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Former Chelsea and England maverick on being portrayed as spoilt at 16, Max Dowman’s future, his admiration for Mikel Arteta, and a big dream of managing England

“Someone who worked a lot with rock stars told me that the age that they become famous is the age they stay for the rest of their life. I thought: ‘That doesn’t bode well for me,’” Joe Cole says ruefully. “I was in the public eye at 16 and thrust in front of the media. You grow up, you become a dad, but you’re still a footballer. And then, all of a sudden, it stops but your whole identity is still wrapped up in it.”

The former West Ham, Chelsea and England footballer, a gifted maverick who always felt a man out of time, playing a game years ahead of most of his contemporaries, smiles when I ask how old he feels now: “Forty‑four. I’m 44 [this Saturday]. My wife will laugh if she reads this, but you emotionally mature quite quickly as a footballer.”

Fallout from the goalkeeper’s autobiography a reminder of the danger inherent in sport becoming a disposable human drama

“Why do you write like you’re running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re running out of time
Every day you fight, like you’re running out of time
Keep on fighting in the meantime …”
Hamilton (2015)

But let’s leave Mary Earps to one side for a moment. Let’s leave Hannah Hampton and Sarina Wiegman and Sonia Bompastor, and who did what, who said it when. Let’s talk about you. How do you feel you’ve conducted yourself during the past few days? How would you rate your words and actions? To what extent do they stack up against your own personal morals and values?

The Scottish midfielder on the constant battle to keep his place, the ‘stigma’ of employing a home chef, and why he believes Aston Villa will win a big trophy soon

John McGinn has spent the best part of half an hour reflecting on his journey to this point, his next appearance for Aston Villa his 300th for the club, when he volunteers something of a confession. Asked whether he has lasered in on nutrition to maximise performance, perhaps inspired by Erling Haaland revealing his penchant for raw milk and honey, the Villa captain smiles a little sheepishly. “Yeah, I have, which makes me feel quite uncomfortable because I’m from a very humble part of the world,” he says, referring to his roots in Clydebank, a few miles north-west of Glasgow.

“They will all laugh at me and wind me up for it but I do have a chef at home. I think there is a stigma towards it: ‘Who do you think you are?’ Which I get, because it used to be me thinking that. I was more nervous about telling my siblings and my mum and dad about the idea of having a chef than actually having one. My mum and dad were always running us about to training and if my dad was cooking it was always whatever is left in the fridge.

The Norwegian’s goalscoring feats have become so vast they hardly need chronicling, but at least he’s now doing it with a smile

With 27 minutes gone, and Manchester City 1-0 up, Erling Haaland did an extraordinary and also very funny thing. Strolling with feigned disinterest away from a free‑kick in the centre circle, Haaland turned, took the ball, and decided to run straight at the Borussia Dortmund defence, dragging with him a pair of desperate yellow shirts, grabbing and stumbling and firing their useless harpoons into the great white beast ahead of them.

There was nothing uncontrolled about this. It was an act of targeted violence by Haaland, the application of a superior force (basically, me) to a point of weakness (that would be: all of you). Eventually the ball ran free to Nico O’Reilly, all alone, as the entire Dortmund defence was dragged along in Haaland’s wake, by now, frankly, in need of a bigger boat.

Newcastle needed that. They have won six of their past eight games, which might sound like an impressive run of form, but their defeat at West Ham on Sunday was wretched enough to raise all manner of doubts. Three successive Champions League wins, though, all without conceding, means they probably need only one more victory from their final four games to secure a place in the playoff round, while two wins and a draw would almost certainly secure a top‑eight place and automatic passage to the last 16.

This Newcastle are a team with an extremely high ceiling and a very low floor. They are capable of hammering Union Saint-Gilloise and pummelling Benfica in the Champions League and outplaying Tottenham in the Carabao Cup. But they are also capable of losing 3-1 against West Ham and being grateful it wasn’t worse. They are both the amiable doctor and the vicious criminal, both ferociously energetic winners and lethargic disappointments, both Jekyll and Hyde.

• Referee halts game temporarily after Chelsea take lead

• Monkey gestures and noises appear to come from fan

Chelsea have condemned racist abuse aimed at their young players after their under-19 Uefa Youth League fixture against Qarabag in Baku had to be stopped because of an incident allegedly involving one home supporter on Wednesday.

The match was halted temporarily after an opening Chelsea goal from Sol Gordon in the 58th minute was followed by a home fan appearing to make racist gestures towards the Premier League club’s players. Eyewitnesses suggested monkey gestures and noises were made. After the match resumed at the Azersun Arena Chelsea went on to win 5-0.

• Inter maintain perfect start with win over Kairat Almaty

• Pafos beat Villarreal to earn first Champions League win

Barcelona had to settle for a share of the spoils at Club Brugge after a thrilling 3-3 draw but were fortunate the English referee Anthony Taylor ruled out Romeo Vermant’s stoppage-time effort for a foul on the Barça goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

In a thriller at Brugge’s Jan Breydel Stadium, the home side opened the scoring through Nicolò Tresoldi in the sixth minute. But Barcelona hit back with Ferran Torres scoring from close range two minutes later only for Brugge to regainthe lead in the 17th minute through Carlos Forbs after another quick counter.

• Scienza goal gives managerless Southampton 2-1 win

• Preston defeat Swansea; Wednesday and Norwich draw

Managerless Southampton ended their losing run with a 2-1 victory at QPR in their first match since the sacking of Will Still.

Teenager Jay Robinson’s deflected strike put the visitors, who had under-21s coach Tonda Eckert in interim charge, ahead early in the second half and Léo Scienza’s brilliant goal doubled their lead. Rumarn Burrell pulled a goal back but Rangers were unable to find an equaliser, slumping to a third consecutive defeat.

• New Fifa Peace Prize announced on Wednesday

• Infantino to present first award on 5 December

• Ceremony set for World Cup draw in Washington

One of Donald Trump’s closest sporting allies has created what some are calling football’s version of the Nobel Peace Prize, only weeks after the US president was snubbed for the real thing.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced the creation of the Fifa Peace Prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”. The inaugural award will be presented on 5 December during the World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, a high-profile event that Trump is expected to attend.

Champions League history-maker has benefitted from growing emphasis on youth and club’s fast-track approach

If Mikel Arteta had any doubts that Max Dowman is equipped for the big stage they will have been dispelled in a few seconds on Tuesday night. Dowman, having just become the first 15-year-old to play in the Champions League when he replaced Leandro Trossard in the 72nd minute against Slavia Prague, received the ball on the right flank from Declan Rice and immediately drew a foul from his marker, David Zima. A few minutes later he repeated the trick after effortlessly controlling a long diagonal pass, expertly dragging the ball along the touchline despite the attention of another defender.

“That’s personality, that’s courage and you cannot teach that,” Arteta said. “You have it or you don’t. It doesn’t matter what his passport says. You throw him in this context and he’s able to adapt and have a good performance. I’m really happy with that.”

Arne Slot now finds himself tasked with turning his team’s win against Real Madrid into a solid platform for recovery

Arne Slot called for a repeat of Liverpool’s performance against Real Madrid when the Premier League champions visit Manchester City and will no doubt repeat himself in the coming days. For Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior on Tuesday, read Erling Haaland on Sunday. Nullifying another of the game’s finest strikers, while keeping a third clean sheet in a row, would reinforce Slot’s post-Madrid message that Liverpool remain in the chase for the biggest prizes. They do not include the Carabao Cup.

The Champions League victory over Xabi Alonso’s La Liga leaders, who had 13 wins from 14 games before their arrival at Anfield, was the perfect remedy for a Liverpool team looking to heal the wounds of the worst run of Slot’s reign. It was also perfect preparation for what awaits at the Etihad Stadium: an opponent that wants to play out, that will not sit in a low block and carries an obvious, rampant threat.

• Tottenham say they are providing support for player

• Agent bailed after alleged incident on London street

Destiny Udogie has been named as the Premier League footballer who was allegedly threatened at gunpoint by an agent on a north London street. The Tottenham defender was out with a friend on the night of Saturday 6 September when the alleged incident occurred.

Police were called and the agent was detained on suspicion of brandishing the weapon with intent to cause fear of violence. The suspect was also investigated for allegedly blackmailing and making threats against Udogie’s friend. He has not been charged with any offence. There is no suggestion that the agent concerned is Udogie’s agent.

• Nottingham Forest owner dismisses case as groundless

• Fans charged with causing life-threatening explosions

The trial of the Olympiakos chair, Evangelos Marinakis, and dozens of football fans began in Greece on Wednesday, the biggest case of its kind linked to sports-related violence that authorities have vowed to crack down on.

In total, 142 fans face charges of running a crime organisation and causing life-threatening explosions at sporting events. They have denied wrongdoing.

• Suárez banned for off-ball kick in Game 2

• Inter Miami star to miss playoff decider

• Forward has history of violent conduct

Major League Soccer suspended Inter Miami star forward Luis Suárez for Saturday’s key playoff match against Nashville SC.

Suárez received the one-match suspension from the MLS Disciplinary Committee for an off-ball incident in Game 2 of the first-round series. Suárez kicked at Nashville defender Andy Najar in the 71st minute of the match, which Nashville won 2-1. Game 3 of the best-of-three series is Saturday.

• Union not invited to key meeting in Rabat

• Fifpro represents 65,000 players including PFA

Fifa is to press ahead with plans to develop new proposals for protecting player welfare without consulting the international trade union Fifpro, in a move that will intensify a long-simmering dispute between the two bodies.

A meeting of the Fifa professional players consultation forum has been scheduled in Rabat, Morocco, for this Saturday, with the player unions of several nations invited, but not Fifpro, which represents more than 65,000 members and 72 national unions, including England’s Professional Footballers’ Association.

Some clubs invite children with terminal illnesses to be mascots, but others charge thousands for the experience

By The Football Mine

It is the stuff that dreams are made of for any football-mad youngster: walking on to the pitch beside and lining up with their heroes before kick-off. Being a mascot provides memories to cherish for the rest of their lives and clubs are keen to capitalise on the fervent wishes of young fans to be mascots. However, it comes at a price and often a very hefty price at that.

While many English clubs charge for the privilege of being a mascot, the majority of Premier League clubs have made the noble gesture of either reducing the cost for mascots or not charging at all. Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham are among the clubs who do not charge.

Plus: domestic duopolies, when kick-ins replaced throw-ins and the last striped team to win the English top flight

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Marc Guiu became Chelsea’s youngest-ever Champions League goalscorer against Ajax, only to have the record snatched away from him by Estêvão 30 minutes later. What other examples of rapidly lost records are there in the world of football? What’s the record for the shortest-held record?” asks Matt Prior.

Given the predilection of those involved in football to flaunt their wad, transfer records are fertile ground for this kind of question. The first example that comes to mind is in the summer of 1995, when the British transfer record was broken twice. First Arsenal paid £7.5m for Inter’s Dennis Bergkamp; 15 days later, Liverpool bought Stan Collymore from Nottingham Forest for £8.5m.

£515,000 David Mills (Middlesbrough to West Brom, January)

£1m Trevor Francis (Birmingham to Nottm Forest, February)

£1.45m Steve Daley (Wolves to Man City, September)

£1.5m Andy Gray (Aston Villa to Wolves, September)

£900,000 Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave to Chelsea, January)

£1m Olivia Smith (Liverpool to Arsenal, July)

£1.1m Lizbeth Ovalle (Tigres to Orlando Pride, August)

£1.43m Grace Geyoro (PSG to London City Lionesses, September)

A quarter of a century from his starring role in a 4-3 win over Liverpool, the Australian reminisces on playing in Croatia during civil war and opening a coffee shop after retirement

It started how it finished: with a delicate chip. Twenty‑five years ago, Mark Viduka scored all four goals in Leeds’s 4-3 victory against Liverpool at Elland Road. While those around furiously pedalled, Viduka remained Buddha‑esque, bookending his efforts with deft wedges over Sander Westerveld.

“I had to learn it over time,” Viduka says when asked whether his serenity was a superpower. “I played a lot of games where I was very nervous. When I was younger, I might just have belted it and hoped for the best.”

Former England manager was engaging with selfies and sharing his sense of purpose on the York stop of a promotional book tour

Gareth Southgate has a good story about cockapoo vomit. Alone, exhausted and about to leave England’s impossible job, it was the first thing that greeted him on returning home from defeat in last year’s European Championship final. Obviously, he immediately set about clearing it up and consoling the pup suspected of overeating. Another moment of pathos in a life that has experienced the extremes of the public eye, another hurdle cleared.

Southgate is on a promotional tour but you wouldn’t guess at first glance. He has a book coming out this week and has only just started talking about it. After a swift round of interviews with the BBC on Monday morning, in the evening he moved to the Barbican in York; a perfectly commodious venue with decent acoustics, but not a customary place for launching a nationwide media blitz.

Right-back discusses Emma Hayes’s tactical messages, new blood in the national team and how Champions League win changed her

Emily Fox made her 68th appearance for the United States in the first of two recent friendlies against Portugal and the Arsenal right-back has been a steady hand for Emma Hayes.

Hayes has her eye on the 2027 World Cup after winning Olympic gold 15 months ago, and has used 2025 to evolve and evaluate the pool of players. Over the course of 10 wins and three defeats in that timeframe, Fox has been a dynamic force difficult to dislodge from the right flank of a new project. Her speed and skill are essential to the team’s defence and intrinsic to their attack.

The Basque club’s striker has flourished on their return to the Champions League after a decade away – on Wednesday his side face Newcastle

The first time Gorka Guruzeta played in England, an 18-year-old appearing for Athletic Bilbao B against Borussia Mönchengladbach Under-23s at Adams Park in September 2015, he scored. The second time he played in England, against Sunderland two months later, he scored. The third time, against Manchester City six weeks after that, well, he scored again. When he returned to Manchester to face United at Leigh Sports Village in 2017, he did it once more. It was a superb volley, too. “In fact,” he says, “it’s one of the best goals I’ve ever scored.” So Athletic did what they had to do: they took him off.

“I got well angry,” the Athletic striker says, and then he starts laughing. “There must be a video somewhere. We went to play United and I was pretty good. They didn’t let me play the second half: I hadn’t yet signed my contract, I was scoring goals, there were lots of rumours, you know how it is. I don’t know about Newcastle being interested, but I remember reading about Man United, the typical thing. I have no idea how true it was, but even if they had called, I would have wanted to stay at Athletic. I feel lucky to be here.”

Jon Gorrotxategi’s stoppage-time winner against Athletic Club summed up an epic back-and-forth contest

The goal that won the Basque derby was exactly the way the goal that wins the Basque derby is supposed to be but never had been before. Wet, wild and absolutely wellied. In the rain, the chaos and added time, the fifth of an epic fight perfectly imperfect: a first attempt scuffed, a second smashed in from six yards, sending teammates diving out of the way and supporters into each other’s arms. And scored by the footballer from the frontier, born on the border with Bizkaia, another Gipuzkoan and another academy product playing his first derby. Jon Gorrotxategi hit it with his shin; he also hit it with his “soul”, he said, the day ending with Real Sociedad’s players standing before their fans, singing together.

It had started there too, their big blue bus edging its way towards the Reale Arena, circling round past the velodrome and the mini stadium, thousands of fans lining the route, fireworks going off, scarves and flags swirling. Pulling up before the gates, the brakes went on, the doors opened and Sergio Francisco, their manager, said: “This incredible energy was let in.” The players got out and walked the final stretch to the stadium, feeling their way through the smoke, passing fans with their palms out, all high fives and hope. Stopping in a line, looking over the endless faces, listening to them sing, they joined in, clapping out the beat. And then they disappeared inside and defeated Athletic Club 3-2.

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

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

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

• Lamine Yamal and Rashford on target in win over Elche

• Milan, Roma and Inter all a point behind leaders Napoli

Goals from Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford guided Barcelona to a 3-1 victory against Elche on Sunday, propelling the defending champions to second place in La Liga with 25 points, five adrift of the leaders, Real Madrid.

Looking to bounce back after their 2-1 defeat against Madrid in last weekend’s clásico, Barcelona wasted no time in asserting their dominance at Montjuïc’s Olympic Stadium. They made the most of two defensive errors by Elche in the opening minutes to grab a two-goal lead with strikes by Lamine Yamal and Torres in the ninth and 11th minutes.

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

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

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

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

Eddie Howe’s team have the richest owners in the world. But they are still to mount a title challenge since the Public Investment Fund came knocking

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

Eddie Howe is not a manager given to histrionics or grand public pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to lowly West Ham counts as a furious tirade. His side took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle, so I felt the team needed some shaking up at half-time. That’s why I did what I did.”

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.

Angel City’s Elizabeth Eddy was rebuked by her own teammates for an op-ed on trans players. It’s easy to understand their objections

On 26 October, Angel City FC’s Elizabeth Eddy made her first post on X in nearly two years. In it, Eddy in essence responded to the Guardian’s report that the NWSL had quietly dropped its inclusion policy for trans and intersex athletes, leaving the league’s future stance on the matter undecided.

The New York Post gave Eddy’s writing a signal boost the next day, republishing it in full.

Lesley Ryder is a writer and host covering women’s soccer in Chicagoland.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In an exclusive extract from her autobiography, goalkeeper reveals the painful road to her shock England exit

England felt like such a safe space for me. It was usual to have a team review after a big tournament and after the Euros in 2022 we came together in the Club England meeting room at St George’s Park, the team’s headquarters.

The emotional security that I felt within England was bolstered by the culture and values that had underpinned and contributed to our success. Non-collegiate behaviour was not tolerated. We came back together to the news that Hannah Hampton had been dropped from the squad: her behaviour behind the scenes at the Euros had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources.

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

• Read an exclusive extract from Mary Earps’ book

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Before Tuesday night’s entertaining Bigger Cup match at Anfield, Jack Reacher was invariably Football Daily’s go-to guy when it came to watching a giant man deliver a calmly authoritative, surgically precise and brutal takedown on an Amazon Prime TV show. But in the aftermath of Liverpool’s thoroughly deserved win over Real Madrid, it was Virgil van Dijk who strode purposefully down the touchline with vengeance and a ruthless, immediate form of vigilante justice on his mind, as he spied Wayne Rooney standing at second slip in the four-strong cordon of pundits offering their post-match thoughts to Gabby Logan.

Mladen Zizovic personified what the big-hearted Bosnians are known for. For someone who must have grown up during the Siege of Sarajevo the scars must have been deep. It is hence unusual for a Bosnian to lead a Serbian football team. His name means ‘young’ and that’s how he shall remain in all football lovers’ hearts. A sad loss” – Krishna Moorthy.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. The evisceration of the hapless Wolves and Saints was sublime (‘no longer vying for the best Hampton’ was just downright filth), and I know it’s not considered cool or socially acceptable to compliment Football Daily but in this instance I’m making an exception, well done (don’t let it go to your heads)” – Scott Coyne (and no others, sadly).

Tottenham Hotspur may have let down foodies when they cancelled plans for a VIP cheese lounge but last night the club showed that it is still capable of the culinary cutting edge. They served Danish for dinner!” – Peter Oh.

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

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

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

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

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Liew and Nicky Bandini as Liverpool earn a huge win over Real Madrid and Spurs run riot against Copenhagen

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On the podcast today: Liverpool beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League. But for Thibaut Courtois it would have been much, much more – this was Arne Slot’s side’s best performance of the season.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Emma Sanders to discuss all the reaction to former England goalkeeper Mary Earps’s new book, All In. Plus, the panel discuss the talking points as the WSL returned after the international break

On today’s pod: Mary Earps’s new book hasn’t been short of headlines. From personal admissions of past struggles to her strained relationship with the current England No 1, Hannah Hampton. People in the game have shared their opinions on the content, but Faye, Suzy and the panel look as well at some of the decisions that went into publishing such a tell-all book now.

Elsewhere, the WSL returned from the international break with the top five all winning and a six-goal fun-fest between Aston Villa and Everton.

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

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

Match report: Fulham 3-0 Wolves

Match report: Burnley 0-2 Arsenal

Match report: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United

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

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

Match report: Chelsea 2-0 London City Lionesses

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

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