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2 min Ajer stabs a long pass down the left towards Schade, forcing Mamardashvili to come out of his box to clear. That means the first long throw of the game…

1 min And they’re off!

A Ruben Amorim pirouette and revolving fist-pump greeted Bryan Mbeumo putting Manchester United 3-0 up and told the tale of how precious this third consecutive league victory is.

Yet the goal came on 61 minutes and still United found themselves clinging on at 3-2 deep into added time before Mbeumo smashed home his second. Almost instantly Anthony Taylor blew for time and “Glory, Glory Man United” blared out at Old Trafford.

• England Women 1-2 Brazil

• Stanway 52pen; Bia Zaneratto 10, Dudinha 18

England were caught out against Brazil at the Etihad Stadium, Georgia Stanway’s penalty not enough to cancel out first-half goals from Bia Zaneratto and Dudinha, but it was far from a performance to worry about.

Shortly after taking a two-goal lead, the visiting team were down to 10, Angelina receiving a straight red for bringing down Ella Toone, but despite a gutsy and fiery battle to the end, Sarina Wiegman’s side couldn’t find the equalising goal.

In different circumstances the boos when the full-time whistle arrived and Stamford Bridge digested another stumble from Chelsea on home soil would have been the story of the day. It would have been about Enzo Maresca’s shortcomings against a low block, the creative deficit caused by Cole Palmer’s absence and the inconsistencies preventing the youngest team in the Premier League from muscling their way into the title race.

Victory would have lifted Chelsea two points off top spot before Arsenal host Crystal Palace on Sunday. Victory, though, was never within their grasp. Sunderland, again showing why they are such a fine addition to the Premier League, never allowed the world champions to assume control.

• National League club’s 12-hour journey ends in 2-2 draw

• First 90 fans to arrive at Gateshead shared a £920 bar tab

For the players, staff and travelling supporters of Truro City, the gruelling 914-mile round trip to Gateshead was a mixed blessing in the end. The 12-hour bus journey from Cornwall in the south-west all the way up England’s spine to the north-east bore a single point and a free pint or two.

Truro drew their National League match at 2-2 at Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday having led 2-0 in the 54th minute, in what is turning out to be a season of epic train journeys and unrelenting hauls up and down English A roads and motorways. After goals from Dominic Johnson-Fisher and Christian Oxlade-Chamblerlain, Gateshead rebounded through Kain Adom and, in the 70th minute, Frank Nouble.

• 3-1 victory takes Coventry three points clear, as Boro held

• Sheffield Wednesday lose to Oxford as fans enjoy Chansiri exit

Coventry, the leaders, recorded their sixth win in a row with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Watford, which proved enough to extend their lead at the top to three points.

Frank Lampard’s side got off to a flying start when Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jamie Allen scored within the first seven minutes. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto made it 3-0 on 42 minutes before James Abankwah was sent off for the visitors. Imran Louza’s second-half penalty proved nothing more than a consolation for Javi Gracia’s side.

Newcastle may finally be mastering the tricky art of winning twice in a week. Eddie Howe’s players did not always convince and it was not until the 90th minute that Bruno Guimarães secured all three points, but ultimately they followed up the 3-0 Champions League victory over Benfica by edging past Fulham.

That should be a relief to Newcastle’s new chief executive, David Hopkinson, who is presiding over a 100-day review of all areas of club operations. It is the sort of management exercise beloved of senior executives across assorted companies but the reality at St James’ Park is that almost every department remains largely a hostage to first-team fortunes. If Howe’s team fail to qualify for the Champions League again next season everyone suffers the consequences.

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.

In none of La Liga’s 192 derbi meetings have any British players faced each other – on Sunday at last they will

The first time Barcelona came to the capital to play Madrid, in the semi-final of the Copa de la Coronación which marked the 16th birthday and ascension to the throne of Alfonso XIII in 1902, there were three Englishmen in the team. Arthur Witty, John Parsons and Henry Morris didn’t score that May afternoon at the Hippodrome, where the teams had tetanus jabs before playing and, according to one Catalan news sheet, they had been distressed at an ungentlemanly and unexpectedly partisan crowd applauding whenever they fell over and going silent when they scored, but they did win 3-1.

Barcelona, after all, had what one paper called “a significant advantage when it came to physical condition and experience”. Born in Catalonia, Witty and Parsons had been founder members of the club three years earlier; Morris, actually Enrique, was born in Manilla to an English father and Spanish mother, had played for a couple of clubs in the city where he had arrived with his family aged 10 and was essentially a ringer. And they had two Swiss players and a German as well. Founded by two Catalan brothers two months earlier, Madrid were not yet Real and hadn’t been playing long. Most of them hadn’t, at least.

The Argentine has been as excellent as ever in his later years, but his presence and performance has yet to push MLS into the US mainstream

OK, show of hands. How many of you knew that Lionel Messi – a global superstar who has committed to spend his next three years in the United States – just completed the best individual season in Major League Soccer history?

Be honest.

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports

The leaders host Celtic on Sunday five points clear, boosted by Brighton owner’s access to ‘the best dataset in the world’

When Hearts went top of the table during a captivating but ultimately ill-fated campaign of 1985-86, the Scottish football writer John Fairgrieve insisted far too much was being made of his team’s prominence. “This is the club that represents the capital city,” he wrote. “Not merely Stenhousemuir, Montrose, Hibernian or Arbroath.”

The dig at Hibs still makes those who frequent Tynecastle Park smile, but there was a broader truism. Edinburgh, for reasons enhanced by four decades of Old Firm championship dominance, is viewed in provincial football terms.

Before facing his former club the defender explains why he left Anfield when Slot wanted him to stay and why he is loving life at Brentford

Sepp van den Berg knew what he had to do. The Brentford centre-back knew what he was going to do. Another summer, another change; another push to find a footballing home. It was June 2024 and as he enjoyed a lunch in the sunshine with his brother and friends in their hometown of Zwolle in the Netherlands, he could reflect on an excellent season on loan from Liverpool at Mainz. “Then I got a tap on my shoulder,” Van den Berg says.

It was Arne Slot. Another guy who had grown up in the area. Slot’s first job as a manager had been with the PEC Zwolle under-13s after he retired as a player at the club in 2013; Van den Berg, playing a year up, was in his squad. Now Slot had been confirmed as Jürgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool and he was looking forward to the start of pre-season.

• Kimmich, Guerreiro and Karl capitalise on Castrop red card

• Bundesliga leaders have won 13 from 13 in all competitions

Bayern Munich needed more than an hour before breaking the resistance of Borussia Mönchengladbach, to earn a 3-0 victory over opponents who spent more than 75% of the game with 10 men. It was the Bundesliga leaders’ 13th win in 13 matches across all competitions this season.

Joshua Kimmich slotted in after 64 minutes and the substitute Raphaël Guerreiro added another five minutes later before the teenager Lennart Karl, who had scored in their Champions League win over Club Brugge on Wednesday, made it 3-0 in the 81st. Bayern have a maximum 24 points from eight league matches, five ahead of RB Leipzig, 6-0 winners at Augsburg.

This story will be updated

Perhaps taking an extended holiday after being sacked by Nottingham Forest would have been a more sensible next step for Nuno Espírito Santo. Rather than being on a peaceful cruise, he is captaining a sinking ship with his West Ham defenders playing their role by being all at sea in defeat by Leeds.

Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon were allowed space in the box to put Leeds two up within a quarter of an hour. Leeds faded in the second half, offering West Ham a chance to fight back but the visitors lacked quality in the final third and could muster only a late consolation goal through Manuel Fernandes. The defeat leaves West Ham second bottom of the Premier League nine games into their worst start to a season in 52 years, and their only win came against their current head coach.

Online debate around Lionesses squad has been fierce but game against Brazil is about flexibility, not finality

The online discourse when Sarina Wiegman named her England squad for the October international window was emphatic: Maya Le Tissier must play at centre-back; Aggie Beever-Jones must start; Taylor Hinds’s allegiance switch is odd; this player isn’t good enough … it is scandalous that that player hasn’t been included.

It’s good that people care, that fans are engaged in the details, drilling down into what England do, and are discussing how they take the next step on the way towards the 2027 World Cup. Opinion is valuable. Sometimes, though, the discussion verges on hysteria, can feel misplaced and, as England head into the first of four friendlies in their “Homecoming Series”, it all feels a bit over the top.

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

Forward joined Arsenal in the summer for £67m and takes on former club where he spent five years and gained hero status

“For ever grateful, man, that’s how I feel – that will be me for life,” reflected Eberechi Eze on his time at Crystal Palace during an interview with Ian Wright when he signed for Arsenal. Wright, another south Londoner who made the move, coincidentally at the same age – 27 – in September 1991, seemed the perfect person with whom to share what Eze described as “the realisation of a prayer we started 20 years ago as a family”. Yet for a small minority of Palace supporters with very long memories it rekindled bitter feelings about an incident that occurred at Highbury in May 1993.

Wright had not held back after scoring Arsenal’s winner on his first appearance against Steve Coppell’s side at Selhurst Park a few months earlier – “I celebrated because Palace fans were being nasty,” he later explained – and further soured the relationship by kissing the badge when he gave his team the lead in a match his old side desperately needed to win to avoid relegation. “After I scored I remember Nigel Martyn saying: ‘Wrighty, what are you doing? You’re going to send us down,’” he recalled.

What has happened, why has it happened and what happens now – and could a regulator have prevented this?

The owner of Sheffield Wednesday, Dejphon Chansiri, has placed the club into administration. He has done the same with the company that owns Hillsborough, Wednesday’s stadium. As a result, administrators have taken over the day-to-day running of one of England’s historic clubs, with a view to stabilising financial performance and, ultimately, finding a new owner. Going into administration is a measure of last resort for any struggling business and carries sanctions in English football. Sheffield Wednesday have been docked 12 points by the EFL, leaving them adrift at the bottom of the Championship on -6 points, 13 behind Blackburn Rovers, the next side in the table.

The Chelsea striker worked hard but failed to score in her first game for the Matildas since sustaining a knee injury

Perhaps Joe Montemurro is a fan of the O’Jays, or the Kinks, because the Matildas’ coach definitely didn’t waste any time in giving the people what they wanted when he picked his team to face Wales. There was to be no beating around the bush here, no carefully managed substitutions or reacting to the ebbs, flows and physicality of the game. For the first time in 725 days, Sam Kerr was going to play for Australia. And she was going to do so from the start.

After months of anticipation, the moment was here and the scene set for something special. Kerr had scored on her return for Chelsea, after all; why not now in her return to the national team fold, too?

Very few have worked out how to contain Manchester City’s striker. As past opponents attest, there are no easy solutions

No coach has found a way to stop Erling Haaland in his past 12 matches, the striker scoring in each and 22 times in all competitions for club and country. Pep Guardiola knows most about the Norwegian’s talents and jokingly suggested a plan to keep him out: “Four centre-backs.” There are no straightforward answers, especially as so many have tried and failed.

On Sunday Aston Villa and Unai Emery will be tasked with formulating a strategy to keep Haaland quiet. Not that the Manchester City player is particularly perturbed by not being involved for much of a match. His touches are infrequent but very often telling. The focus generally against Haaland is preventing the ball from reaching him but with City’s array of creative talents, that is easier said than done.

Today’s newsletter looks at the next World Cup hosts as they prepare to take on England and Italy with a squad with an average age of 24

The road to the 2027 World Cup is long and winding for all teams hoping to qualify – apart from the hosts, Brazil. Having won their ninth Copa América Femenina in the summer, their next major tournament will be the World Cup in 20 months.

That may seem like a long time but the head coach, Arthur Elias, is aware that every minute of preparation counts, starting with their friendlies against England in Manchester on Saturday and Italy in Parma on Tuesday.

Marc Guiu faces Sunderland reunion, Manchester United seek a minor three-peat and Mohamed Salah has to step up

Leeds host West Ham in a Friday night match that, even at this early stage of the season, looks very much like a quintessential relegation six-pointer. Elland Road is a wonderfully atmospheric ground but given the local traffic congestion, getting there, particularly on a Friday evening, is invariably tortuous. The prospect of exacerbating that gridlock dictates that the club’s plans to expand Elland Road to 53,000 appear in potential jeopardy. Leeds city council will make a final, delayed, decision on the project on 27 November but, with 65% of the team’s fans driving to matches, there is concern about the inevitable extra traffic chaos. The club hope to reduce the percentage of match-bound car travel to 51%, but to do that public transport needs to improve; Leeds is the biggest city in western Europe without a metro system. Cycling? Anyone familiar with the area’s topography knows it is not a realistic option for the vast majority of fans. Louise Taylor

Leeds v West Ham, Friday 8pm BST

Chelsea v Sunderland, Saturday 3pm BST

Newcastle v Fulham, Saturday 3pm BST

Manchester United v Brighton, Saturday 5.30pm BST

Brentford v Liverpool, Saturday 8pm BST

Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, Sunday 2pm GMT

The Western Conference’s No 1 seed can become the second expansion team to win MLS Cup

As San Diego FC prepare for their first playoff appearance this Sunday, they do so with the deserved title of record breakers. The expansion club has earned the Western Conference’s No 1 seed and set records for most victories (19) and points (63) in a single season by an MLS expansion team. As a result, they will be at home for the remainder of the playoffs, and would host MLS Cup if they make it there and meet anyone other than Inter Miami, Cincinnati, or the Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union.

Now, they’re aiming for more history – to become the first expansion side to win MLS Cup since 1998 when the Chicago Fire achieved it against DC United.

• Ringleaders earned tens of thousands of euros a game

• Tourists were primary targets with tickets up to €800

Porto have dismantled one of the largest ticket-scalping networks uncovered in football, reclaiming hundreds of seats at their Estádio do Dragão that had been exploited for profit on the illegal resale market. The operation was earning its ringleaders tens of thousands of euros a match.

Porto said one alleged ringleader had convinced dozens of people to hand over personal details, which he used to register them as club members and purchase season tickets in their names. “These schemes reached an impressive scale, with dozens of seats controlled by a single individual,” the club said in a statement to the Guardian. “We also identified businesses processing hundreds of transactions, serving as fronts for this unlawful activity.”

• Kick It Out Israel finds 367 instances in 2024-25

• Of those, 118 were linked to Maccabi supporters

Racist chanting by Israeli football fans grew rapidly over the past year, data shows, with Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters the most likely to engage in discriminatory behaviour. The research was conducted by Kick It Out Israel, which is funded by a civil society organisation, Givat Haviva, that works towards the “creation of a shared society for Jews and Arabs”.

It found 367 instances of racist chanting at Israeli Premier League (IPL) matches in the 2024-25 season, a record total and an increase of 67% on the previous campaign.

• Potter takes charge of November’s final two qualifiers

• Sweden aiming for March’s playoffs via two routes

Graham Potter has been appointed Sweden’s head coach on a short-term deal with the goal of qualifying for the World Cup. The 50-year-old, sacked by West Ham less than a month ago, will take charge of the final two qualifiers next month and his contract will be extended to cover the playoffs and next summer’s tournament should the team get there.

Sweden are bottom of their qualifying group with one point from four games and play in Switzerland on 15 November then at home to Slovenia three days later. They could reach the playoffs even if they do not finish second because they won Nations League group C1. The 12 qualifying group runners-up will be joined by the four best-ranked Nations League section winners in March’s playoffs.

Stunning goals by Eli Kroupi and Loum Tchaouna mean they are forcing their way into my brain at the expense of Ian Juryeff

I managed to watch last Saturday’s Match of the Day without knowing the scores. It really is one of life’s enduring thrills. So the first time I’d seen or heard of Loum Tchaouna was when he picked up the ball in the 68th minute at Turf Moor, looked around a bit and thought: “Sod it, I’ll just whack it from here.” And how! What a brilliant way to introduce himself to my brain – which was perhaps not his ultimate goal; in this instance a goal was very much his ultimate goal.

By the time of this last-on-MOTD wonderstrike, I’d obviously spent the previous hour watching various other footballers at work – most of them pretty familiar. The odd one did require a cursory Google. Who is Eli Kroupi? Who are all these Chelsea players? Do they really have the same sized squad as all the other teams? If I was cloning footballers in a laboratory and slipping them into the Champions League squad, I’d call them Reggie Walsh.

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.

Manager inherits a group of players that suits him and has a track record of creating camaraderie in his squads

Sean Dyche was often spotted at the City Ground while out of work. The Nottingham Forest job has been of interest to him for a long time, and not only because he lives close by. The circumstances in which the role has become available are not ideal for an incoming head coach but his appointment is the pragmatic choice in ludicrous circumstances.

Ange Postecoglou was never the right man, inheriting a squad that did not suit his style and did not adapt quickly enough, though it did not help that he told the players their previous achievements meant nothing. His tenure will go down in history for all the wrong reasons. Dyche, on the other hand, has plenty of respect for what Forest achieved under Nuno Espírito Santo and is far more aligned with that conservatism than with what was witnessed under Postecoglou.

More than half the 26 places appear to be locked down but big names are at risk with qualification secured and the tournament looming

Fresh from breaking Gordon Banks’s record for consecutive England clean sheets, Jordan Pickford remains the undisputed pick in goal. A miserly defensive record is a positive for Thomas Tuchel, even if the shutouts have come against poor sides. John Stones, such an elegant centre-back, is back in the team and will start at the World Cup if he stays fit. But who will partner him? Tuchel likes Ezri Konsa, whose versatility also makes him an option at right-back, and Marc Guéhi; big Dan Burn also looks established after making his international debut in March. It is more uncertain at left-back, but Reece James will play at right-back as long as his body does not let him down.

Our cartoonist looks back at the doomed and very short reign of Ange Postecoglou at the City Ground

• Buy a copy of this cartoon in our Print Shop

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

After eye-catching showings for Aston Villa, piano-playing psychology student is ready to step up for England duty

Lucia Kendall was watching TV, probably a drama, and missed Sarina Wiegman’s call. She wasn’t expecting it. Certainly not this soon. The 21-year-old joined Aston Villa from the WSL 2 club Southampton in the summer but her start in the top division has been so impressive that it has yielded a first senior England call-up for the friendlies against Brazil and Australia.

“It’s surreal really,” Kendall says at the team’s St George’s Park training base. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in. I’m just here to learn as much as possible. This team’s just gone and won back-to-back Euros so to be able to be in their environment is something I really didn’t think I’d get to do so soon.”

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he could take World Cup matches away from US cities he deems ‘unsafe’. Here’s what he said – and what powers he does and doesn’t have

Former England midfielder has always been a disruptor and says Saturday’s match will show his kids he can fight

David Bentley has never been one to turn down a challenge, even if it is to his detriment. In 2008, on England duty, he got roped into playing what was meant to be a lighthearted game with Jimmy Bullard, shouting “Postman Pat” at Fabio Capello in training, on account of the manager’s likeness to the children’s character. Capello – perhaps unsurprisingly – did not see the funny side and Bentley never played for England again.

Bentley has always been audacious. When coming through at Arsenal, he accidentally sat in the seat of the club captain, Patrick Vieira, in the canteen. When the Frenchman tapped the then teenager on the shoulder, ordering him to vacate the seat in front of the rest of the squad, Bentley refused as a matter of principle. “I wasn’t going to let anyone mug me off,” Bentley says. “If I was on the street, no chance. I’m not moving. There’s a hierarchy but I don’t know, I’m not having that. But I can feel his hand on my shoulder now.” He spent the next three months getting kicked in training by Vieira and excluded from nights out with the team.

By blending diaspora players with homegrown talent the island nation of fewer than 600,000 people has qualified for 2026 tournament

On 5 July 1975, the Cape Verdean flag was raised for the first time at Estádio da Várzea in the capital city of Praia, marking the nation’s declaration of independence from Portugal. At that moment, there was no national football team – and no sign of what was to come.

Exactly 100 days after the 50th anniversary of independence, the country’s flag was waved at the very same ground, where crowds gathered to celebrate Cape Verde’s historic first World Cup qualification with the players who had earlier secured the decisive 3-0 win against Eswatini five miles away at the National Stadium. This island nation off the coast of Senegal, with a population of fewer than 600,000, has become the second‑smallest country to qualify for the tournament, after Iceland in 2018.

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As October draws to a close and a relentless winter of football looms into view, the biggest domestic game of the season anywhere in Europe – and a contest that could decide a title race – is set to light up a gloomy Sunday afternoon. But after Scottish league leaders Hearts take on Celtic at midday [GMT! – Football Daily Ed], there’s also a decent-looking fixture in Spain. Yes, el clásico is back, this time with a hefty dose of existential angst.

Sadly, I mistakenly thought that nominative determinism would make a winner of me on my bet on Aston Villa’s opponents scoring first. Still, Come From Behind Eagles has a certain ring to it” – Richard Reisman.

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

The former Tottenham manager made a rash Premier League return, and it will probably be his last

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

The weirdest aspect of Ange Postecoglou’s 40-day reign at Nottingham Forest was how inevitable it all felt. The only shock was that he was sacked on Saturday, within minutes of a 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea, rather than a day or two later. But by then, it was obvious this ill-starred adventure had run its course; perhaps it was kinder to everybody to bring it to an end. Forest, certainly, had to act quickly if they are to make the most of their first European campaign in three decades.

But why was such an obviously terrible appointment made in the first place? What was it that made the Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, ever think that Postecoglou was the right man to succeed Nuno Espírito Santo? They met in July at an event staged by the Greek league to celebrate Postecoglou winning the Europa League with Tottenham, but was it really just that? That they got on well over a glass of wine?

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.

The duo face Germany and Sweden respectively in this week’s semi-finals and should each have enough to win

First leg: Friday, Düsseldorf, 4.45pm (all times BST). Second leg; Tuesday, Caen, 8.10pm

I had high hopes of making a difference when I joined Halifax Women but ended up feeling let down. Clubs have a responsibility to look after their players – at all levels

Football has given me some wonderful experiences. As a young Arab and Egyptian woman playing for Stoke City from 2017 to 2021 I broke barriers and that paved the way for some exciting opportunities. Fifa selected me as a 2022 World Cup ambassador and put me in a film with David Beckham; I also became an Adidas ambassador and worked as an Afcon pundit for the BBC.

But there have been less easy times as well. As an Egyptian international, representing a country that stands 95th in the Fifa rankings, there are obstacles to playing in the biggest leagues. Because of the points system for international players I left Stoke for the chance of playing second-tier football in Spain with Albacete. And since coming back to England, I’ve seen a world very distant from the new riches of the WSL.

Plus: Austria’s full-house of goals and assists, more free-kick purple patches and seeing red after scoring a hat-trick

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Is Ange Postecoglou’s 40-day spell at Nottingham Forest the shortest for a full-time manager in the English top flight?” asks Donna Stevens.

Any Nottingham Forest manager aspires to emulate the achievements of Brian Clough at the City Ground, or at least pay some kind of success-based tribute. Alas, Ange Postecoglou’s spell at Forest was more reminiscent of Clough’s time at Leeds – short and sour.

Ron Futcher, Charlton 5-3 Barnsley, Division Two, March 1985
Futcher’s hat-trick put Barnsley 3-0 ahead; he was then sent off with the score 3-3 before Charlton completed a spectacular comeback.

Hristo Stoichkov, Atlético Madrid 1-4 Barcelona, La Liga, September 1992

Benni McCarthy, Porto 5-3 Santa Clara, Primeira Liga, April 2002

Marco Gabbiadini, Sunderland 4-0 Ipswich, Division Two, March 1989
Quite an achievement, this one – after 87 minutes Gabbiadini had scored only one goal. He added two more in the 88th and 89th before being sent off in the 90th for an alleged right-hander.

Chris Iwelumo, Preston 1-3 Wolves, Championship, September 2008

Hugo Almeida, Werder Bremen 3-0 St Pauli, Bundesliga, November 2010

Arsenal’s title chase picks up pace, Yankuba Minteh gets one over on Newcastle and Wolves are in a tight spot

The high-stakes duel in one of the fiercest rivalries in the English game came down to a crucial in-game management decision. Arne Slot, a manager lauded for smart substitutions last season, took a gamble in the 62nd minute, making three changes that aggressively shifted Liverpool into a 4-2-4, leaving Curtis Jones and Florian Wirtz dangerously exposed in midfield. The gamble initially appeared worthwhile: after rattling a post twice, Cody Gakpo finally delivered a 78th-minute equaliser to breathe some life into the deflated Anfield crowd. But Ruben Amorim remained calm and trusted his vision. Liverpool were undone just six minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’s fantastic cross found Harry Maguire inexplicably alone at the far post, the lack of defensive bodies evident as he thumped in the winner. Slot was hoping for a high-risk, high-reward outcome but ultimately, United’s grit in the second half paid off. Amorim has his critics – droves of them – but his tactics, including starting Maguire, were vindicated to earn United’s first win at Anfield since 2016. Two league wins on the bounce is a first for Amorim at United. Are the wheels shifting? “It’s an embarrassing stat to have had,” said Maguire. “We have to start putting a bit more consistency together. We have set a benchmark.” Yara El-Shaboury

Match report: Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa

Match report: Fulham 0-1 Arsenal

Match report: Nottingham Forest 0-3 Chelsea

Match report: Brighton 2-1 Newcastle

Match report: Manchester City 2-0 Everton

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

By the time next summer’s World Cup kicks off, it’ll have been 12 years since Italy last played at the tournament they have won more times (four) than any other nation besides Brazil (five) and Germany (also four). The way things are going, the Azzurri’s 12-year wait for World Cup qualification could become a 16-year one at the very least.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul Watson and Ben Fisher as the Premier League returns this weekend

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook and email.

On the podcast today: the panel preview the upcoming round of fixtures including Liverpool at home to Manchester United in a game that feels significant for both sides. Arne Slot has some big decisions to make while a win for Ruben Amorim would potentially blast his side up to the dizzying heights of sixth.

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