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Key events
Jacob Steinberg
Ballon d’Or shortlist shows up Premier League’s attacking failings – but tide could be turning
Premier League representation is low when it comes to the 16 attacking players on this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland are there but Cole Palmer, one of the nominees in 2025, is out after an injury-hit year and English football’s shift towards physicality and set pieces last season is summed up by none of the forwards from the best team in the country making the cut.
The trio giving Arsenal a presence – Gabriel Maghalhães, Declan Rice and William Saliba – are all defensive minded. Arsenal won the league but their forwards are not regarded as elite. Injuries played a part, denying Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka fluency, but Mikel Arteta’s side were not loved by neutrals. There was respect rather than admiration for their defensive rigour. There was an argument that a lack of ambition after going 1-0 up stopped Arsenal from beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.
It was a close-run thing, but a second consecutive European title for PSG was a victory for attacking football over the Premier League’s attrition. Luis Enrique’s side keep beating English opponents, and there was a similar vibe at the World Cup. Games flowed more in North America, in part because of officials clamping down on the “meat wall” at set pieces.
Read Jacob Steinberg on the Ballon d’Or here:
Mudryk picks up ankle injury in training to halt comeback with Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur winger Mykhailo Mudryk injured his ankle in training and is expected to be sidelined until after the international break.
The 25-year-old joined Spurs on a season-long loan from rivals Chelsea on transfer deadline day and made his debut off the bench in last weekend’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest.
Mudryk previously played under Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi on Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk before joining Chelsea in January 2023. He struggled to establish himself at Stamford Bridge, however, and his career was put on hold after an adverse analytical finding for meldonium in an anti-doping test in 2024.
The Football Association handed him a four-year ban, but he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and his suspension was later reduced following an agreement between the FA and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“(With) Mudryk, it was a stupid injury and we hope he can come back as soon as possible. For him and for us,” De Zerbi told reporters on Friday.
“For him because he suffered too much and for us because we lost an important player.
“He played 15 minutes in Nottingham, he played well, but it’s in the normal process when one player doesn’t play for a long time.“
Email from Joshua Keeling: “I think Hull will finally come unstuck and get a hammering today. They’re good in defence, but not good enough to stop Chelsea. And they’re not good enough in attack to make it one of those high scoring games Chelsea have been having.
“As for the Manchester derby, I think City will win it, unfortunately.
“Hope I’m wrong on both counts.”
I see goals at the Bridge today too, Joshua.
What do you make of Mainoo? Everytime I watch him I’m amazed that he is not a starter for England. He seems like exactly the kind of midfieder we always decry the lack of, someone to control the tempo and knit things together. Let me know via the email link at the top of the page.
David Hytner
Our chief football correspondent has been writing about how the overlooked England midfielder is key to Manchester United in derby…
Mainoo moves from outsider to main man after summer of hurt
It was a sight the England press pack became increasingly used to seeing after the team’s World Cup matches over the summer. Kobbie Mainoo was invariably the first to leave the dressing room, walk through the mixed zone – eyes dead ahead, features impassive – and board the bus.
It was as if he could not get out of the stadiums quick enough and the further England progressed the more pronounced it started to feel. There was a real gap between Mainoo and the next England player to depart the stadium in the knockout rounds. The Manchester United midfielder is inscrutable, even in the heat of battle. It is part of his enviably unflappable temperament. It was no great leap to imagine what lay behind the mask – tremendous frustration as Thomas Tuchel kept on leaving him out.
Mainoo did not play a single minute at the tournament. He was an unused substitute all the way to the semi-final exit against Argentina, and when everyone expected to see him in the third-place playoff against France he did not make the bench. The Football Association said before the game he had picked up an unspecified injury.
For Mainoo it was a lost summer and yet it was physically and mentally draining all the same, what with the training and travel; the demand to stay focused as he waited and waited.
Read David Hytner’s latest on the resurgence of Kobbie Mainoo:
Any thoughts on today’s games or anything else football, do get in touch. The email link is at the top of the page.
With no 12.30pm kick-off in the Premier League, if you want your early Saturday football fix there is plenty of EFL action. West Brom and QPR are among the early form teams in the Championship, the Baggies can go back to the top of the table if they can win this one at home. In one of the early League Two fixtures, Bristol Rovers v Grimsby is another pick for me.
Preview: Sunderland v Arsenal
Saturday 8pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Stadium of Light
Referee John Brooks This season G2 Y11 R0 5.50 cards/game
Sunderland
Subs from Ellborg, Alderete, Methalie, Hume, O’Nien, Ahoka, Rigg, Isidor, N Angulo, Talbi
Doubtful None
Injured Diarra (hamstring, 25 Oct) Mundle (knee, 31 Dec)
Suspended None
Form LWD Leading scorers Angulo, Le Fée, Isidor 1
Arsenal
Subs from Arrizabalaga, Meslier, Timber, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Guimarães, Merino, Dowman, Eze, Harriman-Annous, Ibrahim, Madueke, Gyökeres
Doubtful Timber (groin)
Injured Saliba (back, unknown), Mosquera (hamstring, unknown)
Suspended None
Form WWW Leading scorers Havertz, Ødegaard, Saka 2
Preview: Tottenham v Everton
Saturday 5.30pm Sky Sports Premier League Venue Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Referee Darren England This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game
Tottenham
Subs from Dubravka, Davies, Udogie, Gallagher, Bergvall, Maddison, Kudus, Williams-Barnett, Savinho, Mudryk, Adarabioyo, Senesi, Ramsey, Adedeji
Doubtful Maddison (shoulder)
Injured Simons (knee, 1 Jan), Kulusevski (knee, unknown), Odobert (knee, unknown)
Suspended None
Form LLD Leading scorer n/a
Everton
Subs from Travers, King, Maitland-Niles, Keane, O’Brien, Hackney, Alcaraz, Dibling, Johnson, Graham
Doubtful None
Injured Nørgaard (muscle, 11 Oct)
Suspended None
Form WDD Leading scorers Barry, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Maitland-Niles, Tarkowski 1
Preview: Liverpool v Fulham
Saturday 3pm Venue Anfield
Referee Tom Bramall This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game
Liverpool
Subs from Mamardashvili, Woodman, Jaros, Frimpong, Gomez, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Nyoni, McConnell, Ngumoha, Koumas, Gakpo
Doubtful Gakpo (muscle), Gomez (muscle)
Injured Chiesa (back, 11 Oct), Bradley (knee, unknown), Leoni (knee, 11 Oct), Ekitike (achilles, 1 Jan), Endo (ankle, unknown)
Suspended None
Form DDW Leading scorer Isak 3
Fulham
Subs from Lecomte, Tete, De Fougerolles, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Reed, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Muniz, Bobb
Doubtful None
Injured Cairney (knee, 10 Oct)
Suspended None
Form LLL Leading scorer King 2
Preview: Crystal Palace v Ipswich
Saturday 3pm Venue Selhurst Park
Referee Chris Kavanagh This season G2 Y11 R0 5.50 cards/game
Crystal Palace
Subs from Benítez, Matthews, Tomiyasu, Ahanor, Mingueza, Chilwell, Doucouré, King, Hughes, Lerma, Timber, Osorio, Gozo, Guessand, Drakes-Thomas, McNeil
Doubtful Nketiah (knock)
Injured Riad (knee, unknown), Mateta (thigh, 11 Oct) and Sarr (groin, 20 Sep)
Suspended None
Form LLW Leading scorer Mitchell 2
Ipswich
Subs from Walton, Kipré, Furlong, Ouattara, Humphreys, Florentino, Ogbene, Akpom, Clarke, McAteer, Walle Egeli, Philogene-Bidace, Matusiwa
Doubtful Philogene-Bidace (ankle), Matusiwa (ankle)
Injured Taylor (knee, unknown)
Suspended None
Form WLL Leading scorers Akpom, Clarke, Davis, Emersonn 1
Preview: Chelsea v Hull
Saturday 3pm Venue Stamford Bridge
Referee Farai Hallam This season G1 Y3 R0 3.00 cards/game
Chelsea
Subs from Sharman-Lowe, Penders, Barco, Gittens, Welbeck, Watson, Quenda, Chavarria, Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Estêvão, Anselmino
Doubtful None
Injured Caicedo (calf, 18 Sep), Palestra (thigh, 18 Sep), Henderson (wrist, 18 Sep), Emegha (knock, 18 Sep)
Suspended None
Form WWL Leading scorers Palmer, Pedro, Rogers 2
Hull
Subs from Phillips, Morita, Millar, Akintola, Hjertø-Dahl, McNair, Herrington, Targett, Dowell, Omur, Sellars-Fleming, Crooks, Gelhardt, Vaz, Thomas, Norton-Cuffy, Mouzakitis
Doubtful None
Injured Butland (shoulder, 7 Nov), Gyabi (thigh, 7 Nov), Hughes (groin, unknown), Matazo (knee, unknown), Ansah (back, 11 Oct), Morita (muscle, 25 Sep)
Suspended None
Form WWD Leading scorers Ajayi, Mendy, Millar 1
Preview: Bournemouth v Brentford
Saturday 3pm Venue Vitality Stadium
Referee Jarred Gillett This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game
Bournemouth
Subs from Di Gregorio, Diakité, Soler, Toth, Juanlu, Rodríguez, Brooks, Gannon-Doak, Jebbison, Adams, Cook
Doubtful None
Injured Kroupi (foot, 7 Nov), Araujo (thigh, 28 Nov), Adli (unknown, 18 Oct), Milosavljevic (unknown, 10 Oct)
Suspended None
Form LDD Leading scorer Tavernier 2
Brentford
Subs from Valdimarsson, Collins, Henry, Hickey, Meghoma, Diouf, Yarmoliuk, Anthony, Wilson, Carvalho
Doubtful Collins (calf)
Injured Van den Berg (knee, 10 Oct), Milambo (knee, unknown), Jensen (knock, 10 Oct)
Suspended None
Form WDD Leading scorer Janelt 2
Preview: Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest
Saturday 3pm Venue Villa Park
Referee Andy Madley This season G1 Y3 R0 3.00 cards/game
Aston Villa
Subs from Bizot, Mings, Abraham, Jimoh-Aloba, Bogarde, Manzambi, Alysson, Cissé, Burrowes, Garnacho, Madjo, Mbaye, Harwood-Bellis, Cash, Ruggeri, Goretzka
Doubtful Manzambi (knee)
Injured Onana (knee, Apr), Madjo (unknown, 19 Sep)
Suspended João Gomes (last of three)
Form LLD Leading scorer n/a
Nottingham Forest
Subs from Victor, Benda, Yates, Netz, Kalimuendo, Wood, Aina, Diomande, Hudson-Odoi, Domínguez, McAtee, Ndoye
Doubtful None
Injured Savona (knee, 11 Oct)
Suspended None
Form LDD Leading scorers Gibbs-White, Ndoye 1
Right then, today’s games. We have seven in the Premier League, four of those are 3pm kick-offs. Let’s start with the fixture at Villa Park…
Barney Ronay
May I recommend you start your Saturday by reading Barney Ronay’s latest column on the Premier League’s work with the Together in Suicide campaign.
If you watched US television adverts during the World Cup for any length of time one thing just kept leaping out. I’ve mentioned this before here, but it still seems both jarring and significant. Every third or fourth rotation in that endless daytime scroll, in between the Chicken Megadeth Hyper-Box Family Meal Deal, either side of David Beckham expertly consuming a light beer, is an advert for antidepressants.
The format for these is always the same kind of thing: contented, wholesome people throwing frisbees, or strolling through a small-town antiques fair, while a warm, honeyed, reassuring voiceover talks about how horrifying their lives are, with the suggestion that only a lengthy course of Smileothorium can solve this.
In another world there would be a call to study this phenomenon, to consider why a nation of such dazzling abundance and opportunity should also feel glazed, worthless and deprived of hope. But this is not that world. More than 50 million Americans have depression. This is demand and supply in action, a battle for market share in a £6bn industry. The US often worries about itself in its post-industrial age. What are we now? What can we still make? Where is the new frontier? Well, human misery is looking pretty hot right now.
The reason for talking about this here is that English football is doing a good thing this week. Between 4-14 September the Premier League is sponsoring the Together Against Suicide campaign. Harry Kane and Prince William have spoken warmly in support. The league is posting words of solidarity on its X account, which is probably not the best way to cheer yourself up if we’re being honest.
Read Barney Ronay’s column in full:
Good morning football fans, before we start looking ahead to today, shall we have quick recap of last night’s action?
There’s not much to recap, to be honest, although West Ham did pump Wrexham 6-0 in east London. Jarrod Bowen got the first just before the half hour as one of six different scorers.
North of the border, Hearts won 3-0 at Stenhousemuir to reach the Scottish League Cup semi-final.
Preamble
Tom will be here shortly, but just to get you in the mood for today’s football action, here are the Premier League games:
Bournemouth v Brentford (3pm, all times BST)
Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest (3pm)
Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town (3pm)
Chelsea v Hull City (3pm)
Liverpool v Fulham (3pm)
Tottenham v Everton (5.30pm)
Sunderland v Arsenal (8pm)
And here are all of today’s fixtures. Get in touch to let us know if you’re going to a game, or following any in particular, at [email protected].
