Massimiliano Allegri claims Sunday's Serie A clash between Juventus and Milan is more important for the Rossoneri despite him overseeing a miserable start to 2021-22.
Allegri is three league matches into his second spell in Turin but there has been no sign of a honeymoon period, with Juve yet to win any of those matches.
They relieved a hint of pressure with a 3-0 Champions League win on Tuesday, though the good will from that victory will only last so long given it was against Malmo.
Failure to get off the mark on Sunday will leave Juve winless across their first four Serie A matches in a single season for only the fourth time, the most recent occasion being in 1961-62.
By contrast, Milan – who this season are in the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14 – have won all three of their Serie A games in 2021-22, with Stefano Pioli's men second only to Roma on goal difference.
Despite their differing starts to the season, Allegri insists Sunday's encounter is a bigger deal for Milan than Juve, and he also wanted to stress there is no reason to panic for their title hopes if Pioli's side do leave with a positive result.
"Tomorrow's game is more important for them than for us," Allegri told reporters, though he would not openly elaborate on why he felt this way. "That's what you have to say, otherwise I will help you too much."
On the title race, he added: "I believe there is no team that can crush the championship. Maybe I'm wrong.
"You can lose points, but you can also quickly recover them. We must not think that if we lose then we will be 11 points behind, we have to work thinking about making up for the ground that we lost at the beginning.
"I have always said that, the championships are won against the smaller teams. We don't know what tomorrow's result will be because the devil invented football: you can play well and still maybe you lose or draw.
"It's not that before Malmo we had become poor drunks and now we are phenomenal again. We need balance. You have to work and have the ambition to win.
"I have to be a coach, because the team goes out on the pitch, but I also have to hammer on the psychological aspect because Juve is a team that has to play not to win games, but to win championships.
"Everyone wins matches, all teams, but the championship will only be won by one. In the end, the team that was the best will win the championship."
Allegri's return after two years away understandably conjured up memories of Juventus' remarkable streak of nine successive Scudetti, with the 54-year-old in charge for five of them.
But he feels comparisons between the two distinctly different teams and eras are unhelpful.
"I have found a Juventus with different players," he continued. "We must not think of comparing Juve today with what it was in the past.
"This team has its own identity as well as individual characteristics of the players. You need to become a team by improving many things, in terms of personality, technique and patience in playing. But it's just a different Juve."
In a potential blow for Juve, Allegri confirmed Federico Chiesa is a doubt for Sunday's game.
The Italy international has been involved in six goals against Milan in Serie A, a haul he has bettered against no other team.
He also scored his only brace with Juventus in the Italian top-flight against the Rossoneri in January.
TTFA to intensify search for new Soca Warriors Head coach
President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) Kieron Edwards, is optimistic that they will attract some high-quality candidates for the senior Soca Warriors head coach post, with hopes of securing qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Edwards, who along with his administration were heavily criticised for cutting former head coach Angus Eve without a suitable replacement, shared his optimism as he revealed that invitations to select the new coach will go out this week.
The Soca Warriors, currently being led by Derek King on an interim basis, closed the recent Concacaf Nations League window with a 0-4 loss to Honduras and a goalless stalemate with French Guiana, which left them at the foot of Group B in League A and facing relegation to League B. They now face a must-win scenario in their next two fixtures in October to survive.
However, Trinidad and Tobago remain alive in the World Cup qualifiers, which resume next year, as they sit second in Group B on four points, two points behind Costa Rica.
Edwards said the process of selecting the new coach has been delayed a bit, but they remain firm that the suitable candidate must meet the requirements outlined to secure the necessary results and, by extension, World Cup qualification.
“We recognise the importance of having a clear pathway for qualification, which requires the full support of the government, private sector, and citizens,” TTFA said in a recent release.
When asked if the decision to send out the invitation was due to the Soca Warriors loss to Honduras, Edwards said that result was expected.
“I know we hardly have time, but we cannot rush the process. We know that the toughest game in the group would have been against Honduras, and what they told me is that they would have planned for that result,” Edwards explained.
Still, Edwards is hoping to receive applications from quality coaches to change things. It is reported that former Soca Warriors striker turn coach Dwight Yorke and former United States coach Gregg Berhalter were interested in the job.
The Numbers Game: Can Arsenal handle Rice absence in derby clash with Tottenham?
The Premier League is back following the first international break of the season, and Sunday's headline fixture looks to be worth the wait as Tottenham host Arsenal.
The first North London Derby of the campaign comes after disappointing results for both sides on matchday three, with Arsenal losing early ground on Manchester City and Liverpool as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton.
Ange Postecoglou's Spurs, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 at Newcastle United, leaving them three points behind their rivals in the early-season standings.
What can we expect as these North London heavyweights go head-to-head for local bragging rights at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium?
By diving into the Opta data, we can bring you all the best pre-match facts, figures and storylines.
What's expected?
Arsenal have had the upper hand in the North London Derbies of late, and the Opta supercomputer makes them slight favourites despite the absence of home advantage.
They were victorious in 40% of the supercomputer's 10,000 pre-match simulations, with Tottenham triumphing in 34.1% and the remaining 26% finishing all square.
Arsenal have won their last two Premier League away games against Tottenham, as many as in their previous 17 such visits (six draws and nine defeats). They last won three consecutive away North London Derbies between January 1987 and September 1988.
Draws have been a rarity at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has seen the lowest percentage of draws (9%, 9/101) of any ground in Premier League history, so perhaps we should not expect the spoils to be shared.
When will Tottenham stop being Spursy?
The adjective 'Spursy' is not one any team wishes to be tagged with, coming to denote a side that flatters to deceive and ultimately falls short of expectations.
Postecoglou has made no secret of his desire to cast that perception aside and make Tottenham true contenders, but their start to 2024-25 has thrown up several familiar themes.
Spurs were utterly dominant on matchday one but could not hold onto a 1-0 lead at newly promoted Leicester City, starting their second straight season under Postecoglou with an underwhelming draw.
After routing hapless Everton, they were then beaten 2-1 at Newcastle despite firing off 20 shots to the hosts' nine, also enjoying 65.7% possession and playing almost as many passes in the final third (235) as Newcastle did overall (261). 'Spursy' indeed.
The North London Derby is a fixture in which Tottenham have struggled lately, losing five of their last seven Premier League meetings with Arsenal (one win and one draw).
That is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 16 against their rivals (six wins, six draws and four defeats).
These fixtures have so often been an acid test of Spurs' resilience, and they must improve their defending for a matchup that has not featured many clean sheets lately.
Arsenal versus Tottenham has seen both teams score more often than any other fixture in Premier League history (43 times), while it is also the fixture to see the team who scored first fail to win more often than any other (29 times, 19 draws and 10 losses).
Can Gunners replace Rice?
There was much for Mikel Arteta to be frustrated about as Arsenal dropped their first points of the campaign last time out, squandering a 1-0 lead in a 1-1 draw with Brighton.
But it could be that the sending-off of Rice, who received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away early in the second half, proves more of an inconvenience than the result.
The first red card of Rice's Premier League career – coming on his 245th appearance in the competition – has handed Arteta a major selection dilemma in the engine room.
Rice started 37 of the Gunners' 38 Premier League games last season, appearing as a substitute in the other. It is often said that availability is the best ability, and Rice's 3,230 Premier League minutes in 2023-24 were only bettered by eight other outfielders – team-mate William Saliba (with a full 3,420) among them.
With Rice patrolling the midfield, Arsenal were a picture of control last season, giving up the joint-fourth fewest fast breaks in the Premier League (23) and the joint-fifth fewest shots from fast breaks (20).
Thomas Partey and Jorginho, the men likely to be tasked with holding the fort, will come up against a Spurs side with plenty of pace in transition, and the likes of Son Heung-min, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson will be desperate to exploit his absence.
Tottenham scored three goals from 25 fast breaks in Premier League action last term, finding the net every 8.3 fast breaks on average – only eight teams netted from such situations at a greater frequency.
Rice did much to help Arsenal build the Premier League's most fearsome defence last term, and they approach Sunday's game with eight shutout victories in their last 10 away league games (nine wins, one draw).
Elsewhere, captain Martin Odegaard is a doubt after sustaining an injury on international duty with Norway, with their absences potentially handing Spurs a golden opportunity.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tottenham – Son Heung-min
Tottenham skipper Son has scored eight goals against Arsenal in all competitions. In the history of the fixture, only Harry Kane (14), Emmanuel Adebayor (10) and Bobby Smith (10) have netted more North London Derby goals than the South Korean.
Seven of Son's North London Derby goals have come in the Premier League, with no other current Spurs player boasting more than two strikes against the Gunners in the competition.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka scored home and away goals against Tottenham in the Premier League last season. The only previous Arsenal players to score in three or more consecutive North London Derby appearances in the competition are Emmanuel Adebayor (five between 2006 and 2008) and Robert Pires (four between 2002 and 2004).
Saka has also been involved in more attacking sequences than any other Arsenal player in the Premier League this term (22 – 10 shots, seven chances created and five build-up involvements), scoring once against Wolves on matchday one.
FC Cincinnati v Columbus Crew: Nancy calls for change after goalkeeper fiasco
Wilfried Nancy has called for cohesion and understanding from MLS decision-makers after the Columbus Crew were forced to play with midfielder Sean Zawadzki in goal in their 4-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders.
Abraham Romero saw red at the end of the first half, and with both Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen away on international duty, Zawadzki found himself wearing the gloves.
Romero was the Crew’s only goalkeeper in the matchday squad as players from Columbus’ reserve side can only be called up four times before signing a professional contract.
Nancy asked MLS to allow an additional call-up for a backup goalkeeper but that request was rejected, leaving the Crew head coach furious at the full-time whistle.
“We are at 39 matches played,” Nancy said. “We were mandated to have three goalkeepers on the teamsheet. This is what we did. We had to use a call-up for a friendly game against Aston Villa.
“Why I'm not happy before the game and all the week it happened, I was not happy about that because there is a rule, as you know, we can use only four times, four call-ups [for] one player from the reserve team who has a contract.
“You know the issue that we had with the goalkeepers with Evan Bush. We tried to anticipate, adding a fourth goalkeeper, knowing that we could have a situation like this.
“When we asked before the game to have another call-up for our goalkeeper for the reserve team, they said no, knowing that this game [against] Seattle we were supposed to play in [May].”
Cincinnati, meanwhile, bounced back from their defeat to Inter Miami in style, comfortably dispatching CF Montreal 4-1 at the TQL Stadium last time out.
Pat Noonan’s side know the magnitude of their encounter this weekend, as a defeat would allow their opponents to leapfrog them in the Eastern Conference standings into second, with the Crew also having a game in hand.
While the pressure is seemingly on the hosts, Noonan is relishing the challenge of facing the Leagues Cup winners on home soil.
“Really pleased with the response from the last performance and just the overall play from our guys,” Noonan said.
“I thought on both sides of the ball they were outstanding – maybe a little bit fortunate on some of those goals – but I am very pleased with the outcome and how the guys stepped up.”
“We know the challenges that'll be ahead of us. The group can go win a game, it'll be a challenging match, but one that you have to be excited about.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Acosta has scored five times for FC Cincinnati against the Crew, tied for the most goals scored by a Cincinnati player against any opponent in MLS play.
The Argentine has also netted five goals against Toronto FC, with Brandon Vazquez also striking five times against Inter Miami.
Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi
With Columbus’ array of attacking options, Rossi has been the standout, registering 19 goals and eight assists in all competitions, netting six times in their Leagues Cup success.
But across his two spells in MLS with the Crew and Los Angeles FC, the Uruguayan has failed to score against five opponents, with Cincinnati being one of them.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN
After starting the season winless in four on the road (D3, L1), Columbus have won seven of their last nine regular-season away games (L2). The seven away victories are the most the Crew have ever recorded in a single regular season.
However, they come into the encounter off the back of a 4-0 loss to the Sounders, their heaviest defeat since 2018. The Crew also have not lost consecutive matches in all competitions since a three-match losing streak last May.
Cincinnati also boast an impressive home record against this weekend’s opponents. They are unbeaten in five straight regular-season matches on home soil against the Crew (W2 D3) but did lose last season’s Eastern Conference Final at TQL Stadium.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Cincinnati – 29.4%
Draw – 24.7%
Columbus Crew – 45.9%
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