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• Lee Carsley insists Harry Maguire's England omission not due to form

  Lee Carsley insists Harry Maguire's omission from his latest England squad is not due to form and he still has an important role to play for his country.

  Manchester United centre-back Maguire missed Euro 2024 for beaten finalists England due to injury but was involved for interim boss Carlsey's first squad since Gareth Southgate departed for the Nations League victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland last month.

  However, there was no place for the 31-year-old ahead of this month's Nations League double-header against Greece and the return clash with the Finnish.

  Maguire was the fifth-most utilised player for England under Southgate, with only Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Jordan Pickford and John Stones appearing more, and Carsley explained that the decision was just to take a look at other options.

  "It was a chance of having a look at other players. It's nothing to do with form. It's looking at the next two camps to look at other players," Carsley said.

  "The players left out all have a case but we saw the benefit in the last camp of the squad being fresh, feeling fresh and a lot of energy in it.

  "It's not just a copy and a paste, I want them to feel like they all have earned their place in the squad. People want to know where they stand long-term, I've told all the players this is a short-term situation.

  "Harry is a player I've worked with in the past. He was very positive in the conversation we have.

  "It was a case of talking to him about what my decision was, we have some really good centre-backs who we are keen to see play. Harry still has a really important part to play, not just in this squad but also in the campaign."

• Women's Super League Predictions: Man City and Arsenal big favourites on MD3

  As we gear up for matchday three in the Women's Super League, the chasing pack have an opportunity to make ground on Chelsea and Manchester United, who are both unbeaten so far.

  The Opta Supercomputer is here to give the inside track on whom the winners and losers may be as we look ahead to each match-up.

  Chelsea and United will not be in action due to fixture congestion as a result of the Blues' Women's Champions League fixture on Tuesday next week. This will therefore be an early chance for Manchester City, Tottenham, and Arsenal to make inroads.

  WSL history could be made this weekend too – if Jordan Nobbs laces up her boots and is selected for Aston Villa in their match away at Brighton, she will break the record for all-time appearances.

  If Nobbs is selected by new Villa boss Robert de Pauw, she will reach a staggering 193 appearances in the competition, 13 years and 175 days since she debuted in the WSL for Arsenal against Chelsea in April 2011.

  Stephanie Houghton (127) is the only player to have featured in more wins than Nobbs (124) and the Villa midfielder will be confident she can surpass the now-retired City defender this season.

  At the bottom of the table, newcomers Crystal Palace will want to banish the memory of their 7-0 drubbing by champions Chelsea and try and get their first points on the board.

  Everton, meanwhile, have been struck by misfortune, losing midfielder Aurora Galli and forward Inma Gabarro both to anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

  Let's check out the Opta supercomputer's match predictions.

  BRIGHTON V ASTON VILLA

  Kicking off the weekend's action, Brighton will welcome Aston Villa to the Broadfield Stadium in the only match on Saturday. Dario Vidosic's side have made an impressive start under the new manager, beating Everton 4-0 in their opening fixture and narrowly losing 1-0 to Man City last time out.

  Only City (31) have recorded more open play sequences of 10+ passes in the WSL this season than Brighton (28), who in their opening home match recorded their best-ever pass accuracy in a league match (87.8%) and their second-most passes ever in a game in the competition (550).

  However, despite Brighton's early good form, the Opta supercomputer has them at only 36.1% to get the home win and 26.2% for the draw. Villa have won just one of their last eight WSL matches (D3 L4), though the exception was a 1-0 away win at Brighton on the penultimate matchday of last season. The Opta Supercomputer is edging them ahead of the hosts to get the win, at 37.8%.

  De Pauw (D1 L1) will be looking to avoid becoming the second Villa manager to go winless across their first three games in the WSL after Gemma Davies (L3), who did so back in October 2020. Two of the Villans' previous three managers in the competition picked up their first away win at Brighton, though.

  MANCHESTER CITY V WEST HAM

  West Ham have had a difficult start to their campaign, only picking up one point so far, though that did come in dramatic fashion when they fought back to draw with Liverpool. They travel to the Joie Stadium to face a City team aiming to make it two wins from two home games.

  City are looking to go unbeaten across their opening three games of a WSL campaign for the eighth time (including the 2017 Spring Series) – prior to this season, only Chelsea (nine) and Arsenal (eight) had done so more times in the competition than the Citizens (seven).

  Opta's model predicts City to get the job done, giving them a huge 87.3% chance of victory. City have won 10 of their 11 WSL meetings with West Ham and half of those victories have come with them scoring at least four goals.

  The Opta model is damming of the Hammers' chances of getting the win, at 4.5%, and gives more chance of a draw, at 8.2%. West Ham are winless in their last six away games in the WSL (D1 L5) and could equal their longest-ever run without victory on the road in the competition.

  Both Khadija Shaw and Vivianne Miedema have opened up their accounts for the season and West Ham should be wary of the duo.

  Shaw has scored 13 goals in her 11 WSL appearances so far in 2024, currently the best goals per game rate (1.18) by a player in a single calendar year in the competition's history (minimum three appearances).

  ARSENAL V EVERTON

  Arsenal will be aiming to avoid defeat in their opening three games of a WSL campaign for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, though they did fail to do so last season (W1 D1 L1).

  Everton will travel south with little hope of victory, and they are only given a 7% chance compared to Arsenal's 81.5%; at 11.4%, a draw also seems unlikely.

  The Toffees could break an unwanted record this weekend. Having lost both of their league games this season, should they suffer another defeat, then they will become the first team in WSL history to lose 100 games.

  The Gunners started the season as expected in a tight exchange with Man City on the opening day and then a slender away win at Leicester City.

  Jonas Eidevall has won 49 of his 68 matches in the WSL (D9 L10) and victory against Everton this weekend would make him the second-quickest manager to reach 50 wins (69 games), behind only his predecessor Joe Montemurro (66 games).

  One to watch in this match will be Frida Maanum, who has scored the opening goal in both of Arsenal's WSL games this season. She could become the first player to put the Gunners 1-0 up in three consecutive matches in the competition.

  TOTTENHAM V LIVERPOOL

  Tottenham have enjoyed a strong start to the season and sit third heading into the weekend. They welcome Liverpool to Brisbane Road - Matt Beard's side have yet to register a win so far.

  The Supercomputer calculates Spurs will continue their good form and snatch the win (40.3%) as opposed to a 33% chance of victory for the Reds, though a draw is also a likely outcome.

  Building on their form from last season, Spurs have scored a wealth of goals in the opening weeks. Only Chelsea (seven) have had more different goalscorers this season than Tottenham, with each of Spurs' six league goals coming via a different player.

  This will not be a walk in the park, though. Liverpool are unbeaten in their last six WSL games, last going longer without defeat in the league in September 2016 (eight). Only Man City (nine) are currently on a longer unbeaten run away from home than the Reds (six – W4 D2).

  LEICESTER CITY V CRYSTAL PALACE

  Amandine Miquel has had a mixed start to her tenure as Leicester boss. She is the Foxes' fifth manager in the WSL, but she could be the fourth to fail to win their first three games in charge, with Lydia Bedford in 2021-22 the only one to avoid that fate.

  Opta's model is backing Miquel to change the record, though, with a home win the result in 47.6% of the supercomputer's simulations, while the likelihood of a draw is 26.1% and Palace are given a 26.3% chance.

  Newly promoted Palace could be the fifth team to lose each of their first three games in the WSL but only the second to lose their first three matches in the competition without scoring a single goal, after Brighton in 2018-19. 

  Leicester, meanwhile, have won all four of their previous WSL games against newly promoted opposition, with Man Utd (10/10) the only other team to have a 100% record against such teams.

  Leicester forward Jutta Rantala was directly involved in five goals in two appearances against newly promoted opposition last season, scoring twice and assisting once away to Bristol City in October and scoring and assisting at home to the Robins in February. She will fancy her chances against a Palace side that conceded seven goals last time out.

• O'Neil hoping for Wolves lift-off at Brentford

  Gary O'Neil believes one victory is all it will take to provide lift-off for Wolves' season, as the Premier League's bottom side prepare to visit Brentford on Saturday.

  Wolves have taken just one point from their first six matches of the season, having last failed to win any of their first seven games of a top-flight campaign when they finished bottom in 2003-04.

  They fell to a 2-1 defeat to leaders Liverpool at Molineux last week and have also faced Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Aston Villa in a daunting start to 2024-25.

  O'Neil believes their performances have warranted better results and insists his team retain the backing of supporters, saying: "The lads always show that they're not a group that can't bounce back. 

  "When we lost to Arsenal, we went full throttle against Chelsea. Then we went full throttle against Newcastle and we suffered a late defeat. We go to Aston Villa, and we go again.

  "We're ready to go again and that will always be the case. Everyone in this football club is doing absolutely everything they can, myself included. I'm really disappointed for the lads because they deserve something to show for their efforts at this moment.

  "We just need to find a way to get that first win on the board, then we'll be able to push off."

   

  Brentford, meanwhile, sit 12th in the table with seven points, after drawing 1-1 with West Ham last time out. 

  Goalkeeper Mark Flekken has made a solid start to 2024-25 after initially struggling to adapt to the Premier League when first joining the Bees last year.

  Speaking to the club's official website about his upturn, the former Freiburg man said it was his goal to become a player coach Thomas Frank could always depend on.

  "I want to put in the same performances that I did during the second half of last season, but over the full year," Flekken said.

  "I'm not the person that seeks out to be decisive in a game; if the boys keep everything away from me, that's better. I want to save those one, two, three shots on target where the team needs me. That is my goal, to be that person they can rely on."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Brentford – Bryan Mbeumo 

  Mbeumo's goal against West Ham last time out was his 48th Premier League goal involvement (27 goals, 21 assists), the outright most of any Brentford player. 

  The Cameroonian is looking to score in three consecutive league games for the first time since December 2019 (a run of four in the Championship).

  Wolves – Matheus Cunha

  So much of Wolves' attacking play goes through Cunha, and the Brazilian will have a pivotal role to play if they are to get up and running here. 

  He has had more shots (16), created more chances (nine), had more touches in the opposition box (25) and played more passes into the box (30) than any other Wolves player in the Premier League this season.

   

  MATCH PREDICTION – BRENTFORD WIN

  Brentford won 2-0 at Wolves in February, with the Bees last winning consecutive league games against them in the 2015-16 Championship campaign.

  But Wolves have a strong record in West London, going unbeaten through their last five away league games against Brentford (three wins, two draws), winning two of their three visits in the Premier League including a 4-1 triumph last December.

  O'Neil's men have also won three of their last four Premier League away games against London sides, as many as they had in their previous 21 such visits (four draws, 14 losses), though they did lose on their only visit to the capital so far this season (0-2 at Arsenal).

  Wolves have, however, conceded 16 goals from just 9.8 expected goals against (xGA) in the Premier League this season, the worst such difference so far this term (-6.2). Brentford will hope their porous showings continue on Saturday.

  The Bees should be wary if they do hit the front though, having dropped a league-high 38 Premier League points from winning positions since the start of last season, including eight already in 2024-25.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Brentford – 47.4%

  Wolves – 27.9%

  Draw – 24.8%