What the papers say
Barcelona are considering making a move for Arsenal midfielder Jorginho, 31, according to the Mirror. Jorginho, who joined the Gunners from Chelsea in January, has featured in six Premier League games so far this season.
The Mirror also reports Spain goalkeeper David De Gea, 32, has caused an online stir after posting a picture in England with on-loan Manchester United defender Sergio Reguilon, with calls for the club to bring the out-of-contract player back to Old Trafford. Current United stopper Andre Onana has made a number of errors since joining the Manchester giants in the summer.
The Daily Mail says Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso has a clause in his contract which allows him to become the boss of any of the clubs he played for as early as next summer. These clubs include Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
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Victor Osimhen: Chelsea have added the 24-year-old striker to their transfer list for January, ESPN reports. Osimhen has scored six goals in eight games for Napoli so far in Serie A this season.
Serhou Guirassy: The leading scorer in the Bundesliga this season for Stuttgart has attracted interest from Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Brighton. The 27-year-old has scored 13 goals in just seven games for the German club this campaign.
Manchester City confirmed Carlos Tevez would face disciplinary proceedings, after apparently refusing to come on as a substitute in a Champions League match, on this day in 2011.
Manager Roberto Mancini claimed Tevez refused to come off the bench during the 2-0 defeat at Bayern Munich. An internal investigation was launched and Tevez was informed he would be punished.
“The club has been conducting an investigation into the events of 27 September at the Allianz Arena,” a club statement read.
“The club has now reached a stage in its investigation where it has concluded that there is a case for Carlos Tevez to answer of alleged breaches of contract.
“Accordingly, the club has informed him that he will face disciplinary proceedings and the hearing will be convened shortly.”
Tevez claimed the incident was a misunderstanding as he had only refused to warm up.
Nevertheless, he was suspended for two weeks and hit with a substantial fine.
The Argentina forward did not play for City again until the following March, but stayed with the club until joining Juventus in 2013.
Harry Maguire admits he cannot keep just playing once a month for Manchester United but remains confident of winning back his place and helping Erik ten Hag’s team climb the table.
It has been a bumpy ride since the 30-year-old starred in England’s run to the Euro 2020 final, with the defender falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford and then losing the captaincy.
A widely-discussed summer move to West Ham did not materialise and settled Maguire remained at a club where he is trying to get his career back on track with next summer’s Euros looming large.
Gareth Southgate has been a staunch supporter of the centre-back throughout his ups and downs but admitted to concerns over his level of involvement, which the ex-United skipper is determined to improve.
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“I have belief in my ability and what I have done in my career as every player should,” Maguire said.
“Every player who is on the bench should believe they should be starting, otherwise they wouldn’t be playing at a high level. I am no different.
“Listen, it’s been tough. I want to play games. I want to feel important to the club and I want to feel important to the rest of the team.
“At the moment I haven’t been playing anywhere near as much as I’d like. It’s the bottom line of it.
“I’ve just got to make sure I am ready to take the opportunities when they come along.”
Asked when gametime becomes an issue and, given Euro 2024 is coming up, whether that could be sooner rather than later, said: “Yeah, of course.
“I mean, I’m not going to sit here all my life and play once every month and if it carries on then I’m sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things.
“But, honestly, at the moment I’m fully focused on two games for England, two big games.
“Then I’m fully focused on fighting and trying to get back my place at Manchester United and helping the team climb up the league to where we should be.”
England face Australia in a Wembley friendly on Friday before attention turns to the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy.
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Maguire has kept his England place despite his struggles to break his way into Ten Hag’s line-up, making his first Premier League start of the campaign in Saturday’s 2-1 comeback win against Brentford.
“It’s not my decision whether I start the next game or not,” said the defender, who provided the assist for Scott McTominay’s winner. “I’m unsure on that. I’m sure in a couple of weeks I’ll go back and find out.
“Listen, if you look back on my last 15 to 20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say ‘I’m really happy with my performances’.
“My record under this manager speaks for itself. I haven’t started as many games as I’d like, but my win percentage when I’ve played is ridiculously high.
“And of course there’s times when I can do more and times when I can improve and help the team, but, yeah, I’m just wanting to help the team.
“I’m wanting to help the team get out of this position that we’re in at the moment and hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks.”
Maguire benefitted from a string of defensive absentees as he made just his ninth Premier League start since Ten Hag arrived.
The Dutchman has always spoken positively about the defender in public, saying in August that he “has the abilities to be a top-class centre-back” and must “fight for his place”.
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“I can only do what I’ve been doing in terms of when I’ve come into the team, bringing positive performances,” Maguire said.
“I’ve started two games this season and come on in a few off the bench, but, yeah, keep working hard in training.
“The manager can only watch training and make his decision from training and the games when I get the opportunity to play.
“I’ll keep working hard, I’ll keep pushing. I have great belief in myself.”
What the papers say
Midfielder Kalvin Phillips will likely leave Manchester City in January, the i reports, with Newcastle and Everton both interested in the 27-year-old. The England international has played five games in all competitions so far this season for City.
The Mirror says Manchester United will seek out Goncalo Inacio from Sporting Lisbon next summer in a bid to strengthen their defence.
Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho could be set for a move back to his old club Borussia Dortmund or Juventus this January, according to the i.
Jamaica could offer Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood, who is currently on loan at Spanish club Getafe, a role in their national team, the Mirror reports.
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Erling Haaland: Manchester City are hoping to giver their star 23-year-old striker, who has already scored eight goals in the Premier League this season, a new contract, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport says. The contract would remove a £173million release clause to stave off interest from Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Ivan Toney: TEAMtalk reports that Arsenal are working to sign the 27-year-old striker from Brentford, with Chelsea also in the mix for his services.
Harry Kane says he would love to see Tottenham win the Premier League this season.
The club’s record goalscorer, who left to join Bayern Munich in the summer, is enjoying watching Ange Postecoglou turn things around at Spurs in the early part of the campaign.
They currently top the Premier League and look like they could challenge Manchester City and Arsenal for the title, albeit with only eight games played.
The England captain, who has started life with a bang at his new club, would love to see his former side end their trophy drought.
View this post on Instagram“I have made it clear my whole career I am a Tottenham fan and I would love to see Tottenham do well,” he said.
“Spurs are doing pretty well. It’s great to see. I think I’ve said before, the manager is doing great for them with the way they’re playing.
“The fans are right behind the team and it’s definitely what they needed after the last few years. I’ll always keep an eye on Spurs and the Premier League.
“Of course, there’s still a long way to go, but like the manager said, there’s no reason why the fans shouldn’t be excited and happy with the way things are going. Hopefully they can continue.
“There is no other team in the Premier League I would want to win than Tottenham.
“Also, I have to be respectful to Bayern Munich and of course, the fans know I will always have a soft spot for Spurs – there is no question about that – but I have got to put all my attention on Bayern Munich and to make us as successful as possible.
“So, I know there will be questions, for sure, particularly when Tottenham are doing well.
“Of course, I hope they do as well as possible but my main attention is where I am now and trying to perform for Bayern.”
Kane has already proven his head is firmly in Munich after a scintillating start where he has nine goals and five assists in nine games.
“In terms of the start I’ve been really happy,” he said.
“There’s always a bit of added pressure when you go to a new club, the expectation, you’ve been bought for a lot of money and people just expect you to hit the ground running and start scoring and start winning but it’s not always the case.
“There’s a lot of other stuff that goes into a transfer – like I’ve touched on already, just the personal stuff as well, trying to find houses, living in hotels, not having my family with me.
“It’s all stuff I’m not used to. So to be able to have started the way I have, I’m really proud of.
“Of course I always feel like I probably could have scored a few more goals, I’ve had quite a few chances.
“But in general, if you’d have told me before the transfer this is what I’d be on, the amount of goals and assists and wins, I’d have taken that so definitely happy with that.”
Roberto De Zerbi praised Jurgen Klopp after the Liverpool manager intervened to try and calm him as he protested against a refereeing decision during the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
The Italian was shown a yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor for remonstrating with the fourth official when his team were denied a penalty for a possible handball against Virgil van Dijk.
The ball struck the defender on the leg and bounced up onto his arm, with the manager insistent his side should have been given a spot-kick as they sought a way back from 2-1 down.
Klopp went into Brighton’s technical area to try and sooth the situation, putting his arms around De Zerbi in what he described as “using his age” to try and assuage the situation.
De Zerbi, who saw his side come back to draw for the second time in three days after Thursday’s Europa League meeting with Marseille, said that whilst he felt his team were hard done by over the decision, he believed the foul by Trent Alexander-Arnold on Solly March from which Brighton later equalised through Lewis Dunk should not have been a free-kick.
“I love Klopp,” he said. “He can do what he wants because I have a big respect and I consider him one of the best coaches in the world. I like his behaviour, and when he says something, 99 per cent I agree with him.
“In that situation, I think there was a clear penalty and I told the referee, I think in a good way, what I thought in the moment.
“I think there was a penalty, but there wasn’t a foul when we scored the second goal. I’m honest, and I told Jurgen my opinion.”
Brighton are sixth going into the international break having won five of their first eight Premier League games.
De Zerbi has made an average of seven changes between matches this season as he seeks to navigate the demands made by a first season in Europe for the club.
Despite recording a fourth winless game in a row in all competitions the manager praised his players’ character, particularly in the context of bouncing back from the 6-1 defeat against Aston Villa to register two comeback draws.
“The most important thing for me has been the reaction after Villa Park,” he said. “We started the game in Marseille, one of the best stadiums in Europe, and we started losing 2-0. After that moment, there was only one team on the pitch – Brighton.
“To do it, you have to show character, to show the right attitude, the right behaviour and passion. The most important thing in my idea of football is passion, is the character.
“After that we can speak about tactical disposition, the quality of the players, recruitment. But without that part of football, in my opinion, you can’t play or work in football.”
Johan Lange has been appointed as Tottenham’s new technical director.
Lange has performed a similar role at Premier League rivals Aston Villa since the summer of 2020, but will begin work at Spurs from November 1.
The arrival of ex-Sevilla director of football Monchi at Villa Park in June changed the position of Lange, who will replace Fabio Paratici as Tottenham’s key figure in recruitment.
Spurs’ chief football officer Scott Munn said: “Johan has demonstrated an excellent track record of scouting and signing many talented and successful youth and senior players.
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“He is a welcome addition as we strengthen our football operations.”
Spurs have been searching for Paratici’s replacement since his resignation in April from his role as the club’s managing director of football.
Paratici was hit with a two-and-a-half-year ban from working in Italy in January as part of sanctions dished out after his former club Juventus were found guilty of false accounting, with his suspension extended worldwide by FIFA in March.
After leaving his Tottenham role following a failed appeal, it was confirmed that the Italian could work in football on a consultancy basis, which the PA news agency understands he has continued to do at Spurs in recent months.
The arrival of Lange on November 1 is the latest restructure by the club after Munn officially joined from the City Group last month, while Leonardo Gabbanini, previously chief scout, departed days later.
Lange will be responsible for Spurs’ recruitment and talent identification across both their senior and academy teams.
Tottenham have also shifted towards using analytics and data more during the past 12 months and Lange, who was previously assistant at Wolves, will play a key role in trying to improve the club’s work in that area.
The Dane began his coaching career at Copenhagen in 2008 before moving to England in 2012 to work with then Wolves boss Stale Solbakken.
He returned to Copenhagen in 2014 and took on the role of technical director, with Lange credited with overseeing a successful period at the Superliga outfit.
A move to Villa followed and Lange has been involved in the transfers of Emi Martinez, Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins during the past three years.
It has helped take Villa from relegation candidates to a Europa Conference League side under the management of Unai Emery.
Lange saw his role at the midlands club switch to global director of football development and international academies this summer.
“The club can confirm Johan is leaving his role and departs with the best wishes and gratitude of everyone here for his commitment and service during his time,” a Villa statement read.
Matthew Kitson will become Villa’s new director of global development, working alongside academy boss Mark Harrison and Monchi at Villa Park.
Pep Guardiola lost back-to-back Premier League games for only the third time as Manchester City went down 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday.
It has happened only six times in all competitions for City under Guardiola and here, the PA news agency looks at the Spaniard’s overall managerial record.
No points from six
Gabriel Martinelli’s winner for Arsenal followed Hwang Hee-chan’s for Wolves against City last weekend.
It was the first time City had taken no points from a pair of league games since losing to Crystal Palace and Leicester across Christmas 2018.
Luka Milivojevic’s penalty proved decisive for Palace before Kevin De Bruyne cut the final margin to 3-2, and Leicester then overcame Bernardo Silva’s Boxing Day opener to win 2-1 through Marc Albrighton and Ricardo Pereira.
The Foxes were also the team to inflict City’s second successive loss in December 2016, Jamie Vardy with a hat-trick as Claudio Ranieri’s side won 4-2. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were suspended after late red cards as City lost their previous game 3-1 to Chelsea.
Long run at an end
Before this weekend, City were out on their own in terms of time without back-to-back Premier League defeats.
Ten teams had suffered that fate this season – Burnley, Sheffield United and Bournemouth most recently, plus West Ham, Brentford, Luton, Manchester United, Wolves, Newcastle and Everton.
Eight more of the 20 current top-flight sides – Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Crystal Palace – lost back-to-back games earlier in 2023.
The one other exception, Brighton, last did so in October of last year – almost four years more recently than City, whose run since Boxing Day 2018 stood at 178 games.
City host Brighton in their next game after the international break.
Three in a row
Albion will be the team looking to inflict a first hat-trick of Premier League defeats on Guardiola, whose team are alone in losing no more than two in a row since his arrival in 2016.
Arsenal and Spurs are closest with their longest run being three defeats. Fulham had the longest losing run overall, nine games, with eight for Sheffield United and Palace.
Guardiola has twice lost three in a row across all competitions with City, first in April 2018 when a 3-2 league defeat to a Paul Pogba-inspired Manchester United was sandwiched between losses in both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool.
The other sequence spanned three competitions and two seasons – the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea followed by the Community Shield against Leicester and the 2021-22 Premier League opener at Tottenham.
The recent Wolves loss came on the back of a Carabao Cup exit against Newcastle, while the December 2018 Premier League defeats were uninterrupted by any other competition.
The other pairs came in early 2020, to Manchester United in the League Cup and Tottenham in the league, and January of this year when Southampton knocked them out of the Carabao Cup – and denied them a shot at a quadruple – before the Red Devils beat them in the league.
Long-term pattern for Pep
Guardiola’s Barcelona side lost back-to-back LaLiga games only twice in four seasons, both in 2009 – first to Espanyol and Atletico Madrid, then Mallorca and Osasuna.
They also lost Champions League and league games consecutively twice, to Wisla Krakow and Numancia in his second and third games in charge in 2008 and to Chelsea and Real Madrid in April 2012.
With Bayern Munich in May 2015, he suffered consecutive defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg domestically and Barca in the Champions League. They won the return leg of that tie but Freiburg then made it three straight league defeats.
His only other consecutive Bundesliga losses came in April 2014 against Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund.
Gabriel Martinelli says Arsenal’s inherent belief will only be boosted by beating champions Manchester City as Mikel Arteta’s men look to go one step further than last season.
The Gunners captured the imagination during a strong 2022-23 campaign, only to ultimately finish second as Pep Guardiola’s side scooped a third straight title in a storming end to the season.
Arsenal’s inability to take a point off them was key in them finishing second and Sunday saw them finally beat City in the league for the first time since 2015, building on their Community Shield shoot-out triumph against the treble winners.
The half-time introduction of Martinelli after three weeks out with a hamstring injury proved inspired, adding extra impetus to the attack before eventually hitting a late winner that deflected in off Nathan Ake to seal a 1-0 victory.
“We know how hard it is to play against them,” the Brazil international said. “It was a great performance from the team and a great win.
“Of course (it gives us more belief we can win this season’s title). We are Arsenal and we are always believing about the title.
“To win against a big side like them is great and we just need to carry on.
“A special day for me. I tried my best, really hard, to be back with the team and it was a great moment for me.
“It’s always good to win against the big teams and we did it today. I’m so happy.”
Arsenal remain unbeaten eight league matches into the season and are level in terms of points and goal difference with leaders Tottenham, with their bitter rivals only ahead on goals scored.
“When you play for Arsenal you have to always believe and this is what we do,” Martinelli said as they look to bring the Premier League title back to north London for the first time since 2004.
“We play for Arsenal and we always believe we can win the titles.
“It’s another year. We’re going to try to improve things and try to do better than last year.
“Yeah, I think (there is more depth). We have a great team and it’s important to have a lot of options.”
Sunday’s victory win was made all the more impressive by the fact Arsenal’s star man Bukayo Saka was missing, with a muscle injury ending his run of 87 successive Premier League appearances.
“We know our potential,” Martinelli said. “We know his potential and how important he is for us.
“Today we did our best, tried to win the game for our fans, for us and for B as well.”
Arsenal return to action at Chelsea after the international break, while wounded City look to get their title defence back on track at home to Brighton.
Guardiola’s men have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, including back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time since December 2018.
City midfielder Bernardo Silva said: “It’s a setback but it’s still the beginning. We’re far away from the end of the season.
“It was not the result we wanted. Against a tough opponent it is never easy to play.
“We felt the game was tough for both teams. Both are tough and organised and tense. We had a few chances in the beginning.
“In the end it was a deflection. In my opinion we gave them too much time to think at that moment. We have to be more intense in the pressing.
“It is what it is. It’s part of football and we move onto the next one.”
City struggled to lay a glove on an Arsenal side that they had beaten in 12 consecutive Premier League meetings before Sunday.
Guardiola’s men mustered a mere four shots at the Emirates Stadium, but Silva is not getting carried away with the loss or the recent drop off.
“Some of these results we were not expecting and we didn’t want them to happen,” he told club media.
“Last season we won the treble but there was a point that nothing was going our way.
“How you overcome these moments is what defines the team and we will keep fighting for all the games. We’re going for it again.”
James Maddison has urged Tottenham to keep acting like a “top team” after they headed into the international break still unbeaten in the Premier League.
Spurs have faced Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal during their first eight league fixtures under new boss Ange Postecoglou and collected 20 points out of a possible 24.
It represents Tottenham’s best start to a league season since their 1960-61 double-winning campaign, but they were forced to produce a different type of display on Saturday in a hard-fought 1-0 win at Luton, where they played the whole of the second half with 10 men.
“You get the same three points here as you do beating Liverpool and United at home,” Maddison said. “It’s just as important. I absolutely loved the character of the lads.
“You have 38 games in a season and not every game is going pretty, scoring goals, free-flowing, ‘AngeBall’.
“Sometimes you have to dig deep and show the grit and determination. People are always asking top teams, do they have that side to them? The top teams all do and we want to be a top team. I’m so happy we showed that.”
Ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou has only worked with this group of players since July, but they have quickly taken to his front-foot, attacking philosophy.
Spurs have scored 18 goals in the Premier League with summer recruit Maddison involved in seven and topping the assist charts with five so far after he set up Micky van de Ven’s winner on Saturday, but he insists they remain a work in progress.
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He added: “We’re so early into the manager’s reign. We’re at the start. Even in training, sometimes the messages he’s giving us, it’s still new, we’re still working on it. It’s not like we’re three years in.
“When you’ve worked with a manager for a long time, like when I was at Leicester with Brendan (Rodgers), I had been there that long I knew what he wanted from me.
“I’d realise who we were playing at the weekend and have an idea of what my role would be at the weekend before we’d even trained or worked on it. You get that partnership and relationship.
“We’re so early, we’re still at the start of that. It’s not about getting carried away.
“Of course, it’s better to be up that end than the other end. Believe me, I’ve done both! I just want to continue that, continue working and that will leave it us where it leaves us.”
Tottenham went top of the table on Saturday but Maddison played down talk of a title tilt yet.
“We’ve played Arsenal, we’ve played Liverpool, we’ve played United. Coming here, it’s just a different type of challenge but it’s still tough,” the England international said.
“Just because you’re playing Luton, it doesn’t mean there is more time or more space. It’s just a different challenge.
“I probably didn’t expect us to be top of the league, unbeaten, no.
“Realistically you would never even guess that far ahead. You just want to start well and we’re looking to continue that.”
Mikel Arteta lauded the maturity of Arsenal after they sent a message with a first Premier League win over Manchester City since 2015.
Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected effort in the 86th minute ended the Gunners’ run of 12 consecutive top-flight defeats to Pep Guardiola’s side.
It helped Arsenal leapfrog City in the table to finish the weekend as joint leaders and while Guardiola insisted his champions are happy to chase again like they managed successfully last season, it felt like a potentially decisive early blow had been landed between these title rivals.
“A great feeling. You could sense it’s been so many years without beating them. Today I think we beat the best team in the world without a question of a doubt,” Arteta said.
“We did it in a great way because there were moments where we had to suffer and moments where we showed real desire, determination and belief to beat them, so I’m really happy.
“Certainly it sends a message to the team to keep believing in what they’re doing because they’re a fantastic group of players.
“The way they try and the chemistry that they have, you need it to be there. So, I’m really proud.
“The team showed a real maturity today, that comes from experiences. Sometimes you need that to become a better team.”
Arsenal’s winner was created by Arteta’s substitutes, with Thomas Partey’s cross-field ball headed down by Takehiro Tomiyasu to Kai Havertz, who teed up Martinelli and the forward’s first-time effort deflected off Nathan Ake and past Ederson.
It ensured the post-match narrative shifted away from Mateo Kovacic after the Manchester City midfielder was fortunate to avoid a first-half red card.
The VAR checked his late tackle on Martin Odegaard in the 29th minute but decided against upgrading a caution and referee Michael Oliver kept his cards in his pocket six minutes later when Kovacic caught Declan Rice.
Arteta added: “I saw the action live and it looked like a big challenge. I haven’t seen the replay.
“I’m not bothered actually. I just want to enjoy the win. I’ll hear if we talk about it and I understand if we have to do something about it but we won the game, thankfully.”
Opposite number Guardiola said: “Well for the reaction from everyone for a separate action? I don’t know.
“I’m pretty sure he was not sent off because it was not a sending off. I am pretty sure he would have sent him off if it was a sending off.”
Defeat for City makes it back-to-back Premier League losses – which last happened in December 2018 – and three in four in all competitions after going down to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, Wolves and now Arsenal.
Lynchpin midfielder Rodri, out due to suspension, has been a big miss in those defeats but Guardiola says his team are comfortable being behind the eight ball right now – with Tottenham and Arsenal holding a two-point advantage – in pursuit of a record fourth Premier League crown.
He said: “Rodri is a really important player, like the other ones, for the fact that last year he plays a lot of games.
“Yeah, Carabao Cup was a little bit different but of course against Wolves it was important and today as well. We know it and as a manager I have to find the moment he is not there, the way to do it.
“I have gratitude for the guys, they give everything, they fought and I know how disappointed they are because we are not used (to losing) but it is football, it happens.
“No team ever won four in a row, so for the statistics it didn’t happen, but we are in October and sometimes it is good to go behind.
“It is not the first time we are behind and the contenders are up front. Last season we were much, much behind than here, but the season is long.”
Guardiola was more coy on an incident at full-time between Erling Haaland, who failed to have a single shot, and Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover.
Words were exchanged between Haaland and Jover, with staff from both clubs involved after the full-time whistle.
“I know what happened but I won’t say anything. They (Arsenal) know it,” Guardiola smiled.
Bukayo Saka will not join up with England for international duty next week, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed.
Saka was missing for the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Manchester City after struggling with a hamstring issue during recent matches.
The absence of Saka ended his run of appearing in 87 consecutive Premier League games and Arteta says he will now sit out England’s upcoming fixtures with Australia (October 13) and Italy (October 17).
“No, he will not make it,” Arteta said. “He has not trained for a single session. He is not available to play football at the moment.”
The 22-year-old winger limped off during Arsenal’s loss at Lens on Tuesday, having also been withdrawn in last weekend’s victory at Bournemouth.
England manager Gareth Southgate had stated on Thursday he would take no risks with Saka despite the Italy clash being a crucial European Championship qualifier.
“I can only go via what Mikel (Arteta) has said about the last few games,” Southgate said earlier this week.
“We look after the players as well as any country. There’s always a focus on our players because they are playing their club football, in the main, in England and then we are playing here as well.
“Whereas all the other countries call the players that are playing in the Premier League and nobody looks at how they look after them and how they train them.
“When we have really good dialogue with all of their clubs, I think they pretty much all would agree that we probably give better feedback than every other nation.
“They have trust in us that we make decisions that are right for the long term whenever we can. We only have 10 matches a year. And there’s been times when… Bukayo, for example, we haven’t always played.
“But there are certain key games where, if it’s possible to have your best players, then you do want to have them.
“So we’ve got that responsibility of qualifying for the country but… I’ve been a player… I’ve never ever taken a risk on a player’s physical wellbeing. And nor would I.”
The VAR system was under the spotlight in the Premier League this weekend following the error in last week’s match between Tottenham and Liverpool.
New VAR guidelines were introduced in time for the latest round of fixtures after Liverpool forward Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed for offside at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how VAR operated at each of this weekend’s top-flight fixtures.
Arsenal 1 Manchester City 0
Until Gabriel Martinelli’s late winner, referee Michael Oliver’s decision not to send off City’s Mateo Kovacic in the first half was set to be the biggest talking point at the Emirates Stadium. The VAR, John Brooks, reviewed the City midfielder’s poor challenge on Martin Odegaard, but did not advise Oliver to go to the pitchside monitor and review whether to upgrade his booking to a red card. Kovacic stayed on the pitch and avoided another yellow card shortly afterwards.
Brighton 2 Liverpool 2
Brighton’s draw at the Amex Stadium saw the VAR, Craig Pawson, called on to verify a penalty awarded by on-field referee Anthony Taylor at the end of the first half when Pascal Gross hauled down Dominik Szoboszlai by his collar. The video referee upheld the decision, but despite Gross appearing to be the last man, there was no red card shown to the Brighton midfielder.
Burnley 1 Chelsea 4
The VAR, Darren Bond, was called on twice in the second half at Turf Moor, first to check whether Vitinho’s foul on Raheem Sterling was inside the box once referee Stuart Atwell had awarded a penalty, and then to check if Sterling was onside in the build-up to scoring Chelsea’s third. Both of the on-field decisions were confirmed without controversy, although Chelsea fans made their feelings known about both delays.
Crystal Palace 0 Nottingham Forest 0
It was a quiet afternoon for VAR Michael Salisbury and his assistant Sian Massey-Ellis in this stalemate at Selhurst Park. In a game of few chances in Palace boss Roy Hodgson’s 400th game as a Premier League manager, no VAR checks or interventions were needed.
Everton 3 Bournemouth 0
There was a slightly longer check for Everton’s third goal, scored by Abdoulaye Doucoure on the hour-mark, but nothing too delaying or taxing. Five minutes later, there was a baffling check by VAR Simon Hooper, match referee for Liverpool’s defeat at Tottenham last week, for a Bournemouth handball in their own penalty area. But by the time the stadium announcer had revealed the VAR check was taking place, the decision had already been made that no offence had been committed.
Fulham 3 Sheffield United 1
It was a routine VAR performance at Craven Cottage. Paul Tierney reviewed a potential offside in the build-up to Fulham defender Antonee Robinson’s second-half own-goal, but deemed a team-mate to have been behind Blades left-back Yasser Larouci when the cross was made. Video footage supported the decision and referee Sam Barrott was able to award the goal.
Luton 0 Tottenham 1
The VAR was only called on once, in the 39th minute, at Kenilworth Road when Tom Lockyer headed in from close range for Luton before his effort was immediately ruled out. Referee John Brooks gave a foul for Elijah Adebayo’s push on Tottenham defender Cristian Romero and video replays via VAR showed his decision to have been correct with the review taking minimal time.
Manchester United 2 Brentford 1
With United trailing 1-0 in the 89th minute, Anthony Martial flicked on a cross and Kristoffer Ajer inadvertently directed the ball into his own net. Assistant referee Harry Lennard immediately raised his flag and the VAR, Peter Bankes, confirmed Martial had been offside in the build-up, ruling out the equaliser. In the end it mattered little for United as substitute Scott McTominay’s stoppage-time brace sealed a turnaround.
Wolves 1 Aston Villa 1
The VAR, David Coote, checked a violent conduct claim against Douglas Luiz when he clashed with Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan, but the check was completed within a minute with video replays exonerating the Villa midfielder. There were no further VAR incidents at Molineux.
West Ham 2 Newcastle 2
Alexander Isak’s first goal for Newcastle was checked by VAR, Andy Madley. The striker looked offside when he stabbed home a loose ball, but video replays showed the ball had come off the head of West Ham’s Edson Alvarez and the goal correctly stood.
Gabriel Martinelli returned with a bang as the Arsenal substitute’s deflected effort sealed a late, long-awaited victory against Premier League champions Manchester City.
Last season the Gunners pushed City in the title race, only to eventually fall just short as Pep Guardiola’s side went on to become just the second English team to win the treble.
Arsenal’s inability to win a point off City last term proved costly but things are already different this time around, with Martinelli’s deflected strike securing a last-gasp 1-0 win at an elated Emirates Stadium.
The substitute’s first-time effort in the 86th minute flew in off Nathan Ake, ending a run of 12 straight league losses in this fixture as they beat City in the Premier League for the first time since 2015.
Jurgen Klopp praised the work of Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi after watching his Liverpool side play out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Amex Stadium.
The Reds looked on course for the win when Mohamed Salah scored the second of two goals in the final moments of the first half, converting from the penalty spot after Dominik Szoboszlai had been hauled down by Pascal Gross.
Minutes earlier Salah had pulled his side level when he slotted beyond Bart Verbruggen having been put through on goal by Harvey Elliott’s pass.
Brighton had started the brighter and led after 20 minutes, a careless pass by Alisson in the Liverpool goal putting Alexis Mac Allister under pressure and letting in Simon Adingra to score with a clever early shot.
And De Zerbi’s side had the final word when Lewis Dunk turned in Solly March’s free-kick to salvage a point.
The Brighton boss was booked during the second half for remonstrating with the fourth official when he believed his side should have had a penalty for handball against Virgil van Dijk, with Klopp intervening on the touchline to try to placate the Italian.
Despite failing to see out the win, Liverpool’s manager talked up the impact that his counterpart has had since arriving on the south coast a little more than a year ago.
“I have to say I could not respect more what he is doing,” said Klopp. “I’m a real supporter of it, I’m a football lover and if someone comes in with the impact he has on football, that shouldn’t be underestimated.
“In the moment when he got outraged, I used my age and tried to calm him down. I had no clue what they (De Zerbi and the fourth official) were talking about, I just saw them. If I am in a moment like this, there’s a moment of no going back that appears and I think he was close to that. I tried to calm him down.
“I’m not sure if he needed it or not. He told me something about a penalty but I had no clue what he was talking about. I think he wanted a penalty.”
The manager added he believed the outcome was fair after both sides wasted chances to win it, Liverpool when Ryan Gravenberch struck the crossbar at 2-1 before Joao Pedro blazed over from 10 yards for Brighton in the final minutes.
“I think unfortunately yes (the result was fair),” said Klopp. “1-0, (the goal was) served on a plate. Then a similar situation, we forced them to make similar mistakes around our goals. 2-1 up is a good result for half-time here, it’s a really good team and it’s difficult to defend them.
“We wanted to do high pressing, it was the right thing to do. But in the same moment it caused the issue that they play out from time to time, we don’t win the ball and then the pitch is really big. They do that well.
“The second half we should have scored for 3-1, one or two really good opportunities. But because we don’t score there, we keep the game open.
“It was intense for both teams. I think it’s the right result in the end.”
De Zerbi reflected on a match he believed his team deserved to win but reiterated concerns about the ease with which Brighton have conceded goals this season.
“It’s a good point. I think we played better than Liverpool, especially the first half. We close the first half losing 2-1 but we conceded two goals in a very bad way. We didn’t understand how we were losing in that moment.
“In the second half they could have closed the game. In general I think it was a good game, both teams played well. At the moment I’m sorry because we’re conceding too many goals.
“We’re working a lot but maybe its not enough. Or maybe in football it can happen that you have a period where you conceded too many goals when you don’t deserve to.”
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