Category: English Premier League

Newcastle players look revitalised, Liverpool’s curious transfer strategy and a worrying start for Palace

Amid the concerns at Manchester United, one player unquestioned is Senne Lammens. The goalkeeper produced some important first-half saves against Ipswich to keep his side in the game in difficult circumstances. A relaxed character, the Belgian is a calming influence in an emotional environment, especially with a panicked defence. When Julio Enciso was through on goal, Lammens had to decide when to come and how far, getting his distance and angles perfect to ensure the Paraguay attacker was repelled. His distribution was also excellent, instigating rapid attacks and bringing the dynamism demanded from the modern goalkeeper. Will Unwin

Match report: Manchester United 5-2 Ipswich Town

Reaction: Carrick hails United’s grit after rout of Ipswich

Will Unwin: Rashford return feels like marriage of convenience

Match report: Liverpool 2-2 Nottingham Forest

Reaction: Iraola angered by substitution delay

Match report: Chelsea 4-3 Brighton

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To follow the claiming of both major footballer of the year awards by scoring a hat-trick in Manchester United’s first home game was some Bruno Fernandes act, and points to an intent to continue his stellar form of last season.

Ipswich Town came to scythe Michael Carrick’s side via the pace of Julio Enciso, Issa Diop and Daizen Maeda, and when Leif Davis gave them a 29th-minute lead victory was on.

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Another high-scoring win for Chelsea as Wilson Isidor sank Fulham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin denied Brentford

Mark Slater gets in touch: “I will be following the Chelsea vs Brighton match particulary, but am happy to see a Joy Division quote in the opening paragraphs. In Chelsea’s case, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester City, and Aston Villa most recently...”

Tom: “A+++ for getting Joy Division into the Sunday MBM.”

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• Premier League updates from the 4.30pm (BST) kick-off

• Live scoreboard | Mail Tim and follow us over on Bluesky

Out come the players, some of them holding babes in arms – including Marcus Rashford, who has a big smile on his face.

The first email of the afternoon comes from Dave. “Hi Tim, loving the MBM.” Thanks! “Just wondered if there’s any insight into why Sesko seems to find it so hard to get a start.”

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• Manager says opening-day defeat just ‘one game’

• United to be without Carlos Baleba against Ipswich

Michael Carrick has said it was “lazy and easy” to say everything was wrong with Manchester United after the opening-day defeat at Hull.

United lost 2-0 in a tame display and the manager was asked whether his captain, Bruno Fernandes, and Youri Tielemans, Belgium’s captain, had shown the leadership that might have affected the performance and result.

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The boss in the dugout is typically no longer an ageing former player – most are in their 40s on an exhausting treadmill

One of the problems with getting older is that you’re never quite sure whether it’s you or them. Is the world really changing, or is it just you, struggling to adapt? There’s a milestone in life, probably as you’re contemplating university or a first job, when you realise you’re watching a footballer who is younger than you. Then, 15-20 years later, you realise you’re watching a manager who is younger than you. And 15-20 years after that, especially if you’re watching the modern Premier League, you realise that almost every manager is younger than you.

At which you do two things: give thanks for David Moyes; and check to see whether it’s actually happening, or whether this is just the football equivalent of the policemen-getting-younger cliche.

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Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa got the goals as Newcastle survived a first-half onslaught before consigning Tottenham to back-to-back top flight defeats

• Read Paul MacInnes’s match report from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Fun fact: Tottenham and Newcastle have met 61 times in the Premier League era without ever playing out a scoreless draw. Today could be the day for a dreary stalemate but it seems unlikely – fingers crossed for a glut of goals.

Premier League: Hull City have made it back-to-back wins upon their return to the top flight, with Liam Millar scoring the only goal of their game at Coventry City to deposit another three precious points in the bank. James Tarkowski left it until added time to cancel out Alex Scott’s opener as Bournemouth were held by Everton at the Vitality Stadium. In today’s early game, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest served up an entertaining 2-2 draw at Anfield, where the hosts had to come from behind twice to rescue a point.

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Víctor Muñoz struck an 82nd-minute equaliser for Liverpool against Nottingham Forest in an entertaining Premier League draw at Anfield

The teams are out! Liverpool all in red, Forest wearing a third-choice shirt that looks awfully like a recent Manchester City number. You’ll Never Walk Alone rings out, as Liverpool principal owner John Henry and the new vice-chairman Amit Bhatia watch from the stand. We’ll be off in a minute … and that minute will see fans remember the legendary Kevin Keegan, the star of Bill Shankly’s second great team, who recently passed. The warmest applause from all four corners of the ground, a mosaic on the Kop that reads KEVIN 7, and a chant of One Kevin Keegan.

On the subject of Forest and big-money transfers … David Ornstein of the Athletic was on TNT Sports earlier, reporting the possibility of their buying 19-year-old midfield prospect Harrison Armstrong from Everton for £40m. Should that come to pass, it’ll probably result in the Hill Dickinson toppling into the Mersey, but only after the whole structure is launched a couple of miles into the air by the steam from Everton supporters’ lugs. Armstrong is extremely highly rated, but Forest have pockets full of cash after selling Elliot Anderson to Manchester City, so this one is worth keeping an eye on.

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Tottenham host Newcastle on Saturday while champions Arsenal face a trip to Aston Villa on Monday night

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Anfield

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Liverpool need midfield nous, Michael Carrick is already under pressure and Villa can bid farewell to Enzi Konsa

Enzo Maresca has a shiny new £85m midfielder he could select for a debut but, at 18 years old, he may want Ayyoub Bouaddi to have a bit of time watching on from the bench to learn about the Premier League from his elders. The Moroccan may not have anticipated one of those to be a centre-back by trade. Marc Guéhi will be eager to make a triumphant return to Crystal Palace and may well have the opportunity to do so from central midfield, where he played last weekend in the victory over Bournemouth, scoring the equaliser. The centre-back was a surprise selection in the blocker role next to Elliot Anderson, but equipped himself admirably and was not limited to the dirty work, often being found in more advanced positions in open play and happy to have the ball at his feet. His long-term future is unlikely to be outside of defence but further proof of Guéhi’s adaptability will be a positive for Maresca, as a long season awaits. Will Unwin

Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Friday 8pm (all times BST)

Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 12.30pm

Bournemouth v Everton, Saturday 3pm

Coventry v Hull, Saturday 3pm

Tottenham v Newcastle, Saturday 5.30pm

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Possession numbers, the intense physicality and the pure rhythm of games all felt noticeably new as the season began

There has been something oddly narcotic and moreish about the drip‑drip of fresh Pep Guardiola content either side of the start of the new Premier League season. Eras come and go. Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact. But four‑part Amazon Prime documentaries make angels of us all.

So we have continued to feast on the Pep-at-City visuals: dead jeopardy, reheated beefs, the uplifting team talks of a departed manager to the departed players of a departed team, and moments that often feel far more gripping than the daily churn of what we must, out of habit, call the real world.

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Cole Palmer capped a majestic performance with the decisive third goal as Chelsea edged Fulham in a brilliant game

Joao Pedro, Chelsea’s new No9, has scored after 30 seconds. Cuenca’s driven ball out of defence was headed whence it came by one of the Chelsea centre-backs. Palmer slipped a simple* first-time pass through to Joao Pedro, who dinked the ball decisively over Leno.

* For him.

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Sunday’s draw with Newcastle shows Andoni Iraola’s new ideas as manager will need to overcome the squad’s lack of balance

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The good news for Liverpool is that, Arsenal aside, every other team with vague title aspirations who played over the weekend looked undercooked, and that Andoni Iraola’s men did, in the end, come away from Newcastle with a point. But the vulnerability to the counter that undermined them so often last season has not gone away, and nor have they suddenly found a new creativity under Iraola.

The main theme of the first three days of the new season was the value of stability. Manchester City under a new manager were poor and fortunate to overcome Bournemouth. Aston Villa, after big changes of players and backroom staff, were hammered at Brighton. Tottenham, midway through yet another overhaul, were dismal in losing at Brentford. Manchester United at least provided a degree of stability by looking very much like the United of the past decade in their defeat to Hull.

This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here.

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Manchester United’s under-powered attack, Brentford’s £39m bargain and Dewsbury-Hall delivers for Everton

Arsenal’s treatment of Gabriel Martinelli has been questioned by Ian Wright after the Brazil forward was left out of their squad for Friday’s opening game against Coventry. Martinelli turned down a move to Galatasaray last week after Arsenal had agreed a fee with the Turkish club and the former striker Wright revealed on Sky Sports after the Coventry game that no one at the club has spoken to the 25-year-old to discuss his future. “I know they might want him out, and a lot of people might say, ‘yeah, it’s time for him to move him on’. But there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave,” said Wright. “He’s done enough with this squad to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated with at the moment.” Ed Aarons

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Coventry

Match report: Brighton 4-0 Aston Villa

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Before kick-off a banner was raised in the Gallowgate End inscribed with a quotation from the late Kevin Keegan. “I want people to dream about their football,” it read. “We should all be dreamers at heart.”

Out on the pitch it swiftly became apparent that both Matthias Jaissle, Keegan’s latest successor in the Newcastle dugout, and Liverpool’s new manager Andoni Iraola are on individual missions to create forms of organised chaos capable of subjecting the best opponents to torrid nightmares.

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