Category: Football (Soccer)

⚽ Updates from the Emirates: kick-off 12.30pm BST
⚽ Ten things to look out for | Live scores | Mail Barry

An email: “Happy Saturday, Barry,” writes Mark Kerry. “Is it just me or are there other baffled Arsenal fans out there regarding Arteta’s obsession with starting Havertz as a centre forward? I just can’t see the rationale for it at this point, given that Havertz has proven over the last few seasons that he’s not at all prolific, whereas Gyokeres is clearly a capable finisher - as exemplified both by last season in the Premier League but also during recent internationals. Would Arsenal not be better to persist with, or even adapt to,a more natural goal scorer?”

I’m not an Arsenal fan, baffled or otherwise, but I don’t think Gyokeres is a good enough centre-forward to play for them and I’m not sure he’s done anywhere near enough to convince Mikel Arteta otherwise. His forte is running behind into the kind of space Arsenal just aren’t afforded by most teams they play against and for such a big unit, his hold-up play is dismal. It doesn’t surprise me that Kai Havertz is picked ahead of him.

How will Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options

The sense of desperation will be strong as Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur arrive at Old Trafford with both teams in bad need of a win to change the narrative around their disappointing seasons so far.

Anything less than three points would further increase the pressure on Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi, both of whom are fighting to prove they are the right people for their respective jobs. Saturday’s match could be pivotal.

How will Arsenal and Leeds United fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options

Three points is all that separates Arsenal and Leeds United as the Premier League returns after a three-week international break, with the latter one of the surprise packages of the season so far.

Unlike Arsenal, Leeds have yet to lose a league game this season. Daniel Farke’s team have earned a reputation for being difficult to beat and have the quality to cause an upset in north London this weekend.

As the top flight returns, armed with the knowledge its serial champions have been the authors of a 10-year sham supremacy, the first question is simple: how is it going to feel?

The internet: an apology. It turns out you were right. It was actually a simulation all along. Now, talk to me about chemtrails again. And yes, maybe Vinícius Júnior has been replaced by a handsome, baffled-looking waxwork.

Welcome to the weirdest weekend of them all. We are now post-judgment, post-statement, postlapsarian. As the Premier League prepares to snap back into what must be described, out of habit, as reality, armed with the knowledge its serial champions have been the authors of a 10-year sham supremacy, the first question is fairly simple. How is it going to feel?

Manchester City face Liverpool after a trying international break while struggling Tottenham go to Old Trafford

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Emirates Stadium

As the Premier League returns, we dive into the signing who could boost United’s midfield – or confuse things further

Carlos Baleba cost Manchester United $88.7m (£65m) plus $6.8m (£5m) in add-ons when they signed him from Brighton in August. He may be worth even more now despite the fact that the Cameroonian has yet to debut for his new club. Many United fans are counting on Baleba to be a one-man solution to their early-season problems. No pressure.

An ankle injury kept Baleba on the sidelines as Michael Carrick’s side struggled against Everton, Manchester City and Fulham. The 22-year-old joined United just a few days after the opening-weekend defeat to Hull City, so he’d already had a preview of his new team’s troubles to come. The scale of Baleba’s task has grown since then.

Michael Carrick is wary of ‘Dr Tottenham’, Oliver Glasner returns to Selhurst Park and will Manchester City summon a siege mentality at Anfield?

• Premier League top scorers | View the league table

Declan Rice’s future role in England’s midfield was questioned by Gary Lineker after Alex Scott’s impressive first senior international start in the 7-0 thrashing of Croatia. But the decision to withdraw from Thomas Tuchel’s squad in an attempt to manage his workload made sense after Rice had only three weeks off post-World Cup before returning to pre-season training. The 27-year-old has struggled with persistent back problems after suffering a hamstring injury last December and Mikel Arteta will hope that the rest has done Rice – who is thought to be close to agreeing a lucrative new contract at the Emirates – the world of good as they prepare to resume the defence of their Premier League title against Leeds on Saturday. Ed Aarons

Arsenal v Leeds, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Aston Villa v Brentford, Saturday 3pm

Premier League clubs, and their European rivals, left with a long list of absentees after a gruelling international break

A four-match international break has presented a stress test. “The intensity of the squad, the athleticism of it, really, I think it’s designed for the elite,” said the Wales head coach, Craig Bellamy, on the completion of four matches in 11 days. Elite club coaches would disagree. The Nations League and the wider set of international games staged across the globe have been accompanied by a daily list of casualties, club officials viewing matches through their fingers as players pull up and gesture to the bench.

Hamstring and muscle problems have been rife. Sunderland, for example, will be without Brian Brobbey, a key striker, and Dan Ballard, a defensive mainstay, because of strains picked up playing for the Netherlands and Northern Ireland respectively. Bournemouth, yet to win a Premier League match, have lost Alex Scott for up to two months. His performance for England in their 7-0 victory against Croatia won rave reviews, a young player taking his chance and outshining Luka Modric. It came at a heavy cost. A quadriceps injury that had been diagnosed pre-match worsened. “There was zero risk taken from our side,” said Thomas Tuchel. The Bournemouth coach, Marco Rose, is unlikely to see it that way.

Responding to articles on the team’s breaches of financial regulations, Mike Alhadeff says Man City got remarkably little for their money, Ed Barrett says Liverpool were robbed of titles, while Neil Smith warns against triumphalism

As the fallout continues from Manchester City’s industrial-scale cheating and we await their appeal (Building of the Pep supremacy is an era that will be defined by sham-ball, 30 September), it probably hasn’t been reflected upon enough how little they got for their money.

Yes, you can look at the six league titles in seven years and the “Centurions” team in 2017-18, all under the aegis of Pep Guardiola. But take a closer look and they were run remarkably close on multiple occasions.

The spaces can stand both as a rebuke to an era of greed but also a tribute to the Premier League’s hunt for justice

At half-time in the 2014 League Cup final, Sunderland led Manchester City 1-0. Yaya Touré equalised with a casually brilliant 30-yard clip 10 minutes after the break, and City went on to win 3-1. City, we now know from the independent commission, were at the time involved in a prolonged and calculated act of cheating, while Touré, the leaks in Der Spiegel suggested, was being paid via a dual contract to disguise exactly how much City were spending. Although precise details were left to the appendices, the commission’s report refers to payments “not recorded in an employment contract … but instead recorded in a consultancy agreement”.

Had Sunderland won, they would not merely have ended a 41-year wait for a trophy but would have qualified for the following season’s Europa League. It’s possible, of course, that the strain the extra games placed on the squad would have led to relegation in 2015, rather than the familiar trope of sacking a manager, in this case Gus Poyet, midway through the season, and surviving thanks to a bump under his successor, Dick Advocaat.

• Pinto has witness protection status removed

• His lawyers will appeal and say his situation is ‘critical’

Rui Pinto has revealed he is preparing to leave Portugal because he fears for his safety after being informed that his participation in the country’s witness protection programme has been terminated.

The Football Leaks founder claimed he has received “multiple death threats” and is facing “the serious risk of an assassination attempt against me” after being informed of the decision by Portuguese authorities on Wednesday. That came two days after Manchester City were found guilty of 115 charges by an independent commission – an investigation that was prompted by Pinto’s leaks of thousands of private documents.

Success under the Abu Dhabi regime made supporters feel proud, but they can only really get those feelings back under new custodians

Amid the hundreds of thousands of words written and spoken about Manchester City being found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League rules, maybe Roberto Mancini’s were the most poignant when he announced it was “not my concern”. Why would it be? He made millions from one of the “sham contracts” and enjoyed his success but his ties to the club started and ended there. Since he has gone there will have been little looking at what was left behind.

The Italian is a microcosm of the modern club, appointed for his expertise and well remunerated for it. Mancini was deemed the best person City could hire and the club, powered by an attitude of win at all costs, accommodated him at great expense in a manner that a damning independent commission verdict concluded circumnavigated the rules.