Related items

• Curtin sacked by Philadelphia Union, Arena new San Jose head coach

  The Philadelphia Union have parted ways with head coach Jim Curtin, the club announced on Thursday. 

  Curtin was the second-longest serving coach in the MLS, only behind Sporting Kansas City's Peter Vermes, but his 10-year stint at Subaru Park has finally come to an end. 

  During the 45-year-old's tenure, the Union won the 2020 Supporters' Shield and made the 2022 MLS Cup final. 

  But Philadelphia struggled this season, finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference standings and therefore missing the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017.

  Curtin oversaw 394 matches in all competitions, winning 170 (D90 L134), ending with a win percentage of 41.9%. 

  "We want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Jim for his passion and dedication to this club over the last 10 seasons," sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement.

  "He greatly contributed to the success the club has achieved in recent years and for that, we are extremely grateful.

  "We thank Jim for the significant impact he made both on the field and in the community. Following the 2024 season, we recognise the need for change.

  "We'll continue to evaluate our sporting strategy and make the necessary changes this offseason to best set the team up for success."

  In the Western Conference, the San Jose Earthquakes named Bruce Arena as their new head coach and sporting director after a poor 2024 season. 

  They conceded an MLS-record 78 goals and finished bottom of the overall league standings, parting ways with Luchi Gonzalez before being led by interim coach Ian Russell.

  Arena takes charge of his fifth club in the MLS and his first since resigning from his position with the New England Revolution in 2023. 

  The 73-year-old is the most accomplished coach in MLS history, leading the league in regular-season wins (262) and Audi MLS Cup Playoffs victories (35).

  Additionally, Arena led the United States at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and won three CONCACAF Gold Cup titles.

  "I am extremely excited for the opportunity to come to San Jose," said Arena.

  "I coached my first ever professional game at Spartan Stadium in 1996 – the first game in MLS history – and my first international game with the U.S. in 1998 was in San Jose.

  "The Earthquakes and Northern California have a proud soccer tradition.

  "There’s a lot of potential with the club, and I am looking forward to working with everyone here to unlock that potential and get back to winning ways."

• England handed World Cup final reunion with Spain in Women's Nations League

  England will face a re-run of the Women's 2023 World Cup final after being drawn in the same group as Spain in the 2025 Women's Nations League. 

  Sarina Wiegman's side will face the world and Nations League champions for the first time since the August 2023 World Cup final, where they lost 1-0 in Australia. 

  The Lionesses are joined in Group A3 by Belgium, who stunned England in the previous edition of the tournament with a 3-2 win in Leuven last October, and Portugal.

  During the October international break, England were beaten 4-3 by Germany, but responded with a 2-1 triumph over South Africa. 

  They face Emma Hayes' United States at Wembley in an international friendly at the end of this month before taking on Switzerland in December before the tournament starts. 

  “It’s an exciting draw. We have Spain – a top, world-class team – which I think is exciting because it’s another opportunity to play at that level," Wiegman said. 

  “It’s really good that we play Belgium because in the last Nations League we lost when we played them away, and we really underperformed.

  "We can prove to ourselves now that we can do much better than that in the two games. I’m happy with that one, they’re tough.

  “Portugal are a very talented team. We played them before we went to the World Cup, and we drew with them.

  "We had a lot of the ball, but we couldn’t score, and they were very dangerous on the counter-attack. They have a lot of technical players.

  “There are different opponents, and I’m really looking forward to it because we’ll be challenged in different areas of the game. And of course we’ll give them challenges too.”

• Slot: Hard work got Liverpool to where they are this season

  Arne Slot believes hard work and intensity have been key to Liverpool's form ahead of their Premier League meeting with Aston Villa on Saturday.

  Slot has won 14 of his 16 matches in all competitions since taking charge at Anfield and, despite his magnificent start, he pointed out that it has not been easy.

  "You only look at results. Brighton was a difficult one on Saturday where we were 1-0 behind and had to fight really hard and that is what you saw," he told the Independent.

  "We have to work really hard with incredibly high intensity to win our games and that has a lot to do with teams who think Anfield is the best place to play, so every team we play against is at the top of their game. If you want to win you always have to be consistent in your intensity."

  Having taken over from Jurgen Klopp, it was understandable that expectations had lowered when Slot took over, but after a stellar start to the season, Slot said he was unconcerned by the pressure.

  "I think if you work at any club around the world there is always pressure. For some managers it is not to go down, for some they have to win a lot,” he added.

  "In our position, there is always pressure and that is the pressure we give ourselves."

  Villa, meanwhile, go into this game having lost back-to-back games against Tottenham in the Premier League and Club Brugge in the Champions League.

  A bizarre penalty conceded by Tyrone Mings provided the winner for the Belgian side on Wednesday, but Unai Emery was still pleased with the intensity his side showed.

  "The first half we played like we were planning... It was a mistake," Emery said after that game.

  "It is difficult and here it is not strange. You watched the match and [Villa] playing, they finished exhausted. It was not intensity, it was that the match changed completely after our mistake."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

  No player has been involved in more Premier League goals than Mohamed Salah (12) so far this season, with seven goals and five assists. He has also had the most touches in the opposition box this term (96), while of players to have had 20+ shots, no-one has hit a higher percentage of them on target (67% - 20/30).

  The Egyptian has scored in four of his last five appearances at Anfield in all competitions, while he was also credited with two assists in the 4-0 victory over Leverkusen last time out.

  Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

  Only Erling Haaland (16) has had more big chances than Ollie Watkins (14) in the Premier League this season.

  While Watkins has only scored five league goals, with four of those coming from the big chances, he is still Villa's top goalscorer.

  MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

  Liverpool have won five of their last six home games against Villa (D1), while the visitors have lost 16 of their last 18 Premier League away games against sides starting top of the table (D2).

  A large part of Liverpool's early-season success has come from their defence, with only Manchester City (32) facing fewer shots on target than them (34) in the league. Liverpool, meanwhile, have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League (six).

  Slot is also only the fifth manager to win eight of his first 10 Premier League matches in charge, with the club also unbeaten in their last seven (W5 D2) against Villa.

  Slot's side have won four and lost one of their five home games in the league this season, accruing the joint third-most points (12).

  However, Liverpool have conceded the first goal in their last two Premier League games but avoided defeat in both (2-2 v Arsenal, 2-1 v Brighton). Indeed, their win against Brighton was the 100th time they have come from behind to win a Premier League match, the third team to reach this milestone in the competition.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Liverpool – 61.8%

  Draw – 19.7%

  Aston Villa – 18.4%