Ben Fisher has been speaking to former Watford manager Nigel Pearson about being halted by Hornets security guards, riding horses and how it doesn’t sit right with him that smaller Football League clubs have gone bust while the Premier League spent £1bn in the transfer window.
A little bit of FA Cup first-round news: AFC Wimbledon v Barrow has been postponed after a number of Dons players tested positive for coronavirus after their 2-2 draw with Doncaster in League One. Darren Moore, Doncaster’s manager, and his coaching staff will self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who tested positive so Andy Butler will take charge for Saturday’a FA Cup tie against FC United of Manchester.
Should Roberto Firmino or Diogo Jota start in attack for Liverpool against Manchester City on Sunday? Jota is in fine form, and he gave Liverpool’s forward line added dynamism in a central position against Atalanta, but I suspect Jürgen Klopp will revert to his tried and trusted forward trident on Sunday afternoon. Firmino’s defensive ability will be extra important at the Etihad and the Brazilian enjoys facing City – he’s scored five goals against them and weighed in with six assists to boot. Mind you, Jota has seven in 10 for Liverpool compared with Firmino’s seven in 36. It’s a tough choice for Klopp, but a nice problem to have.
West Ham have had an impressive start to the season considering they have faced some of the bigger sides in the Premier League. David Moyes is hoping that the Hammers can continue to play with the consistency that has led to some good results – and performances – against the top sides when they face 17th-placed Fulham. “If you’ve been to Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Leicester away from home in the first seven you’d say that’s tough for any club,” Moyes said. “So I”m pleased with the way we’ve started. I still wanted more points, but the level of performance has been good. We try to be the same all the time. We’re trying to get consistency, whether that’s against teams at the top or those who you’d consider to be nearer the bottom.”The motivation is the same every week.”
With Michail Antonio still missing for this one, Sébastien Haller will likely get another start and Said Benrahma willprobably be on the bench. “[Haller] can make an impact in the Premier League. I think it takes time to settle in the Premier League and people expect a lot from the start,” Moyes said. “Sometime it takes time. It’s a big chance for him to show what he can do. He has a great reputation throughout Europe, so let’s hope he can bring that to West Ham.”
Morning all! How are we then? Great. As Tom mentioned earlier, it’s Der Klassiker this weekend and with both sides on 15 points at the top of the Bundesliga what a match it could turn out to be. Bayern’s treble-winning manager, Hansi Flick, has been speaking in his pre-match press conference and had this to say:
It’s Der Klassiker, so everybody will be motivated. We know the whole world will be watching, which will spur us on even more. We are confident and will do everything we can to win the game. Dortmund have an outstanding team. They have one of the best defences in the Bundesliga, a lot of quality up front and they are dangerous once they win possession. It’s important that we play as a team. Winning is always what matters. It was important that we got the three points in Salzburg. It was a great game for the neutrals. Our mentality and desire to win are great. I have to give the team a lot of credit for this. Leon Goretzka trained yesterday. We expect him to be available. Niklas Süle and Joshua Zirkzee won’t be in the squad.”
Right, I’m jumping out of the hot seat now and ushering Gregg Bakowski into it. Bye for now.
Marcelo Bielsa’s been chatting about turning around Leeds’ mini-blip when they face Palace tomorrow. “We want a response, but the response will be evaluated in the performance in the next game,” said the manager.
“The response is always subject to the result in the next game. What happens during the week, we don’t give too much importance to it. There are things to improve and work on - the coach too. I didn’t distribute the players properly on the pitch against Leicester, the help I gave the players on how to defend and attack better, I didn’t give it.”
Bielsa also spoke of his respect for the Palace manager, Roy Hodgson. “I sincerely respect him a lot. I’m not the best person to have an opinion as I have only been here for two years but I have the opinion that he’s a very valued member in the English community, given the trajectory of his career and his behaviour.
“They are a team who has very important players in attack and a team who has a stable base. They have a distinct style of play that they don’t change, but they do improve.”
Leeds will check on the fitness of Raphinha before travelling. Diego Llorente (groin) and Kalvin Phillips (shoulder) remain out injured, while Rodrigo will miss a second match as he continues to self-isolate following a positive Covid-19 test.
David Moyes is a good thing: so says Jacob Steinberg here, arguing that Moyes has bought well and brought focus at West Ham after the directionless extravagance of recent years:
Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala has been given his first England Under-21s call-up. The forward has been included for this month’s Euro 2021 qualifiers against Andorra and Albania. The Derby defender Lee Buchanan is also in the squad for the first time but there’s no place for Mason Greenwood.
Musiala, 17, came through Chelsea’s academy before moving to Germany in 2019.
England host Andorra on 13 November 13 and Albania on 17 November, both at Molineux, having already qualified for next month’s tournament in Hungary and Slovenia.
England: Austin (Tottenham), Bursik (Stoke, on loan at Doncaster), Ramsdale (Sheffield United), Aarons (Norwich), Buchanan (Derby), Guehi (Chelsea, on loan at Swansea), Justin (Leicester), Kelly (Bournemouth), Lamptey (Brighton), Panzo (Dijon), Williams (Liverpool), Wilmot (Watford), Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Dasilva (Brentford), Eze (Crystal Palace), Gallagher (Chelsea on loan at West From), Jones (Liverpool), Skipp (Tottenham, on loan at Norwich), Brewster (Sheffield United), Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), McNeil (Burnley), Musiala (Bayern Munich), Nketiah (Arsenal), Sessegnon (Tottenham on loan at Hoffenheim)
Takeover news: it looks like English football is about to have more Abu Dhabi club owners, at Championship strugglers Derby. A statement from the club this morning announced that the Derby owner, Mel Morris, has been in talks with Derventio Holdings (UK) Limited since May and a takeover has now been agreed. The deal with Derventio – whose ultimate controller is Bin Zayed International LLC, owned by Sheikh Khaled Zayed Bin Saquer Zayed Al Nayhan – passed the EFL’s owners and directors test yesterday.
West Ham v Fulham news: David Moyes will be without Michail Antonio and Mark Noble for the visit of Fulham. Antonio is recovering well from a hamstring problem but will not be fit in time, while Noble suffered a rib injury in training. The on-loan striker Saïd Benrahma could make his full debut. Fulham could be without their new signing Mario Lemina.
Anyone thinking far enough ahead to be planning Christmas? Some essential information if so - the Carabao Cup quarter-final dates and times have been released. Starting on Tuesday 22 December at 5.30pm, Brentford host Newcastle, followed by Arsenal v Manchester City at 8pm. The following night Stoke face Tottenham at 5.30pm, followed by Everton v Man Utd at 8pm. You’d wonder what sort of crowds those ties might have pulled if fans had been let in.
Staying in Scotland, Steven Gerrard says Alfredo Morelos is targeting the Champions League after he become the club’s all-time top scorer in continental competition with 22 goals in the 3-3 draw at Benfica.
All those goals have come in the Europa League but Gerrard knows the 24-year-old has ambitions to go even higher (though he didn’t say whether that would be at Rangers). He said: “Yes, he was very happy after the game about his record-breaking (achievement). I think he’s got his hunger back and you can see it in his eyes, he wants to go and score more goals in the competition.
I know he’s got dreams and aspirations of playing in the Champions League one day, which is good for him.”
While much of football pulls down the shutters, Ross County are letting fans in this evening, a socially distanced crowd of 300 being allowed in for their Scottish Premiership match against Livingston. The Highlands have been placed in tier one under the Scottish government’s new Covid restrictions, which allows limited crowds in stadiums.
Anyone off to that one? How are you feeling about it?
Ole Gunnar Solskjær can expect some serious scrutiny of Wednesday’s capitulation of Manchester United at Istanbul Basaksehir during his early afternoon by-zoom media conference. He really has to guide United to a win at Everton though do not think it is a fait accompli he will definitely be sacked if they lose in Saturday’s early kick-off. Unless it is a particularly torrid mode of defeat he may well continue. But who knows: this is football, after all...
Morning everyone, and welcome to the last weekend of a full programme of domestic action before the next international break. It feels as if everyone’s played about 20 games since the last once, with fortunes hiding and rising on an almost-daily basis. As is the form these days, it all kicks off on Friday evening as Brighton face Burnley in what was once the rush hour in a clash between two sides who haven’t really got going this season. Further along the south coast, one side who have – Southampton - can actually go top if they beat Newcastle in tonight’s later kick-off. They’ve been fun to watch this term, not least because of James Ward-Prowse’s set pieces. He talks about them here to David Hytner.
And then … we’re going to have to talk about Manchester United again aren’t we? They’re first up on Saturday against Everton at Goodison, and with speculation again swirling around Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s managerial future after they let in the kind of goals against Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday that many of us can last remember conceding in cub football on Wanstead flats. They’re perhaps lucky to be catching Everton on a bit of a dip after their sparkling start but it’ll be an intriguing one. Jonathan Liew says United are at risk of drifting while Ole’s at the wheel.
Elsewhere on Saturday, we’ve got an impossible to call Crystal Palace v Leeds set-to – Marcelo Bielsa’s side having suffered a chastening walloping by Leicester last time out – and what look like home bankers for Chelsea and West Ham against Sheffield United and Fulham respectively, but you never know at the moment. Then the spotlight turns to Sunday’s big match between, in theory, the two best teams in the country when Manchester City face Liverpool at the Etihad. Both have been brilliant and occasionally baffling this season, without looking like the trophy-hogging machines of recent years.
Also, it’s the Klassiker in Germany with Dortmund hosting Bayern Munich at the Westfalenstadion. Bayern have been mercilessly, thrillingly relentless for almost a year now but Dortmund’s form has picked up, at home and in the Champions League, in recent weeks.
And let’s not forget it’s FA Cup first round weekend too, with many teams whose leagues have been halted under the new lockdown restrictions granted a tilt at glory against Football League opposition. If groundhopping were allowed this week, I’d be all over ties such as Tonbridge v Bradford, FC United of Manchester v Doncaster and Eastbourne v Blackpool.
In the meantime, here are some things to look forward to in the top flight:
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