Thomas Frank refused to discuss the future of striker Ivan Toney, instead choosing to focus on the players he definitely has at his disposal at Brentford.

Toney has been the subject of interest from Saudi club Al-Ahli, while Chelsea have long been admirers of the striker and have reportedly made a move this week.

The England international has been left out of Brentford's first three games of the season.

And Frank did not want to entertain the subject after Brentford's EFL Cup third round win over Colchester on Wednesday.

He said: "Similar to yesterday. I am not speaking about Ivan.

"I want to speak about the 21 lads in the dressing room who did well to get through to the next round of the EFL Cup against a Colchester team who deserve a lot of praise and made it difficult for us."

Brentford have one win and one loss from their opening two matches in the Premier League, and now host Southampton, who are yet to pick up a point, following 1-0 losses to both Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.

When the two sides last met in the top flight, Brentford triumphed 2-0 at St. Mary's Stadium in March 2023 with goals from Toney and Yoane Wissa.

Southampton come into this contest on the back of scoring a glut of goals, however, in their 5-3 EFL Cup win over Cardiff City.

And Russell Martin, who mixed up his side for Wednesday's cup tie, was impressed with what he saw from Southampton's younger players, including new signing Cameron Archer, who scored twice.

That being said, Martin knows his team must tighten up defensively.

"I'm really happy with the win and I’m pleased for my young players. But there is also a lot to be annoyed about," he said.

"We conceded three goals and the game descended into chaos in the second half. It was a moment of brilliance for their first goal, but we took our foot of the gas and dropped their intensity.

"That was a big learning curve for the younger players. They took some liberties in the first half and they will be better for the experience and they showed real grit."

Yoane Wissa is in the DR Congo squad to begin their AFCON Qualifying campaign next month with games against Guinea and Ethiopia 

Bonne chance, Wis  pic.twitter.com/XOepvaQb0S

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) August 28, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brentford - Yoane Wissa

Wissa has been involved in six goals in his last seven home Premier League starts for Brentford (four goals, two assists), scoring and assisting in each of the last two. The last player to score and assist in three home appearances in a row was Leroy Sane for Manchester City in September/October 2017.

Southampton - Adam Armstong

Armstrong endured a difficult match last time out in the Premier League against Nottingham Forest, as he was booked and then subbed off.

Nevertheless, the striker was integral to the Saints gaining promotion back to the top flight last season, winning the Player of the Season award, and this fixture would be an ideal way to get off the mark this season.

MATCH PREDICTION: BRENTFORD WIN

Brentford have won their last three Premier League games against Southampton without conceding, winning both home games against Saints by a 3-0 scoreline.

Southampton have won just one of their last nine away league games against Brentford (D3 L5), beating them 3-0 in April 2011 while in League One.

Brentford lost their first home Premier League game against a newly promoted side 2-1 to Norwich in November 2021, when the Bees were new to the division themselves. Since then, they have won seven in a row on home soil against such sides, scoring twice or more in every victory.

Despite having the highest average possession in the Premier League so far this season (70.6%), Southampton have lost both of their games 1-0. Only once in their history have they lost their first three league games in a campaign without scoring, doing so in 2001-02.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY:

Brentford - 52.8%

Draw - 23.4%

Southampton - 23.8%

Liverpool have signed Italy international Federico Chiesa from Serie A giants Juventus.

The Reds have reportedly paid an initial £10million for the 26-year-old, with that fee rising to £12.5m including add-ons.

Chiesa is said to have signed a four-year deal with Liverpool, though the club did not confirm the length of the contract.

He joined Juve from Fiorentina in 2020, and starred at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, which Italy won by beating England on penalties at Wembley.

Capable of playing on either flank, Chiesa scored nine goals and set up two more in Serie A last term.

Speaking to Liverpool's official website, Chiesa said: "I'm so happy to be a Liverpool player. When Richard Hughes called me and he said, 'Do you want to join Liverpool?' – and the coach called me – I said yes immediately because I know the history of this club, I know what it represents to the fans.

"So, I’m so happy and I can't wait to get started."

Chiesa will add another creative outlet for Arne Slot, having crafted 54 chances in Serie A in 2023-24, which would have ranked him third among Liverpool's attacking options, behind Mohamed Salah (66) and Luis Diaz (64).

He is also a proficient dribbler, having attempted 94 take-ons in Serie A last season, while also making 193 progressive carries.

Jack Grealish has earned a recall to the England squad under interim boss Lee Carsley, who has named four uncapped players in his first selection.

Gareth Southgate left his role as Three Lions manager in the wake of the 2-1 loss to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.

Grealish was a notable absentee from England's squad for that tournament, but the Manchester City attacker has returned to the fold for next month's Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.

The 28-year-old is joined in the squad by four new faces, with Noni Madueke, Morgan Gibbs-White, Tino Livramento and Lille midfielder Angel Gomes all included.

Grealish's club-mate Kyle Walker has been left out, while Kieran Trippier confirmed his international retirement on Thursday.

Harry Maguire, who missed Euro 2024 due to injury, has been called up, as has Rico Lewis.

"I think it's a real proud moment, it's been a hectic few weeks to get used to the magnitude of the job," said Carsley, who managed England's Under-21s to European Championship glory in 2023. 

"I think it's fair to say that the job that Gareth [Southgate] and Steve [Holland] did, and the position I'm now in picking the current job is completely different to what they inherited. I think the expectation around the squad is really exciting."

England take on Ireland in Dublin on September 7, before hosting Finland three days later.

England's squad in full:

Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope(Newcastle United); Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City),Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City); Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal); Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

Kieran Trippier has announced his retirement from international football.

The 33-year-old was handed his debut by Gareth Southgate against France in June 2017 and represented his national side 54 times.

That includes six appearances in the Three Lions' run to the final of Euro 2024.

The Newcastle United right back played in four major tournaments and scored England's opening goal during their 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia in 2018.

In a statement on Instagram, Trippier said: "I never thought as a young lad from Bury that I would play for my country let alone achieve 54 caps.

"It's been one of the biggest honours of my life to represent my country at four major tournaments.

"Thank you to all my team-mates - we have had some very special moments reaching two Euro finals, and a World Cup semi-final and I am sure in the future this group of players will win a major tournament."

Trippier made 45 starts for his country and supplied five assists.

Trippier made his first start of the season for Newcastle in Wednesday evening's EFL Cup shootout win over Nottingham Forest, but there is still uncertainty over his future, with the transfer window closing on Friday.

Eddie Howe reiterated his desire for him to stay, saying: "I don't want to weaken the squad. We are looking to do business the other way and not lose our best players."

Mohamed Salah has just one year left on his Liverpool contract, but is not thinking too deeply about his future just yet.

Salah has started the Premier League season with two goals in as many games, and also provided an assist for Diogo Jota's strike against Ipswich Town.

Liverpool have won both of their top-tier matches under new boss Arne Slot, though the Dutchman faces his biggest task as Reds boss so far when his team face Manchester United on Sunday.

With Salah in sharp form, Liverpool will fancy their chances at Old Trafford, though Sunday's clash may ultimately be the Egypt international's final match at Old Trafford.

Salah is out of contract at the end of the season, and while he has no concrete plans over his future, says for now his intention is to enjoy the last year of his deal.

"Before the season, I was just like 'I've got one year left, let's just enjoy it and don't think about the contract'," Salah told Sky Sports.

"I don't want to think about next year or the future, I just want to enjoy the last year [of my contract] and let's see.

"The most important thing is to take one day at a time and just be grateful to be here."

Looking ahead to the United clash, Salah added: "I'm excited for [Sunday's game], we play United and usually we don't play them that early but yes it's a big game coming up and we are ready.

"I just focus on the big games and I always want to have the ability to win the game. I don't go into the game thinking about the records. I just go to the game and enjoy.

"I am trying my best to give everything for the club and the team, sometimes you have luck and sometimes you don't but I am just enjoying the football.

"It's a big change [under Slot], we have been with Jurgen Klopp for seven or eight years and now with the new manager there are different things, I enjoyed it before and I am enjoying it now."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Manchester United - Marcus Rashford

Rashford has only scored more goals against Leicester City (eight) in all competitions than he has against Liverpool (seven).

All seven of these strikes have come in his 10 appearances against the Reds at Old Trafford.

Liverpool - Mohamed Salah

Salah is the highest scoring visiting player to Old Trafford in Premier League history (six goals), while he has netted in each of his last six away games against United in all competitions (nine goals in total).

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

No team has had more shots than Liverpool in the Premier League this season (37), while the Reds also have the highest expected goals total (5.3) and the lowest expected goals against total (1.0) so far.

Liverpool have won both of their Premier League games 2-0 this season. Twice before have they won each of their first three in a campaign without conceding, doing so in 2013-14 and 2018-19 – they beat United 1-0 on September 1 in the third game in the former.

Since Alex Ferguson retired, United have lost 13 of their 35 Premier League games played in September (W19 D3), only losing more often in May since 2013-14 (15). It’s more defeats than they suffered in the month in 76 games under the Scotsman (W45 D19 L12).

United have won just one of their last 12 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D5 L6), beating them 2-1 at Old Trafford in their third game of the 2022-23 campaign.

Liverpool have lost just one of their last six Premier League away games against United (W2 D3), while only Manchester City (nine) have won away at Old Trafford more often than the Reds (7) in the competition’s history.

Slot and Erik ten Hag met four times during their time in the Eredivisie – Slot's AZ beat Ten Hag’s Ajax twice in 2019-20, before ten Hag twice beat Slot's Feyenoord side in 2021-22. This is the first Premier League game between two Dutch managers since February 2016, when Guus Hiddink's Chelsea won 2-1 at Ronald Koeman's Southampton.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Manchester United - 28.2%

Liverpool - 48.4%

Draw - 23.4%

Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler has confirmed that new signing Matt O'Riley requires ankle surgery and will be out of action for some time.

O'Riley was forced off ten minutes into his Brighton debut against Crawley following his big-money move from Celtic, after being on the receiving end of a strong challenge.

Hurzeler confirmed that the Danish international will be on the sidelines for a while, and hopes the whole club can rally round him during his recovery.

He said: "It's a bad injury, he needs ankle surgery and I can't say how long he's out. We will support him and try to get him back fast on the pitch.

"He's a good character, and is a really positive guy. It's really important to stay mentally strong and I am certain he will come back stronger from this."

O'Riley was the second-highest goalscorer in the Scottish Premiership last season with 18 goals, while he also provided the most assists in the league with 13.

The 31-year-old manager also praised the vision of Tony Bloom, who has backed Hurzeler with the club's most expensive ever outlay this summer.

Along with O'Riley, the club have spent almost £200million on the likes of O'Riley, Mats Wieffer, Yankuba Minteh, Ferdi Kadioglu and Georginio Rutter.

"I feel grateful and thankful for [chairman] Tony [Bloom] because it shows the ambition of the club and that we want to build on a foundation and make improvements," said Hurzeler, who is just the fourth Brighton boss to win his opening two league games in charge.

"I'm a very ambitious guy and hope that we can achieve something big together."

Brighton travel to Arsenal on Saturday for their third match of the Premier League season.

The Seagulls have won three of their seven Premier League away games against Arsenal (D1 L3). 

Juventus have completed the signing of Teun Koopmeiners from Atalanta for €54.7million.

The 26-year-old midfielder has signed a five-year deal with the Bianconeri.

Koopmeiners was a key member of the Atalanta side that ended Bayer Leverkusen’s long unbeaten run in last season's Europa League final, and had been at the club for three years after joining from AZ in 2021.

He missed out on a place in the Netherlands' Euro 2024 squad after suffering an injury in a warm-up match and has represented his national side 21 times, scoring twice.

Since arriving in Serie A, Koopmeiners has been one of the league's most prolific midfielders, scoring 26 times, with nine of those goals coming from outside the box during the 2021-22 season.

Juve have already made a number of moves in this summer window, bringing in Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa, Francisco Conceicao from Porto and Nicolas Gonzalez from Fiorentina.

Bournemouth have completed the signing of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Kepa spent last season out on loan at Real Madrid, with Los Blancos signing the Spaniard as a replacement for the injured Thibaut Courtois.

However, Kepa failed to cement his place in Carlo Ancelotti's starting XI, with Andriy Lunin preferred for much of the campaign.

The 29-year-old, who joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao in 2018, returned to Stamford Bridge but has now joined Andoni Iraoloa's team for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.

Kepa played 14 times in LaLiga last season for Madrid, making 30 saves, recording a save percentage of 76.9% from 148 shots faced.

Leagues Cup champions the Columbus Crew made a winning return to MLS as they beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0.

The Crew beat Philadelphia 3-1 last week in the Leagues Cup semi-finals, before going on to defeat Los Angeles FC in the final.

And the reigning MLS Cup winners continued their excellent form in Wednesday's rearranged contest against the Union.

Substitute Yaw Yeboah grabbed the decisive goal, heading home from Max Arfsten's delivery in the 75th minute.

The Union had hit the woodwork twice in the first half, with Patrick Schulte tipping Tai Baribo's close-range attempt onto the post before Quinn Sullivan struck the crossbar.

Columbus are third in the Eastern Conference, though have two games in hand on the teams around them, while the Union sit 10th.

Data Debrief: Union's winning streak snapped

Wednesday's defeat marked the Union's first home loss to the Crew in MLS in the space of nine games, with Philadelphia having won seven and drawn one of the previous eight such meetings.

Philadelphia returned to form in MLS before the Leagues Cup break, winning two games, though they have won only three of their last 20 MLS games.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal after they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Espanyol.

Simeone's side had 25 shots and mustered 2.71 expected goals on Wednesday, yet could not get over the line against one of LaLiga's promoted teams.

Visiting goalkeeper Joan Garcia made seven saves to ensure Espanyol took what may prove to be a valuable point in their bid to stay up this season.

Simeone said his side were undone by a "lack of precision" in front of goal.

"It worries me, as always, but I can't stop appreciating the good game the team played. When you have five clear goalscoring opportunities like the ones we had?" Simeone told Movistar.

"Well, they didn't go in, but the opportunities we created were the result of our play, not by chance. We expected to win, but they defended well and we were not convincing. If you don't score, it's very difficult.

"The team played very well, they made a very strong start to the first half. Then we dropped off a bit, that's why we made the changes. In the second half, we didn't have so many chances to score, but we played well."

Simeone made three changes at half-time to freshen things up, with Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Pablo Barrios coming on, although eyebrows were raised when struggling striker Alexander Sorloth, a big-money addition from Villarreal, was replaced by defender Reinildo.

"We never changed the system, we continued with a 5-3-2 to balance the team, which was starting to split," Simeone explained.

"The opponent could also hurt us and we balanced the middle with Llorente and Barrios."

League Two AFC Wimbledon shocked Premier League side Ipswich Town on penalties to reach the third round of the EFL Cup.

Conor Chaplin had equalised for Ipswich late in normal time to make it 2-2 but Dons goalkeeper Owen Goodman was the hero in the shootout, saving from Jack Taylor and Omari Hutchinson.

Wimbledon's reward will be a third-round tie at home to Newcastle United, who beat Nottingham Forest on penalties after drawing 1-1 at the City Ground.

Southampton booked their place in the third round after eventually coming through a 5-3 thriller away at Cardiff City.

Injury-time goals from James Bree and Cameron Archer got the job done for the Saints, who were pegged back three times by Cardiff earlier on.

There were wins for Wolves, who beat Burnley 2-0 at home, and Brentford, who won 1-0 away at Colchester.

West Ham defeated fellow Premier League side Bournemouth 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Jarrod Bowen and will now play holders Liverpool in the next round.

Last season's finalists Chelsea will host Barrow in the next round, while there are also home ties for both Manchester City and Manchester United, who will play Watford and Barnsley respectively. 

Arsenal face League One Bolton at home, while their North London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur will travel to Coventry. 

EFL Cup third-round draw in full:

Liverpool v West Ham

Manchester City v Watford

Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers

Manchester United v Barnsley

Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa

Coventry City v Tottenham

Walsall v Leicester City

Brentford v Leyton Orient

Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday

Preston North End v Fulham

Everton v Southampton

Queens Park Rangers v Crystal Palace

Stoke City v Fleetwood Town

Brighton v Wolves

AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle United

Chelsea v Barrow

Atletico Madrid had 25 attempts at goal but could not find the breakthrough as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Espanyol in LaLiga on Wednesday.

Espanyol are the only team yet to score in LaLiga and they showed no signs of breaking their duck in a one-sided contest at Estadio Civitas Metropolitano.

Yet despite mustering 2.71 expected goals (xG), Atleti were unable to blow the door down.

New signings Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth came close to opening the scoring in the first half, while Rodrigo Riquelme had two goals chalked off for offside, the first after a lengthy VAR check and the second in added time.

Espanyol's rearguard held firm as goalkeeper Joan Garcia made seven saves to deny Diego Simeone's side all three points.

Data Debrief: Sorloth misfiring

Sorloth enjoyed a brilliant campaign with Villarreal last season, but the Norway international has so far struggled to replicate that form for Atletico.

In fact, he has now had his longest run of shots in LaLiga without finding the net (six), with four of those coming in this contest.

Newcastle United defeated Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties to book their place in the third round of the EFL Cup after a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.

Sean Longstaff struck the winning penalty after Taiwo Awoniyi blazed over for the home side.

Debutant Carlos Miguel had earlier saved from Joelinton to hand Forest the early advantage in the shootout but Ibrahim Sangare struck the crossbar to bring Newcastle back into the shootout.

Joe Willock’s goal, one of the earliest in the competition’s history, had handed Eddie Howe, who handed a start to Sandro Tonali following his return from a long ban, a dream start in normal time.

Forest improved markedly after the break and equalised through Jota Silva’s thumping effort.

The visitors looked the likelier to score towards the end of the tie, with Dan Burn going close from a corner and Harvey Barnes hitting the side netting with a thrashing effort.

Despite Forest holding the advantage in the shootout with Miguel's save, it was later squandered by poor misses from Sangare and especially Awoniyi, leaving Longstaff to knock home the winning penalty for the Magpies.

Data Debrief: Willock's goal tough to beat

Willock's goal 18 seconds into the match is, as would probably be expected, the quickest goal in the EFL Cup this season so far.

Newcastle got it done the hard way after their rapid start, though Howe will no doubt feel his team were the better side, seeing them have more shots (14 to 12) and accumulated over double the amount of expected goals (xG), with 1.92 to Forest's 0.91.

West Ham progressed to the third round of the EFL Cup after a contentious late goal from Jarrod Bowen helped them edge fellow Premier League side Bournemouth 1-0 at London Stadium.

As the game looked to be heading for a penalty shootout, Bowen emerged as West Ham's hero, deflecting in the winner with just two minutes left on the clock, though the ball appeared to strike his arm.

Julen Lopetegui's Hammers were on the backfoot for most of the first half, which ended with Bournemouth winger Dango Ouattara testing goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with an acrobatic effort.

The visitors went close again as Marcus Tavernier brushed the woodwork with his free-kick eight minutes after the restart, but Bournemouth failed to find the back of the net despite creating plenty of chances and mustering an expected goals (xG) of 1.01 to West Ham's 0.8.

And ultimately, their profligacy was punished when Bowen turned in Mohamed Kudus' 88th-minute strike, and with no VAR, there was no reprieve for the Cherries.

West Ham will return to action when they host reigning champions Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday while the Cherries will be at Goodison Park on the same day to face Everton.

Data Debrief: Bowen blowing bubbles

Bowen has now scored in each of his last three games in the EFL Cup, and even though he did not know much about this goal, he was West Ham's greatest attacking threat, having five attempts in total, and getting three of them on target.

The Hammers have now found the net in each of their last six EFL Cup matches, which is the club's longest such run in the competition.

Xabi Alonso wants Bayer Leverkusen to click through the gears after they edged out Jena in the DFB-Pokal.

Jonas Hofmann's header was enough to send holders Leverkusen into the next round with a 1-0 win on Wednesday.

Alonso's side only allowed their lower-league opponents to have six shots, but worryingly for the Bundesliga champions, those did accumulate to 1.04 expected goals (xG).

Indeed, Hamza Muqaj missed a golden opportunity for the hosts worth 0.75 xG in second-half stoppage time.

With RB Leipzig next up in the league, Alonso knows his team have to sharpen up.

"[We faced] a good opponent and it wasn't easy," said Alonso.

"We have to work on a few things, but we are in the next round and that's what counts. Now we go straight into preparing for the next league game."

Leverkusen did bolster their defensive options, though with the signing of Nordi Mukiele.

The versatile defender has joined on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, and could be in line to make his debut against his former club Leipzig on Saturday.

Odilon Kossounou, meanwhile, has left Leverkusen to sign for Atalanta, who beat Alonso's team in last season's Europa League final, on loan.