters causing climate change

At the Cop29 climate conference last month Sofie Junge Pedersen and Katie Rood again called for Fifa to drop its sponsorship deal with the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco. They were among more than 130 female players who signed an open letter in October that described the partnership as a “middle finger to women’s football” that will do real damage to people and our planet.

After the letter was published, I spoke out in support of their initiative. I hoped other professional male players would join me. The women were widely applauded for speaking out but their male counterparts have not followed suit. On Wednesday, Fifa is poised to confirm Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 men’s World Cup.