The Telegraph

Timo Werner will not want to watch this missed chance again...Spurs on the break after a poor cross from the home team, Sarr releasing Moore down the right. The 17-year-old made the wise choice with a well weighted ball across for Werner, but inside of passing the ball into the net first time, he took a heavy touch when trying to round the goalkeeper. Forced wide and shot over. Werner looks bereft in front of goal currently.

Spurs endured a shaky start to this match but they will be relatively pleased with how they have calmed things down since their goal. They are now pushing much higher up the pitch and keeping the ball in opposition territory.

You can see why Moore has generated so much hype in recent years. His talent is obvious, and he and Pedro Porro have done well down the right wing.

They’ve been with us from the start of pre-season, they are full fledged members of our squad. Mikey has got some minutes, Will had an injury. We’ve wanted to give them some minutes and tonight is a good opportunity to do that. I have no fear about putting them in.

The best way for us to keep the momentum going is to use the full squad.

European games are always different from the Premier League: different opposition, different stadiums and difference conditions that we’re going to have to deal with.

It’s a great atmosphere, they’re good at home. Every team in Europe deserves to be here.

He was one of the greatest people I’ve ever come across and I feel really fortunate to have had those three years with him, where I was able to sit there and talk to a person who in the football world had done everything, but more importantly, a person who I had so much respect and admiration for.

I still think about it and it still feels unreal to me that I got that opportunity being based in Australia. As you get older you keep those experiences even more.

I would love for him to still be around today to see where I am because he played a role in me becoming certainly the football manager I am. He played a role in that but also the person I’ve become.

It’s certainly a bold team selection by Ange Postecoglou, with Will Lankshear and Mikey Moore both given their full debuts for the club.

Moore is one of the most exciting talents in the country, and is the youngest player to appear for Spurs in the Premier League. A brilliant dribbler, he is seen by many as the best player to come out of the Spurs academy in years.

Lankshear, meanwhile, joined Spurs from Sheffield United in 2022, for around £2 million. He had previously been released by Arsenal, much like Harry Kane, another striker who made the leap from the Spurs academy into the first-team...

After the recrimination and searching questions that followed last month’s north London derby defeat - which left Tottenham with four points from four Premier League games - things have picked up for Ange Postecoglou’s team.

Granted, they required a late turnaround at Coventry City in the Carabao Cup after failing to impress for most of the game, but Djed Spence’s equaliser that night could prove to be a sliding doors moment.

Spurs then came from behind to beat Brentford 3-1 in the Premier League, vanquished Qarabag 3-0 with 10 men before delivering their most impressive performance under Postecoglou at Old Trafford on Sunday.

As tends to be the case with Spurs, there was a helter-skelter feel to these wins: they fell behind inside a minute against Brentford; saw Radu Dragusin sent off and Qarabag miss a penalty; and benefited from a Bruno Fernandes’ red card against Man Utd. There is no question that Spurs were the better team though, and their possession and territorial dominance is starting to pay dividends.

With a trip to Brighton on Sunday, Postecoglou may well be considering some rotation for tonight’s Europa League away game against Hungarian side Ferencvaros. Spurs already have three points on the board in the competition’s new league phase, and are expected to require around 12 more points from their seven remaining games to reach the last 16. So there is margin for error.

Postecoglou’s options are limited by injuries to Destiny Udogie, Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon. Ben Davies is expected to start at left-back. Dragusin would have started this one, but is suspended, so Spurs must decide whether to risk Cristian Romero and Micky van de Van or deploy Archie Gray as centre-back. Yves Bissouma and Lucas Bergvall are likely to start in midfield.

Despite their name, Ferencvaros have no connection to Farenc Puskas - who played his club football for Honved before joining Real Madrid - but the trip to Budapest may have some resonance for Postecoglou. Puskas managed Postecoglou at South Melbourne Hellas, and the Spurs manager has cited him as one of the foremost influences on his coaching philosophy.

Following Tottenham’s 3-0 victory over Qarabag in the Europa League on Wednesday, in which Radu Dragusin saw red after eight minutes, Ange Postecoglou said: “It was great to see the lads persevere playing our football even though we were a man down.”

Central midfielder Archie Gray signed from Leeds United in the summer following an impressive season with the Championship club but in his two starts for Tottenham so far, including on Thursday night, he has been deployed at right-back.

When asked where he sees the 18-year-old in terms of positioning, Postecoglou said: “I see him in a Tottenham shirt and playing great football. He will be a significant contributor for us and I was really proud of the way he handled last night.”

Discussing another 18-year-old, Lucas Bergvall, who was withdrawn early on Thursday following Dragusin’s sending off, the Tottenham boss said he is “really keen” to “expose” the youngster to European football and added: “He will get plenty of chances to play.”

Looking ahead to today’s clash with Man United, he said Old Trafford is always “a tough” place to go but it is a challenge Spurs “will be ready for”.

Erik ten Hag has admitted Manchester United’s youth policy in the transfer market means it will take time for success to return to the club.

United have altered their approach since Ten Hag’s first window when Casemiro was signed to join a squad with other proven trophy-winners, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane, who has since retired.

Ten Hag’s major signings since then have been 25 or under, with the focus on younger players, as shown by the £52 million spent on Leny Yoro, but it means Ten Hag needs patience for his new players to develop. Other signings since 2023 have been a younger profile of player including Rasmus Hojlund (20 when signed), Mason Mount (24), Manuel Ugarte (23), Matthijs de Ligt (25) and Joshua Zirkzee (23).

“Those are the choices we have made in the last two seasons - and I understand the impression that many have for Manchester United because the history is so big,” Ten Hag said. “But those are the choices we have made - and also it has something to do with financials and other restrictions we have to deal with.

“We made the choice for younger players and you can’t expect them to be at the [top] level. We have to improve them and they have to improve themselves and we have to find a team that can be successful on a consistent basis.

“This team, in the last two years, has shown what they can do with patience. With patience we can win trophies and now we have to get more consistent.”

Ten Hag has been in the spotlight himself again this season as United have struggled for consistency, with draws against FC Twente and Crystal Palace in their last games and recent defeats by Liverpool and Brighton.

With United set to take on Tottenham, Ten Hag says he is building for the future as well as trying to continue his record of winning domestic knockout trophies in his third season as manager.

“We are where we are now, with this squad, but all the restrictions we had we have done good work,” he added. “Now we have to work with the squad, improve the squad. We have a good squad, with young players, we have to improve the team and we have high targets, we want to achieve those targets for this season and the years beyond.

“We have to succeed. We have to win trophies, that is what this club stands for. This club has the ambition to play on the highest platform and we want to achieve the Champions League. We have two routes, one is through the Premier League and one is through the Europa League.”

Ten Hag says he must cope with the scrutiny if the team play below United’s best, and his players must also deal with it.

“I think they [the players] will be judged every game - and that’s normal,” he said. “Everyone, for every game, is expecting United to be winning. We know that. It isn’t a secret for anyone.

“When you are in this club you have to deal with this factor - and we do. It doesn’t matter whether you are young or old. We have to cope with this and get the best out of it and match the expectations that everyone has.

“But we know also that, with all respect, young players, a young squad, a new team takes some time. We are going in a good direction, I think, in the last couple of weeks in many aspects of football.

“Now it’s about being more efficient and scoring more goals because that will win you games.”

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur from the Premier League. This fixture sees the team in tenth travel to Old Trafford to take on the team in 11th but in truth, it is a tale of two sides looking to break into the top four come the end of the campaign. However, Erik ten Hag and Ange Postecoglou have both seen their side amass just seven points in a stuttering opening five league fixtures.

Following back-to-back victories in the Premier League and EFL Cup, scoring ten goals and keeping two clean sheets in the process, Man Utd have suffered somewhat of a reality check in the last week. They were held to a goalless draw away at winless Crystal Palace in the league before Ten Hag’s former side Twente took a point away from Old Trafford in the Europa League on Wednesday. Christian Eriksen’s spectacular opener was cancelled out when the Denmark international had his pocket unforgivably picked by Sam Lammers who equalised for the Dutch side following some calamitous defending from the home side.

Tottenham enjoyed a more convincing start to their Europa League campaign with a 3-0 win over Qarabag on Thursday, but it was not all straightforward for the north London side who had Radu Dragusin sent off after eight minutes before the visitors missed a penalty early in the second half with the game at 2-0. It did however, mark their third successive win in all competitions following a 3-1 victory at home to Brentford last time out in the league. With Dominic Solanke scoring in his last two appearances and Brennan Johnson making it three in three, there are reasons for positivity at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Three points today would see either side climb to eighth ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest after they both saw their unbeaten start to the season come to an end on Saturday. A draw today would see the two teams finish the weekend where they started, one place apart in mid-table.

Spurs head to Old Trafford after Thursday night’s 3-0 win over Qarabag in the Europa League having lost seven of their last 12 Premier League games. That run absorbed two North London derby defeats, which will not be unrelated to the growing murmurs from supporters about the team’s direction, even if the majority are patient enough to see if his principles pay off. Two seasons ago Tottenham finished above Arsenal, but now they have seen their rivals reap the reward of sticking to a long-term plan. Postecoglou needs statement results and performances during an ongoing transitional period to maintain trust that his side is on a similar trajectory to Mikel Arteta’s, who suffered plenty of bumps before getting where they are today.

Over Postecoglou’s 18 games against the clubs which finished in the top nine last season, Spurs have won four. They are in danger of being seen as flat-track bullies. That must change.

As is often the case with managers when the questions get tougher, the demeanour and remarks which were greeted with excitement during a honeymoon period can start to wear thin and become a stick with which to beat a coach when the mood changes.

Saying your beliefs were honed by mentor Ferenc Puskas’ idea that “we will win 5-4 every week and I’ll enjoy it” plays well to the gallery when winning eight of your first 10 games, but not so much when your side has three clean sheets in the past 26 Premier League games.

Shrugging off vulnerabilities from set-piece defending may be tolerated after occasional lapses in concentration, but not after conceding from corners in consecutive matches against your bitterest rivals. As a centre-back pairing, Cristian Romero and Mickey van de Ven – a World Cup winner alongside one of the quickest defenders in the world – have the potential to be one of the best in the Premier League. It is a valid tactical discussion as to whether they are being left too exposed and might benefit from a more balanced set-up.

The investment in the Tottenham squad under Postecoglou has been significant. Around £379 million has been spent, albeit a significant portion of that was due to the sale of Harry Kane. Eye-catching fees were paid for Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson and the jury is out on whether they can elevate themselves from good players to Champions League class. Most of the money has been spent on youngsters rather than ready-made, senior players to improve the starting XI.

These are all worthy talking points for supporters, media and pundits who judge Postecoglou on more than whether his team is a good watch. That is why the press conferences which were box-office for entertaining one-liners when Postecoglou was at Celtic and first arrived at Spurs now seem more tense. The friendly tone now sounds more confrontational, as if the Tottenham manager feels he is being unfairly challenged.

In Postecoglou’s defence, he may be asking himself if the excellent start last season was more of a curse than blessing as it heightened immediate expectations.

Part of the problem in assessing Spurs in 2024 is it is difficult to know what the summit of their ambition truly is.

Watching the video of that meeting between Levy and the fans, as an outsider it is interesting to consider what ‘having our Tottenham back’ really means in terms of tangible success.

If Manchester United, Liverpool. Arsenal, or Chelsea declare themselves ‘back’ they mean they are chasing and winning Premier League titles.

Does having Tottenham ‘back’ refer to the recent past, when Mauricio Pochettino led the club to four successive Champions League qualifications and a final?

Does it mean going back to the Keith Burkinshaw era of the 1980s, when they won FA Cups and a European trophy?

If it is purely about entertaining football, Postecoglou can consider himself one of the safest managers in the country.

When thinking about the classic Spurs identity, I immediately remember the classic 1980s line-up with Glenn Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles. They were a creative team that won major honours – famously winning back-to-back FA Cups in 1981 and 1982 – and were more consistent than many remember in the league, too.

Between 1981 and 1990, Spurs finished in the top four on five occasions. Despite that, even the great Spurs side of that era had a reputation for lacking the consistency to beat the best over a league season.

When Pochettino’s Spurs side finished second in 2017 it was the club’s highest league finish since 1963.

After finishing fifth last season, at any other of the biggest clubs in England the next logical step would be regarded as qualifying for the Champions League and winning a trophy.

At Spurs? I am genuinely unsure if the manager and his chairman would welcome or bristle at the idea that anything less than that in 2024-25 would be a failure. That may be a cultural problem which has held Spurs back too often whenever they need to propel themselves towards titles.

Every club wants its own style, and there is no question Postecoglou has restored Tottenham’s. Now he needs more substance.

It’s exciting to be back in Europe. We’re super excited. We have a young group with players who want to create their own legacy. In the Premier League there are teams who play differently but there’s always a different challenge from normal in playing European football and it allows you to evolve.

It’s going to be a real taster for them [Gray and Bergvall]. They’re part of the first team. They don’t look like 18-year-olds at all. I’m comfortable putting them in from the way they’ve been in training and when they’ve played.

This club has not had success for a very long time. Not winning for so long becomes a millstone round your neck and to release that you’ve got to win something.

We have changed the way the team played but it’s now time to turn that into something meaningful and that is winning trophies.

Good evening and welcome to live coverage of Tottenham Hotspur’s opening Europa League match of the 2024-25 campaign against Qarabag, 10 times champions of Azerbaijan in the past 11 years. These two have met before, back in 2015-16, when Spurs won 3-1 at White Hart Lane and 1-0 in Baku, two of the six defeats English clubs have inflicted on the Horseman in the last decade. Since it’s the first game, we had better have a quick recap of the new Swiss model Europa League: each of the 36 qualifiers now has eight matches, six before Christmas, two in January, half home and away but against eight different opponents, two from each of four pots of seeds.

All sides are in one league and the top eight at the end of the stage go through to the last 16 while the teams between ninth and 24th then have another two-legged play-off to qualify for R16. That means to win the tournament, those on the ‘express’ route will play 15 games, those on the scenic route 17. To win a quadruple, therefore, an English club would have to play a minimum of 64 matches, which is roughly what successful clubs gunning on all four fronts were subjected to in the 1970s by virtue of replays and four more league matches. Something’s got to give, something’s got to give, something’s got to give. Or the golden goose will stop laying.

Given Tottenham have got Manchester United away on Sunday and have started in lukewarm fashion with a draw with leicester and defeats by Newcastle and Arsenal to go with their two victories, Ange Postecoglou is bound to draw on the lightly raced elements of his squad such as Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Lucas Bergvall and Ben Davies. Given Postecoglou did not see fit to register Sergio Reguilón or Djed Spence in the 25-man squad and with Cristian Romero suspended (for his red card in the Champions League R16 defeat by Milan in 2023), they may have to play Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie from the start which would put a stick in the spokes of rotation plans.

Qarabag’s Gurban Gurbanov is starting his 16th season as manager with the club in their customary position at the top of the table. They are already battle-hardened in Europe after winning two Champions League qualification ties before being beaten by Dinamo Zagreb in the play-off and in Juninho, no not that one… or that one, have a potent striker who bagged 31 goals last season, including six in Europe during a run that was only ended by the then invincible Bayer Leverkusen 5-4 on aggregate, Qarabag having led both ties 2-0.

Tottenham Hotspur will not embark on another money-spinning post-season tour next summer amid chairman Daniel Levy’s declaration that he and the club would like to see less games.

Levy, together with head coach Ange Postecoglou and captain Son Heung-min, addressed the issue at a Tottenham fans’ forum, claiming the club “would like to see less games, but higher-quality games”.

That was seemingly at odds with Tottenham’s post-season trip to Australia at the end of the last campaign, when Postecoglou’s team played Newcastle United in a friendly in Melbourne.

Postecoglou and Son have added their their voices to the growing number of coaches and players who believe the fixture calendar needs to be reduced, and the pair will be relieved that there will be no repeat of the Australia trip at the end of this season.

The decision not to embark on another post-season tour is consistent with Postecoglou’s claim that the club would not have travelled to Australia in May had they competed in Europe last term.

Tottenham are in the Europa League this season, which means the squad face a much busier schedule than last term. The final of the Europa League is scheduled to take place on May 21, four days before the last Premier League game of the season.

Speaking in May about Tottenham’s post-season tour, Postecoglou said: “Our situation is a bit different from Newcastle’s. They’ve had a European season, Champions League, it’s been a big season. We haven’t. It’s no secret part of this is exposure but also revenue for us.

“I certainly wouldn’t have allowed it to happen if we were in Europe this year and had a bigger game schedule. I probably would have said no to it.

“And I don’t think the club would have expected us to go. If we’re in Europe next year, I don’t think you’ll be seeing this happen.

“I don’t think it’s ideal. But I think each situation is unique. For us, on the back of our season, to play one more game two days after the end of the season, there is substance to it for us.”

The giant Shah Alam Stadium in Malaysia – which has hosted Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur – has been demolished in spectacular fashion.

The stadium held a capacity of 80,372 people and was one of the most famous in the region but was found to be structurally unsafe in 2020.

A new state-of-the-art sports complex will be built on the site with a reduced capacity of between 35,000 and 45,000 people.

Since its opening in 1994, the venue was the home of Malaysian football team Selangor and regularly hosted the national side and live music shows, including Bon Jovi in 1995.

In the first event held at the stadium, on July 19, 1994, Dundee United drew 1-1 with a Selangor XI in an invitational tournament which also included Bayern Munich, Leeds United, Flamengo and the Australian Olympic football team.

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar played for the Malaysian side on the day, but could not prevent the Scottish team’s Billy McKinlay from becoming the first player to score at the ground.

The venue staged live music shows including by bands Maroon 5, Deep Purple and Bon Jovi – the stadium playing host to the latter’s debut in Malaysia.

The new stadium will include a retractable pitch, indoor humidity control and an ‘event mode’ to host live music.

The dismantling of the previous stadium is set to be finished next year, with the new ground expected to be completed by 2029.

After last week’s ignominious home defeat in the north London derby, things had become so fraught in the online world of Spurs fans that the club’s manager Ange Postecoglou suggested supporters should do a bit of yoga to calm down.

And here, just 24 hours after his wellbeing prescription, was the Tottenham Stadium rocking in delight, the fans chanting out loud and proud the very names of players whose characters had been traduced so recently. Though in truth it was less a mass downward dog that had eased the collective blood pressure. It was more the three goals and three points.

Mind, the visiting manager Thomas Frank may be rethinking his bold game plan of taking the lead before the opposition have woken up. For the second week running his Brentford team scored in the first minute, only to find themselves on the losing side. And just as against Manchester City last weekend, all that early onslaught did was apparently anger his opponents.

Infuriated by the speed, ease and efficiency of Bryan Mbeumo’s lovely volley almost from the kick-off, Tottenham responded with real aggression and resolve. Though Postecoglou, never willing to take the obvious line, suggested the early goal offered no spur to his team.

“To be honest, it was like it never happened,” he claimed afterwards of Brentford’s lightning strike. “The boys went at it as we thought we should. We knew if we put our own intensity in we could cause them a lot of problems.”

Maddison the epitome of intensity

And intensity was the word. Led by James Maddison, who epitomised the spirit of the side in the pace and aggression of his interceptions and the manner in which he always sought to play the ball forwards at pace, Spurs excised much of the memory of their tame surrender to Arsenal. For the majority of this game, they played exactly as their manager has always said they can.

Even more delightfully for Postecoglou, Dominic Solanke scored his first goal for the club, poking home the rebound after Mark Flekken had saved Maddison’s shot, while Brennan Johnson got his second goal in four days to suppress the tiresome online complaints about his commitment to the cause.

“He had a tough week last week,” said his manager of Johnson. “But that gives you perspective. He’s a much-loved member of the squad. Anyone who watches Brennan play, if they think he doesn’t work as hard as he does, I’d be very surprised.”

What made the win all the more satisfying for those of a Tottenham persuasion was that it came against a side who are no pushovers.

True, Ethan Pinnock’s woeful attempt to play out from the back led to the Spurs equaliser. But the visitors never stopped trying, creating plenty of opportunities, Mbeumo in particular seemed infuriated by his failure to accept a couple of gilt-edged invitations. And for all Spurs’ combative spirit, they were indebted to Guglielmo Vicario, who made two world-class saves to deny Mbeumo and the substitute Kevin Schade.

Lucky escape for Vicario

The irony of the keeper’s interventions is that they came after he may, in other circumstances, have been sent off. He appeared to handle the ball outside his area, but the referee John Brooks missed his juggling act and, as it did not involve a goal-scoring opportunity, VAR did not intervene.

“There is no doubt, he handballed it outside the box. But that situation didn’t define the game. It could have been a free-kick for us. But the probability of scoring from a direct free-kick is about 0.01%. And I think overall the referee had a very good game,” said Frank, who is becoming rapidly used to the role of the gallant loser.

But he was right. Ultimately, the incident was not significant. What was significant was Maddison’s performance, one which, you imagine, will have been noted by Lee Carsley ahead of the next round of England’s Nations League fixtures.

When the Spurs No 10 scored the third goal here, executing an audacious chip following a move that swept the length of the pitch, he tore off his shirt in sheer delight. It was a finish of such touch, delicacy and precision it really ought to be memorialised in a yoga move. The Maddison Winner: it is a posture that would relax many an overwrought football fan.

Speaking after his team’s draw against Leicester, Everton boss Sean Dyche said: “Very positive display. We had chances that went begging again unfortunately, which we have done too many times in games where we should be killing them off. We didn’t manage to do that today but a lot of positives to take.

“James Garner was ill and got thrown in last minute and played excellently, Youngy and Illiman produced some superb play for the goal, lots more positives.

“Unfortunately you come away from a game where you probably should win with just a point. Normally you would be pleased with a point but at the moment we would have loved that win obviously.”

Ezri Konza said his team showed “character and togetherness” after Aston Villa completed a second-half comeback to beat Wolves 3-1 at Villa Park.

He had high praise for Jhon Duran and said: “He’s a big talent. We see it every day in training. It’s important for him to stay humble and we’ll help him do that. He’s still young.”

And on the tribute to Gary Shaw, he said: “It’s been an emotional week for us with the passing of Gary Shaw. On Tuesday we wanted to dedicate the win to him. And we wanted to do it today in front of our fans and in front of his family.”

Harvey Barnes told BBC MOTD that his team were not “solid” or “aggressive” in their 3-1 loss against Fulham this afternoon.

He said: “It wasn’t clicking for us. On the ball we weren’t good enough and off the ball, you can see with their goals, we weren’t at our level.

“It was disappointing to go in at half time and we needed a reaction. We got one - to a degree, anyway, because we didn’t get the result - but there were more promising signs in the second half.

“The basics weren’t there for us. Off the ball we were not as solid as we normally are and not as aggressive as we usually are on the ball. Our levels weren’t there.”

Speaking to BBC MOTD after Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Brentford, Ange Postecoglou praised his side’s performance, but said they should have won by more goals: “It was a good win, a good performance. Our performances have been good all year but today we got the result as well which is the most pleasing but. We should have won by a fair bit more but we still got the job done.”

He said Dominic Solanke “worked his socks off” and that his goal would have been “a great moment for him, especially at home”.

On Brennan Johnson, Postecoglou said: “He’s had a top week, he’s scored two goals, he’s won us a game to get through in the [League] Cup. Life’s good. Sometimes going through tough moments gives you perspective of what’s important.”

Speaking to BBC Sport after Fulham’s 3-1 win over Newcastle, Emile Smith-Rowe said his team is “really happy” and he feels “really confident” at Craven Cottage.

On the key to his side’s win, he said: “Sticking together and staying patient at times, we know Newcastle are a really strong team so we had to sit at times and be patient, get the ball and score. We’re really happy.

“Happy we took our chances, first few games we struggled to take our chances, so we’re happy with our three goals.

“It starts off the pitch, it’s like a family in there and we know we want to do everything for each other and want to work and want to win.”

Southampton 1 Ipswich 1

Late drama at St Mary’s as Ipswich skipper Sam Morsy fires in a stoppage-time screamer as Ipswich break Southampton hearts in the 94th minute.

After Aaron Ramsdale looked to have sealed a first win for the Saints with a superb save to deny George Hirst from a Jack Clark cross, Ipswich equalised from the subsequent corner after Ross Stewart’s headed clearance found the midfielder who brings the ball under control and finds the top left corner via a big deflection off Joe Aribo.

A hugely entertaining encounter looked to be going the way of the Saints, who had lost their first four games, thanks to 18-year-old Tyler Dibling’s fifth-minute strike. But the home side were left to rue missed chances through Cameron Archer and Ben Brereton-Diaz and are left with just one point instead of a much-needed three. Ipswich are also still seeking a first win of the season but will return home to East Anglia feeling like they have won.

Tottenham 3 Brentford 1

Thomas Frank may be rethinking his bold game plan of taking the lead before the opposition have woken up. For the second week running his Brentford scored in the first minute, only to find themselves ultimately on the losing side.

And just as against Manchester City last weekend, all that early onslaught did was apparently anger their opponents. For Tottenham, though, this was the most welcome of results.

Not only did they respond to that early setback with real aggression and resolve, quickly equalising, then taking the lead before James Maddison’s third secured the points late on. But there were also goals for a couple of their players who had been suffering online abuse from so called fans.

Dominic Solanke scored his first for the club, while Brennan Johnson scored his second in a week. Both were created by the irrepressible Maddison, who epitomised Ange Postecoglou’s approach with his speed of thought and application, forever looking to play the ball forward as quickly as possible. With him on this sort of form, all that suggestion that Tottenham and Ange-ballo were in decline really was a touch premature.

Liverpool 3 Bournemouth 0

Liverpool enjoyed a South American carnival as Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez led a first half blitz against Bournemouth.

Either Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola missed the blueprint to trouble Arne Slot’s side provided by Nottingham Forest last weekend, or he is so wedded to his beliefs he didn’t care.

It’s a fine line between commending a visiting side for their ambition and condemning their naivety. Bournemouth played exactly the game Liverpool wanted at Anfield and Diaz and Nunez cashed in.

Diaz was mesmerising from the start and continued the theme of the season wherein he has added an end product to his scintillating build-up play. For all Liverpool’s intent to dominate possession, the opening goal on 26 minutes was pure route one, Ibrahima Konate’s 60 yard pass controlled and finished by Diaz.

The second two minutes later was more cultured. Diaz fed by Trent Alexander-Arnold and beating Kepa Arrizablaga at his near post.

Nunez scored with a typically audacious individual strike before half-time, cutting inside and swerving into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Liverpool dropped into first gear in the second half, Nunez and Diaz subbed to standing ovations after 71 minutes to enable Federico Chiesa to make his Anfield debut as the host eased to victory.

What a cracker of a first half that was. For the second Saturday on the bounce, Brentford took the lead within the first minute. And just like last weekend at Manchester City, they headed into the break 2-1 down, the cheek of their opening salvo merely serving to wake up their opponents.

Tottenham, infuriated by Bryan Mbeumo’s superb finish within 25 seconds, tore into their visitors, their press furious and relentless. Led by James Maddison on sparkling form, they tore back into contention.

Dominic Solanke hit the equaliser after Maddison’s shot was saved, then the midfielder set off a warp-speed counter attack, which was finished by Brennan Johnson.

His finger to lips celebration a telling response to those Spurs fans who have been querying his value to the side. Not that Brentford were out of it: they should have scored when Fabio Carvalho robbed Vicario and laid the ball off toe Mbeumo. But his shot was weak. If the second half is as good as the first, we are in for a treat.

If Newcastle beat Fulham at Craven Cottage this afternoon, they will move to the top of the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend of the 2023-24 season.

They have won in each of their last five Premier League meetings against the home side and have had an impressive start to the season with three wins and one loss.

Form is certainly on their side.

However, if they do win, their time on top of the table could be short-lived with both Man City and Arsenal able to overtake them in tomorrow’s heavyweight clash.

Tottenham have suffered a frustrating start to the season, with two losses, a draw and one win in their opening four fixtures.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou’s advice? Do some yoga.

As Jon West reports, the coach has told angry fans to “take a breath and do some yoga” instead of criticising his players.

Last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal stoked up a barrage of social media disapproval that might have turned into an avalanche had not two late goals secured a 2-1 Carabao Cup win at Coventry in midweek.

The signing of striker Dominic Solanke, who cost £65 million from Bournemouth, has also been questioned after three games without a goal, which saw manager Postecoglou reply with some angry words of his own.

“People are just so quick to judge,” he said. “It’s a small sample. If he had gone 15 games without a goal or 15 games where he hasn’t contributed but I just think take a breath, do a bit of yoga.

“Think about the world for a second and make an assessment after that. We don’t have to rush to make judgment all the time.”

Spurs host Brentford this afternoon in the unfamiliar position of 13th in the Premier League table. Despite Postecoglou’s advice, fans will head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon with just one thought on their minds: victory.

Read more from Jon here.

Despite Arne Slot currently preferring Diogo Jota to Darwin Nunez, the Uruguayan has been granted an unprecedented spot in Liverpool’s starting XI this afternoon.

As Chris Bascombe explains, Nunez’s maverick reputation has been more of a curse than blessing since his arrival. He has enjoyed wonderful moments, but they are in danger of being packaged as memorable cameos rather than sustained periods of excellence.

The modern game is far more about adding the finishing touches to choreographed training ground drills than free spirits relying on their instinct in the heat of battle.

Whenever he has been summoned off the bench this season, whether Liverpool have been comfortably ahead as they were against AC Milan in the San Siro in midweek or desperately seeking an equaliser against Nottingham Forest three days earlier, Nunez has still looked like the raw number nine of his first two years, drawing the same crazy patterns as his eagerness to impress with extraordinary attempts is in sharp contrast to the poise and purpose of Liverpool’s other attackers.

Jota, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah possess game intelligence as much as incredible skill, intuitively understanding where they should be operating in all zones. The signing of Federico Chiesa means Slot has six forwards to choose from, the Italian having already shown during his career that a football brain accompanies his rapid pace. When he is picked, as with the other four, there is an expectation he will carry out his attacking and defensive duties with equal vigour. With Nunez, there is a feeling that there is more hope he will do so.

Today presents a golden opportunity for Nunez to prove himself a worthy selection among Liverpool’s talented and wide-ranging pool of attacking options.

Read more from Chris here.

Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the six matches kicking off at 3pm in the Premier League.

In today’s 12:30pm kick-off, West Ham are trailing Chelsea 3-0 after an early brace from Nicolas Jackson shocked the London Stadium crowd.

Cole Palmer added to Chelsea’s goal tally – and to West Ham’s misery – with a tidy finish just two minutes into the second half.

Across the capital, Tottenham host West London rivals Brentford and will hope to bounce back after a flat start to the season. They have lost two of their opening four games and were most recently beaten 1-0 in the home North London Derby fixture. It has not been a smooth start to the season for Brentford either who are without key players including Yoane Wissa and Josh Dasilva.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth head to Anfield, where they have suffered nine defeats in 10 visits. Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is a doubt as he deals with a muscle strain and Harvey Elliott remains sidelined as he continues recovery from an ankle injury. The home side will be looking for a strong response after a shock 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest last weekend marked new manager Arne Slot’s first loss at the club.

Wolves make the short trip to Villa Park, with the home side in excellent form after starting the season with three wins in four games. Their visitors have struggled to make a similar impact, with three losses and a draw. Jhon Duran has scored the winning goal in all three of Villa’s Premier League victories this season, while Ollie Watkins has been involved in seven goals in his last six home fixtures for the club.

Fulham prepare to host Newcastle as the visitors seek to preserve their unbeaten start to the Premier League season. It has been a difficult week for the hosts after they dropped two points from winning positions in the league and suffered a penalty shootout defeat in a midweek Carabao Cup clash. Newcastle’s Callum Wilson and Sven Botman remain sidelined with injuries and manager Eddie Howe confirmed a late call will be made on the availability of striker Alexander Isak who was forced off at half-time in their last game.

Ipswich travel to Southampton as both sides look to build on recent results after a tough start to the season. Kieran McKenna’s side held both Brighton and Fulham to a draw in their last two Premier League fixtures, while Southampton were victorious in their Carabao Cup tie against Everton on Tuesday night.

Leicester and Everton are both still on the hunt for their first Premier League win of the season as the two clash at the King Power Stadium. The hosts were two goals up against Crystal Palace in last week’s league fixture however they collapsed in the second half and were held to a two-all draw after a Jean-Philippe Mateta brace. Meanwhile, Everton were dumped out of the Carabao Cup after suffering penalty shootout heartbreak against Southampton.

Ange Postecoglou has told angry Tottenham fans to “take a breath and do some yoga” instead of criticising his players. Spurs host Brentford on Saturday in the unfamiliar position of 13th in the Premier League following one win, one draw and two defeats in their first four fixtures.

Last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal stoked up a barrage of social media disapproval that might have turned into an avalanche had not two late goals secured a 2-1 Carabao Cup win at Coventry in midweek.

The signing of striker Dominic Solanke, who cost £65 million from Bournemouth, has also been questioned after three games without a goal, which saw manager Postecoglou reply with some angry words of his own.

“People are just so quick to judge,” he said. “It’s a small sample. If he had gone 15 games without a goal or 15 games where he hasn’t contributed but I just think take a breath, do a bit of yoga.

“Think about the world for a second and make an assessment after that. We don’t have to rush to make judgment all the time.”

‘I don’t have the patience for yoga’

Did the yoga advice apply to himself? Not literally, it seemed. “No mate, I don’t have the patience for it,” he explained before adding “nothing wrong with yoga, by the way”.

But the call for consideration rather than criticism applied to the whole of his squad, not just Solanke. “That is the way we live our lives these days,” he said. “There is far more judgment than real reasoned, opinionated analysis.”

The Coventry win was secured by a stoppage-time goal from Brennan Johnson, who had deactivated his Instagram account hours previously after being abused for missing a chance in the north London derby.

Postecoglou reminded his detractors that a change of underwear would have been more likely than a goal celebration had they been in the Wales international’s boots.

“He won a game of football for us the other night with a really good finish - and at the critical moment,” he said.

“I reckon you put any of his critics in that situation and they would be looking for a change of pants pretty quickly but they don’t think about that in that moment.

“Brennan has had a dream of being a professional footballer his whole life from a little kid and now he’s living that dream.

“I’d hate to think he’s not enjoying it. I keep saying to him we’re all pretty blessed to do what we do, even in the worst of times we’re still pretty lucky to be able to do what we wanted to when we were 10 years old, not many people can say that.”

Postecoglou insisted he had no problem personally with ignoring simple criticism. Was he stubbornly swimming against the tide though? “No. I ignore the tide and just keep swimming,” he said.

‘Stop asking about Richarlison until I have an update’

The former Celtic manager conceded that modern managers do not tend to last long in the current climate of snap judgments. “The tenure of managers and the patience with anything has exponentially shortened with the expansion of so many platforms of people in one way or another trying to rush to judgment and make calls on things,” he admitted.

Does it therefore follow that ‘Angeball’ requires owners who are less quick to judge than the supporters?

“Who knows how it ends?” Postecoglou admitted. “I don’t know, no one knows. For me, it is about doing what is the right thing in my eyes to get success and hopefully change the fortunes of this fantastic football club.”

One man who will not be helping him to do that for the foreseeable future is Richarlison. The Brazil striker has been sidelined since late August with an unspecified injury concern – and Postecoglou was reluctant to discuss it.

“I think you should stop asking me about him until I give you a bit of an update,” he replied a tad tetchily to a routine team news question. “He has still not trained with the first team so he is still a bit off.”

Ange Postecoglou may have cut a calm and down-to-earth figure after the game, but deep down he will have been relieved to have left Coventry with one of his routes to silverware still intact.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager praised his side’s “character and spirit − that hasn’t been there this season” – against a Sky Blues side that deserved better than this.

But the truth is that the Australian coach got away with one here. Pre-match comments that he always wins a trophy in his second year at at a club looked, for 88 minutes, as though they would come back to haunt him. His decision to make eight changes from the weekend, after speaking of the importance of bringing silverware to the club, also raised eyebrows.

When Brandon Thomas-Asante, a £2 million summer signing from West Bromwich Albion, swept in Norman Bassette’s 63rd-minute cross to give the Championship side a richly deserved lead, Tottenham were looking at being on the wrong end of a cup shock. It would have been no surprise if Coventry had extended that lead as well. The performance had shades of their FA Cup run from last season, when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers and were a wafer-thin VAR decision away from beating Manchester United in the semi-finals.

But the real positive for Postecoglou was that Spurs did not fade in the closing stages. Goals from two of his substiutes, Djed Spence − his first for Tottenham – and Brennan Johnson’s stoppage-time strike spared the manager’s blushes. For Johnson, it was the ideal response after he had been forced to delete his social media accounts following online abuse after Sunday.

But the Coventry manager, Mark Robins, called it correctly, the arrival of James Maddison as a second-half substitute allowed Tottenham to finally look like a Premier League side. Sections of the club’s travelling support also showed signs of turning on Postecoglou. There were jeers at half-time, and boos rang out when midfielder Lucas Bergvall was taken off. Postecoglou admitted that his side “‘hung in there”.

“We wanted to stay in the game, and at the end we showed some spirit and character which is probably what’s been missing over the first four games,” he said. “In the last ten minutes, we got some real belief in that moving forwards. It wasn’t an easy night, credit to Coventry who were outstanding. But we gave players some significant game time.”

Postecoglou also had encouraging words for Johnson, who scored his first goal of the season after collecting a Rodrigo Bentancur pass after coming on as an 18th-minute substitute for the injured Wilson Odobert.

“With Brennan, he comes in and works hard at this game, attackers always get measured against certain things, I told him that if he can come through this spell he can make a significant contribution.”

When asked about the fans’ reaction to taking Bergvall off, Postecoglou added: “I don’t make substitutions by poll, mate. I’m sure the fans have their own opinions. But that’s his first game for a while, I didn’t want to us pushing guys over the edge. I took Destiny [Udogie] off the at half-time as well. They’re going to play a lot of football for us.”

Postecoglou addressed the fact he made eight changes. “I’ve always done what I think is the right thing for us in terms of what we’re trying to achieve. There are no guarantees in whatever you do in critical times, but I’ve always backed my decisions. If it doesn’t work out, I can live with that. I’m not going to jeopardise what we’ve got here by doing something that makes me look like I’m in a safer position. But I don’t think there are any quick fixes or easy turnarounds. If we can add relentlessness and drive to win games, then it’ll certainly help us.”

There was no way back for Coventry as soon as Spence latched on to a Dejan Kulusevski ball and rolled home the equaliser.

“Coventry played without fear,” added Postecoglou. “They were excellent, you can see why they had a big cup run last year. We had to dig deep to stay in the game, we didn’t dominate it.”

That was scant consolation for Robins, whose opening remark afterwards was ‘I’m trying not to swear’. He added: “Life presents you with chances, and we don’t seem to be able to take those chances. You can say the same about the Manchester United game last season.

“The game was there for us, and there’s the disappointment. If you’re Tottenham, you’re probably relieved to go through at our expense. The comeback shouldn’t have happened, it was a mix of poor decision-making and tiredness.

“But Ange is a good manager with top players, I like the way he plays football. They drag you out. But people want things yesterday, and it’s ridiculous really. We have to remember we’ve come from League Two – so that puts a bit of perspective on it.”