That concludes the blog for today. Join us over the weekend for plenty more coverage.

Andy Hunter spoke to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, a player from the Everton School of Science.

“I get where people are coming from; everyone wants to sign everyone and have the perfect squad. But there are still 19 lads in this building who are going to hopefully take this club to good things this year. That was getting disregarded.

“I saw people saying: ‘We’ll be lucky to stay up this year.’ What message is that sending to the lads who are already here? I’m not blaming anyone. We get it. It didn’t work. But let’s all be positive – right, it’s done, bang, let’s go – and that’s what we’ve been trying to say in the dressing room. Of course we would have wanted to sign a couple more, but we’re happy with what we’ve got and it’s given us more impetus now to move on.”

Via Sky News’ Rob Harris: Gianni Infantino has announced his Fifa re-election slogan:

“Football belongs to everyone, everywhere in the world.”

The bumph continues: “We want to give everyone the opportunity to dream, to participate... to narrow the gap between the big and all the others & that’s what I will continue to be doing.”

Rangers news: Dan Purdy is to step down from his role as technical director.

A statement on Rangers’ website read: “We can confirm today that Dan Purdy will step down from his position as technical director. Dan will continue to work with the club’s ownership group, supporting the transition and other football projects. The board would like to thank Dan for his commitment and contribution during his time at Rangers and wishes him every success for the future.”

Purdy joined Rangers in the summer of 2025.

Fifa news, via Associated Press:

Fifa have imposed life bans on two former soccer federation presidents for financial misconduct, including one who stayed in office since being sanctioned in 2011 as part of a notorious election bribery scandal in the Caribbean.

Montserrat’s long-time soccer leader Vincent Cassell was charged with “abuse of position, systemic conflicts of interest” and misuse of Fifa and federation funds, Fifa said in a statement on Friday.

The former president of the Maldives soccer federation, Bassam Adeel Jaleel, was expelled from the sport for “misusing Fifa Covid-19 Relief Plan funds for his personal benefit,” FIFA said. During the pandemic in 2020 Fifa said it would make up to $1.5 billion available in grants and loans.

Maldives media reported this year that Jaleel was sentenced to 23 years in prison for embezzling $1.2 million from Fifa. The money was intended for local soccer clubs and was reportedly used to buy apartments.

Both Cassell and Jaleel, who was elected like Infantino in 2016, were presidents of their federations the next year during the Fifa congress in Bahrain. Infantino told his audience in a keynote speech in Manama, “We don’t want you,” if they were corrupt.

“If there’s anyone in this room or outside of this room who still thinks he can enrich himself,” Infantino said in 2017, “that he can abuse football, I have one clear and strong message to tell him: Leave football and leave football now.”

Lamine Camara was the midfielder who got away from Chelsea but he now says he’s focused on playing for Monaco.

The deal was suddenly scrapped when Everton reversed its decision on Folarin Balogun and attempted to get that signing done. In the end, neither player moved and both are still at the French club.

“There was a possibility I could leave. It didn’t go through at the last minute and that’s part of football,” Camara said. Monaco play Strasbourg on Saturday. “I’ve turned the page and am focusing on the season.”

“It’s part of a professional player’s life. I managed to stay professional and not dwell on it too much,” he said. “Once it’s happened there’s no point in thinking about it again.”

Some World Cup 2030 developments, via Reuters

The battle over who will host the 2030 ⁠World Cup final has intensified after Morocco’s prime minister told his country’s football federation head to stop making promises before the ⁠Spanish FA chief insisted ⁠it should ​be held in Spain.

Moroccan PM Aziz Akhannouch took aim at Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) President Fouzi Lekjaa, who boldly declared at ⁠a political party event that Casablanca would have the “honour” of hosting the final.

Fifa have not yet announced which of the three ⁠co-hosts – Spain, Portugal or Morocco – will host the final in 2030, with a spokesperson saying ​a decision would be made in due ‌course. “Do not offer to ‌host the big final game in Morocco while we still have not discussed the matter ‌with our allies, Spain and Portugal. There should be some respect, brothers,” Akhannouch said at a rally ahead of elections later this month. “Stop using electoral promises to pull the rug out from under us. These are huge matters. Deciding where the final will be held is a major issue.”

More De Zerbi on Tottenham’s winless start: “We are better than last season. We are not winning and we are not scoring, but I am positive because I believe in my players and this group. The players have big qualities and potential. We are working well. I am not happy because I suffer from defeats and when we don’t score, but I am experienced enough to see improvement.”

Roberto De Zerbi has been speaking about Richarlison’s future, with the Brazilian not included in Tottenham’s Premier League squad: ““I don’t know. It’s not my job. What I can say, is that I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison, and very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last two months. I know, he knows, the club knows, his agent knows. Everyone knows, better than you [the media]. Much better.”

Meow.

Peter Oh gets in touch: “I for one find Mikel Arteta’s psychological tricks as cringe-inducing as Brendan Rodgers’ three envelopes stunt when he was at Liverpool. If he really wants his players to overcome challenges, how about paying them normal people’s wages for a season?”

Brentford visit Bournemouth on Saturday, with Keith Andrews backing Brazil striker Igor Thiago to get back on the Premier League goal trail: “The goals will come, I’ve no doubt about that. I’m not worried about that and he’s performing to a really high level for us.”

Thiago got 25 last season but has scored just once this season, and that against Birmingham in the Carabao Cup.

And with that, give it up once more for Mr John Brewin, who’ll see you home. Bye.

Football Daily has landed, and is on that irrepressible prankster Mikel Arteta:

The use of psychological stratagems and pitchside or locker-room sabotage has long been employed by football managers trying to give their teams an edge over visiting rivals. Whether it’s placing the pegs too high or the seats too low, painting the walls an aggression-lowering shade of pink or deliberately moving the advertising hoardings to prevent long throws, there are apparently no stones conniving coaching staff will leave unturned if they think their team’s chances of winning may be improved by such shenanigans. Almost 40 years ago, Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang famously used to leave visitors to Plough Lane without any hot water, a plan that seemed stunning in its simplicity, until you realise – as Football Daily has just done after nearly 40 years – that footballers generally tend not to shower until after the game is over, rendering their attempt at disruption decidedly redundant.

A man who has previously attracted ridicule for hiring a team of pickpockets to pinch his players’ watches, phones and wallets during a team dinner to teach them the value of vigilance and focus, it ought to come as no surprise that Mikel Arteta has now hit upon the psychological wheeze of disrupting his own team’s preparations for matches as a way of keeping them on their toes. The Arsenal manager has revealed that he occasionally has dressing-room thermostats turned up to 11, delays meal and transport times, or has physio room massage beds “disappeared” to ensure Arsenal’s finest are prepared for any curveballs life might pitch their way. And while such half-baked amateur psychology will almost certainly provide more grist to the mill of Arteta haterz, if inducing mild anxiety in Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka over a toasty canteen or slightly late bus is all it takes to finally win a league title, then who are we to carp?

One of the most eye-catching matches in Europe this weekend is Elversberg’s home Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich on Sunday afternoon, and the good news for the top flight newcomers is that their coach, Vincent Wagner, has been cleared to be in the dug-out after the referee of last week’s win over Borussia Mönchengladbach admitted making a mistake in sending him off.

The team from a town of only 13,000 people have made a stunning start to life in the Bundesliga, beating Bayer Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach.

Wagner was due to sit out the big Bayern clash but his one-game ban was overturned on appeal on Friday after referee Martin Petersen made an admission of an error.

Stephan Oberholz, chair of the German federation’s tribunal, said Petersen admitted he got it wrong when he showed Wagner a second yellow card as the coach walked on to the field at halftime. Oberholz said the referee now accepted Wagner hadn’t been trying to confront him and had instead been heading toward his own players.

David Moyes speaks. And he sas that Jack Grealish might be ready to start for Everton at Tottenham, who have only 17 players available for the trip to north London. "Jack’s a special case and I think he is ready to play from the start – he is a boy who needs the football more than he needs the training but he’s still building up to his best. He’s incredibly exciting if he gives us what he gave us at the start of last season.”

Moyes added that Everton might still dip into the free transfer market having endured a frustrating summer window but it wouldn’t deliver exactly what he needs. “Having a bigger squad helps if anything goes wrong – we’re looking in the free transsfer market and to see if there’s players out there but to get players at the level we’re at will not be easy.”

Thank you, Mr JB. Afternoon everyone. To Scotland, and the first Old Firm meeting of the season, in the League Cup quarter-finals at Ibrox on Sunday, which will lack some of its usual bite due to away fans being, predictably, banned again following some equally predictable naughtiness between the two sets of fans when they met in the Scottish Cup in March. Here’s PA’s take:

Martin O’Neill revealed Celtic were given a “general behaviour” warning by Police Scotland ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox.

There will be no Hoops fans in the 50,000-capacity stadium at the order of the authorities amid a ticket allocation spat between the two Glasgow giants. The spat is partly a result of the last Old Firm clash in Govan in March, which was marred by fans’ disorder as Celtic won the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes.

The two clubs have both been ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup matches behind closed doors and have also been handed a £100,000 compensation bill, paid to whichever team is drawn as the away side in their next respective fixtures in that competition. The 74-year-old Hoops boss admitted that “it’ll be a bit strange not having the (Celtic) fans in but I’m nervously and excitedly looking forward to it, it’s a great fixture” and also spoke about the police visit.

O’Neill said: “We had the police come in today, just a little 15 minute meeting with us, just reminders of our behaviour, which I think is actually a timely reminder. It a good thing as well. I think it’s the overall picture. Gosh, it’d be nice to have something to celebrate. I think it’s just general behaviour from us.

“They didn’t mention this but I would have assumed that one of the things that they considered is what happens on the field of play, because these things can be taken further. You don’t want any sort of punch-ups for a start, secondly, you don’t want too excessive celebrations, stuff like that, if that was the case.

“I mean, I’d be delighted to be celebrating something in the game. But it’s the behaviour in the light of what has happened in recent fixtures.”

And the sides meet again on Sunday week in the league, this time at Celtic Park.

Right, time to hand back to Mr Tom Davies.

Bournemouth v Brentford on Saturday, with Marco Rose looking for his first league win; his team beat Lincoln in the Carabao Cup. “It’s important and I would love to have it done already but it’s not the case.

“We need to work for it. We have to stick together, we have to believe in it. If you start a season, if you win your first game, it’s like, ‘OK, now we can go’, so we need to do it. I think a home game with our fans is a big chance to do it and always the next game is a chance to change things, to change situations. We are quite confident.”

It’s been two draws and a defeat so far. Both the Everton and Newcastle games saw Rose’s team pegged back.

Russell Martin corner. He’s been talking about the ownership of Leicester, the club on open sale: “I don’t know if the club is up for sale completely I don’t know when the deadline is. It’s not my job to know any of that really. I think Khun Top, Jon [Rudkin] and the guys, we spoke a lot over the transfer window and they’ve supported us hugely.

“He’s [the owner] still hugely invested in the club, otherwise we wouldn’t have signed 14 players and tried to rebuild the energy and team at this club that will hopefully bring success. So as long as everyone’s really supportive of that and we’re all open lines of communication, which it has been, then we’ll have to wait and see on the other stuff.”

The club is yours for £200m.

Andrew Beasley has run the numbers on this week’s Champions League action.

Despite 16 of the 18 matches being won, there were no shocks. For the bloated league phase to generate serious excitement, it needs major upsets. Only two wins were secured by the underdog according to bookmakers, and one of those was Europa League champions Aston Villa beating Club Brugge. Hardly an upset when you compare their finances.

Xabi Alonso dead-batted questions of the changing Chelsea ownership: “I’m not the guy to give you information about those things. Nothing I have and not my knowledge. I’m working fine, I’m very happy with how we have started and how we are working together aligned and this is all I can say at the moment.”

Further detail from that Chelsea story on the departure of Enzo Fernandez: “Neto’s determination to stay contrasted with the stance of Enzo Fernández, who was sold to City for £125m during the closing hours of the transfer window.

“He was not handed a new contract after initial discussions were held. The Argentina midfielder raised questions over his future in March, criticising January’s departure of Enzo Maresca as head coach and sparking talk of a move to Real Madrid by expressing a desire to live in the Spanish capital. Chelsea responded by banning Fernández for two games.

“Madrid downplayed their interest in Fernández but the 25-year-old continued to push for a new challenge. City, who appointed Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s replacement, emerged as Fernández’s strongest suitors. Chelsea were prepared to hold on to him if their valuation were not met but concluded that selling was the right long-term move. There was disappointment that one of the team’s senior players did not show better leadership when Chelsea were struggling. They missed out on European qualification after finishing 10th.”

Athletic Bilba’s Inaki Williams has retired from ⁠international football after four years with Ghana

The ​32-year-old made his final appearance for Ghana in their 1-0 defeat ⁠by Colombia at the World Cup. “Ghana has given me much more than football,” Williams said. “It has allowed me to come back home, feel even closer to my ⁠roots and experience the enormous pride of representing ​my ​country and wearing ​this flag on my chest. Ghana will ​always be ‌a part ​of me.”

His younger brother, Nico Williams, was part of the Spain side that won this year’s World Cup.

It’s new contract day, it seems. To follow Lewis Hall and Lucas Bergvall, Pedro Neto has signed on the dotted line.

Chelsea have rewarded Pedro Neto’s strong start to the season and commitment to the club by handing the winger a new contract. The Portugal international had summer interest from several Premier League clubs including Manchester City, but indicated a desire to stay and play for Xabi Alonso. He has signed a five-year deal with the option of an extra year and is to receive a pay rise.

Carrick also spoke about his own future: “I think I said it pretty early on, all decisions were made were as if we were going to be here for a period of time. I didn’t how long that was going to be, I still don’t.

“We were planning for the future and what we wanted it to look like and that was from day one. The performance the lads gave on that City game was incredible with all that. From the start it was planning to where we want to get this club to in the long term”.

Michael Carrick was asked about Elliot Anderson’s “kings of Manchester” comment: “I’m definitely not using that phrase at all, no. I understand it and I think going into the Champions League game (against Sabah) and talking about the expectation there, I think it’s a really good thing that it’s shifted in a way.

“All of a sudden there’s different things asked of us now to maybe what was a few months ago and we’re in the Champions League. That in itself shows the steps we’ve made, and we need to be in the later stages of that, and then the expectations around that.

“We know that, and we’re humble enough and realistic enough to know where we’ve come from in recent history, and we need to and want to be better, and we want to be challenging more. So, that’s where we’re at. It doesn’t mean that we can’t and we won’t. It means we still hope, we believe, and we expect that we can be and we should be, but I understand the bigger picture.”

The latest Football Weekly is here.

Michael Carrick’s press conference for the Manchester City game took place after the Sabah game, and he had this to say about Marcus Rashford: “Really pleased with him in so many ways. He was a real threat on Sunday, unfortunate to not get more success but he was a real threat. I’m not sure what else to say just really pleased to have him. We have good options so trying to keep everyone fresh.”

Here’s the week’s Champions League review, starring Troy Parrott, Jose Mourinho and Regis Philbin.

The latest on Fenerbahce’s coach is that he has failed to turn for training.

Via AFP Fenerbahce coach Ismail Kartal failed to appear at training on Friday, Turkish media reports said, a day after he announced he was stepping down following a draw against Roma in a Champions League game but the club refused to accept his resignation.

Kartal failed to attend training ahead of a Superlig game against Gaziantep FK on Friday, NTV television and other media reports said, deepening confusion over his status.

With the United States woken up by now, we await developments on this story, which goes beyond football.

More Alvaro Arbeloa, losing to Liverpool would make it four Fulham defeats from four: “My focus is on the Liverpool game at the minute, that’s the most important thing for me, I’m not thinking about time. I haven’t just come here for three games or a month in charge, I’ve come here because I wanted to improve this team. That’s where my energy goes.”

Iraola on “contract rebel” Alexis Mac Allister, who scored the winner against Atletico: “I consider him a great player. He understands the game very well and has the experience which is quite good for our young team. I am very happy to have him in our team. I hope this level of performance and if he can improve it then even better.”

Andoni Iraola has been speaking about Alexander Isak’s revival: “I think he’s doing well. I’m happy with the improvements he’s doing game-to-game. Physically, he’s in a really good place. I think he moves with confidence and technically we know he is very good. He is understanding better what we need from the number nine position.”

Enzo Maresca has no sympathy for Manchester United’s quick turnaround for the Manchester derby: “It happened last season when the club played Napoli and played Arsenal two days later. Sometimes it happens. I don’t have any doubt that United will be ready. It is a matter of adapting. It happened last season with us, this season with them, next season it will happen to someone else.”

Suzanne Wrack on the travails of the new Manchester United in the new WSL season.

The problem is that the spotlight is harsh on the red side of Manchester. The minority owner Jim Ratcliffe’s dismissive comments relating to the women’s team, and the lack of serious investment in the squad, provide reasons to be somewhat forgiving of the head coach and her charges, their struggles an indictment of a club that seemingly doesn’t fully care.

Good news for Liverpool, after Bradley Barcola limped from the field against Atlético Madrid.

Andoni Iraola: “Barcola was just cramps. We have to evaluate how he is today, but there is no injury. I think he should be available if everything goes normal.”

On form man Cody Gakpo: “Cody we will see. We will try today and see if he is ready for tomorrow or if we need to wait until the next one.”

Lucas Bergvall has signed a new Tottenham deal; he was already contracted until 2031 so perhaps a pay rise? No word of its length in the club release.

Bergvall said: “I think we’re building something great here. It’s an exciting time for the Club and that’s why I’m happy to extend my contract. I’m always trying to achieve as much as possible, to be the best version of myself both on and off the pitch and I know this is the right place to do that.

Roberto De Zerbi said: “Every day in training you can see Lucas’ desire to learn, improve and push himself to the highest level. Lucas is brave, he wants responsibility and has the personality to play in big moments. He also understands that development is a process and he has shown a fantastic attitude towards working on the areas of his game where he can become even better. I believe his best football is still ahead of him and we want to give Lucas the platform to reach his full potential.”

Bergvall has only featured in one league game so far, and was subbed at half-time in the defeat to Brentford.

Manchester City travel to Old Trafford on Sunday seeking to continue their perfect start to life under Enzo Maresca and further prove Anderson’s point. The 23-year-old midfielder made his claim upon signing from Nottingham Forest for £116m in the summer and having from afar witnessed City win eight Premier League titles during the past 14 years, compared with United’s one.e

“I think Manchester City was unbelievable what they achieved. It’s normal when Elliot said that,” said Maresca. “If you go back it’s a different picture, but for me the reason he said that is because when he grew up Manchester City was dominant.”

Panic at Fulham? Not yet, though some distress flares. Brazilian winger Kevin, an unused substitute against Crystal Palace, added a cryptic message on his Instagram story with the caption ‘no speak, no hear, no see’. Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe have, meanwhile, both cleared their own Instagram posts of football-related content, with some fans interpreting it as growing signs of disharmony within the Fulham camp.

Alvaro Arbeloa moved to calm waters today: “You can learn more about a group after a defeat than after a win, and I saw them work during the week with a very positive attitude, all of them,” the Fulham boss said at a press conference.

“For sure when you are a player and you are not playing, you can’t be happy. It is what I expect from the players that are not playing. I want that they should need to show me that they are not happy during the training session. For me, this is the most important thing.

“Obviously, when you are not winning games and you are not helping your team, I think you have more desire to play games and to help their teammates. But all of them, they have been working so hard and I have a very, very good group with a very good attitude.”

Fulham have lost all three league matches this season.

Time for another handover. John Brewin will be your news conduit for the next wee while. Catch you’se later.

Hull fined over offensive chanting. Anecdotally, you do detect a slight uptick in unpleasant chants from the tiresome edgelord element among clubs’ fanbases and Hull have copped a fine for the homophobic antics of some herberts in their support after last season’s Cup tie against Chelsea, as Reuters reports:

Hull City have been fined £30,000 ($40,512) by the Football ⁠Association over discriminatory chanting during their FA Cup defeat by ⁠Chelsea in ⁠February, ​the governing body said on Friday. An independent regulatory commission also ⁠imposed an action plan on the club after it failed to prevent ⁠offensive chanting despite warnings over the public ​address system.

“It was ‌alleged that ‌the club failed to ensure its spectators ‌and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters) do not use words or behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent or insulting way with a reference – whether ‌express or implied – to sexual orientation,” read the statement.

Offensive chanting was heard ​in sections of the home crowd during the first half of last season’s game, prompting an announcement over the PA ⁠system urging supporters to stop and reminding ​them ​that CCTV was in ​operation. A second announcement was made ​in the ‌second half ​confirming ​action had been taken, including arrests made. Hull City have admitted the charges.

Some mid-morning reading: a lovely Moving the Goalposts piece by Tom Garry with Gemma Darvill, coach of the first England women’s Parkinson’s team and how restorative football has been for her dad, who lives with the condition.

When Gemma Darvill’s dad, Les, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease aged 58, joining a walking football team stopped him from confining himself to his own home, and she believes the game saved his life.

What she could never have foreseen was that, eight years later, she would find herself coaching the first England women’s Parkinson’s team, helping transform the lives of women with the disease from all across the country. She is set to embark on a journey to Toronto to help spread awareness of the ways in which walking football can help put the brakes on the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms.

A teacher at Swallowfield primary school in Woburn Sands, in Milton Keynes, Darvill’s interest in walking football was sparked by supporting her dad. She now coaches what is believed to be the first walking football team specifically dedicated to women with Parkinson’s, the Parkinson’s Pioneers, who train in Solihull and have seen a tenfold increase in their membership in just over three years. That led to her appointment as the coach of the first England women’s national side.

And to sign up to Moving the Goalposts, our women’s football newsletter, click below:

There’s a lot of noise about Manchester United’s 15-year-old forward JJ Gabriel, and the volume was ramped up last night when he scored a hat-trick for the U19s in their 5-0 win against Sabah in the Uefa Youth League. Gabriel has already trained with Michael Carrick’s first team and his coach Adam Lawrence sung his praises again after Thursday’s showing, reports PA.

“JJ is surrounded by people that really, really believe in him from the top of the club right the way through,” Lawrence said. “He’s been at the club for so long. He’s got real good relationships with the players, with the staff, so I think over the course of time obviously that helps as well. “At the moment, just in terms of his game, his games programme, his training programme, it’s about making sure that he’s getting the right exposure across different levels. We’re obviously not perfect but it’s definitely something we put a lot of thought into, so it’s good to see him enjoying his football in a good place.”

“The first thing is that it’s my job is not to ruin him. When you have a talented player like JJ and the other lads, you obviously don’t want to stifle their freedom and their creativity.

“What you try and do is to set the team up to allow the talent to function and to play free at the right moments. It can’t always be free and off the cuff, in terms of the off-the-ball responsibilities that he’s working on and the pressing that he’s thinking about.

“But in terms of how he plays properly and how he connects with other teammates at the top end of the pitch, he’s just in a real good space.”

Nico O’Reilly is set to return to the Manchester City side for Sunday’s derby at Manchester United. The England left-back has missed the last two games after pulling up with a back problem in the warm-up prior to last weekend’s Premier League victory over Coventry.

Winger Jeremy Doku remains on the sidelines with the calf problem he sustained in the Community Shield but City have no other fitness concerns for the trip to Old Trafford. The manager, Enzo Maresca, said: “Nico is 100 per cent available but Jeremy, I think he needs some more days.” Press Association

Mikel is being intense again … From Ed Aarons:

Mikel Arteta has revealed that he likes to set players challenges, such as delaying their meals before matches and making the dressing room hotter, to ensure they are fully prepared for any eventuality.

Arsenal’s flight to Italy for their Champions League opener against Napoli this week was delayed for more than five hours, with Arteta forced to cancel his pre-match press conference after the squad arrived in Naples just before 10pm local time. The disruption proved no handicap as they made it 13 successive league-stage victories in Europe, thanks to Martin Ødegaard’s second-half winner.

Arteta has a reputation for his innovative methods having previously employed pickpockets during pre-season training camps and preparing for a trip to Anfield by pumping crowd noises through a speaker. The Arsenal manager has now explained how his players have been trained to expect things to go wrong. “I love those challenges. I try to create them in pre-season,” he said. “So when they happen, we already experience them and we already know. So, get to the stadium very late, change the routine as soon as the players have to do something else. Because when it happens, and it can happen, you can miss the flight, the train can be delayed, there’s so much traffic, and I don’t want the players, the staff as well, panicking.

“So, when that happens, adapt to it. ‘Okay, we have another two or three hours on the plane, how can we use them?’ Play together, spend some time together, sleep, use it, but certainly don’t complain and then use it as an excuse because that’s not helpful at all.”

Asked what other methods he has employed, Arteta added: “Just delay the meals, delay the transport, take a different route. We have done many things: make the dressing room hotter, more difficult, more challenging, less [massage] beds. Those kind of things. Because we are going to have to adapt to different contexts and we will try to anticipate it and create the best possible conditions. But when there is that element of stress or surprise on matchday, it’s important [to be prepared].”

I’m grabbing a break from the blog, to see you through the next couple of hours is Tom Davies.

Matthias Jaissle revealed that summer signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo is edging closer to starting for Newcastle.

The 21-year-old forward arrived on Tyneside from Lille on deadline day and has featured as a substitute in Newcastle’s last two matches. Speaking ahead of Monday’s clash with Leeds, Jaissle said: “Yeah, he’s getting closer. I said that we need to be smart with his load management. Now he’s getting more and more minutes.

“He has now almost a full training week to Leeds, that helps him a lot. I think it’s the first time now since he arrived, and then we can make the decision on Sunday, maybe even on Monday.” Press Association

Nicolas Jackson is ready to impress, Spurs are scrambled and the 199th Manchester derby takes place at Old Trafford. Here are our 10 things for the upcoming weekend of football:

Spanish World Cup-winner Juan Mata has confirmed he will be departing Australian side Melbourne Victory, but stopped short of calling time on his career.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea ace has enjoyed a late-career resurgence and was voted the domestic A-League player of the year in 2025-26. But the 38-year-old has decided not to play on at the club as he mulls “the next steps in his career”.

He will remain involved with the Australian side after taking an ownership stake.

“I loved every minute and so greatly enjoyed everything that we achieved last season, falling back in love with football at such a special place, in an amazing city that it was a privilege to call home,” Mata said. “Now I am excited about our next chapters, believing together in the future of Australian football and inspiring the next generation of Melbourne Victory players and supporters.” AFP

Gianni Infantino has not responded to a request to appear before the US House judiciary committee or sent documents requested by one of its members more than a month past the deadline.

The Democrat Jamie Raskin, the ranking minority member of the committee, wrote to the Fifa president on 26 July informing the Swiss he was launching an investigation into “a sustained campaign” by Fifa to curry favour with the US president, Donald Trump.

His letter said seeking of favours extended to the dismissal of high-profile corruption cases, while also accusing Fifa of “gouging” American consumers with “exorbitant” World Cup ticket prices this summer.

The Swiss was asked to respond to the letter by 9 August with the requested documents and to make contact with the committee to schedule an interview, but it is understood no response at all had been received as of Thursday.

Because no subpoena was issued, there are no criminal consequences for ignoring Raskin’s request. Press Association

In totally normal Turkish football news … the Fenerbahce head coach, Ismail Kartal, announced his resignation on Thursday after ⁠his team drew 1-1 at home to Roma in the Champions League – but minutes ⁠later, the club ⁠president ​said Kartal would stay in the job.

Kartal shocked the post-match press conference by claiming he was ⁠leaving Fenerbahce “never to return”. The 65-year-old added that he was taking the drastic decision “to clear the way for the club” – but the Fenerbahce president, Aziz Yildrim, quickly moved to play down his manager’s remarks.

Minutes after ⁠the press conference, Yildirim told reporters that ​Kartal “continues in his role” with the Turkish side. “Some ‌fans threw a bottle ‌at the coach’s head this evening during the game. He ‌is upset about it,” the club president added.

Full story:

The French football federation’s president, Philippe Diallo, said Gianni Infantino had “seriously damaged the image and the unity of football” as he announced the end of France’s support for the Fifa president’s re-election.

The FFF’s executive committee unanimously voted on Thursday to withdraw its backing, which had been formalised at the end of June. Diallo referred to “events during the World Cup” which had “flagrantly gone against the way we believe our sport should be run” and to Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan, which was revealed in July and scrapped after a widespread backlash.

United were the only Premier League club in Champions League action last night but Englishman Harry Kane scored for the eighth game in a row in the competition as Bayern Munich beat Bodø/Glimt 5-0 at the Allianz Arena. Starting their Champions League journey were Cesc Fabregas’s Como, who beat RB Leipzig 4-1 Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, while Lens scored twice in added time to reverse a 2-1 deficit and secure a 3-2 win. Our roundup of all of Thursday night’s European action is here.

Manchester United were back in Europe’s elite competition after a two-year hiatus and in need of something to soothe them after the trauma of their last-gasp coughing up of two points in last Sunday’s Premier League draw at Everton. And before the extremely serious business of the derby here against Manchester City on Sunday. They got it on the back of a first-half performance that burned slowly before catching fire.

Sabah were game. United were clinical. It was Matheus Cunha who broke the deadlock midway through the first half and the defining moments came at the end of the period when Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko sent United into half-time with a three-goal cushion. Lisandro Martínez added the fourth late on. It was a case of job done for Michael Carrick, no wobbles. Now for City.

Read David Hytner’s full report from Old Trafford: