Brentford boss Thomas Frank has backed Phil Foden as the England player most likely to be crowned Ballon d’Or winner.
The 23-year-old scored a hat-trick in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Brentford earlier this month and the Bees manager was wary of a repeat showing ahead of Tuesday’s meeting between the sides at the Etihad Stadium.
Brentford were the last team to beat the defending Premier League champions at their Etihad home, Ivan Toney scoring the late winner in a 2-1 triumph in November 2022.
And they briefly led Pep Guardiola’s side again at the Gtech Stadium 14 days ago before Foden took over to steal the show with three well-taken strikes.
With 15 goals in 35 games so far in all competitions Foden is one short of his best scoring season for City and has featured in all but one of their league games this term.
“He’s a very good player,” said Frank, whose team have lost eight of their last 10 in the league and are 14th, six points above the bottom three.
“For me, he’s the closest England get to potentially having a Ballon d’Or winner in the future. I think he’s got that potential, that level.
“I think he influences the game in so many ways. Last game he got on the end of three situations, scored three goals. He’s very good dribbling, he’s very good sliding people in, works very hard.
“He seems to have a good mentality. I don’t know him personally, but he looks form the outside to have a very good mentality in terms of working hard.
“He is very good, but there are so many good players; (Kevin) De Bruyne, (Erling) Haaland, Rodri, (Jeremy) Doku, (Julian) Alvarez. The whole team.”
Frank predicted his team would need to play “almost the perfect game” if they are to match the heroics of last season – when they also defeated City at home on the final day – but fretted they have been defensively more porous than he would have liked this campaign.
“In general we’re good defensively, don’t give much away,” he said. “But this season we’ve been giving more away than usual. That’s something we’re trying to adjust.”
The meeting on February 5 was marred by a spat between Neal Maupay and City’s Kyle Walker, with the Brentford striker allegedly making personal remarks about the defender’s family.
In an interview with The Times on Sunday, Maupay said he did not believe that his actions had crossed a line.
Frank came to the defence of his player, who has scored five times in his last seven appearances in all competitions.
“All players are different, what gets them to tick, what they think is important for them to perform,” he said. “That I always respect.
“In terms of winding players up, it’s part of the game. It’s a fine line not to cross. If he does that or not, I don’t know. As far as I know Neal is a good guy, a good teammate and he’s very good for us.”
Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario sidelined with broken ankle
Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is set for a spell on the sidelines after fracturing his right ankle, the club have confirmed.
Vicario produced a couple of excellent saves to keep out Manchester City on Saturday, as Ange Postecoglou's Spurs claimed a stunning 4-0 victory over the champions at the Etihad Stadium.
However, the Italian needed treatment during the first half after colliding with Savinho, and it has now been revealed he played the final hour of the match with an ankle break.
The former Atalanta shot-stopper wrote on social media: "Sometimes football gives you its highs, and sometimes it challenges you in ways you don't expect.
"I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team.
"Unfortunately there was no way around this one. I needed surgery. I'm disappointed I won't be able to help the team for a while."
Tottenham did not put a timescale on Vicario's recovery in a statement of their own, saying: "We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario has undergone surgery for a fracture of his right ankle.
"Guglielmo will be assessed by our medical staff to determine when he can return to training. We're all behind you, Vic."
Bowen: Victory at Newcastle 'a really big turning point' for West Ham
Jarrod Bowen praised the manner of West Ham's victory at Newcastle United and believes it will act as "a really big turning point" in his side's campaign.
West Ham won 2-0 at St James' Park in Monday's Premier League contest thanks to goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The victory is just the Hammers' fourth in 12 league matches under Julen Lopetegui, who has seen his job as head coach called into question early in his tenure.
Bowen, who assisted Wan-Bissaka's goal, believes things are now starting to turn for his side after a slow start to the campaign.
Asked by Sky Sports if it could be a big win for Lopetegui, Bowen replied: "I think it is for everyone associated with the club. We've been disappointed with our start.
"We have to take responsibility and do our work. We haven't done that to a high enough ability this year. It was a real big moment and this is a really big turning point in our season.
"[Lopetegui] has come in with different ideas and playing from the back but also mixing it up as well.
"That's up to us to adapt too, and he has come in with fresh good ideas, especially for us attacking players. We are getting there."
Bowen overtook Paolo Di Canio with his 79th Premier League goal involvement for West Ham and is now behind only Michail Antonio (101) and Mark Noble (82).
Wan-Bissaka's strike early in the second half added to Soucek's 10th-minute opener, with that his fourth Premier League goal against Newcastle – against no team does he have a better record.
West Ham remain 14th in the league but are now just three points off the top-half places, with a home match against Arsenal next up on Saturday.
Lopetegui, who replaced David Moyes ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, was pleased with the win but believes there is more to come from his side.
"We are happy. I think that we played well," he told Sky Sports. "We played with one identity and we were able to overcome a very good team.
"They started well and it is always good to have more confidence. They had two chances and I think in the second half we did well and deserved to win.
"I am happy for the players, for the team and for the fans. They will have to drive a lot of miles so we are happy for them. We look forward to the next challenge. We are happy but we have a lot of work to do.
"We have to build as a team if we are to work and know what we want to do. I think about their play. That is the thing that we try to do.
"We have a lot of matches that we need to do and I believe in the future this team is going to be able to show the style as a team.
"The players believe and they are able to put in the focus every day. Each match is one incredible challenge in the Premier League."
Fonseca urges focus as Milan face bottom-placed Bratislava
Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca has urged his players not to underestimate the challenge posed by Slovan Bratislava in Tuesday's Champions League match, even though the Slovakian side are bottom of the standings after losing four straight games.
Slovan Bratislava have yet to earn a point and have a minus-13 goal difference, while Milan are 20th with six points and within the play-off section.
"Am I at risk of underestimating tomorrow’s match? I expect that won’t happen. Today we talked about the importance of winning tomorrow. We mustn’t look at their history," Fonseca told a press conference on Monday.
"We must think that tomorrow we are playing at their home. It will be important to have the right attitude."
Fonseca added that his side often perform better against teams that on paper appear stronger than them, such as their 3-1 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the previous Champions League matchweek.
"What I know is that against the big teams we have done well and that [we have] done less well against the small teams," Fonseca said.
"We work to be a team with the attitude and ambitions shown against the big teams. We work to always be the same team.
"The Champions League is the Champions League. Everyone likes to be in these games, the motivation is greater. I expect them to be able to play the Champions League tomorrow with this motivation."
Milan faced criticism following their dull 0-0 draw with Juventus at the weekend, with Fonseca admitting his side fell short of their best.
"We are aware of what we did well and what we did less well. We did several things less well," Fonseca said.
"The problem is that the dimension of things in Milan seems different to me: a draw with Juve for us is a defeat, for others a victory."
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