Key events
If you’re missing Gary Lineker on your Saturday night TV screens, don’t fear. Apparently Graeme Souness is involved too.
Despite the 2-0 loss to Liverpool, Ipswich boss Gary O’Neil still had plenty of praise for his side.
“I thought we were excellent. I was really proud of the group,” O’Neil said. “Two mistakes obviously in the first nine minutes, which made it very difficult, but to respond the way they did, to probably be the better side and edge it from that moment on, more shots, an unbelievable response.
“So very pleased. Disappointed because we’re here for points and we don’t take any, but pleased of the progress we made and that we were able to go toe-to-toe with such a talented side for so long.
“As we know, the level is ruthless and if you step out of line a little bit, a world-class player ducks behind you and scores.”
If you missed it, here’s Ben Fisher’s interview with Nottingham Forest striker Liam Delap. Forest host Spurs in one of the 3pm kick-offs today. Can the former Chelsea man get off the mark for his new club?
It’s ridiculously early but, what the heck, here’s the current Golden Boot standings after Isak’s double!
3 – Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
3 – Alexander Isak (Liverpool)
2 – Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
2 – Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
2 – Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
2 – Rayan Cherki (Manchester City)
2 – João Pedro (Chelsea)
2 – Anthony Elanga (Newcastle)
2 – Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton)
Fun fact: Isak has already matched his Premier League tally from last season.
Back to the WSL and here’s Tom Garry with a morning message.
Sonia Bompastor says she expects a competitive, open title race this season, as she prepares to lead her Chelsea side into their home opener against Aston Villa.
Asked about the title challengers at her press conference on Friday, the Frenchwoman – whose side finished third last term – said: “I’m not approaching the season only looking at one club being able to win the title. In this league, the beauty is that many clubs are able to win the title.
“I think it will be interesting maybe to see how [Manchester] City deals with the league and the Champions League this season. I think it’s really different when you only play one game a week.
“But I’m not really here to talk about the opponents, I’m here to focus on my club and my team. But it’s good you have a lot of challenges this season – every game, you have to be at your best. I will focus all my energy on my team.”
Last term there were just six points between the top three sides at the end of the season.
And ahead of the Arsenal v Chelsea showdown on Sunday, here’s Jacob Steinberg on a player who could been lining up for the Gunners rather than the Blues.
Here’s David Hytner with some Arsenal content. A look at how Mikel Arteta has taken a leaf out of Arsene Wenger’s book and urged fans unhappy at the lack of a deadline-day arrival to see the bigger picture.
Mexico v England in the Azteca was a World Cup classic. But here it is from a totally different angle: the referee’s point of view. This is an extract from The Impossible Job: The Truly Unbelievable World of Football Referees by William Ralston.
To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com
Here’s the seven-match Premier League programme for Saturday. All times BST.
12:30 Newcastle United v Bournemouth
15:00 Brentford v Sunderland
15:00 Brighton v Leeds
15:00 Fulham v Crystal Palace
15:00 Manchester City v Coventry
15:00 Nottingham Forest v Tottenham
17:30 Hull v Aston Villa
And adding to the list of things we didn’t expect to see on the bingo card – Troy Parrott getting the winner to sink José Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Again, this did really occur on Friday night.
This was a headline that would have been ridiculous to envisage not long ago. But, yes, it really happened last night.
Here’s Barney Ronay with a Saturday morning blast of words on Gianni Infantino.
“Gianni Infantino is beleaguered. Gianni Infantino is re-beleaguered. Gianni Infantino has been beleaguered for almost six weeks, since news emerged of his grotesque undercover plan to sell off, for related personal gain, the shared global property he’s employed to preserve, protect and safely pass on.”
Let’s start at Portman Road where Alexander Isak scored twice in the first 10 minutes to make it a pretty comfortable night for Liverpool. John Brewin was there to see the Swedish striker’s two expert finishes and also witness the debut of new £123m man Bradley Barcola.
Preamble
Good morning. After a pair of opening 2-2 draws, Liverpool are up and running in the Premier League after securing their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory at Ipswich last night. A relief for new boss Andoni Iraola and now it’s the turn of his former side, Bournemouth, to see if they get bank a first victory of the campaign in today’s early kick-off at Newcastle. That’s one of seven Premier League fixtures today while there’s a full programme in the Championship, League One and League Two. Add in a bunch of action in Scotland and around Europe and this is exactly as your Saturday should be: packed full of football. Keep across it all right here!