Category: Football (Soccer)

Mohamed Salah scored twice to win a chaotic game where Southampton held the lead only for errors to cost them

5 min Southampton play out nicely from the back, with Harwood-Bellis finding Fernandes in a bit of space. He cuts across a shot from 25 yards that is comfortably held by Kelleher.

4 min Liverpool have made a relaxed, confident start, with the first few minutes taking place almost exclusively in the Southampton half.

• 4-0 loss to Tottenham was fifth defeat in a row
• ‘At the moment we are not solid enough’

Pep Guardiola is defiant that he will end Manchester City’s five-match losing sequence, with the manager stating it is “my responsibility” to do so.

Saturday’s 4-0 defeat by Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium was a third consecutive Premier League reverse, City also losing at Sporting in the Champions League and Ange Postecoglou’s side in the Carabao Cup during the run. Liverpool’s win at Southampton leaves City eight points behind the league leaders, who they play next weekend.

• Liverpool coach wary of facing bottom team
• Slot praises Russell Martin for sticking to his principles

Arne Slot has said he is having to raise his game because the standard running through the Premier League from top to bottom is so high. The Dutchman has led Liverpool to the summit after 11 games and quickly realised the step up in quality from the Eredivisie.

On Sunday Liverpool travel to bottom-of-the-table Southampton, where Slot is not expecting a walkover, as he believes any team in the division can defeat any other. Despite Southampton winning once this season, Slot praised Russell Martin for sticking to his principles of possession-based football.

“Sacked in the morning” was the ecstatic taunt from Tottenham fans aimed at Pep Guardiola when Pedro Porro’s third was rammed in under a classic Mancunian downpour that had abated by the end of Manchester City’s fifth consecutive defeat.

The right-back prospered as Ange Postecoglou’s men did all evening: by ransacking the champions who, despite Guardiola’s defiance that he is up for arresting the slide, were clueless, as illustrated by Brennan Johnson’s added-time fourth, when, for a countless time, City fell to the quick break.

Spurs humiliated the champions on their own patch, condemning City to a fifth successive defeat in all competitions

3 min: Gvardiol crosses from the left for Haaland, who strangely doesn’t go for goal from his position on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. His header back across the face is cleared. But this is a fast start by City. Spurs have barely had a touch since that kick-off fiasco.

2 min: Gundogan sends the resulting free kick towards the far stick. Akanji is unable to turn it goalwards. Goal kick.

Arsenal, Brighton and Wolves all banked wins as football returned from the international break in goaltastic style

“A home defeat to Brentford is exactly the kind of result that appears on the record of a relegated club come May,” notes Gary Naylor. “So does Sean Dyche adopt his signature caution to avoid that, or does he see the match as an opportunity to lift the team and the fans before the Christmas fixtures, and go expansive? Frankly, sneaking a 1-0 with a deflected Michael Keane header from an 88th-minute corner would do me right now. Though I suspect I’m in a minority amongst Bluenoses.”

This is the only photograph I’ve had through from Goodison Park today. I reckon that’s an expansive smile.

Fabian Hürzeler is happy for Brighton fans to continue to sing about Europe after they moved up to fifth in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Bournemouth. The Seagulls were in cruise control after João Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma struck at the start of each half before Carlos Baleba’s 59th-minute red card threatened to shift the momentum.

The Bournemouth substitute David Brooks reduced the deficit in the third minute of stoppage time and in the end Brighton were relieved to see Antoine Semenyo smash an effort against the bar five minutes later as the visitors held on for a fourth triumph in six league games.

Trouble is brewing for Sean Dyche as The Friedkin Group await approval on their proposed takeover of Everton. The Everton manager was left in no doubt as to the growing discontent inside Goodison Park after Brentford held out for 53 minutes with 10 men to take their first Premier League away point of the season. They did so with relatively little trouble, which said everything about Everton’s second half display.

The Brentford captain, Christian Nørgaard ,was shown a straight red card for imprinting his studs into Jordan Pickford’s knee four minutes before the interval. Everton had started brightly against the 11 men of Brentford but became increasingly clueless as the contest wore on. It is now five draws in eight league games for Dyche’s team and no goals in three outings. An ominous December – which includes games against all of the top four, Ruben Amorim’s first home league game as Manchester United manager, a revitalised Wolves and Nottingham Forest – now awaits.

Out-of-form Manchester City host Tottenham while Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United reign starts at Ipswich

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue King Power Stadium