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• Alonso hopeful Leverkusen can bounce back despite short turnaround

  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."

• Hull City 0-2 Sheffield United: Hamer and McCallum goals send Blades third

  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.

   

   

• Vancouver Whitecaps v San Jose Earthquakes: Gauld not expecting easy game against struggling visitors

  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%