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• WSL says it is committed to increasing pay floors

• Clubs can be docked points for breaching salary cap

Players aged under 23 in Women’s Super League 2 are not guaranteed to be paid the equivalent of the national living wage for a typical full-time worker annually, despite a large pay increase for the division’s lowest-paid players after the introduction of minimum salaries this season.

WSL2 clubs must pay players aged 21 and 22 a minimum of £22,200 and those aged 18 to 20 at least £17,500. Regulations state they must receive a minimum “contact time” of 20 hours a week excluding matchdays and mealtimes. For players aged 23 and over, the minimum salary is £26,900.

A country where safety is under threat from federal violence on the streets is not fit to stage soccer’s showpiece event

Removing the United States as co-host of the 2026 World Cup would hurt for pretty much everyone. Fans would miss out on seeing the sport’s pinnacle in their home towns (or somewhere nearby). Cities and businesses small and large would lose the financial benefits they had banked on. It would be a logistical and political nightmare on an international scale, the likes of which have never been seen before in sports. It would be eminently sad. And it would be entirely justified.

It brings me no pleasure to say this. The United States has been eager to host a men’s World Cup for more than a decade and a half. The desire survived and even grew after 2010’s failure to out-bid Russia and Qatar (in public and behind closed doors) for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. With hosting rights for 2026 later secured alongside Canada and Mexico, the US soccer scene prepared to show off that the sport is now part of the nation’s fabric, 32 years after hosting the tournament for the first time in 1994. Soccer’s growing popularity in America has helped inspire other US sports to try new formats, encouraged us to engage more fully with the world in a sporting context, and has been at the center of conversations about our society and culture. The 2026 World Cup was seen as the best chance for the world to fully experience not just how much the US has improved at soccer, but how much soccer has improved the US.

• Head coach and players spoke in wake of United defeat

• Side is ‘in great position in four competitions’, he says

Mikel Arteta has revealed Arsenal held a team meeting after their defeat against Manchester United on Sunday “to take the temperature down”, insisting the league leaders must “play with enjoyment” in order to win a first Premier League title for 22 years.

A late goal from Matheus Cunha inflicted on Arsenal their first home defeat of the season, with their lead at the top of the table remaining at four points after weekend victories for Manchester City and Aston Villa. Arteta’s side have finished as runners-up in the past three seasons and Arsenal have now spent 884 days at the summit since Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles were crowned champions in 2004.

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The most prolific striker on the planet for one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the world, a captain of his country who could possibly lift the World Cup this summer (ending what is now 60 years of hurt), a husband with four kids who is almost universally respected by fans, opponents and his peers, and a brand ambassador for global brands thanks to deals brokered by towering Mr 15% Charlie Kane, Harry Kane has a lot going for him. So why has the England superstar been such a target for Social Media Disgrace trolling in January?

The world is indeed a screwed up place when Sepp Blatter’s utterings start making sense. Oh Gianni, what have you done?” – Krishna Moorthy.

Big Website’s Michael Butler misses the point about his stay in the Radisson Hotel, Blackpool. The hotel’s strategy is to provide its customers with a pleasant experience undisturbed by the goings on outside the bedroom window. They don’t want bad reviews from customers forced to watch the match” – Deryck Hall (who may be a Preston fan).

We are now very accustomed to seeing many, many minutes of additional time being added on to the old-fashioned ‘90’ that we all grew up with … but last weekend the free-climber Alex Honnold needed only one minute of ‘Fergie time’ to complete his ‘look no hands!’ climb of Taipei 101 without the aid of a safety net, parachute or indeed anything more sophisticated than a bag of chalk dust. Footballers, take note” – Allastair McGillivray.

• Igor Julio must return to Brighton if West Ham are to act

• Tammy Abraham returns to Aston Villa in £18.25m deal

West Ham have made space for loan moves for Tottenham’s Antonin Kinsky and Chelsea’s Axel Disasi by sending Igor Julio back to Brighton.

Nuno Espírito Santo has strengthened his attack by signing Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe for a package worth up to £47m and is looking to boost his side in their battle against relegation by bringing in a goalkeeper and a defender. West Ham are looking at short-term deals and have given themselves leeway by terminating Igor’s loan early.

Manchester City’s manager claims he ‘did not have dinner’ with striker so has no idea how fresh he will be for visit of Galatasaray

Our cartoonist on anxiety at the Emirates as Michael Carrick oversees another thrilling win

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• Kader Meïté of Rennes monitored as possible signing

• 1958 fans’ group to protest before Sunday’s Fulham game

Manchester United fear Patrick Dorgu could be out for a prolonged period because of the muscle injury he sustained in Sunday’s 3-2 win at Arsenal, in what would be a blow to Michael Carrick’s resurgent side. While tests are still to confirm the prognosis there is concern the Dane has a hamstring problem that will cause him to miss several weeks, with some reports stating his absence may be more than two months.

Dorgu has been a key factor in United’s upturn, scoring in each of Carrick’s opening two matches. His goal against Arsenal came after an equally important one in United’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City the previous weekend. He also scored the winner in the 1-0 Boxing Day victory over Newcastle, making it three goals in his last seven appearances.

The Leicester City chair plays down talk of another relegation but knows the mood among fans is fraught

Leicester City are hurting but Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, looking towards the pitch at the King Power Stadium, insists he shares supporters’ frustrations. He acknowledges the warm glow of their extraordinary Premier League title win almost a decade ago has long faded. He watches every game, which sometimes means tuning in from Thailand in the early hours. An 8pm kick-off in England is a 3am start in Bangkok.

“I want to see the real passion of the players and the performance,” the chair says. “When it is not there, I can’t sleep, so it’s love and pain. Leicester is like my son. So I have to do it right. Of course, a son can be naughty, a son can fail the exam, a pain in your head. The son can be top of the class, graduate, have a bad girlfriend or good wife, you never know. So I feel the same, but the love is there. The responsibility is there. The first thing for me is to identify the problem and fix it.”

A staggering 32 of 36 teams go into the final set of matches with their hopes of staying in the competition still alive

With seven wins from seven, Arsenal have a perfect record in the league phase. Only Bayern Munich and Inter have found the net against Mikel Arteta’s team, who dismissed Atlético Madrid 4-0 in October. The bottom side, Kairat, visit the Emirates Stadium on the final night, with Arsenal needing a draw to confirm top spot and, theoretically, the most favourable last-16 draw.

Farai Hallam trusted his own judgment on Yerson Mosquera incident despite a VAR review and, in doing so, showed the way forward

I refereed professional football for 25 years. We were talking about handball when I started and it remains one of the most discussed topics in the game.

One reason for this is that we’ve had a number of law changes by the International Football Association Board (Ifab) over recent years. All were made in an effort to achieve consistent outcomes for the benefit of the game, but we can sometimes end up with different interpretations of the laws.

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

• Women’s transfer interactive – all the January deals

Every deal in the WSL, NWSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

• Men’s transfer interactive – all the January deals

• 18-year-old was expected to stay with Hansi Flick’s side

• Joan Laporta describes move as ‘an unpleasant situation’

Barcelona have confirmed the departure of talented young midfielder Dro Fernández to Paris Saint-Germain with the club president, Joan Laporta, describing the situation around his move as “unpleasant”.

Dro, who joined the club at 14, made his first-team debut in September, and turned 18 on 12 January, arrived in the French capital on Sunday night for a medical. Considered one of the outstanding players of his generation, his representatives had appeared to agree a new contract with Barcelona, due to be signed after his birthday, but he informed the head coach, Hansi Flick, of his decision to depart the same week.

Today’s rumours are wet

It’s been a quiet transfer window, all things considered, with even the worst internet attention-seekers refusing to don their yellow ties and take a day off school for its final day, their mum’s toy spaceship left idling in a shoebox under the bed. But there might yet be some action – not like that, how dare you – so let’s dive in.

Crystal Palace are enduring a miserable season, rapidly slipping down the table and now in danger of relegation, the perfect example of how to ruin unexpected success. On the other hand, Steve Parish’s quiff still looks pristine, so swings and roundabouts, but he’s now faced with a problem: does he stop lovingly tending it to consider Nottingham Forest’s £35m bid for Jean-Philippe Mateta, or simply pretend that no such thing ever happened?

• Open letter to Fifa and all football associations

• Killings, arrests and threats against athletes are condemned

A group of prominent Iranians with links to football have called on Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, to condemn the killing and arrest of footballers and the threats made against players in the country. The demand was made in open letter also addressed to the presidents of Fifa’s 200-plus national associations.

Among its 20 signatories are Ali Karimi, who played 127 times for Iran, and three other former full internationals. The list also includes a coach, a referee and sports journalists.

• 21-year-old will move to Spain for a reported $4m

• Defender is the son of former NFL WR Antonio Freeman

US national team defender Alex Freeman is set to move from Orlando City to Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga, The Athletic and ESPN reported on Monday.

The transfer fee reportedly starts at more than $4m but could top $7m with add-ons included. Per ESPN, Orlando City would get 15% of the proceeds if Villarreal sells Freeman in the future.

Thierno Barry’s debut season in English football must have tested the patience of David Moyes at times but the Everton manager’s perseverance is being rewarded.

The £27m summer signing from Villarreal struck his fourth goal in five Premier League games as Everton turned the tide on Leeds. A point apiece reflected a dominant half apiece, though both managers felt they could have had more.

With Chelsea stumbling at the hands of Arsenal at the top, bottom club Liverpool finally ended their long wait

The Arsenal head coach, Renée Slegers, was effusive in her praise of her players’ ability to make things happen when their backs are firmly against the wall. After a dominant 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge she was asked about the Gunners’ ability to defy the odds and win against a major rival despite several key squad members being absent through injury and suspension. “When the moment is there for this team, when it really, really, really has to happen, they do it every single time, and so there’s a lot of strength in this team in those moments,” she said. That ability is great, but also a little damning. Five draws this season have already done the damage of practically ruling Arsenal out of the title race, one point separating them from Saturday’s opponents but 10 between them and the league leaders, Manchester City. It is not enough to find the fire, clarity and focus you need when up against the wall, Arsenal need to find it far sooner if they are to properly challenge for a title they’ve not won in seven years. Suzanne Wrack

Match report: Chelsea 0-2 Arsenal

Match report: London City Lionesses 1-2 Manchester City

Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planet

• Premier League dominates list | How every judge voted | Our methodology | The top 100 female players for 2025

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The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individuals

What makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.

After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure.

Aitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female player on the planet by our panel of 127 experts ahead of Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo

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The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes

They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.

Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.

On the podcast today; Monday Night Football is a classic game of two halves as Leeds should have put Everton away before coming back in the second half. Elsewhere, to the EFL. In the Championship, Norwich stun Coventry who are now just three points clear at the top. Middlesbrough are flying under Kim Hellberg, while there’s a big added-time turnaround for Wrexham. Plus, Cardiff City lead the way in League One with Lincoln City just behind and Bromley could be shock winners of League Two, plus your questions answered.

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There is no special trick to the interim manager’s early success, just a commitment to sound and sensible thinking

What must Ruben Amorim make of it? Maybe that 3-4-2-1 might not be the answer for this Manchester United team? Perish the thought. The club’s recently sacked manager was clear that not even the pope would make him change – presumably because Leo XIV is also a big fan of three centre-halves. Saying that, Amorim did come close to losing his religion towards the bitter end, however brief and unconvincing his dalliance with a back four was. He reverted to a three for his final game at Leeds in early January.

As the dust settles on Michael Carrick’s second thrilling win as the United interim manager in two matches, the last-gasp triumph at Arsenal following the home win against Manchester City, it is a moment, first and foremost, for the club’s supporters to savour.

Liverpool and Tottenham are in different situations but face the same problem: a manager in the hot seat but few ideal options

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Another weekend, another few days of soul-searching for Liverpool and Tottenham. Liverpool had been on a 13-game unbeaten run before Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth, but nobody could claim a string of results that included home draws with all three promoted clubs was convincing. Spurs had won just two of their 13 league games before Saturday’s away draw at Burnley, which was salvaged only thanks to an injury-time goal from Cristian Romero.

For both, European competition had offered some relief – Liverpool looked very good in a 3-0 win away to Marseille while Spurs, at least in the first half, produced probably their best performance since August in beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 – but the sad truth is that the vast majority of European sides these days simply cannot live with the physicality of the Premier League. That’s not to say that Bournemouth or Burnley are better than Marseille or Dortmund, but it is to say that the challenge they pose a Premier League side is less.

On the whims of Fifa’s Peace Prize winner, a life usually so focused on sports has found anything but peace

It’s Saturday morning, and news breaks shortly after the Premier League kickoff window; another member of your community has been brutally killed in the streets by ICE. There are already a few videos on social media, depicting multiple angles of the grotesque scene. This killing, like the one before, has felt inevitable – because of the actions of the federal government, and in spite of the diligence and peaceful pushback by you and your neighbors.

For more than a decade, watching soccer has been a staple of your Saturday routine, as it is for millions of others. Given that, it was hard not to think about a prize awarded by the sport’s most powerful organization just eight weeks prior, to the president overseeing and encouraging all of this. You know, the medal meant to reward “exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace.” Plenty of people have been joking about this “honor” online since the day it was announced. You were among them in December. Today, you find it hard to laugh.

Inter and Juventus exchanged remarkable home victories, while dominant Roma were held to a draw at home by Milan

Lady Gaga’s electropop banger Born This Way is 15 years old, but by the standards of some Serie A stadium DJs that makes it positively modern. Thumping out at the Olimpico on Sunday night it somehow felt timely. Roma were on the right track, baby, after a first half in which they thoroughly dominated Milan.

The expected goals counter had them up by 1.8 to 0.02. Sure, the actual scoreboard still showed 0-0, but the way Donyell Malen kept making space for himself inside the box was enough to convince fans his swaggering debut against Torino seven days before could be no flash in the pan.

Team with an average age of just under 29 finally ended their losing streak since turn of the year

The biggest cheer of the afternoon at the BayArena was a result from elsewhere. A stunning first league defeat of the season for Bayern Munich at home to Augsburg was not important in any sort of title race context – any faint thoughts of that disappeared a while back, and not just for Bayer Leverkusen. No, the shock result of the afternoon, the week, the month, the season means Xabi Alonso’s 2024 double winners remain the only unbeaten Bundesliga champions.

“You’re welcome,” said Augsburg’s English language X account, quote-tweeting Leverkusen’s acknowledgment that their record would endure for at least a season more. And if ever Die Werkself needed a lift, it was here and now. They may have stopped the rot with a single-goal win over Werder Bremen, following a run of four losses in their previous six Bundesliga matches, but it was as bare minimum as the scoreline suggested. Against similarly out-of-form opponents (more so, in fact – Bremen last won on 7 November, nine games ago), they crawled to three points. “We are very relieved,” admitted Kasper Hjulmand with laudable candour.

• League wants tournament dates switched to summer

• Clubs and players believed to be opposed to schedule

The inaugural Women’s Club World Cup’s January 2028 dates “could be catastrophic”, the Women’s Super League has said, with the league raising serious concerns over the potential impact of the tournament on domestic calendars.

A WSL spokesperson said on Wednesday the league is firmly against the dates and have made their case strongly to Fifa, who have announced that the competition will be held from 5–30 January 2028.

Gian Piero Gasperini is clearly a fan of the on-loan Aston Villa forward who shone in their 2-0 victory at Torino

Was it even a real quote, or only an approximation, a convenient lead-in to columns such as this? After Donyell Malen put the ball in the net for the second time in the first half-hour of his Roma debut, a member of his new team’s coaching staff was reportedly heard asking: “ma chi abbiamo preso?” – who on earth have we just signed?

Nobody would clarify who said this, and frankly it did not matter. The phrase was now canon, repeated in commentary and churned across the oceans of online news aggregation. It resonated because Roma’s supporters were asking the same question of a player who arrived from Aston Villa two days before.

Carnival drums provided the backdrop to surprise victory over league leaders that was not just down to luck

“There was a little magic in the atmosphere,” Pellegrino Matarazzo said. Real Sociedad’s new coach could feel it; he could hear it too, the sound of drums beating on every street of the city he has embraced and into the stadium that has embraced him back already. When he and his players arrived at Anoeta on Sunday evening, they entered through a guard of honour, a band of soldiers and chefs lined up in the rain, hammering out the club anthem and hoping. By the time they departed around midnight, following 35,346 supporters out into San Sebastián, it had actually happened. La Real had beaten Barcelona 2-1. Celebrations, his captain Mikel Oyarzabal said, had come a day early.

This week is tamborrada, the San Sebastián festival where, at midnight on 20 January, the city flag is raised and marching bands parade through its streets in Napoleonic uniforms and cooks’ costumes grasping sticks, batons and giant cutlery, routes mapped out in loving detail and special supplements. Initially it was a popular pastiche of a military procession, a prelude to carnival, practice runs echoing round in the days before. Kids go first, adults next. An expression of civic pride, they sing of “spreading joy,” being “always happy,” and God knows they were happy now. What better way to begin it all than this? What better way to become one of them?

Relentless 5-1 comeback win was ominous and made one wonder how many goals champions could score this season

Vincent Kompany had warned after their completion of a record-pace Hinrunde of the Bundesliga season that Bayern would have to “start completely from scratch” for the campaign’s second half. The message clearly got across. Poor RB Leipzig could not have known that his players would interpret that quite so literally.

On Wednesday Bayern had done the job in Köln; on Saturday in Leipzig, they gave the full manifestation of their brilliance as the evening went on. This became the numbers of the season’s first half made flesh. It is difficult to know what their hosts could have done much differently. Leipzig had been “clearly the better team” in the first 45, as Kompany had admitted. “It felt like they were twice as good as us.” His opposite number, Ole Werner, described his team’s first half as “the almost perfect performance”, and it was difficult to argue. Had Antonio Nusa, part of the excellent collective movement that led to Rômulo’s opener, taken one of the two good chances he missed in that time, then perhaps the discussion would be different.

Multi-club owner’s Women’s Champions Cup sponsorship creates a conflict of interest, whatever her motivation

You can imagine the meltdown across social media, if Stan Kroenke, Todd Boehly or the Glazer family were to enter into a partnership with the Football Association. Well, women’s football in the United States already took a similar unusual step in November 2024 when US Soccer announced “a historic gift” of $30m (£22m) from Michele Kang, the owner of one of the country’s biggest women’s clubs, Washington Spirit, over a five-year period.

US Soccer labelled the donation as philanthropic – the largest women’s football in the country had ever had – and “non-profit”. Then, in December 2025, US Soccer unveiled the Kang Women’s Institute, a platform “designed to accelerate advancements in the women’s game through science, innovation, and elevated best practices”, and there was surprisingly little public condemnation. Overwhelmingly, the women’s game around the world appeared to celebrate the businesswoman’s generosity rather than questioning this arrangement, because of Kang’s repeatedly stated aim of trying to grow women’s football.

Arsenal let game slip against Manchester United and need to quickly press the reset button

And then the gap was down to four points. It is still four points, but the thought that Arsenal will struggle to suppress is that it could have been more, that it should have been more.

Manchester City have won only one of their past five in the league, but Arsenal have not opened up clear water. Against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, they failed to take advantage of City slip‑ups, drawing both those games 0-0, and that left them vulnerable to a game such as this. From an Arsenal point of view, the title race is disturbingly alive.

Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations when it comes to the US-shaped problem

Could European countries really decide to boycott the World Cup this summer? It is an astonishing question to be asking in 2026 and an indictment of the bind in which, as Donald Trump sows confusion around a potential annexation of Greenland, the world’s most popular sport finds itself. But the idea is at least seeping into the mainstream and senior figures are asking what, in a worst-case scenario, it would take for football to meet the moment.

Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations. As the Guardian reported this week, an anniversary party for the Hungarian FA on Monday became the forum for unofficial discussions among national association heads about how a unified approach to the US-shaped problem might take shape.

Manchester City have issues with injury and form, and need their big players to step up and turn the ship around

At Bodø/Glimt, in a first Champions League outing since 1 October, the 29-year-old appeared what he is: a player still recovering after 18 months out with a serious knee injury and several related setbacks. This was only a third start since his latest return began with the second 45 minutes of the goalless draw at Sunderland on New Year’s Day. Last week Rodri declared he was “ready to go” and said: “I’m really happy to be on the pitch every single day.” Yet in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Manchester United he was a one-paced, non-factor unable to do what he did with ease pre‑anterior cruciate ligament rupture: run midfield and so the contest. In Tuesday’s 3-1 humbling in Norway the Spaniard was the same, and two moments tell the tale of his form. First Jens Petter Hauge left him a statue before registering a memorable long-range strike for Bodø’s third goal; then came the two yellow cards in two minutes that had Rodri sent off.

Guests with a ‘pitch view’ room at the Blackpool FC Stadium Hotel can’t watch the game – our writer checks in for a trip into the dark

Seems perfectly reasonable that anyone booking a “Superior Room with Pitch View” at the Blackpool Football Club Stadium hotel, located inside the Bloomfield Road Stadium, would expect a hotel room with a view of the pitch. And that is exactly the case – except, bizarrely, when Blackpool are actually playing, with some hotel guests scuppered recently by the smallest of fine print when booking: “Due to the EFL rules and regulations, bedroom curtains have to be kept drawn throughout a match.” Failure to do so could result in a £2,500 fine. Ouch.

Across the 14 years that I have worked for the Guardian, there have been a few occasions when I have been tempted, perhaps after a stressful shift, to go and lie down in a dark room. I just didn’t think that this could be an actual assignment. But off I go to Blackpool to investigate this special type of 3pm blackout, and shortly before kick-off between Blackpool and their League One relegation rivals Northampton, I find myself pulling a very heavy curtain across a panoramic window facing the Bloomfield Road pitch and the Blackpool Tower beyond. That’s my daylight done for the day.

Ambitious owners and financial growth have allowed WSL and WSL2 clubs to assert dominance in the transfer market

“If anyone didn’t take our ambition seriously, I hope they really do after this window, because it shows what we’re pushing for.”

Amy Merricks was answering a question about Birmingham City breaking the second-tier transfer record to sign Wilma Leidhammar from Norrköping, but the head coach’s words could easily sum up the English January transfer window as a whole, as teams in the Women’s Super League, and in WSL2, demonstrate where the financial power lies in the women’s game.

Former Newcastle goalkeeper opens up on the abuse he has received and using the platform footballers have to support an anti-racism charity

It was a chance encounter that would ultimately help change countless lives for the better but, at the time, all Shaka Hislop wanted to do was escape.

As the then Newcastle goalkeeper stood on a petrol station forecourt, filling his car on a dark November night in 1995 his overriding emotions were outrage and fear. Hislop was heading home after an evening out with his wife and young daughter when, with the fuel gauge edging towards the red zone, he pulled into a garage just across the road from St James’ Park.

A guide to each club’s setups, from Chelsea’s multi-headed structure to Brentford’s smooth planning and Manchester United’s muddles

The appointment of Andrea Berta as sporting director in March was greeted with much enthusiasm by Arsenal’s supporters, given his impressive track record in more than a decade at Atlético Madrid,. The Italian, who began his career in finance, has made an instant impression. Known as a shrewd negotiator, the suave and softly spoken 54-year-old masterminded Arsenal’s outlay of more than £250m in the summer that included the arrivals of Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke. Berta takes the lead on recruitment in consultation with Richard Garlick, who was promoted to chief executive in September, the manager, Mikel Arteta, and the co-chair Josh Kroenke. James Ellis, a former scout who then spent two years as head of recruitment, was appointed as technical director in the summer and is tasked with “delivering the club’s long-term player progression strategy”, with a focus on creating a pathway from academy to first team. Ed Aarons

This newsletter looks at Fifa’s new competition, which takes place in London this week and has a $2.3m prize fund

This week London will take centre stage as the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup, the brand-new club competition in women’s football, comes to its conclusion. Four continental champions – Arsenal, Gotham FC, Corinthians and AS Far – will meet in Brentford on Wednesday for a place in the final, which will be held at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

With $2.3m (£1.68m) in prize money and a shiny new trophy on the line, it is far from insignificant for the teams involved. For the wider public, however, there remains a lack of understanding about what it really is and how it came to be introduced into an already crowded football space.

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Perhaps Manchester City and Liverpool cruising to recent title wins made us forget that, deep-set in the making of champions, there will be wobbles, difficulties, forks in the road. As Pep Guardiola would happily tell you now, it’s not supposed to be easy. Just look at Liverpool’s attempts to follow up last season’s serene gambol to the title. The message to Arsenal, to quote the late, great Douglas Adams, is: don’t panic. Mind, Adams also penned this passage in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: “What’s that, foregone conclusion then you reckon sir?” said the barman. “Arsenal without a chance?” “No, no,” said Ford, “it’s just that the world’s about to end.”

The former Aberdeen midfielder, now with Swindon, opens up about the debilitating effect of suffering an ACL injury during her time in Scotland

“People need to know what happened,” Laura Holden says as she reflects on her difficult two years at Aberdeen when injury changed the course of her life. “It’s not all sunshine and roses. There are demons that just get brushed under the carpet without having the light shone on them.”

It has taken the Swindon Town midfielder time and a change of club to process everything that happened in Scotland. Holden joined the Dons in August 2023, determined to establish herself as a key player at one of the biggest clubs in the Scottish Women’s Premier League. But just six matches and 31 minutes into the first season, she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament away at Hibernian.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Today’s rumours are fixing a hole

The thing about the transfer market that a few people forget is that not every deal comes off. Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham from Liverpool, a head scratcher for many, seems to be OFF. It appears that Liverpool have pulled the plug over a lack of defensive options, with Saturday’s loss at Bournemouth helping them come to that decision. A long-term option, this summer, to the left-back conundrum, is said to be Antonee Robinson of Fulham.

Another factor in Liverpool’s slide this season, though some fans may only admit this through gritted teeth, was the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold. To compound the misery on that score, there’s talk that Manchester City, without a senior right-back, might attempt to loan “Trent” from Real Madrid. Or even buy him this summer. That’s a move that might set the Mersey to boiling over.

Max Rushden is joined by Will Unwin, Robyn Cowen and Mark Langdon as Manchester United win 3-2 away at Arsenal in the game of the season so far

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On the podcast today; Michael Carrick’s dream start as interim at Manchester United continues with a 3-2 win at Arsenal. It’s Arsenal’s first home defeat of the season, prompting the panel to ask some familiar questions about mentality, strikers and goals from open play.

Plus: legends’ funerals on state TV, record wins and losses in recent times, and referees scoring goals

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Viktor Gyökeres and Leandro Trossard are Arsenal’s top scorers in the league with just five goals each,” writes Steven Pye. “This seems quite a low total for a team that could go on to win the league. I was wondering which winner of the top flight in England has had the lowest top goal scorer, both before and after the start of the Premier League?”

Arsenal’s 40 Premier League goals have been shared among 13 players – 16 if you include own goals from Sam Johnstone, Yerson Mosquera and Georginio Rutter. Only Everton, Sunderland and Wolves have a leading scorer with fewer than the five goals scored by Gyökeres and Trossard.

13 Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 2004-05); Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City, 2020-21)
14 Eric Cantona (Manchester United, 1995-96)
15 Mark Hughes (Man Utd, 1992-93), Teddy Sheringham (Man Utd, 2000-01), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City, 2021-22)
16 Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal, 1997-98), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 2005-06)
17 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, 2006-07)

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