Key events<\/p>\n
That also signals the closure of matchday live for today. Thanks for following along, sending in emails and commenting below the line. Have a good one.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n And just like that, we\u2019re into the action. Mr Brewin has fired the live blog for the first of the day\u2019s football, starting with Southampton v Portsmouth:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The return of Glasner to Crystal Palace would have been a bigger story in any other weekend, but it is remarkable that he left Selhurst after a trophy-laden tenure and joined Nottingham Forest. You can have a tedous debate about the relative size of each club, but that definitely isn\u2019t the upward step that Glasner would have been hoping for. \u2018Big Vange\u2019 (as my colleague John Brewin likes to call him) must have really rolled out the red carpet. With respect to Hull v Everton, I think I\u2019ll be tuning into the game in south London at 2pm.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We do of course have two other matches today. Here\u2019s two of the ten things to look out for from our weekend preview<\/a>:<\/p>\n Fiery reception for Glasner at Palace<\/p>\n Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest, Sunday 2pm BST<\/p>\n All eyes will be on Oliver Glasner as he returns to Selhurst Park with Nottingham Forest on an afternoon that will be emotionally charged for both sets of supporters and in the boardroom. The Crystal Palace chair, Steve Parish, sought to defuse tensions last week when he urged fans to \u201cbuck the trend\u201d by welcoming the manager who led the south London club to the first three major trophies in their history in the space of 12 months. \u201cI would be mortified if he gets anything other than the roof blown off,\u201d said Parish. But given the strength of feeling towards Forest and their owner, Evangelos Marinakis \u2013 who is still blamed by some for Palace\u2019s demotion to the Conference League at the expense of Forest last season \u2013 many have still not forgiven Glasner for joining their rivals and could still make their feelings known when the Austrian takes his seat in the dugout before kick-off. Ed Aarons<\/p>\n Aerial battle of the dead-ball bosses<\/p>\n Hull City v Everton, Sunday 2pm BST<\/p>\n In Sergej Jakirovic and David Moyes, Hull City and Everton boast two of the more \u201cpragmatic\u201d managers in the Premier League. Renowned for their safety-first defensive styles, both teams are happy to surrender possession, rank among the top flight\u2019s lowest sides in pass completion rates, and rely on rapid transitions and set pieces for a major share of their total expected goals. A game featuring two defences that pride themselves on their obduracy may well be settled by a well-delivered dead ball into a packed penalty area. While it may not be aesthetically pleasing, expect to see the massed ranks of defenders on both sides spending much of Sunday afternoon bracing themselves for rearguard action while peering towards the sky. The last time these sides met in the Premier League, Everton ran out easy 4-0 winners. A decade on, the aerial traffic is unlikely to be quite so one-way. Barry Glendenning<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.55 EDT<\/p>\n I see debate is raging in the comment section, hi all! This made me chuckle:<\/p>\n I still don’t get it. …was Richard E Grant thinking???<\/p>\n This email is signed off as being from Richard Goalsgalore, which I rate highly: \u201cThe Manchester City shenanigans make Wigan\u2019s win of the FA Cup in 2013 all the more sweet. We played against all the odds and now we discover we seemingly played against all those, and even more odds. Well done Wigan. Weren\u2019t we great.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.23 EDT<\/p>\n I went to an Allsvenskan game last year and it was brilliant fun. It was a Stockholm derby between Hammarby and AIK, the atmosphere was great and despite Swedes telling me the standard wasn\u2019t that high, the football was entertaining. I\u2019d fully recommend a trip if football tourism floats your boat.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n For some light relief, here are the highlights of the game of the year. Brommapojkarna v AIK from the Swedish Allsvenskan yesterday, it was 0-0 at half time but finished 6-5 to Brommapojkarna thanks to a last-kick winner. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n AIK 5-6 Brommapojkarna: highlightsShare<\/a><\/p>\n More correspondence! This one is from Morgan Blake: \u201cRegarding the banner at Old Trafford (as per John Brewin\u2019s excellent piece<\/a>), it looks to me like a tape counter scrolling up from 50 to 51, so I think it is accurate. 50 years at the start of this season, 51 at the end of it. It\u2019s nicely done in my opinion. As a Liverpool fan winning today still very much matters, even if only to provide catharsis. Like you said, it is a strange limbo period and may eventually be looked back on as rather empty and meaningless. But here, today, as a great man once said: \u2018I will love it if we beat them.\u2019 How likely that is, well that\u2019s another matter!\u201d<\/p>\n The email link is at the top of the page if you want to share your thoughts.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Why we\u2019re stuck with a Premier League in the clutches of the global mega-rich<\/p>\n Football, the world\u2019s most popular sport, played by laws drawn up in London in 1863. The Premier League is the UK\u2019s greatest soft power export. Premier League clubs are owned by a deputy prime minister of Abu Dhabi, the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia, a billionaire based in Monaco for tax reasons and a disappointing assortment of investors and private equity funds. And what, really, could be more British than that? Football truly is the national game.<\/p>\n What the Manchester City case has exposed is just how difficult it is to regulate some of the richest and most powerful bodies in the world. While the wait for the verdict was frustrating, it\u2019s perhaps unavoidable given the possibility of legal objection at every turn when a leaked email from City\u2019s in-house lawyer during Uefa\u2019s action against the club had threatened to \u201cspend 30 million on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue them for the next 10 years\u201d. You didn\u2019t get that with Albert Alexander Sr or Peter Swales.<\/p>\n Jonathan Wilson\u2019s latest column ahead of Liverpool v City:<\/p>\n The Etihad Stadium at sunset. Manchester City\u2019s Gulf-based owners are a world away from the local businessmen who once coveted English clubs. Photograph: Ed Sykes\/Action Images\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.33 EDT<\/p>\n We\u2019ve had a few emails, keep them coming. Dave Estherby writes: \u201cTwo performances that will be vital to this afternoon\u2019s shenanigans are that of Chris Kavanagh and the Merseyside plod; it\u2019s gonna be spicy on the pitch and raucous in the stands \u2013 both of which are fine but it\u2019s a pretty low bar these days and it could be very easy to lose control of the occasion and then do too much, or not enough afterwards. Game on!\u201d<\/p>\n Karen Timms adds: \u201cThese are troubling issues indeed. Have read so much commentary and we, as City fans and one Mancunian in Australia, are arriving at a focus on the whole Premier League setup and the English mercantile attitude to it\u2019s own culture. Also debating whether any individual who achieved prominence through City success and sailed on to glory is now suspect and \u2018guilty\u2019 by association. Former players, staffers, assistant managers? Overall sad and disappointed for the lifelong fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Maresca maintains almost total control as he follows Manchester City owners\u2019 line<\/p>\n Enzo Maresca\u2019s first public display since Manchester City were found guilty on virtually all counts of breaching Premier League financial rules was controlled \u2013 apart from the sole, and telling, slip-up of his very first answer.<\/p>\n In Thursday\u2019s pre-emptive PR move, the club had Maresca tell their channels that he was aware of the \u201cnoise\u201d around City. Fast forward 24 hours, and to a packed media conference of 45 attendees \u2013 around a threefold increase on the norm \u2013 at the Etihad Campus, the Italian was asked if this was dismissive of the anger felt towards the club\u2019s cheating. \u201cI understand the reason why most of you are here but the only thing I can say is that there is a process ongoing and in this moment I completely trust the club,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n This correspondent\u2019s radar bleeped at the use of \u201cin this moment\u201d and, when the microphone was passed, Maresca was quizzed if this meant he may change his mind. \u201cSorry, that was the wrong answer. I completely trust the club in this moment, in the future, always.\u201d But there was no denying the initial response and how this points to these shaky times for all at City.<\/p>\n Read Jamie Jackson\u2019s full piece on the role of Enza Maresca in the City saga:<\/p>\n Enzo Maresca\u2019s packed media conference lasted only 16 minutes. Photograph: Andy Hampson\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.34 EDT<\/p>\n The Premier League is back: welcome to the new era of post-verdict unreality<\/p>\n 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 Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior has been replaced by a handsome, baffled-looking waxwork.<\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n There is no precedent for this. Even the state of total confusion feels brittle given City maintain their complete state of innocence and deny all charges. We await the release of Irrefutable Body of Evidence, the great lost Madonna erotic thriller sequel, presumably recast around a steamy three-year regulatory tribunal scenario.<\/p>\n City\u2019s appeal defence appears to be based around the government giving them money. This may or may not be related to how you control what the high court considers admissible. But it is also implied confirmation that the club is the propaganda tool of an overseas state, that Kyle Walker, for example, has basically been a civil servant all these years. Maybe the United Arab Emirates should have six stars on the national team jersey, one for each title. They even look like asterisks.<\/p>\n Read Barney Ronay\u2019s latest column in full:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a strange new dawn for Manchester City \u2013 and everyone else. Illustration: Guardian Design; Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.34 EDT<\/p>\n Andy Hunter was Andoni Iraola\u2019s Friday press briefing\u2026<\/p>\n Iraola: \u2018Uncertainty is no good for anyone\u2019<\/p>\n Andoni Iraola understands the anger among Liverpool supporters towards Manchester City and believes the Premier League needs a resolution to the scandal engulfing English football as swiftly as possible.<\/p>\n Iraola avoided condemning City during his first press conference since the club were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules on an industrial scale over nine years. City have lodged an appeal against the findings and Liverpool\u2019s head coach admitted a final, definitive verdict is essential for the good of the game. \u201cI think it should be [concluded quickly],\u201d he said. \u201cThere should be a moment when something comes from this, but now is not that moment. Nobody knows what is going to happen and I think this uncertainty is no good for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n The City team bus can expect another feisty welcome at Anfield later. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.55 EDT<\/p>\n What did the respective mangers have to say before City\u2019s trip to Liverpool?<\/p>\n Will Unwin was at Enzo Maresca\u2019s pre-match presser\u2026<\/p>\n Maresca \u2018very calm\u2019 despite storm engulfing club<\/p>\n Enzo Maresca says his players \u201cdon\u2019t care about the noise\u201d surrounding Manchester City. The manager and players reconvened on Thursday after spending the international break apart when the news of the club\u2019s predicament was made public.<\/p>\n City maintain their innocence and have launched an appeal against the ruling, but if that fails could face a severe punishment. In the meantime, the staff and players are showing a strong front as they prepare for their first game in three weeks when they face Liverpool on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally I\u2019m very calm to be honest,\u201d Maresca told the club\u2019s official website. \u201cThe club has been quite clear. We trust completely the club. We understand the noise but the focus for us is just what we can control and we can control just the football side.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.51 EDT<\/p>\n We\u2019ve made it past a full hour on the blog and we\u2019re yet to discuss this weekend\u2019s main event. It\u2019s a strange fixture in many ways, Liverpool have done little to suggest they are capable of stopping Manchester City on the field. Enzo Maresca\u2019s side have won five from five and are top of the league. Yet, in this limbo period between the overhwelmingly guilty verdict and the sanctions coming down all of City\u2019s matches will produce a result at the end of the 90 minutes that could be moot. If City win will it matter? If Liverpool win will it matter? This is the scale of the crisis facing the Premier League. This game is essentilly narrative cosplaying a competition.<\/p>\n I would be very keen to hear from readers on how they feel about the sporting spectacle at Anfield this afternoon. Drop me an email via the link at the top of the page on that or anything football-related.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Manchester United and Spurs come back to reality as City saga offers brief distraction<\/p>\n Turning back the clock is impossible. Up in the Stretford End\u2019s middle tier, the ticker had returned, a retouching job to \u201c51 years\u201d invoiced for the pertinent sum of \u00a3114. The Manchester City that existed before the Abu Dhabi project won their last trophy in 1976. Questionable maths is perhaps not confined to the Etihad\u2019s accounts department, though Manchester United\u2019s support must get their kicks where they can.<\/p>\n Should City\u2019s fall from grace be fully confirmed by the appeals and sanctions process, there is nothing in the way of irrefutable evidence of United\u2019s former supremacy being restored. How United fans would love to return to 2008, when Michael Carrick was a key cog in Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s team of European champions. Instead, the autumn of 2026 brings a familiar swell of doubt, another manager dragged towards the meat grinder.<\/p>\n Read John Brewin\u2019s take on another gloomy day at Old Trafford:<\/p>\n Manchester United fans restored their banner marking the years since Manchester City won a trophy outside of Adug ownership \u2013 although they were a year out. Photograph: Alex Livesey\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Savage the panto villain puts scepticism aside to leave Leicester reeling<\/p>\n It felt as though the stars had aligned when Robbie Savage\u2019s first League One match in charge of Peterborough \u2013 his first EFL managerial role \u2013 happened to be at Leicester. He made his name here and forged a divisive and enduring reputation that has kept him a permanent fixture in English football.<\/p>\n Savage has long been a joker figure \u2013 an image born in his playing days, when he hurtled around midfields with long blond hair bouncing, launching into challenges that at one point made him the most booked player in Premier League history. A pantomime villain, a prankster and an eccentric who was once fined \u00a310,000 by the Football Association \u2013 and two weeks\u2019 wages by Leicester \u2013 for using referee Graham Poll\u2019s toilet before a match (Savage blamed an upset stomach brought on by antibiotics.)<\/p>\n That persona followed him into the media after retirement and it hardly screams management material, yet Savage has quietly built a more serious reputation on the touchline in recent years.<\/p>\n Read Sam Cunningham\u2019s full piece from the King Power Stadium:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In the Chamoionship, Swansea strengthened their position at the top of the Championship with a 2-1 comeback win over Norwich. Second-half goals from Moussa Yeo and the Republic of Ireland striker Adam Idah wiped out Jacob Wright\u2019s strike just before the half-hour mark.<\/p>\n Middlesbrough celebrated their 150th anniversary game in style as Will Lankshear\u2019s second-half header secured a 1-0 victory over Wolves at the Riverside Stadium.<\/p>\n Lamine Ciss\u00e9 and Ben Wilmot were on target as 10-man Stoke extended their unbeaten league run to six games with a 2-1 win over Bolton.<\/p>\n Burnley\u2019s first win of the season, and their first away from home since February, sent Watford fans into open revolt as the Clarets cruised home 4-0 at Vicarage Road. Derby are still without a home win after Ollie Rathbone scored late on to earn Wrexham a 1-1 draw at Pride Park.<\/p>\n The full roundup from the second-tier is here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Portugal suspend Cristiano Ronaldo after walking out on national team<\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo has been provisionally suspended as the Portuguese football federation (FPF) opened disciplinary proceedings against the 41-year-old after his decision to walk out on the national team.<\/p>\n Ronaldo apologised to supporters on Tuesday while criticising the Portugal coach, Jorge Jesus, and said he would serve any \u201csuspension that is imposed\u201d on him.<\/p>\n \u201cDisciplinary \u200bproceedings have been initiated against Cristiano \u200cRonaldo dos Santos Aveiro, following \u200ca decision by the non-professional section on 9 October 2026,\u201d the FPF said in \u200ca statement released on Saturday.<\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo walked out on the Portugal squad during the international window. Photograph: NTB\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.00 EDT<\/p>\n North of the border, Rangers went top of the Scottish Premiership<\/a> with a 3-1 in over Kilmarnock, while Hearts thumped St Mirren 5-0 and are nestled in behind the Old Firm before Celtic go to Motherwell today.<\/p>\n On the continent, Yan Diomand\u00e9 earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Villarreal<\/a> to keep them six points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, but in a tight game Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior was sent off for hair pulling.<\/p>\n Anthony Gordon scored his first goal for Barcelona as they extended their perfect start in La Liga<\/a> with a 3-0 home win over Getafe. While Rayo Vallecano\u2019s match against Athletic Club was abandoned because of home fans at Vallecas stadium throwing objects on to the pitch in a protest against the club president, Ra\u00fal Martin Presa.<\/p>\n In Germany, Augsburg\u2019s Robin Fellhauer scored the fastest \u2060goal in Bundesliga \u2060history in his side\u2019s draw 2-2 with Bayern Munich. The champions trailed twice but Harry Kane earned Bayern a point ten minutes from time.<\/p>\n Inter surged to the top of Serie A thanks to three goals in the first half-hour to defeat an outclassed Parma 3-0 at San Siro. Napoli cruised to a 3-0 victory at home to Frosinone with Scott McTominay making his comeback after heart surgery.<\/p>\n In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain eased to a 3-1 home victory over \u2060Le Mans, played out in a tense atmosphere amid student protests \u200bacross France. Lille sit in second place after beating bottom club Le Havre 1-0.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.48 EDT<\/p>\n Before we look ahead to today\u2019s games let\u2019s have a recap on yesterday\u2019s action:<\/p>\n Manchester United 1-1 Tottenham<\/a>: Dominic Solanke glanced in a late equaliser to earn ten-man Spurs a point at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n Chelsea 5-1 Bournemouth<\/a>: Jordan Henderson scored twice on Mois\u00e9s Caicedo\u2019s return to Xabi Alonso\u2019s first XI. Chelsea looked much more solid with the Ecuadorian in the team.<\/p>\n Jordan Henderson gets the ball soaring for Chelsea. Photograph: Paul Childs\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n Arsenal 2-1 Leeds<\/a>: The Gunners winning machine trundled back on track after falling behind with Bruno Guimar\u00e3es completing the comeback.<\/p>\n Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford<\/a>: Each team lead this game but for a cumalative time of only four minutes. Villa are still yet to win at home this season.<\/p>\n Ipswich 2-1 Fulham<\/a>: Pressure is mounting on \u00c1lvaro Arbeloa after his side led this one until the 88th minute. The west London club now have no wins in six and are bottom of the table.<\/p>\n Sunderland 0-2 Brighton<\/a>: Even going down to ten men can\u2019t stop Brighton, Maxim De Cuyper continued his excellent form with another goal. Second-season syndrome for Sunderland?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.44 EDT<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n It\u2019s not an understatement to say the atmosphere at Anfield will be \u2018lively\u2019 today. Liverpool are arguably the team that has lost out the most to Manchester City in the period covered by the Premier League\u2019s rap sheet, so it is a gift from the narrative gods that this is the first game since the verdict dropped. So\u2026 City win?<\/p>\n
You make a monumental mistake and then smile as you defend it, try to explain it away, while everyone is pointing fingers at you.
Your very existence at the same table is under threat now, but you continue to double down, arguing with people that what they saw isn’t what they saw.
Just what in the hell…<\/p>\n![\"avatar\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4538397.png\")
<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791719541_40_Jonathan_Wilson,_L.png\")
Jonathan Wilson<\/p>\n![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Jamie-Jackson,-L.png\")
Jamie Jackson<\/p>\n![\"Barney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Barney_Ronay.png\")
Barney Ronay<\/p>\n