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Diarra’s lawyers are claiming a big win.

We await the full verdict. The devil, as always, will be in the detail.

Régis Le Bris’s side top the Championship but the manager’s former Lorient student will stand in his way on Friday night

Illan Meslier represents one of the reasons why Régis Le Bris is now Sunderland’s manager but on Friday night he and his Leeds teammates hope to silence a packed Stadium of Light.

As a teenage goalkeeper in a Lorient academy run by Le Bris, Meslier learned to fight under the tutelage of a professional boxing coach he now credits with having taught him “courage” during one-on-one clashes with centre-forwards.

Gary O’Neil finds himself in a tight spot, Jadon Sancho helps lead Chelsea revival and Leicester need to get on front foot

Liverpool have not lost at Selhurst Park since November 2014, when Dwight Gayle opened the scoring in a 3-1 win for a side then managed by Neil Warnock. But their title challenge under Jürgen Klopp wavered last season after losing at Anfield in April to a goal from Eberechi Eze, so Arne Slot will be wary of facing a Crystal Palace team that have yet to record a victory in the Premier League this season. Fresh from his brilliant goal against Bologna in the Champions League, Mohamed Salah will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing a new-look Palace defence that has not looked convincing this season despite a 0-0 draw against Manchester United in their last home match. The Egyptian scored his 200th Liverpool goal against them in December to take his tally to eight in just 11 appearances, not to mention seven assists. Ed Aarons

Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Arsenal v Southampton, Saturday 3pm

Brentford v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Leicester v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Fulham, Saturday 3pm

West Ham v Ipswich, Saturday 3pm

Family-friendly atmosphere offered by the women’s game allowed us both to feel a sense of wonderment

Rifling through my drawer of nostalgia at my parents’ house I found the ticket from 31 years ago to my first match. Football fandom is often based on harking back to simpler times that are rose-tinted as being better regardless of the reality. I am fully in favour of this mindset and it needs to be passed to the next generation.

Since inexplicably making a Manchester derby in 1993 the first in-person experience of a professional match, my relationship with the beautiful game has been complicated by my profession. Attending as a fan can seem hard to justify on a weekend when I spend a day away from my young family to work at Anfield, Molineux or Turf Moor. I am not sure whether I am stereotypical of the industry; there are plenty desperate to take in as many matches as possible for work or pleasure. I, however, require a degree of separation otherwise I would be at risk of hating what I love – although the same goes for my family.

• Montenegro striker admits biting Blackburn’s Owen Beck
• Osmajic scored twice in last match against Watford

The Preston striker Milutin Osmajic has been given an eight-match ban and fined £15,000 for biting the Blackburn defender Owen Beck. The incident took place in a Championship match between the two Lancashire clubs on 22 September.

Announcing Osmajic’s punishment, a Football Association spokesperson said: “The forward admitted that he committed an act of violent conduct around the 87th minute by biting an opponent.”

• Manager unhappy with United’s defending in Porto
• ‘Don’t judge us in this moment,’ he says after 3-3 draw

Erik ten Hag criticised Marcus Rashford for his part in the poor defending that allowed Porto’s opening goal in Manchester United’s 3-3 draw with Porto, but denied the forward was taken off for this at half-time, stating it was simply to rotate his squad.

United raced into a 2-0 lead on 20 minutes at Estádio do Dragão through Rashford and Rasmus Højlund but let this slip as Pepê and Samu drew Porto level across seven first-half minutes. Pepê’s goal derived from a cross along Rashford’s left flank and the manager was asked if this was why he replaced him with Alejandro Garnacho.

• Manager admits star trio tricky to all slot in straight away
• Carsley insists Maguire is ‘important’ despite omission

Lee Carsley says it will be difficult for him to include Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden in the same starting XI when England take on Greece and Finland in the Nations League. But the interim manager is determined to find a creative solution in the longer term to have them play together.

Carsley was able to name all three in his squad for next Thursday’s Wembley match against Greece and the visit to Finland three days later, having been without them in September when England beat the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Finland at Wembley. Bellingham and Palmer were injured; Foden was ill.

Midfielder received a nine-game ban in 1988 for punching Glenn Cockerill during home game against Southampton

By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog

One moment of madness. A split second that would play a huge part in the career of a footballer on the verge of international recognition. On an afternoon of frustration for Arsenal’s players and supporters, one man could take no more. Paul Davis was about to inflict pain on both an opponent and his own future.

In September 1988, Arsenal found themselves trailing 2-0 at Highbury against Chris Nicholl’s Southampton. George Graham’s team looked condemned to another home defeat, having lost two weeks before to Aston Villa. With 79 minutes played there was an air of desperation as the supposed title contenders looked for a way back into the match.

• Manager and coaches step away ‘with immediate effect’
• Resignations come after players had criticised the club

All of the coaching staff at Solihull Moors’ women’s team have resigned from their roles, just under two weeks after the side’s players alleged the women’s arm of the club was being neglected.

On 20 September, a joint statement from the Midlands Division One club’s players accused Solihull Moors of failing to provide pitch access, transport for away fixtures and basic equipment, referring to “broken promises and a lack of respect”. On the same day, the coaching staff issued a statement supporting the players, saying “enough is enough” and stated that they were asking for their players to be respected.

Ange Postecoglou saluted his four teenage starters after they helped Tottenham to a hard-fought victory at Ferencvaros in the Europa League, but is not ready to dub them “Ange’s Angels” yet.

Four players aged 19 or under were named in the Spurs lineup in Budapest, with full debuts handed to the academy graduates Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear, but the duo brushed off their inexperience to combine to set up Pape Sarr’s opener.

With every result, Enzo Maresca is making Chelsea believe again. As his side coasted to victory – their fifth in succession in all competitions – in the dying minutes here against Gent, the Italian could be seen prowling the touchline still bellowing out instructions. At a club where the thinking has become increasingly muddled in recent years, Maresca’s straightforward approach is already paying dividends.

The impressive Renato Veiga opened the scoring with his first goal since joining in the summer before Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw off the Belgian side. Without the services of Cole Palmer after the four-goal hero was left out of their Conference League squad, Chelsea showed that they have plenty of other options and it will be difficult for anyone to stop them becoming the first side to complete the full set of European trophies if they decide to take this competition seriously.

The midfielder on leaving Manchester United, embracing a new challenge and the competitive edge of the NWSL

If you were walking your dog in your local park near Manchester this summer and thought you saw two England internationals doing one-on-one training drills, don’t worry – you weren’t seeing things. That was indeed the former Manchester United captain Katie Zelem and her Lionesses teammate Laura Coombs, trying to keep themselves in shape. Coombs, who was putting in extra yards while returning from injury before pre-season with her Women’s Super League club, Manchester City, had agreed to help Zelem, who was weighing up numerous options after her Manchester United contract had concluded at the end of June. Zelem “Googled some one-on-one sessions” and brought the cones along, and she knows the extra effort was worth it.

“I was running up and down every field I could find, keeping as fit as possible,” the 28-year-old tells the Guardian, reflecting on her time between clubs. “I felt so motivated because I had quite a few offers. I thought: ‘Wherever I end up, this is going to benefit me.’ But running is very different to team training, with the sharpness and connecting passes. It was a unique situation because I basically had no pre-season.

There are signs of rebellion in Austin, Óscar Pareja’s men are well worth watching and Lionel Messi appears to be heading for yet another title

Welcome back to the Guardian’s MLS Power Rankings, where I have a beef with your specific team and your specific team alone. I’ve hired Drake Callender to save me from any dangerous objects that will be hurled my way by readers angered by these rankings. Hey, he’s good enough for Inter Miami, he’s good enough for me.

Now, as a reminder, these aren’t your standard, run-of-the-mill power rankings. We’re still ranking teams from worst to first. But along with the rankings, we’re diving deep into a handful of teams from around the league who are doing particularly interesting things.

David Sullivan complains he is selling his six-storey house near Regent’s Park at a loss as he reduces it to £65m

David Sullivan, the British businessman who co-owns West Ham United football club, has cut the asking price of his London house by £10m and has blamed the promised crackdown on non-doms for rich people leaving the country.

Sullivan, the chair and biggest single shareholder of the Premier League club, has reduced the price of his 21,000 sq ft town townhouse in Marylebone to £65m as he said he had to be “realistic” about market conditions.

The six-storey house in Portland Place, an avenue near Regent’s Park, has original Georgian features and a grand staircase in the entrance hall. It also has a wine cellar, two garages, a lift, an indoor pool and sauna, and a chef’s kitchen. It went on the market last November.

Celtic and Rangers never like to have much in common. This week, they most certainly have. Forty eight hours after Celtic discovered mistakes which go unpunished in Scotland will be capitalised upon at elite level, Rangers suffered a similar fate.

The scoreline at Ibrox may not have matched Borussia Dortmund’s 7-1 mauling of the Scottish champions but the theme was the same. Lyon outclassed their hosts, to the point where a 4-1 win did Rangers a favour.

• Based on case linked to former midfielder Lassana Diarra
• Diarra challenged rules regarding players’ free movement

The court of justice of the European Union (CJEU) has said that key Fifa rules governing the transfer system are “contrary to EU law”, which could have potentially explosive consequences for the future of club football.

The resolution of Fifa v the player “BZ” – AKA the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra – will cause great uncertainty across the game. It contains two key judgments after the court found that rules relating to the authorisation of transfers for players restrict freedom of movement, a key tenet of EU law, and that current rules requiring buying clubs to cover the cost of compensation for a player who breaks a contract “without just cause” are anticompetitive.

Campaigner who worked to combat racism and discrimination in football dies after short illness

The anti-racism campaigner and founder of Kick It Out, ​​Herman Ouseley, has died aged 79 after a short illness.

Lord Ouseley was the chair of Kick It Out for 25 years, from its launch in 1993 as a campaign called Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football. He never received any money for his work for the charity.

• Two investigations announced after council meeting
• Fifa ‘kicking the can down the road’, claim campaigners

Fifa has said it will undertake further investigations into the possibility of “discrimination” by Israeli football authorities, the governing body has confirmed, following claims made by the Palestinian FA (PFA) earlier this year.

Two new investigations were announced at a meeting of the Fifa council in Zurich on Thursday. The first, according to Fifa, will cover “the alleged offence of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association”, while the second relates to a specific claim by the PFA that clubs based in illegal settlements on occupied territory have been allowed to take part in competitions licensed by the Israeli FA. Fifa’s decision comes after the claims were first analysed by independent legal advice.

• Welsh side hold out for 65 minutes before losing 2-0
• Hearts stun Dinamo Minsk | Larne lose in Molde

The New Saints put up impressive resistance before falling to a 2-0 defeat against Fiorentina on a historic night in Italy. TNS are the first Welsh league club to progress past the qualifying rounds of a Uefa competition, and their first Conference League group match threw up a daunting trip to Florence.

Fiorentina were runners-up for the past two seasons but it took them 65 minutes to find a way through the TNS defence, with Yacine Adli netting before a quick second from the former Everton striker Moise Kean.

• Véron Mosengo-Omba investigated for fraud and forgery
• Case could ‘seriously tarnish Switzerland’s reputation’

The general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has been investigated over allegations of dishonest management, fraud and forgery of documents in a case that prosecutors warn could “seriously tarnish Switzerland’s reputation”.

Véron Mosengo-Omba, who is also under investigation by Caf over claims of serious misconduct, has been accused of making a series of suspicious payments to Swiss bank accounts. He has denied the claims, which were revealed on Wednesday by a public disclosure from the Federal Criminal Court (FCC) of Switzerland.

On a glorious night when the club celebrated its past, beating Bayern Munich has turned the clock forward

Pau Torres gathers possession in front of the Holte End, where in 2016 a banner was unfurled reading: “No fight, no pride, no effort, no hope.” He threads the ball over the halfway line, where Tony Xia once stood as the new Aston Villa chairman and promised to build a theme park. In the dugout Unai Emery leans forward expectantly, just a few yards from where – six years ago to the day – a disgruntled fan threw a cabbage at Steve Bruce.

And so as Jhon Durán’s speculative shot brushes the back of the net and the hairs stand up on the back of the neck and the crowd surges and swells, was it all worth it in the end? Worth the indignities, worth the irrelevance, worth 11,000 against Middlesbrough in the League Cup, worth losing at home to Stevenage, worth Remi Garde and Roberto Di Matteo?

Dwight McNeil’s redeployment, and goals, have given Sean Dyche’s side a much-needed lift after a dismal start

By Ben McAleer for WhoScored

Everton are finally off the mark. Having twice thrown away two-goal leads in the Premier League, capitulating to back-to-back defeats by Bournemouth and Aston Villa, Sean Dyche’s side claimed their first victory of the season to move off the foot of the table and into 15th. Victory would have been a huge weight off the shoulders.

After a solid end to the previous campaign – Dyche oversaw a run of four wins in the final six games of the season to guarantee Everton’s safety despite an eight-point deduction – the expectation was that Everton would avoid another relegation dogfight in their final season at Goodison Park. The start, then, was far from ideal, and certainly not what supporters expected.

A court verdict could lead to players walking out on contracts without their clubs being compensated

The court of justice of the European Union (CJEU) will deliver a verdict on Friday in the case of Fifa v the player “BZ” – AKA the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra. It concerns the functioning of the transfer market and the verdict could throw a stick of dynamite under the system.

The Argentinian has helped his team claim MLS’s Supporters’ Shield. But he has also set up the club, and league, for success when he steps away

Another year, another trophy for Lionel Messi.

With two goals in a 3-2 win over the defending MLS Cup champions, Columbus Crew, on Wednesday, Inter Miami’s global superstar secured the MLS’s Supporters’ Shield – awarded each year to the team with the best regular season record.

Plus: late comebacks to win from 2-0 down, players booked before first appearances and more

• Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Finland’s Topi Keskinen has several tattoos, including one of Wayne Rooney,” begins Anna Mayors. “Are any other footballers inked with other players?”

The young Finnish winger Topi Keskinen, who joined Aberdeen in August, has some artwork of Wayne Rooney casting a fishing rod on his arm. Hold the hifalutin analysis, don’t stroke that chin: there’s a simple explanation. “I’ve been a Wayne Rooney fan since I was a little kid and I love fishing also,” he said. “If I get tattoos I want them to mean something!”

In hoovering up some of the lost college talent, the USL Super League is thriving in cities where NWSL doesn’t play

Two years ago, Amanda Vandervort was unveiled as the first president of a new fully professional women’s league, the USL Super League, in the United States. For a country with a thriving professional league, the NWSL, there were many questions. How? Why? Where? Would it take off?

Many of those questions were answered on the opening weekend just under seven weeks ago. A sellout crowd of more than 10,000 at the American Legion Memorial Stadium watched Carolina Ascent beat DC Power 1-0. Two more sellout crowds watched Spokane Zephyr’s 1-1 draw with Fort Lauderdale United and Tampa Bay Sun’s draw with Dallas Trinity. The crowds have naturally dipped a little but have still averaged 2,929 for the 12 of 14 subsequent fixtures that have had attendances announced – a total of 35,152 fans.

Manchester United left Porto's Estádio do Dragão with a point after squandering a two-goal lead, leading Erik ten Hag to criticise his team's defending. Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Højlund gave Manchester United an early lead before Harry Maguire equalised in stoppage time after the hosts fought back to lead 3-2.

"The players executed the plan brilliantly," Ten Hag said. "Then we switched off ... you concede the first goal, you light up the fire in this stadium.

"I have to watch it back. I think over the left side, definitely, we didn't defend well tonight. And Marcus [Rashford] also played a part in this ... but as I say it had to do with Garnacho. Nothing against 'Rashy'."

• Ten Hag criticises Rashford in Porto but denies substitution was punishment

Lee Carsley has named his England squad for the next round of Nations League Games, against Greece and Finland. Dominic Solanke earned his first England call up in seven years while Harry Maguire has been left out of the squad. Carsley said: 'Harry’s still got a really important part to play in this squad and campaign.'

• Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke recalled by England but Harry Maguire left out

Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at Villa Park in the Champions League. The Aston Villa striker Jhon Durán’s scored the only goal of the night by lobbing an out of position Manuel Neuer from range. Speaking after the shock win, the Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said: 'I can feel now proud of our work.'

• Unai Emery says Aston Villa targeted Manuel Neuer in triumph over Bayern

Brendan Rodgers admitted Celtic 'weren't quite at our best' as Borussia Dortmund 'showed why they're a top, top team' in their 7-1 rout in the Champions League on Tuesday. He added: 'I don't think I've been involved in a game where I felt that every single mistake that we made got punished. And that's the level.'

• Karim Adeyemi fires hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund demolish Celtic

Mikel Arteta praised Arsenal’s growing maturity as they outclassed his former team Paris Saint-Germain with a 2-0 win in the Champions League. Arteta said: 'I think we showed a lot of maturity in the way we played and we put our stamp in the way we want to behave in Europe against top teams, and I really like that.' The PSG manager, Luis Enrique, took the blame for the defeat, insisting that his players performed 'far from the minimum standards needed' but ultimately conceded that PSG's 'defeat was totally deserved and Arsenal deserved the win without a doubt'.

• ‘This is the year’: Bukayo Saka backs Arsenal to win Premier League title

• Arteta hails Arsenal’s maturity after beating ‘one of best teams in the world’

• Kai Havertz hits high notes to knock down PSG and bolster Arsenal’s belief

During Fenerbahce's 2-0 win over Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig, José Mourinho protested against a VAR decision to disallow a goal by placing a laptop in front of a TV camera in an attempt to show that the decision was incorrect. In a post-match press conference, Mourinho said: 'For us it's a good goal. So, I didn't say one single word. I didn't make any kind of pressure. I just put the laptop there.'

• Keeper joins after Ter Stegen’s injury
• Quit Juventus with one year left on contract

Barcelona have signed Wojciech Szczesny as a free agent after the goalkeeper reversed his decision of five weeks ago to retire and came to the team’s aid after they lost Marc-André ter Stegen to a long-term injury.

Ter Stegen underwent surgery after sustaining a rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee last month and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Iñaki Peña is expected to cover for Ter Stegen but Barça have reinforced their squad with Szczesny, who announced his retirement after terminating his contract with Juventus.

• Club handed €45,000 fine and south stand shutdown
• Further punishment over alleged racist abuse possible

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has handed Atlético Madrid a €45,000 (£37,000) fine and ordered a three-game partial closure of their Cívitas Metropolitano stadium after Sunday night’s city derby was suspended when supporters threw objects at the Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The club could also still face further punishment as the government’s anti-violence commission investigates allegations of racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Júnior.

The referee, Mateo Busquets Ferrer, took the teams off the pitch in the 68th minute, per the formal protocol, after two appeals over the loud speakers did not stop the missiles, including lighters, bottles and plastic bags. The teams returned to the pitch 15 minutes later and the game was concluded with a late Atlético equaliser.

• Steffen and Busio among notable additions to squad
• Pochettino debuts as US coach with October friendlies

Mauricio Pochettino has brought back goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who was dropped under Gregg Berhalter, in his first roster as the new US men’s national team manager.

Midfielder Gianluca Busio was the other notable addition to the 25-man roster announced on Wednesday for friendlies against Panama on 12 October at Austin, Texas, and Mexico three days later at Guadalajara.

• Ante Budimir scores twice in 4-2 win over leaders
• Juventus go top of Serie A with 3-0 win at Genoa

The Croatian forward Ante Budimir scored twice to help Osasuna earn a shock 4-2 home win over leaders Barcelona and hand the visitors their first defeat of this La Liga season on Saturday.

Bryan Zaragoza, on loan from Bayern Munich, crossed to Budimir who opened the scoring with a close-range header in the 18th minute and the 23-year-old winger extended Osasuna’s lead with a strike from a quick counterattack 10 minutes later.

Club legends including Arsène Wenger were in the stands but Adi Hütter’s youthful side offered more than nostalgia

By Luke Entwistle for Get French Football News

There was just cause for Adi Hütter to feel a little intimidated on Saturday evening. Not because of the calibre of opponent that awaited his Monaco side, but on account of the onlookers in the stands. Between the club president, Dmitry Rybolovlev, and Prince Albert II in the VIP box and Hütter on the touchline sat a cast of managerial club legends, including Arsène Wenger, Gérard Banide, Claude Puel and Leonardo Jardim – the latter being the last to win the Ligue 1 title with Les Monégasques.

Wenger and co were invited to Saturday’s home fixture against struggling Montpellier as part of the Principality club’s centenary celebrations. They spent much of the afternoon reminiscing with former teammates and colleagues at the club’s La Turbie performance centre, perched on the French hills that surround the microstate. Old memories (and old scores) from bygone eras were rekindled in an overdose of nostalgia.

Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany is hoping Harry Kane recovers in time from an injury in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen for their second Champions League game next week at Aston Villa.

Kane, who did not have a shot against Leverkusen, was injured in a collision late in the match at the Allianz Arena and was in obvious pain before he limped off the pitch. Bayern stayed top of the Bundesliga after a long-range strike from Robert Andrich for the visitors was cancelled out by another from Aleksandar Pavlovic in the 39th minute.

• Chelsea and Celtic in same group with Real Madrid
• St Pölten and Hammarby also in with Manchester City

Manchester City will face the Champions League holders, Barcelona, in their first group stage campaign. Friday’s draw placed Arsenal in with Bayern Munich and Juventus, and put Chelsea and Celtic together in a group featuring Real Madrid.

City’s last outing in the Champions League proper came in 2020-21, when they suffered a 4-2 aggregate defeat by Barcelona in the quarter-finals. The group stage was introduced the following season and City have since twice been eliminated by Madrid in qualifying.

• Milan ease 3-0 past Lecce with quickfire goals
• Is this the best ever version of Christian Pulisic?

Christian Pulisic kept up his scoring form as Milan netted three goals in five minutes shortly before half-time in a 3-0 win over Lecce in Serie A on Friday.

Álvaro Morata put the home side ahead with a glancing header from Theo Hernández’s free kick after 38 minutes. Hernández then ran on to a pass from Rafael Leão and lashed the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle two minutes later before Pulisic made it 3-0 just before half-time.

Series continues in which writers have the impossible task of choosing a boiled down team from club’s entire history

By Richard Hall for The Gentleman Ultra

Picking a five-a-side team of Juventus greats is something of a thankless task. Aside from the love-or-loathe nature of Turin’s Old Lady in both Italy and beyond, they’re a club with a very rich history. League titles and Ballons d’Or gongs have been plentiful, as has Juventus’ contributions to Italy’s World Cup-winning squads. My own criteria have thus been; could this team play well together? And would they be well suited to five-a-side? The vast bulk of these players have played during my lifetime, but not all of them. As usual when Juve are involved, I’m expecting some controversy!

Being streets ahead of all domestic competition but making up the numbers in the Champions League should be impetus for change

The sniggering from Dortmund to Durness has been unmistakable. The intensely tribal nature of Scottish football combined with Celtic’s dominance of the same scene means results such as the 7-1 trouncing by Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday are widely celebrated. Petty, parochial but perfectly understandable.

The trouble is, yet another harrowing night for Celtic provided the latest snapshot of Scottish football’s miserable state. There is no point in revelling in Celtic’s scenario because the pickle they continually find themselves in against serious opposition tells all about the standard in Scotland.

The Blues’ ruthless ace has the capacity to tear defences apart and England’s attack should be built around him

Well, that was nuts. Cole Palmer will take the headlines on an afternoon when he was simply irresistible: smarter, swifter, more beautifully aware of space and angles than other player on the pitch, a man moving through lighter, thinner air.

It helped that Brighton were sparkly and fun, but also incredibly brittle, like a glittery pair of nylons trying to play football. The scoring stopped at 4-2, but it could have been anything by the end.

Change is needed, but with hope comes expectation, and that’s a perilous thing at Goodison, including for my agitated mother

It’s not joy. It’s Everton. Joy has not got a look-in since Carlo Ancelotti gave up his £12m-a-year Goodison gig for the soothing tranquillity of the Bernabéu. It’s not relief either. Because, just like the Premier League offering a valid explanation for its brazen points-deduction shenanigans last season, it simply hasn’t happened yet. This latest takeover twist feels more like a distraction.

Forgive me for not yet lobbying Liverpool city council to allow Dan Friedkin to build a landing strip in Stanley Park for his vintage military aircraft in honour of the US tycoon handing Alisher Usmanov’s bezzy mate, Farhad Moshiri, a fleet of Toyota Tundras stuffed with US dollars to finally walk away from the club he so nearly broke.

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While Aston Villa showed a deficit of class by gouging their supporters when it came to the admission fee, the club got pretty much everything else spot on ahead of last night’s win over Bayern Munich. Off the pitch, their Big Cup Boys of 1982 were hosted at an official function held to honour their historic achievement, while their recently departed comrade Gary Shaw was remembered on the front of yesterday’s matchday programme. In another classy touch, the former striker was also listed one last time on a team-sheet, his name appearing at the bottom of the list of current squad of Villa players trying to emulate the achievements of he and his teammates.

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

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertson, and Nicky Bandini to discuss all the Champions League action

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

On today’s pod, the panel discusses all of Wednesday’s Champions League action. Aston Villa lit up Villa Park with a stunning win over Bayern Munich, featuring a brilliant Jhon Durán strike. Is the Colombian too good to sit on the bench for Villa, and how far can Unai Emery’s side go in this tournament?

Our resident cartoonist on the studio hijinks that take place on the midweek content generator that is UCL Today

• Get a copy of this Squires cartoon in our Print Shop
• And you can pre-order his new book, Chaos in the Box

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Marva Kreel and Tim Stillman to discuss the weekend’s WSL action

On today’s pod, the panel discusses the weekend’s WSL action, where a 1-0 scoreline was the week's theme – Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United all winning by the same margin. Meanwhile, Chelsea broke the trend, putting seven past Crystal Palace in a rampant display.

The panel also delves into the upcoming Champions League fixtures, analysing what lies ahead for the English teams. Also, in the scheduling drama, the panel unpack the controversy surrounding the last-minute postponement of Chelsea’s sold-out match against Manchester United, leaving fans frustrated.

Arteta’s explanation baffles, Palmer exposes Hürzeler’s tactics and how long before a big club pounces for Mbeumo?

Has the curse of the Manchester United contract struck for the second year in succession? After Marcus Rashford agreed a bumper new deal a year ago, he promptly endured a miserable 2023-24 season. This summer, it was Bruno Fernandes’ turn to sign a lucrative extension – one that few could grumble with at the time. Yet the Portuguese, usually a beacon of consistency for United through all their ups and downs, has started the campaign in scruffy and sluggish fashion. He has yet to score this season, has only one assist in six Premier League matches and is increasingly cutting a frustrated figure. That frustration came pouring out in his callow kick at James Maddison, which left United – struggling enough when it was 11 v 11 – down and out with 10 men. Fernandes deserves credit for fronting up after the game but that interview was his most significant contribution of the afternoon. Dominic Booth

Match report: Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham

Match report: Arsenal 4-2 Leicester

Match report: Newcastle 1-1 Manchester City

Match report: Ipswich 2-2 Aston Villa

Match report: Chelsea 4-2 Brighton

Match report: Wolves 1-2 Liverpool

Plus: teams who are hard to beat (and lose) to; more losers on open-top bus tours, and kings of consecutive 0-0 draws

• Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Apart from Denmark in 1992, have any teams won tournaments or competitions for which they didn’t originally qualify?” enquires John Palfreyman.

It’s Europa League week, so let’s start with the teams who won that competition after going out of the Champions League. (Yes, yes, we know that technically they qualified but they still got there via the back door and the parachute. The definition of ‘didn’t originally qualify’ is in the eye of the beholder so we’ve included any potentially eligible story we find vaguely interesting, which is basically all of them.)

The former Arsenal player’s legal action against Fifa’s ‘draconian’ rules could lead to the age of Bosman 2.0

By the time Lassana Diarra played his last game as a professional footballer, on 20 October 2018, he had become a “what if?” player. What if he had stayed more than a single season at Arsenal? What if he hadn’t made the catastrophic decision to leave Real Madrid and La Liga for Anzhi Makhachkala and the Russian league? What if he hadn’t made the even more disastrous move from Anzhi to Lokomotiv Moscow? What if he hadn’t had to pull out of Didier Deschamps’s Euro 2016 squad at the very last moment because of a knee problem?

Another injury forced his retirement shortly after a rare cameo for his last club, Paris Saint-Germain, for whom he was no more than a squad player. Diarra was set to remain a footnote in the history of some prestigious clubs, a series of unanswered questions, something of an enigma – but then we have a legal case, which will finally be settled on 4 October, putting the final full stop to a story that has been dragging on for a decade. It is Diarra v Fifa and if the player wins it could completely change the transfer market, possibly leading to anarchy.

Absent from competition for half a decade, the Chollima’s under-20 team have returned with a hyper-talented squad

They’re coming for you. They’re coming for you. North Korea’s women’s football age-group pathway teams, they’re coming for. Well, pretty much anyone in their way, it seems, after the weekend.

As elite club football pored in microscopic detail over the fallout from events at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening, something remarkable, if a little less advertised, was happening in Bogotá. Three days on from the final of the Fifa women’s under‑20 World Cup final, it is worth scrolling back over the full sweep of North Korea’s run to that point, which reached its glorious end note on Sunday night, and in the process opened a new angle on any reasonable assessment of the team performance of the season.

The former Leicester and Wales midfielder is earning his stripes in non-league with Macclesfield FC

By the time Robbie Savage’s official matchday duties start, he has been at Moss Rose almost four hours. The Macclesfield FC manager is omnipresent on-site and spends the morning watching one of the 600‑player strong academy sides.

As 1pm approaches Savage screws on his managerial head. The worst comes first. The centre‑back Lewis Fensome is invited into an intimate office behind a small but smart dressing room. The space is compact, with just enough space for a desk and a pair of armchairs.

Robbie Savage in his compact manager’s office.

Former Nigeria international on starting in slippers, hoping to inspire African golfers and that attempt to join QPR

“It’s unbelievable,” says Peter Odemwingie. “I never thought I could get so obsessed with this game.” On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon in the affluent northern suburbs of Birmingham, the former West Brom, Stoke and Nigeria striker has just ripped a drive well beyond 300 yards down the third fairway at Sutton Coldfield Golf Club.

Watched by Odemwingie and his friend and fellow pro Lewis Pearce from nearby Aston Wood GC – not to mention Pearce’s pet dachshund, George – it is soon my turn to step up to the tee. Having somehow scrambled a par to win the 1st, my early advantage has evaporated thanks to a miscued tee shot into the trees at the 2nd. With the match level, the pressure is on. But sadly my tee shot fails to get off the ground and comes to rest in a big patch of heather no more than 80 yards away.

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

Aitana Bonmatí, Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo top the list of female footballers in the world in 2023 according to our judges

• Putellas tops 2022 list | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | Meet the judges
• Spain and Barcelona lead the way after year of success
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The Norwegian is only 23 but his devastating goal record has seen him voted as the No 1 player in the world by the Guardian’s expert panel

When Pep Guardiola tearfully claimed Manchester City could not replace the departing Sergio Agüero in May 2021, he didn’t just create a meme. Guardiola was soft-launching a global audition for his team’s new attacking talisman. An unsuccessful pursuit of Harry Kane in the summer of 2021 came between two title-winning seasons where Ilkay Gündogan (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (15) were the club’s top league goalscorers. Guardiola’s slick creative machine needed a new front man, and they found him in Erling Haaland.

Like Agüero before him – and in contrast to many of City’s most successful Pep-era signings – Haaland arrived as a bona fide superstar, a plug-and-play addition to an already stellar lineup. Whether he was a bargain is another question. The release clause paid was €60m (£51.2m), but some reports suggest Haaland’s five-year deal could cost the club in the region of £300m. And while there was an ominous logic to the move for City’s rivals, questions remained.

Aitana Bonmatí the clear winner of the Guardian’s best 100 female footballers in the world with 15 Spaniards on the list

• The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023

After Alexia Putellas reigned in 2021 and 2022, her Barcelona and Spain teammate Aitana Bonmatí has been crowned the top female footballer of 2023 by the Guardian’s panel of 112 experts. The World Cup winner triumphed by a clear margin, finishing more than 500 points ahead of second-placed Sam Kerr.

Injuries and a World Cup meant there was a definite changing of the guard feel to this year’s list, sadly emphasised by the fact last year’s top two – Putellas and Beth Mead – missed a large chunk of our 12-month voting period with ACL injuries.

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

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2006 and 31 August 2007, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 … and look at the editions from further back

• Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best talents around the world

Five years ago we picked 80 of the most talented players in the world to follow their progress in a cut-throat business

It is the time of year when we check in on the Next Generation players we picked in 2018 to follow for five years, to assess their progress amid success, setbacks, injuries, trophies won and transfers made.

Next Generation started in 2014 with the aim of showing the difficulties that even the best prospects in the Premier League (we pick one from each club at first-year scholar age) and the rest of the world (we choose 60 born in a specific calendar year) face on their way towards the top.

A defensively minded midfielder who is incredibly strong (he used to be a wrestler) but with an excellent touch to go with his physicality. Made his debut in the Swedish top flight as a 16-year-old last year and captained Sweden as they reached the quarter-finals of the Euro Under-17 tournament in England this summer. Has taken an unusual path to the top. He left the top-flight side IFK Göteborg for sixth division Angered MBIK as a 14-year-old as he felt that he was not getting the right support for his football education. Another Gothenburg club, Häcken, snapped him up in 2017 and he made his senior debut that season. Has signed a new contract with the club from Hisingen until 2021 despite interest from Real Madrid and Benfica and trials at both Manchester clubs.