FootyChatter.com

All the big Fantasy Premier League talking points and team news before gameweek six - this week's fixtures This week's deadline is 11: 00 BST on Saturday Send your questions in for FPL expert Pras - click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page Pras is an FPL veteran, having finished in the top 100k in each of the past 12 seasons - and achieved a 4, 184th finish last season Haaland is 'ready' for Man City; Palmer to miss up to three weeks for Chelsea Is Haaland a triple captain option? Will Mbeumo score against his former club? Is Wirtz worth it? Keep or sell Watkins? Team news: Jacob Murphy 'fit and available' | Adarabioyo and Fofana | Wieffer & De Cruyer | Unal, Smith & Cook | Ait-Nouri, Cherki, Marmoush & Khusanov | Odegaard & Madueke | Wan-Bissaka | Branthwaite and Rohl | Solanke and Kolo Muani | Murillo & Luiz | Maghoma | Martinez | Sarr & Pino | Kevin Friday news conference recap Written by Sam Drury, Ben Ramsdale, Alex Fletcher & Werrda Ali. Newcastle United v Arsenal (Sun, 16: 30 BST) Newcastle have been one of the teams that Mikel Arteta has struggled against in recent years. The two teams played each other four times last season, with Newcastle coming out on top three times - including in both legs of their Carabao Cup semi-final. Arsenal have not won in their last three visits to St James' Park with their most recent victory coming at the end of the 2022-23 season. Newcastle's win at St James' park in May 2022 all but cost Arsenal a spot in the Champions League the following season as Arteta's side finished fifth. Last five at St James' Park: Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Jason (8: 12) they were thinking that Martin did pretty well at Swansea and Southampton in the Championship and, I'm sorry to say, that's the level and budget of the SPL. Rob, Wales Newcastle United v Arsenal (Sun, 16: 30 BST) Ciaran Kelly BBC Sport reporter at St James' Park Eddie Howe’s first game on the touchline as Newcastle United

head coach was against Arsenal nearly four years ago. A lot has changed since

then. Whereas Arsenal enjoyed a relatively comfortable afternoon

that day, the vast majority of games since have been anything but for Mikel

Arteta’s side, who have only won three of the last nine meetings. These games tend to be feisty and I’d expect Sunday’s match

at St James’ Park to be a real battle. After making seven changes midweek, Howe has a handful of genuine

selection dilemmas following the 4-1 win against Bradford City. Does Jacob Murphy replace Anthony Elanga? Will Kieran

Trippier come back in? Does a natural right footer like Malick Thiaw get the

nod over Sven Botman at centre-back? Or could the Newcastle head coach even switch to a back five

again after the system worked well when these teams last met at St James’ in

the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg? Expect Howe to give little away when he sits down for his

news conference this morning. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Villa has capable players not performing but trying hard. I doubt any manager could help Rangers. Unfortunately Martin has chosen the wrong job and was doomed from the start. If I was a Rangers fan I would too be very troubled. I don't see an easy way forward for them. Ceiron Galbraith, Beds All times BST Saturday Sunday Monday Just the 16 (SIXTEEN) Premier League manager news conferences today. Here's who is up and when. .. All times BST. Right then, let's turn our attention back to the Premier League. A day of managers talking awaits with Fabian Hurzeler kicking things off at 09: 00 BST. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Yes Villa got their first win of the season, yes Watkins missed a penalty and yes it might bring his confidence down. However, that win will give Villa a lot of confidence and motivation going forward. The Villa we know of is slowly but surely creeping back. Sakinah Sumar, Birmingham Rangers 0-1 Genk Martin Dowden BBC Sport Scotland at Ibrox Russell Martin was left, once again, to reap the whirlwind of those Rangers supporters who remained until the end. Around 12, 000 tickets went unsold - a reflection of a deepening apathy. The boos, now as much a part of the match-day experience as Broxi Bear, were heard again. The chants demanding the manager's head were cranked up for the umpteenth time. It was grim. The cameras panned to the directors' box, where chairman Andrew Cavenagh and chief executive Patrick Stewart stood stony-faced. A penny for Cavenagh's thoughts. The Rangers fans would cough up a lot more than that for an audience with the man, for a chance to air their views by way of a venting of the spleen. Cavenagh has made it known that he's behind his manager, but it's just not credible to think that he has no doubts about what he's seeing. And it's unimaginable that he has no concerns about the way his - and other people's - money has been spent. Is any single part of Rangers' operation working? Not really. Quality of play, results, recruitment, relationship with supporters - nothing is functioning. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Sam, Villa scored 3 goals this season, not 2. Elliott in the EFL Cup, Cash in the PL and Mc Ginn in the Europa League. Until we start scoring for fun, we're counting goals from all competitions - yes, even mid-season friendlies! Rob, Worcestershire You are correct, of course, Rob. How could I forget Harvey Elliott's goal? Turns out I'd have been useless at that pub quiz even if there had been sports questions. .. Rangers 0-1 Genk This video can not be played Martin feels 'nothing but support' from Rangers hierarchy Rangers head coach Russell Martin: "I'm frustrated. The red card changed a lot, but I'm proud of the players in the second half. "I asked them to be really aggressive after the sending off, not just try and defend for 45 minutes. Genk didn't cut us open, we weren't defending relentlessly. "The longer the game goes on, if we actually dominate the ball, we create a lot more. We'll get there. "We had 10 men for a long time, I think Jack [Butland] only had two saves to make in the second half. I thought we had some really good performances. " Rangers 0-1 Genk Tom English BBC Scotland chief sports writer at Ibrox There's no end of flak that can be flung at Russell Martin for the epic fail that is his project at Rangers. But watching his reaction when Mohamed Diomande got a deserved red card four minutes before half-time at Ibrox made you feel for the man. Rangers had been second best. Fitful at the back, wasteful in possession, headless chickens in too many areas. Again. Even before the red, it looked likely that Martin's period of calm after Saturday's League Cup win over Hibernian was about to come to a shuddering and noisy end. In losing the plot, Diomande more or less ensured that Rangers were losing this Europa League opener against Genk, currently Belgium's 14th best team. By lunging in on Zakaria El Ouahdi, Diomande left his team-mates in a terrible lurch, already struggling with 11 and now sitting ducks with 10. The lack of self-control was unforgivable, the look of confused innocence on his face in the aftermath a complete nonsense. A 1-0 defeat was incoming. Diomande, who on his very best days looks like a player worthy of the jersey, has been nowhere near it this season. Too often he's been lazy in his work and now he was ridiculous in his discipline. As you've mentioned Rangers, Jason. .. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say What were Rangers thinking when they gave Martin the job? He had just got Southampton relegated with the 2nd worse record ever, and someone at Rangers says "I think he's the man for us". It was and always will be mind-boggling. ? Jason Connelly, Buckinghamshire Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna Nick Mashiter BBC Sport football news reporter Ollie Watkins' struggles can be charted back to the second half of last season when he scored just four times in Villa's final 19 games. The 29-year-old started 13 of those but was left out of the starting line ups for their Champions League quarter-final defeat by Paris St-Germain, playing just 25 minutes across both legs. This season he has missed all five of his big chances, has managed just 40 touches in the opposition's box across his nine appearances and is averaging less than one shot on target per game. With an expected goals return of 2. 2 it is clear he is falling short. Yet this is Villa's record Premier League goalscorer. His strike against Bournemouth in May put him on 75 goals, one ahead of Gabby Agbonlahor from 133 fewer games. He has 87 goals in 229 appearances for Villa and five in 19 caps for England, including a debut international strike against San Marino in 2021. Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna Ollie Watkins has not dropped below double figures in his five years in the Premier League, including the 19 goals he scored in 2023-24 to help fire Villa into the Champions League, and there is belief he will return to his best. Aston Villa captain Mc Ginn told TNT Sport: "He's a top-class striker. He's not in the England squad for nothing. He's shown over the years how good he is. "If he's not scoring, that's fine. You've seen the effort he puts in for the team. We don't need to put any pressure on him and add to any external noise. He's been brilliant for us and has got nothing to prove to us. " Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Baby steps for Villa, a win on the board will boost the team’s confidence after a shaky start. Emery, however, needs to start dropping the under performers… the likes of Sancho and Elliott didn't join to sit on the bench. Josh Dodd, Birmingham Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna Nick Mashiter BBC Sport football news reporter When Morgan Rogers handed Ollie Watkins the ball, the Holte End chanted the striker's name. Seconds after his weak penalty was saved by Bologna's Lukasz Skorupski, Watkins' name was again chanted in support. The England striker is enduring a 10-game goal drought for club and country at a time when Villa need him at his sharpest, despite Thursday's Europa League win. His nine games without scoring in the club shirt is the joint longest he has gone without a goal in his Villa career, having previously had nine-game dry spells in 2020-21 and 2022-23. His second-half spot kick was the ideal chance to end that but the scuffed strike lacked confidence and allowed Skorupski to save with his legs. "He didn't score, okay, it doesn't matter, the goal is coming through the work he did today, " manager Unai Emery said. "I am happy because he played doing his task. He worked, this is the most important. "The most important thing is how he is working in his tasks for the team. Today he played a good match, not enough because he didn't score but he played good. This is the first step. " Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna One of the big issues for Aston Villa has been scoring goals - John Mc Ginn's strike was just their second goal of the season - and it doesn't help when your star striker is going through a very tricky spell. .. Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna Nick Mashiter BBC Sport football news reporter Aston Villa hauled themselves across the line for a victory that gets their season under way but they are a long way from what is expected of them. Their last European game at Villa Park was a swashbuckling, dramatic and heroic 3-2 Champions League quarter-final second leg win over Paris St-Germain in April which pushed the eventual champions - who squeezed through 5-4 on aggregate - to the limit. Fast forward to September and Villa are lacking confidence and conviction as they tackle Europe again. Watkins' missed second-half penalty summed up the lack of belief at Villa Park against an average Bologna who nearly grabbed a point, but for Bizot's late save to deny Vitik. They got the job done but did nothing to show they are out of their rut. A positive start gave way to a stuttering display which better and more ruthless teams - in Europe and the Premier League - will punish. It gives them something to build on before Sunday's visit of Fulham but the loss of form of Morgan Rogers and Watkins - both so pivotal last season - is a growing concern. Unai Emery has so often squeezed every drop out of this Villa side since he joined just under three years ago but he needs to find some extra juice now. The bar has been so high under Emery it is no wonder the questions about Villa's form and performance as there. And there needs to be a drastic improvement to even get close to those previous heights. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.