Manchester United need to make more than "minor amendments" to fix the glaring issues at the club, according to Ralf Rangnick.

United were thrashed 4-0 by old foes Liverpool on Tuesday, and face a huge game in their hopes of securing Champions League football when they take on Arsenal on Saturday.

The match in north London comes two days after United officially confirmed Erik ten Hag as their new boss, though the Ajax coach will not join until the end of the season.

It leaves interim manager Rangnick with five games to salvage a top-four finish from another underwhelming season.

Rangnick is unsure if he will be staying on in a consultancy role at Old Trafford, but he believes the problems at the club are obvious.

"You don't even need glasses to see and analyse where the problems are," Rangnick told a news conference. 

"Now it's about how do we solve them? It's not enough to do some minor amendments or cosmetic things.

"In medicine, you would say that this is an operation of the open heart.

"If this happens and everyone has realised that this has to happen and if people want to work together then it makes sense and I believe it doesn't take two or three years to change those things. This can happen within one year."

Rangnick hinted that Ten Hag, however, will need assistance in enacting these changes if they are to be successful.

"For sure [strong leadership is needed]. This is something that not just one single person as a manager can do," he continued.

"With all respect to [Liverpool manager] Jurgen [Klopp] and [Manchester City boss] Pep [Guardiola], I'm sure that they didn't do all the things themselves.

"There were also other people involved in those two clubs, people in certain positions, no matter what area it was, in order to rebuild and build something we want to build here. In all areas you have to have top people and they have to work together in a very close, reliable way."

Asked if he wanted to stay on at United, Rangnick replied: "I still see where we could develop.

"We have perfect training conditions, a great stadium, massive fan support, probably the best I’ve ever experienced apart from Schalke. Of course I would want to be part of the process that has to happen."

Jay Haas is on the verge of becoming the oldest player to ever make the cut of a PGA Tour event, at 68 years old.

Haas is competing in a duo with his son, Bill Haas, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, with the pair shooting 65 in the first-round four-ball, and backing it up with 66 in the second round's alternate shot format to finish Friday on eight under par.

At the time of finishing their round, eight under was the projected cut line.

They were sitting pretty at 10 under after birdieing the 11th hole – their fourth birdie with one bogey up to that point – but further bogeys on 14 and 17 forced a clutch par putt on 18 to hold on.

Carlos Alcaraz produced some supreme tennis as he overcame world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open.

Having already played earlier on Friday, defeating compatriot Jaume Munar 6-3 6-3, 18-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz went the distance against Monte Carlo champion Tsitsipas.

Showing his proficiency on clay, Alcaraz triumphed 6-4 5-7 6-2 to set up a semi-final against Alex de Minaur, who prevailed 6-3 5-7 6-1 over Cameron Norrie.

Alcaraz, the fifth seed, was in excellent form against the top seed and last year's runner-up, and cruised ahead in a dominant first set, striking 14 winners to Tsitsipas' five.

Indeed, Tsitsipas – who had beaten Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets earlier in the day – could not hide his frustration when he smashed the ball hard Alcaraz's way to give up the set, much to the anger of a partisan crowd.

Alcaraz seemed en route to having things wrapped up quickly as he followed up a supreme backhand winner with a sensational drop shot, yet from 4-1 down, Tsitsipas reeled off four straight games to nudge himself ahead, breaking to take the set.

That comeback took just too much out of Tsitsipas, though, with Alcaraz roaring into a 4-0 lead in the decider and, after fending off two breakpoints, sealed his biggest win so far at the first time of asking to reach a fourth semi-final of 2022.

Alcaraz has won all three of his meetings with the Greek and will break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings next week, becoming the youngest player to do so since Spanish great Rafael Nadal in 2005, following his first title in Barcelona.

Indeed, he will be the ninth youngest player overall to make the top 10 and the 20th teenager to do so, though the first since Andy Murray in 2007.

"Probably my biggest win on clay court. It was unbelievable," said Alcaraz. 

"Unbelievable game that I played, unbelievable atmosphere that I lived today on court. It was unbelievable everything. The atmosphere here, the crowd, the level that I played, the level of the match. It was incredible.

"I'm playing an incredible level. And I think that I'm ready to get the title."

Vying for a place in the final in the other semi will be Diego Schwartzman and Pablo Carreno Busta, who both produced remarkable turnarounds in their quarter-final matches.

Schwartzman came back to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6 6-2 6-3, following on from an earlier win over Lorenzo Musetti. 

Carreno Busta, meanwhile, toppled Casper Ruud 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-3, though only after saving three match points in the second set in a victory that took three hours.

At the Serbia Open, second seed Andrey Rublev defeated qualifier Taro Daniel 6-3 6-3 to progress to the semi-finals.

In windy conditions in Belgrade, Rublev had little trouble in securing a 74-minute win, teeing up a clash with Fabio Fognini and moving to 21-5 for the season.

Rublev has met the Italian on nine occasions previously, losing five times and winning on four occasions.

"It's going to be tough. Fabi, he's super talented, he can play amazing and it's going to be a tough match with a lot of long rallies, so I just need to do my best and we will see what happens," said Rublev.

Fognini made light work of defeating Oscar Otte 7-5 6-4.

Robert Williams is hoping to play some part in Game 3 of the Boston Celtics' playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, according to reports.

The center has been one of the standout players for Boston this season, but has not played since 27 March after undergoing knee surgery.

However, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday that Williams intends to play "limited minutes" at the Barclays Center, with the Celtics 2-0 up in the series.

The 24-year-old was second in the league during the regular season for blocked shots per game (2.20), behind only Jaren Jackson Jr of the Memphis Grizzlies (2.27), and third for offensive rebounds per game (3.9), behind only Steven Adams of the Grizzlies (4.6) and Mitchell Robinson of the New York Knicks (4.1).

Williams also shot a field goal percentage of 73.6 from an average of six attempts per game in his 61 regular-season appearances.

The report went on to claim that Williams hopes to play more minutes on Game 4 on Monday, should he avoid any setbacks, and that he has competed in consecutive five-on-five practices.

Iga Swiatek believes a hard-won victory over Emma Raducanu on Friday will steel her for challenges ahead after reaching the Stuttgart Open semi-finals.

World number one Swiatek landed a 21st consecutive victory as she edged out US Open winner Raducanu 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes on the German clay.

There was plenty to admire from both players, but in the end it was another straight-sets success for Swiatek, who dropped only two games in her previous round against German Eva Lys.

It makes the 20-year-old Pole the first woman to win 28 consecutive sets on tour since Serena Williams, who did so from the 2012 US Open to the 2013 Australian Open.

Swiatek broke early in the first set to take charge, and with 19-year-old Raducanu battling a back problem the rankings leader soon got ahead in the second too.

This was Raducanu's first-ever match against a player ranked inside the WTA top 10, a peculiar statistic given she is already a grand slam champion.

Swiatek, like her opponent, knows how it feels to win a grand slam as a teenage surprise package, having triumphed as a 19-year-old at the 2020 French Open when ranked only 54th in the world.

At 4-3 in the second set of this contest, Swiatek saved two break points with clinical forehand winners out of the reach of Raducanu, shouting out in satisfaction moments later as she held serve to move a game away.

Raducanu had two more break chances in Swiatek's next service game but again could not convert as her opponent sealed victory.

Swiatek said: "I'm pretty happy that today's match was longer. Not for now, but for the future it's going to give me a lot of experience.

"Right now I want to play really aggressively, and I think this game style is going to fit the surface, and it fit the hardcourts as well."

She will face unseeded Liudmila Samsonova next after the Russian, playing as a neutral, beat Laura Siegemund 7-5 6-3.

The other semi-final in Stuttgart will see second seed Paula Badosa take on third seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Badosa was a 7-6 (11-9) 1-6 6-3 winner against Ons Jabeur, while Sabalenka fended off Anett Kontaveit 6-4 3-6 6-1.

At the Istanbul Cup, Friday saw quarter-final wins for Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova, along with Sorana Cirstea and Yulia Putintseva.

Those results set up a semi-final on Saturday between second seed Cirstea and third seed Kudermetova, with Putintseva and Potapova also facing off.

Tom Brady has agreed to restructure his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brady announced his retirement earlier this year, yet performed a U-turn on that decision last month to re-sign with the Bucs, who he led to a Super Bowl success at the end of the 2020 season.

There had been rumours that the Bucs were set to hold discussions with the 44-year-old, seven-time Super Bowl champion over potentially tying him down beyond the 2022 season, though general manager Jason Licht quashed that speculation.

Tampa have, however, managed to restructure Brady's existing deal to create over $9million of salary cap space ahead of next week's NFL Draft.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the news on Friday, citing league sources.

However, Brady is still set to become a free agent at the end of the season despite the restructuring.

Brady passed for more yards (5,316) than any other quarterback in the NFL across the 2021 regular season, registering a league-high 43 touchdown passes. His completion percentage of 67.5 ranked ninth.

Tampa reached the postseason, but lost to eventual Super Bowl winners the Los Angeles Rams.

Jos Buttler blazed a third century of his remarkable season to help Rajasthan Royals get the better of Delhi Capitals in Mumbai.

The English opener cracked 116 from 65 balls in Rajasthan's 222-2, making his highest score of the IPL campaign so far and emphasising his position as the leading run-scorer in the 2022 competition. Despite a late rally, Delhi fell short by making 207-8 in reply, sliding to a 15-run defeat, with the Royals going top of the table.

This was game seven for the Royals and Buttler, and he came up trumps once more, sharing in a first-wicket partnership of 155 with Devdutt Padikkal (54) before captain Sanju Samson (46no) came out firing for the final overs.

Delhi were up against it from the off but had a sniff of a chance when Rishabh Pant began finding all corners of the Wankhede Stadium; however, Pant's departure for 44 from 24 balls in the 12th over meant there was only tenuous hope left.

Prithvi Shaw (37) and David Warner (28) had given Delhi a reasonable enough start but failed to stick around.

Yuzvendra Chahal at deep fine leg dropped Pant early in the 12th over, misreading the flight of the ball, but the batsman fell two deliveries later. Pant got a top edge when looking to pull into the leg side, and Padikkal watched the ball soar high into the night sky before it fell to allow him to take a fine catch.

Lalit Yadav and Rovman Powell showed fight to leave Delhi needing 36 from the final two overs, but Prasidh Krishna (3-22) then had Yadav caught behind in a remarkable wicket maiden. Three sixes by Powell at the start of the 20th over raised hopes of a miracle finale, but Delhi's protests over a possible no-ball killed their own momentum.

Buttler serves up another ton of treats

Man-of-the-moment Buttler came into this season with one century in 65 IPL matches, spread across six years. Now he has four in 72, and on this occasion it took him 36 balls to reach 50 and only 21 more to advance to three figures.

Buttler made a ton against Mumbai Indians in his second game of the season, and followed that knock of exactly 100 with an impressive 103 in his sixth outing, against Kolkata Knight Riders. There were nine fours and nine sixes in this masterpiece by the 31-year-old, and he has 491 runs for the season, 226 more than the next highest scorer in the competition (KL Rahul – 265).

Surreal McCoy

Royals paceman Obed McCoy cost his team 26 runs with a dreadful over that included nine runs given away in extras, five of which came from a wild and head-high no ball that raced away to the boundary. It was probably the worst delivery that will be bowled in this year's IPL, sailing way outside off stump after slipping out of McCoy's hand and landing several yards wide of wicketkeeper Samson.

When McCoy conceded three sixes from the first three balls of the final over, Delhi needed three more maximums for victory, but the paceman avoided further embarrassment.

Former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has said he finds the high levels reached by the Reds and Premier League title rivals Manchester City "amazing".

Kuyt played for Liverpool between 2006 and 2012, winning the EFL Cup in his final season at Anfield.

However, having already secured the same trophy this season, Liverpool have three more titles in their sights as they look to complete an unprecedented quadruple.

Liverpool sealed a place in the FA Cup final against Chelsea after beating City 3-2 at Wembley last week, have a Champions League semi-final against Villarreal on the horizon, and sit just a point behind Pep Guardiola's team in the race for the Premier League title.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Kuyt praised the levels of both title rivals, saying: "There's something changing if you play an opponent more than two or three times in a season and that's happening with Liverpool and City now.

"It's very interesting because we have already seen two very good games between Liverpool and City. In my opinion, City was a little bit the better team in the Premier League match [a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium] but obviously in the FA Cup semi-final, Liverpool showed what they are capable of.

"It's just amazing what a high level these kinds of games are because I didn't see better games than the Liverpool and City games this season."

The Dutchman scored 67 goals in 281 games for Liverpool in all competitions, and enjoyed a particularly strong record in Merseyside derbies, scoring five goals in 11 Premier League appearances against Everton.

Jurgen Klopp's side entertain Everton on Sunday, with the Toffees in the midst of a relegation fight, and Kuyt says the derby is on the minds of people in the city.

"You can already feel it the week before," he said. "So we are a couple of days before the derby game, and once I landed in Liverpool, when I came from Amsterdam this morning, people are already talking about the derby game and it's massive for the city.

"You've got families, one is for Liverpool, the other one is for Everton. So yeah, it's just a great game and a really important game.

"I used to play in these games. Thankfully, I won more than I lost but for Liverpool and the city, it's very important. Liverpool will win again on Sunday.

"I was used to playing these kinds of games in Holland with Feyenoord and Ajax, and when I came to Liverpool, this game together with the Man United game was one of the most important games of the season. I loved these kinds of games the most when everyone is fully up for it, so I really enjoyed it and I was happy to score important goals."

When asked for his favourite derby memory, Kuyt pointed to the game at Goodison Park in the 2007-08 season in which he scored two penalties, including one in second-half stoppage time to win it, though he was also perhaps fortunate to avoid a red card for a challenge on Phil Neville earlier in the contest.

"If I have to go back it's when I scored two penalties, and one in [injury] time," he said. "And somewhere in between I tried to kick somebody and thankfully I didn't get a red card. [It was a] special game for me and to celebrate the winning goal in [injury] time with the fans was something I'll never forget."

A frustrated Lewis Hamilton said "each weekend is a rescue" after Mercedes' dismal start to the Formula One season continued with a disappointing qualifying session ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished 13th during an incident-strewn, weather-affected afternoon at Imola on Friday, missing out on Q1.

Mercedes team-mate George Russell, meanwhile, will be in 11th for Saturday's sprint race, which Max Verstappen will start at the front of the grid.

It is the first time Mercedes have had both cars fail to progress from Q2 since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.

They were unfortunate, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz crashing as rain started to fall to end the session prematurely, though it seemed unlikely the Silver Arrows would have made it into Q3 regardless.

Mercedes sit second in the constructors' standings after the opening three races of the season but are 39 points adrift of leaders Ferrari, whose championship-leading Charles Leclerc will start alongside Verstappen on the front row on Saturday.

Red Bull, meanwhile, are just 10 points behind Mercedes, and Hamilton lamented a difficult day on the track.

"It wasn't a great session," the seven-time world champion told Sky Sports. "Came here with optimism and everyone is working hard at the factory, but it is disappointing.

"I think we underperformed as a team today. There are things we should have done, but we didn't. We will work as hard as we can to move up in the sprint race.

"We will just keep working. It is what it is. Each weekend is a rescue."

Reigning champion Verstappen, meanwhile, secured his first pole position of the season, albeit he needs to maintain that in the sprint race to start at the front on Sunday.

He said: "It was tricky out there with the dry/rain. It was very slippery. It was hectic, a long qualifying but of course in the end happy to be here. It is an amazing track and it really punishes you if you make a mistake.

"I am really pleased with pole. It will be different weather at the weekend but a good start.

"Our first three races didn't go to plan, but we will try to have a good weekend here."

Lando Norris spun into the barriers to end Q3 – and the session as a whole – early, but the McLaren driver will start in third place on Saturday.

"I am happy I am top three which is quite a surprise for us," Norris said. "There was a chance at least for us to go forwards even more. The car was feeling good and I was feeling confident. A shame it ended like that, but I am happy.

Leclerc, meanwhile, rued making an error in Q3 as he had to settle for second.

"It was very tricky, especially on the slicks. There were quite a lot of wet patches, and it was all about putting the laps in and waiting for Q3 to put it together," Leclerc explained. "It is frustrating because when it counts in Q3 I made the wrong choice."

Christian Eriksen joining another club at the end of season would be "what it is" according to Brentford boss Thomas Frank, amid reports the Denmark star may re-sign with Tottenham.

Attacking midfielder Eriksen penned a short-term contract with the Bees in January, just seven months after suffering a cardiac arrest representing his country at Euro 2020.

Eriksen was available as a free agent after his Inter contract was cancelled because rules in Serie A prevent players fitted with a heart-starting device playing in the competition.

The 30-year-old has impressed under Frank, leading to rumours he may reunite with Antonio Conte – his coach at Inter – and re-join Spurs, who he departed to move to Italy in January 2020.

Eriksen will come up against his former boss when the teams meet in the Premier League this weekend, and Conte admitted in an interview with Sky Sports he would enjoy working with him again.

"For sure, to work again with Christian is a fantastic opportunity," Conte said.

"I enjoyed the time we spent together in Inter Milan, despite the first time he didn't play regularly with me.

"But then when I understood what I wanted about him then he played. We won together a title, the league in Italy.

"When you have this type of player, a great player, a good man, I think every manager, every coach, likes to work with them."

Frank understands Conte's desire to be reunited with Eriksen, though retains hope he may opt to remain with Brentford.

"Obviously he would enjoy to work with him and Christian is a fantastic player, but I know that I will answer this question from now until the end of the season and hopefully we end up signing him," Frank told a pre-match news conference.

"But if he ends up at another club, it is what it is. I want to focus on now and trying to prepare the team and Christian for the game and hopefully we can make him flourish tomorrow and perform well and beat Tottenham.

"I think we went into this with open eyes and this is the outcome we hoped for, that he performs fantastic and that we perform well and the other hope is that he performs after the summer."

Frank also acknowledged Eriksen is excited to face a team whom he helped reach the Champions League final in the 2018-19 season.

"I think he just literally looks forward to playing Tottenham. He has a lot of old team-mates, a lot of staff members he worked closely together with for seven years of his life," Frank added.

"This is where he went from being a very talented footballer at Ajax to be a world-class midfielder, and one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

"I know one thing, he is looking forward to it but he will do his best to try and beat them, of course he wants to compete."

James Borrego will be dismissed as coach of the Charlotte Hornets, according to reports.

The 44-year-old took up the role in 2018 and reached the play-in tournament in each of the last two seasons in Charlotte.

However, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hornets will relieve Borrego of his duties after failing to reach this year's NBA playoffs.

Despite winning 11 of their last 15 games in the regular season to earn a spot in the play-in tournament, they fell at the first hurdle as they were beaten 132-103 by the Atlanta Hawks. 

Borrego finished the 2021-22 season with a record of 43-39, and an overall record of 138-163 in his time with the Hornets.

The records and statistics are there to be broken, so we are told, and never was that more true than on Everton's most recent trip to fierce rivals Liverpool in February 2021.

An early Richarlison strike and Gylfi Sigurdsson's late sealer from the penalty spot earned Everton a 2-0 win, snapping the Toffees' 22-year wait for victory at Anfield.

That success, coming on the back of a 20-game winless run away to Liverpool in the Premier League, gave Everton bragging rights and moved them level on points with the Reds.

Fourteen months on from that game, though, and the fortunes of the rival clubs could not be much different.

While Liverpool are still on track for an unprecedented quadruple of Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and Champions League, relegation is a real possibility for Everton.

The stakes could not be much higher in this latest encounter at Anfield, then, in a contest that will have huge permutations at both ends of the division.


Liverpool targeting rare derby double

That aforementioned defeat in this corresponding fixture last season was the only time Liverpool have lost to Everton in their past 22 Premier League encounters.

The Reds eased to a 4-1 win when the sides last met four months ago, but only once in the past 10 seasons – in 2016-17 – have they completed the league double in this fixture.

While Everton have struggled for victories against their neighbours, they have at least managed to claim plenty of draws down the years.

Indeed, no Premier League fixture has finished level more often than this one, with the sides playing out 24 draws in total.

Red cards and late drama

The Merseyside derby is also out in front in another couple of categories, namely the most red cards issued, proving this game lives up to its reputation as being a fierce contest.

Twenty-two red cards have been dished out in 59 previous Premier League encounters, which is five more than any other fixture.

Liverpool versus Everton has also witnessed the most 90th-minute winners in the competition's history, with five goals being scored in added time at the end of a game.

They don't like Sundays

On the form book alone, Everton do not stand a chance this weekend. 

The Toffees have lost 10 of their last 11 away league games, including each of the last six, which is their worst-such run since going eight without a point in 1994.

Unsurprisingly, then, Everton have won fewer away points than any Premier League side this term with just six, whereas Liverpool's 42 home points is more than anyone else.

Yet Sunday may just be the best time for Frank Lampard's men to face the team from across Stanley Park.

Having won 14 straight home Premier League matches on that day of the week, Liverpool have since won just two of their last seven Sunday fixtures, losing two of those.

Salah out to shine

Amid ongoing questions over his future, Mohamed Salah returned to form by scoring his first goals in seven matches for Liverpool in the midweek win over Manchester United.

Everton need no telling of Salah's eye for goal as the Egypt international was on target twice in December's reverse fixture, with Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota also netting.

Salah is now out to become the first Liverpool player since Dick Forshaw in 1925-26 to score multiple goals in both league meetings with Everton in a single campaign.

All eyes may be on Salah, but back-up striker Divock Origi has also inflicted his fair share of pain on Everton.

Origi's five Premier League goals against Everton are the most he has managed against a single side, and three of those have proved to be the winning strike.

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte are ready to go to "war" at Wembley on Saturday after the WBC world heavyweight champion weighed in less than a stone heavier than his fellow Brit.

Fury tipped the scales at 18 stone 12 pounds on the eve of the blockbuster battle in London.

Challenger Whyte had weighed in at 18st 1lb at Boxpark before the two Englishmen engaged in a friendly face-off.

Fury was lighter than expected as he prepares for the second defence of a title he won by beating Deontay Wilder in 2020.

The 'Gypsy King', who beat Wilder in a thrilling trilogy fight last October, has claimed this will be the last bout of his career.

If it proves to be his swansong, the unbeaten Fury plans to sign off in style in his homeland.

He told BT Sport: "I'm so happy to be back here, fighting at Wembley Stadium, and you all [(fans] made it happen.

"Big shout out to Dillian Whyte and his team, proper professional men. We're going to put on a show, it's going to be a war - don't worry about that."

Whyte says he has no concerns about Fury being heavier than him.

Asked about the significance of his weight, he replied: "Nothing, some fights are different. Fighting a bigger guy, a much heavier guy than me.

"We're ready to go to war, trust me. I'm not worried about what he's doing."

Thomas Tuchel admits he has been left "very tired" by Chelsea's hectic programme and puzzled by their dreadful form at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues head coach said the demands since the international break have put him under strain, and he described Chelsea's form as "fragile".

While Tuchel appreciates managing the busy run of games is all part of the job, he is concerned by the rapidly rising number of costly individual errors that have crept into his team's performances.

Since Chelsea's players returned from national duty at the end of March, they have done well on their travels but suffered three painful home defeats.

They have lost 4-1 to Brentford and 4-2 to Arsenal at home in the Premier League, as well as going down 3-1 to Real Madrid, while a 6-0 win at Southampton provided relief before Chelsea were 3-2 victors after extra time against Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

That result ended Chelsea's Champions League campaign as they exited 5-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, but a 2-0 win at Wembley against Crystal Palace has set up an FA Cup final clash with Liverpool.

Consistency is painfully lacking, and with off-field issues an inevitable distraction as the club seeks new ownership, it is little wonder Tuchel feels a touch weary.

"I felt very tired after Real Madrid and after the turnaround: Southampton away, Real Madrid away, and another away game at Wembley," Tuchel said.

"It was tiring, and I felt it and asked myself what signals should I give."

Tuchel, whose team tackle West Ham on Sunday, said he does not "feel the same level of excitement before every match", but stressed that did not mean less effort goes into preparation.

He pointed to Chelsea's recent defensive record as an area of considerable concern.

"We have a bit of a bad mix of big individual mistakes and a bit of lack of quality in the one-on-one defensive attitude and behaviour in the box and around the box," Tuchel said.

"We get punished for it heavily. I'm not so sure I have an explanation why. The expected goals we conceded since the national break is a bit higher than normal.

"It's about tactics, high pressing, deep pressing, how chances are created, to keep the expected goals as low as possible."

Since the international break, Chelsea have conceded 13 times from an expected goals against (xGA) tally of 8.92.

This does not follow the pattern of their season as a whole. Including all competitions, they have an xGA of 61.43 but have conceded only 45 times.

Of the seven errors they have made leading to a goal in this campaign, four of those have come in the last three weeks.

"Most of the time in football it's a mixture of circumstances and bad luck, and the opponent making the very most of what we offer them," Tuchel said.

"We lack the real determination and attitude on the one-on-one in the box to maybe keep the actual goals under the expected goals."

Chelsea will put their home form up for scrutiny again as the Hammers visit this weekend. Tuchel's team have just seven wins from 15 Premier League home assignments this season, the fewest victories of all sides in the top seven.

Away from home, only Manchester City (12) have won more games than Chelsea (11) in the Premier League.

Tuchel joked that Chelsea could perhaps switch dressing rooms at home or choose another hotel before home games, if they were a superstitious team.

"I have no solution, but this is not the level we hope to produce in home games," he said. "It's a bit fragile at the moment, I have to say. It can happen that a feeling creeps in that you don't want to have in a home game.

"We have a row of three home games with very similar results that we absolutely don't like. It's now the job to convince the players to keep on going, supporters to keep on pushing, and hang on in positively. Don't get superstitious now and don't believe in things that are not there."

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