Key events
Liverpool v Manchester United WSL team news
Liverpool: Borggrafe, Fisk, Bonner, Evans, Woodham, Nagano, Holland, Kerr, MacLean, Kapocs, Haug.
Subs: Kirby, Parry, Shimizu, Szymczak, Olsson, Enderby, Lundgaard, Clark, Silcock.
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Zigiotti Olme, Miyazawa, Toone, Malard, Terland, Park.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, George, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Williams.
Hi everyone, Dominic here.
Right with a number of WSL games kicking off at midday, let’s run you through the team news …
The Scottish Premiership is six games in and the leaders hail from outside Glasgow. Derek McInnes’ Hearts are two points clear at the top after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Falkirk, coupled with Celtic’s home stalemate against Hibernian.
Although Hearts minority investor Tony Bloom has backed the club to challenge Scotland’s duopoly, McInnes is taking a more measured view. “I want us to try and stay up at the top end of the table for as long as we can,” the Hearts manager said. Nobody else, I don’t think, genuinely believes we can mount a challenge.”
Rangers, meanwhile, are winless and 11th in the table with Russell Martin clinging to his job. He takes his side to Livingston today (3pm BST), where only a win will do.
And with that, my watch is over. Dominic Booth will be here shortly to coax you through our early tranche of WSL matches , Liverpool v Man United is the standout, but there’s loads to get us going , but I’m off to get into the right frame of mind for Villa v Fulham. So until then, peace out.
Not a from a dead ball, but this might be my favourite-ever cross. Beckham barely touches the ball, and yet…
Relatedly, I love the way Declan Rice has improved his crossing in recent years. Of course it requires natural ability to do what he does, but also, it’s a skill that is very easily practised, and I’m not sure why so many excellent players are so poor at it.
I’m sure, though, that we’ll see some variations on it this afternoon, when Newcastle visit Arsenal. Both sides have plenty of big men and players able to find them with dead-ball delivery; reffing that won’t be easy, at all. I’d not be surprised if we see a penalty given for holding or similar.
I would, though, also like to see the near-post corner return. When hit flat and flicked on, it’s almost impossible to defend, but sadly I’m currently struggling to find a Limpar-Bould combination to illustrate the point.
Amorim’s United have become an extremely direct outfit , and it’s not just them. We’re seeing a return to big men up front, long balls, good corners and long throws which, to me at least, makes perfect sense , actually, I’m not sure why these things ever left, because they never stopped working.
Ah, I neglected to post Barney Ronay’s United piece from yesterday. If I’m guessing, I’m guessing it won’t be long.
The last time Hearts and Celtic contested the title:
The last time the Scottish league was won by a non-Old Firm side was in 1984-85 when Alex Ferguson was managing Aberdeen; the last time Hearts won it was 1959-60. They currently lead Celtic by two points, and maybe, just maybe, they can bring it home again.
In Villa’s defence, they’ve been without Andre Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and Ross Barkley, all of whom should be back soon; if things are still poor in a few weeks, there’ll be pressure, but for now, we can assume they won’t be.
Our first match today is Aston Villa v Fulham. How do we feel about that one? Have the home side turned the corner, or are we ignoring a dicey home win against the 11th-best side in Italy. They’ve still got plenty of good players, of course, but with Ollie Watkins out of form, they’re struggling to threaten never mind score.
What I would say on McT is that how well he’s doing in Italy doesn’t mean United were wrong to sell him. In Serie A, his physicality is a bigger advantage than in the Prem, and at Napoli he’s not competing for a starting slot with Bruno Fernandes, who plays in the same position, The move suited both parties.
But the undoubted game of the day comes in Italy, where Scott McTominay faces Milan.
Obviously that’s a hilarious joke, but what a move it was for him to join Napoli. There’s the football, of course , and in Antonio Conte, he has the perfect manager to platform his strengths and hide his weaknesses , but also culturally. By all accounts he’s absolutely loving his new life, and there might not be a better place on the planet to be revered. I couldn’t be happier for a very nice boy.
In the meantime, though, Barcelona can make hay. They’re the best attacking side in the world by a mile , I don’t think anyone can argue with that, though this is football we’re talking about so you can never be sure , and that’s enough to win almost every week. If they see off Soceidad later today, they go above Madrid at the top of the table.
Julian Alvarez, man, what a player , and what a perfect fit for Atletico. On the other hand, I wonder how long it’ll take Xabi Alonso to get Real where they want to be. I wouldn’t necessarily call him a systems manager, but he is a proper coach, who needs buy-in and time to inculcate his ideas and principles , not easy when you’ve a squad full of superstars and a famously impatient boardroom.
I mentioned earlier that we’ve some European fun this afternoon, but before we properly look forward to that, let’s look back at last night.
On which point, what a start Sunderland have made to the season , I think they call that a segue. They spent a load of wedge, granted, but turning that into points isn’t easy, though they were handed a friendly start, and if they could win their next two games , Man United away, Wolves at home , they’ll be a long way towards staying up.
On which point:
A brace of own goals, goodness me.
On which point, who on earth is going down? I fear for Burnley, but you can make a decent case for every other team will stay up , including the current bottom three, Wolves, Villa and West Ham.
We should, though, note that Brentford played really well. A Sunderland-supporting mate of mine told me that Keith Andrews’ side are the best his lot have met this season, and they looked very well organised and prepared yesterday. I thought they’d struggle this season and maybe they still will, but so far, they’re in decent shape.
On Sunday Supplement, they’re talking about Man United’s midfield. It really is mind-boggling they didn’t buy anyone for that position in the summer , and that was obvious at the time.
We will, of course, be bringing you updates on all the WSL action and all the goals as they go in, in this very blog.
Also today, we’ve Barcelona v Sociedad and Milan v Napoli; that second match, third v first, should be an absolute belter.
We’ve got some right tasty fixtures in the WSL this afternoon. Manchester City take on London City; Spurs travel to Leicester; Brighton meet Everton; and Liverpool face Manchester United. Those are our midday kick-offs, after which we’ve West Ham v Chelsea. Not bad.
How far can Glasner’s Palace go?
I was at Selhurst a couple of seasons ago when they walloped Man United 4-0, and I was seriously impressed with Daniel Muñoz. I know he’s not the biggest name they’ve had, but he’s a very, very good player.
I actually think Newcastle were pretty fortunate to get a player as good as Isak so early in their PIF era , likewise Bruno Guimarães. Obviously I understand why their fans were disappointed he wanted to leave, but he was crucial in winning them a trophy and his desire to leave should’ve come as no surprise.
Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s Sunday column:
Our matches today:
Aston Villa v Fulham
Arsenal v Newcastle
I’m looking forward to these. Villa badly need points and will have taken confidence from their win over Bologna in midweek, but they’ll face a different challenge in Marco Silva’s side.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will have taken heart from Liverpool’s defeat, but Newcastle are perhaps the most physical team in the league with one of its best midfields.
Amorim was, though, right not to blame the ref for his side’s abjectivity, but I’ve not a clue how Nathan Collins escaped a red card for fouling Bryan Mbeumo. The rationale is that Mbeumo wasn’t in control of the ball, but he was looking for a one-touch finish, so had no need to be, and had he not been deliberately impeded by a defender making no effort to make a legitimate challenge, he might have scored.
Another manager under pressure is Ruben Amorim. I’m not sure United’s performance yesterday was entirely his fault , the issue wasn’t the system nor its principles, rather a lack of composure and intensity , but ultimately that too is his responsibility.
Incidentally, I absolutely loved Daniel Welbeck’s finish for Brighton’s third goal. His peak years were sadly hampered by injury, but his dotage has been brilliant. He’s still got it physically, while his touch, imagination and intelligence are even better than before.
Across London, meantime, aggravation: Chelsea lost again, their performance in beating PSG to win the Club World Cup a distant memory. On the one hand, a dip after that was inevitable; on the other, it was one game, and there’ve been precious few others of similar standard.
I was out last evening , get me , so I’m only just catching up with Spurs v Wolves and, in particular, Jose Palhinha’s late equaliser.
I also enjoyed this comment from @Xhong_Zina30 under the above link:
As a Spurs fan I’ve really enjoyed Frank’s tactical flexibility, seeing the team drop points in different ways beats dropping points the same way like last season.
And what a celebration from Oliver Glasner. That man knows something.
Imagine Crystal Palace had the resources to hang on to their best players , they’re second in the table having lost Michael Oliseh and Eberechi Eze. Keep them, and you’re talking about a title challenge.
I’m glad Goals on Sunday is back on Sky. Real talk: I’ve not a clue why it was binned to begin with. Someone with expertise chatting about their unique experience, while reviewing action, what’s not to like?
Preamble
Morning all and welcome to your Sunday football blog. As ever, there’s a good lot of action to enjoy and we’ll be looking forward to it here, from now. Feel free to send in your plans; we’ll be bringing you Villa v Fulham and Arsenal v Newcastle, as well as reflecting on yesterday’s typically ridiculous Premier league action.
