That’s is from the Friday football blog. We’ll kindly nudge you in the direction of Rob Smyth for live coverage of England’s Women’s World Cup playoff against Greece in Crete. Sounds nice.

Unai Emery, like many, is not a big fan of the extended international break but says Jürgen Klopp had it right by naming a 44-man squad to cope with four matches across the window. Germany’s manager divided his squad into two groups for matches against Greece, whom they played home and away, the Netherlands and Serbia.

“Long break,” Emery said. “Too much, but we must accept it. It is too much asking the players in the national teams to play four matches. But I appreciate how Klopp did it, doing two groups and trying to mix with more players and he didn’t play four matches with the same players. They did two groups and I think this is the way. I think this is the way [to cope with four matches].”

Speaking of Manchester United, tomorrow’s game against Spurs at Old Trafford is a must-win for Michael Carrick, writes Will Unwin …

United sit solemnly in 12th with only one league win, and misery needs company. The hosts will find just that at Old Trafford on Saturday evening. Tottenham, bottom of the Premier League, visit, with both sides hoping to kickstart their season. Spurs have secured a measly two points after a summer where £300m was spent on Roberto De Zerbi’s rebuild but the architect’s drawings are already at risk of being set alight. For Carrick and United, beating the worst team in the league is close to a necessity as they enter a very difficult run of fixtures.

Aston Villa entertain Brentford on Saturday hoping to chalk up their first home win of the season, with Brian Madjo available to feature.

“I’m especially happy how we finished our matches before the break, in Brugge, Coventry and Tottenham, but we played a very shit match against Nottingham Forest at home,” Emery said. “Changing our performance at home is very, very important.

“We’ve been here four years and Brentford are always performing fantastic and getting close to Europe.”

Alejandro Garnacho impressed Emery and his staff during the extended break, scoring in mid-season friendlies against Southampton and Sevilla. “He is getting better and for him the two weeks we worked were very important for him. He is still young. He joined us to try to exploit his qualities … He is working well and is progressing.”

Leon Goretzka’s wait for his Villa debut goes on, with the midfielder, a free transfer after leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, continuing to build his fitness after a knee injury. The 31-year-old sustained the problem in training after signing but could feature in Wednesday’s Champions League fixture at home to Fenerbahce.

Northern Ireland host Portugal at 7pm (BST) looking to reach their first Women’s World Cup. Tom Garry has the story of their rather complicated road to get there.

Northern Ireland reached Euro 2022 but have never played at a Women’s World Cup. Michaeal McArdle is under no illusions about the size of the obstacles standing between his team and next summer’s tournament in Brazil. Even if they can overcome Portugal – a huge task in itself – then either Croatia or Iceland would await in the second round of playoffs in December. If Northern Ireland were to progress, they could still be the lowest-ranked of the eight European playoff winners.

If so – because only the seven highest-ranked of the eight round-two playoff winners are guaranteed places in Brazil – it would require Northern Ireland to contest a further round, in the inter-confederation playoffs in February.

Among our raft of football interviews today is Jeff Rueter’s chat with Crystal Palace’s Zavier Gozo. The 19-year-old USA international says it was “a big change to go from Utah to London” this summer after his move from Real Salt Lake.

I think I knew more [about Palace] than maybe the average [club]. They were in a good run of form, and they have been for the last couple years, and have been showing it on the European stage.

I’ve known them from [Wilfried] Zaha, and being a very good club that develops wingers and forwards in general. It seems like they always have a player that’s coming through their system that’s either sold for a lot or just becomes a very good player. And obviously, when Chris Richards was there, I was just following them, and him, and their success. I feel like I knew a fair amount.

“It’s been difficult, very tough, especially the first week,” said Tottenham’s Roberto De Zerbi this afternoon after three weeks to ponder on their winless start to the Premier League season. “It’s part of our real situation and we have to react and work.”

De Zerbi confirmed that defenders Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke are fit to play against Manchester United tomorrow after picking up injuries on international duty with the Netherlands. Van Hecke’s wife had twins yesterday, says De Zerbi – “we have to consider the emotional aspect”.

David Moyes has admitted he was “pretty surprised” to hear The Friedkin Group had put Everton up for sale this morning. Moyes’s squad was left short on numbers after the collapse of Folarin Balogun’s mooted £40m move from Monaco on deadline day. Everton have plans to address those weaknesses in January but they could be affected by a potential takeover.

“Maybe after the way things worked out over the transfer window I probably would have seen through it a bit before that,” Moyes said on today’s news. “It’s probably there for all Evertonians to see now.

“Probably you could tell how I’ve been a lot over the summer time that that’s the way it’s been. It has been a difficult summer for us.

“I was surprised because they only came in a year and a half ago. I think most owners come in a lot longer than that. I think we were all expecting them to be here for the next 20 to 30 years.

“I truly believed we had new ownership who were in it completely with us all.”

Thanks Michael. In Women’s World Cup qualifying playoffs, the Republic of Ireland have beaten Kazakhstan 8-0 in Astana. Roll on the second leg on Tuesday.

The pick of today’s fixtures are (all times BST):

• Albania v Scotland (5pm)

• Greece v England (5.30pm)

• Czechia v Scotland (6pm)

• Northern Ireland v Portugal (7pm)

That’s my stint on the blog done. I’ll hand back to Billy Munday, cheers!

Two weeks ago, Thomas Tuchel made some very pointed remarks after Cole Palmer withdrew from his England squad. A reminder of what the German said on 25 September:

He misses too many camps. That’s the overall headline. We have a lot of invitations and he couldn’t make this one. It is what it is. I am not ready to focus on players who are not here. The players that are here have my full attention. It is a missed opportunity. He [Palmer] misses too many opportunities. I don’t blame him for it. It is just a fact. He misses way too many camps with injuries, and I only want to rely on what I witness within my team, and for that you have to be in camp.

Chelsea manager has today come to the defence of Palmer, which is entirely predictable, but still notable.

He’s committed [to England], but he needs to be fully fit to play. When he’s fully fit he will enjoy his minutes, and we need him in that moment for the club and the national team.

He has trained the last week, he has felt better. We didn’t want to rush because we had a lot of time. But the most important thing for Cole is to be fully fit, that he enjoys his game, that he is feeling OK. Whenever he is not, like the Brentford game, you can see that he was struggling. And for the next part (of the season), we have a good feeling with him.

If you are catching up, here is what Enzo Maresca had to say, in full, during his Manchester City press conference.

Mikel Arteta played a very straight bat to questions about Manchester City’s guilty verdict but the Arsenal manager insisted that the Premier League “100%” remains the best in the world despite the ongoing uncertainty.

Arteta, who was an assistant to Pep Guardiola at City for more than three years before taking over at the Emirates in December 2019, was unsurprisingly bombarded with questions about his former club on Friday ahead of the meeting with Leeds.

“I think it’s very important that we respect the process,” he said. “I think the timelines and it’s still an ongoing process that is not resolved because it’s been appealed. And my position, I think the club’s position, is not to make any further comments.”

Asked whether he thought the Premier League’s reputation has been damaged, Arteta added: “There is a process there again that is not resolved. It’s ongoing and we can have, I think, a much clearer opinion when it’s been resolved. Up to now, I’m not prepared to make any comments.”

Arteta did confirm that Christos Tzolis is out for a few weeks with a hamstring issue but said he will make a decision on whether Kai Havertz and Ezri Konsa will feature before Saturday’s game against Leeds.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has been talking into a microphone and has some injury updates after the international break. Benjamin Sesko, Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui will be among the absentees as United look to kickstart their campaign against winless Tottenham. Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Karl Darlow also withdrew from their respective national teams.

Patrick [Dorgu] came off and it looks like he will be out for probably a number of weeks. Nous [Mazraoui] came off and took a knock. He’s not quite right yet, so we’ll see how he is. Amad [Diallo] has done a little bit of training, Marcus [Rashford] has done a little bit of training, Kobbie [Mainoo] has done a little bit of training. Little bit mixed between them. Ben [Sesko] is a little bit further away, with the issue he has got. He won’t be ready.

At least Carlos Baleba – signed for an initial £65m in the summer – looks like he is finally going to be fit enough to make his debut!

That’s all from me – Michael Butler is ready to take over.

On this day in 1996… England come from behind to win a World Cup qualifier against Poland. And, in the words of Alex Ferguson, Alan Shearer hits it as if he means to kill it.

Man Utd fans resurrect City trophy drought banner

English football has been one big schadenfreude buffet since Manchester City were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules. It’s no surprise that Manchester United fans are at the front of the queue for banter-based snacks.

The Red Army group has dusted off the old banner mocking City’s trophy drought, which peaked at 35 years before they won the FA Cup in 2011. If you are among those who regard any modern success as invalid – and we should stress the Friday football blog is entirely, painfully neutral – the drought now stands at 50 years.

“Oh, is there a game on Sunday?” hoots Matt Dony. “Maybe I’ll amble to the pub and watch it over a half of shandy. I joke, of course. This is one of those times when Big Football’s scriptwriters have hit the jackpot.

“A couple of weeks of anticipation, and then a match at the home of the team who arguably suffered the most, with a fanbase who are famously (depending on your allegiance) witty and loud, or entitled and sanctimonious.

“Either way, should be a treat. Right up until the almost-inevitable Erling Haaland first-half hat trick. Ah well.”

Given how febrile it’s going to be, I pity the fool who’s doing our liveblog of the match. Oh.

It’s Friday, it’s lunchtime, it’s our sports quiz of the week

Enzo Maresca refused to confirm he will remain as Manchester City manager should the club lose their appeal against being found guilty of the vast majority of more than a hundred charges related to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.

Maresca was speaking publicly for the first time since a verdict that has thrown English football into turmoil was published. City continue to strenuously deny any wrongdoing and their appeal is expected to be heard before Christmas, with a verdict due in the new year.

In May 2022, Pep Guardiola said he would leave the club if he discovered the executive had not told him the truth about their financial dealings. “I said to them: ‘If you lie to me, the day after I am not here. I will be out and I will not be your friend any more.”

Maresca was asked if he shared the same position as his predecessor. “I would like to speak about this situation when we’re going to win the appeal,” the 46-year-old said. “It’s no sense to speak about anything because I don’t have many pieces of information. I trust the club because I trust the people and this is also the reason why I joined the club. There is not another club in the world where I would like to be. I’m very happy to be [here] I’m very proud.”

On this day in 2001… Grimsby win at Anfield, oh aye.

Women’s World Cup playoff The Republic of Ireland are now 5-0 up away to Kazakhstan, who are down to 10 players after their captain Yulia Myasnikova was sent off. It’s not even half-time.

On this day in 1992… Carl Shutt x Camp Nou = a famous Leeds victory.

NBA champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has joined the ownership group at Atletico Madrid.

The Oklahoma City Thunder guard has become the latest North American sports star to take an interest in football, following the likes of LeBron James and Tom Brady .

“This is a club with a long-standing presence at the top of European football, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of its future,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Atletico said the partnership was “grounded in shared values: ambition, excellence and the belief that every result must be earned”.

Atletico did not reveal how big a stake 2025 NBA champion and back-to-back NBA MVP Gilgeous-Alexander had taken. “His investment reflects an interest in the club’s long-term vision and international growth,” it said.

On this day in 1991… Gary Lineker scores one of English football’s first Panenkas.

Women’s World Cup playoffs

With only 30 minutes played, the Republic of Ireland are 3-0 up away to Kazakhstan in the first leg of their World Cup playoff. Kyra Carusa scored twice, with Chloe Mustaki getting the other goal. The winners of this two-legged tie will face either Belgium or Poland for a place in Brazil next summer.

A reminder of the Premier League table before it all kicks off again

Liverpool v Man City (Sunday, 4.30pm)

“Is there any truth to the rumour,” begins Krishnamoorthy V, “that Liverpool have printed a pennant with the slogan You Will Walk Alone for Sunday’s game?”

A lunchtime plug for our regular Friday feature: things x 10, including Dr Tottenham and Oliver Glasner’s return to Selhurst Park.

Man Utd v Spurs (Saturday, 5.30pm)

It’s 12th v 20th at Old Trafford tomorrow evening. Despite/Because of those league positions, it’s a pretty big game.

World Cup qualifier: Greece v England (5.30pm) The Lionesses are in Crete for the first leg of their World Cup qualification playoff against Greece. This is what you get when you mess with us you’re drawn in the same qualification as Spain.

This clown will be on liveblog duty for the game. For now, here’s Tom Garry’s preview.

Thanks Billy, afternoon everyone. Let’s start with an anniversary. On this day 30 years ago, there was only one team in Tallinn.

Rob Smyth is here to guide you the next little while, with the likes of Andoni Iraola, Mikel Arteta, Michael Carrick, Xabi Alonso and Roberto De Zerbi all due to speak soon.

Brighton’s opponents Sunderland will be without striker Brian Brobbey tomorrow after he was one of several Premier League players to pick up injuries during the international break.

John Brewin looks at the situation and Nick Ames the growing discontent from clubs about the extended break.

Brobbey’s injury means Sunderland fans might see more of 18-year-old striker Juan Angulo, who scored his first goal for Ecuador in a friendly against Panama on Monday … in Tokyo.

“The third striker is always a bit different because if you don’t have game time it’s hard to keep them involved,” said Regis Le Bris yesterday.

“It’s always interesting to have a young player, an underdog spirit and I think Juan is exactly that profile. We are in our setup and happy with it.”

All the Premier League managers are being asked about Manchester City, including Brighton’s Fabian Hürzeler who said “hopefully it will be dealt with”.

Brighton go to Sunderland tomorrow looking to pick up where they left off in the Premier League, with that 3-0 win over Arsenal. They are third in the league going into the weekend – Harry Paterson assesses how high they can finish this season …

Staying in Spain, Sid Lowe has been speaking to Rayo Vallecano striker Sergio Camello, who has scored seven goals in seven games in La Liga this season.

The interview is accompanied by some wonderful pictures of Camello in Vallecas, the working-class Madrid neighbourhood that is home to Rayo and its wonderfully old-fashioned ground.

Rayo is the last team standing from football from another time, that’s what I like. Even just parking here on the street right in front changes things. The same faces, every time. The least important thing about the football here is the football; it’s what they stand for every weekend, what they believe in, the connection.

Tim gets in touch on email:

As a Liverpool fan, I don’t think the Man City players cheated or weren’t a great team. But the point is that they cheated to have such a great team. There were times during our title battles where we had a better team (just) but their squad was ridiculous. Regarding injuries, tiredness, fatigue etc they had a huge - unfair - advantage.

And on this idea of a Premier League glass ceiling that they so nobly broke, Liverpool went nearly 25 years without winning it, often finishing mid table. See also Arsenal and Man Utd. Being a big club with lots of fans is obviously an advantage, but one built over the course of a century, rather than being bestowed on the whims of a foreign state.

Anyway, whatever their punishment, City fans will think it’s too harsh and everyone else too lenient. May as well just get it all over and done with.

Another little tidbit from Maresca was his quip about possibly having to coach City in lower leagues. Guardiola had previously said (joked?) he would stay with City if they were relegated to League One.

“I won the Championship with Leicester, so in case we’re in League One, we’ll see,” Maresca said with a smile. “But we are thinking about something we don’t know.”

One of the more interesting things Maresca admitted was that the topic of City’s 115 charges (114 of which they are now guilty of) did not come up in conversation during his talks about succeeding Guardiola in the summer.

Well, that was a grilling. Maresca fielded questions for about 20 minutes from some of the British sports media’s top journalists. He acknowledged that perhaps he was not giving the answers they were hoping for as he repeated the club’s official lines on sticking together and the confidence they will win an appeal. I think City will be relatively pleased with his performance.

And with that, Maresca takes his leave. Just the one slip-up against a barrage of probing questions from the media – saying he trusts the club “in this moment”, which he later clarified to say he trusts them “always”.

Another thing to note: Maresca said he spoke to Pep Guardiola after the derby win over Manchester United last month but seemingly not since the guilty verdict.

“Finally,” Maresca smiles when a Norwegian journalist asks him about Erling Haaland’s fitness. “He’s ready for Anfield,” he adds.

Maresca is asked whether he would have accepted the City job had he known about the charges.

“100%,” he replies. “I know the organisation from years ago. I know how serious they are. They do the right things. I would like to speak about this when we win the appeal.

“To be honest. We didn’t speak about that,” he says of whether he spoke to City about the charges before taking the job. “That wasn’t a problem for the club at the time because they are speaking in an honest way. They are convinced in the end that they are going to win the appeal.”

“I understand that probably you want to hear different words from me,” Maresca admits. “But the real words is that, the players … yes, the noise is there … they are 20-25 years old. They come, they enjoy their training sessions. They go home happy. They are top of the league.

“So the players are relaxed. They are just thinking of how we can beat Liverpool.”

“They can face the pressure, absolutely,” Maresca says of the test facing his players at Anfield on Sunday. “They already experience a similar a situation. I don’t know … Enzo Fernandez is playing in Argentina. In Argentina, it’s almost every game to go to Anfield.”

Maresca is asked about what might happen if City lose the appeal against the guilty verdict.

“What happens if we win the appeal? We are predicting the future,” he replies.

Asked again about whether he would stay if City are relegated, he reminds the media that he won the Championship with Leicester.

Maresca is quizzed about his comments just now about trusting the club completely “in this moment” and whether that trust could change.

“Sorry that was the wrong answer,” he replies. “I completely trust the club in this moment, in the future, always.

“Thank you, I can modify the answer,” he laughs.

The seats are filling up in the media theatre at Manchester City’s training ground. We shall see how much Enzo Maresca is willing or able to talk about the club’s guilty verdict. As usual, it is the head coach who must front up to the press about club issues instead of those higher up.

Maresca has arrived …

Football Weekly: You can watch/listen to the pod squad discuss Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Manchester City, plus much more, in the latest episode.

A reminder that Enzo Maresca will face the media in 20 minutes’ time at the Etihad Campus in Manchester. You can follow the press conference live here.

Big interview: Oliver Glasner has told Ben Fisher he has “two hearts” beating inside his chest as he prepares to take his Nottingham Forest team to face former club Crystal Palace on Sunday.

When Glasner left Palace at the end of last season, he raised a few eyebrows by turning up at Forest. Relations between the two clubs have been tense since Forest took Palace’s place in the Europa League last season after they complained to Uefa about a breach of its multi-ownership rules.

It was not a decision against Crystal Palace, because I decided last October, one year ago, not to sign a new contract. It was then, in the summer, a decision for Nottingham Forest, due to different reasons. Sometimes unexpected things happen in life … there was no plan for me to be Forest manager.

What do Man City fans actually think? The Guardian has spoken to a handful on either side of the Atlantic.

Whatever happens, nobody can take the last 15 years away from us. We lived every moment: Agüero in 2012, the centurions, the treble, Istanbul. Those memories are ours and no verdict changes that. Right now I just feel confused – Ben, season ticket holder

I can’t give those memories back. But I do know that the richest people in the world thinking that the rules don’t apply to them, that they can cheat and then arrogantly chuck endless money at the situation, has nothing to do with what I love about football, nothing to do with what I love about Manchester, nothing to do with what I love about my club … I’m really sad – James, fan for more than 40 years

The severity and duration of City’s offences warrant significant punishment, but the verdict that it took this much sustained rule-breaking and money to prevent United, Arsenal and Liverpool adding to their own trophy cabinets is an indictment on the Premier League – Jon, fan in Washington DC

“I have titles but I don’t have them hanging on my wall. I have them in my head,” said Coventry manager Frank Lampard, who spent one season at Manchester City in 2014-15, during his press conference yesterday.

“Most players that have played and competed against the best players have worked very hard to win. I think it would be very hard to take someone’s title away as a player individually as I think they should be in your head as opposed to in this beautiful glass cabinet or whatever.

“I’m not inside the story, I’m outside it completely – I played for Man City a long time ago, for one year – so we’ll wait and see what the result of the appeal is.”

Lampard’s Coventry, who picked up their first win of the season against Nottingham Forest three weeks ago, host Newcastle on Monday night.

“Khaldoon says he would rather spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers in the world and sue Uefa for the next ten years than agree a financial penalty.”

Rob Draper looks at the words of Manchester City’s lawyer Simon Cliff as he profiles the club’s chair, Khaldoon al-Mubarak – the man who has dictated the aggressive, confrontational stance City have taken with football authorities.

Before facing the national media for the first time since Manchester City’s guilty verdict this morning, Enzo Maresca has given an in-house interview with the club’s media. There are plenty of references to “the noise” following City at the moment but Maresca was keen to insist his players will not be distracted by it.

“The feeling is fantastic, to be honest,” said Maresca. “The players are excited for the next two games. But especially they are excited because in this moment we are top of the league. The players are just focused on that. They know what we can control is the football side – they are not worried at all about different things.

“They know their profession and they know that the noise is there but they don’t care too much about the noise. They are just focused in this moment on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win in Anfield.”