Key events
Surely the biggest game of the weekend is el clásico where José Mourinho’s presence in the Real Madrid dugout elevates it further. Sid Lowe sets the scene for Sunday’s showdown against Barcelona at the Camp Nou (8pm KO GMT).
And more for the grey matter. Plenty of football questions in our proper, official quiz which has ‘reveal’ buttons and all sorts.
Let’s go into quiz mode briefly. Without looking, can you name the eight players who have scored four or more Premier League goals this season? Click below and all will be revealed. Six or seven out of eight would be a fine score.
Just under three hours to go before Villa Park witnesses people defiantly waving inflatable bananas while being called cheats. Taha Hashim looks at Aston Villa v Man City in the second entry of this week’s, count ‘em, ‘10 Things’.
“It was five months ago but it feels a lot longer. When these two sides met in May to finish the season, the contest doubled as Pep Guardiola’s leaving party after 10 years in the job and twice as many trophies, an era now laden with asterisks. It must be surreal for Aston Villa supporters, too. Their 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium, inspired by two goals from Ollie Watkins to complete a league double over City, came only four days after their Europa League triumph in Istanbul, where Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendía were the scorers. Buendía is the only one left in claret and blue as Unai Emery builds a new side.”
Reader Bruce Crawford has digested Jamie Jackson’s article rather swiftly and he offers a radical fix.
double quotation markJamie Jackson’s latest piece listing supposed solutions for MUFC fails to mention the only one that will really work long term.
Relegation, preferably “doing a Leicester”, in order to finally get rid of the Glazers. As long as they are there, nothing will meaningfully change. Even if we never got back to being “elite”, at least I might be able to love my club once again.
Talking of under-fire managers, Michael Carrick talked a good game yesterday but what can he actually do to turn around Manchester United’s fortunes? Jamie Jackson – a crime writer on the side if you didn’t know – turns detective.
It’s a big day in the WSL, with a north London derby no less. All times (for one more day only) BST:
12.45 Tottenham v Arsenal
17.15 Brighton v West Ham
Lots of pressure on Arsenal and their under-fire boss Renée Slegers. Tom Garry sets the scene.
“It says much about Arsenal’s predicament that the team who have conceded 12 goals in two games are not the side whose head coach is under most pressure before a north London derby.”
Of those other results from Friday, a special mention for Borussia Mönchengladbach. They’d lost their first six Bundesliga games going into last night’s game at Stuttgart but came away with all three points. They’re still bottom but well done to the beaten 1977 European Cup finalists, who were namechecked here (1min 56).
Supercalifragilisticborussiamönchengladbach
Die Tabelle….
Updated at 03.58 EDT
Results from last night. Every team scored, with Middlesbrough winning the goal count after blasting five at Bolton. That victory put them top of the Championship.
Premier League: Ipswich 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Bundesliga: Stuttgart 2-3 M’gladbach
Serie A: Torino 3-2 Monza
La Liga: Alaves 1-1 Malaga
Ligue 1: Brest 1-2 Nice
Championship: Bolton 1-5 Middlesbrough
Last season, after a slow and creaky start, Aston Villa went into their home fixture with Manchester City on the back of five wins from their last six games in all competitions. They won the game 1-0 thanks to an early strike from Matty Cash.
This season, after another slow and creaky start, Villa also host City on the back of five wins from six. Will history repeat? Or will 100% City continue their bid to reach the maximium 114 points, meaning they’d still finish with 64 (and a likely Champions League spot) even if docked 50 should the guilty verdict hold up?
Check out the team news and predicted starting XIs for all the weekend top-flight matches.
Arsenal v Everton could be decent but it’s those two bookend top-flight fixtures which really take the eye. Today’s Premier League offerings are below – all times BST.
And don’t forget the clocks go back tonight. Or is it forward? Back I think. Anyway, it’s goodbye to BST and hello to GMT. I’ll be honest, the latter is my least favourite of the UK time zones but it is what it is.
Ipswich are up to ninth after that draw with Forest. The visitors have nudged up to 16th but, once more, should really have come away with more than a point.
Fun Ipswich fact: they’ve now won as many home points (7) as they managed in the entirety of their previous Premier League campaign in 2024/25.
Not fun Forest fact: No team have underperformed their xG more than Forest this season – just six goals from 13.4 created.
Here’s Michael Fish’s John Brewin’s report from a windy Portman Road.
“Amid a Suffolk squall, winds whipping, a constant drum of rain, an encounter full of half-chances, mistakes, the obligatory refereeing controversy and searching questions…”
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Good morning! This Premier League weekend is already up and running after a 1-1 draw between Ipswich and Nottingham Forest at Portman Road last night. We’ll have reaction to that and also look ahead to today’s four top-flight matches. There are some crackers and, if it’s too windy outside, the sofa is your friend today as you enhance your televisual experience by following our various blogs and minute-by-minute offerings. You’ve made a great start by already tuning into this one so let’s mildly entertain you for the next few hours.
Updated at 03.11 EDT