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• Marco Silva hails ‘quality’ of Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez

  Fulham boss Marco Silva talked up “quality” Chelsea midfield pair Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez ahead of the west London derby at Craven Cottage.

  Chelsea broke the British transfer record twice this year, signing Fernandez from Benfica for a reported £106.8million in January before beating Liverpool to confirm the transfer of Caicedo from Brighton for £115m in August.

  Silva spoke on how the pair’s price-tags reflect their ability and expects them to bring the fight to Harrison Reed and Joao Palhinha on Monday.

  “Enzo joined in January and Caicedo in the summer as well,” Silva said. “They’re quality. We are talking about two players they almost spent £250 million on.

  “This speaks about the quality and about how much they wanted them in their squad.

  “Plus (Conor) Gallagher in the midfield, they have the quality, the energy, they have the organisation to create a very good fight with our midfield line and I think it will be a very good fight because they have that quality.”

  Alex Iwobi’s second-half strike during Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third round 2-1 victory over Norwich was his first Fulham goal since his reported £22million move from Everton on deadline day.

  Silva, who also signed Iwobi as Everton manager in 2019, spoke on the Nigeria international’s versatility and what he offers to his squad.

  “It was very good (Iwobi’s performance against Norwich),” Silva added.

  “He’s a player I know really well, he knows the Premier League so well and he’s mature. He has the quality, can play in many different positions and is a player that will give us the quality that we need in certain parts of the game.

  “He provides that extra energy as well. It was good for him to score on his first game in a Fulham shirt and I want to see more of him.

  “He’s going to be a really important player for us and I am pleased for him for starting his first game.”

  From Chelsea’s starting XI during their 2-1 loss at Fulham in January, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah are the only remaining players at the club.

  Silva said: “They are different and we are different as well. I think the game is going to be completely different. We can have a look for some things, but it will be different. They have a different manager.”

• It is the food – Mikel Arteta suggests reason behind string of Basque coaches

  Mikel Arteta believes Basque food is the secret behind the success of a string of managers from the region.

  The Arsenal manager is one of a number of coaches born in the area of northern Spain to make a name for himself on the touchline.

  He will come up against another on Saturday in the shape of Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, a former childhood team-mate of Arteta.

  Aston Villa’s Unai Emery was also born in the Basque Country – as were Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and former Wolves, Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui.

  Now Arteta has discussed why he feels such a small area is responsible for creating such success.

  “The food! We have the best food in the world. The best restaurants by square metre, the most beautiful city,” he said.

  “It has to be linked to that — what we eat, the way we live. The quality of life in our city is incredible. I think it is related to our roots. The education, the passion about the game. You breathe it within the city. You breathe it everywhere you go.

  “We played on the beach. You go there on a Saturday or Sunday and there are 300 kids playing on the beach.

  “You sense that in the city. It is not just about now, because in the past they always produced coaches and good players. Somebody is doing the right thing.

  “When I said the food I was not joking. It is the way they look after the city. The education, the people.

  “Finding the quality and I am really really proud that I see a lot of people — not only in sport, in other industries as well — that manage to get out and promote our city in the right way.

  “I think it’s the education that we get. It’s the level of coaching that we get, they really take care of the academy.

  “You have seen Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Eibar all those teams do great work to raise talent and it’s not a coincidence that a lot of players have come through there.”

  While Arteta and Iraola go way back, the Arsenal boss insists there will be no room for niceties come 3pm on Saturday.

  “Very easy. You are in winning mode,” he replied when asked how easy it will be to put aside their friendship at the Vitality Stadium.

  “Get the best for your team and get in the battle. Before and after is a different story, especially after, but during there is nothing there.

  “He was really excited to come. He was really complimentary about the club and the support he was getting with players and staff. He was happy to be part of the league.

  “We know each other really well. We played together, we had fantastic times together. We played together in Antiguoko, which is a team in San Sebastian – that’s the beauty of football that 30 years later we are here together in the Premier League as managers. I’m really happy for that.”

• Sheffield Wednesday hit a new low as Sunderland ease to victory at Hillsborough

  Sheffield Wednesday have now made the joint-worst start after nine games in Championship history after Sunderland beat them 3-0 at Hillsborough on Friday night.

  A Dan Ballard header and two Jack Clarke goals, one a penalty, had the Black Cats in cruise control before half-time.

  Wednesday are a club in disarray off the field, with chairman Dejphon Chansiri releasing a statement earlier in the day stating he would be putting no additional money into the club.

  Owls boss Xisco Munoz made two changes to the team that lost 3-0 at Swansea, with George Byers and Callum Paterson joining the starting XI.

  Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray made just the one switch after the 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff, with Patrick Roberts coming in for Abdoullah Ba.

  The first two chances of the game brought goals for the away side.

  First, Ballard rose highest to meet Alex Pritchard’s corner after five minutes and just three minutes later Sunderland doubled their advantage when Clarke drove towards goal from the left and arrowed a beauty into the bottom corner.

  On-loan Wednesday man John Buckley had a go from outside the box but his effort was put past the post by goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, then Anthony Musaba chanced his arm moments later but saw his curling attempt fly over the bar.

  The third goal came in the 31st minute after Bambo Diaby brought down Mason Burstow in the box. Clarke stepped up to send Devis Vasquez the wrong way – it was the Championship top scorer’s second of the night and seventh of the season, six of them coming away from the Stadium of Light.

  Home fans who had not already headed for the exits chanted for both manager and chairman to leave the club.

  In the second half, Pol Valentin made a mazy run down the right-hand side and his cross found Paterson, who saw his shot saved by keeper Patterson.

  Jobe Bellingham nearly made it four but his effort from distance went just wide.

  Despite bringing on forwards Ashley Fletcher and Djeidi Gassama in the closing stages, Sunderland comfortably dealt with the majority of Wednesday’s attacks for the remainder of the game, having done the damage in the first 30 minutes.

  The result lifts the Wearsiders to fourth ahead of Saturday’s fixtures, while Wednesday remain bottom, with just two points from their opening nine games.