Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool’s players have created a “safe place” for Luis Diaz in the days since his father was kidnapped in Colombia.

The 26-year-old came off the bench in the 83rd minute of the team’s 1-1 draw with Luton on Sunday and scored a dramatic equaliser deep into added time.

It was his first appearance since his father, Luis Manuel Diaz, was abducted in the town of Barrancas on October 28.

The striker was absent for Liverpool’s wins over Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth but marked a sensational return to action by heading in Harvey Elliott’s cross five minutes into stoppage time at Kenilworth Road.

The group responsible for the abduction, the National Liberation Army, has asked for “security guarantees” in exchange for his father’s release.

Following the game against Luton, Van Dijk said: “He’s been training with us, knowing that it’s so fresh, what’s going on. He feels like being with us is a safe place, so it helps him.

“We’re here for him. We mentioned it last week, it’s an absolutely horrible situation. Hopefully there will be a solution. We’ll be here for him and everybody should support him. Hopefully it will be sorted as soon as possible.”

Liverpool had looked set to fall to a shock defeat before Diaz’s late intervention, falling behind 10 minutes from time to a goal by Luton substitute Tahith Chong.

“He’s still disappointed because he also wanted to win,” said Van Dijk. “There’s a lot of emotions in his head. It must have been (meant to be) that he should have scored. I’m happy for him, but hopefully we can get his father back as soon as possible.

“You can’t imagine it, that’s the scary part. The only thing we can do is hope they will find him safe and sound and they get him back to his family.

“When it happened it was a shock to everyone. We spoke about it and it should give us extra motivation. He doesn’t want us to suffer from what he’s going through, he wants us to take fuel from it.”

In front of a raucous home support, the visitors struggled to break down Luton for long periods as they sought the win that would have put them second in the Premier League.

Darwin Nunez in particular was guilty of wasteful finishing when chances came, hitting the bar in the first half before conspiring to balloon an effort over from three yards out after the break.

“I don’t think it was down to the atmosphere,” said Van Dijk. “We had the first chance after half-an-hour. Score that one and it’s a completely different game.

“We didn’t and then they need one opportunity. Their results here this season have been very small margins. That’s down to how they play, they defend compact and solid.

“I respect that, but we could have made it a lot easier.”

Erling Haaland has eased fears over his fitness by training ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League clash with Young Boys.

The prolific Norway striker has been a doubt for the Group G clash at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday after twisting his ankle against Bournemouth at the weekend.

Haaland, who has scored 13 goals this season, showed no obvious sign of discomfort as he participated in a training session open to media on Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the day manager Pep Guardiola had said the 23-year-old would be given every opportunity to prove his fitness and that Sunday’s trip to Chelsea would not influence his thinking.

“Yesterday he told me he felt much better than the day of the game but I don’t know,” said Guardiola at a press conference.

“I will listen to the doctors and himself. If he says he is ready and does not have pain I will consider to let him to play because from Tuesday to Sunday there’s a lot of days to recover.”

After winning their opening three games in the competition, Champions League holders City can secure their place in the last-16 with a second victory over the Swiss champions following their 3-1 success in Bern last month.

“Tomorrow we have to try to do it, to finish it,” Guardiola said. “There will be more opportunities, but we have the chance to finish and qualify for February, for the next stage, and it means a lot for the club.

“Being there is a success and every time we qualify is really good.”

Reaching the next stage at the earliest opportunity would potentially allow Guardiola to rotate his squad and prioritise the Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and Tottenham that sandwich their next European outing against RB Leipzig on November 28.

Guardiola, however, maintains there will be no easing up before top spot in the group has been finalised.

He said: “We are not (definitely) first. To try to be first, to have the chance to play the second game (of the last-16 tie) at home, that definitely is better.”

Guardiola, who was speaking to media to preview the Young Boys game, was also quizzed on the Premier League’s latest VAR controversy.

Arsenal branded the standard of officiating in the competition as “unacceptable” over the weekend after they lost to a contentious goal at Newcastle.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta had said the decision to allow Newcastle’s winner, after a triple VAR check, was an “absolute disgrace”.

Guardiola said: “The emotion after the game, it is difficult for the managers right after we finish, being here and talking about the feelings. It’s difficult to handle it.

“But I’m talking for myself. I’m not talking for Mikel or for any other manager.

“It’s so sensitive an issue right now. It’s difficult for the referees too, for everyone. Honestly I don’t have a clear opinion.”

Guardiola was joined for pre-match media duties by Rico Lewis.

The 18-year-old defender or midfielder was recently described by Guardiola as “one of the best” young players he has trained.

Lewis said: “It’s quite difficult to comprehend that someone like that would say something like that about myself. Obviously it’s an amazing comment, but I’ve got to carry on doing what I can do.”

Emile Heskey cannot choose between Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski, as he claimed there are "parallels" between the duo.

Kane scored a hat-trick – his third for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga – in a 4-0 rout of Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker on Saturday.

The England captain has now scored 15 league goals for Bayern, setting a new record for goals from a player in the first 10 games of their maiden Bundesliga season. He is only the fourth player to score at least three goals in three different games in his debut season in the Bundesliga.

Bayern had been in search of a focal point to lead their line since Robert Lewandowski's departure to Barcelona in 2022, with Sadio Mane having failed to fill the Poland forward's boots following his switch from Liverpool.

Asked if Kane has been the ideal replacement for Lewandowski, who holds the record for the number of Bundesliga goals from a foreign player (312), former England striker Heskey told Stats Perform: "They're similar sort of players. When you're when you're talking about goals, I think it's a parallel.

"You can't really say there's an upgrade or downgrade or whatever it is. They're parallel, they're giving you goals.

"They might give you a different style of play, though, because I think Lewandowski is more runs in behind, he's really, really special with his movement off the ball when trying to get in and trying to get a one on one.

"Whereas Harry is more of a player who will come in, link, turn, have his shot, score goals from halfway line."

Kane has also scored twice in three Champions League games. He is just two goals from surpassing Paul Scholes as the third-highest English goalscorer in the competition. 

Heskey is unsure if Kane will prove the "missing piece" for Bayern's Champions League hopes, though the 30-year-old will do their chances no harm.

He said: "He'll perform but yeah, definitely, when it comes to goals, he'll definitely perform in that sense. Whether he's the missing piece and will take you to the final and eventually win it, only God will know.

"But he will definitely get you goals in any form of competition that he plays in. I remember Owen Hargreaves talking about when he first went to [Manchester] City, and they were talking about them winning the Champions League, and he said they were miles off it.

"He was saying, well, defensively, you can't be so open.

"Now I think if Bayern can be like what they're usually like, when it's quite close, quite compact, it's hard to beat with a Kane up front. You're going to get goals, you're going to get results."

Barcelona can qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League when they face Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night but Xavi Hernandez had a warning for his players before their trip to Germany.

After two seasons in which they failed to progress beyond the group stages of Europe’s top competition, something once unthinkable for the Catalan giants, Barcelona can wrap up qualification with two games to spare when they face Shakhtar in Hamburg.

But while they have cruised through Group H campaign so far, scoring eight goals and conceding only once in three wins, Xavi was left angered by his side’s performance in a sluggish 1-0 win over Real Sociedad at the weekend.

The coach felt his side were still carrying something of a hangover from their 2-1 home defeat to Real Madrid, but said the lack of intensity was unacceptable – and something they could not afford to repeat.

“We cannot play this football,” he said. “We entered the match with zero intensity. If we play like this in the Champions League, we will not compete. The first half is completely unacceptable for us.

“Last week we deserved to win and we lost. This week we didn’t deserve to win but we did. That is football.”

Barca’s injury problems eased at the weekend, with Robert Lewandowski making his first start since September – lasting 57 minutes – and Pedri coming off the bench following a hamstring injury which has troubled him from the second week of the season.

Both players are still a way off full fitness, but their return was a significant boost for Xavi, with captain Sergi Roberto and midfielder Frenkie De Jong now the only players missing.

“Lewandowski is coming back from an injury and it’s hard for him to stay 100 per cent fit,” the coach said. “We have to manage injuries and substitutions well…

“The face of the team is going to change. (Pedri) came back well and this is great news for him and for the entire team.”

Barca had to work hard to secure a 2-1 win when these sides met last month, the first game in charge for new Shakhtar boss Marino Pusic, who was encouraged by how quickly his players had taken on the roles asked of them.

Pusic secured his first league win at the weekend with an encouraging 1-0 victory away to Dynamo Kiev, further reinforcing the progress he is making.

“At this moment we work very hard together to play the game like we want to play, to be dominant and have good ball possession,” he said. “I can only say that the players are responding very well to it and are working very hard.

“I am very satisfied with their efforts and the way they worked.

“It is very good. It is always a parallel process: You work with the players, you work with the team, but at the same time you also think about how to improve the team, make them bigger and stronger.”

The Football Association is seeking observations from Luton over chants heard at their match against Liverpool on Sunday which indirectly referenced the Hillsborough disaster.

The taunts were sung by some home fans during the second half of the 1-1 Premier League draw at Kenilworth Road, and the FA says it is now looking for information from Luton as well as further detail from the police.

“We strongly condemn chanting of this nature and will continue to work closely with our stakeholders across the game, including the clubs, leagues, fan groups and the relevant authorities to proactively address this issue,” an FA statement said.

Ninety-seven football fans died as a result of a crush at an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.

Only three schools from last year’s ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup quarterfinals are back at the same stage of this year’s competition after the Round of 16 came to an end on Saturday.

Defending champions Clarendon College, former winners Dinthill Tech and Manchester High are the only survivors, and they will be joined by Glenmuir High, Christiana High, BB Coke High, Cornwall College and Garvey Maceo High in the last eight.

Clarendon College’s perfect win record ended at 12 games after they were forced to come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Cornwall College at Glenmuir High.

Lincoln Cox, who failed to finish his team’s last two games, gave Cornwall College a first half lead but Kaheim Dixon’s late second half equalizer saw both teams share the points.

The point was enough for Clarendon College to win the group with seven points while Cornwall College got second place on goal-difference over STETHS who were held 0-0 by Mile Gully High in their game.

Both Cornwall College and STETHS finished on four points but Cornwall College had a plus one goal-difference to STETHS’ zero.

Glenmuir High edged Garvey Maceo High on goal-difference after both schools won on Saturday to finish with seven points each in Group 4.

Glenmuir High beat Frome Technical High 2-1 at Llandilo Sports Complex with goals from Kyle Gordon and Oneil Headley as Glenmuir High ended with a plus six goal-difference, two more than Garvey Maceo.

2021 champions Garvey Maceo comfortably defeated Port Antonio High 4-1 at Carder Park. Cleo Clarke scored a double in the 10^th and 31^st minutes with the other goals coming from Rakeesh Jones in the 46^th minute and Everald Swaby in the 52^nd minute.

Keroe George scored Port Antonio’s consolation goal in the 85^th minute.

BB Coke High, who was the only school to win all three Round of 16 games, overwhelmed Tacky High 4-0 at Drax Hall as Jahmaul Wright scored a double with Semar Williams and Sanjay Allen also scoring.

Manchester High rebounded from their first loss of the season to beat Happy Grove High 2-0 in Mandeville and get second place in Group 2.

Davonie Daley and Nickoy Henry scored for Christiana High in their 2-0 win over McGrath High to finish second in Group 3 to Dinthill Technical who were 2-1 winners over William Knibb Memorial in their weather affected game at Dinthill Technical.

Group A of the quarterfinal round will feature Christiana, Clarendon College, Glenmuir and Manchester while Group B will feature B.B. Coke, Cornwall College, Dinthill Technical and Garvey Maceo.

Play begins on Wednesday with Clarendon College playing Christiana at Manchester, Glenmuir hosting Manchester, B.B. Coke facing Garvey Maceo at STETHS and Dinthill Technical facing Cornwall College at the Ewarton Sports Complex.

Under-fire AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli has accepted responsibility for his team’s faltering form as the Rossoneri seek to revive their Champions League campaign against Paris St Germain.

Milan go in to the San Siro clash winless in four games and desperate to recover from the shock 1-0 Serie A home defeat to lowly Udinese.

Boos from disgruntled fans greeted the final whistle on Saturday with the setback coming after losing to Juventus and drawing with Napoli in the league, as well as being beaten 3-0 by PSG at the Parc des Princes two weeks ago.

“In times and situations such as these talk is cheap. It’s all about walking the walk,” Pioli said at his pre-match press conference for Tuesday’s PSG return.

“The club is really doing everything in its power to make sure I can work in the best possible conditions to provide a competitive team.

“If we have produced under-par displays recently then that’s on me, but I will focus on working hard and do everything to best prepare for the match.

“We disappointed our fans and ourselves on Saturday, that’s fairly clear. If they booed us it means we were pretty poor and we’re aware of that.

“But we have the opportunity to put things right and start playing like Milan again.”

Milan have not scored in three Champions League games this term and are bottom of Group F with two points at the halfway stage.

PSG top the section with six points, with Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle – who meet in Germany on Tuesday – both on four.

Pioli said: “We can no longer hope for other results to be positive for us. We need to start getting points ourselves.

“We need to stay very focused and switched on in both phases of the game, as PSG can hit you at any moment because of the pace and quality of their forwards.

“They are also a team that can allow you some space and we need to be more clinical when some of those situations arise, as they did in the first game.”

Former Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma returns to the San Siro for the first time since leaving for PSG in the summer of 2021.

Milan’s current number one Mike Maignan, the former PSG academy goalkeeper and France international, said: “We know he didn’t leave the club on good terms and our supporters are very passionate.

“I think it’s going to be a pretty tricky reception for Donnarumma, but he’s a world-class goalkeeper and he’s had a good start to the season.”

PSG have won five successive games since losing 4-1 in the Champions League to Newcastle on October 4, scoring three times on each occasion.

France forward Ousmane Dembele said: “It’s a great feeling. We’re getting to know each other better and better after playing three to four months together now.

“We’ve received a lot of instructions and tactical work from the coach (Luis Enrique), and we try to apply it in matches.

“We’ve prepared well for the big match in the Champions League.”

Christian Pulisic, Samuel Chukwueze and Theo Hernandez are all available after injury for Milan, while Marco Asensio again misses out for PSG.

Edin Terzic has warned Borussia Dortmund they will have to be even better than they were at St James’ Park if they are to complete a Champions League double over Newcastle.

Felix Nmecha’s goal secured a priceless 1-0 victory on Tyneside a fortnight ago to belatedly kickstart the Bundesliga side’s campaign, although they needed the help of goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and the woodwork to return to Germany with three points.

They will head into the return at the Signal Iduna Stadium still smarting from Saturday’s 4-0 drubbing by arch-rivals Bayern Munich, and with head coach Terzic expecting a Magpies backlash.

He said: “We need to improve because we know that they (Newcastle) are not happy with the way that they performed at St James’ Park and they will want to do much better tomorrow, so if they are going to do it better, we have to do it better.

“That’s something we have focused on, this is something we’re going to talk about with the team this afternoon, again to be ready for tomorrow, and then we’ve got to do everything to also use the chance to get a home win tomorrow and make a big step in the group.”

Victory against the Magpies eased Dortmund into second place in Group F, above Eddie Howe’s men – who also have four points from their first three fixtures – by virtue of their head-to-head record.

But Terzic, who has doubts over skipper Emre Can and defender Ramy Bensebaini, is acutely aware of the task facing his team, with Newcastle having edged past Arsenal 1-0 in a Premier League arm-wrestle on Saturday evening.

Asked if that served as a warning, he said: “To be honest, we don’t need a warning because of course we know the quality of Newcastle. We found out how good they are two weeks ago.

“Then they’ve had three games since, a draw against Wolves and in the cup they beat Manchester United and then they beat Arsenal at home, so we know their quality.

“We know they are not happy with the way they performed two weeks ago. They are not happy; we are not happy with how we performed last Saturday.

“We know that we have to be ready from the start and as you saw from the game two weeks ago, they had two great chances at the end of the game, so it means we need a good start, we need a good performance during the game, we need to stay focused until the end.”

Terzic was keen to draw a line under Saturday’s horror show against Bayern, who went 2-0 up within nine disastrous minutes as Dayot Upamecano and Harry Kane – who went on to score a hat-trick – struck at the Signal Iduna.

He said: “We were really honest in our analysis and then tried to take the lessons from that to look forward and to focus on the next task, which is tomorrow.

“Why we are confident is that we were already way better three days before the Bayern match (against Hoffenheim in the DFB Cup) and also two weeks ago in Newcastle. Now our focus is on the next task.”

The Champions League returns this week with England’s four clubs all hoping to make a big step towards the knock-out stages, while Celtic are in need of a spark to ignite their campaign.

Holders Manchester City can seal their place in the next round with a win, while Arsenal also top their group, but Newcastle and Manchester United have work to do.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the teams the British contenders face in the latest round of fixtures.

Manchester City v Young Boys (Tuesday)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BSC YOUNG BOYS (@bscyb_offiziell)

The Swiss Super League leaders will come to Manchester on Tuesday hoping for a night similar to the one they enjoyed on the other side of town back in December 2021. Having already beaten Manchester United 2-1 in Bern, Young Boys earned a point from a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford as Fabian Rieder cancelled out Mason Greenwood’s early goal.

The challenge at the Etihad is likely to be very different, however. City top Group G after opening up with three straight wins, the last of them a 3-1 victory over Young Boys in Bern, and can secure qualification with a win.

Young Boys, the reigning Swiss champions, are playing in the Champions League for the 10th time, and the first since the 2021-22 campaign, when they finished bottom in their group despite taking four points off United.

Since their last meeting with City, Young Boys have played three straight games away from home, and come into the match on the back of a 4-1 league win over Winterthur.

Borussia Dortmund v Newcastle (Tuesday)

Newcastle will travel to the famed Westfalenstadion level on points with Dortmund in the so-called ‘group of death’, Group F, and looking for revenge after losing the reverse fixture 1-0 at St James’ Park.

But Bayern Munich demonstrated it is far from an impenetrable fortress as recently as Saturday, and Dortmund, who have made it to the knock-out stages in eight of their 10 most recent Champions League campaigns, come into the game bruised from a 4-0 home hiding by their rivals.

But Dortmund, the 1997 European champions, are no pushovers in this competition, and have lost only two of their last 10 Champions League group-stage matches, winning four and drawing four.

However, they have struggled for goals in the competition this season, with Felix Nmecha’s goal in Newcastle the only one they have scored in their opening three games, having lost 2-0 to Paris St Germain and drawn 0-0 with AC Milan.

Atletico Madrid v Celtic (Tuesday)

In need of a win to have any chance of getting off the bottom of Group E, Celtic face a daunting trip to take on two-time Champions League runners-up Atletico Madrid.

Brendan Rodgers’ side managed to frustrate Atletico at Celtic Park in a 2-2 draw last month. That was the seventh time the two sides have met and the third draw, with Atletico having won the other four matches.

That result saw Diego Simeone’s men surrender top spot in the group to Feyenoord, having taken five points from their opening three fixtures but at least avoiding defeat up to this point.

They were not so lucky in LaLiga at the weekend as a 2-1 defeat at Las Palmas ended a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Copenhagen v Manchester United (Wednesday)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by F.C. København (@fc_kobenhavn)

United needed a stoppage-time penalty save from Andre Onana to preserve a 1-0 win when these two sides met at Old Trafford last month, a defeat which left Copenhagen bottom of the group with only one point from their opening three games.

Jacob Nestrup’s side have taken their frustrations out on the Danish Superliga, scoring nine goals in their three domestic games since to take nine points, the most recent win a 4-2 victory away to Randers, results that have kept them top of the table.

The Danish champions began their Champions League campaign in the second qualifying round, routing Iceland’s Breidablik 8-3 on aggregate, but had a harder time seeing off Sparta Prague and Polish champions Rakow Czestochowa on their way to the group stages.

United striker Ramus Hojlund, 20, could come up against 18-year-old twin brothers Oscar and Emil, both part of former club Copenhagen’s squad for the competition, with Oscar having appeared as a late substitute in Manchester.

Arsenal v Sevilla (Wednesday)

Arsenal’s 2-1 win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium last month kept Sevilla winless in Group B and in urgent need of points if they are to find a way through to the knock-out phases.

Sevilla drew their opening two fixtures. They led French side Lens 1-0 at home in their opener courtesy of Lucas Ocampos’ early strike, but had to settle for a point after Angelo Fulgini levelled.

They were pegged back once again in a dramatic conclusion to their trip to PSV Eindhoven, where they were 1-0 up and 2-1 ahead before Jordan Teze snatched a 2-2 draw deep into stoppage time.

Wins have been hard to come by and they have not enjoyed one in LaLiga in their last five, drawing four straight after losing at Barcelona, and that has seen them slip to 15th in the table.

Newcastle’s sporting director Dan Ashworth believes the club is on “an upward trajectory” as he revealed their aims for the next few years.

The Magpies continued to show their strength competing in the Premier League’s top six after handing Arsenal their first league defeat of the season on Saturday.

Newcastle still have plenty of other competitions to challenge in and this season marked their return to the Champions League, where they face Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.

Eddie Howe’s side also earned a huge victory at Old Trafford last week, beating Manchester United to secure a spot in next month’s Carabao Cup quarter-finals, and Ashworth said challenging for trophies is something the club are aiming to achieve.

“The next number of years is to fight and get into the top six on a regular basis and compete for trophies,” he said.

“But in football it can flip around really quickly as well. You can lose two or three on the trot and all of a sudden…we lost three games on the trot at the start of the season and it was ‘okay, what’s happened?’

“Football is peaks and troughs, success has never been a straight line. I know it’s a bit of a corny phrase, but especially in the Premier League where anyone can beat anybody – things can happen really quickly.

“We’re on an upward trajectory, but there are definitely some bumps in the road and that’s the nature of football, but we’re on the right pathway.

“What’s really difficult is to be able to compete commercially as well, some of those clubs have been a global brand for decades. That’s one of the big challenges for Peter (Silverstone), Darren (Eales) and the team as well.

“We’ve all got to try and work together to try and get ourselves into a situation where not only are we a top-six club on the pitch, but also a top-six club off the pitch and really try and drive the revenues and interest in the club as well, which gives us more ammunition in order to be able to compete on the pitch.”

Since officially joining the club in June 2022, Ashworth’s time with the club has seen quite the turnaround.

As well as finishing fourth last season, the Magpies reached their first major final since 1999 earlier this year against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final, where they were beaten 2-0.

Newcastle’s women’s team also reaped success after earning promotion to the National League Northern Premier Division and became the first full-time professional football club operating in the league.

Improvements have also been made to the training ground and Ashworth is determined to keep driving the club forward.

He said: “Complacency is a dangerous thing isn’t it? Certainly there’s no complacency here, we want to keep striving and keep pushing.

“Whether that’s with our academy from under-9s, whether that’s our women’s first team, whether that’s improving the provision and psychology and player care around the team, whether that’s making improvements to the training ground, we’ve got to keep pushing.

“If you start to stand still in professional sport, you’re stuffed. It’s about keep pushing, keep pushing, keep driving in all areas of the football club.”

Erling Haaland remains a fitness doubt for holders Manchester City’s Champions League clash with Young Boys on Tuesday.

The prolific Norway striker was withdrawn at half-time of Saturday’s Premier League victory over Bournemouth with a twisted ankle.

The player was due to be assessed after a training session on Monday afternoon.

Asked if Haaland would be fit for the game, manager Pep Guardiola said at a press conference: “We train this afternoon. We will speak with the doctor. I don’t know.

“Yesterday he told me he felt much better than the day of the game but I don’t know.”

With City closing in on qualification for the last 16, there could be a temptation to rest Haaland ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea anyway.

Guardiola, however, insists he will give the forward time to prove his fitness.

The City boss said: “I will listen to the doctors. If he says he is ready and does not have pain I will consider him to play because from Tuesday to Sunday there’s a lot (of time), it is not Wednesday.”

City, who have won their first three matches in Group G, will qualify for the knockout stages with two games to spare if they beat the Swiss champions for a second time.

Guardiola said: “Tomorrow we will try to finish and qualify for February and the next stage. It means a lot to the club. Being there is a success.”

Chelsea are in search of a new manager after Emma Hayes announced she would be stepping down at the end of this season to “pursue a new opportunity outside the WSL and club football”.

Hayes, who since her 2012 appointment has led the Blues to 15 trophies including six Women’s Super League titles, is rumoured to be the first-choice candidate to take over the United States, who have been without a head coach since US Soccer this summer parted ways with Vlatko Andonovski following the Americans’ worst-ever finish at a Women’s World Cup.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the candidates who could look to fill Hayes’ considerable shoes.

Laura Harvey

Nuneaton-born Laura Harvey might fancy a move back home to England after a decade in America, where she is currently the head coach of OL Reign and a three-time National Women’s Soccer League coach of the year, winning three NWSL Shields and this year steering her side to a third trip to league’s championship final.

The 43-year-old, who is under contract with Reign until 2025, commands respect and has led big-name talent including Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle, and led Arsenal to a domestic treble in 2011, the first season of the WSL. She has since described her time at the Gunners – a side she took over at the age of 29 – as a mixed experience, and could be keen to re-test the transformed WSL waters as a now-veteran manager.

Denise Reddy

Assistant manager Reddy is a respected and familiar face at Chelsea and could help provide a smooth transition for both players and staff who will no doubt feel a bit of culture shock in the absence of the influential Hayes, who transformed the women’s team both on and off the pitch and led a cultural revolution at the club.

The snag here would be if Reddy, who was also Hayes’ assistant at Chicago Red Stars, decides to follow her boss again, which reports suggest the former USA Under-20s assistant may well have the intention of doing.

Lluis Cortes

Few women’s clubs save Barcelona could boast the same level of success and reach as Chelsea, and Cortes was the man in charge in one of the most astonishing seasons in the Spanish side’s history when he led them to the Primera Division, Copa de la Reina and Women’s Champions League titles in 2021 before leaving on his own accord, citing a “lack of energy” to continue.

Since then he has led Ukraine’s women’s team, stepping down at the end of August, but might be persuaded back into club football by an organisation who could benefit from the 2021 UEFA women’s coach of the year’s European experience as they seek to do the one thing Hayes has so far not managed in her 11-year Chelsea tenure: win a Champions League title.

Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering a dislocated kneecap.

The 27-year-old was forced off in the first half of Inter’s 2-1 Serie A win at Atalanta on Saturday.

“Benjamin Pavard underwent a medical examination at the Humanitas Institute in Rozzano this morning,” the Serie A leaders said in a statement on Monday.

“The tests ascertain that he has suffered a dislocated kneecap.

“The French defender will need to wear a knee brace for 3/4 weeks before starting his rehabilitation process.”

World Cup winner Pavard joined Inter from Bayern Munich at the end of August and has made nine appearances for the Nerazzurri.

Ange Postecoglou feels he already has a very healthy relationship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, but will not go white water rafting with him any time soon.

Postecoglou will on Monday night come up against former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, who once revealed in his book ‘Brave New World’ that a staff-bonding exercise in Argentina resulted in himself, Levy and his coaches taking to the water.

While Postecoglou laughed off any prospect of a repeat occurring, he did acknowledge the importance of gaining Levy’s trust and gave credit to the previously under-fire chairman for a strong start to the new season.

“Nah, it’s not happening. Nothing against Daniel but I’m not going white water rafting,” Postecoglou said.

“Look my relationship with Daniel is pretty consistent with the relationships with all the people I’ve worked with at other clubs that have major influence as decision-makers.

“I need them to believe in me. That’s the basic core of it and you can get to that space in many different ways. It doesn’t mean you have to socialise with them, it doesn’t mean you have to talk to them every day.

“It’s about gaining their trust and belief, because without their trust and belief, I can’t do what I want to do. I can’t make decisions around staff, bringing players in, all these things unless the people above me have total faith and trust.”

Chants calling for Levy to leave Spurs were a regular occurrence during the second half of last season, but the discontent has quietened following a flying start to the campaign, although protests over ticket pricing has continued.

Postecoglou, whose side will return to the top of the table if they beat Pochettino’s Chelsea on Monday evening, said: “It’s not an unusual position. When I walked in at Celtic, the board weren’t too popular at the start either, but they backed me.

“They believed in me and when they do that, yes of course they deserve the credit because they’re the ones that have made the decisions and backed me to bring the club to where it is currently.

“So, of course they should get the credit, but I’ve treated those relationships all the same.

“The number one task I have when I go into a club is to get people to believe in me, trust me. Whether that’s the person working on the floor down here or the person who runs the club. It’s the same.

“I’ve got to get all of them to believe in me because I can’t do what I want to do by myself. It just doesn’t work that way.

“I’ve had a really healthy working relationship with Daniel and hopefully I’m gaining more of his trust to continue to do what I want to do.”

Jeremy Doku joined an exclusive club in Manchester City’s win over Bournemouth, with his four assists one of a host of Premier League records notched up over the weekend.

Jarrod Bowen and Brighton also made bits of history and here, the PA news agency looks at the landmarks headlined by Doku’s virtuoso display.

Four-assist club

Doku inspired the 6-1 thumping of Bournemouth, scoring the first goal and then setting up Bernardo Silva, twice, and Phil Foden as well as seeing a shot deflect in off Manuel Akanji.

Doku is the eighth man – and, at 21, the youngest – to record four assists in a single Premier League game, a feat first achieved by former Arsenal striker Dennis Bergkamp when he set up Ray Parlour’s brace and two of Nicolas Anelka’s hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Leicester in 1999.

The Gunners dominate the list, with Jose Antonio Reyes feeding Thierry Henry, twice, Philippe Senderos and Aleksandr Hleb in 2006’s 7-0 win over Middlesbrough and an imperious Cesc Fabregas setting up the first three, scoring the fourth and laying on the fifth for Theo Walcott in a 6-2 win over Blackburn in 2009.

Emmanuel Adebayor had left Arsenal and returned to north London with Tottenham before he joined the four-assist club in 2012, setting up the first four before scoring himself to round off a 5-0 win over Newcastle.

Santi Cazorla added to the Arsenal contingent in the following season’s 4-1 win over Wigan and Spurs striker Harry Kane remarkably set up Son Heung-min four times before scoring the fifth in 2020’s 5-2 win at Southampton.

Paul Pogba provided the first entry from outside north London in Manchester United’s 5-1 opening-day defeat of Leeds in 2021 and Doku ensured both sides of Manchester are now represented.

Other landmarks

West Ham winger Bowen’s goal at Brentford extended his run of scoring in every away game to a Premier League-record six matches from the start of a season.

The England international opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth and netted the Hammers’ second in a 3-1 win at Brighton before setting them on their way to a 2-1 success at Luton.

They have lost all three away games since but that is not down to Bowen, who scored as they went down 3-1 at Liverpool and 4-1 at Aston Villa and put them 2-1 up in Saturday’s eventual 3-2 loss.

The former Hull star has only one league goal at the London Stadium this term, in the 2-0 win over Sheffield United, and another in the Carabao Cup win over Arsenal.

Brighton’s games have all seen goals for both teams – they have beaten Luton and Wolves 4-1 and Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth 3-1, lost 3-1 to the Hammers, 6-1 at Villa and 2-1 to Manchester City and drawn 2-2 with Liverpool and 1-1 with Fulham and now Everton.

Eleven games is the longest such run from the start of a season, beating the record of nine by Middlesbrough in 2000-01 and Leicester on their way to the 2015-16 title.

The Seagulls’ last four results of last season were 1-4, 3-1, 1-1 and 1-2, leaving them one away from Everton’s all-time Premier League record of 16 consecutive games in which both teams have scored.

That was set between September 2012 and January 2013 and featured eight draws – five 1-1s and three 2-2s. It ended with back-to-back goalless draws against Swansea and Southampton.