3 hours ago
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Key events
Bundesliga news: Borussia Mönchengladbach have dismissed Eugen Polanski with immediate effect, after their 5-0 loss to Freiburg. Just three games in, too.
More De Zerbi, on his post-match discussion with Mathys Tel: “Yes, I coached him on the pitch. The body shape. He is a striker and the striker can play with the shoulder on the goal.
“If we are playing with Maddison, Kudus and Savio, [Tel] has to play as a striker and the striker has to look at the goal or the cross from Robertson. He has to stay inside because he started as a striker eh? Now he is playing as a winger but he started his career as a striker, but I love Mathys as a player, as a guy and there is not a problem.”
Good morning.
Here’s a decent stat, via Fulham: “Álvaro Arbeloa is the first manager to take points from Liverpool having also played for them in the Premier League.”
Who would that take in? Steven Gerrard? Xabi Alonso yet to face them? Why have so few ex-Liverpool players managed the Premier League? Gary McAllister? ⚪️
And with that, John Brewin is here to continue the build-up to this afternoon’s games.
Got a minute to spare? Why not try our daily Premier League trivia game, On the ball? Every day a star player past or present is hidden behind nine clues. How many will you need to identify them?
Play our football trivia game, On the ball
ShowThe Guardian's daily football game, On the ball, is now live in the app for both iOS and Android. Can you identify the Premier League star from the clues?
Jamie Jackson has previewed today’s Manchester derby. You can give it a read below…
Now, let’s look ahead to the Manchester derby. Is there a clear favourite for this one? I’m not sure there is. I suppose most people would expect City to win, but United pulled off a shock result in this fixture last season.
Here’s a look at the head-to-head results from the last five games:
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United 2-0 City
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City 3-0 United
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United 0-0 City
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City 1-2 United
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City 1-1 United (City win 7-6 on pens in Community Shield)
How the Premier League table looks after yesterday’s results…
In case you missed Mauricio Pochettino’s comments this week, the former Tottenham boss argued that Spurs should be awarded Chelsea’s 2016-17 Premier League title.
He said: “We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it. If that [Chelsea’s rule-break] was true, then we deserve to be champions that year, for sure. They were punished, they admitted it? So that’s it. The title should be for the team that was second.
“We can say that they scored goals, they won games. OK. But it’s completely fair to say that we didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card. Maybe with the same rules, we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals.”
Read more here:
Dave Estherby has messaged in about Tottenham and their (lack of) goalscoring. He says:
“Re. question of the day (8.44), yes, they will score (a) goal(s) - they will also finally achieve their, er, goal of getting relegated at the third time of asking. New manager, fortune spent, zero difference. Conte and Ange were right, it’s a business not a football club. As long as they can fill that stadium with Jay Z/Jacksonville Jaguars fans all is well.
“The fact Pochettino is now trying to get history re-written is beyond parody.”
And here’s a little roundup of the remaining Premier League reports from yesterday…
Elsewhere, Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by high-flying Hull City at Stamford Bridge.
Question of the day: when will Spurs score a goal? Tottenham fans, what do you think has been going wrong so far this season? Be sure to email in or leave a comment below the line.
Roberto De Zerbi says his Tottenham players continue to lack physical fitness and must “unblock” themselves in psychological terms after they drew their latest Premier League blank.
He explained: “There is a word in Italian – sbloccarsi – that literally translates as if we unblock ourselves.
“[It is] a mental block because four games, no wins, no goals scored … it is tough for the players. The team is extremely strong, we can score goals and we can win games. And then we have to respect the history of the players in their careers. Forget Dominic Solanke and Marmoush – the other players … they didn’t score many, many goals in their careers and we have to find these goals. I think we can do so with the quality of our play.”
De Zerbi added: “I said we started this season late for many, many reasons; too late. Many players at the World Cup, many injuries, many problems in Australia. Micky van de Ven suffered an injury in Australia. Domi Solanke the same. James Maddison the same. Mateus Fernandes suffered an injury in Australia. He lost 15 days and it’s not so quick. Sávio and Marmoush, they came 10 days ago. I started to work with this [whole] group not last Thursday but two Thursdays ago. So, I think we have not the right physical condition yet.”
Tottenham’s wait for a Premier League goal continues. It’s now 407 minutes and counting following a 0-0 draw with Everton…
Mikel Arteta was left furious with referee John Brooks last night, despite Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Sunderland.
Before Bruno Guimarães gave Arsenal the lead in a tight match that Régis Le Bris’s team were arguably unlucky to lose, David Raya made a brilliant save to deny Enzo Le Fée from the penalty spot. Arteta, however, did not believe that Ezri Konsa had hauled Dan Ballard to the ground, instead blaming the Sunderland man for pulling down his opponent.
He said: “We had to overcome a really tough opponent in a difficult place. Sunderland can suffocate you and they decided to be really physical and very direct and we also had to overcome a situation that, in my opinion was unacceptable at this level.
“I’m very worried and sad because this can never be a penalty. It’s a judo roll from the opponent. Ezri does nothing. We have to take responsibility to protect the game. Today the game was unprotected and it could have cost us the win and our momentum. I’m really sad. It should never have happened.”
Let’s take a quick look back at last night, when Arsenal earned a 2-0 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light thanks to goals from Bruno Guimarães and Bukayo Saka.
Yesterday’s Premier League results
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Liverpool 0-0 Fulham
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Crystal Palace 2-3 Ipswich Town
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Bournemouth 2-2 Brentford
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Aston Villa 1-2 Nottingham Forest
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Chelsea 2-2 Hull City
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Tottenham 0-0 Everton
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Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal
Preamble
It’s Manchester derby day!
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live. We have two Premier League fixtures to look forward to this afternoon, including the small matter of City v United. Enzo Maresca’s new side make the short journey across the City of Manchester to Old Trafford, where they will go head-to-head with Michael Carrick’s men. The Sky Blues need a win to maintain their 100% record in the Prem this term and keep pace with Arsenal, who earned a 2-0 victory against Sunderland last night. Elsewhere, Coventry host Brighton as they look to get their first points on the board.
Over in Scotland, Rangers take on Celtic in a Scottish League Cup Old Firm derby at Ibrox.
We also have games in the WSL, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, La Liga and Championship to look forward to.
Join us!
