Key events
Dave Estherby gets in touch: “Not sure about the pile-on for Russell Martin – it takes a very select set of skills to make three teams in succession worse. Love to know the odds on him being the next Tottenham manager.”
Trouble at Fulham? Crystal Palace made it three defeats in three in the Premier League.
Alvaro Arbeloa was asked about his job security: “It is not about my position, but I am very confident and I talk to my players that they are working in the way I want. They are playing how I feel the football. I came here because I believe in this football. They think that way. I think we will win games; I’m sure about that. When you are close, you don’t need to feel hurt.”
Lots of talent at Fulham but perhaps a lack of defensive strength.
Judging by my social media feed, Russell Martin’s popularity ratings at Leicester are close to absolute zero.
Leicester’s stuttering start to life in League One continued with a 4-0 home defeat by Oxford.
The Foxes, like their opponents relegated from the Championship last season, were looking to build on their first league win in midweek, but fell behind to an early goal from Mark Harris.
Oxford then put the game to bed with two goals in the space of three minutes either side of the hour from Mo Missanga and Harris before Jamie McDonnell’s late strike completed a chastening afternoon for Russell Martin’s side.
What did Martin have to say?
“It’s painful, really painful. Today, we look like a team that’s the opposite of what we have looked like. “We’re so together, so aggressive and ready to fight for each other. And today, for that 25-minute spell in the second half, is unacceptable
“We had five kick-offs today and three of them ended up with a chance on our goal, which is crazy. I think it shows the lack of experience we have on the pitch and decision-making at times.
“Then we’re chasing the game and we get caught in transition repeatedly against a team that are good at it. I made a couple of subs and took some experienced guys off to try and inject some energy in the game. “But the learning is, I think the team is too young and too inexperienced at the end. We were naive and too soft.”
Martin has won four of his last 30 league games as a manager, 24 scored 61 conceded.
Big news at Liverpool to follow their Friday win at Ipswich.
With work already under way on Liverpool’s summer transfer targets – including the signing of Bradley Barcola in a £123m deal – and Hughes enjoying a close working relationship with the new head coach, Andoni Iraola, it was agreed he would continue in the role until the end of the transfer window.
Liverpool say no approach was received from Al-Hilal for Hughes to start work with them this summer and are satisfied the sporting director worked for them alone throughout this period.
What did Saturday bring in the Premier League? If anyone still does the football pools the dividend forecast would be “low”. Plenty of draws.
How will Everton react to their disappointments in the transfer window? David Moyes has been very open about his non-relationship with the ownership.
Moyes exposed an astonishing disconnect at the club when confirming he has had no contact with Friedkin, founder and chief executive of The Friedkin Group, since replacing Sean Dyche as manager in January 2025. TFG president, Marc Watts, is Everton’s executive chair and Rishi Majithia, Friedkin’s son-in-law, is the owner’s day-to-day representative at the club. But with TFG’s ambition for Everton under scrutiny after the transfer window, and amid claims they are looking for fresh investment or even to sell the club, Moyes’s revelation raises further questions over the company’s commitment.
Jacob Steinberg on Chelsea landing a player that Arsenal were interested in.
Chelsea were decisive. They were tracking Rogers before he left Middlesbrough for Villa in February 2024. Joe Shields, one of Chelsea’s five sporting directors, worked with Rogers at Manchester City’s academy. The signing was not done on a whim. Chelsea have a good relationship with Villa’s owners and moved quickly after opening club-to-club talks a day after Rogers played in England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina. The fee was £117m and Chelsea did not struggle to convince Rogers. Alonso wooed him and the deal was confirmed five days after negotiations began.
No panic at Arsenal despite the lack of a major addition to the forward line.
At Aston Villa on Monday night, Arteta introduced two of Spain’s World Cup winning squad – Mikel Merino and Martín Zubimendi – from the bench. Plus the marquee summer signing, Bruno Guimarães. Plus Eberechi Eze. Plus another high-profile new boy, Ezri Konsa. Arsenal’s strength in depth is really something.
Jonathan Wilson has previewed the London derby.
The temptation, after the first two weeks of the season, is to cast Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso in a similar light. Arsenal are yet to concede a goal. They dominated the Community Shield from the first minute, beat a shambolic Manchester City 3-0 and gave the sense that they could easily have won more comprehensively had they been minded to do so. They were no more troubled in beating Coventry by the same scoreline in their opening league game and, while they were rather less dominant, they were still extremely comfortable against Aston Villa on Monday and had been slowly increasing the pressure when Bukayo Saka gave them the lead just before the hour.
Preamble
Good morning, football. Join us for news, views and reaction from Saturday, and looking ahead to Sunday’s action.
In the Premier League:
Everton v Manchester United, 2pm
Arsenal v Chelsea, 4.30pm