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⚽ Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend Wolves: Rob Edwards did not take Middlesbrough training this morning, leaving his future in serious doubt amid continued interest from Wolves. Boro swiftly rejected an official approach from the Premier League club for their head coach on Thursday but 24 hours later uncertainty remains in regards to the situation. Ben Fisher reports … Fulham: A former Everton manager who worked for the club between May 2018 and December 2019, Marco Silva takes Fulham to play their first match at hill dickenson Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Asked how it felt to be returning to face his former club, the Portuguese said he was looking forward to a pleasant afternoon catching up with familiar faces in an unfamiliar stadium. “It’s always good when you go back to a place where you are going to see familiar faces and some people you know very well, and people who treat you very, very well, ” he said. “Some people in that structure, some players, they are still there from our time as well. And what I expect is always the same that I got the other times before, to have some good conversation before and after the match with people that I know very, very well, and people that welcome us always very well in that football club. “Of course, Goodison was a special one. Okay, [moving] was the step that the club should give, and they gave. They are pleased with the place where they are playing right now and it’s going to be the first time, first experience for us in that stadium. “But you can feel it, you can see it, that it’s been very, very good for them in that aspect, and we are going to embrace the challenge of playing there against a good side. A side with a very experienced manager, some mature players as well. ” Everton go into tomrrow’s game having won just one of their past seven matches in the top flight, while Fulham arrive on the back of an emphatic victory over Wolves that ended a run of four consecutive league defeats. Tottenham Hotspur: Thomas Frank says Tottenham are doing everything they can to support Destiny Udogie after a “terrible situation” in which he was allegedly threatened with a gun in north London. The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation after the incident involving the Spurs left-back on 6 September, while the club said on Tuesday it was providing support to Udogie and his family. A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of firearms with intent, blackmail and driving without a licence following the incident. He has been bailed while inquiries continue, the force said. Udogie was identified by Italian media on Tuesday as the previously unnamed Premier League player involved in the incident, with the 22-year-old still producing an impressive display in the 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League later that night. Ahead of Saturday’s visit of Manchester United, Frank revealed everyone at Tottenham had rallied around Udogie. “It is a terrible situation to have been in and I can’t speak too much about it as it’s a legal case, as we know, but the club and we have done everything we can to support him, ” he said. “We’ll do that and he’s clearly doing well on the pitch, which is good and we’ll keep supporting him. ” On 6 September at 11. 14pm, police were called following reports a man in his 20s had been threatened with a gun in Cockfosters Parade, Barnet. “Officers spoke to the victim and during the course of their investigation, it was also a reported another man in his 20s had also allegedly been blackmailed and threatened by the same individual, ” said a police statement. “No injuries were reported in either incident. A 31-year-old man was arrested on Monday, 8 September on suspicion of possession of firearms with intent, blackmail and driving without a licence. He has been bailed while inquiries continue. ” Sunderland: Regis Le Bris has reported no fresh injury concerns ahead of tomorrow’s match against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light but told reporters that centre-back Omar Alderete will miss the game due to concussion protocols after suffering a concussion during Sunderland’s win over Wolves a fortnight ago. Reports from Paraguay suggest Alderete will also miss out on his nation’s upcoming friendlies against the USA and Mexico, even if Regis seems oblivious to the speculation. “Probably he will get some minutes with his national team progressively and get ready for Sunderland against Fulham, ” said the Frenchman. Manchester City: Pep Guardiola has said Rodri is unlikely to be risked in Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool. The Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder missed the midweek Champions League defeat of Borussia Dortmund after suffering another injury setback after starting just six games this season and the Spain international is still working his way back to full fitness following the knee surgery that ruled him out of most of the last campaign. “We will see tomorrow but I think we will not take the risk, ” said Pep. “It is the international break afterwards. You have to find the moment when you feel strong, you feel fit and can sustain the actions of the games that are so demanding, sustain it proper. You have to make that step. “Still we are in November. The best part of the season is ahead of us and we need him. We are still playing without the Ballon d’Or winner, a massively important player for us. We are desperate to have him back but Nico [Gonzalez] right now is becoming a really important player. ” Rodri had missed four games with a hamstrong problem before returning as a late substitute in the victory over Bournemouth last Sunday. City’s first game after the international break is against Newcastle at St James’ Park on 22 November and Rodri has not been picked for the Spain squad to face Georgia and Turkey in the interim. Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins has just one goal to his name in 15 appearances for Aston Villa so far this season, a poor run of form that appears to have cost him his place in the England squad announced by Thomas Tuchel this morning. It is a subject that was raised with Unai Emery ahead of Villa’s match against Bournemouth on Sunday and Emery said he was unconcerned by his striker’s lack of goals. “All his career he’s shown that he’s a fighter and he overcame a lot of situations early in his career through being a fighter, ” he said of Watkins. “And now - he must keep moving forward. He has to focus with us again recover his good form, get confident. “Yesterday we were speaking and I told him ‘I am so so happy with you. You are a striker, you have been consistent all your career. From when I have arrived here, you’ve shown me your capacity to be resilient in all the moments we need to get fighting like you are and now I know you are going to recover and get your performance through being consistent and through fighting as you did and through focusing with us’. ” Speaking of his decision to drop Watkins from the England squad for the looming international break, Thomas Tuchel said: “We understood and could observe it when we watch Ollie that he is playing through discomfort, so it didn’t make sense to bring him into camp. We wanted to give him a break to get treatment and fight for his place again in March. ” Newcastle United: Eddie Howe will mark his fourth anniversary as Newcastle United manager tomorrow and could celebrate the occasion with his 100th win in charge of the club. Newcastle travel to play Brentford on Sunday but if they are to win at the Gtech Community Stadium, they may have to do so without Anthony Gordon, who was forced off at half-time in Newcastle’s win over Athletic Club on Wednesday night. “We don’t think it’s a serious injury, ” said Howe. “We’re going to get him scanned and we’re awaiting the results. There’s every chance he might miss out on Sunday but we’ll give him every opportunity to be fit. ” William Osula will also miss out on Sunday’s match with an ankle injury which Howe says could rule the striker out for “a matter of weeks, not any longer. ” On the subject of Yoane Wissa, who Newcastle signed from Brentford during the summer but have yet to see in action because he was injured on international duty before he made his debut for his new club, Howe had this to say: “Yoane is working well. He’s on the grass and he’s building his fitness. The knee is feeling good and there’s no problems with that. It’s more a case of looking at his fitness, sharpness, all the things he’s going to need to put together. “He’s in a good place to kick on and push his body. We need to give him time to get fit, robust enough and be in a position to give his best version of himself for the team. I’m sure he’ll be worth the wait. ” Thomas Tuchel is open to extending his stay as England manager beyond next summer’s World Cup, contrary to expectations that he would move on and vacate his position regardless of how England fared in the tournament. The 52-year-old was named Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor last October and began working in the job at the turn of the year. Tuchel’s deal with the Football Association takes the former Chelsea boss through to the end of next year’s World Cup, which England have qualified for with two games to spare. It is a job the German coach seems to enjoy and one he hinted in Friday’s press conference that he was interested in staying in beyond the tournament in North America. “I open up the possibility, ” Tuchel he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “There’s always a possibility. If everyone, the FA is happy with me, there’s always the possibility, but the focus is now for camp. [The job is] not more fun than I thought. I find it just reassuring. I find it as exciting as I was hoping it to be. “I didn’t know exactly what was coming. I knew that I would love to work with the players, but I was not aware what demands of international football for a coach actually means. Am I missing the daily work with the players? Yes, still, but it is very exciting so far to be close to this group of players and to shape this group of players, and of course, lead the group into a World Cup, so the best is yet to come. The most exciting part is yet to come and I’m looking very much forward to it. Personally, I’m in a good place, I like where I am. It’s a lot of fun. It’s very demanding, so all fine. ” Asked if he thought the England job suited him better than he thought it would, Tuchel said he wasn’t sure. “I was the one pleading for a short-term contract, ” he said. “I was the one to say ‘let’s streamline it, let’s make it straightforward and let’s make this contract until the World Cup’, so I don’t lose focus and we all don’t lose focus and we get used to each other. I think this was fair enough. Now we’re almost one year in. It’s not the time for reflection, even if you try to talk me into this, because the third camp in a short notice is coming and this is where the focus is. ” Tuchel is over halfway through his contract as he and his players prepares to complete the formalities of their World Cup qualification fixtures with a Wembley clash against Serbia and a trip to Albania in the upcoming international break. Tottenham Hotspur: Considering Spurs have won five and drawn two of their last seven games against tomorrow’s visitors, it’s probably fair to say the “Lads, it’s Tottenham” era is well and truly over for Manchester United. The sides meet in north London tomorrow afternoon and Thomas Frank has let it be known that his winger Mohammed Kudus is only “touch and go for tomorrow” after missing his team’s midweek win over Copenhagen in the Champions League. Lucas Bergvall will also miss out with a concussion, while Atchie Gray, Yves Bissouma, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are also numbered among his team’s long- and short-term lame and halt. Speaking of Solanke, who has been absent since August after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury, Frank had this to say: “I think the international break will be the big decider and we have two weeks to push him for the next steps. It is going forward. It was clear he was not ready before the international break. After is what we’re aiming for and you always want to get it right. ” Manchester City: Of course, the part of their job that all football managers enjoy the most is undertaking their obligations to deal with journalists before and after games and as he approaches his 1, 000th game in charge, Pep jokes that he is no exception. “Two thousand press conferences! ” he says. “Those were the best moments! Plus interviews. No, when I started, I didn’t expect this. But it is a joy. I didn’t enjoy every single moment but I enjoyed the journey a lot. I have been blessed. ” Manchester City: Eighteen years after he managed Barcelona B for the first time in a match against Premia in the Spanish fourth tier, Pep Guardiola will take charge of his 1, 000th game for different sides –Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City – when his current club host Liverpool on Sunday. “If I could chose one rival for his personal milestone that I want to share with many, many people - that would be the best, ” he said. “I have been a long time in this country. Of course, Barcelona and the impact it had on my life as a ball boy, football player and manager. Of course, Bayern was an incredible step. But Liverpool, especially with Jurgen [Klopp], have been the biggest rival in this country and it could not be better. The destiny of the universe. “I know how quickly things change. One week ago it was Liverpool ‘disaster, disaster’ and now they win two and it’s ‘are they back to their best? ’ I’m sure the managers take a little bit more perspective of the situation. Always in a season there are ups and down. ” Bournemouth: Andoni Iraola has been speaking ahead of Bournemouth’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday and naturally talk turned to Alex Scott’s call-up to the England squad by Thomas Tuchel. “I’m pleased for him, ” said the Spaniard. “He has been playing very well. Everyone was really excited for him this morning. In the beginning of the season he was also good for the England Under-21s. I am also pleased for the club, for his team-mates. Everyone around the club was happy as even if it’s an individual call, we feel it collectively and there is a recognition of playing for Bournemouth. If you do well you can have this reward. “I think Alex, in the two seasons with us, has had three knee injuries. He hasn’t had a long run of games where he could play the level he is lately. To play in the summer with England put him in a perfect place for pre-season. He arrived strong, did a good pre-season and won his place in the team. He has strong competition in those positions. I think this period without any issue has been very good for him. ” Premier League: A reminder of this weekend’s top flight fixtures … Saturday, 8 November Tottenham v Man Utd (12: 30) Everton v Fulham (15: 00) West Ham v Burnley (15: 00) Sunderland v Arsenal (17: 30) Chelsea v Wolves (20: 00) Sunday, 9 November Aston Villa v Bournemouth (14: 00) Brentford v Newcastle (14: 00) Crystal Palace v Brighton (14: 00) Nottm Forest v Leeds (14: 00) Man City v Liverpool (16: 30) View the Premier League table Time now to hand over to Barry Glendenning for more hot news. Enjoy! Adam Wharton may have been recalled to the England squad but he’s not a certain starter for Crystal Palace this weekend. The 21-year-old missed the wins over Liverpool and Brentford due to illness and then played the final 30 minutes of Palace’s 3-1 Conference League victory over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday. However, Palace boss Oliver Glasner said he’s not guaranteed to get the nod for the home showdown with Brighton on Sunday after watching Wharton in action against Alkmaar. He’s still feeling his chest is not completely free. Sometimes you need to cough it out. I hope this will happen now. Let’s see. It was good for him to play 30 minutes. For me he felt a little bit rusty at the beginning, moving a little bit slow. That’s why we wanted him to play these 30 minutes because he can recover in these next two days. It was important for him to raise his heart frequency and get a little bit of intensity. He did better and better during the game. If it’s enough to start against Brighton, I don’t know at the moment. Glasner also had this to say about his squad. A few knocks, Marc (Guehi) had a knock at the end but he’s fine. At the moment it looks like all players who were involved (on Thursday) will be available. While we await further news on Rob Edwards, Wolves interim coach James Collins has been speaking to the press. And Collins has provided a bit of clarity for this weekend at least, confirming that he’ll be in the away dugout. What I have been told is that I’ll be taking the game this weekend. The likelihood is that it will be one, one week only, but you never know in football. Last time we were told it could be a week or two, and it ended up being six. My focus is on the team and our week’s work. We were determined not to do is that it’s a week’s holiday and a new manager comes in. We had to make sure that we prepared properly for the game this weekend, it’s a Premier League game that can be won. That was the message to the players, and they’ve responded brilliantly. They’ve been unbelievably receptive to what we’ve done with them. Collins, Wolves’ youth-team boss, has also praised the departed Vitor Pereira, who was sacked after a terrible start to the season which yielded just two points. Vitor and his staff were brilliant with me, they welcomed us to watch training, they welcomed us to be around it, they welcomed us into meetings, they were enthusiastic about the U21s, and get players through. I can’t speak highly enough of them; they were brilliant people and good coaches. Sometimes in football, it is dictated by results and in the end, if you keep losing, you lose your job. They understand that, but they did their job diligently, great people, and they treated me with great respect, and I wish them well. Most Erling Haaland stats make the eyes go pop. For example, the Manchester City striker has scored 27 goals in 17 matches for club and country this season. Here’s another from Opta: Haaland has netted 98 goals in 107 Premier League appearances – if he scores a brace in this game he will become the fastest player to 100 goals in Premier League history, with Alan Shearer the current quickest to 100 in 124 games. And yet, his record against Sunday’s opponents, Liverpool, is underwhelming. He’s faced them eight times and only emerged on the winning side once. And in those matches he’s managed a paltry (for him) three goals. I was at Anfield for the first, the equaliser in a mad game when RB Salzburg fought back from 3-0 down before Mo Salah struck to give the relieved hosts a 4-3 win. Haaland was a sub that day in October 2019. Haaland has only scored one Premier League goal against the Reds so will he improve that record this weekend? Krishnamoorthy v has emailed having cast his eye over the fixtures. “This weekend schedule is a silent tribute to Shakespeare. It starts with the Comedy of Errors and ends with The Tempest. ” Fair? You be the judge as we remind you of the games involved. Saturday Tottenham v Man Utd (12. 30pm) Everton v Fulham (3pm) West Ham v Burnley (3pm) Sunderland v Arsenal (5. 30pm) Chelsea v Wolves (8pm) Sunday Crystal Palace v Brighton (2pm) Aston Villa v Bournemouth (2pm) Brentford v Newcastle (2pm) Nottm Forest v Leeds United (2pm) Manchester City v Liverpool (4. 30pm) Ahead of Chelsea v Wolves, Blues boss Enzo Maresca has been talking about the idea of facing a team without a manager. Although perhaps his comments will become moribund if Rob Edwards is making his way to the Black Country as we speak. Maresca said in his press conference: “It’s difficult for this reason, it is also difficult because we play Wednesday night - the players were off yesterday, we have a small session today and a game tomorrow. So the game plan is also different, but we need to adapt. ” Chelsea could be without Romeo Lavia for the visit of Wolves after the midfielder was forced off early in the 2-2 draw against Qarabag with yet another injury. “We don’t have an update at the moment, ” said Maresca. “We need to wait some hours to do all the checks that he needs. He is painful. It’s a shame. We are tying to minimise minutes for him. But even with that he’s injured again. We need to persist until we find the right solution. ” Thanks Rob. Am enjoying the ‘On this day’ flashbacks. Let’s take a look at something more recent and lots of angles of this beauty from Emiliano Buendia which has been voted October 2025’s Guinness Goal of the Month. Au revoir department It’s time for me to depart the Guardian liveblog bunker, at least until tomorrow. David Tindall will keep you abreast of association football affairs for the next hour or so. Cheers for your company and emails – bye. Rob Edwards didn’t take Middlesbrough training this morning amid sustained interest from Wolves. Boro rejected an approach for Edwards from the Premier League club on Thursday afternoon but 24 hours on his future is in serious doubt. Edwards is understood to be in discussions with the Boro hierarchy regarding what happens next. This morning Boro cancelled his pre-match press conference, scheduled for 1. 30pm, to preview Saturday’s game against Birmingham. On this day in 2000… Rangers go out of the Champions League on a raw night at Ibrox. An October double for Manchester United. Ruben Amorim was manager of the month; now Bryan Mbeumo has been announced as the player of the month. He scored after a minute in the victory at Anfield and added two more against Brighton the following weekend. It’s the first time Mbeumo has won the award. He’s also the second Cameroon player to win the award after Liverpool defender Joel Matip in February 2022. Manchester City v Liverpool (Sunday, 4. 30pm) Dominik Szoboszlai, one of the players of the Premier League season so far, has been speaking ahead of Liverpool’s trip to the Etihad. The season is long. If we were seven points clear at this stage nobody would be saying we had won the league already. We just need to focus on ourselves, win our games and then let’s see what other teams are doing. I think everybody could see against Real Madrid all of us running, fighting, being there for each other, covering each other’s back. The most important thing is to keep going like this. Now it’s all about the Premier League and facing Man City at the weekend. We know how good they are now. I just try to do my best on the pitch. If it seems like I am a leader, then I’ll keep doing that on the pitch, not outside the pitch. We are a really close team. Everyone protects each other, we are there for each other, that’s been the most important thing. Granit Xhaka was never the most popular figure at Arsenal. The old tweets of New York’s newly elected mayor and lifelong Gooner, Zohran Mamdani, surfaced this week after his victory. Mamdani took aim at the midfielder in the lead-up to Arsenal’s match against Chelsea on Boxing Day 2020. Xhaka proved his critics wrong that day, scoring a sensational free kick in a 3-1 win, and has done the same since leaving Arsenal. Xhaka has been a revelation at Bayer Leverkusen – where he won the Bundesliga title undefeated – and now Sunderland, where he is adored by fans for perfectly complementing the youth of Régis Le Bris’ surging side. The league leaders will go to the Stadium of Light wary of their former captain, who will surely be out to prove a point. Arsenal face Chelsea in the WSL, a cracking way to start any football-based weekend. Suzanne Wrack has been chatting to Arsenal – and now England - left-back Taylor Hinds. This is the type of team that I want to be in. I have the utmost respect for Liverpool for everything they’ve done for me over the five years. There’s a little part of me that’s always going to love Liverpool. So many of my friends are still up there, scousers are just one of a kind too, and I definitely miss that side of it, the people, but I’m also loving it here and I’m really thriving and happy. The difference is just the standard, the intensity and the quality. Everything’s so fast-paced and training every day is like playing in a game every day. That’s what you want: you want to train how you play and here I get to do that with world-class players and learn from them. Plenty of people thought Ruben Amorim would receive a freshly printed P45 in October. Instead he has won the Premier League manager of the month award for the first time. United beat Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton in their three Premier League games, ending the month in sixth place in the table. It’s coming home! Some thinly sliced ultra-processed beef for you. Wayne Rooney was gently criticial of the extent to which Enzo Maresca rotates his Chelsea side after they draw with Qarabag in the Champions League. Maresca has responded thus: We are in an era where anyone can say what they want. Since I joined the club, it’s my view to rotate players. No one complains when you win. When you don’t win I can understand no one is agreeing. I loved rotation as a player. Football is a bit different compared to years ago in terms of physicality and intensity. It’s impossible to play with the same players 65 games in one season. You cannot say: ‘why, years ago, was it possible? ’ Because it was different. It was not so physical. I played for 20 years. Now it’s changed. You need to rotate. If you want to see the season like a marathon, when you are in February and March, the last sprint, you have to think in a different way. Brentford v Newcastle (Sun, 2pm) Anthony Gordon, who is in the England squad, is waiting for the results of a scan on a hip injury and may miss Newcastle’s game at Brentford on Sunday. Chelsea v Wolves (8pm) Some more injury problems for Chelsea. Romeo Lavia will miss tomorrow’s game against Wolves; Pedro Neto is also doubtful. Hearts manager Derek Mc Innes has won his third consecutive manager of the month award, and quite right too. Hearts are nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, though Celtic have a game in hand. On this day in 1990… Aston Villa, 2-0 up from the first leg of their Uefa Cup tie against Internazionale, have their dreams crushed in the San Siro. A defiantly mediocre 8/16 for me. Can you do better? I hope so, for all our sakes. Sunderland v Arsenal (Sat, 5. 30pm) Mikel Arteta has been saying some nice things about Granit Xhaka, who will face his old Arsenal teammates tomorrow. He made me a better coach. He helped us to develop and improve a lot as a team and a club. I will be eternally grateful because I have great memories with him. I am laughing because I just visualised Granit and it makes me laugh because he was such a character, a huge personality, very funny, super professional, ” Arteta added. One of those guys who can change the spirit of a dressing room and a team. That’s a superpower to have. It wasn’t an easy decision (to let him leave) because I knew the impact he could still have. But then when you have one of those leaders, you need to have him in the right frame of mind, feeling committed. West Ham v Burnley (Sat 3pm) Nuno Espirito Santo has been talking about Freddie Potts, who made such an impressive full debut for West Ham in their win over Newcastle last week. He played really, really good and did a fantastic match. He was balanced and almost all his actions were accurate. He did what I think the team needed in that moment, with his presence there in the middle of the park, but Freddie has started one (Premier League) game. Freddie has played many games in Championship and League One, that is what made him. Now I think he is a good option for us but he started one game. We are here to help all the players improve. Freddie is one of those that has got so much talent, so we are looking forward to seeing what he can do. Arne Slot on the return of Alexander Isak He will train for the first time today with the team again, after being three weeks out. I know that I said three weeks ago that his pre-season has ended so now it’s time for us to see where he is. But I have to come back to those words, because if you are three weeks only with the rehab, that doesn’t bring you back to the levels he was three weeks ago. You cannot compare rehab with games of football or training sessions with the team. As much as we try to replicate it, that’s simply not possible. So, again I have to say, give him some time. Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to Pep Guardiola, who will manage his 1, 000th game on Sunday. Pep! I am absolutely delighted to welcome you to join the prestigious LMA Hall of Fame 1, 000 Club. Your deep love and passion for the game has always been so evident and you should be very proud of the indelible impact you continue to have across the global game. Reaching 1, 000 matches and achieving such longevity in football is a landmark that can never be underestimated and, to continue to deliver league, Champions League and domestic cup titles in three of Europe’s most competitive leagues is outstanding. Wolves’ search for their next head coach has taken another twist: Middlesbrough’s Rob Edwards will no longer be conducting his pre-match press conference. Wolves had an official approach for Edwards rejected on Thursday with Boro determined to keep the man who has led them to third in the Championship after taking over in the summer on a three-year contract. Wolves are longstanding admirers of Edwards, who has a fondness for the club, having previously played and coached at Molineux. He also had a spell in caretaker charge in 2016, shortly after the Wolves owner, Fosun, assumed control of the club. Might he now take permanent charge? A proud day for Guernsey “With Alex Scott’s call up we now have a donkey (not a derogatory term! ) in both men’s and women’s senior England squads! ” writes Alex from Guernsey. “Maya Le Tissier has been representing the Lionesses brilliantly and hopefully Alex can follow for the men. Incidentally they are step-siblings, which is not widely known. Proud day to be a Guern! ” On this day in 1973… Ajax’s reign as European champions ends in stunning fashion.