Phallon Tullis-Joyce is excited by the job Emma Hayes has already done with the United States and predicts she will have even more success in the role.

Hayes left Chelsea after 12 years in charge in May, going out on a high after leading the Blues to a fifth consecutive Women's Super League triumph on the final day of last season.

It was her seventh title overall with Chelsea, also winning five FA Cups and two League Cups, as well as leading the team to the Champions League final in 2020-21.

Hayes began her tenure as the USA boss in May and helped the team to a record-extending fifth Olympic gold in Paris, as an undefeated tournament ended with a 1-0 win over Brazil in August.

Having made such a bright start to life with the USWNT, Tullis-Joyce, who has never played for her national team, is expecting great things from Hayes.

Speaking at the Barclays WSL's 2024-25 season launch media day, the goalkeeper told Stats Perform: "I think that's incredible for US soccer to have such a notable coach.

"Everyone has seen how great she's done in this league alone, and I'm excited to see what she does with the US Women's National Team.

"She's already done an amazing job, so I can imagine she's going to do so many more great things for time to come, especially for the younger generations."

One of the players who did not feature at the Olympics for the USWNT was Alex Morgan, who recently announced her retirement from football.

Morgan, regarded as a USA legend, is one of the most decorated players in the history of the team, winning back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019 and clinching Olympic gold in 2012.

She is ninth on the all-time appearance charts having earned 224 caps, and since her international debut in March 2010, no player has been involved in more goals for the USA than her (175, 123 goals, 52 assists).

Tullis-Joyce was full of praise for the former striker and explained how she drove her to improve after coming up against her.

"Just massive respect for Alex Morgan, she's definitely a player that I've looked up to as an American," Tullis-Joyce said.

"She was one of the ones that we saw on the national team constantly just shredding goalkeepers left and right.

"Honestly, I'm learning from her how to protect my goal a little bit better. I had the fortunate opportunity to play against her several times.

"Honestly, she just seems like such a great person. And I wish her all the best in her retirement, especially after what she's done for women's football."

Manchester United halted their two-game losing run with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Southampton at St Mary's, with Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho on target.

United emerged from the first international break of 2024-25 14th in the Premier League table following defeats to Brighton and Liverpool, but they got back to winning ways after surviving an early scare on the south coast.

Making his first Premier League start, Tyler Dibling won a penalty for Southampton in the first half, but Andre Onana kept out Cameron Archer's tame kick and the momentum shifted from there.

De Ligt headed in his first United goal just two minutes later, then an excellent Rashford strike, curled into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box, gave them breathing room. 

Garnacho came off the bench to add to Southampton's woes in the second half, with Jack Stephens' wild lunge on the Argentine resulting in him being shown a straight red card with 11 minutes to play.

Garnacho then got himself on the scoresheet six minutes into stoppage time, lashing into the roof of the net after Diogo Dalot found him with a cutback from the byline.

Data Debrief: Rashford back in form

Rashford's dip in form in 2023-24 was a major contributing factor in United finishing a lowly eighth in the Premier League, the forward netting just seven league goals after plundering 17 the previous campaign.

However, he showed supreme confidence for his 41st-minute strike, which gave United a two-goal cushion at a crucial moment.

That effort ended a run of 12 games for United without a goal for Rashford, who had only previously endured two longer droughts for the club – 17-match runs that ended in January 2017 and August 2022.

Three of Rashford's last four Premier League goals have come from outside the penalty area, and since the start of 2022-23, only Eberechi Eze (eight), Phil Foden (seven) and Kevin De Bruyne (six) have scored more such goals in the competition than his five.

Lamine Yamal said that it would be impossible to reach Lionel Messi’s level during his career, despite having been through an incredible breakout season.

The 17-year-old made 37 league appearances for Barcelona last season and was thrust further into the public eye as he helped Spain win Euro 2024 in Germany.

Yamal, who was 16 for much of the tournament having celebrated his birthday before the final, swept the boards at the competition, winning Young Player of the Tournament, Goal of the Tournament and was also named in the Team of the Tournament.

The teenage sensation also laid on four assists in seven appearances over the summer and has made a decent start to the 2024-25 season as one of Barcelona’s main men.

In four LaLiga appearances, he has scored once and supplied four assists, with his 11 chances created a total only bettered by team-mate Raphinha (12) and Vinicius Junior (15) in the division.

Such form and media attention has led to inevitable comparisons with footballing legend Messi, who made his competitive debut for Barcelona at 17.

The Argentine went on to score over 600 goals for the club across 17 seasons, winning 34 trophies, while he came to be widely considered as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

But Yamal has been quick to reject the comparison between himself and his Argentinian predecessor, claiming that although he enjoys the comparisons, it is not possible to reach the standards he set.

“I like that they compared me to the greatest player in the history of football, but I want to be myself,” Yamal told Spanish TV station Antena 3.

“Reaching Messi’s level is impossible.”

Despite Yamal’s understandable suggestion that he will be unable to reach the same heights as Messi, the winger still showed his self-confidence in the interview.

Somewhat bizarrely, he was pictured as a six-month old baby with Messi in a charity calendar in 2007, with photos having since gone viral.

Speaking about the experience, the teenager joked that he was able to pick up some of his footballing ability through Messi.

“He passed along some of his powers to me. I still have a lot to give,” said Yamal.

Despite being just 17 years old, Yamal has already played 55 times for Barcelona and, having made such an impression on world football over summer, interest from other clubs is an inevitability.

Yamal’s contract with Barcelona runs until 2026, with a reported release clause of £1bn, while sporting director Deco is keen to renew it when he turns 18.

But the teenager has made clear that he has no desire to leave the Catalan giants, wanting to remain with them for the rest of his career.

“I don’t want those €120m [bids] because then I would have to leave Barca,” said Yamal.

“I hope to never have to leave. I want to be a legend.”

Phallon Tullis-Joyce believes learning from Mary Earps during her time at Manchester United has her well-placed to step up as the Red Devils' new number one.

Earps, who spent five seasons with United, joined Paris Saint-Germain in July upon the expiry of her contract at the Women's Super League side. 

During her time with the Red Devils, she made 102 appearances in all competitions, keeping 46 clean sheets in the WSL in that time. 

The 31-year-old scooped the Golden Glove in the 2022-23 campaign, while also helping United lift the Women's FA Cup in her final season with the club.

Tullis-Joyce spent just one year alongside Earps after arriving from the Seattle Reign last year, with all four of her appearances coming in the League Cup. 

But speaking at the Barclays WSL's 2024-25 season launch media day, the American told Stats Perform her time with Earps has her well-prepared for this season.

"I was fortunate enough to train with Mary for an entire season, learn from her, learn from the staff as well," Tullis-Joyce said.

"Four of us together just being able to hold a high standard has already helped me in that preparation for this season."

Head coach Marc Skinner is backing Tullis-Joyce to fill the seismic gap left by Earps, a statement that filled the American with confidence. 

"Yeah, definitely very, very grateful to our staff," Tullis-Joyce started.

"I mean, right from the start, when I got there, they were very clear about their intentions and where I was at and where they wanted to see me progress to.

"I'm just super happy to be with the squad."

United are looking to improve on an underwhelming campaign last year, finishing fifth and 15 points adrift of the Champions League qualification places. 

Only Manchester City (15), Chelsea (18), Arsenal (20) and Liverpool (28) conceded less than United's 32 goals in the league, but their inconsistent results proved costly. 

Tullis-Joyce acknowledged their showing last term fell below the mark, but highlighted the Red Devils' FA Cup success as a solid foundation to build on this season.

"We're taking this step by step," Tullis-Joyce said.

"These players have been grinding it out during this pre-season.

"We're pushing our limits, and we obviously have our sights set on the absolute best that we can perform as a squad and that's where we're at for the season."

Eddie Howe believes Newcastle are yet to hit "top gear" this season despite taking seven points from their first three Premier League games, as they look to continue that strong start against Wolves at Molineux.

Newcastle made light of Fabian Schar's red card to beat Southampton on the opening matchday, then downed Tottenham 2-1 after earning a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Those results have the Magpies fifth in the early-season standings, yet Howe still sees room for improvement as far as their performance levels are concerned.

Newcastle have faced a Premier League-high 54 shots in 2024-25, with their average of 18 shots conceded per game their highest on record in a single campaign (since 2003-04).

At Friday's pre-match press conference, Howe said: "We've had some very good results, we're really pleased with the start we have made in what is a difficult league.

"Performance-wise, we haven't hit top gear. We are going into a spell where we have difficult games away from home.

"It's been a very tough start for Wolves. They played very well in their last game against Nottingham Forest.

"They're always tough opponents, I've got lot of respect for Gary O'Neil and the job he has done there. He is very tactically astute so we will be prepared for a tough game."

Wolves, meanwhile, needed three games to pick up their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw with Forest, having opened with defeats to Arsenal (2-0) and Chelsea (6-2).

Boss O'Neil expects a difficult test against a team with plenty of attacking talent, hailing Magpies forward Alexander Isak as one of the best in the league.

"They have an abundance of quality attacking players. Isak is one of the best number nines in the league for me, so they are a team that are going to test us, definitely," O'Neil said.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to Molineux, getting back to the group that we know we're going to work with from now until January, at least, and seeing if we can start to upset a few people like we like we managed to last season."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Wolves – Andre

Wolves harbour a doubt over captain Mario Lemina ahead of Sunday's game, which could mean Andre is called upon for his full debut after joining from Fluminense.

Between his Serie A debut in September 2020 and his departure, Andre ranked first for possession won (756) and successful passes (6,574) in the Brazilian top flight, as well as second for touches (8,440) and fourth for dribbles completed (164).

Newcastle – Alexander Isak

Isak has been directly involved in 18 goals in his last 20 Premier League appearances (15 goals, three assists). 

Since the first game in that run (on Boxing Day last year), only Erling Haaland (20) and Cole Palmer (17) have scored more than the Swede (15) in the competition.

MATCH PREDICTION – NEWCASTLE WIN

Entertainment should be a given at Molineux, where both teams have scored in all nine previous Premier League meetings between Wolves and Newcastle.

It is the most-played specific fixture in the competition's history to never feature a clean sheet, while Newcastle have only failed to score once in their last 23 Premier League matches – in a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in April.

No Premier League team is on a longer current run without a shutout than Wolves, meanwhile, with O'Neil's men conceding in each of their last 15 matches.

Wolves have only won one of their last 13 league games, drawing three and losing nine, and are winless in their last six (one draw, five losses). At home, they have lost five of their last six (one win), having only lost four of their previous 19 (11 wins, four draws).

Newcastle have won three of their last five Premier League games against Wolves, drawing the other two, and they enter Sunday's match as favourites.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Wolves – 30.3%

Newcastle – 44.5%

Draw – 25.1% 

After an eventful first 100 days in charge of Napoli, Antonio Conte says hard work is his first requirement ahead of the Partenopei's trip to Cagliari on Sunday.

Conte endured a difficult start to his Napoli career, overseeing a heavy 3-0 defeat to Verona on the opening matchday of the Serie A season.

However, victories over Bologna (3-0) and Parma (2-1) have Napoli looking up, and they could now win three straight league games under a single head coach for the first time since February 2023 – when they went on to win the Scudetto under Luciano Spalletti (eight in a row).

At the end of a tumultuous period that also saw Victor Osimhen leave for Galatasaray on loan and Romelu Lukaku join as his replacement, Conte feels the foundations have been laid for future success.

Speaking at Friday's pre-match press conference, Conte said: "We worked not only on the pitch, but also a lot off it. We had to work and we worked hard.

"I am satisfied, these 100 days have given us a direction. I know what awaits me, the expectations on me, but my only weapon is work."

Having won league titles at Juventus, Inter and Chelsea, Conte knows expectations around the Partenopei have been heightened by his arrival.

"I carry a lot of pressure with me. Having won in the past, people add one and one and get two, and expect this regardless," Conte said.

"It's a responsibility, I don't shirk from it, but I live it in a serene way. I expect continuity of performance and results, and continuity from the squad."

Conte also hailed the impact of Lukaku, who came off the bench to score a late goal in their victory over Parma ahead of the international break, just two days after his arrival.

"He used the international break to try to get in full swing on a physical and tactical level. There was great commitment, he also came in during his free time," he said of the striker.

"He is improving in everything and we will see, there are still two training sessions and then I will decide if he will start."

Borussia Dortmund's work rate out of possession was key as they went top of the Bundesliga by beating Heidenheim 4-2 on Friday, according to coach Nuri Sahin.

BVB moved onto seven points from their first three league games under Sahin with their victory at Signal Iduna Park, as Karim Adeyemi scored twice in between strikes from Donyell Malen and Emre Can.

Since losing 1-0 to Schalke in 2004, Dortmund have not lost any of their last 37 Bundesliga home matches played on a Friday, tying the Bundesliga record. 

Only Werder Bremen had previously remained unbeaten at home on Fridays through 37 Bundesliga matches in a row, doing so from 1984 to 1991.

"It was a deserved win and a very good start for us but then we shut the door and I told my players that Heidenheim will not give up. So we had to keep stepping on the gas," Sahin said in his post-match press conference.

"We had a few chances and we could have finished it off earlier but we dealt well with the pressure."

Dortmund, who had new signing Serhou Guirassy in the lineup for the first time following his recovery from injury, quickly took a two-goal lead in the first 17 minutes, Adeyemi teeing up Malen for the opener before getting his first of the encounter shortly after.

"We measure our players also on assists and goals but we can only defend well if the players press. Karim took the momentum from his Germany Under-21 performances with him," Sahin said.

"The first half was our best performance so far but we want to develop further."

Champions Bayer Leverkusen travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday while Bayern Munich, on six points, will look to make it three wins from three games when they take on newly-promoted Holstein Kiel.

FC head coach John Herdman insists his team need to maintain their discipline if they want a playoff run in MLS, starting against Austin FC on Saturday.

Toronto currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference but are four points behind Orlando City.

They have struggled to get going since being knocked out of the Leagues Cup in the group stage, winning just one of three games since returning to MLS action.

After a disappointing 3-1 defeat to D.C. United last time out, Herdman says they need to learn how to keep their high level of performance going to the very end of games.

"In a playoff run, you have to be disciplined in the last 30 minutes of games, whether it's decision-making to change and adapt with players coming in and changing positions, or the team allowing itself to get stretched," Herdman said.

"We struggled with that against D.C. If you're going to push for a genuine playoff run, you have to respect that defending part of the game, you cannot allow yourself to get stretched."

Meanwhile, Austin are 11th in the Western Conference, having followed up a win over Nashville SC with a 1-0 defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps.

With the end of the regular season coming closer, Josh Wolff acknowledged his players know just how important it is for them to get points on the board.

"Every game is critical, home and away. In both conferences, you can see the playoff line, and it's all relevant," Wolff said.

"We, like many teams, have to make the most of these opportunities. You have to start the game in a good way and go there with the intention of getting three points because the home team have their own intentions."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Toronto FC – Deandre Kerr

Deandre Kerr scored his 10th regular-season goal for Toronto in the loss to D.C. United on August 31.

At 21 years old, Kerr is the second player to reach double-figure goals for the Reds before turning 22, along with Ayo Akinola (13 goals).

Austin FC – Julio Cascante

Austin failed to register a shot on target in their 1-0 loss to Vancouver on August 31, the fourth time this season the Verde have not hit the target in a match.

Julio Cascante came off the bench and had one of Austin's six shots, with his effort having the highest expected goal rate of 0.35.

MATCH PREDICTION: AUSTIN FC WIN

The only previous meeting between Toronto and Austin was a 1-0 home win for the Verde in May 2023. Gyasi Zardes scored the game's only goal in second-half stoppage time.

Austin earned a 2-0 win at Nashville in their last away match on August 24. Austin last won consecutive away matches during a four-match road winning streak in June-July 2022.

Meanwhile, Toronto have lost five of their last six home matches (W1), including a 3-1 loss to D.C. United on August 31. Toronto have lost 13 regular-season home matches since July 2023 (W7), more than any other team in that time.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Toronto FC – 34.6%

Draw – 25.9%

Austin FC – 39.5%

New United States boss Mauricio Pochettino has outlined his ambition to win the World Cup with the co-hosts in two years' time and is excited by the opportunity.

Pochettino was named the manager of the USA on Tuesday in his first role since parting company with Chelsea in May.

The Argentine, who previously enjoyed a successful five-year spell in charge of Tottenham, leading them to a Champions League final, oversaw a sixth-placed Premier League finish in his only season at Stamford Bridge.

And with the USA acting as hosts alongside Canada and Mexico for football's most prestigious tournament in 2026, Pochettino believes his players should harbour ambitions of winning the entire event.

"We need to believe in big things that we can win, not only a game but the World Cup," Pochettino said.

"If we don’t, the journey will be difficult. We have to think big. That is the only way to put your talent in the service of the team. It is a massive challenge."

The USA women's team won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019 and claimed Olympic gold this summer in Emma Hayes' first tournament as manager.

Pochettino, who knows Hayes from the period in which they both managed Chelsea's senior teams, reserved special praise for her, while also wanting his players to be inspired by how successful the women's team had become in recent times.

"In Emma, we have the best coach in the world," said Pochettino.

"The women's team has won everything. We need to match them. They need to be our inspiration, not only with results but in the way they create the philosophy to defend the country, the badge and the culture.

"We want to create something special."

Pochettino's first game in charge will be a friendly versus Panama at the Q2 Stadium in Austin on October 12.

Leroy Sane is available for Bayern Munich's game at Holstein Kiel after missing their opening two matches following a groin operation.

Sane featured in all five games for Germany at Euro 2024 before undergoing surgery in July, and also returns in time for the start of Bayern's Champions League campaign at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

"We have a lot of players, and we need all of them. Aside from the long-term injuries, all the players are fit," Kompany told reporters.

"We've got a week with three matches coming up, and we're looking forward to it. Leroy will also be in the squad."

Sane also struggled with injuries towards the end of last season, making just one appearance in Bayern's final seven league games, having scored eight goals in their opening nine matches.

"He had a really good first half of last season and was involved in a lot of goals," Bayern's sporting director Christoph Freund said.

"In the early part of this year, he had constant battles with injuries and pain, but he battled on and played through it.

"The nice thing now is that he's pain-free. We're glad he's back and properly fit."

Bayern face promoted side Kiel, who are in the Bundesliga for the first time, on Saturday, and Kompany knows what it is like to take a side up from the second tier after his time in England with Burnley.

"I experienced it myself last year. We completely dominated in the second division with Burnley, and then we got promoted to a different league and struggled," Kompany said.

"But you do all the work for exactly these games and I imagine that Kiel are looking forward to it.

"They're flexible and good on the ball. They were dominant last season and even though they've been promoted, that's stayed in the team."

Xabi Alonso is hopeful the short time he has had with his Bayer Leverkusen players will be sufficient to get them back to winning ways against Hoffenheim.

Leverkusen's 35-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga ended in their last match, losing just their second game of the campaign at home to RB Leipzig after going the whole of the last league season without a defeat.

The international break has since reduced their preparation time for the trip to Hoffenheim, but Alonso remains optimistic about their chances of bouncing back.

"It was an express preparation, with an express meeting with the team, and individual discussions," Xabi Alonso told reporters on Friday.

"Friday is our last training session with the whole team. Of course, we don't have a lot of time to prepare for Saturday, but that's our normal dynamic.

"We will see if this express meeting was efficient or not."

Leverkusen needed a late goal to snatch a 3-2 win at Borussia Monchengladbach in their opener, before going down 3-2 against Leipzig, but the manager does not believe it is all doom and gloom.

"We're doing a lot of things very well, but there are a few things we need to improve to reach our best level," he said.

"There aren't too many things, but there are important things to improve. Hopefully, we have a better performance, a more complete performance.

"It's a football and a mentality issue. We have to improve tactically, with the ball, but also with our mentality and concentration to improve and be a bit better."

The coach said that all his players returned healthy from international duty, and he took the time to back his defender Jonathan Tah after the German came under criticism from an opposition manager.

After the 2-2 Nations League draw between Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday, Dutch manager Ronald Koeman said that Tah, who was replaced at half-time, had big problems and made a lot of mistakes.

"It's his opinion. My opinion is that Jonathan is a top player for us," Alonso said.

"What he did in the international break, the international game is not my topic. And he was here yesterday, in a good mood, with a good feeling, so that's my main concern."

Sheffield United continued their fine start to the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Hull City.

Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Sam McCallum were enough to give Chris Wilder's side victory and send them up to third in the table.

The home side made an encouraging start to the game but fell behind after a stunning Blades counter-attack, with Callum O'Hare driving forward before playing in Hamer, who gave keeper Ivor Pandur no chance with a neat finish.

Hull went close to equalising through Abdulkadir Omar's free-kick, but he was thwarted by a flying save from Michael Cooper in the Sheffield United goal.

The away side doubled their advantage in the second half as substitute McCallum swept in a fine effort from Andre Brooks' cutback.

Marvin Mehlem nearly handed the Tigers a way back into the encounter, but his header crashed against the crossbar, leaving Hull 19th in the table, still without a league win this campaign.

Data debrief: Blades make best start in 12 years

With three wins and two draws under their belt in the Championship, Sheffield United will be proud of how they have adapted to life back in the second tier.

It marks their best start to a campaign since the 2012-13 season, which saw them go unbeaten in their first 16 games in League One.

Wilder also continued his good record as Blades boss at MKM stadium, winning a fourth successive match away to Hull after losing in February 2018, in his first spell in charge.

Karim Adeyemi scored twice and set up another goal as Borussia Dortmund earned a 4-2 victory over visitors Heidenheim on Friday.

Adeyemi first set up Donyell Malen, who drilled his low shot through Kevin Muller to give the hosts the lead in the 12th minute.

The 22-year-old then doubled their advantage six minutes later with his first goal after completing a textbook break five minutes later.

Heidenheim briefly cut the deficit with Marvin Pieringer's powerful header after 39 minutes, but Dortmund restored their two-goal cushion before the break with Adeyemi's low drive wrongfooting the goalkeeper.

The visitors set up a nervy finish after being awarded a 74th-minute penalty for a foul by Niklas Sule on Mikkel Kaufmann, with Maximilian Breunig confidently hitting the back of the net.

But Dortmund earned a spot kick themselves in stoppage time thanks to Omar Traore's handball, and Emre Can coolly slotted in to make it 4-2.

Data Debrief: Home advantage

While it looked like Dortmund may be in for a nervy ending after Heidenheim's late penalty, that was not the case, and it means they extend an impressive home record.

The Black and Yellow are unbeaten in 37 Bundesliga home games on a Friday since a 1-0 loss to Schalke in January 2004, which is a league record, level with Werder Bremen between 1984 and 1991). 

Dortmund are unbeaten so far this campaign, but Heidenheim's six-match winning run in all competitions is now at an end.

Ryan Gauld says Vancouver Whitecaps will not treat the visit of San Jose Earthquakes as an "easy game" as they look to get back to winning ways in MLS.

Vancouver have lost just one of their last eight league matches but fired a blank for just the second time at home this season in a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas last time out.

They sit sixth in the Western Conference, but a win, coupled with defeats for Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, could see them move up the table.

Gauld is prepared for a tough fight though, despite how it looks on paper.

"We've got to treat it like any other game," said the captain. "They're at the bottom, but they've still got a lot of good players that can hurt us if we're not at our best.

"If you look at the standings, someone can say that [Saturday] is an easy game. But it's not. We need to play a very good game."

San Jose have won only five games this season, though one of those came in their last road match, beating high-flying Real Salt Lake 2-0.

Interim head coach Ian Russell is hoping they can build on that result as they try to finish the season on a high.

"It's going to be a good road trip for us to play quality opponents," Russell said. "It's a place where we won last year, and we'll look to get a result again.

"We need to start better in Vancouver than we did in our last game [against Minnesota United]. We have to go out on the front foot and try to put them under pressure. We have to get points on the road now, and it's going to be a really good test for us."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Vancouver Whitecaps – Mathias Laborda

Vancouver's goalless draw with Dallas on Saturday marked just the second time they failed to score in a home match this regular season (0-0 vs. Austin on May 4).

It was not for lack of trying though, as they had 21 shots (though just four on target). Mathias Laborda had five of those efforts, creating 0.4 expected goals, though only tested the goalkeeper with one of those.

San Jose Earthquakes – Ousseni Bouda

Ousseni Bouda scored the Earthquakes' lone goal in their defeat to Minnesota United on August 31.

Bouda is the seventh different player to score one of San Jose's last seven MLS goals dating back to June 19, as no 'Quakes player has more than one goal in league play in that time.

MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN

The Whitecaps ended a five-match winless run against San Jose (D2 L3) with a 2-0 road win on March 9. Vancouver have only recorded consecutive wins over the Earthquakes once in the last nine years, doing so during the 2018 season.

Vancouver have lost only one of their last eight regular season matches (W5 D2) following a scoreless draw with Dallas on Saturday. The Whitecaps have kept consecutive clean sheets in league play for the first time since October 2023.

However, San Jose defeated Real Salt Lake, 2-0, in their last away match on August 24, just the fourth win in the 'Quakes' last 42 away matches in all competitions. San Jose last won consecutive away matches in all competitions in July 2019, with the second of those being a 3-1 win in Vancouver.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Vancouver Whitecaps – 61.8%

Draw – 20.2%

San Jose Earthquakes – 18%

After three games without a win, Paulo Fonseca's main focus is getting a first victory of the season against Venezia, without looking ahead to other big matches.

Fonseca is already under pressure, with Milan having collected only two points from three games, and with their first Champions League match at home to Liverpool on Tuesday followed by a derby clash with Inter next weekend, things could get even worse.

For now, though, the 51-year-old badly needs a win and, with the visit of Venezia to San Siro the priority, Fonseca has prepared his 14th-placed team to take on the promoted side, who have one point and are second-bottom in the standings.

"They [games] are all important, even more so at this time. I am confident, as always. It's important to win on Saturday, then we'll think about Liverpool," Fonseca told a press conference.

"Milan must always win, not just on Saturday. I looked at Venezia. They are a dangerous team on the counter-attack.

"Against Parma [2-1 defeat] we suffered, but against Lazio [2-2 draw] we improved a lot. The problem was defensive organisation. We worked on it. We know Venezia's strong point, and we are prepared."

Milan have conceded six goals in three games, with no other Serie A side allowing more so far this season, and the international break has given Fonseca time to work on their defensive problems.

"We didn't have many players during the break, but we had many defenders. We worked on the behaviour of the defensive line and on individual behaviour," he added.

"We have to improve on the many goals conceded. A team that doesn't want to concede goals must keep the ball more. We are working on it.

"The players understand the importance of keeping the ball and managing the game with the ball."

Fonseca is well aware of the scrutiny he is under after the poor start to the season, but the real pressure comes from the fans, who will again be there supporting Milan on Saturday.

"We coaches always are [under scrutiny], we depend on the results. But I'm just focused on my work," Fonseca said.

"After these first three games, having 70,000 supporters is a great declaration of love.

"It's also a big responsibility for us, to keep evolving and make the fans proud of us. That's what we want to do tomorrow, repay the support of our fans."