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Plymouth and Cardiff games off, Liverpool issue warning
Two Championship games have been called off due to Storm Darragh – Plymouth v Oxford and Cardiff v Watford. All other games in Wales, including the Cymru Premier, have been postponed – raising questions over the Merseyside derby at Goodison.
Liverpool posted on X: “Supporters attending Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park are advised to allow extra time for travel and remain alert to Met Office weather warnings.” Everton’s fan services team have posted the same message –we’ll keep you posted …
Here’s today’s Football Daily …
Tomorrow night, the MLS Cup final will see LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls face off to be crowned champions. So it stands to reason that the league MVP award has gone to … Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi! Admittedly, he is the best player in MLS, even if Inter Miami crashed out of the playoffs early on.
“I would have liked to have received this award in another situation, being able to play the final on Saturday,” Messi said. “But that is also what football is about, overcoming yourself every day. We had a big dream of being MLS champions this year. It didn’t happen, but next year we’ll come back stronger to try again.”
The latest pod is here, talking all the Prem midweek action …
Mikel Arteta heard about Dimitar Berbatov comparing his Arsenal side to Pulisball-era Stoke City, and he’s taking it as a compliment, yeah?
Here’s some more from Julen Lopetegui, who was repeatedly asked whether Monday’s game against Wolves could be his last as West Ham manager. Not sure there’s another profession where you’re expected to discuss losing your job quite so readily, but there we are.
“To close this kind of question, I understand all the things around football and I understand how my main aim and responsibility is to be ready to face a tough and hard match,” Lopetegui said. “In the same way, [it is] a big opportunity and challenge for us at home to be ready to achieve the three points, that is the more important thing.
“For sure, we are not happy and for sure the fans are always right. That’s why until now, I think they give us much more than we give them and we have to change this. We are working for this.”
We’re closing on the top 10 in the Guardian’s top 100 women’s footballers in the world countdown – get up to date here:
Aston Villa ended their winless run by seeing off Brentford on Wednesday, but the fixtures just keep coming for Unai Emery’s tired squad. “Today, I don’t know exactly which players are available tomorrow,” Emery sighed earlier. “Some are doubts, yesterday some had pain and some are tired.”
Saturday’s home game against Southampton will probably come too soon for Amadou Onana, while Jacob Ramsey is “still weeks away”. As for the visitors, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling are back from suspension while Jan Bednarek is “touch and go” according to Russell Martin.
In news that has dismayed football fans across the globe, Kylian Mbappé is struggling at Real Madrid after holding out so long for his dream move. In fairness, Mbappé has still scored 10 goals in 20 games, but he’s also been responsible for two of the worst penalty attempts since Diana Ross was in her pomp.
After missing from the spot again in the 2-1 defeat to Athletic Bilbao, Mbappé said on social media that he took “full responsibility”. The Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has given his thoughts before their La Liga visit to Girona tomorrow.
“He is aware of what is going on. His post after the Athletic game is one of a player who knows how he is playing and that he can play better,” Ancelotti said. “There are players who are unaware they are not playing up to their potential, but he is aware that he can do more, and he is going to do all he can to improve as soon as possible.”
Liverpool will be without Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Alisson for Saturday’s derby. Slot also backed Caoimhin Kelleher after his mistake against Newcastle in midweek, saying: “He saved us a point really because if we had gone 2-0 down, things would have been even harder for us to come back from.”
“If you make a mistake as a goalkeeper it’s difficult for someone else to cover it up for you. He’s always there to help us. He’s in a good place, although he’s disappointed like the others for dropping points from a winning situation. He can go into this game with a lot of confidence.”
After a parade of ruffled, irritable managers, here comes a cheerful Arne Slot, still riding high with Liverpool. He’s excited about his first Merseyside derby – “it being the last one at Goodison makes it even more special” – but cautioned: “It’s only a nice experience if the result goes your way. That is what we are working on the most.
“You need to be aggressive in a smart way,” Slot added, revealing he rewatched last season’s game. “I was surprised after 30 minutes because Liverpool had the ball the most but they had committed more fouls. Everton are a big threat in set pieces. Unnecessary free kicks are not smart for us.”
United face Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening; Amorim reveals that Jonny Evans is still out of training, while Victor Lindelöf is training but not available to play. Luke Shaw revealed on Thursday that he has suffered a setback in his recovery, too. In better news, Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martínez are available again after being suspended for the defeat at the Emirates.
More from Ruben Amorim, who is in at the deep end at Manchester United negotiating a December packed with fixtures. “In one week you have three games; that can change the perception of the team and the table. One week can change a lot and we need to have consistency.
“Before this Arsenal game, you were asking about the top four … we have to manage expectation, be calm and continue doing the job that we are doing,” he adds. “We do not have time to train, [work on] our structure, improve set pieces … we have one game, recovery and then we have to prepare for the [next] opponent.”
Chelsea sit second in the table as they prepare to face Tottenham on Sunday, but Enzo Maresca isn’t thinking about the title race. “I don’t think we are there and ready to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and City,” the Italian said. “We are just focused on Sunday and then the next one. We are not thinking about April, May or June. It’s too early. Things can change quick in football.”
Maresca adds that Reece James and Wesley Fofana are “slowly getting better” but won’t be fit for Sunday. Illness around the Chelsea camp has eased, but Mykhailo Mudryk is still recovering.
Ruben Amorim has paid tribute to Kath Phipps, the much-loved Manchester United employee who died this week at the age of 85.
“You feel it today, it’s a sad day,” the manager said. “Everybody talks about Kathy. I met her seven years ago during the internship, she was the lady behind the reception. She was a really important person here that represents everything about this club: friendly, professional, taking care of everybody, it’s a sad day.”
Pep Guardiola’s press conference
The Manchester City manager says Phil Foden is “still not ready” for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace, having missed the Forest game with bronchitis. He was impressed with Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne’s efforts in midfield, but wants to see how they cope with managing fitness: “all the players are struggling with that right now.” He bats away questions over the Belgian’s future: “I’m not involved with that.”
“Jack has attributes to play [centrally],” he continues. “Maybe it was my mistake to play him as a winger. He can adapt perfectly in both positions.” Nathan Aké is out but Manuel Akanji is a maybe for the match at Selhurst Park. Guardiola says Palace are “playing really good”, better than their results suggest, and have the physicality and quality to cause City a lot of problems.
West Ham host Wolves in what some cruel online wags are dubbing ‘el Sackico’. The Hammers manager, Julen Lopetegui, has been under near-constant pressure this season but is taking things game by game. “Our main aim to be ready, to compete in the next challenge we have on Monday,” he has told the press this afternoon.
“The players have been fantastic,” Lopetegui added. “I don’t have anything to say against my players. I will not talk bad about my players, I accept all the responsibility and pressure. That is why I am the coach.” He bristles slightly at mention of “walking away” from his previous job at Molineux. “That was a different situation,” he said. “I am always committed to the job. I’m happy and proud to be here.”
Mikel Arteta speaks to the media
A soft-soap opener: how does he feel about his team being labelled ‘the corner kings’? “We want to be the kings of everything, best attack, defence, pressing, best academy, best players, best coaches.” On Fulham: “We lost five points against them last season, it’s a big challenge. Always a tough place to go.”
Arteta is unsure whether Gabriel or Riccardo Calafiori will be fit in time to feature at Craven Cottage. He’s also been impressed with Jurrien Timber, who is filling in for injured colleagues: “He’s come in from a long-term injury, ACL, we knew the talent that he has. He gives us something very different and his impact has been huge.”
Fulham host Arsenal on Sunday, having beaten Brighton 3-1 and lost 4-1 to Wolves in their last two home league games. Marco Silva will run the rule over his players’ fitness this afternoon after last night’s win, but Reiss Nelson – who is ineligible for Sunday’s game anyway – will miss the next couple of games with a hamstring injury.
If you’re on your lunch break, why not have a go at our sports quiz of the week?
I’m curious about this expanded Club World Cup – it seems a ludicrous extravagance to me, but am aware the previous iteration meant a lot more to clubs outside Europe. Is anyone out there excited for it? There are some intriguing fixtures (Bayern v Boca Juniors sounds fun) but I fear it’ll have a seriously pre-season vibe with the calendar so packed already.
Coming up soon: Julen Lopetegui, Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola. The latter two managers have found out their Club World Cup opponents for next summer; we’ll see if either has anything to say about player burnout today.
Here’s an insight into Premier League managers’ hot beverage habits. Twenty cups of tea, Gary? Twenty? That’s insane.
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Staying with England internationals at struggling second-tier sides, here’s Wayne Rooney, under pressure at Plymouth: “I’m a fighter, I’m going to lead us and be an example to players,” he said before Argyle host Oxford tomorrow. “I’m loving the job, we’ve had good days, bad days. Hoping to lead the team to some better days.”
Frank Lampard is settling in as the new Coventry manager, and will take his team to Millwall on Saturday afternoon. “I still have the same belief in the squad after a week, it’s a good group, we’ve had a good week’s work, I’m starting to get to know them. It’s a talented group, not really reflected [in results] so I want to see progression.”
“I wonder how many goals Ian Rush might tuck away if he played in the current Liverpool team,” writes Tim Woods. “I’ll go out on a limb and wager it might be a couple more than our current number nine.”
Everton host Liverpool for what may well be the final time at Goodison Park on Saturday. The club are due to move into their new waterfront stadium next season, but worrying clips emerged of water running down steps and concourses amid heavy rain on Merseyside. Everton have played down concerns, telling the Liverpool Echo that a new drainage system, yet to be installed, will prevent repeat incidents.
Here are this weekend’s Premier League fixtures as the match weeks pile up, reducing fantasy football teams to dust.
Saturday (3pm unless stated)
Everton v Liverpool (12.30pm)
Aston Villa v Southampton
Brentford v Newcastle
Crystal Palace v Manchester City
Manchester United v Nottingham Forest (5.30pm)
Sunday (2pm unless stated)
Fulham v Arsenal
Ipswich v Bournemouth
Leicester v Brighton
Tottenham v Chelsea (4.30pm)
Monday
West Ham v Wolves (8pm)
In the WSL, more Chelsea injury news: Sonia Bompastor has confirmed striker Sam Kerr will remain sidelined until at least February. The Australia forward sustained an ACL injury in training last January. “We are looking to maybe have her back with us February, March, not before that,” said the Chelsea manager, who is also without Lauren James until the new year.
I’ve been enjoying this series – and would love to hear your club’s best five-a-side team, whether Italian or otherwise. You can email me here.
‘I won fairly’, Mourinho tells Guardiola
Earlier this week, Pep Guardiola mentioned José Mourinho in his pre-game press conference, and to nobody’s surprise, Mourinho has hit back after Guardiola pointed out he has won twice as many Premier League titles as his former rival.
“He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly,” said Mourinho, now in charge at Fenerbahce. “If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 lawsuits.”
