Erik ten Hag hailed his side’s spirit and resilience after Bruno Fernandes’ stoppage-time winner over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Fernandes drilled home from the edge of the area to snatch victory to lift United’s mood after consecutive 3-0 defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Newcastle.

Afterwards ten Hag praised the way his side dug in to grind out a 1-0 win in the wake of two below-par poor performances.

“I am pleased with it. I am pleased with the spirit of the team and with the way we pressed,” ten Hag said.

“We saw this (added time winners) against Brentford and we have seen it again.

“It is a good resilience. They know what the standards are. This is Manchester United. You have to win every game.

“This week we have not been happy with the standards and today we improved with our standards.

“Every game we have to bring the battle which starts with the right mentality and attitude, to show you are hungry with passion and desire.”

A moment of brilliance from captain Fernandes, criticised by former United players after the midweek Carabao Cup loss against Newcastle, proved enough to steal the points for United and earn his manager’s gratitude.

“He gives energy, he is the example,” said ten Hag.

“You can see with the way that he is pressing, with the way that he is counter-pressing in games and the way he recovers.

“So he is absolutely the example and he’s taking the responsibility all the time on and off the field and he’s taken the responsibility by scoring important goals.

“He always wants to have the ball, he always wants to create and I’m happy.”

Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted the late defeat was difficult to accept and highlighted the mistakes in the lead up to Fernandes’ goal.

A rare misplaced pass from Joao Palhinha in Fulham’s box saw Fernandes punish his countryman with a strike which extended the Cottagers’ Premier League winless run to three.

Silva said: “It is a really difficult one for us to take.

“Defeats are defeats and it feels like the same old story.

“We wanted to be the better team and for much of the game we did it but at this level we cannot be getting punished in the way we did.

“In 10 seconds we made three or four mistakes from three or four different players and it is difficult to understand.

“We win and lose together but the individual decisions we have to take in a certain way because there was no reason to be punished in that moment.

“In 10 seconds we lost emotional control completely.”

Tottenham can go all the way in the Premier League title race after making a brilliant start to life under Ange Postecoglou, says former Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen.

Postecoglou has made the best-ever start by a Premier League manager across their first 10 games in charge, leading Spurs to eight wins and two draws while implementing a vibrant brand of possession-based football.

The former Celtic boss could become just the third manager to go unbeaten through his first 11 games in the competition when Spurs host London rivals Chelsea on Monday. 

Frank Clark (with Nottingham Forest in 1994) and Maurizio Sarri (with Chelsea in 2018) are the only men to previously achieve that feat, with the latter avoiding defeat in his first 12 matches.

With new arrivals including James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario requiring no bedding-in period, Tottenham have made their best start to a top-flight season since 1960-61.

On that occasion, they won their first 10 games in the old First Division before capturing what remains their most recent league title.  

With a lack of European football giving Postecoglou more time to work with his players, Vertonghen believes Tottenham can dream of replicating that success.

"He's doing an unbelievable job," Vertonghen, an Athlete Partner for APEX, told Stats Perform when asked about Postecoglou's impact.

"Lots of things have happened since I left Tottenham, but this year they made all the right decisions. 

"They signed the right players, the right coach with the right mentality that the club has missed for a while. 

"He's doing an unbelievable job. I'm really enjoying watching them and I don't see why they can't go for the highest things possible. 

"All the other clubs are playing in Europe or struggling with injuries, and besides that, Spurs have a great team and that's very important as well. 

"They have the crowd behind them. I can see them going all the way."

Spurs face a familiar face next time out as Vertonghen's former boss Mauricio Pochettino returns to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Chelsea on Monday.

Vertonghen's old club have won all four of their home league games under Postecoglou, with Manchester United and Liverpool among the teams to leave north London empty-handed in 2023-24.

Another victory would make Postecoglou the first coach to win his first five home games in the Premier League since May 2017, when Craig Shakespeare achieved the feat with Leicester City.

Bruno Fernandes fired home an injury-time winner to secure a much-needed victory for Manchester United at Fulham.

United came into the Craven Cottage clash under a cloud after the midweek Carabao Cup defeat at home to Newcastle.

They were quiet for long periods of the game but a moment of brilliance from skipper Fernandes, who came in for criticism from former United players after the Newcastle loss, gave manager Erik ten Hag a welcome three points.

Fernandes evaded attempts to close him down on the edge of the penalty area before placing his shot beyond Fulham keeper Bernd Leno.

United thought they had taken a 1-0 lead after eight minutes but VAR ruled out Scott McTominay’s effort for offside.

The Scot tapped in Alejandro Garnacho’s cut back but referee John Brooks overturned the goal after VAR ruled Harry Maguire had interfered with play from an offside position.

The decision was a wake-up call for the hosts who were looking to build on Wednesday’s last-16 3-1 Carabao Cup victory at Ipswich.

Craven Cottage was fired up and Willian dragged the Cottagers up the pitch with a slaloming run but his effort was blocked at the last moment.

The Brazilian was Fulham’s main creative outlet in the final third and in the 27th minute he produced a delightful cross, but, in keeping with Fulham’s season so far, no striker was there to finish at the back post.

Nigeria international Alex Iwobi marauded from his own half into United’s box but was wasteful in front of goal, failing to hit the target.

The hangover from United’s back-to-back 3-0 home defeats against Manchester City and Newcastle was clear to see as ten Hag’s side lacked intensity, with Fernandes’ skewed added time cross summing up their first-half efforts.

The visitors searched for a way into the game after halftime through Garnacho who enjoyed touches in promising areas before a dangerous cross was tipped over by Leno.

Momentum shifted in Fulham’s favour on the hour. Iwobi picked out Harry Wilson who tried from range with a powerful outside of the boot effort but he was denied by United keeper Andre Onana.

The Cottagers also came close from the following set-piece when last week’s goal scorer Joao Palhinha failed to keep his effort down as Onana made another save to maintain the deadlock.

The minutes ebbed away and substitutions from both sides sapped the games’ intensity before Fernandes’ free-kick in the 83rd minute gave United hope late on.

The Portuguese midfielder had not been heavily involved but showed what he is capable of when he struck a dipped free-kick towards Leno’s bottom corner and the Fulham keeper did well to prevent United edging in front.

But there was no denying Fernandes in added time. He combined with Rasmus Hojlund and jinked inside onto his preferred right foot before unleashing a powerful shot that proved too much for Leno, who could only palm it into his bottom corner.

Arsenal Under-18s’ game at Brighton was postponed on Saturday after their bus took a wrong turn.

The Gunners were due to face the Seagulls at the Brighton’s AMEX Elite Performance Centre in the Under-18 Premier League.

The PA news agency understands the coach took the wrong exit off the M25 and, when realised, it was too late to make the 12pm kick-off time.

Reports suggesting the team travelled to Bournemouth instead are wide of the mark.

Jack Wilshere’s side, seventh in the Premier League Under-18 south table, were forced to postpone the game which will now be played at a later date.

Marcus Rashford was not included in Manchester United’s squad for the game at Fulham.

The England striker was forced to apologise to United boss Erik ten Hag after attending a nightclub party following last weekend’s embarrassing derby defeat to Manchester City.

But Rashford was missing at Craven Cottage due to injury after taking a “heavy knock” in training.

Reports emerged the day after the City match that the England international, who turned 26 on Tuesday, had gone to the Chinawhite nightclub for a pre-arranged birthday party hours after the Old Trafford loss.

“Yes, I am aware of it,” manager Ten Hag said of Rashford’s post-derby night out.

“I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable, I told him, he apologised and that’s it. For the rest it’s an internal matter.

“He’s very motivated to put things right. So, he makes a mistake, but that doesn’t say he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know.”

Following the team announcement at Craven Cottage, Ten Hag told MUTV: “(Rashford) is OK, but not OK to start. He is not fit enough to start but it is about players who are available.

“(Alejandro) Garnacho can do the job very well, we have seen that often so I am confident.”

Ange Postecoglou has sent a warning to the rest of the Premier League by claiming Tottenham captain Son Heung-min can be even more of a goal threat.

Son has enjoyed a superb start to the campaign, scoring eight times to sit joint-second in the goalscoring charts behind Manchester City forward Erling Haaland.

Last season proved challenging for Son with the South Korea forward only able to net 10 goals in the Premier League, but two years ago he won the division’s golden boot along with Liverpool’s Mohamad Salah and the 31-year-old has been backed to be in the race again.

Postecoglou initially played Richarlison in the middle of his front three, but switched Son into a central position against Burnley and it has helped the Spurs ace quickly move his overall Premier League tally onto 111 goals.

“It was quite obvious with Harry (Kane) leaving there was a couple of ways we could go about it,” Postecoglou reflected ahead of Monday’s visit of Chelsea.

“I don’t think you can replace Harry like-for-like. Another one of him doesn’t exist so for me to think let’s jump into the transfer market and bring in someone who can score 25 to 30 goals in the first year, I don’t think was realistic.

“What I did know about Sonny having followed him for a long time is he is a great finisher, a smart footballer, has great movement and a real capacity for working, pressing, the stuff I love my strikers to do.

“So, I just thought he would be a really good fit for us and it wasn’t the only option I was looking at, but it was definitely the one I thought would be the best fit for where we are as a team and what we needed.

“Even with him, I think the more he plays in there, the better he will get in terms of really being a goal threat in every game. For us it’s a massive asset to have.”

After Son fired blanks from his previously regular left forward role against Brentford, Manchester United and Bournemouth, he has netted eight goals in seven league fixtures as a central striker.

The long-serving Spurs player is no stranger to the role with Maurico Pochettino, who will return to Tottenham on Monday for the first time since his departure, deploying the attacker there whenever Kane was absent.

Son performed strongly as a centre forward during Spurs’ run to the Champions League final in 2019 with three goals in the quarter-finals against Man City, but ex-Australia boss Postecoglou did not use that as evidence when he first broached the idea of changing his position.

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He pointed out: “Sonny scored against me in the Asian Cup in 2015, mate. That was enough.

“I saw enough then to know he is a decent goalscorer, so I didn’t need any more evidence.

“I have followed him for a very long time and what you are looking for in attacking players is are they a goal threat? And he’s always been a goal threat and a good finisher.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his “smart” players understand and embrace the increased competition for places up front.

The five forwards he has at his disposal have contributed 30 goals so far this season but only Mohamed Salah, who has 10, is a guaranteed starter every week.

Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz -unavailable for the last two matches due to his father’s kidnapping in Colombia – have all made an impact when they have been selected and despite Klopp’s rotation they all appear to gel well together.

“The boys are all smart. The good thing is we have really only smart players, that means they understand they cannot play all the games,” he said.

“It’s not, ‘I want to play Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday.’ That’s just not possible but everybody sees (it that way) as well.

“That’s how a smart footballer should think and our boys do that: ‘If I can’t play then it’s better we have another really good player who can play the position’. That’s exactly how I see it.

“It’s only four (because of Diaz’s absence) all of a sudden but there are a lot of games still coming if you see the schedule – after the international break it turns completely crazy – so in that time we have to be ready.

“If you want to play a successful season and not only have successful spells, you need the boys through all these different phases.

“We have to get through this and with not a lot of injuries (and then) we have really the joys but if not the boys have just to fight through it.

“For the moment it’s OK, but we need it like this for pretty much the rest of the season, to be honest.”

Of all their front five Cody Gakpo is probably the unsung hero.

The Netherlands international has scored on his last four starts, netting the first goal in three of those, but has been the player sacrificed the most to accommodate holes in the squad as he started the campaign in midfield.

“If we have everybody available it was never the plan to put Cody there but it was for him something new after (playing) the false nine last year,” added Klopp.

“But he’s a super-smart player so he can adapt to that and we want him to adapt.

“He’s just a versatile striker, he can play everywhere up front there. For us it’s super-important. He arrives in the box, he is a good shooter, he has a good nose for the situation.

“How I said, the boys up front all like each other, there’s not this battle of ‘Will I start?’ They know they can all play together.”

Liverpool head to Luton on Sunday looking for their first clean sheet away from Anfield in any competition this season but are on six-match unbeaten run, winning the last four.

As it stands they are in a four-way race for the title but Klopp is keen not to get too excited about how well they have started.

“It’s so early. I’m so happy that we have a really good team together but look at the other teams, they are really good as well,” he said.

“A lot of really good teams are out there and it’s the Premier League so it’s not about celebrating the moment and being relieved that we kind of can play football again.

“No, it’s really about digging into the season, use the full potential of this group, get everything out of it and then let’s see.”

The Football Association is investigating whether Sandro Tonali breached betting rules after he joined Newcastle.

The 23-year-old Italy midfielder, who moved to the Magpies from AC Milan for £55million over the summer, has been suspended for 10 months by the Italian Football Federation.

Tonali was alleged to have placed bets on games involving former clubs Brescia and Milan during his spells with them.

The ban was subsequently ratified by FIFA after Tonali agreed a plea bargain as part of an investigation into illegal betting activity.

The PA news agency understands the FA is now investigating whether he was involved in gambling on football following his move to England.

Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth admits the probe into Tonali has been “a whirlwind” and a “massive shock”.

Tonali found himself at the centre of the probe during last month’s international break.

“It was a massive shock, a massive surprise. Dealing with it was new to all of us. It came from nowhere,” said Ashworth.

“We first became aware of it when was there a potential allegation on social media. I spoke with his representatives and it just happened really quickly.

“Our first thought was to protect our player, he is part of our family, and to give him the help and support he needed. We wanted to understand exactly what had happened and work transparently with the authorities.

“Sandro wanted to do that from the off as well. It was a bit of a whirlwind really. We got to where we were on Friday where the ban had been signed off and agreed with the Italian federation, FIFA and our own Football Association.”

The ban means Tonali will not be eligible to return to competitive action until August 27, 2024 and Ashworth knows he will be a big miss to the squad.

“Like any player we will miss him of course, he is a top player and a big signing. To contextualise it, it could have been an ACL,” Ashworth said.

“These things happen in football, but obviously when it happens in this context it’s not something you expect. For me, from the minute it happened, you look at yourself.

“What could we have done better? What could I have done better? What are the lessons learned from this? Could we have known? Should we have known? You look at your processes.

“I’ve been doing this for 16 years and nothing like this has happened before. We pride ourselves on due diligence and getting the right characters.

“You have all seen the culture and cohesion in the group is extremely strong, and that’s not by chance.

“We spend an immense amount of time looking at the character as well as the athlete. We have and will continue to review what we have done in the past and will do going forward.”

In addition to his ban, Tonali was fined 20,000 euros and will undergo eight months of therapy as well as carrying out a series of public appearances.

Meanwhile, manager Eddie Howe confirmed the player is still training with the club.

In his Friday press conference, Howe said: “He is training with us and he’s started that lonely journey – I say lonely, he’s around his team-mates but we’re playing so many games at the moment that a lot of his sessions will be individual or small numbers.

“He’s started that journey into the 10 months so it’s going to be a real mental test for him to try and come through that period and become a better player, which is definitely our objective as coaches to try and help him.

“It’s going to be difficult for him for sure.”

Ashworth echoed Howe’s sentiments, adding: “Our first port of call is to look after and support him. It’s probably more difficult for him than anyone else.

“We have a programme to support him and thankfully he’s able to train with the team, which is great for his mental well-being.

“We’re putting together a programme of what he can and can’t do over the coming months to get him back flying in August.”

Erik ten Hag goes into Saturday lunchtime’s Premier League trip to Fulham with pressure mounting on his position having presided over Manchester United’s worst start to a season in decades.

Here, the PA news agency looks at their statistics so far.

Theatre of screams

United have lost eight of their first 15 games, including five out of 10 at home as Old Trafford’s former ‘fortress’ status has eroded.

Only once before in their history, way back in 1930-31, have United lost five of their first 10 home games in all competitions.

Manchester City, in the Premier League, and Newcastle in the Carabao Cup have inflicted back-to-back three-goal home defeats – the first time United have suffered that fate since 1962.

Their form is in stark contrast to last season, when Ten Hag’s side only lost two home games in total – to Brighton in the league and Real Sociedad in the Europa League.

The one slightly more encouraging omen is that both of those came before the middle of September, with Ten Hag able to then turn the ship around with a 32-game unbeaten home run to the end of the season which included 13 straight wins from October 19 to February 4.

Premier League low point

United’s record from their opening 10 league games also shows an even split of five wins and five losses, with home advantage making no difference – they have won three and lost three at home, along with two and two away.

That leaves their average points per game at 1.5, lower than it has been for any full Premier League season – they are on track for 57 points at that rate, one fewer than their lowest Premier League total when they finished sixth in 2021-22.

Meanwhile, there are five occasions when they have lost fewer than their current five games over an entire Premier League season – including three each in back-to-back years in 1998-99 and 1999-2000, as well as four in a 42-game season in 1993-94. The others came in 2008-09 and 2010-11, both with four losses, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams winning the league on all five occasions.

Their worst goal difference at any stage of a Premier League season is minus-six, after they lost 6-1 to Tottenham in their third game of the 2020-21 season – though Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side did at least recover to finish second, albeit 12 points behind Manchester City. They are currently only one goal better off, meaning defeat to Fulham would see them at least match that low point.

Ten Hag’s philosophy

In a clip from his press conference ahead of the Fulham game, share on United’s X, formerly known as Twitter, account, Ten Hag said: “I came here with my philosophy based on possession, but also to combine it with the DNA of Manchester United and with the competences and characters of the players. Last season we have seen what that was, we played very good football.

“This season the philosophy is not different, only I want to emphasise more on going direct. They thought I want to play long balls but I want to play from the back, we want to press from different blocks and then go direct because we have the players who are very good at it.”

They have averaged 53.2 per cent of possession in Premier League games and 48 per cent in the Champions League, with an overall average of 53.8 per cent thanks to a pair of ball-dominant League Cup outings as they even had 62 per cent of the ball in the hammering against Newcastle.

Thomas Frank hopes Ivan Toney will remain at Brentford “forever” but did not categorically rule out the England striker leaving the club in January.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked with a swoop in the winter transfer window for Toney, who by January 17 will be available again after serving an eight-month ban for breaching betting rules.

It has been reported that Brentford have slapped a £100million price tag on a player who scored 20 goals last season and made his England debut against Ukraine in a European Championship qualifier in March.

Frank was reluctant to confirm the accuracy of the valuation but recognises Toney’s importance and insisted the 27-year-old, who returned to training in September, is content to stay with Brentford.

Speaking ahead of Brentford’s match against West Ham on Saturday, Frank told a press conference: “I want him to stay. Ivan is happy to stay.

“He is happy at the club. What happens in the future is impossible to guess about.

“He’s a top player, one of our most important players, if not the most important last year. Any player that can score 20-plus goals in the Premier League are very, very important.

“Ivan’s skillset in terms of finishing abilities with his left and right (foot), heading and his composure in those moments and his link-up play and his presence, character, is a very good package.

“It’s not (up to) me to put a price tag on him, it’s down to the club. But I’m happy with him, I hope he plays here forever and I’m the coach.”

Midfield trio Mikkel Damsgaard, Keane Lewis-Potter and Josh Dasilva resumed light training this week. Damsgaard and Lewis-Potter are likely to return to practising with the first-team next week.

Brentford go into this weekend looking for a third successive win, having seen off Burnley and Chelsea in the last fortnight, and the Bees have beaten West Ham in all four of their Premier League meetings.

But Frank added: “West Ham are a very good side with a very good and experienced manager (in David Moyes).

“They’ve had a good start to the season, they top their group in the Europa League and are in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.

“They are a strong opponent but we trust ourselves and believe and if we top perform, we have a good chance of winning.”

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is unsure if reuniting with former club Tottenham will feel like bumping into an ex-girlfriend because he cannot remember having one.

Pochettino enjoyed five full seasons in charge of Spurs between 2014 and 2019 but is poised to return for the first time as manager of one of their fiercest rivals.

The Argentinian, who believes Tottenham are genuine Premier League title contenders this term, is uncertain how he will be greeted by home supporters on Monday evening.

Yet he insisted a negative response would not tarnish his memories as he laughed off an analogy referencing his love life.

“My goodness,” he replied with a hearty chuckle when the situation was compared to meeting a former girlfriend.

“It’s difficult because I think I am nearly 32 years with my wife and I don’t know even if I had a girlfriend before my wife.

“That’s why it’s difficult to answer that question because I don’t know how you can feel.”

Pochettino led Tottenham to a second-placed Premier League finish in 2017 but was unable to end their long wait for silverware and was sacked five months after reaching the 2019 Champions League final.

Speaking about the reception he expects, the 51-year-old continued: “I’m not going to say nothing at the moment because until Monday we cannot guess what is going to happen then.

“The most important thing is people know that we cannot forget all that we lived together, amazing memories there.

“I am going to respect the people, how(ever) they are going to express, but it’s not going to change my emotion, my view, my feelings about a club that I think we spend an unbelievable journey (with).

“(It is) really special because I am back after four years in a place that we have amazing memories, we created amazing memories together. I think it’s special, I’m not going to lie.”

While Chelsea are languishing in mid-table 10 games into the campaign, unbeaten Tottenham top the table under Ange Postecoglou.

Pochettino feels the north London side are capable of remaining in that position and ending the season as champions.

“Yes, I think so,” he said.

“Ange and the coaching staff, they are doing a fantastic job and then of course very good players, very good team. You can feel they can be a contender.

“Of course it’s early in the season but they are showing the quality to be contenders.”

Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth admits the investigation into Sandro Tonali has been “a whirlwind” and a “massive shock” following the midfielder’s ban from football.

Just before the Magpies’ trip to Wolves last Saturday, the Italian was handed a 10-month ban by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) – which was subsequently ratified by FIFA after he agreed a plea bargain as part of an investigation into illegal betting activity.

Tonali found himself at the centre of the investigation during last month’s international break and Ashworth revealed how quickly it unfolded.

“It was a massive shock, a massive surprise. Dealing with it was new to all of us. It came from nowhere,” he said.

“We first became aware of it when was there a potential allegation on social media. I spoke with his representatives and it just happened really quickly.

“Our first thought was to protect our player, he is part of our family, and to give him the help and support he needed. We wanted to understand exactly what had happened and work transparently with the authorities.

“Sandro wanted to do that from the off as well. It was a bit of a whirlwind really. We got to where we were on Friday (before the Wolves game) where the ban had been signed off and agreed with the Italian federation, FIFA and our own Football Association.”

The ban means that Tonali, who arrived on Tyneside from AC Milan for £55million in the summer, will not be eligible to return to competitive action until August 27, 2024 and Ashworth knows he will be a big miss to the squad.

“Like any player we will miss him of course, he is a top player and a big signing. To contextualise it, it could have been an ACL,” Ashworth said.

“These things happen in football, but obviously when it happens in this context it’s not something you expect. For me, from the minute it happened, you look at yourself.

“What could we have done better? What could I have done better? What are the lessons learned from this? Could we have known? Should we have known? You look at your processes.

“I’ve been doing this for 16 years and nothing like this has happened before. We pride ourselves on due diligence and getting the right characters.

“You have all seen the culture and cohesion in the group is extremely strong, and that’s not by chance.

“We spend an immense amount of time looking at the character as well as the athlete. We have and will continue to review what we have done in the past and will do going forward.”

In addition to his ban, Tonali was fined 20,000 euros and will undergo eight months of therapy as well as carrying out a series of public appearances and manager Eddie Howe confirmed that the 23-year-old is in training.

In his Friday press conference, Howe said: “(Tonali) is training with us and he’s started that lonely – I say lonely, he’s around his team-mates – but we’re playing so many games at the moment that a lot of his sessions will be individual or small numbers.

“He’s started that journey into the 10 months so it’s going to be a real mental test for him to try and come through that period and become a better player, which is definitely our objective as coaches to try and help him.

“It’s going to be difficult for him for sure.”

Ashworth echoed Howe’s sentiments, adding: “Our first port of call is to look after and support him. It’s probably more difficult for him than anyone else.

“We have a programme to support him and thankfully he’s able to train with the team, which is great for his mental well-being.

“We’re putting together a programme of what he can and can’t do over the coming months to get him back flying in August.”

Manchester United midfielder Casemiro has been ruled out for a “several weeks” with a hamstring injury.

After missing three matches, the 31-year-old captained Erik ten Hag’s side on his return against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

Casemiro was replaced at half-time of the 3-0 defeat and United have now confirmed he will miss a key run of fixtures.

The club said in a statement: “Casemiro will be out for several weeks due to a hamstring injury suffered during our Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday.

“The Brazilian midfielder was withdrawn at half-time due to the issue, and subsequent assessment has revealed a strain that will keep him out for a number of weeks.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes it is scary the levels striker Darwin Nunez could reach.

The Uruguay international’s stunning winner in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Bournemouth was his seventh of the season, having scored in his last three matches.

Nunez scored 15 times in what was a difficult maiden campaign both individually and collectively for the team following his £64million move from Benfica.

The 24-year-old did not speak English when he joined the club but that is developing and Klopp believes he will only got better.

“It is completely different now. The first year was hard for him and then hard for me as well because you see this incredible talent, massive potential, but it is difficult to unfold it,” he said.

“I am a manager who can help a player but I need contact for that, it can speed up a process by talking a lot with the player.

“I was not able to do that because I don’t speak Spanish and he didn’t speak English but his English is now that much better. My Spanish still not.

“But he is settled in the team and when you see him around the building everything is different and he is in a very good moment. It is still only the start for him.

“It’s a good moment, hopefully it continues like that forever. Then I am a bit afraid of the highs he could reach because there is so much there it is crazy.

“But now at least we found the real starting moment and let’s work from here.”

Klopp relied heavily on Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker to be his on-field translator in Nunez’s first season but the arrival of Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister in the summer has helped even more.

“The football English is not complicated so we don’t have so speak about everything in life. The football communications are absolutely possible, which is helpful, and we have an extra on-field player,” added the Reds boss ahead of Sunday’s trip to Luton.

“So far it was always Ali who translated everyone and now we have Macca and they are really close with each other and Macca is a super-smart footballer so if I forget to tell him something Macca tells him anyway.

“Strikers need to know where to go when midfielders have the ball and that depends on the midfielders and that is the stuff you talk to players about.

“But the players talk to each other as well about it and Macca is super-helpful. Lucho’s (Luis Diaz) English is also getting better so they are close as well.

“There is not just a specific amount of time, for each individual it is different, to really arrive. But who cares, it is done now and that’s good.”

Mikel Arteta insists there is no point comparing the modern Premier League to past seasons as the Arsenal boss claims the quality at the top is “unprecedented”.

The Gunners travel to Newcastle on Saturday evening knowing victory could move them to the summit, with leaders Tottenham not in action until Monday.

Just four points separate the current top five, with former Arsenal head coach Unai Emery’s Aston Villa continuing to keep pace with more established sides such as Liverpool and reigning champions Manchester City.

Newcastle sit sixth, but have not lost in the league since September 2 as the pool of teams competing for the major honours continues to grow.

“What has happened in the last five years is unprecedented,” Arteta said on the eve of taking his side to St James’ Park.

“It never happened with the amount of points and level of the teams. Now it’s the amount of teams with that level that is increasing and increasing.

“That’s why comparing to the past in this league is a waste of time. It’s very different to what it used to be, and that puts the demands of what we do every single day in a different scope.”

Arsenal remain unbeaten in the league, but suffered a 3-1 loss at West Ham in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Captain Martin Odegaard came off the bench late on to score a consolation goal as he aims to overcoming a nagging hip complaint.

“We have tried to offload him a little bit because he had a little issue that he was grumbling with,” Arteta explained.

“He felt much better in the last few days, and we gave a few minutes against West Ham which was good to see, and his contribution was really good – if he’s fine he will be ready.”

Meanwhile, Arteta hinted defender Ben White could be the next of his key players to sign a new deal at the Emirates Stadium.

White will make his 100th appearance for Arsenal on Saturday having joined from Brighton in 2021 and Arteta is pleased with how the 26-year-old has developed under his tenure.

“We are always trying to keep the squad in a healthy position in any way, and the club and Edu especially are working on that,” he replied when asked about a potential new contract for White.

“I think he’s progressed in the right way in the last few years. He had a little bit of a difficult start, which is normal because it was a big jump with different expectations.

“He started to play as well in certain different positions, but I think he’s shown a lot of determination and courage to overcome that.

“I think he has a big personality, I think he copes with pressure really well, he has a lot of quality, he gives us different positions and he’s been a key player for us.

“He’s a really good character in his own way and the way he is, the way he presents himself, but he loves football. The way he trains every day, the way he applies himself is top and we need players like him.”