Arne Slot believes hard work and intensity have been key to Liverpool's form ahead of their Premier League meeting with Aston Villa on Saturday.

Slot has won 14 of his 16 matches in all competitions since taking charge at Anfield and, despite his magnificent start, he pointed out that it has not been easy.

"You only look at results. Brighton was a difficult one on Saturday where we were 1-0 behind and had to fight really hard and that is what you saw," he told the Independent.

"We have to work really hard with incredibly high intensity to win our games and that has a lot to do with teams who think Anfield is the best place to play, so every team we play against is at the top of their game. If you want to win you always have to be consistent in your intensity."

Having taken over from Jurgen Klopp, it was understandable that expectations had lowered when Slot took over, but after a stellar start to the season, Slot said he was unconcerned by the pressure.

"I think if you work at any club around the world there is always pressure. For some managers it is not to go down, for some they have to win a lot,” he added.

"In our position, there is always pressure and that is the pressure we give ourselves."

Villa, meanwhile, go into this game having lost back-to-back games against Tottenham in the Premier League and Club Brugge in the Champions League.

A bizarre penalty conceded by Tyrone Mings provided the winner for the Belgian side on Wednesday, but Unai Emery was still pleased with the intensity his side showed.

"The first half we played like we were planning... It was a mistake," Emery said after that game.

"It is difficult and here it is not strange. You watched the match and [Villa] playing, they finished exhausted. It was not intensity, it was that the match changed completely after our mistake."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

No player has been involved in more Premier League goals than Mohamed Salah (12) so far this season, with seven goals and five assists. He has also had the most touches in the opposition box this term (96), while of players to have had 20+ shots, no-one has hit a higher percentage of them on target (67% - 20/30).

The Egyptian has scored in four of his last five appearances at Anfield in all competitions, while he was also credited with two assists in the 4-0 victory over Leverkusen last time out.

Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

Only Erling Haaland (16) has had more big chances than Ollie Watkins (14) in the Premier League this season.

While Watkins has only scored five league goals, with four of those coming from the big chances, he is still Villa's top goalscorer.

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

Liverpool have won five of their last six home games against Villa (D1), while the visitors have lost 16 of their last 18 Premier League away games against sides starting top of the table (D2).

A large part of Liverpool's early-season success has come from their defence, with only Manchester City (32) facing fewer shots on target than them (34) in the league. Liverpool, meanwhile, have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League (six).

Slot is also only the fifth manager to win eight of his first 10 Premier League matches in charge, with the club also unbeaten in their last seven (W5 D2) against Villa.

Slot's side have won four and lost one of their five home games in the league this season, accruing the joint third-most points (12).

However, Liverpool have conceded the first goal in their last two Premier League games but avoided defeat in both (2-2 v Arsenal, 2-1 v Brighton). Indeed, their win against Brighton was the 100th time they have come from behind to win a Premier League match, the third team to reach this milestone in the competition.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Liverpool – 61.8%

Draw – 19.7%

Aston Villa – 18.4%

Ten matches into the Premier League season, Arsenal's hopes of ending their long wait for a league title are already in danger.

Last week's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United made it just seven points from five games, and they now trail leaders Liverpool by seven points.

Injuries and suspensions have taken their toll on Arteta's men, and things do not get much easier for them on Sunday, against a Chelsea team currently above them on goal difference.

Enzo Maresca's Blues fought back to draw 1-1 with Manchester United last time out, and only Manchester City and Liverpool have beaten them since the Italian took over.

We delve into the Opta data to preview Sunday's headline fixture at Stamford Bridge.

What's expected?

Given the two sides are only separated on goal difference ahead of Sunday's match, the Opta supercomputer finds it difficult to split. 

Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 41.2%, giving them a slight edge over their hosts, who are a 33.2% shot.

The likelihood of a draw is rated at 25.6%, but you sense Arsenal need to take all three points after seeing their hopes of winning the title drop to 4.4% in Opta's season predictions. Chelsea's own hopes are rated at 0.3%, with City (61.9%) still clear favourites ahead of Liverpool (33.4%).

Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Arsenal (two draws, six defeats), a 2-0 away win in August 2021. The Gunners have managed three victories in their last four league trips to Stamford Bridge (one draw) – as many victories as they recorded in their previous 20 visits (seven draws, 10 defeats).

Arsenal have also won their last six Premier League London derby matches by an aggregate score of 22-3, winning six of those matches by five or more goals.

One such occasion was a 5-0 rout of Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium last April, their biggest-ever margin of victory against the Blues in all competitions.

Blues eye statement victory

When the Premier League fixture list was drawn up, even the most optimistic Chelsea fan may have struggled to visualise the Blues sitting ahead of Arsenal in the table after 10 games.

But Maresca's side have shown promising signs in the early stages of his tenure. Chelsea's last two Premier League defeats this season have come against last season's top three teams – 0-5 versus Arsenal in April, 0-2 versus City in August and 1-2 against Liverpool in October.

They are unbeaten in their last 21 matches against all other teams, winning 14 and drawing seven while scoring 57 goals in total across those games.

The future looks bright for Chelsea, who fielded a starting lineup with an average age of 23 years and 96 days at Old Trafford last week – their youngest-ever XI for a Premier League match against Manchester United.

However, they are still waiting on a first statement win under Maresca, and getting one over on the Gunners would earn him plenty of goodwill among the fans.

Their chances could be decided by the fitness of Cole Palmer, who is an injury doubt after suffering a knock against United.

He opened the scoring when the Blues last welcomed Arsenal to west London for a 2-2 draw last October, scoring his first Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge.

Since then, he has more home goals in the competition than any other player (21), also leading the way for goal involvements (12 – seven goals, five assists, alongside Mohamed Salah) and open-play chances created in 2024-25.

Can fit-again Odegaard get Gunners firing?

Last season, Arsenal won 42 of their 89 Premier League points on their travels, taking nine points from five matches at the homes of their Big Six rivals. 

This campaign, however, their failure to hit top form on the road has threatened to end their latest title tilt before it truly got going. 

Arsenal have collected seven points from five away matches this term, the same amount as Brighton and fewer than Liverpool (13), Nottingham Forest (11), Chelsea, City and Aston Villa (all 10).

While Arteta has long preached the importance of control, Arsenal have simply not been good enough going forward in those matches. They have attempted just 37 shots on the road in the Premier League this season (7.4 per game), with only Brentford (seven) averaging fewer per away match across the entire division.

The fact Arsenal played significant amounts of time at Manchester City and Bournemouth with a numerical disadvantage likely plays a part, but the fact five teams have attempted at least twice as many shots on the road does not make for good reading (Manchester City 90, Tottenham 83, Crystal Palace 79, Bournemouth 78 and Manchester United 74).

Martin Odegaard's return to training after two months out with an ankle injury is a major boost, with the Norwegian having led all players in the Premier League for expected assists (11.17 xA) and chances created from open play (88) last season.

Arsenal have actually outperformed their underlying attacking metrics this campaign, netting 17 league goals from 15.75 expected goals (xG), so their finishing does not appear to be an issue. The fact they rank eighth in the league for xG does, however, suggest chance creation is a problem.

Arteta will hope Odegaard's return can make the difference, or a title challenge may prove a bridge too far. The last time they lost three successive away Premier League games was in December 2021, and they went on to miss out on a top-four finish that season.

The Norwegian was a late substitute as they were beaten 1-0 by Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday. They have now lost three of their last six games in all competitions, as many as their previous 32 beforehand.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson 

Since the start of last season, Chelsea striker Jackson has been involved in more London derby goals than any other player in the Premier League (10 goals, two assists).

All of his 12 involvements have come in his last nine such appearances, and he already has six Premier League goals this term.

Arsenal – Bukayo Saka 

Saka has provided more assists than any other player in the Premier League this season (seven). 

He has also either scored (once) or assisted (twice) a goal in each of his last three away games against Chelsea in the Premier League, with Sergio Aguero (2013 to 2017) and Javier Hernandez (2012 to 2018) the only visiting players to do so in four consecutive appearances.

Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid's precision is to thank for their last-gasp 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Warren Zaire-Emery had given PSG an early lead, though Atletico drew level through Nahuel Molina before substitute Angel Correa snatched the victory in the 93rd minute.

However, Atletico were far from dominant, managing just four shots, three of which were on target, to PSG's 22.

Last time out in the Champions League, they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Lille despite taking an early lead in that game. But Simeone feels his side have now put things right after ending a three-match losing streak on the road in the competition.

"You remember the last match against Lille, it was the same situation," Simeone said. "We had seven or eight goalscoring opportunities without being able to convert.

"In the end, football is about success. While collective play is beautiful, one can attack from all angles, but it's precision that positions you and brings success.

"Against Lille, we lacked that success, and in this match, Paris was better, but we managed to seize our opportunities.

"We defended with great collective work against a team that attacks very well. [Jan] Oblak had a great night, and we had a forcefulness that we did not have against Lille. We took a game that compensates for Lille's."

Three of Correa's UEFA Champions League goals for Atletico Madrid have come away from home, while it is their fifth 90th-minute winner in the competition since 2021-22, more than any other side.  

He was brought on in the 67th minute to replace Julian Alvarez, and Simeone was pleased with the impact of his substitute.

"We believe in the footballers we have," he added. That was the compensation to have a goal option in Correa, who has the name of Angel for something.

"When you enter the field, things always happen. We argue. I tell him because he wants to play the 90 minutes, like all players. But he knows how important 12 of the team is."

Luis Enrique blamed Paris Saint-Germain's 2-1 home defeat to Atletico Madrid on bad luck, admitting their hopes of Champions League qualification were in danger.

PSG applied their usual possession pattern but were again pretty much toothless in attack, owing Warren Zaire Emery's opener to a defensive blunder.

Nahuel Molina equalised quickly and Atletico's resilience paid off three minutes into injury time thanks to second-half substitute Angel Correa's goal at the end of a counter-attack - a scenario that Luis Enrique labelled a 'bad joke'.

PSG had a handful of clear chances through Achraf Hakimi, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele but, with no out-and-out striker, were unable to convert.

"There are no words. I think that in our three home games, we were highly superior to our opponents but we did not have any luck," Luis Enrique said.

"As long as there are matches, we will fight," he added, with PSG next set to travel to Bayern Munich on November 26.

PSG are 25th in the 36-team league, just in the elimination zone, midway through the group phase.

They have lost five of their last eight games in the Champions League (W2 D1), as many as in their previous 19 games in the competition, while this is the first time they have failed to win successive home group games in the competition (D1 L1).

On Wednesday, they had 22 attempts on goal to Atletico's four, as they accumulated 2.12 expected goals, with their opponents showing their clinical edge after creating just 0.67. 

"I've been in the game for over 30 years and I can't explain it. It's just bad luck. We were infinitely superior to our opponents," Luis Enrique added.

"We would have deserved to win our three home games. Comfortably."

Asked if PSG's chances to go through the league phase were in danger, he said: "Undoubtedly.

"We created 50 chances in three games and we failed to convert so many of them... we need 20 clear chances to score and our opponents sneeze and they score... it sounds like a bad joke.

"Creating chances is the team's responsibility and I'm responsible for the team, so I'm responsible for the results. If I fail, I will fail with my ideas. We're on the right path."

Simone Inzaghi praised Inter's defending after they shut out Arsenal in the Champions League, just as they did Manchester City earlier in the competition.

A controversially awarded penalty, given for a handball against Mikel Merino and converted by Hakan Calhanoglu on the stroke of half-time, proved enough for a 1-0 victory. 

It leaves them fifth in the table after four games, one of four teams on 10 points, as they extended their unbeaten home run in the Champions League to 11 games (W9 D2), keeping nine clean sheets in this run.

What is more, Inter are one of two sides, along with Atalanta, that are yet to concede a goal in this season's Champions League. Indeed, four successive clean sheets is their longest-ever such run in the competition.

"We had a great performance, zero goals conceded to Arsenal and Man City. It's a source of great pride, but now we need to continue like this," Inzaghi said.

Arsenal had 20 goal attempts to Inter's seven but rarely looked like scoring as Inzaghi's side performed a defensive masterclass with Yann Bisseck outstanding.

"Bisseck was very good, but he doesn't have to prove anything to me," Inzaghi said. "I know how good he is, and he has played two great games against teams like City and Arsenal this season.

"His only problem is that we have other great defenders so he cannot play all the time, but I know how good he is."

Inter were under siege in the second half, facing 13 shots from the Gunners while having just one of their own. Arsenal also had 30 touches in Inter's box after the break, but the hosts' resilience kept them at bay.

"The best thing about this match is the three points, then the team spirit and the desire to fight that we put out on the pitch," Inter skipper Lautaro Martinez said.

"These matches are very important for the league table. We didn't concede any goals, and this is positive because in the [domestic] league we conceded too many.

"We must continue to raise the level. We want everything. The history of this club says so. I want to win everything."

Hansi Flick was delighted with Barcelona's focus and determination as they earned a commanding 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.

Robert Lewandowski scored twice to set them on their way, with Inigo Martinez, Raphinha and Fermi Lopez also getting on the scoresheet as Barcelona remained in control throughout.

It was a victory that lifted Barca to sixth place in the 36-team Champions League table on nine points, having scored a competition-leading 15 goals in four games.

In fact, Barcelona have netted 55 goals in 16 games across all competitions in 2024-25, the most of any team from the big-five European leagues. Meanwhile, their 14 wins are the joint-most of any side, along with Liverpool.

After a third consecutive triumph in the Champions League, Flick said he liked how his side got things done with the seriousness required.

"The most important thing is the three points. It's not easy to win away from home in this competition, the Champions League is complicated," Flick, who led Bayern Munich to the 2020 Champions League title, told Movistar Plus.

"I'm very happy, I really value what we're doing. We've been very good on the ball, and we've put a lot of pressure on.

"Red Star played very well, they knew how to play with the ball, and it's difficult to defend against them. I really appreciate my players being focused for 90 minutes because it's not easy."

Lewandowski's double means he is level with team-mate Raphinha, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres as the competition's top scorer with five goals.

The Pole has scored 19 goals in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season; the most of any player for a team in Europe’s big-five leagues across all competitions. 11 of those 19 goals have come in away matches, which is also the most of any player this term.

And Lewandowski is thrilled with Flick's aggressive approach.

"Since the beginning of the season we have had a goal: we have to play a very attacking football but without losing sight of how well our defensive line has been playing," Lewandowski said.

"Everything that works so far is almost perfect. We have to look at what we can do better, sure, but I feel very good, the team is very happy.

"I think in this new Champions League format, winning away games is very important. In the first half, we played a bit slow, but in the second half, we had a lot of chances.

"Sometimes, when a team plays very defensively like Red Star today, we need a bit of patience. I'm always looking for a free space to be able to touch a ball and score. That's why I'm very happy. As a team, we played very well."

Fulham are preparing to visit Crystal Palace with renewed confidence after a dramatic late win in another London derby against Brentford.

Marco Silva's men were trailing heading into stoppage time at Craven Cottage on Monday, only for a sensational Harry Wilson double to snatch a 2-1 victory.

That was a first win in four in the Premier League for Fulham, although their performances might have merited more points.

Alex Iwobi certainly believes so, explaining: "It's a big lift because we feel like our performances recently deserved a lot more, in terms of getting points and results.

"And the way we did it, against Brentford, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game, a derby as well... To win it in the manner we did has definitely given us a confidence boost going into another London derby against Palace."

Palace have themselves been given a big lift in the past couple of weeks, following their belated first league win of the season against Tottenham with an EFL Cup defeat of Aston Villa and a controversial draw at Wolves.

The Eagles are still only a place above the relegation zone, and Iwobi is hoping Fulham can check their progress.

"We know it's not going to be easy," he said. "Another derby, it's never easy at their stadium.

"We know it's always tough to go and play there, but we're going to analyse, see their weaknesses. It's not easy, but we'll analyse and see what we can do.

"They've only had one win this season – hopefully it remains that way against us and we'll get the result we want."

Will Hughes had a message for the Palace fans ahead of their return to Selhurst Park: "Thanks for sticking with us, as usual.

"It's not been the best of starts for us in the league, but hopefully they can see, especially over the last few games, that we're turning a corner, not only results wise but the intensity we're playing with.

"We were so difficult to play against at the end of last season with our intensity, and I think we've got that bit of mojo back. Hopefully, we can keep pushing on."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta

Goals have been hard to come by for Palace this season – especially at Selhurst Park.

Oliver Glasner's side have netted a league-low three times at home, but all of those have been scored by Mateta, continuing his strong form from the end of last season. He has 14 goals in his past 12 home league games for Palace.

They will again rely heavily on the French striker, with Eberechi Eze injured and fellow forward Eddie Nketiah struggling for form. New signing Nketiah has attempted 17 shots without scoring, the most in the Premier League this season.

Fulham – Harry Wilson

There is increased competition in the wide areas for Fulham this season, with Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson signed and battling with Iwobi, Adama Traore and Wilson for minutes.

But if Wilson cannot get his opportunity after sensationally stealing a win against Brentford last time out, he might wonder if he will ever return to the XI, still waiting for his first league start of the season.

His cutting edge was exactly what Fulham had previously been missing, attempting against Brentford 26 shots – their most in the Premier League for over 10 years – but requiring that late show to come away with the points.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Following their comeback against Brentford, Fulham are unbeaten in six Premier League London derbies – their longest run since 2006-07 – and also their past five matches against Palace.

Yet four of those clashes with the Eagles have ended all square, including each of the last three.

Palace will hope for more as they look to move clear of the bottom three, but they have not won consecutive league derbies since April 2017 and were victors in their last capital clash against Spurs.

Perhaps 0-0 is therefore the most likely scoreline. Fulham have kept three consecutive clean sheets at Selhurst Park, and their five away matches in the league this season have seen only 11 goals scored.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Crystal Palace – 37.5%
Draw – 26.3%
Fulham – 36.2%

Brest continued their exceptional start in the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.

Edimilson Fernandes fired Brest, the surprise package of the new-look league phase, ahead in the 37th minute from a half-cleared corner, his shot zipping across the rain-soaked surface and in.

Ten minutes before full-time, Brest had daylight thanks to an own goal from Sparta's Kaan Kairinen, who got the final touch following a scramble on the goal line.

Victor Olatunji reduced the deficit deep into stoppage time, but Sparta were unable to find a leveller and sit just outside the play-off spots with four points from as many matches. 

Brest, meanwhile, are now in a fine position as they target the knockout stages, sitting fourth with 10 points, level with Sporting CP, Monaco and Inter.

Data Debrief: Brest join exclusive club

Brest are the fourth French side to go unbeaten through their first four matches in the Champions League, taking to Europe's premier club competition like a duck to water.

Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux previously achieved that feat, while only Liverpool (12) have won more points than Brest in the competition this term.

Mikel Arteta felt Arsenal were "very harshly done by" in a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter that was decided by Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty.

Inter scored the only goal of the game after Mikel Merino was punished for handling inside his own area on the stroke of half-time.

But boss Arteta felt that decision was harsh, and particularly so when Merino had earlier not been awarded a spot-kick of his own.

The Spain midfielder appeared to beat Yann Sommer to a high ball in the Inter box and took a punch to the head in the process.

That incident was cleared following a VAR check, while the decision to penalise Merino at the other end of the pitch was quickly approved.

"I am very proud of my players, the level of domination we had," Arteta told TNT Sports. "We were very harshly done by in the sense that is obvious. Both penalties.

"If you are going to give a penalty, the other one has to be because he punches him in the head.

"There is no deflection, nothing you can do in the box, so can he get away from it? If he is going to give that, the other has to be 100% a penalty."

Arteta, who reintroduced Martin Odegaard as a late substitute following injury, also sought to focus on the positives, however.

Although Inter made a number of changes to their first XI, Arteta was enthused by the manner in which Arsenal dominated their opponents, having disappointed in another 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday.

"We should have scored a couple at least, but the way the team played, that was us at least," he added. "Every decision in the box makes a difference.

"The way we played tonight, the team can go to Chelsea and win."

Leeds United suffered a first away defeat since April at Millwall as they lost ground at the top of the Championship, although leaders Sunderland could only draw again.

Daniel Farke's Whites required a response to move back into the automatic promotion places after a win for Sheffield United on Tuesday, but instead they were beaten 1-0 by surprise package Millwall.

A fourth straight 1-0 win for the Lions was secured with a first-half Japhet Tanganga goal and moved them up to fifth, now just four points behind Leeds in third.

Leeds are themselves four points behind front-runners Sunderland, but that gap could have been wider had the Black Cats beaten Preston North End.

Just as at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, though, Sunderland were held to a goalless draw away from home.

Jobe Bellingham was sent off against QPR and so missed out through suspension, and further bold changes from coach Regis Le Bris could have opened the door for Preston to snatch an unlikely win.

Instead, Preston remain among a clutch of teams just above the relegation zone, also including Luton Town and Cardiff City.

Luton beat Cardiff 1-0 with a Jacob Brown goal, while Coventry City lost 2-1 at home to Derby County. Stoke City were 2-0 winners at Blackburn Rovers.

Karim Konate scored twice as Salzburg picked up their first points in the Champions League this season by upsetting Feyenoord with a 3-1 away win.

Feyenoord had won their last two games away at Girona and Benfica and were fancied to continue their momentum, only to be stunned on their return to De Kuip by the youthful Austrian outfit.

Twenty-year-old Konate, who helped Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of the year, put Salzburg ahead two minutes into first-half stoppage time.

An errant roll out by home goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther led to Oscar Gloukh crossing for Konate to head home.

Feyenoord were then caught napping in the 58th minute when Kamil Piatkowski looped a header up in the air from a corner and Konate reacted quickly to volley home a second.

The hosts' position turned worse when substitute Chris-Kevin Nadje was sent off for a studs-up tackle in the 79th minute, though they pulled a goal back just two minutes later through Anis Hadj Moussa.

Salzburg should have settled the outcome when a VAR intervention handed them an 85th-minute penalty, but Konate fluffed the chance for a hat-trick as he rattled the crossbar.

However, Daouda Guindo came off the bench and with his first contribution slammed home a long-range effort to ensure the points would return to Austria.

Data Debrief: Worth the wait for Salzburg

Salzburg have now ended their eight-match run without a win in the Champions League (one draw, seven losses), while scoring for the first time in four games. 

They have now won each of their last three games against Dutch opponents in European competitions after failing to win any of their first four (two draws, two defeats).

Stuttgart suffered a first home defeat in more than a year as second-half goals from Ademola Lookman and Nicolo Zaniolo gave Atalanta a 2-0 win in Germany.

Not since a 3-2 Bundesliga reverse against Hoffenheim in late October 2023 had Stuttgart been beaten at Neckarstadion, but that run was ended in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Atalanta arrived in Stuttgart undefeated in eight and having stunned Serie A leaders Napoli away from home at the weekend, yet this latest upset only became possible with the half-time introduction of Charles De Ketelaere.

He quickly created the breakthrough goal for Lookman after beating two defenders, and the German side faced an uphill struggle thereafter.

They could not come up with an equaliser and instead conceded a clinching second goal when Zaniolo pounced on a defensive error and slipped the ball past Alexander Nubel.

As victory took Atalanta up to ninth on eight points, Stuttgart fell out of the play-off places with four points at the halfway stage of the league phase.

Data Debrief: Home form not reflected in Europe

Despite Stuttgart's previous dominance at home, their European record at Neckarstadion continues to leave a lot to be desired.

Having drawn with Sparta Prague earlier in this campaign, Stuttgart are winless in eight home matches in major European competition. In fact, they are without a home Champions League goal since 2007.

The joy of an away win against Juventus will count for little if Sebastian Hoeness' side cannot turn their fortunes around at home, where in domestic competition they have been so strong.

Meanwhile, seven of Atalanta's 10 Champions League wins have now come on the road.

Jamal Musiala scored a header in the second half to give Bayern Munich a crucial 1-0 home victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Germany international Musiala scored with a bullet header from close range in the 67th minute with Bayern dominating and missing several chances before eventually breaking the deadlock.

Musiala’s chance was set up when Harry Kane headed Leroy Sane’s cross back across the face of goal.

The result was much needed to get Bayern’s campaign back on track, with the win seeing them bounce back from suffering two consecutive defeats in the competition – against Aston Villa and Barcelona – for the first time since 2017.

A win lifted the Germans to six points from four matches and into 17th place with Benfica, who were toothless in attack, also on six points in 19th place.

Europe's top club competition has switched from a group stage to a league phase this season, where 36 teams play eight matches each. The top eight in the table progress directly to the next round, while the next 16 teams enter a two-legged playoff.

Bayern have a crunch clash against Paris Saint-Germain next in the competition on November 26.
 

Data Debrief: Unlucky 13 for Benfica

Benfica have now played 13 major European matches against Bayern and have never tasted victory, collecting only three draws and suffering 10 defeats.

That trend rarely showed signs of ending in this match, with Benfica not threatening. The visitors failed to register a shot on target for the first time in 45 Champions League matches. The last time they did not trouble the goalkeeper in this competition was in October 2017 against Manchester United. Bayern, by comparison, racked up 10 attempts on target.

Benfica also only had four touches in the opposition box, their lowest tally on record since Opta started recording that data in the Champions League in 2007-08, with Bayern tallying 51.

As for Kane, the assist means he has now been directly involved in 80 goals across all competitions (61 goals, 19 assists) since the start of last season. That is 16 more than any other player across Europe’s biggest five leagues in this period.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in each half to help them secure a comprehensive 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.

Defender Inigo Martinez opened the scoring with a close-range header from a Raphinha free-kick in the 13th minute, nodding across goal to find the bottom-left corner.

However, Barca were pegged back when Silas beat their aggressive offside trap to equalise with a tidy finish from a quick counterattack 14 minutes later.

Lewandowski then tucked home on the rebound after Raphinha struck the post in the 43rd minute, before extending Barca's lead eight minutes into the second half with a first-time strike from a Jules Kounde cross.

The France full-back also set up Raphinha for Barca's fourth then recorded his third assist in the 76th minute, putting the ball on a plate for Fermin Lopez to fire home Barca's fifth from inside the box.

Substitute Milson reduced the deficit for the home side six minutes from time, but Red Star remain without a point in 35th place, while Barca are sixth in the 36-team table with nine.

Data Debrief: Lewandowski out on his own 

Lewandowski has now scored 19 goals in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season; the most of any player for a team in Europe's big five leagues across all competitions. 

Eleven of those 19 goals have come in away matches, which is also the most of any player this term.

As a team, Barca have netted 55 goals in 16 games across all competitions in 2024-25, the most of any team from the big five European leagues. 

Paris Saint-Germain's disappointing Champions League campaign stumbled to a new low on Wednesday as a last-gasp 2-1 home loss to Atletico Madrid left them in the elimination zone.

After defeat to Arsenal and a draw with PSV, PSG were hoping to get back on track in Europe and scored first through Warren Zaire Emery on 14 minutes.

But Nahuel Molina had Atleti level just four minutes later, and a largely disappointing encounter looked set for a draw until Angel Correa's dramatic winner three minutes into second-half stoppage time.

On as a substitute, Correa stabbed past Gianluigi Donnarumma following a rapid counter-attack, prompting an angry reaction from the home crowd.

PSG are left on just four points from four matches, down in 25th and facing an early exit from the competition.

Diego Simeone's Atleti themselves badly needed this victory but are now two points and two places above their opponents at the halfway stage of the league phase.

Data Debrief: Classic Atleti punish profligate PSG

This was Simeone's Atletico in a nutshell. They had just 29% of the ball and attempted only four shots, yet two of those found the back of the net to stun PSG.

The Ligue 1 giants entered this matchweek as the Champions League's biggest under-performers in terms of expected goals since the start of last season, and again they were too wasteful in the final third after creating 1.9 xG.

Atleti, who have consistently proven far more clinical, had chances worth just 0.7 xG but ruthlessly stole victory.