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• Ronaldo 'entitled to his opinion', says Ten Hag after Man United criticism

  Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has brushed aside Cristiano Ronaldo's latest comments as he continues to block out the criticism surrounding his tenure. 

  Ronaldo, who recently surpassed 900 career goals during the international break, returned to Old Trafford in 2021 for a second stint at the club he made his name at. 

  The Portugal international netted 27 goals in 55 appearances in all competitions across one and a half seasons but fell out of favour under Ten Hag before joining Al Nassr in December 2022.

  During the 2021-22 season, no one registered more goal contributions in the Premier League for United than Ronaldo (21, 18 goals and three assists), while he also produced an expected goals tally (xG) of 17.75, also the highest in the Red Devils squad. 

  And speaking to former United team-mate Rio Ferdinand on a podcast, Ronaldo said Ten Hag had been wrong to say in a pre-season interview that the club were "a long way away" from winning the Premier League. 

  When questioned about the veteran forward's comments, Ten Hag said: "No, he said this, if you read the article very well.

  "He is entitled to his opinion. It's OK. He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester."

  United headed into the international break off the back of successive defeats in the Premier League, the latest coming in a 3-0 humbling against arch rivals Liverpool. 

  The Red Devils have now lost as many as two of their first three league games in a season for the second time under the Dutchman's tenure (also 2022-23). 

  They last lost three of their first four back in 1986-87, when Ron Atkinson was sacked and replaced by Sir Alex Ferguson. 

  While United are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League away games against the Saints, the encounter at St. Mary's seems a seismic one for Ten Hag's future at the club.

  The two-week break since the Liverpool defeat has seen Ten Hag's future widely discussed, but the Dutchman insisted that the outside noise did not bother him. 

  "It doesn't impact me. I know where we are in the process and what we have to do and where we are going," Ten Hag said.

  "I have said before we are still in a transition period.

  "We have to integrate a lot of young players in the team and still have to deal with injuries and bring players back into the team.

  "Before anyone thinks about excuses, no, we have to win every game. I know that. The team knows that. It doesn't matter who is available."

• Gavi returns to Barcelona training after ACL injury

  Spain midfielder Gavi has returned to training with Barcelona almost 10 months after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

  Gavi underwent surgery after suffering the injury during Spain's Euro 2024 qualifying win over Georgia last November, causing him to miss the rest of the season.

  He also sat out Euro 2024 as La Roja won a record-breaking fourth continental crown, beating England 2-1 in the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

  On Thursday, Barcelona posted a video to social media of the 20-year-old training with his team-mates.

  However, he is not expected to make his return to competitive action just yet, with Barca's next match seeing them face Catalan rivals Girona on Sunday.

  Under new head coach Hansi Flick, the Blaugrana have made a perfect start to the season, with four wins from four games putting them top of LaLiga, four points ahead of defending champions Real Madrid. 

• Brighton boss Hurzeler predicts swift return for injured O'Riley

  Matt O'Riley is in good spirits and could come back "quite fast" as he recovers from ankle surgery, so says Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler.

  Brighton signed Denmark international O'Riley from Celtic last month, but the midfielder sustained an injury on his debut.

  O'Riley was on the end of a poor challenge from Crawley Town's Jay Williams, and subsequently had to undergo surgery.

  Ahead of Brighton's meeting with Ipswich Town on Saturday, Hurzeler said O'Riley could return ahead of schedule.

  "He's in very good spirits. He has a great character, a great attitude, so immediately after the surgery he was very, very positive," Hurzeler said of the 23-year-old.

  "He is around us in the training ground, he is doing his rehab already and I think he will be coming back quite fast."

  Brighton have made a strong start to the season, going unbeaten in their opening three Premier League matches.

   

  And for new boss Hurzeler, the international break provided an opportunity to reflect on the first weeks of the campaign.

  "For me it was time to reflect, to re-analyse the first few weeks," said the 31-year-old, who is the youngest coach in Premier League history.

  "I think it is very important to reflect on what is going good so far and where we can improve. That was the first thing I did.

  "The second thing was to plan the next phase and the next week because now we have a lot of games in the next period of time. We have a lot of home games so we want to use this chance.

  "For me it was more reflection and planning. Of course, I also had one or two minutes for myself."

  Brighton v Ipswich will be the 936th different fixture to be played in the Premier League. They met eight times in the top flight between 1979 and 1983 (four Ipswich wins, two Brighton wins, two draws), with the Tractor Boys winning 2-0 in the most recent thanks to goals from John Wark and Alan Brazil.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Brighton - Simon Adingra

  Excluding own goals, Adingra has scored five of Brighton's last eight Premier League goals against newly promoted opponents. This accounts for 71% of the Ivorian's Premier League goals (5/7).

  Ipswich Town - Leif Davis

  Davis was a star for Ipswich in the Championship last season, and he leads the way for the Tractor Boys for chances created (three).

  That being said, he will be tested defensively on Saturday, with Yankuba Minteh likely to start down Brighton's right flank.

  MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN

  Ipswich have had the fewest shots (19), shots on target (seven) and the lowest expected goals total (1.2) of any side in the Premier League so far this season. 

  And in a run stretching back to March 2002, Ipswich have lost each of their last five Premier League away games by an aggregate score of 18-3. They are winless in their last eight on the road in the top-flight (D1 L7) since a 2-1 win at Everton in February 2002.

  Meanwhile, Brighton have won six of their last eight Premier League matches in September (D1 L1), scoring 3+ goals in each of their last four such victories. However, their last September match ended in a 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

  Brighton have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League home games against promoted sides (W5 D7), going down 1-0 against Fulham in February 2023.

  Ipswich have won two of their last four away league games against Brighton (D1 L1), with those wins coming in March 2014 (2-0) and December 2015 (1-0). They had been winless in their previous eight league visits to the Seagulls before this (D5 L3).

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Brighton - 65.7%

  Ipswich - 15.3%

  Draw - 19%