Can you tell us the answer to this quiz question?

Which Russian club is in an elite group with Blackburn Rovers, Celtic, Manchester City, Newcastle United and West Ham United?

We'll reveal the answer this time next week in the next edition of The Pre-Match Poser – stay tuned for that – but for now, here's the answer to last week's conundrum…

Q. Which is the odd one out of Joe Hart, Harry Maguire, Kevin Keegan and Marc Guehi?

A. It’s Harry Maguire, who is the only one to be known by his first name during his England career. Charles Joseph John Hart, Joseph Kevin Keegan and Addji Keaninkin Marc-Israel Guehi are the full names of the other three: Maguire was born Jacob Harry Maguire, but legally changed it to Harry Jacob Maguire when he was 18, prior to his first Three Lions appearance.

More football quizzes we know you'll love

Now that you'll be mulling that one over all week, here's more for you: much more. If you can span the distance between the modern women's game, short-lived top-flight icons, and tactical visual puzzles, take on these quizzes, courtesy of Kwizly.

We're kicking off with a double-header auditing domestic growth and fleeting individual brilliance. First, we want you to test your knowledge of the domestic structure by naming every team in the top two tiers of women's football in England, a comprehensive examination of the WSL and Women's Championship landscape. Once you’ve mapped out the professional women's pyramid, shift your focus to the men's top flight and take on our Big Quiz of One-Season Wonders, celebrating those unforgettable stars who produced one sensational campaign before fading from the headline act.

If your scouting network relies on off-pitch stories and visual lineup deduction, we have two unique challenges waiting in the tunnel. You can trade the dugout for the library by attempting to name the authors of these footballer autobiographies, proving you know the candid minds behind the game’s most famous memoirs. After closing the books, put your international awareness to the ultimate test: can you guess the team from the line-ups' nationalities? It’s a clever, deceptive examination of iconic starting XIs and transfer footprints that will stretch your tactical intuition to its limits.

With a brilliantly balanced mix of international folklore, trapdoor drama, and breakout prodigies, strip in for FourFourTwo’s Weekend Crossword 67, with clues on nations, relegations and teen sensations. To ensure you stay top of the table every single day, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for your daily briefing of hand-picked trivia and tactical analysis. To complete your transfer to terrace legend status, join The Club, our free membership hub that serves as your digital dugout, where you can unlock secret hints for our hardest quizzes, climb global leaderboards, and debate the latest topics directly in the comments section.

During Jan Molby’s seven-year spell at Liverpool, the Dane was a key part of one of the most successful sides in English football history.

The midfielder joined from Ajax in 1984 and quickly established himself in the Reds side, going on to win three First Division titles and two FA Cups on Merseyside.

As Molby looks back at his time at Anfield, he has particular praise for a defensive trio, who were able to combine technical quality, intelligence and drive to the side.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Jan Molby on his defensive Liverpool teammates

Right-back Phil Neal played more 650 times for the Reds, winning eight league titles, four FA Cups and four European Cups to cement his place as one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever players, and one which Molby immediately respected.

“I thought he was a terrific footballer,” Molby tells FourFourTwo. “A great defender, a very good one-touch passer, and could follow up with both feet.

“I only played with him for 18 months, but was one of those guys when I walked into Liverpool, I was instantly impressed with his ability.”

At the centre of defence during Molby’s time at the club was another of Liverpool’s most respected and decorated players.

“Alan Hansen is one of those rare players that wouldn’t have looked out of place in today’s football because of the way he played the game,” Molby reflects.

“He was an exceptional reader of the game, very quick and very comfortable with the high line that’s often played nowadays.”

Left-back Steve Nichol was also established at the club when Molby joined, with the Dane quick to recognise the contribution of a player who would sometimes get overlooked before winning a key individual honour at the end of the 1980s.

“In 1989, Steve was the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year,” Molby continues.

“A terrific all-round footballer and one of those guys that generally didn’t know how well liked he was and how good he was.

“He was a real unsung hero, but so appreciated by the backroom staff and his team-mates.”

Jan Molby was speaking to FourFourTwo via Free Bets

Watch Sunderland vs Arsenal for free as the Premier League champions travel to the Stadium of Light in a mouth-watering Saturday night clash. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Regis Le Bris' men will believe they can be the first side this season to take points off the Gunners, after they followed an important win against Fulham with an impressive draw at Brentford.

Arsenal are one of just two teams to boast a 100 per cent record in the Premier League after three games, with Mikel Arteta's men in ominous form.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Sunderland vs Arsenal online and from anywhere, including for free, as the 2026/27 Premier League season continues.

Watch Sunderland vs Arsenal for FREE

You can stream Sunderland vs Arsenal for free in the US thanks to YouTube TV's 21-day free trial, which carries USA Network.

Outside the US? You need a VPN to access your free Sunderland vs Arsenal stream from anywhere in the world.

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How to watch Sunderland vs Arsenal in the UK

Sunderland vs Arsenal is live on TNT Sports in the UK.

Live coverage is on TNT Sports 1 and its streaming platform HBO Max, with kick-off at 8:00pm BST.

Outside the UK? Watch Sunderland vs Arsenal on TNT Sports via NordVPN.

How to watch Sunderland vs Arsenal in the US

As mentioned above, USA Network has live coverage of Sunderland vs Arsenal in the US. Kick-off is at 3:00pm ET.

Remember: Use NordVPN to unlock your Sunderland vs Arsenal stream on USA Network.

How to watch Sunderland vs Arsenal in Australia

Fans in Australia can stream Sunderland vs Arsenal on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 5:00am AEST on Sunday.

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Sunderland vs Arsenal: Preview

The visit of Premier League champions Arsenal is the first of two huge home games in four days for Sunderland, who welcome Dutch side AZ Alkmaar to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday in their first European match for 53 years.

However, manager Regis Le Bris and his players are unlikely to be distracted by next week's Europa League opener as they look to continue a promising run of form.

The Black Cats responded to their last-gasp defeat at Ipswich Town on the opening day by beating Fulham 1-0 and earning a 1-1 draw at Brentford, before Le Bris made 11 changes to his starting XI for the Carabao Cup third-round victory over Hull City on Tuesday.

The Sunderland boss is likely to revert to his first-choice Premier League lineup as his side eye another memorable result at home to Arsenal, after Brian Brobbey's stoppage-time equaliser secured a 2-2 draw in this fixture last season.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

The Gunners appear to have gone up a level from the team that won the title last term, winning five games out of five in all competitions in the early weeks of the season.

Arsenal's miserly defence has once again been key to their success, conceding just once so far this term, while captain Martin Odegaard is in the form of his life after scoring four times in five matches – including the winning goal against Chelsea last Sunday and at Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Mikel Arteta's men will walk out at the Stadium of Light just 72 hours after they kicked-off in Naples, so the Gunners manager could make changes to his lineup to reduce the impact of the tight turnaround.

Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Christos Tzolis all dropped to the bench in midweek and may feature from the start against Sunderland.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal

It's hard to bet against the Gunners in this form, but the Black Cats won't make it easy for them.

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During his 19-season career as a professional footballer, Clarke Carlise established himself as an imposing centre-back and set-piece threat for the likes of QPR, Leeds United and Burnley.

But the Preston-born defender wasn’t just defined by what he did on the football pitch, as he soon became known for his academic interests off it.

This included a 2002 quiz show victory where he was declared ‘Britain’s Brainiest Footballer’, which was followed eight years later by a three-episode run on Channel 4’s Countdown.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Calrke Carlisle on his Countdown appearance

Carlisle’s first appearance as a TV quiz star came about during an otherwise frustrating spell on the sidelines, which saw him appear pip Alan Brazil to the title of ‘Britain’s Brainiest Footballer’.

“So I did when I was in that two year lay-off with my knee injury,” Carlisle recalls to FourFourTwo. “I went back to college, did some A-levels, and then this flyer came round to the training ground.

“I thought, ‘Yeah, I'll have a bit of that – could be a bit of fun’. And I ended up winning it.”

Carlisle’s quizzing toook something of a back seat after his recovery from injury, as he established himself in QPR’s team, before moves to Leeds United, Watford, Luton Town and Burnley, before the bright lights of the TV studio came calling again as he looked to scratch an itch that had remained with him since that original lay-off.

“It was also in that period that I was off for two years that I applied to go on Countdown,” he continues. “I did the audition at King's Cross, and I failed miserably. It was so different from what I’d expected.

“It's like a boring classroom in an office and someone at the front just reads out the letters. I'm like, ‘This isn't Countdown, guys! Where’s the big clock?’

“I relayed that story on TalkSport when we got promoted with Burnley and Damien Eadie was there. He was a producer on TalkSport and he also did Countdown. After the show he said, ‘Clarke, are you serious? Do you really want to go on Countdown?’

“I was like, ‘Yeah, please, dead serious!’ So – talk about privilege – I bypassed the audition, and he just put me straight in as a contestant.

“This was me fulfilling a lifelong dream. I remember being a kid coming home from school, sitting on my dad's knee and watching Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman and trying to impress my dad by making the biggest words and getting these sums right.

“So when I won an episode and I got the teapot, that was like my Champions League. Seriously, it's a cherished memory.”

Steve Fletcher is a bona fide Bournemouth legend, having been around the club for almost three-and-a-half decades, witnessing the Cherries go from the brink of extinction to European football.

Few people, therefore, can quite appreciate just how close the club came to disappearing altogether.

One of Fletcher’s key contributions in this story was the goal he scored against Grimsby Town in 2009 which helped ensure that Bournemouth avoided relegation out of the Football League at a time when the club faced a deeply uncertain future.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Fletcher on Bournemouth’s journey

“I’m going into my 34th season at AFC Bournemouth,” Fletcher tells FourFourTwo. “I came down here from Hartlepool when I was 19, and I’m 54 now, with only one campaign away during my playing career. I love this place.

“During my first spell at the club as a player in 1997, the receivers were called in, but we got together as a squad and decided to play the game, even though we weren’t getting paid. If we’d said no on that day, the club would have folded.”

That would not prove to be the only time that Fletcher had to endure such an experience.

“When we went into administration during my second spell in 2008, I was the only player who’d experienced what happened previously,” he continues. “But there were moments in that following season where I thought ‘If we go down to the Conference, we’re in trouble’.

“We didn’t have an owner, and Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall were doing every job available – the jobs of 20 or 30 people. People said that if we got relegated from League Two, the club would probably have to start again from many leagues below – we’d have gone into liquidation and that would have been the end of AFC Bournemouth for the foreseeable future.”

Fletcher’s experience and standing at the club meant that he felt the gravity of the situation more than some of his team-mates.

“I felt it more because I was 36 – some of the younger lads probably didn’t understand the magnitude of what was at stake,” he admits.

“It’s still a great honour to have been the person who scored the goal that meant we avoided relegation – when you think of Europe, if I hadn’t scored that goal, none of this would have been possible.

“But it could have been any player on that day against Grimsby in 2009 – the whole team pulled together after we got deducted 17 points that season. When the cross came in, it could have fallen to anyone, or I could have smashed the volley into row Z as usual, but that time I smashed it into the roof of the net.

“That was my moment, one I’d waited 36 years for.”

Fletcher was speaking in association with MrQ, the new official sleeve partner of AFC Bournemouth

Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton as Roberto De Zerbi's side target their first win of the Premier League 2026/27 season. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Pre-season optimism has given way to the all-too-familiar feeling of disappointment among Spurs fans, after a poor start to the campaign left them at the wrong end of the table heading into the weekend.

Everton supporters were similarly gloomy after a chaotic end to the transfer window but their league position is much healthier, after taking five points from their first three games.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton online and from anywhere, including for free, as the 2026/27 Premier League season continues.

Can I watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton for free?

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton isn't technically available to watch for free, but there is a way that viewers in the US can stream the game at no cost.

Live coverage in the States is on NBC, which is available on YouTube TV that currently comes with a 21-day free trial for new customers.

Outside the US? Use a VPN to access your free Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton from anywhere

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How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton in the UK

Viewers in the UK can watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton live on Sky Sports.

Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League will have live coverage of the Premier League clash, with kick-off at 5:30pm BST.

How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton in the US

As mentioned above, NBC is showing Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton in the US. The game is also live on Peacock, NBC's streaming platform. Kick-off is at 12:30pm ET.

How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton in Australia

Fans in Australia can stream Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 2:30am AEST on Sunday.

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Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton: Preview

There is nowhere near as much at stake for Tottenham Hotspur as the last time they hosted Everton, but Roberto De Zerbi's side could really do with a win on Saturday evening.

Spurs welcomed the Toffees to North London on the final day of last season knowing anything but a victory could see them relegated to the Championship. A 1-0 win got them over the line, saving the club from the most humiliating demotion of the Premier League era.

De Zerbi will be desperate for the same result this time around after picking up a single point from their first three games, although they'll need to score to do that – something they haven't managed in the league so far this season. Another failure to find the net would make it the first time ever that Spurs have not scored a single goal in any of their opening four league matches.

They will be without winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who could miss up to eight weeks with an ankle injury, although James Maddison could return from a shoulder issue.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

Everton fans' frustration around the club's haphazard end to the transfer window was lifted somewhat by Ainsley Maitland-Niles' incredible last-gasp equaliser against Manchester United last weekend.

That strike by the full-back - who was one of the players the Toffees did manage to sign on deadline day - ensured David Moyes' side remain unbeaten ahead of their trip to North London, after they also scored a late equaliser at Bournemouth the weekend before.

Maitland-Niles' heroics could earn him a start at Tottenham, while Jack Grealish is also in contention for a place in the XI after featuring as a substitute against United following his return on loan from Manchester City.

Elsewhere, midfielder James Garner went off injured late on last Sunday, which could see summer signing Hayden Hackney step in.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Everton

Spurs have improved over their three league matches, so they could pick up their first win if they continue on that trajectory.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

When a football manager has little or no budget to work with, their other skills are brought to the fore.

That was certainly the case for Steve Coppell during his first spell as Crystal Palace boss, when his tenure was built on necessity, ingenuity and the ability to spot talent where others weren’t looking.

With little money available, Coppell was able to sign and transform a collection of relative unknown players into household names, and would come agonisingly close to landing the club’s first major honour and to playing European football.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Coppell on losing Ian Wright

The likes of Ian Wright, Alan Pardew and Gareth Southgate all made a name for themselves under Coppell, who admits that he had to think outside of the box.

“First and foremost it was a necessity,” Coppell recalls to FourFourTwo. “When I first went to Palace we had no money. My first year in management was the blind leading the blind. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

“We made our training ground open to non-league managers and they became our scouts. Ian Wright was a no-brainer. All the non-league players had an ‘I’ll-show-them’ mentality and that’s what we were looking for.”

Ian Wright was the figurehead for how Coppell was able to create a new culture around the club. But after finishing third in 1991, the striker would depart in what Coppell sees as a defining moment for Palace.

“Almost immediately Ian Wright went to Arsenal,” Coppell continues. “We had a great relationship with Ian and he could have left a couple of years before but agreed to sign a new deal. He’d done well by us but we both knew the situation and we weren’t going to stand in his way.

“To a certain extent that was a real body blow – I really do think we could have been one of the big boys for a couple of years.

“For your best player to leave to fulfil his ambitions sends a message to the other players. It became a difficult couple of years.”

As a player, Coppell earned 42 England caps and, following his success in the Palace dugout, his name was soon bandied around as a potential successor to Three Lions boss Graham Taylor in 1993, following England’s failure to qualify for the following summer’s World Cup.

“On occasion I was mentioned, but never approached,” Coppell recalls. ”It never really interested me that much.

“The Palace job was massive and so intense that I think I would have been unfulfilled as a national team manager.”

Watch Liverpool v Fulham in one of five games kicking off at 3pm on Saturday, with FourFourTwo bringing you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Liverpool are finally underway for the season, after two wins in as many days: the first against Ipswich Town and then another against Atletico Madrid at Anfield in their first UEFA Champions League game.

Fulham are 0-3, and it looks bleak for Alvaro Arbeloa, who is already the bookmakers' favourite to be the first managerial sacking of the season. Having played for the Reds from 2007-2009, the Spaniard should receive a warm welcome.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Liverpool vs Fulham online and from anywhere in the world as the Premier League 2026/27 season continues.

Watch Liverpool vs Fulham from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss Liverpool vs Fulham.

The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can make your devices appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

Is Liverpool vs Fulham on TV in the UK?

Liverpool vs Fulham is not being televised in the UK. The game starts on Saturday at 3pm, a time when football matches cannot legally be broadcast in the UK. This is known as the '3pm blackout'.

Outside the UK, the game is available in virtually every country across the globe. If you're visiting the UK, you can use NordVPN to access your usual coverage.

How to watch Liverpool vs Fulham in the US

Viewers in the US can watch Liverpool vs Fulham on Peacock. Kick-off is at 10:00am ET.

Peacock is NBC's streaming platform, which not only streams NBC games but also exclusively shows several other Premier League matches each week.

Not in the US right now? Use NordVPN to watch Liverpool vs Fulham on Peacock.

How to watch Liverpool vs Fulham in Australia

In Australia, Liverpool vs Fulham is live on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 12:00am AEST (midnight) on Sunday morning.

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Liverpool vs Fulham: Preview

Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 against Atletico Madrid in midweek, with goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

Andoni Iraola swapped out Cody Gakpo for Bradley Barcola, who looked bright on his Liverpool debut, and it remains to be seen whether the Frenchman keeps his place for the visit of Fulham.

The ex-PSG man did come off with what looked to be only cramp, as did Milos Kerkez, with the hope that both will be fit for Saturday.

Gakpo is more of a doubt due to the adductor problem that kept him out, while Conor Bradley (knee), Giovanni Leoni (knee), Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Joe Gomez (muscle) and Federico Chiesa (back) are all currently missing.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

Fulham have suffered a dismal start to the season, with losses against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Sunderland already on their record.

Boos could be heard following last weekend's loss against Crystal Palace, and you do feel a heavy defeat against Liverpool could spell even more trouble for their new Spanish head coach.

Only newly-promoted Coventry City are also still waiting for their first Premier League point of the campaign, and there isn't a much tougher place to go than Anfield for the Cottagers.

There is no change in terms of fitness for Fulham, with just Luc De Fougerolles and Tom Cairney both still missing with long-term knee injuries.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Liverpool 4-0 Fulham

Liverpool will win with ease based on what we have seen so far of Fulham, with Alexander Isak grabbing a couple.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Watch Bournemouth vs Brentford today in one of five games kicking off at 3pm in the Premier League, with FourFourTwo bringing you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Bournemouth are yet another side awaiting their first Premier League victory of the season. Marco Rose's side so far have two draws and one loss on their record.

Brentford have had much better fortunes so far, with Keith Andrews' side unbeaten as they head to the south coast.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Bournemouth vs Brentford online and from anywhere in the world as the Premier League 2026/27 season continues.

Is Bournemouth vs Brentford available to watch in the UK?

Bournemouth vs Brentford is not being televised in the UK. The game starts on Saturday at 3pm, a time when football matches cannot legally be broadcast in the UK. This is known as the '3pm blackout'.

Outside the UK, the game is available in virtually every country across the globe. If you're visiting the UK, you can use NordVPN to access your usual coverage.

Watch Bournemouth vs Brentford from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss Bournemouth vs Brentford.

The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can make your devices appear to be in any country in the world.

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How to watch Bournemouth vs Brentford in the US

Viewers in the US can watch Bournemouth vs Brentford on Peacock. Kick-off is at 10:00am ET.

Peacock is NBC's streaming platform, which not only streams NBC games but also exclusively shows several other Premier League matches each week.

Not in the US right now? Use NordVPN to watch Bournemouth vs Brentford on Peacock.

How to watch Bournemouth vs Brentford in Australia

In Australia, Bournemouth vs Brentford is live on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 12:00am AEST (midnight) on Sunday morning.

Travelling outside Australia? NordVPN is your ticket to watch Bournemouth vs Brentford on Stan.

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Bournemouth vs Brentford: Preview

The Cherries' new head coach Rose is still in search of his win as Bournemouth boss, after draws with Everton and Newcastle and a loss against Manchester City so far this season.

What makes it more disappointing is the fact that his side have led in all three games, yet cannot seem to hold onto points. With European football to come too, things will have to tighten up for a side predicted to do well in the Europa League.

Their current absentees include Eli Junior Kroupi (foot), as well as Amine Adli (calf), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Julian Araujo (thigh).

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

Brentford have been one of the brighter starters so far, with the Bees winning twice and drawing only once in 2026/27 to this point.

Into the next round of the Carabao Cup too, after a 6-1 hammering v Birmingham City, Andrews' men will be hoping for another solid display against struggling Bournemouth.

Nathan Collins could miss out with a calf problem, which would be a big blow, with Mathias Jensen (unspecified), Sepp van den Berg (groin), Antoni Milambo (knee) and Josh Dasilva (thigh) all also sidelined with injuries.

Jannik Schuster could come in to partner Kristoffer Ajer if Collins isn't fit, but we expect Andrews to pretty much stick as he is elsewhere.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Bournemouth 1-3 Brentford

Brentford have looked solid in all areas so far and the jury is still out on Rose. We say away win.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest today in one of five games kicking off at 3pm in the Premier League, with FourFourTwo bringing you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Aston Villa began their European campaign with a hard-fought victory in Belgium on Tuesday, seeing off Club Brugge by 3-2 thanks to a Player of the Match display from John McGinn.

Nottingham Forest come into this game winless so far this season, after two draws and one defeat from their opening three games of the new campaign.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest online and from anywhere in the world as the Premier League 2026/27 season continues.

Is Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest available to watch in the UK?

Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest is not being televised in the UK. The game starts on Saturday at 3pm, a time when football matches cannot legally be broadcast in the UK. This is known as the '3pm blackout'.

Outside the UK, the game is available in virtually every country across the globe. If you're visiting the UK, you can use NordVPN to access your usual coverage.

Watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest.

The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can make your devices appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

How to watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest in the US

Viewers in the US can watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest on Peacock. Kick-off is at 10:00am ET.

Peacock is NBC's streaming platform, which not only streams NBC games but also exclusively shows several other Premier League matches each week.

Not in the US right now? Use NordVPN to watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest on Peacock.

How to watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town in Australia

In Australia, Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town is live on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 12:00am AEST (midnight) on Sunday morning.

Travelling outside Australia? NordVPN is your ticket to watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town on Stan Sport.

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Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest: Preview

Despite winning in the Champions League earlier this week, Aston Villa are yet to win or score in the 2026/27 Premier League, which Unai Emery is more than hopeful will change this weekend.

The Villans are now seeking to avoid becoming the first team in England’s top-four divisions to not score in any of their opening four matches of a league campaign in successive seasons, after doing so previously in 2025/26.

Villa have won each of their last six Premier League home encounters with Nottingham Forest, and off the back of Tuesday's success, everything points towards the correct step forward on the pitch for the Midlands outfit.

They will be without an injured quartet of Leon Goretzka, Johan Manzambi, Amadou Onana (all knee) and Brian Madjo (ankle), while Joao Gomes will serve the final match of his suspension.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

New Forest boss Oliver Glasner is still hoping for his first win of the season and his first win as manager after replacing Vítor Pereira back in July.

Back-to-back home defeats to Leeds United in both the league and EFL Cup were followed by their 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. Their last outing was a dull 0-0 affair with Tottenham at the City Ground last weekend.

Only Bournemouth (12), Brentford (11) and Leeds (11) have drawn more Premier League matches in 2026 than Forest (10) and their recent form with Villa isn't the most pleasing on the eye.

The Tricky Trees have won just three, drawn six and lost nine of their previous 18 Premier League meetings with Aston Villa, a record they will hope can change in today's 3pm kick-off at Villa Park.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Aston Villa 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Two teams struggling for form at the start of the season. We saw draw.

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Watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town today in one of five games kicking off at 3pm in the Premier League, with FourFourTwo bringing you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Crystal Palace finally got off the mark in the Premier League on their third attempt last weekend, beating London rivals Fulham 3-2. Pierre Sage's side then followed up that success with a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup.

For Ipswich Town its been a tough start to life back in England's top flight. Despite beating Sunderland 2-1 on the opening day of the season, losses against Manchester United and Liverpool have since followed.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town online and from anywhere in the world as the Premier League 2026/27 season continues.

Is Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town in the UK?

Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town is not being televised in the UK. The game starts on Saturday at 3pm, a time when football matches cannot legally be broadcast in the UK. This is known as the '3pm blackout'.

Outside the UK, the game is available in virtually every country across the globe. If you're visiting the UK, you can use NordVPN to access your usual coverage.

Watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town from anywhere

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How to watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town in the US

Viewers in the US can watch Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town on Peacock. Kick-off is at 10:00am ET.

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In Australia, Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town is live on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 12:00am AEST (midnight) on Sunday morning.

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Tickets

Crystal Palace vs Ipswich Town: Preview

Palace arrive on the back of two consecutive victories in all competitions, with Jorgen Strand Larsen netting twice in midweek during their 3-0 Carabao Cup success against Middlesbrough.

Manager Sage has had to adapt quickly to changes in his squad over the last few months. Palace strengthened with players including Dwight McNeil, Evann Guessand, Dario Osorio, Ben Chilwell and Quinten Timber, while the departures of key figures – most notably Maxence Lacroix – have left questions over the balance of his defence.

There are also still concerns in attack, with Jean-Philippe Mateta recovering from a hamstring injury and Ismaïla Sarr having recently been sidelined with a groin problem. Sage indicated that Sarr could return for this game, although his fitness will need to be assessed carefully.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

Ipswich, meanwhile, arrive in south London with three points from their opening three matches. Their return to the Premier League began impressively, as Jack Clarke's late goal secured a 2-1 victory over Sunderland.

The subsequent fixtures have been considerably tougher. Ipswich were beaten 5-2 by Manchester United at Old Trafford before suffering a 2-0 home defeat against Liverpool, bringing a sense of reality to their hopes of retaining Premier League status come May.

The major challenge for the Tractor Boys will be tightening up defensively. They were punished by Liverpool for two early lapses, while United's attacking quality eventually overwhelmed them after they had taken the lead.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Crystal Palace 2-1 Ipswich Town

After two wins from two of late, we fancy Palace to win narrowly in this one, despite Ipswich taking a lead.

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Watch Chelsea vs Hull City for free as the Blues look to end the Tigers' unbeaten start so far in the Premier League. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Chelsea suffered their first defeat of the new season away to Arsenal last weekend, but the Blues did bounce back by hammering Leeds United 6-3 to progress in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Hull City were beaten for the first time this term in midweek as they bowed out of the same competition to Sunderland, but the Tigers still have their unbeaten record intact ahead of today's trip to Stamford Bridge.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Chelsea vs Hull City online and from anywhere, including for free, as the 2026/27 Premier League season continues.

Watch Chelsea vs Hull City for FREE

You can stream Chelsea vs Hull City for free in the US thanks to YouTube TV's 21-day free trial, which carries USA Network.

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Watch Chelsea vs Hull City from anywhere

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How to watch Chelsea vs Hull City in the UK

Chelsea's clash with Hull City is not being televised in the UK. The game is being played on Saturday at 3pm, a time when football matches cannot legally be broadcast in the UK. This is known as the '3pm blackout'.

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How to watch Chelsea vs Hull City in the US

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Chelsea vs Hull City: Preview

Alonso's side have probably been the most exciting team to watch so far in 26/27, with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Pedro Neto all impressing in his new-look three-at-the-back system.

Rogers registered three goal contributions from the bench in the 6-3 win over Leeds United in the Carabao Cup and is expected to be rewarded with a starting place against the Tigers this weekend.

The only problem remains at the back for the Blues, as they are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, with Hull posing the best defensive record in the league to this point, 0 conceded in 3 games.

Chelsea remain without Jordan Henderson and Emmanuel Emegha, while Moisés Caicedo and Marco Palestra face late fitness checks.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

Hull City have been brilliant so far and with most fans writing them off before a ball has been kicked, even a point at Stamford Bridge this weekend would no doubt be celebrated wildly.

Wins over Man Utd and Coventry preceded last weekend's draw against Aston Villa and Sergej Jakirović is continuing to receive plenty of credit, so much so that the Tigers board recently opted to extend his contract at the MKM Stadium.

Hull will be without several players, including Joe Gelhardt, Óscar Zambrano, Charlie Hughes, Darko Gyabi and Eliot Matazo, while goalkeeper Jack Butland is facing a longer-term absence.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Chelsea 3-0 Hull City

Chelsea's attacking threat will prove too much for Hull and we expect a comfortable home win.

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Heads bowed, the Bournemouth players were visibly distraught. Trudging back to the Goodison Park dressing room, they knew their 3-1 victory over Everton wouldn't be enough to save them.

Aston Villa's draw with West Ham had consigned the Cherries to relegation, after five campaigns punching above their weight in the top flight. Six days later, Eddie Howe stepped down, ending a 26-year association with the club as player and manager. In the dugout, he had overseen a remarkable escape from relegation out of the Football League, a trio of promotions and a record-high Premier League finish of ninth. It felt like the fairy tale was falling in on itself, the death knell ready to toll at the end of Bournemouth's golden era.

Six years on, those painful memories of July 2020 were merely the end of the first act. A return to the Premier League, a sought-after recruitment model, a sixth-placed finish and Europa League qualification have more than calmed the distress of relegation.

Anfield and out

There was no guarantee it would reach this point. In their first campaign back in the second tier, a play-off semi-final defeat to Brentford had left the club at a significant sliding doors moment – fail to win promotion again and the story could easily have been about their fall from grace rather than the upward trajectory they have since enjoyed.

“The second season was really big for us as a club,” vice-captain Lewis Cook says, having joined the Cherries in 2016. “The pressure behind the scenes was significant. The players probably didn't realise at the time, but if we hadn't gone up that year, it would have been tough.”

That summer, after Jason Tindall and Jonathan Woodgate had both had spells in charge during the previous campaign, Scott Parker arrived to take over a squad that still included several players who had featured in the top flight, including Jefferson Lerma, Dominic Solanke and Philip Billing. The new boss made them harder to beat – Parker didn't lose a league match until November and, propelled by Solanke's 29 league goals, his side finished as runners-up behind champions Fulham.

Regaining Premier League status not only provided a financial boon, but made them a more investable prospect. Owner Maxim Demin had been exploring his options to sell, with talks of a takeover between him and long-term admirer Bill Foley running throughout the summer after promotion. Demin had been involved since 2011 and overseen the rise from League One to the top tier, but felt the time was right to step aside.

A rocky start to the top-flight return might have scuppered those discussions. An opening day 2-0 win against Aston Villa was a great way to kick things off, although heavy defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal followed, before a 9-0 thumping by Liverpool at Anfield. Cue an ill-advised post-match interview from Parker, as he declared the team “underequipped at this level” and admitted that throughout pre-season there was a “fear of where we are as a squad” without “help” from above.

“That season was hard,” admits Cook. “We just needed to settle the ship after a few big defeats. It goes back to the lads not having any fear and being able to bounce back from bad situations. Ever since I came to Bournemouth, everyone has always written us off as a small club, but we showed fight.”

Parker exited, replaced by first-team coach Gary O'Neil, charged with saving a team that most pundits had already decided were heading straight back down. His influence had the desired effect and an undefeated six-match run – including a 2-1 home win against Leicester with Foley watching from the stands – provided hope. By the time the Premier League took a mid-season break for the World Cup, the Cherries were clear of the relegation zone.

As the world turned its attention to Qatar, Demin and Foley struck a deal – with the American's investment group, Black Knight Football Club, completing a takeover of more than £100m. With it came a mission statement from Foley – to “move forward with an ‘always advance, never retreat' approach”. The new ownership's initial aim was to invest in a state-of-the-art training centre, enhance player development and bolster the first team, while also pledging more money to the Cherries' women's side. Black Knight also bought into the strong family feel that had worked so well previously.

“The club has to be run properly from top to bottom,” says record appearance maker Steve Fletcher, who scored the crucial goal that retained Bournemouth's Football League place in 2009. He now works as a club ambassador. “Everyone has to buy into what we're all about. It doesn't matter how big or small your department is, or how significant or insignificant you think your role might be, everyone is made to feel like they have a big part to play.

“Whether you're a chef, groundsman, accountant, in media or marketing, part of the first team or a masseur, everybody is pulling in the same direction – for the club to do well and for the players to be at their best. The players performing on the grass is the most important thing, but the feeling of unity right across the club is incredible.”

While that may be true, one thing that has undoubtedly changed since the takeover is the ambition to kick on beyond merely treading water in the Premier League. “Different owners have tried to elevate the club in certain areas that you can see – the hospitality, the stadium and the training ground,” says Cook. “But the club has kept its identity of buying really good people and really good players. That's helped us climb the table and grow. Previously, me and the older lads who've been here for quite a while would say it was always about staying in the league. There were a few times we finished higher, but staying in the league was always the ambition.”

The Black Knight triumphs

Staying up was still the priority in the remaining months of Black Knight's first season – achieved relatively comfortably as O'Neil's men won six out of nine matches in the spring.

There was already evidence of a crucial recruitment strategy too, with Dango Ouattara, Antoine Semenyo and Illia Zabarnyi all arriving in the January transfer window. The trio would go on to make a combined profit of more than £105m when they were sold last term.

That approach has become a theme in the Cherries' more recent development – purchasing raw, talented players from around the globe and selling them on for big money. While it wasn't a reset in transfer policy, the takeover provided an existing scouting network with a larger reach and greater spending power to land their targets.

Unlike Brighton and Brentford, who Bournemouth are regularly bundled in with as examples of smart recruitment, theirs isn't run on the same data-led model. They sit within Foley's multi-club group that includes French side Lorient, Portugal's Moreirense and New Zealand's Auckland FC, sharing intelligence and analytics among them to identify players ready to be part of the first team immediately.

That meant former chief executive Neill Blake and technical director Richard Hughes remained key following the takeover, only departing later down the line – Blake taking a job overseeing Black Knight's entire estate, with Hughes exiting for Liverpool in 2024. Tiago Pinto, formerly of Roma and Benfica, joined Bournemouth as president of football operations that same summer.

Since the takeover, the likes of Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen have come and gone from the Vitality Stadium after brief spells, while Solanke joined Spurs in 2024 in a £65m deal. It's all added to Bournemouth's reputation, making them an attractive club to join.

“When I first came to the club and even now, I can see how it's constantly progressing,” defender James Hill tells FFT. “It's an incredible place for players to come and develop their game – look at the players who've come and gone, how they've developed and pushed on to greater heights.

“For some players, this might not be the end point, it could be the beginning of their journey towards bigger things. The talent that has come through the door has been frightening.”

Hill joined the club from Fleetwood in 2022 as a 19-year-old. He enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in 2025-26, becoming a regular fixture in the team following loan spells away at Hearts and Blackburn, and being around the first-team squad in recent years.

His journey is a prime example of how the club's conveyor belt of talent keeps on producing replacements for departed teammates. When Zabarnyi, Huijsen and Kerkez all left, it opened the door for Hill to stake his claim to become part of a remodelled backline.

“There was no-one saying, ‘Yes, it's your spot now, go and play', but there were opportunities for me to play during the season – I was at right-back at the start, before slowly building my way up,” Hill explains, having later established himself in the centre of defence.

“We're such a good group. Whoever has the shirt and starts is supported by everyone else. Even if you're left at home and not in the squad – and I've been there plenty of times – it's about being ready to support the team and take your opportunity, because it may come. When players leave, there's an opportunity for others to step in.”

The forever-evolving nature of the Bournemouth squad has also extended to the bench. When O'Neil was replaced by Andoni Iraola in the summer of 2023, weeks after keeping them up, eyebrows were raised – even more so when the Spaniard had failed to win any of his first nine league games in charge.

But after winning 2-1 against Burnley in match number 10, the new manager never looked back, finishing 12th with a club record Premier League points tally. That total was beaten again as they came ninth the following season, with a brand of modern, high-pressing football that impressed many onlookers and realigned aims within the squad.

“Europe was what we were pushing for last season, that was the main goal at the start of the year,” says Hill. “We'd missed out the season before, so we knew what the target was and where we could get to.”

Semenyo's parting gift

A 4-2 opening night loss to champions Liverpool showed flashes of brilliance at the start of last term, before eight games without defeat pushed Bournemouth into the higher reaches of the table. But just as fans began to dream, a run of 11 without a win had the doubters chirping.

“I can remember us drawing a lot of games and everyone having opinions about us not winning,” Cook recalls. “But if you draw five or six games in the Premier League, it's not the worst thing at all. I felt we were in a great spot.”

For all the optimism within the camp, that run was paired with the impending departure of Semenyo, who had scored nine goals by the start of January and was the main attacking thrust. Despite the Ghanaian's move to Manchester City being in the final throes, he continued to play, turning out for the Cherries in a critical home match with Tottenham that would be his south coast swansong.

What followed was Roy of the Rovers stuff. With the game lurching towards a 2-2 draw and another winless match, the forward received the ball on the left flank with a crowded penalty area in front of him. With seconds left to play, Semenyo let the ball run onto his right foot, before firing a low, 25-yard drive across goal and into the far corner of the net. It would be his last kick in the red and black of Bournemouth, and gave his teammates the perfect gift to remember him by.

“It was an incredible night,” says Hill. “You couldn't write it for him to score that goal as well. It was such a relief to win, because we hadn't won a game for a while. But even before that, despite not winning, our performances had been improving.

“The boys were incredible when that moment came and Antoine left us. We were so happy because he deserved his big move – the lads understood that we needed to step up and you could already see it happening in the performances.”

Semenyo's goal had more than just personal significance. As well as ending the winless run, it was the spark for another unbeaten streak. Bournemouth didn't lose again all season – 18 games in total – while clocking up impressive victories at home to Liverpool, and away at Arsenal and Newcastle en route.

As the end of the campaign neared, the prospect of European qualification loomed ever larger – with Champions League football even remaining a genuine possibility until the final week.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Getting over the line is so often more difficult than fighting into contention, although there was very little sign of a wobble. “We went into every game thinking that we could get three points because we were full of confidence,” adds Hill. “We did very well at keeping the noise out of the camp and just concentrating on our performances. Over the last three games, we knew what we needed to do. We actually performed better under pressure.”

Victory at Fulham all but guaranteed European qualification, but it wasn't until the penultimate match, against Manchester City, that it was sealed. Pep Guardiola's men needed to win to keep their title hopes alive, but another stirring Bournemouth performance stifled them. Eli Junior Kroupi's strike appeared to be sending them on the way to all three points, until Erling Haaland poached a 95th-minute equaliser for the visitors.

While the draw meant reaching a top-five spot was highly unlikely going into the final day, there was no sense of bittersweetness at the final whistle, as players, fans and staff celebrated reaching Europe for the very first time in the club's history.

“To finish in a Europa League place and celebrate on the pitch with the staff, players, everyone associated with the club and all the fans was incredible,” says Cherries legend Fletcher, who had the North Stand at the Vitality Stadium named in his honour in 2010. “I don't think it properly sank in until a couple of days later when I started going out on the streets, and into supermarkets and restaurants, and people came to talk to me about it. The magnitude of what the club and that team achieved will live on forever.”

The size of that feat will be clear for all to see when Bournemouth kick off their debut Europa League campaign alongside fellow Premier League sides Sunderland and Crystal Palace on Thursday, with the first of eight games in the league stage, which runs until late January. Four of the Cherries' continental outings will be played at their 12,000-capacity stadium, thought to be the smallest home ground of any English club ever to play in a major European competition.

It's part of the story's charm and an important reminder of their past, even if things continue to change at pace. Iraola has since left to become the new Liverpool manager and been replaced by former Borussia Dortmund boss Marco Rose, while centre-back Marcos Senesi joined Spurs this summer.

The challenge of regularly playing two matches a week will also place a new strain on the squad, but the players are used to change by now. “It's similar to what happened last season – players have left, others come in, and you have to adapt and be ready to go,” Hill says. “With the new gaffer as well, the rate we're learning has been really good.

“We don't need to worry about the challenge of playing more games, either. We need to enjoy every moment – the excitement of playing in Europe and having those fixtures is an incredible problem to have, because the success of last season brought us to this point.”

Those who go even further back will see those European nights as more than just a celebration of last season. For Fletcher, whose association with the club dates all the way to 1992, it's a continuation of a fairy tale that refuses to end. “There will be a lot of emotion when we play that first European game,” he says. “Personally, I'll probably shed a tear and try to capture the moment as much as I can.”

On Thursday, in Sociedad, everyone connected with Bournemouth will be able to watch on with their heads held high.

I’ll start this week by talking about the Ballon d’Or nominees’ announcement, and I see that Harry Kane is the bookies’ favourite to win. Lamine Yamal is up there too after winning the World Cup with Spain, and I feel Michael Olise would’ve had a great chance if France had won the tournament.

I’d have to say that my pick would be for Kane due to the number of goals he’s scored, and after winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

Clinton was speaking courtesy of Free Bets, home of the best betting sites in the UK.

'Erling Haaland is one of the best number nines we'll ever see'

There will also be people staking a claim for Erling Haaland too, due to his goalscoring exploits, and I do feel he will win it one day, but this could be Kane’s last chance with all the youngsters coming through now. So with that in mind, I’m definitely Team Harry!

I have to say that Haaland is a joke though, and he scored twice against FC Porto on Tuesday night. His record is phenomenal and he’s just not normal! He scores goals at a ridiculous rate and is one of the best number nines we’ll ever see.

You have players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo that will go down as two of the greatest players of all time, but Haaland is someone who just wants to score goals and isn’t bothered about anything else.

I also like him for how he deals with social media, because he's a funny guy and has laughs with people. Everyone loves him, he's a down-to-earth footballer, as well as a brilliant striker. What a special talent, and long may it continue.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has missed out on being nominated, but I think that’s a fair call. He’s won this award too many times already and doesn’t need to win it again.

Raphinha was another big-name omission, and he has been brilliant for Barcelona recently. He can feel hard done by not to be nominated, but Brazil had a disappointing World Cup, and that has to be taken into account.

It’s certainly good that the award is more competitive now after Ronaldo and Messi kept sharing it between them for many years.

Staying with the theme of attacking players, and I have to say that Nicolas Jackson looked good against Club Brugge. I’ve always said he’s a talented player, and I thought he was outstanding for Aston Villa in that game.

He led the line well and took his goal very well. The composure he showed after going around the goalkeeper and putting the ball into an empty net was outstanding. If they can keep him fit and firing, then Villa have got a fine player on their hands.

This is also a player who knows Unai Emery and he’ll know what makes Jackson tick to get the best out of him. With all that being said, I think it’s a good signing for Villa.

That’s especially after losing someone like Ollie Watkins, and getting his first goal for the club can only give him confidence.

They’ve got a big game coming up this afternoon against Nottingham Forest, with both teams only managing a point from their first three games. A result for either team will be massive, and I’m expecting an entertaining game.

The stand-out game this weekend will undoubtedly be at Old Trafford for the Manchester derby tomorrow.

I love it when the derby games are hectic and played at a frantic pace. We’ve seen it previously when Manchester City are the favourites, but Manchester United have got a surprise result.

I’m expecting an open game because Man United look good going forward, and I think they can cause Man City problems.

But at the same time, defensively, they've not been looking as good. We saw that last weekend in the 2-2 draw with Everton.

They'll have a game plan to try and stop Man City and Haaland, so I think it’ll be a fascinating contest.

I’ll end this week by talking about Hull City and their fantastic start to the season. To get seven points from their first three games is a huge achievement, and they can afford to have a few games where they don’t pick up any points.

They're hard to play against, and Sergej Jakirovic has done an unbelievable job. That’s after they were many people’s tip to go down from the Championship last season.

Everyone's tipped Hull to go down again this summer, which you expect, but they laid down a real statement of intent after bringing in six players on deadline day.

The chairman's brilliant, he backs his manager, and they’ve given themselves a real fighting chance of staying in the division.

There'll be times during the season where they will suffer, but they've had such a good start that everyone else behind them is playing catch up. And it's difficult when you're playing catch up, because you're thinking, ‘Where's the next win and where are the next points going to come from?’

It has certainly been a very impressive start from the Tigers though, and I’m expecting them to perform well in what is essentially a free hit of a game away at Chelsea this afternoon.

Back again? Let's crack on.

We have 25 clues for this week's FourFourTwo Weekend Crossword, and it couldn't be simpler: get the first one right and you'll have solved a correct letter for another clue, and so on and so forth until you complete the grid.

So let us know how you got on in the comments.

Love football crosswords? Here are some handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

To keep your ball knowledge operating at maximum capacity, we've got a brand-new lineup of quizzes designed to test whether your footballing IQ can span every era, dugout, and penalty box in modern history – powered, as ever, by Kwizly.

We’re launching straight into tactical masterminds from north of the border and elite top-flight productivity. First, step into the technical area to see if you can name 15 of the Premier League's Scottish managers from one clue each, honouring the legendary gaffers who shaped English top-flight history. Once you’ve sorted the touchline icons, pivot to pure goalscoring firepower: can you name the first goalscorer of every Premier League season since 1992-93, before taking on the ultimate trial of longevity by attempting to name the top 100 scorers in Premier League history?

If your scouting network thrives on visual deduction and high-intensity matchday tests, we have a relentless triple-header waiting in the tunnel. Put your international awareness to work by seeing if you can guess the team from the line-ups' nationalities, decoding iconic starting XIs purely through flags and geographical footprints. Wrap up your session by aiming for a flawless 20/20 in Friday Football Quiz, episode 132, before taking on the elite-level logic of Pre-Match Poser no.43.

To keep your analytical edge razor-sharp for every matchday, subscribe to our newsletter for your daily afternoon briefing of hand-picked trivia. To complete your transfer to terrace legend status, lock in your spot in The Club, our free membership hub where you can unlock secret hints for our toughest quizzes, climb global leaderboards, and debate the latest topics directly in the comments.

Lewis Hall has signed a contract extension at Newcastle United, with the Englishman, who has made 107 appearances for the Magpies since arriving in 2023, tied down until 2031.

Manchester United attempted to secure the left-back’s services this summer, having achieved Champions League football under Michael Carrick, and looking to go from strength-to-strength.

But as Hall’s message to Newcastle supporters inferred: “There’s never been a moment where I doubted how much I love being here,” — the Red Devils never stood a chance.

Hall tied down to Newcastle until 2031, after summer Manchester United pursuit

The Magpies released a video to X (formerly Twitter) this morning, in which Hall described his connection to Newcastle. In doing so, his rejection of Manchester United’s pursuits revealed its motivation.

“So, my Dad was born up here,” began Hall. “It just sort of embedded it into - that’s who we supported. I didn’t have a choice, really.

“There’s never been a moment where I doubted how much I love being here, and how much I love playing for Newcastle,” the Englishman continued.

“It means so much to play at St. James [Park] every week, it’s obviously a massive thing for me. Every time I step on the pitch I want to do my best…. I never really take it for granted.

“I want to do well for the football club, for the city,” concluded the 22-year-old. In his own words, Hall is a born-and-bred Toon fan, albeit having grown up in the South, and his future with Newcastle was never in doubt.

Shortly after his opening performance of the Premier League season versus Liverpool, in which Hall delivered a typically strong performance but also gave away an added-time penalty to Dominik Szoboszlai, new boss Matthias Jaissle was quizzed about Manchester United’s pursuits.

Speaking to Viaplay after the match, Jaissle was fast and firm in his response. “No chance, no chance,” repeated the Newcastle boss.

Now, with Hall tied down until 2031, it appears clearer than ever, hearing his extension interview with the Magpies, why Manchester United never stood a chance in bagging their £35 million transfer target.

“I obviously have a family connection with the club… [and] one of the main reasons I play is to make my family proud. I know how much it means to them to watch me playing for Newcastle,” revealed Hall.

“The fanbase and the support… it’s the best in the league. To be able to bring joy to their faces, it’s a big thing for me.

“I think we can go on to achieve really big things,” concluded the Englishman. Newcastle are currently placed seventh in the Premier League table, four points above the Red Devils. And so, while Carrick’s men have failed to get their target, they’ve also failed to show him what he’s missing out on.

Enzo Maresca has revealed that Nico O’Reilly is “100% available” for the Manchester derby, after being withdrawn from Premier League action last weekend versus Coventry.

The Cityzens won that clash 1-0, but O’Reilly was rendered absent in their following fixture, away at Porto in the Champions League, on Tuesday.

Ahead of the Manchester derby this weekend, Maresca’s men will see O’Reilly return to action, with Maresca confirming the Englishman’s fitness.

Enzo Maresca provides injury update ahead of Manchester United clash: Jeremy Doku, Nico O'Reilly

New signing Iliman Ndiaye was also withdrawn against Coventry, but made it back in time for Manchester City’s 2-0 mid-week victory in Europe.

Jeremy Doku remains sidelined after picking up an injury against Arsenal in pre-season, when the Cityzens were defeated 3-0 in the Community Shield.

The Belgian, who stood out as one of City’s best players during the Premier League run-in last term, endured a calf injury versus the Gunners, and won’t be available for selection against Manchester United.

“Jeremy, I think he needs some more days,” confirmed Maresca, who then lifted Cityzen spirits by revealing O’Reilly’s return.

“Nico’s 100% available,” stated the City boss, plainly. With the majority of his squad cleared to play, he turned his attention to the Manchester derby.

"It is very important for different reasons. We know how important a derby is, especially here," he said.

"A special game. The most important thing we can do is try to be ourselves, and then we see the final result."

Manchester City will travel to Old Trafford this weekend — commentators, pundits and presenters for this weekend’s Super Sunday battle can be found here.

Watch West Ham United vs Wrexham as the Hammers seek the win that would see them return to the top of the Championship table. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Nuno Espirito Santo's men appear to be clicking into gear after a slow start to life in the Championship, winning each of their past three matches and scoring 10 goals in the process.

They face a Wrexham side targeting another statement result in the capital, after triumphing 3-0 at the Hammers' arch-rivals, Millwall, just nine days ago.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch West Ham United vs Wrexham in the Championship online, on TV, and from anywhere.

Can I watch West Ham United vs Wrexham for free?

Although West Ham United vs Wrexham is not technically being shown for free anywhere, viewers in Australia can take advantage of a 7-day free trial for beIN SPORTS, which is broadcasting the Championship clash Down Under.

Not in Australia? Use NordVPN to unlock your beIN SPORTS stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch West Ham United vs Wrexham from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss West Ham United vs Wrexham. The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can set your devices to appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

How to watch West Ham United vs Wrexham in the UK

West Ham United vs Wrexham will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK.

The Championship clash is being shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football, with kick-off at 8:00pm BST.

How to watch West Ham United vs Wrexham in the US

In the US, West Ham United vs Wrexham is being shown on Paramount+. Kick-off is at 3pm ET.

How to watch West Ham United vs Wrexham in Australia

As mentioned above, fans in Australia can watch West Ham United vs Wrexham on beIN SPORTS.

The game kicks-off at 5am AEST (Sat) and will be live on beIN SPORTS 2, as well as the beIN SPORTS Connect streaming platform.

West Ham United vs Wrexham: Preview

West Ham United took a little bit of time to adjust to the Championship after 14 years away, but they appear to have found their groove.

Tuesday's 3-2 comeback win at Bolton Wanderers was their third victory in a row, and while manager Nuno Espirito Santo will have been pleased to see his side score 10 goals across those games, he will be less happy about the four goals they conceded.

The Hammers were leapfrogged by West Bromwich Albion at the summit on Wednesday but three points against Wrexham would see them return to the top of the table ahead of the weekend's other games.

West Ham could be without Taty Castellanos, who hurt his tendon against Derby County last Saturday and missed the victory at Bolton.

SEE ALSO Should I use a VPN to watch football?

Wrexham's season so far has been a story of draws with four of their six games ending level, although they claimed their sole victory on their previous visit to the capital – an eye-catching 3-0 win a few miles down the road at Millwall last Wednesday.

Since then, the Red Dragons have played out a stalemate at early-season surprise package Swansea City and then drawn 1-1 with Burnley, in which summer signing Jacques Ekomie scored his second goal in three matches.

Phil Parkinson may rotate his side for Wrexham's first-ever visit to the London Stadium – and the first league meeting between the teams since 1981 – with Ollie Rathbone, Danny Imray and Sam Smith among those who could return to the starting XI after dropping to the bench against Burnley on Tuesday.

Defender Max Cleworth and forward Josh Windass are injury doubts after both players sustained knocks against the Clarets.

FourFourTwo's prediction

West Ham United 3-1 Wrexham

The Hammers appear to have found their groove, so we're backing them to make it four wins in a row.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Cody Gakpo is a doubt to face Fulham this Saturday, as the Reds look to build on their first Premier League win since April, which arrived in their recent clash versus Ipswich Town.

The Dutch forward assisted both of Alexander Isak’s goals — the game’s only strikes — as Liverpool secured three points in a 2-0 victory at Portman Road.

Gakpo was subsequently ruled out of Liverpool’s mid-week battle versus Atletico Madrid, which his side won 2-1, with adductor issues on both sides, and the Dutch star is uncertain to return for Fulham.

Cody Gakpo injury latest, as Liverpool prepare for Fulham

The 27-year-old was also stellar in his two Premier League matches prior to Ipswich, having scored a long-range screamer in Liverpool’s 2-2 opening day draw at St. James Park.

In the following game, his nifty movement opened space for an inch-perfect cross to Isak against Nottingham Forest, in another 2-2 draw.

Gakpo recorded four goal involvements in his first three Premier League matches; only Mohamed Salah has bagged more whilst opening a league campaign (six contributions, in 2024-25) for Liverpool this century.

Bradley Barcola, who started in the Dutchman’s absence on Wednesday, also caused concern, after exiting the pitch during the Reds’ Champions League victory.

Andoni Iraola has since confirmed the status of both players in a pre-Fulham presser, with Barcola’s issues considered insignificant, but Gakpo’s sidelining potentially being prolonged.

The Basque manager said: “Barcola was just cramps. We have to evaluate how he is today, but there is no injury. I think he should be available if everything goes normal.

"Cody, we will see,” he continued. “We will try today and see if he is ready for tomorrow, or if we need to wait until the next one."

Iraola’s side, having lost star forward Salah last term, have fared well as an attacking unit, scoring at least two goals in each of their Premier League and Champions League fixtures.

On the defensive side, his men have conceded five goals in four. In their sole Premier League clean sheet this term, versus Ipswich last Friday, the newly-promoted club recorded a higher xG than the Reds.

Liverpool return to English top-flight action against Fulham this weekend, with Gakpo potentially set to remain absent.

Another post-match interview featuring Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise has gone viral across social media for all the wrong reasons.

Once again, football fans have been treated to the painful spectacle of awkward silences, and a player doing everything he can to make life harder for the person holding the microphone.

What started as a quirky, meme-worthy gimmick as a young player has officially crossed the line into something far more grating. Olise’s nonchalant media routine isn’t clever or cool - it is rude, tiresome, and paints young footballers in a really poor light.

Michael Olise's interview gimmick is a bad look - and it's getting old

For a long time, I was willing to afford the Frenchman the benefit of the doubt. I even defended him.

'Does he suffer from social anxiety? Is he just painfully shy?' It's not easy being a teenager thrust into the limelight, so it was a fair question to ask.

However, recent refcam footage shatters that narrative. On the pitch, Olise is the antithesis of stage-fright, his apparent communication issues deserting him when arguing the toss over a decision with a match official. He is vocal, animated, and - compared to his post-game media debriefs - uninhibited.

This sullen, disengaged persona reserved exclusively for post-match broadcasters is a choice. The cold one-word responses and the air of casual arrogance suggest he knows precisely what he’s doing with his non-answers.

Watch these viral clips closely and you will see broadcast journalists - often asking questions in a second or third language with commendable poise - maintaining total professionalism while receiving complete apathy in return.

This isn’t merely a case of one journalist instinctively standing up for another; it is a matter of fundamental workplace decency. Does Olise offer up the silent treatment to the staff at Bayern's training ground? To those who serve his meals, those on the security desk and reception?

The golden rule ought to apply even in elite football: treat people as you would wish to be treated yourself.

In an era where access to players is restricted to the absolute extreme, reporters are given minutes to glean something meaningful. Questions can admittedly feel repetitive or like lip-service to the interviewee, but that is the reality of heavily sanitised media zones. The least a player can do in return is show basic courtesy.

Most professionals understand the implicit contract between sport and media - they remain cordial, polite, and cooperative, even if their answers are steeped in generic PR drivel and we, the journalists, go back to our editors with the currency: quotes.

Olise, by contrast, treats the microphone like a burden and the person holding it with visible disdain, at least he does in this most recent clip.

It also begs the question: why do Bayern Munich’s press officers keep putting him in front of the cameras?

How it works is, after a match, broadcasters, journalists and rights-holders will request to speak to specific players based on how the 90 minutes have unfolded. Ultimately though, it is the club’s communications department that decides whether to grant those requests or put forward someone else.

Continuing to parade Olise in front of rights-holders when everyone knows he will deliberately stonewall the interviewer benefits nobody. It produces a deeply uncomfortable watch, disrespects broadcast partners, and damages the club's image.

To be clear, the sports media landscape is hardly a saintly entity. Invasive headlines and unfair coverage in the past may well have left Olise feeling distrustful of reporters.

If that is the case, then his cynicism towards the press is entirely understandable - Sir Alex Ferguson refused to engage with the BBC for years after deeming their questioning of fellow manager and son, Darren, not to his liking.

But taking out those grievances on an innocent broadcast journalist who is simply doing their job after a match is misplaced anger. Being a world-class footballer comes with immense privilege, but talent, status and riches don't make you exempt from basic manners.

Turkish media are reporting that Super Lig side Trabzonspor have held talks with Pep Guardiola, as the club look to go from strength-to-strength after signing Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah.

The pair faced off for almost 10 years in the Premier League, with Salah taking the English top-flight title from Guardiola’s Manchester City twice in that period.

Now, it appears that the Egyptian and the Spaniard could join forces in the Super Lig, with Turkish media reporting that Guardiola has been offered a €13 million salary to manage Trabzonspor.

Pep Guardiola could join forces with Mohamed Salah in shock Super Lig move

Despite a productive start to the season from Salah — striking four goals, and claiming an assist, in three Super Lig starts — Trabzonspor endured a devastating Europa League crash-out.

That arrived through Ferencvaros, who decimated Salah’s side 5-0 (agg.) in their Europa League two-leg qualifier. In the aftermath, then-manager, and former Trabzonspor player, Faith Tekke resigned on the spot.

The board rejected Tekke’s resignation, who lost 2-1 in his following fixture versus newly-promoted side Amed, away from home. He was then allowed to leave; now, according to Turkish news bulletin Gusholder Haber Bulteni, the Super Lig side has held talks with Guardiola.

In Trabzonspor’s first match since Tekke’s departure, they dismantled Genclerbirligi in a 5-0 romp at Papara Park. Goals came through Paul Onuachu, Ernest Muci, Salah, and new signing Franculino Dju.

In their pursuit of the Super Lig trophy — which Trabzonspor have additional motivation to achieve this term, with Galatasaray gunning for an unprecedented fifth successive Turkish top-flight title — Salah’s men appear to have turned, stunningly, to Guardiola.

The report from Gusholder Haber Bulteni has since been relayed online by Trabzonspor media, and other Turkish outlets.

In FourFourTwo’s view, the Spaniard is exceedingly unlikely to make the Super Lig move; however, it could be one to keep an eye peeled for. Having won virtually everything there is to win, and Trabzonspor emerging as a serious economic power in Turkey that could, under the right guidance, dominate the Super Lig in coming years, their project might appeal to Guardiola.

In 2022, Trabzonspor won their first top-flight title since 1984. A total of 78 clubs have competed in the competition, with only six winning it, and Salah’s side have claimed the fourth-most, with seven.

Galatasaray have 26, Fenerbahce hold 19, and Besiktas have lifted 16 Super Lig trophies. If any club is capable of disturbing this Istanbul-based dominance, it is likely to be Trabzonspor, and they are currently well-positioned to do so.

With Guardiola having taken Manchester City from relative Premier League minnows, to winning the second-most titles in the competition’s history, he could be enticed by a similar story playing out in Turkey, under his leadership.

The salary offered could pose issues, with the Spaniard reportedly having earned over £20 million annually in England. In contrast, €13 million to manage in Turkey appears drastically less appealing.

While this remains a vastly distant possibility, who wouldn’t like to see Guardiola and Salah work together, if just for a season, with their footballing legacies already stamped?

The English top-flight has scheduled seven festive fixtures to be played on Boxing Day, the Premier League announced on Thursday.

Last term, the sole Boxing Day fixture played in the Premier League was between Manchester United and Newcastle, with the former prevailing 1-0; seven games were scheduled for December 27.

That appears to have flipped for the 2026-27 Premier League season, with Aston Villa versus Leeds, Hull hosting Liverpool, Newcastle against Manchester City, and more, having been scheduled for December 26.

Premier League release statement confirming seven Boxing Day events

The English top-flight have released the scheduling earlier than in previous terms, with the Premier League and its broadcasting partners having “agreed to bring the selection process [forward].”

A statement on the official League website read: “This fixture announcement gives supporters more than three months’ notice to plan and make travel arrangements for a particularly busy time of the year.

“It follows consultation with the Football Supporters' Association and representatives from club Fan Advisory Boards… [and] after the League and our broadcast partners agreed to bring forward the selection process for live UK matches."

The English top-flight’s early scheduling agreement pertains to match-weeks 17 to 20, which run from 26 December to 7 January.

The Premier League confirmed that clubs will have at least a 60-hour break between fixtures held over the Christmas and New Year period, to address backlash from congested scheduling.

“This is in keeping with commitments made to clubs to address the congested festive schedule - in the context of an expanding European and international fixture calendar,” said the League.

Broadcast selections in November will be announced by week commencing September 21, and by w/c October 19 for December fixtures.

On Boxing Day, TNT Sports will host Aston Villa v Leeds for the 12:30pm BST kick-off, while Sky Sports have taken Hull vs Liverpool and Newcastle vs Manchester City in the evening.

On December 27, Sky Sports will broadcast all three of Coventry vs Chelsea, Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest, and Crystal Palace vs Arsenal.

The seven festive fixtures set to be played on Boxing Day are:

Aston Villa v Leeds (TNT Sports, 12:30pm BST)

Everton v Sunderland

Fulham v Brighton

Ipswich v Brentford

Spurs v AFC Bournemouth

Hull v Liverpool (Sky Sports, 5:30pm BST)

Newcastle v Man City (Sky Sports, 8pm BST)

Fulham are facing the prospect of losing their opening four Premier League games of the new season this weekend, which would spell bad news for Alvaro Arbeloa.

The Spaniard is fast emerging as the frontrunner to become the Premier League's first managerial casualty of the new season.

A winless start to the campaign has plunged Fulham into crisis, leaving the former Real Madrid interim boss fighting to salvage both his authority and his job ahead of a weekend trip to face Liverpool.

Alvaro Arbeloa on the brink at Fulham

Having replaced Marco Silva over the summer, Arbeloa was heavily backed by the club's board during the transfer window.

The 43-year-old tapped directly into his former employer to reshape the squad, securing moves for Real Madrid trio Cesar Palacios, Gonzalo Garcia, and Manuel Angel.

However, due to Arbeloa’s tactical tweaks and, on the surface at least, a clear preference for his ex-Bernabeu recruits, he has alienated established figures within the squad.

Alex Iwobi has found himself displaced from his natural wide role and redeployed into central midfield, a move widely understood to accommodate Palacios on the wing.

Meanwhile, £34 million midfielder Emile Smith Rowe has seemingly been marginalised, featuring off the bench for a combined total of just 25 Premier League minutes across Fulham's three opening defeats.

Internal friction is growing with Brazilian winger Kevin, too. As reported by Saturday White Fever, Fulham find themselves with an ultimatum just four weeks in to the new season.

Kevin, the club's record signing, and Arbeloa are believed to have fallen out over the ex-Shakhtar Donetsk man's playing time. He has accumulated a mere 24 league minutes this term, and was left as an unused substitute during last weekend’s loss to Crystal Palace.

The immediate aftermath of that Palace defeat saw Kevin take to social media to post a cryptic message which read: ‘no speak, no hear, no see’. This post has been universally interpreted as a protest against Arbeloa’s team selection and possibly his management style, too.

It is now understood that Kevin is expected to seek an exit from Craven Cottage during the January transfer window unless the board opts to dismiss Arbeloa before then.

Alarmingly, the discontent is not isolated to one individual, either. In what appears to be a coordinated effort, both Iwobi and Smith Rowe have scrubbed their official Instagram accounts clean, wiping all historical posts depicting them in Fulham colours.

With a dismal record heading to Anfield, Arbeloa's gamble and squad management has backed him into a corner.

Should Fulham suffer another damaging defeat against Liverpool, or if the team produces another lifeless display, the board may be forced to act.

The manner of performance on Merseyside could well prove terminal for the manager's brief tenure in West London.

Rangers needed a stoppage-time goal to break the deadlock in Wednesday’s rearranged Scottish Premiership fixture against St Mirren at Ibrox.

Bojan Miovski’s goal in the first minute of time added on earned Rangers a fourth league win in a row, just as a win by the same scoreline against the same opponents kicked off a four-match winning run to end last season.

It’s been all change in the west of Glasgow since then. Danny Rohl’s management kept the Gers in the title race for longer than they might otherwise have been involved but was tempted away to Red Bull Salzburg and succeeded by Derek McInnes.

Shankland injury will test the ex-Hearts revolution at Ibrox

The new Rangers manager pushed Celtic even further in 2025/26, when he was in charge of Heart of Midlothian and took them to the cusp of a fifth league title to earn his dream job.

McInnes was able to take international striker Lawrence Shankland – his talismanic Hearts captain and another Rangers man at heart – across the central belt to Glasgow. That’s just how Scottish football works; Rangers have won the title 55 times.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

This season is only six matches old and Hearts have a game in hand on their old gaffer, but Celtic are first and Rangers are second. Four wins on the bounce have reinforced McInnes’ credentials at the helm of a team comparatively short of raw quality.

More than a few of their points can be credited to character over straightforward ability. Just as they started to feel a little more convincing, McInnes lost his general.

His team beat St Mirren without Shankland, who was substituted eight minutes of last weekend’s win over Motherwell before a hamstring injury forced him off.

“It's a 2C tear and similar to the one he did previously at Hearts in January,” McInnes told reporters before Rangers played the Buddies.

“He's actually in London now, he's getting an ultrasound scan, a follow-up scan, which is just to determine whether, with the specialist, he has surgery or whether he'll just let it heal naturally like he did the last time.

“My little knowledge I have of it is that if he has the surgery then he might be an extra three or four weeks.

“I think best-case scenario, three months, probably worst-case scenario in terms of time about four months.”

Rangers’ captain was starting to suit the armband before his setback

It’s a brutal blow, not only for the 31-year-old Glaswegian but for a manager who must now hold steady without a player he knows well and had been starting to show his worth in the Rangers shirt he’d wanted for a lifetime. Their four-match winning run started with a 1-0 win against Aberdeen and a 2-1 victory at Falkirk in the space of four days.

Shankland, suddenly puffing out his chest in a shirt that finally seemed to fit, scored all three goals. He’d only scored once in the Europa League qualifiers, Conference League qualifiers, Premier Sports Cup tie and two Premiership matches that preceded them.

Indeed, it’s what came before those wins that points to the extent of the challenge now facing McInnes. If first impressions matter, his did little to reassure Rangers fans that McInnes – by no means an unfamiliar figure to anyone involved in Scottish football – has what it takes to achieve the one thing that really matters in Glasgow.

The Gers were knocked out of Europe before it started. Twice. Their Europa League campaign began and ended against Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland in the third qualifying round.

They dropped into the play-off round of the Conference League. Shankland, Miovski and Thelo Aasgaard scored their first three penalties, but Czech side Jablonec ended up on the right end of the shoot-out.

All that’s left, on three fronts, is to attempt to better Celtic. They’ll get their chance on Sunday in the first Old Firm derby of the season, a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final tie at Ibrox that Shankland will have to watch from the sidelines.

Rangers’ recent burst was a big step forward in the early part of McInnes’ return as manager, but Shankland was the man putting the ball in the net.

They made a positive start without him, beating Motherwell and St Mirren in 1-0 matches that couldn’t have been much more different in terms of their comfort levels for the Ibrox club.

23-year-old Ryan Naderi, who joined Rangers in February, came off the bench to replace Shankland against the Steelmen and scored through sheer tenacity within four minutes.

His smart flick-on set up Miovski’s looping winner against St Mirren too but they really had to work for it against the determined defence and pointed threat of a team led by August’s Manager of the Month.

But Rangers are already operating with fine margins game-by-game and Shankland is a born difference-maker. The question for McInnes and Rangers is where they can find that difference on consistent basis over the next 16 weeks and more.

In 2013, Tottenham Hotspur were targeting the joint-purchase of Croatian duo Alen Halilovic and Tin Jedvaj, negotiating with then-Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic.

Daniel Levy and Mamic shared history — in 2008, they ironed out a joint-club record deal for eventual Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric — and their latest negotiations were set to cost Spurs €25 million.

Levy’s financial ruthlessness had previously emerged in negotiations for Modric, but Mamic confessed in a 2019 interview, exclusively with FourFourTwo, that their boardroom exchange was far testier for Halilovic and Jedvaj.

‘I told them go f*** yourself’

At the time, a teenage Halilovic was touted as the next Modric, while Jedvaj was believed to be a defensive game-changer.

The latter sealed a move to Roma in 2013, while Halilovic attracted Barcelona — although, after their transfers,neither enjoyed top-level careers in Europe — and Mamic confirmed how close Spurs came to bagging the duo.

The ex-Zagreb director revealed: "I negotiated with [Levy] over the transfers of Alen Halilovic and Tin Jedvaj to Tottenham. My son was their agent and translator, and I represented the interests of Dinamo.

Mamic then revealed how Spurs’ lowball offer provoked fury: “We sat in Levy’s office with the sporting director, Franco Baldini, and Levy offered us around €10m as his secretary served us tea. After hearing their offer, I told my son to thank Levy,” Mamic continued.

"[I also told him] to ask if ‘I should drink my tea, or just go straight home?’ My son did not want to translate that!

"Levy and Baldini realised that I had become a little more aggressive, then I told them ‘Idite vi svi u picku materinu’ [the Croatian equivalent of ‘go f*** yourself’].

"They stood up and asked me to stay, because €10m was not their final offer for the players. After that we continued the negotiations and agreed a fee of €25m,” Mamic told FFT.

On why the deal later collapsed, the ex-Zagreb director revealed that demands from one player’s side of the table scuppered the agreement.

“Unfortunately, the deal eventually fell through, partly because of crazy new demands from Halilovic’s side,” claimed Mamic. The midfielder would eventually play in England nearly a decade later — for Birmingham City, then Reading, in the Championship.

Jedvaj, whose top-flight career played out predominantly with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, is currently at Al-Shabab, while Halilovic, just 30-years-old, is club-less after leaving Fortuna Sittard.

Still, it appears that Mamic nearly manufactured the perfect heist in shipping them to Spurs, even with Levy’s testy boardroom antics… and he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddlin’ Halilovic.

If Gameweek 3 was the week of the Wildcard, Gameweek 4 is the natural follow up window for those who held off.

The transfer window is firmly shut, minutes are becoming clearer by the week and the fixture picture is sharp enough to build a squad with genuine long term conviction.

Without further ado, here is the team worth constructing right now.

GOALKEEPER

In goal, Bart Verbruggen is the standout budget option. He's reliable, consistent for save points and probably the best of the cheaper goalkeeper options available this season.

The backup slot can honestly be filled by any £4.0m goalkeeper from a team you are unlikely to triple up on, as there are no truly nailed-on options at that price point right now.

DEFENCE

The defensive unit leans into three teams with strong fixture runs and players who bring more than just clean sheet potential.

Riccardo Calafiori and Ezri Konsa give double Arsenal coverage in the best defensive unit in the league, with Konsa remaining an absolute steal following the Mosquera injury situation.

Tarik Muharemovic has been a defensive contributions machine for Leeds United, brings aerial threat from set pieces and represents reasonable value for his price.

Luka Vuskovic is probably the most secure Brighton defender for the long term, offering similar set piece threat and a solid record for defensive returns.

Finally, Jan Paul van Hecke rotates really well with the rest of the defence, is particularly strong in home fixtures and carries good aerial ability from dead ball situations.

MIDFIELD

The midfield is where this squad truly shines. Bukayo Saka looks sharp, his minutes appear very secure and with penalty duties and a run of strong fixtures ahead, he is the standout Arsenal attacking option to own right now.

Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers give strong Chelsea representation from a side that has looked genuinely dangerous under Xabi Alonso, with neither carrying any European fixture concerns to threaten their minutes.

Palmer at home to Hull this week is the optimal captaincy choice on paper, particularly in a gameweek where Manchester United host Manchester City. Dominik Szoboszlai is the set-and-forget Liverpool hold, confirmed on penalties and guaranteed minutes for the foreseeable future. Regan Slater rounds out the midfield as a budget filler who enables the rest of the squad through his low price point and will rarely if ever need to come off the bench.

ATTACK

Up front, Erling Haaland is essential cover for the captaincy in Gameweeks 5 and 7, where he looks comfortably the best armband option on paper.

Joao Pedro has been in the top three FPL point scorers among forwards across the opening three gameweeks, carries no European football and looks like one of the most stable and consistent picks in the game right now. Thierno Barry is the interesting differential of the forward line at just £5.5m. With Ndiaye gone, he looks set to inherit penalty duties at Everton, and the budget he frees up across the rest of the squad makes him a very attractive inclusion at a price that enables genuine quality elsewhere.

The beauty of this squad is the balance it strikes between premium quality at the top end and serious value throughout the supporting cast. The front three is locked in, the midfield offers multiple captaincy options over the coming weeks and the defensive setup is built for long term accumulation rather than short term speculation. If you are Wildcarding this week, this is the blueprint worth following.

The Homes Under the Hammer presenter, who since hanging up his boots has transitioned from Premier League goalscoring to real estate expertise and punditry, is using his industry knowledge to help fellow players secure their financial futures.

Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo, Dublin disclosed how older players regularly approach him with substantial sums, relying on his team to locate and manage brick-and-mortar investments.

"Where there’s some bad, there’s also good too, but come and speak to Dion! I’ll hook you up," Dublin said.

Dion Dublin will 'hook you up' with a new-build in the Wrexham area, apparently

"I’m already doing it for some of the older players, without mentioning any names. They come straight to me and my estate agent. 'Dion, I’ve got a couple of hundred grand, can you do something for me?'"

Dublin has focused much of his property enterprise in North Wales, specifically around the Wrexham area, where attention surrounding the now-Championship level football club has fuelled a market boom.

"I’ve got a few of them houses in Wrexham now, which is a bit of a hot spot with all the attention around the football club. What we then do is manage and maintain the properties and [the players] get a bit of passive income."

Having spent years in the game, Dublin is familiar with traditional footballer enclaves like Knutsford, Wilmslow, and Alderley Edge, noting they are 'all beautiful areas to live in but very expensive.' However, he advises buyers to look at adjacent locations for better value.

"Cheshire can be expensive but if you look at places on the outskirts like Congleton and other places just off the M6 they can be incredible as well, so you don’t have to go for the top end."

Dublin's regular travels across the country to carry out television duties takes him to locations like Stoke, Walsall, Lincoln, and Grimsby, but all that has done is reinforced his belief that hidden gems exist everywhere.

"My advice is to try and find those places but most importantly find the place that works for you.

"I think if you're investing in property then you need to look anywhere north of London and Watford and you might have a chance to get a bit of value for your money.

"That said, if you've got a load of money, then you could afford to do it down in London. It's just very expensive. The south's very expensive. We know that. The further north you go, the more bargains you're going to get, but you won’t be living in London."

Dublin was speaking to FourFourTwo on behalf of Reviant.

Happy Friday, one and all.

Do you know who replaced Antonio Conte as Chelsea manager, who won the Best Goalkeeper gong at the 2002 World Cup, what West Ham United removed from their badge 10 years ago and where Osasuna are based?

Course you do: and now's your time to prove it with another Friday Football Quiz, back for a 132nd edition with 20 questions ready whenever you are. Let's dig in, shall we?

Handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

Moving from Friday teasers to big-money transfers, opening-day history, and international immortality, we've got a fresh line-up of Kwizly-powered quizzes to carry on with, if you'd like?

We’re launching straight into big-money Anfield blockbusters and opening-weekend folklore. First, test your knowledge of Merseyside transfer strategy by naming Liverpool's 50 most expensive signings ever, tracing the record-breaking fees that brought world-class talent to Anfield across the modern era. Once you've audited Liverpool's spending history, travel back through over three decades of kickoff drama to name the first goalscorer of every Premier League season since 1992-93, a ruthless trial of opening-day trivia that separates casual observers from deep-cut archival scholars.

Next, name every England player with over 50 caps, honouring the half-century mainstays who anchored the national team across generations. After celebrating those Three Lions icons, scale the ultimate heights of the global game to identify every Ballon d'Or winner to have won the World Cup, celebrating the exclusive pantheon of legends who achieved both individual perfection and ultimate international glory.

Finally, we've got another crossword, as FourFourTwo’s Weekend Crossword 69 takes on the theme of boxers, badges and Barclaysmen, as we stretch you from club emblems to cult 2000s top-flight heroes. To ensure you stay top of the table every single day, subscribe to our newsletter for your daily briefing of hand-picked trivia and tactical analysis. To complete your transfer to terrace legend status, lock in your spot in The Club, our free membership hub where you can claim secret hints for our hardest quizzes, climb global leaderboards, and debate the latest football topics directly in the comments section.

The Championship is often branded as the most competitive and unpredictable league in world football. Except that’s not always the case.

Parachute payments have skewed the odds in favour of the clubs relegated from the Premier League - in each of the past six seasons, at least one of the automatic promotion places have been filled by a team who spent the previous campaign in the top flight.

That trend could continue this term but it doesn’t feel like a foregone conclusion, while the play-off and relegation pictures are equally exciting. Ladies and gentlemen, this could be the most on-brand Championship season for some time.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Goals, shocks and wild scorelines: This could be a Championship season for the ages

Last season’s Championship was a tough act to follow. Coventry City lifted the title to return to the Premier League after 25 years away, Hull City won the play-offs despite starting the campaign as one of the favourites to go down, and Leicester City suffered a shock second relegation in a row.

Furthermore, the teams who came down from the Premier League were not as dominant as in previous years. Ipswich Town were the only member of that trio to gain promotion, finishing second behind Coventry, and their total of 84 points ended a run of five seasons where one of the three relegated clubs reached 90 points or more in their first campaign back in the Championship.

Meanwhile, the three teams promoted from League One - Birmingham City, Wrexham and Charlton Athletic - all stayed up, the third year in a row in which that has happened. Despite all of that, this season is shaping up to be even better.

If it’s goals you want, there have already been lots of them. The league average of 2.89 goals per game ahead of Wednesday night’s fixtures is higher than the average across a 46-match campaign in any of the past 20 years, on account of there being several teams who are great at scoring goals but not so good at keeping them out. More on that later.

Meanwhile, the old adage that anyone can beat anyone in the Championship appears truer than ever. Some teams’ results have fluctuated wildly, including Charlton winning at West Ham United but losing 4-0 at Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers stunning Middlesbrough only to fall to defeat at previously pointless Preston North End, and Millwall beating Bristol City, Norwich City and Bolton Wanderers by a combined score of 9-0, but losing to Southampton and Wrexham 8-1 on aggregate.

The league is unpredictable wherever you look. Starting from the top, none of the front-runners have stood out above the rest in the first four weeks of the campaign.

That includes the trio who were relegated from the Premier League last season. West Ham and Wolves will surely compete for automatic promotion, but they don’t yet look like they will run away with the title in the way that Coventry did last term.

The Hammers failed to win any of their first three games before scoring 10 goals in successive victories over Wolves, Derby County and Bolton, but they had to fight back from 2-1 down to beat one of the supposed weaker sides in the division in the latter fixture. Wolves’ first five matches featured 23 goals, 10 of them going in at the wrong end.

Then there is Burnley. The Clarets reached 100 points in their previous two campaigns at this level but sit second-bottom of the table after failing to win any of their first six matches. They will surely improve, and the signing of Jamie Vardy adds intrigue, but they are currently way off the level required to win promotion.

That has opened the door to other teams. Of the three clubs who lost in the play-offs last term, Middlesbrough look best-placed to challenge. After letting so many points slip through their grasp last season due to poor finishing, they have found a goalscorer in Will Lankshear, while their strong underlying numbers had them top of the Expected Points table (calculated by measuring Expected Goals for and against) after five games. If xG/xPTS isn’t your thing, they were also second in the real table.

Last term’s play-off semi-finalists, Millwall and Southampton, have also made strong starts and should compete for promotion again, despite the Lions’ chaotic set of scorelines.

Several dark horses are also emerging. Swansea City topped the table after five matches, and it was no fluke: since head coach Vitor Matos arrived last November, they have picked up 1.61 points per game - play-off form over a 46-match season.

Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton are among the other early pace-setters and it is the ideal time for an outsider to mount a promotion bid, thanks to one of the most controversial talking points of the Championship in 2026/27.

This season, the play-offs have been expanded from four to six teams, which means the club finishing eighth will qualify for the end-of-term shoot-out. The change has not been universally popular, but it means more teams will have a chance of reaching the play-offs in the final weeks of the campaign, reducing the number of dead rubbers.

With the way the Championship table often concertinas as the season goes on, it is possible that the team in 15th with five games remaining could realistically still go up or down. That brings us to the battle at the bottom.

Lincoln City were widely tipped to go straight back down after their shock League One title triumph but have adapted well to the level, taking five points from their past three games and running Middlesbrough close on the opening day.

There is arguably greater concern about the teams they came up with, Cardiff City and Bolton, but while all three are likely to be in a relegation battle, they have shown enough so far to suggest they won’t be cut adrift.

Of course, everything can change, but if the season continues in this vein we’ll be treated to a proper title race, surprise promotion candidates, a congested play-off battle and a nail-biting survival fight.

If that all comes to pass, it really will be one of the greatest Championship seasons of all time.

It's FourFourTwo Quickfire Quiz number 200. Imagine! Two whole thousands of football trivia questions, and we're not stopping here either. Help us blow out the candles by answering today's questions!

Handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

FourFourTwo has a vast vault of football quizzes and they're all courtesy of Kwizly. First up, can you name the three most expensive Premier League signings of every summer since 1992 and every team in the top two tiers of women's football in England?

While you're in transfer mode, we also want you to show off your knowledge of the 50 most expensive signings ever made by Barcelona or Real Madrid.

We have some questions about the Premier League's most celebrated one-season wonders, the players who came and went in the blink of an eye but made a big impression while they were in the spotlight.

There are a couple of quizzes that ask you to put some groups of four into the correct order – one about players and their Premier League appearances, the other about teams and their titles.

Can you name every team in the Football League right now? There's only one way to find out. Lastly, if you're a players expert rather than a teams nut, our latest career paths quiz is for you. How many of those 100 career paths can you identify?

We have puzzles too. Our Weekend Crossword is a regular football teaser for your Sunday, and remember to sign up to the newsletter for more quizzes in your inbox. Don't forget to join The Club for free additional membership benefits!

The league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League started on Tuesday, September 8 with wins for AEK Athens and Aston Villa in the early time slot.

Villa qualified for European football's premier club competition twice over, backing up a top-four finish in the Premier League with victory in the Europa League final in May.

But with a staggered schedule now customary in the league phase era of the three big continental tournaments, when do this season's Europa League and Conference League matches begin?

When does the Europa League start?

The league phase of the Europa League will kick off on Tuesday, September 16 and concludes with 18 fixtures at once on Monday, January 28 – a Bank Holiday in the UK.

Sunderland will be the first English team to play in the Europa League proper this season. Their league phase campaign begins with the visit of AZ on opening night.

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Bournemouth get started the next day, when they face Real Sociedad in San Sebastian, and it's also a Wednesday start for Crystal Palace at home against Lech Poznan.

Scottish champions Celtic welcome Ferencvaros to Glasgow for their first league phase fixture on Wednesday, September 17.

The Europa League will have eight rounds of league phase fixtures. The first six will be played before Christmas, while matchdays seven and eight will again be played in the last two weeks of January.

A play-off round will add eight teams to the top eight from the league phase, populating a round of 16 to be played in March.

The final will be played in Frankfurt on Wednesday, May 26.

When does the Conference League start?

The 36 teams competing in this season's Conference League must wait another month before their first matchday.

All 18 matchday one fixtures will be played on Thursday, October 15 – the same night as the second round of Europa League matches after a full slate in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Brighton & Hove Albion will play at home against Kauno Zalgiris of Lithuania in their first match, while Hearts host Denmark's Nordsjaelland.

Conference League participants only play six league phase matches, the last of which will take place on Thursday, December 17. The finalists will meet in Istanbul in early June.

Watch Manchester United vs Sabah for free as the Red Devils return to the Champions League after two seasons away with this league phase opener against the Azerbaijani minnows. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Michael Carrick led United back into Europe's elite club competition with a brilliant end to last term, but they have endured a mixed start to the 2026/27 campaign.

Sabah are the great unknowns of this season's Champions League and will play at Old Trafford just nine years and two days after they were founded, marking a historic night in the Azerbaijani outfit's history.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Manchester United vs Sabah in the Champions League online, on TV, and from anywhere, including for free.

Can I watch Manchester United vs Sabah for free?

Manchester United vs Sabah is free to watch in Ireland on RTE Player with linear coverage available on RTE2.

Not in Ireland? You need a VPN to access your free Manchester United vs Sabah stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch Manchester United vs Sabah from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss Manchester United vs Sabah. The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can set your devices to appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

How to watch Manchester United vs Sabah in the UK

Manchester United vs Sabah will be broadcast live on TNT Sports and HBO Max in the UK.

The game will be shown on TNT Sports 1, with kick-off at 8pm BST.

Outside of the UK? Watch Manchester United vs Sabah on TNT Sports with NordVPN.

How to watch Manchester United vs Sabah in the US

US viewers can watch Manchester United vs Sabah on Paramount+, with kick-off at 3pm ET.

Travelling outside of the US? Use NordVPN to access your usual Paramount+ stream.

How to watch Manchester United vs Sabah in Australia

Fans in Australia can watch Manchester United vs Sabah on Stan Sport.

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Manchester United vs Sabah: Preview

Manchester United fans will savour the moment when the iconic Champions League music rings out at Old Trafford before their league phase opener against Sabah.

It will be the first time in nearly three years that the Red Devils have played in the competition, but they are not the continental force they once were.

That has been evident in the opening few weeks of the Premier League season, in which United have lost 2-0 at promoted Hull City and drawn 2-2 against Everton, putting manager Michael Carrick under a hint of pressure despite his sensational impact after arriving midway through last term.

The Red Devils will be expected to beat Sabah comfortably, but it's the sort of night where even a convincing win is seen as par for the course - and anything less raises serious questions.

SEE ALSO How to watch Champions League 2026/27

Sabah didn't even exist when United last won a European trophy - and that was only nine years ago.

The Red Devils' Europa League triumph in May 2017 arrived four months before the Azerbaijani club were formed, so their journey over the past decade has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Sabah won their country's top flight for the first time last season, as well as lifting the Azerbaijan Cup for the second campaign in a row, before fighting through four rounds of qualifiers to reach the league phase of the Champions League.

Their fixtures also include games against Arsenal, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund in what will be a fairy-tale for the club and their Lithuanian manager, Valdas Dambrauskas, who took his first steps in coaching at Manchester United's Soccer Schools. Tonight, he will coach against the Red Devils as their equal.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Manchester United 3-0 Sabah

This should be about as straightforward as it gets for United on their return to Europe's top table.

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Fifteen-year-old prodigy JJ Gabriel arrived on the continental stage with a hat-trick on his UEFA Youth League debut against Sabah FK U19, who were beaten 5-0 at Leigh Sports Village.

The forward delivered a three-goal performance to spearhead Manchester United’s youth side to victory, underlining yet again why he is considered one of the brightest talents in Carrington's academy.

Gabriel’s ascent has fuelled speculation over whether he can feature for Manchester United’s senior squad in the Premier League this season.

JJ Gabriel hits Euro hat-trick for Manchester United

Top-flight regulations dictate that a player must turn 15 on or before August 31 of a given season to be eligible for league selection.

Having met the league's academic year age requirement prior to the start of the 2026/27 campaign, Gabriel is legally eligible to make his Premier League debut this term, which was not the case last season.

Should manager Michael Carrick hand him a senior bow before he turns 16 in October, Gabriel would become Manchester United’s youngest-ever first-team player.

Carrick has been keeping a close eye on the teenager, regularly drafting him into first-team training sessions. Addressing Gabriel’s trajectory, the Red Devils boss commented last season: "JJ is a big talent, it's pretty obvious to know that and he's had a really good season for the Under-18s.

"We obviously think an awful lot of him, but patience is important in managing everything that comes with that and working with him in development as we do with all the different younger players and picking the right moment to step up."

Gabriel’s latest goalscoring heroics build on exceptional numbers at youth level. The attacker bagged 28 goals across 35 appearances for Man United’s U18 side last season.

Moving up to the U21s in Premier League 2 this term, Gabriel hit the ground running with two goals and two assists in his first two outings before taking his goalscoring form into Europe.

Sabah manager Valdas Dambrauskas has an unusual curriculum vitae.

Manchester United's first opponents after securing a return to the Champions League are one of four teams playing in the competition for the first time, and Dambrauskas will go head-to-head with United boss Michael Carrick at Old Trafford on Thursday.

Sabah are first-time champions of Azerbaijan and the route Dambrauskas took to get them there was circuitous to say the least. The Lithuanian, 49, even counts Man United themselves among his former employers.

'To come from Lithuania and be given that opportunity was a huge step for me'

Dambrauskas and his girlfriend, later his wife, moved to England after he won the equivalent of £725 on a Lithuanian television game show based on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

He enrolled on a sports science and coaching course at London Metropolitan University and soon found he needed to top up the funds if his coaching education was to continue. He secured an interview for a job with Man United's soccer schools programme.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

"After we’d paid for our flights and accommodation, we had money left to cover our expenses for just one month, so I needed to get a part-time job urgently," Dambrauskas told FourFourTwo.

"At the time I still couldn’t speak English properly, but they liked me because of my personality and I got the job. To come from Lithuania and be given that opportunity was a huge step for me."

Dambrauskas went on to work with Brentford's Centre of Excellence and as the manager of Kingsbury London Tigers, now London Tigers, who were then competing in the Spartan South Midlands League.

"That was a fantastic experience – all of my jobs were part of a great learning process, up to 2014 when I got my first chance as a head coach back in Lithuania," he said.

It was the doomed Ekranas who gave him that opportunity. They went bust the next year, only reforming in 2020. Dambrauskas has since managed in Latvia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Croatia. He's a league champion in three countries.

True to form, Dambrauskas' Sabah needed to take the long way round in the Champions League.

Starting in July, with the World Cup still rumbling on, the Azeri champions beat Welsh side The New Saints in the first qualifying round before seeing off KuPS and AGF to set up a play-off against Israel's Hapoel Be'er Sheva. They scored three goals in extra time at the end of the second leg.

After their Champions League trip to Old Trafford, Sabah will face league phase fixtures against Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund, Viking, Barcelona, Villarreal, Napoli and Arsenal.

Yes, you're reading that correctly.

Footballers are known for rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of the celebrity world, but these connections usually come about after they've made it big on the pitch.

In Dion Dublin's case, the former Aston Villa marksman has a Hollywood claim to fame from back when when he was merely a teenager and youth team player.

Dion Dublin reveals historic Jason Statham friendship

The 'Homes Under The Hammer' star tells FourFourTwo: "Jason Statham was best friends with my brother, who was a DJ in Great Yarmouth when I was a young player at Norwich City, so I lived with him. Jason played the drums. My brother played bass, too, so they played in a band together.

"I was a 17-year-old boy who would go and watch their band then I’d go watch my brother’s DJ sets with Jason, then me and J would go out after. It was good fun. Very chilled out."

Statham is, of course, known for his roles in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The Transporter and Mean Machine and has developed a reputation as an on-screen hard-man over the past 25 years.

But, Dublin says that wasn't always his old flatmate's persona.

"I’ve not spoken to him for years but the Jason I knew back then was a very nice, very fun guy. He used to be a high board diver for Great Britain, too, and there was a big leisure complex on the sea front at Great Yarmouth so J used to go down sometimes and do his practice on the high board in the pool down there.

"His dad was a singer too. His brother Lee used to work on the markets as well. Jason used to work on the markets with him too so he’s done everything. I think he's deserved everything he’s achieved."

While Dublin, two years Statham's junior, saw his career take him to Cambridge United in 1988 and then the Premier League with Manchester United a few years later, it was another 10 years before Statham's acting really took off, eventually taking him Stateside.

"Would I fancy moving to Hollywood to follow in Jason Statham’s footsteps?" Dublin says. "The property is too expensive!

"I’d love to go out there and give it a go though. Imagine that. Dion Dublin, action hero! I suppose I’ve tried everything else, haven't I? I’d throw my hat in the ring for that if they’d give us a job."

Dublin was speaking to FourFourTwo on behalf of Reviant.

When Como beat Hellas Verona in May to clinch a top-four finish ahead of illustrious Serie A rivals AC Milan and Juventus, the clock was already ticking on a summer project that had more to do with what's around the pitch than what happens on it.

Como have added the likes of Moise Kean, Trevoh Chalobah, Robert Sanchez and former loanee Alvaro Morata to their playing ranks but UEFA stadium requirements meant that a lightning renovations turnaround would be required to ensure that their Champions League home matches could be played at home.

Manager Cesc Fabregas will lead Como out for their first-ever match in Europe's premier club competition on Thursday. Thanks to an impressive effort off the pitch, he will do so at Stadio Sinigaglia.

Como's Champions League matches would have been moved to Sassuolo

Como get their league phase campaign underway against RB Leipzig and will also face Manchester United, AEK Athens and back-to-back European champions Paris Saint-Germain at home.

At the end of last season, their ground was not compliant with Champions League requirements and extensive work has been carried out over the last three months. Without the upgrades, Como would have played those four matches 200km away at the home of Sassuolo.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

"To meet UEFA requirements, renovation work on the stadium has been completed, including the construction of a new stand and the enhancement of infrastructure, security systems and operational facilities," Como said in a statement in advance of Leipzig's visit and the start of the league phase.

"Sinigaglia has been the home of Como 1907 for almost a century. Its role in the city and in the life of the club makes the opportunity to play these matches here particularly special.

"Como 1907 would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible, as well as our fans for their patience and constant support throughout the entire process."

Como's stadium has achieved UEFA Category 4 status as a result of the work. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the renovations included a near-miraculous rebuild of the Curva Ovest, upgraded floodlights, improvements to the media facilities, better toilets and enhanced security systems.

"The pitch was also completely relaid, widened by an additional two metres, and re-turfed with a new-generation hybrid grass, a specific request from Fabregas to facilitate ball possession," reports Giulio Saetta.

Como have been on a tear under the ownership of the Indonesian tobacco giants Djarum Group, which took over in 2019.

The Lariani, recently promoted back to the third tier, spent two seasons in Serie C and three in Serie B before securing promotion to the top tier in 2023/24.

Djarum appointed Fabregas, a former player and interim head coach at the club, to take them into Serie A. They've finished tenth and fourth in the last two seasons and are showing few signs of slowing down.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi gathered the few points needed to keep the team in the Premier League after he was appointed near the end of last season, but 2026/27 has got off to a miserable start.

Spurs are winless and goalless after their first three Premier League matches. Losses against Brentford and Newcastle United preceded a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest last Saturday.

After spending a reported £313 million on new signings in the summer transfer window, albeit offset by some big sales, it's been an alarming return to the kind of results that put Spurs in relegation trouble last season.

Mykhailo Mudryk's training ground injury gives Spurs a problem

The North London club made a number of eye-catching acquisitions over the summer but one of the most surprising moves of all was a season-long loan deal for Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk.

De Zerbi has long been an advocate of the Ukraine international, a player he tipped for a Ballon d'Or-worthy future when they were together at Shakhtar Donetsk. He certainly saw the best of Mudryk, who was genuinely exciting in the Champions League group stage in 2021/22.

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The 25-year-old signed for Chelsea in January 2023 but struggled to live up to the expectations set by the previous season, and there was worse to come.

Mudryk was provisionally banned in December 2024 after failing a drugs test. Eventually, he was formally issued with a four-year ban that would have seen him out of action until the end of 2028. He appealed, and the charge was dropped in July.

The Forest match was Mudryk's first competitive appearance for nearly two years. Clearly, there's an element of risk that comes with that – De Zerbi and Spurs absorbed that risk from Chelsea and now find themselves paying an injured player.

Mudryk could miss the next two months after sustaining an ankle injury in training this week.

"The 25-year-old is understood to have sustained the injury on Monday and is currently believed to be in protective boot," reports BBC Sport.

"The injury coincides with a three-week international break and a return in October is considered a realistic prospect."

Mudryk's injury leaves Spurs paying for a player who is missing not only for a couple of months but at a time when he needed to be working his way back to match fitness and getting up to speed with De Zerbi's methods as he aims to turn Spurs around.

It's one of the most important seasons of Mudryk's career, too. His injury is a bitter blow at a crucial juncture.

Dreaming a Premier League dream is a noble aim for players succeeding in the academies of its clubs, but simply carving out a career in the game is difficult enough in its own right.

In that context, taking a step back to line up a step forward is standard procedure in the actuality of a good football career.

Developing players capable of standing out in the Championship and pushing towards the top division is just another way for Premier League-level academies to prove their mettle. Whether or not there’s any prospect of players reaching the first team, managing their progress is part of the academy job.

Six goal contributions in six Championship appearances

In June, West Bromwich Albion signed 20-year-old attacking midfielder Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Chelsea.

Born in the ‘P’ part of the sprawling BCP conurbation that comprises Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Morgan joined Chelsea at the age of eight but spent six years in the middle of his junior football back on the south coast at Southampton before returning to Surrey.

As Chelsea plotted his future away from Stamford Bridge, he was loaned to Gillingham in League Two in January 2025 and again to League One side Peterborough United for the majority of last season.

He scored at a rate better than once every three matches in the third tier. He’s been even more dangerous in his first month or so in the second, where he is in the early weeks of a four-year contract with the West Midlands club.

Morgan was fortunate to be on the pitch on the night Albion went top of the Championship with a remarkable 1-0 win at Derby County. The young forward kicked out at Watford’s Albert Eames in the previous match but was on hand do a different side of his job after his team went down to 10 men in the first half at Pride Park.

He’s out-scoring his xG and making chances for his teammates, and Morgan’s early-season numbers make for encouraging reading. After six second-tier games, he has three goals and three assists. He’s Albion’s leader on both measures.

It’s easy to see where the productivity comes from. Morgan focuses on doing the right things and being in the right places when he can’t be directly involved. If he sees a run, he runs it. He’s not shy about demanding the ball either.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Albion’s goal at Pride Park came out of nowhere. Callum Styles carried the ball outside the left flank of the Derby box and was fouled.

It was in the back of the net in the blink of an eye, and it was Morgan who took up the baton to fire a pass in for Aune Heggebo to prod home.

But with Albion a man down and Heggebo withdrawn at the break, Morgan had to show the effects of the toughening up provided by the bottom two tiers over the past 18 months.

The England Under-20 international played up front on his own in the second half, a thankless task at the best of times.

In his first interview with West Brom’s media team, Morgan acknowledged that his time at Gillingham and Peterborough had taught him how to be robust and relentless, characteristics that overtook goals and assists when debutant Brayann Pereira was sent off after 34 minutes.

‘Just keep using your body, be stronger’

Morgan’s performance might have gone unheralded at the front of a rearguard action but the three free kicks he won while protecting the ball earned him the adulation of the travelling Baggies in the corner.

While the former Chelsea player’s ability to lead the line in difficult circumstances is surely a product of his practised robustness, Morgan’s manager is keen that his more recent work is recognised too.

“I think it’s the work he’s done in pre-season as well, and the confidence he’s getting from his performances,” Albion boss James Morrison tells FourFourTwo.

“We said at half time, he’s going to have to try to buy fouls by really using his body. We said, ‘Just keep using your body. Be stronger.’

“I felt like with [Morgan] up there, with his trickery, we might get ourselves up the pitch.”

The new signing certainly made his presence felt. In the first six games with his new club, Morgan is not only making Albion’s recruitment look good, but Chelsea’s decisions about his development too.

At 20, he has both a strong academy background and progress through the divisions already under his belt. That he’s taken the Championship in stride bodes well.

Liverpool winger Bradley Barcola started for the first time in the Reds' 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Barcola was on the pitch for all three goals as Liverpool came back from a goal down to win their opening match in the league phase of this season's Champions League.

After an hour, the France international received treatment and had to be substituted. He was replaced by fellow new signing Victor Munoz as part of a double change, and Andoni Iraola's men went on to bank the three points.

Is Bradley Barcola available to play against Fulham?

Liverpool return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon, when former Reds man Alvaro Arbeloa takes his Fulham team to Anfield in search of their first points of the season.

Asked about Barcola's status after the comeback victory over Atleti on Wednesday, Iraola shared the prognosis with reporters.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

"It is just cramp, there is no injury," confirmed the new Reds boss.

"With Bradley, it's about building his physical condition. We don't really know - or we didn't know until now, probably - how much he can play because he hasn't had any minutes in pre-season for PSG.

"He played 30 the other day [and] today we had some question marks, how many minutes he can give us and probably now we know."

Left-back Milos Kerkez was also substituted at the end of the Champions League opener. Iraola revealed that he was also suffering from cramp.

"I think I always want to do subs because of this, because you've given everything, you don't have any more, perfect," he said.

Liverpool now have a better understanding of Barcola's levels of match fitness but both he and Kerkez are expected to be available to play a part in Saturday's Premier League fixture against Fulham.

The Merseyside team are one of eight yet to be beaten in the Premier League in the first three games of the season. They beat Ipswich Town at Portman Road in their last league outing after back-to-back 2-2 draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.

Fulham have lost all three, including a pair of 3-2 losses against Chelsea and Crystal Palace. They led twice in their last match against the Eagles.

As recently as 2019, the lakeside club were playing in Serie D. Tonight, they make their debut in Europe's leading club competition at home to RB Leipzig.

Led by Cesc Fabregas, Como were underdogs when they entered Serie A in 2024 – Dennis Wise had been CEO, but left that summer.

With a population of 84,000, the city is home to the rich and famous, its picturesque location beside Lake Como drawing people from further afield. The football club was bought by Indonesia's Hartono family (net worth: more than £30bn) seven years ago.

A who's who

Thierry Henry invested in 2022, before Fabregas did the same, as he ended his playing days with the club in Serie B. The Spaniard stepped up as gaffer, guiding them into the top tier and to 10th in their first campaign, before a remarkable fourth-place finish last season.

Pepe Reina and Raphael Varane joined after promotion, with Alvaro Morata following last summer, but progress has been less about established stars and more about smart recruitment, such as young Argentine playmaker Nico Paz from Real Madrid, and Greek top scorer Anastasios Douvikas from Celta Vigo.

After such a fine job in his first stint as a manager, Fabregas has inevitably been linked with jobs elsewhere, but turned down Inter a year ago.

Como overtook Milan on the final day of last season to claim a top-four spot, making this the first time since the Champions League's rebrand that the competition will contain neither the Rossoneri nor Juventus.

There were doubts whether the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia would met UEFA requirements, and Como might have needed to play in Sassuolo (120 miles away) or Udine (200 miles). However, the club pulled off a 90-day construction miracle to achieve Category 4 approval following a rapid redevelopment.

Shakhtar Donetsk, who also entered the league stage, won't play at home for obvious reasons. They held talks about using Brentford's ground, with a fallback option in Germany, but have opted to play at Stamford Bridge.

Several shock champions started the summer in qualifying – Mjallby, from a fishing village of just 800 people, won their inaugural Swedish title, while FC Thun became Swiss kings for the first time. Levski Sofia ended the 14-year Bulgarian winning streak of Ludogorets, whose name is an anagram of ‘good result' – no longer quite so fitting. They fell short of the world record of 15 titles in a row, held by Vanuatu club Tafea.

None of the clubs mentioned above made the league phase proper, but Como are there.

A great manager can make a player. A team of great players can make a manager. Relationships are key in football and pairing the right player and manager is a powerful way to succeed. This FourFourTwo quiz will put you through your paces to find out how much you know about who managed who.

More importantly, we want to know who didn't manage who. It's a simple set-up. We'll name a player. You tell us which of the four listed managers never had the pleasure of their presence in the dressing room.

There are 10 players in all and we're giving you a punchy time limit of 4 minutes to pick the odd one out from the names associated, or not, with those players.

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FourFourTwo has a massive vault of football quizzes and they're all courtesy of Kwizly. If, and only if, you're looking for a serious challenge and have half an hour to spare, you can try to name every player ever to have scored a Premier League hat-trick.

We also want to know whether you can remember and name the first goalscorer of every Premier League season from the first in 1992-93 all the way up to the current 2026-27 campaign.

Lastly, can you name every team in the top two divisions of women's football in England and every top flight team in men's football in England since 1945?

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“He’s the reason”, Tottenham Hotspur fans once sang about Rodrigo Bentancur. In the 2021/22 season, particularly once Antonio Conte took over from Nuno Espirito Santo, the Uruguayan was instrumental in the middle of the park.

He forged a fine partnership with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and looked a world beater in north London. There was even an argument to be made that he was their most important player. Spurs wouldn’t have secured a Champions League finish without Bentancur in the side.

Disaster, though, struck in February 2023. Bentancur suffered an ACL injury at Leicester City. In the years since, Bentancur wasn’t the same player. A succession of spells on the sidelines owing to knee, ankle and hamstring issues hardly helped the Uruguay international.

Too safe

Nor did the Thomas Frank Reign of Pain. At one stage last season, the Dane’s favoured midfield pairing was Bentancur and Joao Palhinha at the base in the 4-2-3-1 formation. The axis of evil was resoundingly criticised, particularly at home when the north London side were accused of being too safe.

So, when Spurs spent £185m to bring Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Newcastle United and West Ham United, respectively, many felt Bentancur would be deemed surplus to requirements. At that point, the idea was that both Tonali and Fernandes would forge the deep-lying pairing in Roberto De Zerbi’s preferred 4-2-3-1 setup.

Yet, three games into the new Premier League season, Bentancur has started twice. He replaced Lucas Bergvall at the break in last month’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford, the Swede having struggled in the opening 45 minutes. He ranks fifth for total league minutes (225) at Spurs.

Admittedly, results haven’t gone in the club’s favour. They have collected just one point from meetings with the Bees, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, and are one of three teams yet to score a league goal in England’s top tier this season.

Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Forest, though, was a step in the right direction. Spurs looked more threatening going forward, and could have gone ahead in the first half had Omar Marmoush hit the target when one-on-one with Matz Sels.

What caught the eye, however, was Bentancur’s standout performance. The former Juventus midfielder was arguably Spurs’ best player at the City Ground, putting in the necessary nitty-gritty display that helped Spurs claim a first point of the season. They were far tougher to break down than they were in back-to-back defeats to Brentford and Newcastle.

Indeed, Bentancur made nine clearances, two interceptions and one tackle in the Midlands. He managed five ball recoveries, won six duels and four aerial duels. While Spurs splashed the cash to improve the squad in the off-season following their relegation scrap, it’s the 2022 £18m addition that continues to shine in a key area.

Conte identified Bentancur as a vital player when he took charge back in 2021, and De Zerbi has done similar following his appointment back in April. In time, De Zerbi may plump for a pairing of Tonali and Fernandes to help take Spurs forward. For the foreseeable future, however, Bentancur needs to be a starter at the base of the midfield.

Forget the £185m pairing, it’s Bentancur who De Zerbi should be building his midfield around. There’s a reason, after all, that Spurs were happy to - briefly - entertain bids for Lucas Bergvall and willing to sanction Pape Sarr’s Juventus switch. When it came to Bentancur, however, there was no chance he’d be shown the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium exit.

And with the welcome of a battling Everton side looming, De Zerbi needs to continue with Bentancur in a key position. The Toffees thrive in midfield duels and winning second balls, meaning Spurs have a battle on their hands against David Moyes’ men this weekend.

Saturday’s Forest stalemate proved that Bentancur is more than up for the challenge. It also showed just why De Zerbi will look to the experienced figurehead in the middle of the park in his first full campaign in the capital. Spurs are a far more cohesive unit when Bentancur starts. Despite the shiney new toys, he’ll start in midfield, and deservedly so.

Today's FourFourTwo Quickfire Quiz will find out whether you have elite football trivia chops and quick fingers. 10 questions. 90 seconds. Let's go.

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Transfer aficionado? Take the edge off the end of the all-important summer window by taking on this challenge to name Arsenal's 50 most expensive signings ever. The list might take you back further than you think.

We want to know whether you can answer 15 questions about the 2016-17 season in the Premier League and name every player to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League.

Let's expand our horizons. We also have this quiz that simply asks you to put some groups of clubs into the correct order based on the number of league titles they've won, from most to least.

If you happen to be off work for the next week or two, here's a mammoth quiz for you. Can you name every team to have ever played in the group stage, league phase or first round of the Champions League?

We have puzzles too. Our Weekend Crossword is a regular football teaser for your Sunday, and remember to sign up to the newsletter for more quizzes in your inbox. Don't forget to join The Club for free additional membership benefits!

The 45-year-old revealed on Rio Ferdinand Presents: The Debrief that he was recommended to watch Kylian Mbappe at youth level. Despite Giggs being impressed, Manchester United’s scouting team were reportedly not sold on the Frenchman.

The former Wales international told Ferdinand he was in the south of France in 2015, when a man named ‘Lionel’ approached him to discuss Mbappe.

Giggs claimed that the man had been following him, but listened to his suggestion for Manchester United to keep tabs on the Frenchman.

Giggs reveals how Manchester United were alerted to Mbappe and why they rejected him

Giggs explained that ‘Lionel’ asked for his email address, to send additional details regarding Mbappe after his initial recommendation for the then-Monaco youth team player.

He claimed that while initially hesitant, ‘Lionel’ followed through on his promise, and sent the Welshman an email with information on Mbappe.

“We got to go to a few youth games [where he played] with Monaco. We saw him and went ‘Wow’ - he looked exceptional, obviously,” revealed the ex-Manchester United man.

Giggs, who was coaching at Manchester United in 2015, then advised the scouting team to watch Mbappe in action.

“We told the scouting team, [so] someone went to watch him in Paris,” explained the Welshman. “It was actually Monaco versus PSG.

“Later, [someone] told me, ‘Yeah, they weren’t too sure about him.’” Giggs said. The 45-year-old then revealed additional recommendations from ‘Lionel’ in the years since.

“The same guy, in 2018, I went through my phone and he’s telling me about a player, U-14s but he’s playing with the Under-17s: Rayan Cherki,” the Welshman said, leaving Ferdinand stunned.

“Next message: ‘There’s a player at Saint-Etienne, [William] Saliba, I think he’d be a good player at Manchester United,'" continued Giggs.

The 45-year-old clarified that suggestions from ‘Lionel’ weren’t always “superstars” and that he had recommended other players below the calibre of Mbappe, Cherki and Saliba.

Head to the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel now to watch the full interview.

Sadio Mane was a great player. The phrasing here is deliberate — a world in which the Senegalese winger, little more than the Robin to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Batman in the Saudi Pro League, makes it to the Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist… is not a serious world.

Sure, Mane won the Africa Cup of Nations in January of this year. Well, he did, until Senegal’s trophy was seized and re-distributed to Morocco in a court ruling, months after the fact. Regardless, is that enough?

Does the Ballon d'Or really expect us to believe that an underwhelming World Cup, a 10-goal Saudi Pro League season, and a phantom AFCON victory, is enough for fans to accept his place, in 2026 no less, among the world’s top 30 players?

Ballon d'Or, how is Sadio Mane in your 30-player shortlist?!

Sure, Mane won AFCON's Player of the Tournament — that wasn’t taken from him. Well, he did, with two pea-roller assists in a Round of 16 clash versus Sudan (gifted to him by glorious efforts from Papa Gueye and Ibrahim Mbaye) and one brilliant strike against Egypt in the semi-final.

His claim to making the Ballon d’Or’s 30-man shortlist begins and ends there. The 34-year-old was named Player of the Tournament not because his play was undeniable, but because he is Sadio Mane.

It must be stressed, there are other players present in the Ballon D’or 30-player shortlist whose places are near equally undeserved. For example, Julian Quinones and Dayot Upemecano stand out as two such individuals that should be nowhere near France Football’s award.

But there’s something in Mane’s inclusion that feels particularly egregious: it speaks directly to the nonsensical criteria that is used to determine which players are nominated for, or even win, the award. For starters, what is the Ballon d’Or’s obsession with international trophies?

Why is it that international tournament winners— in this case, Mane with AFCON — are automatically more deserving of a place on the 30-man shortlist, or a higher finish in France Football’s rankings, than players who excelled at club level?

That was made clear in 2018, when Lionel Messi, with 48 goal involvements, and Mohamed Salah, with 60 contributions, finished fifth and sixth in France Football’s list respectively.

That was the year that Luka Modric somehow left with the Ballon d'Or in his clutches… because he’d received the Golden Ball in a World Cup tournament. Oh, and Antoine Griezmann managed to bag third.

‘Trophy logic’ is wildly inconsistent — as some of Messi’s staunchest critics have pointed out, he won the 2019 Ballon d’Or with nothing but a LaLiga title to his name, yet his solitary World Cup trophy, and a Ligue 1 title that PSG nearly always win, was enough to supersede a treble-winning Erling Haaland’s claim in 2023.

The same pattern reared its ugly head when Rodri took home the 2024 award, propelled, very clearly, by Spain’s European Championship victory — denying a treble-winning Vinicius Junior.

A year later? Winning the treble was now enough for PSG’s Ousmane Dembele. He departed with the award, despite Salah and Raphinha clearly having stronger individual seasons, and winning their respective leagues, in tougher conditions.

Salah broke the Premier League record for goal involvements, and won the most-competitive top-flight title in Europe, without a single team-mate of his making France Football’s 30-man shortlist.

Raphinha racked up a staggering 21 Champions League goal contributions in just 14 games, and contributed to three goals versus Inter Milan, while his team shipped seven goals in a 7-6 aggregate defeat.

Elsewhere, Dembele played merely 1,736 Ligue 1 minutes — the equivalent of just 19 games.

For a so-called individual award, it seems that a player’s individual season is actually accounted for last, club-level trophies in second, and international silverware in first. That is farcical.

Mane is the latest beneficiary of such silly criteria. A mediocre club-level season with Al-Nassr, bagging just 10 goals en-route to Saudi Pro League victory, an average World Cup in which Senegal embarrassingly fell to an historic Belgium comeback, all superseded by an AFCON trophy... that was later taken away from him.

And hey, at least he stood on the pitch against Morocco and begged his Senegalese team-mates to return after they stormed off. That gave him ‘fair play’ points, right, France Football?

Watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid for free as the Reds begin their Champions League 2026/27 campaign against the Spanish giants for the second successive season. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

UEFA's supercomputer pitted these clubs against each other in gameweek one this time last year, with the Reds edging out Atleti 3-2 courtesy of Virgil van Dijk's stoppage-time winner.

There is a new man in the home dugout at Anfield this time, though, with Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola set to take charge of his first game in this competition.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid in the Champions League online, on TV, and from anywhere, including for free.

Can I watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid for free?

Yes. Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid will be broadcast live on free-to-air RTÉ 2 and on RTÉ Player in Ireland, with English commentary.

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Watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid from anywhere

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How to watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid in the UK

Fans in the UK can watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

The game will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1, with kick-off at 8pm BST.

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How to watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid in the US

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How to watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid in Australia

Fans in Australia can watch Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid on Stan Sport.

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Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid: Preview

Liverpool fans could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu ahead of their Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid, but few will be complaining if this season's instalment is as thrilling as the previous edition.

That night, the Reds raced into a 2-0 lead inside six minutes before Marcos Llorente's double looked to have snatched a draw for Atleti, only for Virgil van Dijk to head home a stoppage-time winner.

It was also the evening in which Alexander Isak made his Liverpool debut and the striker will be raring to go here, having scored both goals in last Friday's 2-0 win at Ipswich Town in the Premier League.

This summer's mega-money signing was Bradley Barcola, who could be in line for his first start after making his Reds bow off the bench at Portman Road. Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola will be extra keen to make a winning start in the league phase, as he manages in a Champions League game for the first time.

SEE ALSO How to watch Champions League football

One big-money move that didn't happen this summer involved Atletico forward Julian Alvarez, who was heavily linked with both Arsenal and Barcelona during the transfer window but remains in the Spanish capital.

The former Manchester City star came off the bench in Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao in La Liga - the club's first game since the window closed - and manager Diego Simeone may be considering handing him a start at Anfield.

Other familiar faces in the Atleti squad include former Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero, who could make his full debut, and veteran skipper Koke. The 34-year-old will become the 28th player to reach 150 appearances in UEFA club competitions if he features against Liverpool.

The loss in Bilbao ended a strong start to the campaign for Simeone's men, who took seven points from their first three games and are aiming to better last season's run to the Champions League semi-finals.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Liverpool 2-2 Atletico Madrid

Both teams have been good at scoring goals but not so good at keeping them out so far this season, which could make for an entertaining contest.

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Watch Chelsea vs Leeds United in the Carabao Cup third round as former Bundesliga bosses meet in England for the first time. FourFourTwo bring you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Chelsea dropped points for the first time this season when they lost at Arsenal on Sunday. After Xabi Alonso's first defeat, the Blues will be eager to ensure safe passage to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Premier League rivals Leeds United head for Stamford Bridge knowing that a continuation of their unbeaten start would take them into the round of 16 of a competition they haven't won since 1968.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Chelsea vs Leeds United in the Carabao Cup third round online and from anywhere.

Watch Chelsea vs Leeds United from anywhere

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How to watch Chelsea vs Leeds United in the UK

Chelsea vs Leeds United will be live on Sky Sports, with coverage on Sky Sports Main Event.

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The third-round clash will be live on beIN SPORTS 3 and the beIN SPORTS Connect streaming platform. Kick-off is at 5:00am AEST on Thursday.

SEE ALSO How to watch Carabao Cup 2026/27: TV Guide, Free Streams & Fixtures — Round 3

Match Preview

Leeds cruised into the third round courtesy of a second round win at Nottingham Forest, with both Dan James and James Justin still ending the night with fewer goals than first names.

Chelsea were handed a home tie against League One side Luton Town and they too won 2-0. Danny Welbeck grabbed his first Chelsea goal in the process to help set up an enticing encounter with the West Yorkshire side.

Leeds have won once and drawn twice in the Premier League this season. After playing three of their four matches across two competitions away from home, manager Daniel Farke can take encouragement that they can be a robust proposition on the road.

The last time they won at Stamford Bridge was in December 1999, when a Stephen McPhail double either side of Frank Leboeuf's red card bolstered their interests at the top of the Premier League table.

League Cup history is weighted very much in favour of Chelsea. They won at Elland Road in 2001 and 2012, and drew there before winning a replay in 1969-70. They met again in the FA Cup final that season.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Chelsea 2-1 Leeds United

Chelsea couldn't overcome the Premier League champions but their depth should give them an advantage in the EFL Cup.

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Lionel Messi is set to expand his football ownership portfolio, with the 39-year-old having agreed to buy Spanish second-division side Eldense.

The Argentine also acquired fifth-division club UE Cornella shortly before the 2026 World Cup. Now, Messi is set to purchase a 100% stake in Eldense - which will see him clash with Cristiano Ronaldo.

There is not expected to be a conflict of interest between both Messi's teams, with Eldense and LaLiga2 separated from Cornella by three divisions. However, Eldense will face off against a Ronaldo-owned club.

Messi and Ronaldo-owned clubs to battle in LaLiga2

Messi’s Portuguese rival recently acquired a 25% stake in fellow Spanish second-division side Almeria - a Saudi-owned club that Ronaldo was able to partially opt into.

In early August, the 41-year-old watched as Almeria beat his current team Al-Nassr 2-0 in a pre-season friendly. Soon, he’ll watch them take on Eldense.

With the announcement of Almeria’s new ownership, Ronaldo said: "It has been a long-held ambition of mine to contribute to football, beyond the pitch.

"UD Almeria is a Spanish club with strong foundations and clear potential for growth,” he concluded. His side are currently placed 12th in the LaLiga2 table.

Eldense are in the drop zone, having taken just two points from their opening four matches. To begin the Spanish second-division season, Messi’s new club travelled to Almeria, and lost 3-0.