Key events
One player to keep an eye on in the Merseyside derby this afternoon is Jack Grealish. The 30-year-old joined Everton on loan this summer after falling out of favour at Manchester City and has since flourished.
Although he is yet to score his first goal for the club, Grealish has managed four assists in four Premier League games.
Will he finally get on the scoresheet today?
Walter F emailed in about a potential game of the day:
“There was a time not long ago when a Burnley-Forest match would be Pulis-inspired snoozefest of two sides sitting deep, looking to hit on the counterattack. No one would actually kick the ball, which would sit in the middle of the park untouched as physicists scrambled to study the various properties of inertia on display. In those heady times, a nil-nil could be predicted like Tuesday weather in Stoke.
“However, the introduction of Ange may have set the wheels of the cosmos in motion. If footballing stereotypes are to be believed – and they always should – we are in for a real treat, as caution will be damned in favor of high-octane madness on par with a Mad Max-style drive through the desert.
“While most eyes will be on David Moyes trying to win at Anfield like Charlie Brown trying to kick a ball set up by Lucy, the real thriller may be going down at Turf Moor!”
Merseyside derby team news
Liverpool starting lineup: Alisson, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Bradley, Gakpo, Ekitike, Gravenberch
Substitutes: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Wirtz, Isak, Jones, Robertson, Frimpong, Ngumoha
Everton starting lineup: Pickford, O’Brien, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Gana, Garner, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Beto
Substitutes: Travers, Patterson, McNeil, Barry, Dibling, Coleman, Alcaraz, Aznou, Iroegbunam
Let’s take a look at the team news for the Merseyside derby…
While Ruben Amorim claimed that “not even the pope” could make him deviate from his tactics yesterday, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca told his exiled Chelsea players that they should try working through the night as a fisherman like his father.
Will Unwin
“A 21st is supposed to be a joyous event, a milestone on the path to adulthood, leaving behind the immature mistakes of the past. David Moyes is at risk of reaching that figure without receiving a key to the door at Anfield.”
Leeds United fan Jeremy Boyce has messaged in to say:
“Hello, lifelong NotAsNastyAsTheyUsedToBeLeeds supporter here, but who grew up in Shrewsbury and spent many ‘happy’ seasons following the Mighty Shrews through their various ups and downs, mostly downs. We are currently second bottom of Division 4 (to give it its correct title) and our main tactic seems to consist of hoping that either of Cheltenham and Newport (currently sandwiching us at the foot of the table) will actually turn out to be worse than we are. Today’s early kick off at Harrogate will leave the lads time to take in the baths and have a nice cup of tea before the journey home.
“As for Leeds, Wolves will be hopeful of breaking their duck today at home to a team that has scored 1 (one) goal in 4 (four) games, and that a highly dubious pen v Everton. It’s looking like a long season of struggle on both fronts and to be honest I’ll be spending this afternoon watching the England – France World Cup rugby and hoping for some cheer there.”
Scottish Premiership
Scottish League Cup
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Aberdeen v Motherwell
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Rangers v Hibernian
Will Unwin
It is a gloriously drizzly morning at Anfield, making the early start slightly subdued. By the time kick-off comes around things will be very different and the atmosphere will be as lively as ever.
Liverpool are top of the table after four straight wins in the Premier League. As has been well-documented, they have all come late on. They even did the same on Wednesday in the Champions League to keep the momentum going. Arne Slot might want things to be a little bit easier today because it cannot be good for the blood pressure. Whether Alexander Isak can start twice in three days is yet to be seen but it looks doubtful. Hugo Ekitike will fancy another crack as a No 9 and build on his early promising performances.
David Moyes has famously never won here in 20-odd previous visits but there is an air of optimism around Everton at the moment. They have some quality attackers, something that was not always at Goodison Park but this is a new era, with a new stadium. Jack Grealish will be desperate to keep proving Pep Guardiola wrong and there is no better place to do that than Anfield against the champions. An intriguing encounter awaits.
Jeff has responded to Joshua who responded to Jeff’s initial question:
“In response to Mr. Keeling, it sounds correct, however a coach who is inflexible cannot succeed…. in the Premier League.”
Elsewhere in Europe today
La Liga:
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Girona v Levante
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Real Madrid v Espanyol
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Villarreal v Osasuna
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Alavés v Sevilla
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Valencia v Athletic Club
Bundesliga:
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Augsburg v Mainz
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Hoffenheim v Bayern Munich
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Hamburger SV v Heidenheim
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Werder Bremen v SC Freiburg
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RB Leipzig v Köln
Ligue 1:
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Nantes v Rennes
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Brest v OGC Nice
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Lens v Lille
Tom Gould will be keeping a close eye on the Merseyside Derby MBM later on…
“Today my son (a fellow Liverpool supporter), is marrying his long-term girlfriend. The ceremony starts at 12:30 in the city centre, so I need to travel about five stops on a packed train with reds and blues travelling to the match…
“Didn’t the bride look beautiful?”
“I dunno, I was following the MBM on my phone!”
In response to Jeff’s question earlier, Joshua Keeling says:
“Of course Amorim can improve United. We are already better this season than we were last season. The underlying numbers are good in the league, the City game aside. He is trying to change the culture of the club, get rid of the problem players, and set us up for success on and off the pitch. He has the charisma and personality to deal with the job, and he showed that he can produce incredible football at Sporting. It’s at least a two to three year job to get us back to where we want to be. Give him time.”
David Hytner
“Alejandro Garnacho left Manchester United for Chelsea at the end of August under a cloud. The quintessential Gen Z footballer, who appears to divide his time evenly between having his head up on the pitch and his head down in his phone off it, had made one faux pas too many on social media…”
A bold score prediction to say the least…
5 nil to Chelsea with Garnacho scoring a 20 minute hatrick. The Pope doesn’t want the United manager changing his system either, he enjoys the comedy and thanks Amorim for the public mention.
Speaking of Amorim, Jeff Sax has messaged in to ask:
“Does anyone really believe that Amorim can improve the MU team?”
What do we think? Message in and let me know!
This was probably my favourite line from yesterday’s press conferences: Ruben Amorim claimed “not even the pope” could make him deviate from his 3-4-3 formation, despite Manchester United’s poor start to the season.
League Two fixtures
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Cambridge United v Fleetwood Town (12:30pm BST)
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Harrogate Town v Shrewsbury Town (12:30pm BST)
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Bromley v Chesterfield
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Cheltenham Town v Oldham Athletic
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Barrow v Crewe Alexandra
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Salford City v Swindon Town
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Walsall v Tranmere Rovers
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Colchester United v Bristol Rovers
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Notts County v Crawley Town
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Newport County v Gillingham
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Barnet v Grimsby Town
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MK Dons v Accrington Stanley
League One fixtures
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Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic (12:30pm BST)
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Blackpool v Barnsley (12:30pm BST)
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Lincoln City v Luton Town (12:30pm BST)
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Plymouth Argyle v Peterborough United
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Doncaster Rovers v AFC Wimbledon
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Cardiff City v Bradford City
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Reading v Leyton Orient
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Port Vale v Mansfield Town
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Wycombe Wanderers v Northampton Town
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Stevenage v Exeter City
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Huddersfield Town v Burton Albion
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Rotherham United v Stockport County
Championship fixtures
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QPR V Stoke City (12:30pm BST)
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Birmingham City v Swansea City (12:30pm BST)
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Leicester City v Coventry City (12:30pm BST)
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Blackburn Rovers v Ipswich Town
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Derby County v Preston North End
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Hull City v Southampton
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Portsmouth v Sheffield Wednesday
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Sheffield United v Charlton Athletic
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Norwich City v Wrexham
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Bristol City v Oxford United
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Millwall v Watford
Feel free to email in today with any thoughts, feelings, predictions, or just general chit-chat. matchday.live@theguardian.com is the address.
Alternatively, you can leave a comment below the line.
Premier League fixtures
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Liverpool v Everton (12:30pm BST)
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Burnley v Nottingham Forest
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Brighton v Tottenham
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West Ham v Crystal Palace
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Wolves v Leeds
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Manchester United v Chelsea (5:30pm BST)
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Fulham v Brentford (8pm BST)
Let’s return focus to the Premier League now and take a look at some of the potential lineups we could expect this weekend…
There were two Friday matches in the WSL last night, with Tottenham enduring a dismal start to the weekend.
The London side suffered a 5-1 defeat to Manchester City at Brisbane Road, putting an end to their perfect start to the season. Aoba Fujino, Vivianne Miedema, Kerstin Casparij, Grace Clinton and Laura Coombs all got on the scoresheet for City, with Olivia Holdt netting a late consolation for Spurs.
Meanwhile, London City Lionesses secured their first WSL points in a 2-1 win over Everton. Isobel Goodwin scored either side of half-time to guide her team to the win. Yūka Momiki got one back for the hosts, but they could not find an equaliser.
Also in the women’s game, it was revealed yesterday that Liverpool goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe is being investigated by the FA for an alleged discriminatory comment overheard by some staff and teammates.
Here’s a look at who the English teams will face in the UWCL league phase:
Arsenal OL Lyonnes (h), Bayern Munich (a), Real Madrid (h), Benfica (a), Twente (h), OH Leuven (a).
Chelsea Barcelona (h), Wolfsburg (a), Roma (h), St Polten (a), Paris FC (h), Twente (a).
Manchester United OL Lyonnes (h), Wolfsburg (a), Paris Saint-Germain (h), Juventus (a), Valerenga (h), Atlético Madrid (a).
The Women’s Champions League draw took place yesterday, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United finding out their league phase opponents.
And yes, Chelsea WILL take on Barcelona – it felt pretty much inevitable.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! We’ve got two huge games to look forward to this afternoon, with Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton kicking things off at Anfield.
Manchester United return to action this evening against Chelsea at Old Trafford, with Alejandro Garnacho in line to make his first appearance back at his former home since leaving last month.
We will also bring you coverage of the four 3pm games a bit later on – more on those later – as well as the 8pm meeting between Fulham and Brentford.
But before we jump into today’s action, let’s quickly recap some of the headlines from this week…
