Celtic geared up for their midweek Champions League trip to Atletico Madrid by moving eight points clear at the top of the cinch Premiership with a 3-0 win at 10-man Ross County.
The hosts were up against it following an early red card for James Brown, but – inspired by a brilliant display from goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw – they stood firm until David Turnbull made the breakthrough for the Hoops in first-half stoppage time.
Second-half goals from substitutes Luis Palma and James Forrest allowed the leaders to see the match out in comfortable fashion ahead of their Tuesday night showdown with Atleti in the Spanish capital.
County – back at home following a run of three successive away draws – made three alterations to the side that drew 2-2 at Hibernian in midweek as Ben Purrington, Kyle Turner and Eamonn Brophy were replaced by George Harmon, Yan Dhanda and Jordan White.
Amid a hectic fixture schedule, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers opted to freshen up his squad by making six changes to the side that defeated St Mirren 2-1 on Wednesday as Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley, Alistair Johnson, Nat Phillips, Palma and Forrest dropped out to make way for Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Paulo Bernardo, Hyunjun Yang, Hyeongyu Oh and Daizen Maeda.
The Hoops had the ball in the net after five minutes when Liam Scales fired home from close range but it was swiftly ruled out after Oh was deemed to have pushed White in the build-up.
Celtic were the beneficiaries of a decision from the officials shortly afterwards, however, when Brown was sent off for catching Yang’s ankle with his studs while trying to halt the South Korean as he burst in from the left. The Staggies right-back was initially shown a yellow card but it was upgraded to a red following a VAR intervention.
County boss Malky Mackay, in a bid to bring fresh defensive reinforcement to his depleted team, responded by sending on Will Nightingale in place of striker White.
Despite being a man down, County competed manfully for the remainder of the first half although their goalkeeper was a busy man.
Laidlaw got down brilliantly to tip a 20-yard strike from Callum McGregor behind in the 21st minute. From the resulting corner, taken by Turnbull, Oh glanced his header over the bar.
Laidlaw made another fine save in the 28th minute when he clawed out a Scales header from Turnbull’s corner.
Celtic thought they had the breakthrough in the 31st minute when Oh forced in from close range following a Maeda cross from the right. However, after a VAR check, Maeda was deemed to have been offside as he ran on to a pass from Bernardo.
Laidlaw made an excellent point-blank save to keep out Bernardo in the 38th minute and the County keeper looked on course to end an inspired first half with what would have been a deserved clean sheet when he pushed away a Turnbull shot from just outside the box.
However, the Celtic midfielder eventually beat the defiant County keeper with another low strike from outside the box.
That late hammer blow might have been the signal for the floodgates to open early on in the second half but County and Laidlaw in particular continued to put up admirable resistance.
Five minutes after the restart, Oh was denied by Laidlaw from a tight angle before Bernardo curled a free-kick just over.
Laidlaw then made a superb double save to thwart substitute Furuhashi and Yang in quick succession, and his heroics continued as he threw himself high to his left to tip away a goalbound effort from Oh in the 77th minute.
But Laidlaw was helpless a minute later when substitute Palma looped a stunning strike from 30 yards into the top corner.
Palma then turned provider in the 84th minute as his cross from the left was nodded in at the back post by fellow replacement Forrest.
Laidlaw pulled off another double save in stoppage time to halt Furuhashi and Oh, but the damage was already done.
Cheltenham Festival heroine You Wear It Well made a successful reappearance with an all-the-way victory in the bet365 Mares’ Hurdle at Wetherby.
Jamie Snowden’s charge won four of her six starts last term, including the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park in March. She also finished second in the Grade One Challow Hurdle at Newbury.
The six-year-old was a 2-1 shot for her comeback in Listed company, with Nicky Henderson’s Luccia the favourite at 11-8, and it turned into a straight shootout between the pair in the home straight.
Luccia was travelling better at one stage, but You Wear It Well refused to bend in front, digging deep for Gavin Sheehan to claim top honours by three lengths.
“It’s very special. She had a penalty for those Grade Two wins last season, so to do that with that penalty is great first time out,” said Snowden.
“She’s big and strong and she’s a legend. Gav gave her a wonderful ride. She’s quite feisty and takes a bit of riding, so fair play to the whole team.
“We were probably a little bit keen and a little bit fresh early on, but she’s jumped great bar the last and picked up well and galloped to the line.”
Paddy Power, Betfair and Coral all cut You Wear It Well to 8-1 to claim a second Festival win in the Mares’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park next March and she looks set to be kept against her own sex in the meantime.
“We were thinking about going chasing with her this year, but the mares’ hurdle programme is a lot better than the mares’ chase programme,” Snowden added.
“We’re quite keen to stay in mares’ company, so you’ve got the Sandown race, the Warwick race and then Cheltenham in March. That looks the obvious thing to do, but we’ll take it step by step.”
Sheehan was earlier in the winner’s enclosure aboard Kim Bailey’s The Edgar Wallace (9-2), who jumped his rivals into submission in the Bet Boost At bet365 Handicap Chase.
Making his first competitive appearance since February, the eight-year-old was slick over his fences throughout and proved two lengths too strong for the gallant William Cody.
Bailey’s assistant, Matthew Nicholls, said: “He jumped class and galloped well. Gav hasn’t ridden much for us, but he’s given him a lovely ride.
“He had a few issues last year that we’ve fiddled with and if that worked then he was a very well handicapped horse. We came here hopeful because he’d been showing us an awful lot at home, but until they go and do it you never know.
“He’s back on track and he probably doesn’t want an awful lot of racing as he puts a lot into it.”
Cherie D’Am maintained her unbeaten record in the 6 Horses Challenge At bet365 Novices’ Hurdle.
A point-to-point winner at Hexham 12 months ago, the Great Pretender mare made a successful debut under rules for Dan Skelton in a Uttoxeter bumper in the spring.
The five-year-old was the 6-5 favourite to beat the boys on her seasonal reappearance and hurdling bow – and having been given a patient ride by the trainer’s brother Harry Skelton, she cruised into contention before pulling five lengths clear of Wild Side Of Life.
“That was lovely. A lot of ours have been needing a run and it’s not for any other reason than usually at this time of year the ground is good to soft and that’s how fit we’ve got them – we’ve got them good to soft fit,” said the winning trainer.
“Of course, the more days that go by and the more pieces of work you get into them, they will get a little bit fitter for this type of ground.
“She’s obviously a very, very talented mare. When we bought her after her point-to-point we thought she looked pretty smart and then we loved her after her bumper.
“She’s going the right way. I probably don’t want to go too deep too soon, so we might give her one more run and then go up in grade.
“I’m not afraid to run her in a slightly better race, but I’m not going to go for the Challow Hurdle on her next run.”
England scored 11 tries in a ruthless 60-0 victory over Wales at Headingley.
Amy Hardcastle opened England’s account with two tries before further scores from Shona Hoyle and Caitlin Beevers seemingly put England out of sight at the half-time break.
England showed no mercy in the second period, rushing over the whitewash seven more times courtesy of a Tara-Jane Stanley double alongside contributions from Lacey Owen, Georgia Roche, Tamzin Renouf, Keara Bennett and Emily Rudge.
England took the lead in the eighth minute. After the hooter sounded for a repeat set, the hosts threw the ball right to left and Hardcastle was waiting on the left edge before she flew over the whitewash, with Stanley’s kick making it 6-0.
England had the lead but looked to grow further into the contest and had a second just under 10 minutes later as Roche sent Hardcastle over for her second of the afternoon.
The home side threatened to take the game away from Wales just 24 minutes into the contest and after some neat work from Tara Jones and Jodie Cunningham, the ball landed in the hands of Hoyle who bundled over beneath the sticks to make it 16-0.
Wales attacks were few and far between in the first period but after Vicky Molyneux, in her final game before international retirement, was sin-binned they had a chance to open their account five minutes before the break – only for Georgia Taylor to knock on with the try line at her mercy.
England made Wales pay for their missed chance with another try on the hooter as Hardcastle broke away with a length-of-the-pitch run before she was brought down just before the line by Leanne Burnell, only for Beevers to dive over in the next play to put them 20-0 up heading into the interval.
The second half started in the same fashion with England dominant, and they opened their account for the half just five minutes after the interval when Stanley proved too strong for the Welsh defence.
England had 30 on the board with half an hour still to play when Owen crashed over on her debut appearance.
Five minutes later, England added another when NRL star Roche weaved her way through the Welsh defence single-handed and touched down to help make it 36-0.
England seemed to put points on the board every time they came forward and Stanley yet again picked holes in the Wales line before she crashed over and added the extras.
Renouf was next to get in on the act as she easily ran over and Stanley’s kicking proved to be excellent, landing her sixth conversion, this time from the touchline.
Bennett added another before Rudge scored England’s final try of the afternoon under the posts to cap off a dominant display.
Orne made every yard of the running to win the rescheduled Betfred Horris Hill Stakes at Newmarket.
Saved over from an abandoned Newbury card, the Group Three event looked wide open on paper and so it proved in the race.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained Orne had made a winning debut at Kempton and was not totally disgraced when upped in class for the Group Three Autumn Stakes.
The winner of that contest, Ancient Wisdom, subsequently came out and won the Group One Futurity Trophy, so the form looked strong, but Orne was still sent off at 10-1.
He proved difficult to settle in the early stages for Robert Havlin but once he did drop the bit, he was allowed an easy lead.
Going into the dip, Havlin stole another length and, despite drifting close home, held off Witness Stand by a length and a quarter.
“It wasn’t the plan to make the running. He went last in, but he was first out. Normally he doesn’t do a stroke when he is in front. I went on a fresh bit of ground, and he found a rhythm,” said Havlin.
“Just towards the end, he got a little bit lonely and ducked left, but he has done it well in the end.
“It wasn’t the plan to go on the far side as I wanted to drop in and get a lead and get there late. When I ended up in front, I could see there was fresh ground there so I thought I might as well go there.
“He didn’t stay the mile in the Autumn Stakes. He travelled good and he handled the ground, but he just didn’t stay. He could get quicker this horse over the winter. “
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri is happy for Juventus to continue their progress under the radar.
The Turin club are firmly in the Serie A title hunt after a strong start to the season as they bid to make a return to European qualification, having been excluded from this year’s Europa Conference League over breaches of UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
Juventus travel to Fiorentina on Sunday night bidding for a fourth straight win and Allegri is pleased with their progress.
“We must work on our weaknesses and become rock solid,” Allegri told his pre-match press conference.
“We’re on the right track but we’ve only played 10 games and that’s not enough to achieve our goal of qualifying for next year’s Champions League.
“As I said, the important thing is working hard to grow and improve to become a rock-solid team. We need to be more precise and efficient in front of goal as well as improving our defence because things can go wrong very quickly in football.
“It takes balance. We have to remain solid throughout the season because we’ve got a goal to achieve.
“Low profile, less talk and more graft.”
After an impressive start to the campaign, Fiorentina’s form has tailed off a touch having lost their last two matches without scoring.
But Allegri is wary of the threat posed by the hosts, with Nicolas Gonzalez a particular challenge to Juventus having scored five goals in nine matches.
“It’s a big game tomorrow because there’s always been great rivalry between Juve and Fiorentina,” Allegri added.
“They’re an excellent side even though they’re coming in off the back of two league defeats. They like to attack and play good football.
“We’re going to need a big performance if we want to come away with a good result. I consider Fiorentina one of the best-equipped teams of the season because they have lots of great players both technically and physically.
“They will be fighting for a place in the top four. This year Fiorentina have got a great squad.
“They have a striker like Nico Gonzalez, two centre-forwards with Christian Kouame on the left and Giacomo Bonaventura who’s doing big things. Arthur has also recovered from injury and is doing well.”
Former Everton striker Moise Kean has yet to score this season in nine appearances for Juventus and Italy but Allegri praised the 23-year-old’s growth and told all his attackers that they need to contribute.
“Kean is in a great place. He’s grown both physically and technically and his mentality has improved no end. I’m happy with him but he must keep improving,” Allegri added.
“All five of our forwards are in good form. (Federico) Chiesa and (Dusan) Vlahovic know they need to contribute to the good of the team, just like the rest of the group because everyone is important.”
England were chasing 287 against Ashes rivals Australia in Ahmedabad as they attempted to salvage some pride to their listless World Cup campaign.
Chris Woakes, player of the series after a starring role in this summer’s Test series between the sides, turned in another impressive showing as Australia were bowled out for 286 in the final over.
Woakes topped and tailed the innings, dismissing the dangerous opening pair of Travis Head and David Warner with the new ball and returning to take the last two wickets at the death.
He finished with four for 54, while Adil Rashid’s leg-spin locked down the middle overs in clinical style as he picked up two for 38 from his 10.
But an England side who started the day bottom of the table after five losses from six will be painfully aware that nothing can be taken for granted, having been rolled over for 215 or less by Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India in the last three weeks.
Having gone in unchanged for the third game in a row, keeping Harry Brook benched despite the repeated struggles of the top six, they will need a sharp upturn in productivity from their batters.
Australia were lacking the fire-power of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell, the former having flown home for personal reasons and the latter concussed after falling from a golf cart, and although their power-hitting was conspicuously absent they did not fold.
Steve Smith (44) and Marnus Labuschagne (71) channelled their less explosive methods to rebuild after Woakes’ early inroads and Cameron Green chipped in a handy 47 on his return to the XI.
Australia kept wickets in hand for long periods but never quite used their foundation, losing five for 66 in the final 10 overs.
England were back at the site of their first match in a dreadful campaign which was branded “crap” in a blunt assessment by Ben Stokes on the eve of this match.
They made 282 for nine and after batting first against New Zealand in the curtain-raiser at the Narendra Modi Stadium only to watch the Black Caps knock off a nine-wicket win with minimal fuss.
They will now be hoping to produce a successful pursuit of their own.
Marcus Rashford was not included in Manchester United’s squad for the game at Fulham.
The England striker was forced to apologise to United boss Erik ten Hag after attending a nightclub party following last weekend’s embarrassing derby defeat to Manchester City.
But Rashford was missing at Craven Cottage due to injury after taking a “heavy knock” in training.
Reports emerged the day after the City match that the England international, who turned 26 on Tuesday, had gone to the Chinawhite nightclub for a pre-arranged birthday party hours after the Old Trafford loss.
“Yes, I am aware of it,” manager Ten Hag said of Rashford’s post-derby night out.
“I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable, I told him, he apologised and that’s it. For the rest it’s an internal matter.
“He’s very motivated to put things right. So, he makes a mistake, but that doesn’t say he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know.”
Following the team announcement at Craven Cottage, Ten Hag told MUTV: “(Rashford) is OK, but not OK to start. He is not fit enough to start but it is about players who are available.
“(Alejandro) Garnacho can do the job very well, we have seen that often so I am confident.”
The VirginBet November Handicap will now be run at Newcastle next Saturday after Doncaster’s final Flat meeting of the year was switched to the all-weather track.
Town Moor is currently unraceable due to waterlogging and, with no significant chance of improvement, approval has been given to transfer the card to the North-East venue.
Arena Racing Company’s Mark Spincer said: “The VirginBet November Handicap is a really popular fixture at the end of the turf season in Britain.
“It is a huge shame to lose the fixture at Doncaster, but there is simply no chance that the track will be in a position to be fit for racing in time.
“Doncaster raced on very heavy ground at the Kameko Futurity meeting just over a week ago, and we have seen significant rainfall since then, with anywhere between 25mm and 50mm more forecast through the coming week.
“We appreciate the impact on those looking for a final opportunity on the turf before the season comes to a close, but the track will simply not be ready in time.
“We would like to thank our colleagues at BHA, as well as sponsors VirginBet and the European Breeders Fund and to ITV and Sky Sports Racing for facilitating this move.”
Willie Mullins-trained duo Vauban and Absurde have fared well in the Lexus Melbourne Cup draw, being allotted stalls three and eight respectively.
Vauban is a firm favourite to win the race that stops a nation at Flemington on Tuesday after this season adding some impressive Flat form to his high-class hurdling exploits.
The five-year-old romped home by seven and a half lengths in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot before winning the Group Three Ballyroan Stakes at Naas.
Absurde was runner-up to his stablemate at Ascot and has since claimed victory in the Ebor at York.
Mullins finished second in Australia’s biggest race back in 2015 with Max Dynamite and believes he has the ammunition to go one better this time.
Ryan Moore is set to partner Vauban and Mullins said: “I think he’s as good as Max Dynamite and maybe better, we’ll find out that on Tuesday.
“It’s our strongest chance ever, it probably will be my strongest chance ever.
“We wouldn’t want to forget Absurde either, he did it very well with Frankie (Dettori) in the Ebor, Frankie gave him a terrific ride there.
“He has quarantined very well, and I think he’s in great shape.”
Zac Purton has been booked to ride Absurde and Mullins feels he has improved since clashing with Vauban at the Royal meeting.
“I think it’s going to be a different race and I think Absurde is going to be a different horse as well,” added the Irish trainer on racing.com.
“He’s learned to settle a good bit more and now that he’s got a nice draw, I think he’ll be able to put him where he wants him and that’ll make a huge difference.
“There was probably 20 lengths between them passing the winning post the first time around at Royal Ascot, there won’t be that here, I hope.”
Joseph O’Brien has already sent down two previous winners in Rekindling and Twilight Payment and this time relies on Okita Soushi.
He was also a Royal Ascot scorer in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes but struggled in the Caulfield Cup last time out and is an outsider here after being drawn out wide in stall 20.
Defending champion Gold Trip will line up alongside Vauban in stall two, former William Haggas inmate Soulcombe is in four and Caulfield Cup hero Without A Fight, previously trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, has drawn 16.
Sarina Wiegman has revealed her sister told her to win the European Championship with England prior to her death from cancer just before the tournament.
The Lionesses boss took time out from the preparations last summer to be at home in the Netherlands with Diana.
Following the final triumph over Germany, Wiegman kissed a bracelet that had belonged to her older sibling.
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She told The Times: “(It was) the saddest moment of my life – she was my best friend. In the Euros you park it. And afterwards, then you get hit a little bit.
“She had told me to seize this prize, and I had just done so. I was still calm, not emotional. The only thing I felt was a deep connection with my sister.
“She said ‘I’ll sit by the post or on the crossbar. I will help a little bit.’ So she was there all the time. It’s still very fresh. The missing part is just a big gap now.”
Diana was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the summer of 2021 and died three weeks before the start of Euro 2022.
“We celebrated life every day,” said Wiegman. “It was so quick, but it was very special too. We had moments to treasure together.”
Wiegman’s success with England, including a run to the World Cup final this summer, has led to speculation she could succeed Gareth Southgate as head coach of the men’s team.
She said of the prospect: “Would women be capable of coaching men? Of course. But I don’t have a goal that I want to coach men.
“(As England men’s boss) every step you take, you’re being watched and you’re being valued and judged, and I sometimes wonder: how much fun is that?”
She also praised the Football Association for its support of the women’s game despite her salary reportedly being only a fraction of that earned by Southgate.
“I’m very happy with how they treat me, how they make everything possible to perform at the highest level, and how also they’re working with the team to get that equal pay,” she said.
“I’m happy in my situation and I feel treated very equally. And I never make my choices based on money, or I would never have started coaching.”
Lawrence Shankland declared Sunday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final showdown with Rangers a “win at all costs” encounter as he looked forward to his first trip to Hampden with Hearts.
The Jambos skipper began his senior career playing regularly at the national stadium when he spent time on loan at Queen’s Park more than a decade ago, while he has also represented Scotland there.
The 28-year-old’s only experience of a big cup match at Hampden came when he played in Dundee United’s 2-0 defeat to Hibernian in the 2021 Scottish Cup semi-final – a result that still irks him.
Shankland is hoping his previous experiences at the famous old ground in Glasgow’s southside can help him reach the first major final of his career this weekend.
“It will be great to lead the team out at Hampden, I’m really looking forward to that part and hopefully we can get ourselves to a final,” he said.
“Last time I was at Hampden I was at Dundee United and we lost in a semi-final and that still annoys me. It’s my first experience going with Hearts and it’s one I’m looking forward to.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play there quite a lot in my career with Scotland and at club level as well so it’s a stadium I’m used to. Quite a lot of the boys have got the experience before of being at Hampden so hopefully we can use that on the day.”
Asked to sum up what is required from Hearts on Sunday, Shankland said: “Win at all costs. That’s it for us. The task is simple. It’s a big occasion at the national stadium and it’s just all about winning.”
Hearts face Rangers a week after they almost beat them in the cinch Premiership. The Jambos led 1-0 for most of the match and looked on course for a rare Ibrox victory before conceding two late goals to lose 2-1. Shankland believes that experience will stand them in good stead for Sunday.
“We’re coming off the back of a good performance at Ibrox last weekend, albeit the last 10 minutes didn’t go to plan,” he said. “Apart from that it was really good and we can take the positives from that into this game. There was a lot to be happy with.
“Obviously the mistakes we made at the end were probably a reminder of how much you need to concentrate against teams as dangerous as Rangers.
“It takes full concentration for every minute you’re on the pitch so we can use last week as a reminder and make sure it’s in our heads at all points in the match.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his “smart” players understand and embrace the increased competition for places up front.
The five forwards he has at his disposal have contributed 30 goals so far this season but only Mohamed Salah, who has 10, is a guaranteed starter every week.
Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz -unavailable for the last two matches due to his father’s kidnapping in Colombia – have all made an impact when they have been selected and despite Klopp’s rotation they all appear to gel well together.
“The boys are all smart. The good thing is we have really only smart players, that means they understand they cannot play all the games,” he said.
“It’s not, ‘I want to play Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday.’ That’s just not possible but everybody sees (it that way) as well.
“That’s how a smart footballer should think and our boys do that: ‘If I can’t play then it’s better we have another really good player who can play the position’. That’s exactly how I see it.
“It’s only four (because of Diaz’s absence) all of a sudden but there are a lot of games still coming if you see the schedule – after the international break it turns completely crazy – so in that time we have to be ready.
“If you want to play a successful season and not only have successful spells, you need the boys through all these different phases.
“We have to get through this and with not a lot of injuries (and then) we have really the joys but if not the boys have just to fight through it.
“For the moment it’s OK, but we need it like this for pretty much the rest of the season, to be honest.”
Of all their front five Cody Gakpo is probably the unsung hero.
The Netherlands international has scored on his last four starts, netting the first goal in three of those, but has been the player sacrificed the most to accommodate holes in the squad as he started the campaign in midfield.
“If we have everybody available it was never the plan to put Cody there but it was for him something new after (playing) the false nine last year,” added Klopp.
“But he’s a super-smart player so he can adapt to that and we want him to adapt.
“He’s just a versatile striker, he can play everywhere up front there. For us it’s super-important. He arrives in the box, he is a good shooter, he has a good nose for the situation.
“How I said, the boys up front all like each other, there’s not this battle of ‘Will I start?’ They know they can all play together.”
Liverpool head to Luton on Sunday looking for their first clean sheet away from Anfield in any competition this season but are on six-match unbeaten run, winning the last four.
As it stands they are in a four-way race for the title but Klopp is keen not to get too excited about how well they have started.
“It’s so early. I’m so happy that we have a really good team together but look at the other teams, they are really good as well,” he said.
“A lot of really good teams are out there and it’s the Premier League so it’s not about celebrating the moment and being relieved that we kind of can play football again.
“No, it’s really about digging into the season, use the full potential of this group, get everything out of it and then let’s see.”
Dundee boss Tony Docherty will take little heed of Livingston’s poor form ahead of their cinch Premiership clash on Sunday.
The Lions have won only one of their last nine games in all competitions and went down 2-0 to the Dark Blues in West Lothian last week, before a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Hearts on Wednesday night.
On the same evening, Dundee lost 5-0 at home to Rangers and their first defeat in five games left them ninth in the table, one point ahead of second-bottom Livi.
Docherty acknowledged the clash on Tayside will take place on grass rather than an artificial surface but also how difficult David Martindale’s side normally make it for their opponents.
He said: “I watched a game against Hearts and they were all-out, full of energy and it was a typical Livingston performance, a really strong performance where they were coming out fighting.
“So I wouldn’t look at form, I look at performances and I’m sure their manager will be buoyed by the way they approached that game, and I expect no less from a Livingston team coming here.
“They’ll be hard-working and difficult to play against as they always are. And we know as a team how tough that challenge is going to be but hopefully we’re ready for it.
“Last week we trained on Astroturf because we were going into a game on an artificial surface, this week we trained on grass because it’s a game on grass.
“So that’s the main difference in preparation but everything else – we do the same for every opponent.
“We obviously analyse their games and we make sure that as a squad we look at strengths, weaknesses and we analyse our team so the preparation is very much the same game-by-game but the only difference is the surface we train on.”
Ange Postecoglou has sent a warning to the rest of the Premier League by claiming Tottenham captain Son Heung-min can be even more of a goal threat.
Son has enjoyed a superb start to the campaign, scoring eight times to sit joint-second in the goalscoring charts behind Manchester City forward Erling Haaland.
Last season proved challenging for Son with the South Korea forward only able to net 10 goals in the Premier League, but two years ago he won the division’s golden boot along with Liverpool’s Mohamad Salah and the 31-year-old has been backed to be in the race again.
Postecoglou initially played Richarlison in the middle of his front three, but switched Son into a central position against Burnley and it has helped the Spurs ace quickly move his overall Premier League tally onto 111 goals.
“It was quite obvious with Harry (Kane) leaving there was a couple of ways we could go about it,” Postecoglou reflected ahead of Monday’s visit of Chelsea.
“I don’t think you can replace Harry like-for-like. Another one of him doesn’t exist so for me to think let’s jump into the transfer market and bring in someone who can score 25 to 30 goals in the first year, I don’t think was realistic.
“What I did know about Sonny having followed him for a long time is he is a great finisher, a smart footballer, has great movement and a real capacity for working, pressing, the stuff I love my strikers to do.
“So, I just thought he would be a really good fit for us and it wasn’t the only option I was looking at, but it was definitely the one I thought would be the best fit for where we are as a team and what we needed.
“Even with him, I think the more he plays in there, the better he will get in terms of really being a goal threat in every game. For us it’s a massive asset to have.”
After Son fired blanks from his previously regular left forward role against Brentford, Manchester United and Bournemouth, he has netted eight goals in seven league fixtures as a central striker.
The long-serving Spurs player is no stranger to the role with Maurico Pochettino, who will return to Tottenham on Monday for the first time since his departure, deploying the attacker there whenever Kane was absent.
Son performed strongly as a centre forward during Spurs’ run to the Champions League final in 2019 with three goals in the quarter-finals against Man City, but ex-Australia boss Postecoglou did not use that as evidence when he first broached the idea of changing his position.
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He pointed out: “Sonny scored against me in the Asian Cup in 2015, mate. That was enough.
“I saw enough then to know he is a decent goalscorer, so I didn’t need any more evidence.
“I have followed him for a very long time and what you are looking for in attacking players is are they a goal threat? And he’s always been a goal threat and a good finisher.”
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