Just a reminder that Paul MacInnes will be on hand for a World Cup draw Q&A later on this morning. Feel free to leave a comment below the line or send your questions in to matchday.live@theguardian.com before 11am.
Key events
Richard Foster
“When Gideon Kodua came off the bench and scored a 92nd-minute winner for Luton Town in their seven-goal thriller against Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup last month, the impact was felt far beyond Kenilworth Road. The 4-3 win did not just take Luton into the second round of the competition, but it ensured that 8,000 trees will be planted in Uganda over the next few months thanks to an initiative by the sportswear manufacturer Reflo…”
We’re just over two-and-a-half hours away from the opening Premier League match of the day between Aston Villa and Arsenal at Villa Park (12:30pm GMT). Take this post as a final reminder to sort out your Fantasy Premier League team if you haven’t already!
Ruben Amorim also denied not trusting Manchester United’s academy by pointing to his selection of Kobbie Mainoo in the matchday squad. Mainoo was an unused substitute in Thursday’s 1-1 draw at home to West Ham. The 20-year-old midfielder, who has been at the club since he was six, has made 10 appearances this season but only one start, against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.
Ruben Amorim has warned Manchester United need to improve and gear up for a “tough match” as Wolves’ winless streak will end sooner or later. After a five-match unbeaten run, setbacks on either side of last Sunday’s comeback win at Crystal Palace have darkened the mood at Old Trafford. United suffered an embarrassing 1-0 home loss to 10-man Everton and 10 days later boos greeted the final whistle following a 1-1 draw with 18th-placed West Ham. Bottom-placed Wolves have secured just two points in a winless first 14 games of the season. “Everything can happen and that will change – there is no team in the history of the Premier League that didn’t win one game, so it can be any game,” the United manager said. “We need to try to improve, to rest the players, work really well and prepare for a tough match because with us it’s always a tough match.”
Nuno Espirito Santo says everyone at West Ham needs to give their utmost as they face their relegation battle head-on. Nuno has overseen some marked improvements since being appointed manager in late September, yet the Hammers remain in the drop zone despite Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United. “We have to face it,” he said. “We are fighting for survival. We cannot hide it. The results of other teams we cannot control. It is up to us.”
West Ham travel to Brighton on Sunday buoyed by their comeback point at Old Trafford, with such spirit helping them collect more Premier League points from losing positions than any side other than Aston Villa since Nuno’s arrival. “Everybody in the club realising we have to give the best of everything,” Nuno added: “We have to give the best of us to get out of this situation. That is the reality. A club like us, as big as we are, we have to face the situation. It is hard to build with urgency. But the boys are committed and we think we can do it.”
Lucas Paqueta will start on the south coast after serving a one-match ban, while Nuno is hoping Crysencio Summerville can be involved.
Amid the chaos of the World Cup draw, let’s not forget that we have seven Premier League fixtures to look forward to this afternoon…
Just a reminder that Paul MacInnes will be on hand for a World Cup draw Q&A later on this morning. Feel free to leave a comment below the line or send your questions in to matchday.live@theguardian.com before 11am.
Kári Tulinius has messaged in to say:
“Given that eight out of twelve third-place teams will get to the knockout stage, four points should be enough to get through. Given the potential disparity in quality between France, Senegal and Norway on the one hand, and one of Bolivia, Suriname and Iraq on the other, it’s not unlikely we’ll get a group where the third place team has four points and a positive goal difference. It could be the Group of Everybody Lives. The era of group stage drama may be over.”
Speaking after the draw, the England head coach Thomas Tuchel said: “I think it’s a very complex group, a very difficult group but, OK, it is what it is.
“Croatia are difficult. It’s a big opening match and it could easily be a quarter-final or even later in the tournament but we don’t wish for things. We don’t want to avoid at all costs anything.”
Anyone else?
I’m still mentally scarred by how awful and cringeworthy that draw was.
Taking a look at this, which group do we think is the ‘group of death’? Group I is looking like a tricky one, Group C and Group F too.
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Euro Playoff D
Group B: Canada, Euro Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Euro Playoff C
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Euro Playoff B
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Cape Verde
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Fifa Playoff 2
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Fifa Playoff 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan,
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana
David Hytner
At the end of an extraordinary day in the US capital and a World Cup draw that lurched between the ridiculous and the sublime (with a greater emphasis on the former, if the truth be told), Thomas Tuchel and England now know. Croatia in Toronto or Dallas. Ghana in Boston or Toronto. Panama in New Jersey or Philadelphia. And that is just the group games…
It was a case of Déjà vu for England last night when discovering they will meet two nations they played against at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Three Lions were drawn against Panama – who they beat 6-1 in the group stage – and Croatia – who they lost 2-1 to in the semi-finals that year.
England will also face Ghana in Group L.
Another key moment from the draw yesterday was Donald Trump receiving… an award. The President of the United States was named the first winner of the newly created Fifa peace prize, claiming “the world is a safer place now” as he received the medal and trophy.
Paul MacInnes will be on hand for a World Cup draw Q&A later on this morning. Feel free to leave a comment or send your questions in to matchday.live@theguardian.com before 11am.
Before we begin looking ahead to this afternoon’s games, let’s quickly talk about THAT World Cup draw from yesterday. Firstly, the groups, as things stand, look like this…
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Euro Playoff D
Group B: Canada, Euro Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Euro Playoff C
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Euro Playoff B
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Cape Verde
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Fifa Playoff 2
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Fifa Playoff 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan,
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! Well, where do we start? How about yesterday’s World Cup draw? That was… something. Anyway, we’ll get into that properly a bit later.
Today we’ll be looking ahead to this afternoon’s Premier League, Championship and EFL games and looking back at some of the midweek fixtures.
We’ve also got a big WSL clash between Arsenal and Liverpool to look forward to. What more could you want?
I’ll be with you this morning to assess it all – join me!
