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Six Gameweeks in and the data is telling a very clear story.

The managers who are pulling away from their FPL mini leagues are not just owning the template, they are finding the players nobody else has thought about yet.

A differential here means anyone owned by 15% or fewer managers, and right now there are some genuinely compelling options sitting well under that threshold. Here are six worth targeting this week.

Who are the best FPL differentials for GW7?

Dominic Solanke (£5.8m, 1.2% owned) vs Coventry (h)

Under 2% ownership for a player who scored against Manchester United last week and is expected to lead the line as the central striker. Solanke could be a very smart Yoane Wissa replacement for those looking to freshen up their forward options, and with penalty duties likely to come his way and a good run of home fixtures starting against Coventry City this week, the timing feels right to get ahead of the curve on him.

Savio (£6.5m, 0.8% owned) vs Coventry (h)

This picks represents a player under 1% ownership operating on the wing and has played 90 minutes in each of his last three Premier League fixtures. The options in midfield below £7.0m are genuinely thin this season, and Savio is one of the most appealing differentials available in that price bracket right now. Coventry at home is a kind opening fixture and the home run that follows only strengthens the case further.

Gonzalo Garcia (£6.1m, 7.2% owned) vs Hull (h)

Fulham striker Garcia is getting regular minutes, on penalties and facing Hull City at home this week before Coventry follows shortly after. The Spaniard also enables managers to put serious budget to work elsewhere in the squad at his price, which makes him an attractive option if you're looking to free up funds for upgrades in other positions.

Two very winnable fixtures in quick succession is exactly the kind of run you want your forward sitting on.

Nico O’Reilly (£6.3m, 9.4% owned) vs Ipswich at home

With Manchester City coming off an exhausting midweek game in which O’Reilly didn’t feature, he is likely to start at left-back and that role carries genuine upside against Ipswich Town.

We've seen Josko Gvardiol cause all sorts of problems from that position in recent weeks, and there is every reason to expect O’Reilly to operate in a similarly advanced role. City also carry the best clean sheet odds of any side this week, which means he has a realistic shot at points at both ends of the pitch.

Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.9m, 6.4% owned) vs Coventry (h)

Of all the defensive options to consider this week, van Hecke is probably the pick of the bunch. Nailed on to play, solid for defensive contributions and carrying aerial threat from set pieces, meanwhile, Coventry are ranked 19th for Expected Goals (xG) this season which makes the clean sheet potential very real.

The upcoming home fixture run also makes Van Hecke an appealing longer term hold, and at under £5.0m he offers outstanding value for everything he brings.

Luka Vuskovic (£5.1m, 4.7% owned) vs Crystal Palace (h)

With time running out in the January 2024 transfer window, Brentford appeared to have pulled off a significant coup.

The Bees were closing in on the £25m signing of Club Brugge winger Antonio Nusa, a highly-rated 18-year-old who had held talks with Tottenham Hotspur and attracted interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, among others.

But the deal suddenly collapsed, reportedly over an issue with the teenager’s medical, and Nusa stayed in Belgium. As time goes on, the failed transfer looks more and more of a missed opportunity for the West London club.

Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo's definitive Top 100 List

Why Antonio Nusa will leave Premier League clubs rueing a missed opportunity

The following August, the Bees signed another 18-year-old winger called Gustavo Nunes. The £10m-plus fee and six-year contract showed what they thought of the former Gremio youngster, but injuries have restricted the Brazilian to just five first-team appearances. In his most recent outing, Nunes was hooked at half-time during Brentford Under 21s' 7-1 defeat at MK Dons in the EFL Trophy earlier this month.

A fortnight before Nunes joined Brentford, RB Leipzig signed Nusa for €21m (£18m) on a five-year deal. The Norwegian was already a full international with Champions League experience and his career has gone from strength to strength. Now 21, he has 34 Norway caps, impressed at this summer’s World Cup and is a key figure for one of the Bundesliga’s top teams - and that is just the start.

Brentford’s decision not to sign Nusa - and ultimately bring in Nunes instead - now seems like a bad call, although that is easy to say in hindsight. There is the cruel irony that they supposedly backed out of one deal due to issues with the medical, only for the player they recruited in that position to be plagued by injuries. It is also ironic that they rejected the ‘Norwegian Neymar’ to sign an actual Brazilian who has barely featured.

Nusa’s comparisons to the former Brazil No.10 aren’t just down to his flair, trickery and dribbling ability. He grew up watching YouTube videos of Neymar and tried to replicate his skills.

“My favourite [player] has to be Neymar,” he told FourFourTwo in March 2025. “I can’t mention a hundred guys I watched, but yeah, maybe he was the guy that I got my most inspiration and joy from.”

The vast majority of players dubbed the next Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo or whoever else fail to reach those heights, but Nusa has the potential to be world class. Despite primarily playing on the left wing he is equally effective on the right, which keeps defenders guessing over whether he will go inside or out, shoot or cross, stand a player up or go past them.

He has the tricks of a showboater, but the numbers to back it up. Nusa has registered 19 goal contributions (nine goals and 10 assists) in 34 appearances for Norway, including a brilliant curling strike against Ivory Coast in the last 32 of the World Cup.

The wide man has four goals and three assists across seven games for Leipzig this season, while he has completed the joint-most successful dribbles (15) in the Bundesliga, level with Michael Olise and almost twice as many as Luis Diaz. As wingers go, he is the full package.

Nusa has thrived since stepping out of Yan Diomande’s shadow at Leipzig, after his fellow winger moved to Real Madrid in August for a deal rising to £120m. If he continues to improve, there is no reason why he can’t command a similar fee in the coming years.

But this begs the question: why did none of those Premier League clubs mentioned earlier sign him when he was relatively cheap?

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs were linked with Nusa in summer 2023, when he had already scored in the Champions League for Brugge. The winger reportedly even rejected a move to Chelsea as he wanted to stay somewhere where he was guaranteed regular minutes, accelerating his development.

That is fair enough, but the fact that Nusa was set to leave for £25m in January 2024 suggests those clubs missed out on a bargain deal for a future superstar. They could have paid even less that summer, but Leipzig took the plunge.

The German club’s decision has certainly paid off. Any fears over Nusa’s fitness have not been realised, with the winger playing in 61 of a possible 73 Bundesliga games since his arrival.

This summer, Leipzig’s asking price for Nusa was reportedly €60m (£51m) - almost three times what they paid two years ago - amid links with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and Spurs. Even that could represent a bargain compared to what the winger may be worth in the future, but he stayed put.

Admittedly, Arsenal, Villa and Newcastle ended up signing young wingers for less money, bringing in Christos Tzolis, Ibrahim Mbaye and Bazoumana Toure respectively. But Spurs paid up to £85m for Savio, who scored two Premier League goals in two seasons at Manchester City. Nusa would have cost less and arguably has a higher ceiling than the Brazilian, potentially giving him a greater sell-on value.

The Scandinavian still has three years left on his Leipzig contract, which reportedly has no release clause - allowing the Bundesliga side to continue raising the asking price as his star rises.

Right now, that star is rising every week: Nusa built on his eye-catching domestic displays by impressing during the international break, sharing the spotlight with Norway’s two top dogs, Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard.

The duo are among a host of Premier League players in Stale Solbakken’s squad. Nusa’s familiarity with them, and the high-tempo style favoured by Norway, would help him adapt quickly to England’s top flight.

European nights under the floodlights have a habit of hitting harder than your usual run-of-the-mill domestic encounter.

For former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld, the 2019 Champions League semi-final against his old side Ajax certainly falls under that category.

Spurs arrived in Amsterdam on the back of a 1-0 defeat in the first leg and soon found themselves with a mountain to climb after shipping in another two goals before half-time.

Alderweireld on Spurs’ Ajax comeback

Goals from Donny van Beek and Matthijs de Ligt meant that Spurs were staring down the barrel going into the final quarter of the tie, and even Alderweireld doubted that this would be Tottenham’s night.

“We lost the first leg of the semi-final 1-0 at home, then were 2-0 down at half-time in Amsterdam,” he recalls to FourFourTwo.

“We needed to score three, and we weren’t playing well – I thought ‘I want to go home, this is not going to happen’.”

Tottenham came out of the half-time period needing an immediate response, with boss Mauricio Pochettino turning to striker Fernando Llorente as Spurs changed their approach, swapping intricate football for a more bruising style of play.

“Then Fernando Llorente came on and we played some power football with long balls, because we were a physically strong team,” says Alderweireld. This tactical shift put Spurs on the front foot and gave them a puncher’s chance of forcing a remarkable comeback.

“Lucas Moura scored the first, and the second,” Alderweireld adds. That left Spurs with 30 minutes to find a third, which would give them the advantage on away goals.

Time was almost up when Moura completed his hat-trick to vault Spurs into their first-ever Champions League final and complete one of the greatest comebacks in the competition’s history.

“When he got the third in the last minute, it was unbelievable,” the Belgian adds before admitting that the victory was somewhat bittersweet, given the nature of the opponents.

“To kill the dream of my former club was a strange feeling,” he admits. “They gave me my education and made me a pro, so I’ll always be grateful.

“But football is like that, and I was happy – I was going to a Champions League final.”

Alderweireld was speaking in association with BOYLE Sports 2 Goals Ahead

Watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur for free as two underperforming Premier League giants meet at Old Trafford in this Saturday-evening clash. FourFourTwo has all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

United went into the international break with just five points from their first five Premier League games, giving manager Michael Carrick work to do to recapture the positivity he fostered during the second half of last season.

Spurs are in even worse shape and sit bottom of the table, after a winless start to the campaign which saw them fail to score in their opening four matches.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur online and from anywhere, including for free, in this Saturday-evening Premier League clash.

Can I watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur for free?

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur isn't technically available to watch for free, but there is a way that viewers in the US can stream the game at no cost.

NBC has live coverage in the States and is available on YouTube TV, which currently comes with a 21-day free trial for new customers.

Outside the US? Use a VPN to access your free Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur.

The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can make your devices appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

How to watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur in the UK

Viewers in the UK can watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur live on Sky Sports.

Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League will have live coverage of the Premier League clash, which kicks-off at 5:30pm BST.

How to watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur in the US

As mentioned above, NBC is showing Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur in the US. The game is also live on Peacock, NBC's streaming platform. Kick-off is at 12:30pm ET.

How to watch Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur in Australia

Fans in Australia can stream Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur on Stan Sport. Kick-off is at 2:30am AEST on Sunday.

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Michael Carrick will want a significant improvement from Manchester United in this next batch of fixtures, after they failed to take advantage of a relatively kind start to the Premier League season before the international break.

The Red Devils took just five points from a run of games that included matches against newly-promoted Hull City and Ipswich Town, as well as struggling Fulham - where they needed a late Matheus Cunha equaliser to rescue a point.

Tottenham Hotspur began the weekend as the only team below the Cottagers in the table, so Carrick will see this Saturday-evening clash as a great chance to claim three points ahead of three successive away fixtures, against Atletico Madrid and Como in the Champions League and Leeds United in the Premier League.

Carlos Baleba could make his first appearance following his £70m summer move from Brighton & Hove Albion, while Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo are set to feature despite withdrawing from England duty. Benjamin Sesko and Patrick Dorgu are both injury doubts, though.

SEE ALSO How to watch Premier League 2026/27: TV Guide, Streams & Fixtures

The one positive for Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi ahead of his side's return to action is that their season surely can't get any worse.

After staying up by the skin of their teeth last term, Tottenham took just two points from their opening five games and failed to score until the last of those fixtures, a 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa before the international break.

De Zerbi's mood wouldn't have been helped by injuries to defenders Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke while representing the Netherlands during the international break, but the duo haven't yet been ruled out of the trip to Old Trafford.

The game looks like it could come too soon for full-back Pedro Porro, though, after the Spain international suffered a hamstring injury against Villa.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

This feels like a must-not-lose game for both teams and we're backing the hosts to claim that much-needed win.

Tottenham Hotspur beat off stiff competition from Manchester United to sign Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes this summer, the north London side parting with £85m to sign the 22-year-old from rivals West Ham United.

And yet, the youngster has started just three of five league games for Spurs so far this season. He was hauled off after just 45 minutes in one of those.

“I have big confidence in Mateus but I didn’t like his performance today,” Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi said of Fernandes after the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa. “It’s not an attack on him because I love him. I just want more from him, even in that position.”

Spurs are wasting £85m Mateus Fernandes as things stand

It was an unnecessary criticism of Fernandes, who admittedly hardly covered himself in glory in the recent home loss to Villa, albeit out of position. Then again, few in a Spurs shirt really did.

Even so, De Zerbi was critical of the young midfielder having, again, started him in the number 10 role. If anything, this reflects badly on the Italian manager.

In truth, De Zerbi’s hands are somewhat tied. He’s loyal to a 4-2-3-1 setup, but is without a fully fit and firing No. 10. James Maddison has only recently returned to first-team action following a year on the sidelines with an ACL injury. Xavi Simons is currently absent with the same issue. Dejan Kulusevski is close to a return to action having not played since May 2025. Even then, he’s made a league start more recently than Maddison.

And yet, rather than tinker with his system or delve into the academy to pick a diamond in the rough - cough Luca Williams-Barnett cough - he’s persisting with a No. 8 out of position. Conor Gallagher is the other player to have started in the 10. Neither suit the role.

Indeed, Fernandes made a name for himself with both Southampton and West Ham in a deeper midfield position. Here, he was able to drive the team forward. Spurs desperately lacked a central midfielder who could advance the play from deep. Fernandes, then, was seen as the perfect signing.

Only Jarrod Bowen (45) created more chances than Fernandes (37) of all West Ham players in the Premier League last season. 28 successful dribbles was the third most for the Hammers. The two ahead of Fernandes - Bowen and Crysencio Summerville - are wingers by trade. They will rank higher for this metric. 103 tackles ranked sixth overall in the Premier League.

Fernandes is a player who thrives in the hustle and bustle that comes with operating as both a ball-winner and distributor. So far, he’s not been handed the chance to showcase either under De Zerbi. Rather, the former Brighton and Marseille boss has favoured a double pivot of Sandro Tonali and Rodrigo Bentancur. The former is the £100m summer signing. The latter is the experienced head that offers defensive diligence in a key area.

The issue, though, is that there is then a disconnect between the two banks of midfield. Spurs - in theory anyway - have the pair of defensive shields that allows the full-backs to provide the width when the wingers cut inside. Conversely, there is a lack of thrust through the middle. This was a major problem for Spurs last season. They had an abundance of runners and ball-winners but none who could really link the play.

It means that Spurs have the means to dictate the tempo and control proceedings in the middle of the park. A 60.7% possession haul is the third most in the division. However, an average of 9.6 chances created per game ranks 13th. It’s all sizzle and no steak.

What’s clear is that Spurs need to make a change to the setup as early as this weekend. De Zerbi needs to drop one of Tonali or Bentancur in the double pivot - potentially the former given his teething issues following his summer arrival - and move Fernandes into his best position.

Once De Zerbi realises that Fernandes isn’t a No. 10 in his system, then supporters will see one of their marquee summer signings at their best, increasing the likelihood of Spurs pulling off the foot of the Premier League table.

Tottenham Hotspur's relationship with a big-money star has broken down completely, with the player potentially never playing for the club ever again.

The Lilywhites have finished 17th in the last two seasons, and despite heavy investment over the summer, it seems as though they could be candidates for the drop once more, with manager Roberto De Zerbi overseeing an underperforming squad.

Tottenham are currently bottom of the Premier League after five matches, without a win on the board and with only two goals scored.

Tottenham Hotspur reach breaking point with star

Now, one striker has reached the point where his relationship is “completely broken” with his employers.

That's according to influencer Fabrizio Romano on the Here We Go podcast, who describes the standoff as a “crazy situation”.

“De Zerbi wasn’t lying and isn’t lying when he said that at the beginning of the new season [he] went to Richarlison [and] told him ‘let’s discuss a new contract, I want you here,’” Romano explained.

“Richarlison wanted to go and then in the final days of the window, Tottenham were not happy [that] Richarlison was not taking the opportunity to go back to Everton: Tottenham in that case were going to sign Iliman Ndiaye, so the two deals were linked, Ndiaye to Tottenham and at that point Richarlison to Everton.”

Ultimately, Manchester City signed Ndiaye, while Richarlison agreed terms with Trabzonspor – who Spurs rejected an offer late in the window.

“My expectation is absolutely for the parties to part ways as soon as possible, so it could be already in the next months,” Romano continued, adding, “I think around January we will see Richarlison leaving Tottenham: the intention of Tottenham is not to integrate Richarlison as part of their project.

Spurs signed Richarlison back in 2022 after pipping Arsenal to the Champions League, spending a whopping £60 million on the Brazilian – but after netting 10 times to save Everton from relegation in 2021/22, Richarlison scored just once in the league for his new club and was branded “selfish” by manager Antonio Conte.

The 29-year-old has managed to register double digits in two of his four Premier League seasons since, but Brazil omitted him from the World Cup 2026 squad over the summer in a huge blow, perhaps reflecting his diminishing reputation.

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a nightmare scenario of both Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke going off injured.

Tottenham are still winless in the Premier League – but according to reports relayed by Sport Witness, they have been given scares by the Dutch duo, who both featured heavily in new manager Xavi Hernandez's first few fixtures as manager.

Fortunately, it appears as if both of them could be fit to face Manchester United in their next fixture, though.

Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke have both suffered knocks

Van de Ven has been playing at left-back over the international break, with Xavi preferring the Spurs man there for his recovery pace and using Teun Koopmeiners centrally in his most recent fixture.

The Oranje had to finish their fixture against Serbia with 10 men, however, when their makeshift left-back was forced off with an arm injury, when former Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic landed awkwardly on the defender.

Xavi claimed it was “not a major injury” following the game, with a report from Voetbal International later backing that up, and adding, it was “less severe” than it first appeared.

Van Hecke's injury, meanwhile, has also been described as minor, too.

The summer signing withdrew from the squad after being stepped on away in Serbia last week – missing the draw against Greece in Thessaloniki and the return match against the Serbians in Eindhoven.

Spurs will be particularly grateful if both Dutchmen recover in time for the weekend, given the extent of their injury issues right now – which include another Netherlands star, in Xavi Simons, out until at least the New Year with an ACL injury.

In addition, Wilson Odobert, Mykhailo Mudryk, Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski all look likely to miss the return of domestic football this weekend.

When Tottenham Hotspur moved into their state-of-the-art billion-pound stadium, it was supposed to become a fortress where visiting teams feared to tread.

In reality, it's proven to be something far more accommodating: an arena where opposition sides, regardless of their own internal difficulties, routinely rock up and depart with all three points.

The early stages of the new season have laid bare Spurs' poor home form in stark fashion. Tottenham have already suffered two home defeats from three, first succumbing 2-0 to Newcastle United before falling 3-2 to Aston Villa.

Tottenham Hotspur have lost 22 league games AT HOME since the beginning of 2024/25

What makes these early setbacks so damning is not just the dropped points, but the state of the teams that inflicted them.

Both Newcastle and Villa arrived in North London in states of flux and transition. Villa endured a summer exodus that saw nearly half their core squad depart, while Newcastle lost key stalwarts, integrated a raft of new arrivals, and replaced long-serving manager Eddie Howe with Matthias Jaissle in the dugout.

Neither side truly knows their definitive identity yet, and both walked away with victory.

Spurs should have had the decisive upper hand because while Tottenham are still undergoing their own tactical evolution under Roberto De Zerbi, their squad remains far more settled than either Villa's or Newcastle's.

De Zerbi benefited from an invaluable stretch at the tail-end of last season to bed in his principles of play, iron out kinks, and establish a clear playing style.

That a De Zerbi side with a full pre-season under their belts, playing in their own backyard, was picked apart by two teams still searching for their footing is a troubling indictment.

There are fears this the continuation of a rot that has set in over recent years, not simply a slow start or isolated blip.

Across both the 2024/25 and 2025/26 campaigns, Tottenham’s home record was among the poorest in the Premier League. Spurs lost 10 of their 19 league games on home turf, winning just three. Only relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley presided over poorer records on their own doorstep.

The season prior, Spurs' home form was better but not by much, winning six league matches, but still losing 10. Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and perhaps now De Zerbi, have all found playing at the incredible Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to be more of a curse than a blessing.

In truth, it has become a ground where visiting coaches can sit deep and wait for the home crowd's anxiety to boil over. And can you blame them, when they've seen 22 league defeats since August 2024? Could it be that ailing home form becomes a permanent feature of Tottenham's modern identity?

De Zerbi was handed a lucrative long-term contract in the form of a five-year agreement worth a reported £12 million per season, alongside substantial bonus terms. Aside from correcting their course at the end of 2025/26, he hasn't made good on the Spurs hierarchy's investment just yet.

Tottenham's commitment to De Zerbi in effect strips the club of any easy or inexpensive exit strategy should the Italian be unable to remedy their home complex. Severing ties early would carry with it an eye-watering compensation payout, meaning Spurs are all-in on De Zerbi fixing their home field disadvantage that has beaten his predecessors.

Tottenham Hotspur are considering sacking Roberto De Zerbi, after defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend.

That's the shock new report emerging following five games in the Premier League without a win, and the Tottenham board starting to worry after significant outlay to improve the squad over the summer.

With De Zerbi recently calling the Lilywhites the most “fragile” team he has ever managed at the weekend, Spurs' next fixture against Manchester United could be pivotal in both dugouts.

Tottenham Hotspur looking for a change already, following Roberto De Zerbi's disastrous start

De Zerbi was hired by Tottenham in March to steer the club away from relegation and was given apparent carte blanche over the summer to reshape his playing squad after successive 17th-place finishes.

Disposing of the 47-year-old so soon into the campaign would thus come as a shock – not least because Thomas Frank was given until February of this year as manager, despite overseeing just 13 games in 38 matches in all competitions – but the atmosphere in N17 appears to be souring already.

Spanish outlet Fichajes have reported that Spurs are already on the hunt for De Zerbi's successor, though his contract complicates the situation.

The Spurs boss has a deal that runs until 2031, with no break clause, meaning that it would cost tens of millions to part early from the agreement – but following comments at the weekend, De Zerbi is clearly unhappy with his situation.

Speaking to talkSPORT after the final whistle on Saturday, the Italian noted that “the leaders have to be stronger”, but that “I do not have all the answers”.

“It's difficult to explain because, in my career, 14 years as a coach, I've never seen one team like us," he said.

"So fragile, so inconsistent. You're good, or you're bad. You can't be very good in the first 30, 40 minutes, and then concede like this in this way. It's tough to accept for me.

“Maybe the communication between the players [is the problem], maybe the leaders have to be stronger," he added.

“We need leaders to drive and lead the team. With Newcastle it was the same, in Liverpool it was the same, with Everton it was the same: we have to find the solutions.”

The way Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson juggled the ball between each other ahead of the latter’s goal was the high point on an insistent theme, reminiscent of school friends playing at lunchtime, always looking for each other in that nonchalant (ok, smug) way that kids sometimes do.

Poetically for Villa, it was two new signings flourishing precisely because two new Tottenham signings were failing.

More damning still, the Manzambi-Jackson connection resulted from an Unai Emery tactical battle-plan that had targeted Tottenham’s midfield from the outset; the epicentre of Tottenham’s £300 million summer splurge was the very place Emery had identified as their weakness, their soft target.

Villa’s setup was unorthodox for Emery, who did not pick a speedy winger on one side (usually a non-negotiable) and instead had Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn invert from the wings with Manzambi – nominally the ten – dropping deep in what almost looked like a free role.

It caused problems for Tottenham throughout the match, most notably when Manzambi ghosted into the box to score the opener, although the tactic really came off in the second half, when Villa were able to walk through the middle again and again:

But the best example of this phenomenon was Buendia’s winning goal, which ended a nine-pass, 31-second Villa move defined by cutting open Spurs’ midfield no less than three times, the third being Buendia’s finish in open space:

What’s damning about all of this isn’t that De Zerbi’s midfield press was broken, nor that his £175 million midfielders were completely disconnected, allowing Villa to breeze through. It’s that Emery knew this would happen - and devised a tactical plan to exploit it.

Perhaps De Zerbi and Spurs just need time on the training ground to fine-tune the details of the manic man-to-man pressing system that unravelled on Saturday. The thing is, time and patience are already running out.

Henderson-Barco pivot tells us Alonso failed to prepare for Brentford

The paradox of Brentford’s 3-0 victory over Chelsea was that we learnt nothing new - which taught us a lot about Xabi Alonso.

Brentford were Brentford: ruthlessly organised, the physical strength and tactical diligence of their man-to-man pressing wrestling Chelsea into patterns they didn’t want to form. They broke up play, they made it scrappy, and then they capitalised in key moments: set-pieces (goals one and three) and counter-attacks (goal two).

It was textbook, and although sometimes Brentford at their absolute best are simply unstoppable, particularly at home, it does beg the question: had Alonso done his homework?

Put bluntly, this was not the time to trial a brand new midfield partnership featuring two players making their full Premier League debuts, one a youngster new to the country and one a veteran who never had the agility or dexterity to play through Brentford-style pressure.

As I highlighted a fortnight ago, Alonso’s two-man midfield contains tactical flaws that might just be unsolvable. They definitely won’t be solved by a Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco pivot, not against Brentford’s midfield.

Here’s a typical example of where it went wrong. Brentford hold their ground, forcing Lacroix to keep the ball for 13 seconds before attempting an ambitious long ball out to the left. He has no options because Brentford’s man-to-man press prevents it; because neither Barco nor Henderson can be trusted to get on the ball, resist pressure, and break the lines.

Brentford’s second goal, scored on the break, resulted from the same issue. Henderson gets on the ball here and, with nothing in the pocket to play, fires an ambitious pass that gets intercepted, leading to the goal.

Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia, both on the bench, would have been far better suited to the challenge, although more importantly Alonso should have adapted his 3-4-2-1 formation.

Already that 3-4-2-1 is too easy to read, too easy for someone like Keith Andrews to prepare for. Chelsea needed Morgan Rogers or Cole Palmer to drop short and wide, or one of the wing-backs to come infield to create an overload, or… anything, really, that would have been unexpected; that might have bamboozled Brentford or at least pulled a man-to-man marker out of position.

Chelsea attempted 28 crosses in this match, each one predictably swatted away. They got done by Brentford like Brentford used to do teams in their first season in the Premier League, which is to say Alonso just didn’t look adequately prepared.

If Chelsea are to challenge for honours, he needs to adapt much faster than this.