Randal Kolo Muani is set to be in contention to make his Premier League debut for Tottenham Hotspur during Sunday's fixture against Aston Villa in north London, head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed. The French forward joined on loan from PSG on transfer deadline day but has been out injured since mid-September with a dead leg, meaning Spurs fans have yet to see what he can do for the club.

Kolo Muani could be in action for Spurs on Sunday

With both Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke out injured, Frank and Spurs have had to rely on Richarlison in front of goal thus far this season. The Brazilian has impressed with three goals and an assist in the Premier League, but it will be welcome news that Kolo Muani may now be set to return and offer renewed competition in the striker role.

The 26-year-old is well-known for being an impact substitute on France’s run to the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, almost scoring the winner in the final had it not been for a miraculous save by Emiliano Martinez.

Kolo Muani would soon move from Eintracht Frankfurt to PSG for a massive €90million (£78m/$105m), but it would not go to plan in the French capital as he scored just eight Ligue 1 goals for the club and was eventually shipped out on loan to Juventus in January 2025. After returning to form in Italy, the Old Lady battled for his signature again over the summer but lost out to Spurs – for whom he has only made a 13-minute Champions League cameo against Villarreal, before spending a month on the sidelines.

AdvertisementAFPKolo Muani 'getting better and better' – Frank

Frank said in his press conference on Friday: "Kolo Muani has trained for two weeks with the team, that's good. He looks better and better and is in contention for the squad on Sunday, so that's a positive.

“It's very important to have him fit and available. I think he looks better and better. I think it's also fair to say that he has trained two weeks with the team and when he came on the 1st of September – time flies! –  he still needed a bit to go up to the higher level. But it's not to say that he can't be involved tomorrow and maybe can play minutes. But I think it's fair to say that he needs a little bit of time to get up to a full level.”

Frank relishing challenging period of seven games in 22 days

“We love to play games,” said Frank. “Every footballer loves to play a game instead of training. Coaches, we like to train a little bit more sometimes, but in general, we love to play the games. We have a fantastic run of games ahead of us, starting with Villa on Sunday – a top team, top manager, Unai, I respect him a lot. I think what he's done in his career is amazing. What he created at Villa is fantastic in so many areas. I think they did well in the Champions League last season and almost qualified for the Champions League again, which is very impressive and I think they have a very strong team. So, yeah, looking forward to it.

“I think we all have an idea in our head what could be the strongest team with all the players available, but probably the reality is that you need to create the strongest possible team of the players you have available now. That is my task, that is my job and get the best out of that. So, it's nice to dream a little bit, but like with all dreams, it's not reality – reality is here, now, what kind of players we have available. That said, of course, I'd love some of them to be fit and available,” he added.

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Kolo Muani will hope to get the chance to make his Premier League bow in Spurs' encounter with one of the division’s strongest sides in recent years in Unai Emery’s Aston Villa on Sunday, a challenge he will no doubt relish.

The Villans have made a slow start to the season but Frank made sure to underline the quality possessed in Emery’s squad, who returned to form with four successive wins in all competitions before the international break.

“When I see them performing and their structure and the way they play, I see a lot of the same that I've seen from Unai Emery's Villa team in the last three seasons. I see a lot of the same strengths,” said Frank.

“They're very, very good in the build-up and in phase two and have fantastic structure. They're very composed and have fantastic players. We know in Rogers, doing fantastic, Ollie Watkins, Malen is starting to score goals, Onana in midfield, Kamara, I know Tielemans is injury, but that's a top team. The back four is very good as well. It's a team and you can see they're growing. I expect an unbelievable, tight game on Sunday that we're very positive about and that we will do everything to edge. We hope and I believe we can, but it will be a strong test on Sunday.”

Chelsea have received plenty of criticism – some justifiably – for their transfer policy over the last few years.

However, while the club have certainly made their fair share of poor signings, and perhaps even sold some players they shouldn’t have, they’ve also acquired some brilliant young talents.

The likes of Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato and Estevao could all come good and lead the team to real success in the coming years.

The latter gem, in particular, is seen by many as a future superstar, but the club now looks to have secured the future of another youngster who could be just as good, if not better, and a future rival for Lamine Yamal.

Why Estevao coule be a world-beater

Chelsea beat a number of other top European sides to Estevao’s signature in the summer of 2024, but due to his age, the young Brazilian had to wait another year before joining up with Maresca’s squad.

The teenage sensation made good use of that time in his homeland, scoring 12 goals and providing five assists in 37 appearances for Palmeiras last season, which took his total output with the club to an impressive 27 goals and 15 assists in 83 appearances.

Since arriving on these shores, the Franca-born gem has wasted no time showing fans of English football just why he’s so highly rated and is seen as a “future Ballon d’Or winner” by respected analyst Ben Mattinson.

Estevao’s Palmeiras record

Appearances

83

Minutes

5610′

Goals

27

Assists

15

Goal Involvements per Match

0.50

Minutes per Goal Involvement

133.57′

All Stats via Transfermarkt

For example, he proved a real threat when coming off the bench to make his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace in the Blues’ opening game of the season.

Then, just a couple of weeks later, he made his full debut for the club, starting against West Ham United and running their defence ragged.

The East Londoners just could not live with his brilliant close control, quick decision-making and turn of pace, which allowed him to provide his first assist of the campaign to Joao Pedro.

Since then, the youngster has continued to impress in bursts, with a particularly mercurial piece of dribbling getting Stamford Bridge on their feet against Benfica.

In all, it does feel like Estevao is destined to make it to the very top of the game, and now it looks like Chelsea have got their hands on another prospect who could not only rival him, but Yamal as well.

Chelsea's future Yamal rival

There is no sign of Chelsea slowing down their pursuit of some of the most exciting youngsters in world football, and the next gem everyone could be talking about is Dastan Satpayev.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

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The Blues agreed a deal to sign the incredibly exciting prospect from the Kazakhstani side Kairat Almaty in February of this year for a fee of around €4m, which is about £3.5m.

However, as was the case with Estevao, he cannot join up with the squad until he is 18 years old, which will be next August.

The 17-year-old is in the news somewhat at the moment, as he has now made his Champions League debut, playing against Sporting CP and Real Madrid.

The youngster played a key role in the club, even making it into the competition proper, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the seven qualifying games, which saw them ultimately beat Celtic to make it.

There is an enormous amount of excitement over what the Almaty-born dynamo could achieve in the coming years, so much so that one scout labelled him “a future Ballon d’Or winner” and not only that, but “a future rival to Lamine Yamal.”

That might sound like too much pressure to put on a youngster’s shoulders, but he’s shown no signs of being even remotely fazed by senior football.

For example, in 30 appearances this season, totalling 2146 minutes, the “incredible” prospect, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored eight goals and provided 13assists.

In other words, he has maintained an average of a goal involvement every 1.42 games, or every 102 minutes, despite only turning 17 in August.

Ultimately, there is a long and winding road ahead for Satpayev, but as things stand, he appears to be a future superstar, someone who could potentially push Estevao at Chelsea and possibly even rival Yamal for the biggest individual honours.

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Chelsea and Enzo Maresca made a big mistake.

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After surviving another scare to win late on against Burnley, Liverpool play host to Atletico Madrid in the hope of taking their winning run to five games in all competitions.

Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid team news

The big question heading into this one centres around Alexander Isak. Will the Swede make his Liverpool debut? Or will Arne Slot force Anfield to wait slightly longer before seeing their record arrival in action? If there’s a stage to introduce one of the best strikers in the world, it is the Champions League and it is in a game that will desperately need attacking quality.

There will also be question marks about the fitness of Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The former took quite the knock against Burnley and has already endured fitness struggles in the early stages of the campaign. Jones, meanwhile, didn’t make the trip to Turf Moor altogether and is yet to return to training ahead of the Atletico Madrid clash.

The Spanish club also have some frustrating injury concerns. As Fabrizio Romano confirmed, Diego Simeone will be without both Julian Alvarez and Johnny Cardoso for his side’s trip to Anfield. Losing Alvarez is a particular blow for the Argentine manager.

The former Manchester City forward has been the star of the show ever since arriving in Spain and he has continued that form so far this season – scoring once and assisting once in four games.

The task that Simeone now has is finding a similar star within his squad to replace Alvarez ahead of such a challenging test at Anfield.

Liverpool predicted line-up (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Bradley; Konate; Van Dijk; Robertson; Gravenberch; Szoboszlai; Gakpo; Wirtz; Salah; Ekitike

Atletico Madrid predicted line-up (4-4-2): Oblak; Llorente; Le Normand; Lenglet; Riggeri; Simeone; Gallagher; Koke; Gonzalez; Griezmann; Sorloth

Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid results

The Kop will still be stung by one of Atletico Madrid’s previous Anfield visits, in particular. But since Simeone’s side escaped with a shock 4-2 aggregate victory in extra-time to knock the Reds out of the Champions League in 2020, it has been the Premier League giants that have dominated.

Liverpool 2-0 Atletico Madrid

03/11/2021

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Liverpool

19/10/2021

Liverpool 2-3 Atletico Madrid

11/03/2020

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Liverpool

18/02/2020

Liverpool 2-1 Atletico Madrid

29/04/2010

Wednesday’s clash will be the first time that Slot has squared off against Atletico Madrid as Liverpool manager, but Simeone is still a manager that he knows well.

The last time that they faced each other, intense words were shared as they went back and forth on a disagreement. Given that Slot won round one with a late Feyenoord winner, there’s no doubt that he’ll be hoping for a similar victory in round two this evening.

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The history of the fixtures tells us to expect goals, late drama, shock moments and perhaps even another Liverpool victory. Standing in the way of that will, of course, be a stern Atletico side.

It’s a game that the Spaniards could do with winning too, given that they’ve won just once in four La Liga games this season, which came last time out against Villarreal.

Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid prediction and odds

Will Liverpool make it five from five in all competitions or will Atletico Madrid cause Anfield misery in a repeat of 2020? According to the bookies, who have priced the Reds at 1/2 to pick up three points, Slot’s side are the favourites here. Atletico, meanwhile, are expected to face an uphill battle at 5/1 to win, and a draw sits at 16/5.

When it comes to results, Liverpool are up and running this season. But we are yet to see a performance that reflects their hefty summer spending spree. As is often the case, however, they may well be saving their most convincing performance for the Champions League and Anfield under the lights.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Atletico Madrid

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca wanted a centre-back in the summer transfer window, but the west Londoners could be set to finally grant his wish in January.

Chelsea's defensive struggles laid bare after 3-1 defeat to Brighton

Blues legend José Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge tonight as Chelsea take on Benfica in the Champions League, and the ‘special one’ will be well aware of just how fragile his former club look defensively right now.

Trevoh Chalobah was sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity in Chelsea’s last outing, a humbling 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton, where Fabian Hurzeler’s side made the extra man count and ran out deserved winners in the English capital.

Levi Colwill’s ACL injury, which is expected to keep him out for most of 2025/2026, has undoubtedly contributed to Chelsea’s weakness at the back, and Maresca is left with precious few options right now with Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana also injured.

Chelsea are winless in the Premier League since this time last month and have conceded 11 goals in their last five outings across all competitions, with BlueCo arguably paying the price for not signing a centre-back in the summer.

Despite being one of the division’s biggest spenders, Chelsea’s priority at the time was to bring in new attackers, with no room left to bolster Maresca’s backline.

Liverpool

£415,000,000

£187,000,000

£228,000,000

Chelsea

£285,000,000

£288,000,000

-£3,000,000

Arsenal

£255,000,000

£9,000,000

£246,000,000

Newcastle

£250,000,000

£152,000,000

£98,000,000

Man Utd

£216,000,000

£68,000,000

£148,000,000

Nottm Forest

£205,000,000

£107,000,000

£98,000,000

Tottenham

£181,000,000

£36,000,000

£145,000,000

Sunderland

£162,000,000

£44,000,000

£118,000,000

Man City

£152,000,000

£53,000,000

£99,000,000

West Ham

£124,000,000

£55,000,000

£69,000,000

via BBC

Chelsea did try to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth, before the Spaniard’s £50 million move to Real Madrid, and Maresca strongly suggested towards the end of the transfer window that they needed another body in that area.

Since then, reports have claimed that Chelsea could dip back into the market for a new defender mid-season, with journalist Pete O’Rourke sharing an update on this.

Chelsea and Maresca agree on "priority" signing as club work to sign centre-back

According to the reporter, in a piece for Football Insider, Chelsea and Maresca are in alignment about signing a centre-back.

Both the club and manager feel that bringing one is now a “priority” for January, with Chelsea believed to be working on defensive reinforcements for when the window reopens.

It is imperative that Chelsea back Maresca and provide the Italian with another world-class option. Tosin and Fofana’s injuries have added to his woes, as Chelsea brace to take on table-topping Liverpool this weekend with a very weakened backline.

Benoit Badiashile’s return to the fold couldn’t have come at a better time, but Chalobah will be suspended for their Stamford Bridge clash against Arne Slot’s side.

Luckily for Chelsea, the Cobham academy graduate will only serve a one-match domestic ban before returning after the international break against Nottingham Forest.

In the meantime, Chelsea’s recruitment team must get to work on finding the right profile for January, with Club Brugge starlet Joel Ordonez among BlueCo’s potential targets alongside Benfica’s Antonio Silva (Simon Phillips).

Chelsea and BlueCo are reportedly making some transfer plans ahead of 2026 already, but for Enzo Maresca, his focus is entirely on the pitch.

Bayern Munich deal Chelsea their first defeat of the season

The Blues’ 23-man Champions League squad — which now includes summer signing Facundo Buonanotte who’s replaced the injured Dario Essugo — travelled to Bavaria to take on Bayern Munich last night in their opening game of the league phase.

Maresca could’ve hardly asked for a tougher first challenge of Chelsea’s European campaign, and Vincent Kompany’s side were on top form to deal the Blues’ their first defeat of 2025/2026.

A Trevoh Chalobah own goal and two strikes from Harry Kane — one from the penalty spot — cancelled out an excellent finish from Cole Palmer, who briefly grabbed one back from 2-0 down on the counterattack.

Palmer’s first full start after coming back from a groin injury was unfortunately marred by Chelsea’s loss at the Allianz Arena, with their return to the Champions League after a two-year absence ultimately spoiled.

That being said, the forward is adamant that Chelsea did enough to earn something from the 90.

Maresca was forced to start a centre-back pairing of Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo again, who were ultimately undone by the talismanic Kane, with Chelsea believed to be in the market for a star defender once the window reopens.

Chelsea eyeing new centre-back after summer transfer failure

It is believed that Chelsea wanted to sign a centre-back in the summer window, but ultimately couldn’t find the right profile (Simon Phillips).

The Premier League’s biggest summer spenders
Team	Spent	Received	Net Spend
Liverpool	£415,000,000	£187,000,000	£228,000,000
Chelsea	£285,000,000	£288,000,000	-£3,000,000
Arsenal	£255,000,000	£9,000,000	£246,000,000
Newcastle	£250,000,000	£152,000,000	£98,000,000
Man Utd	£216,000,000	£68,000,000	£148,000,000
Nottm Forest	£205,000,000	£107,000,000	£98,000,000
Tottenham	£181,000,000	£36,000,000	£145,000,000
Sunderland	£162,000,000	£44,000,000	£118,000,000
Man City	£152,000,000	£53,000,000	£99,000,000
West Ham	£124,000,000	£55,000,000	£69,000,000
via BBC

Instead, BlueCo are expected to reserve that transfer plan for 2026, and the prospect of Chelsea bringing in a star man for the heart of their backline is very much alive for January.

Reports have suggested that Chelsea are admirers of ex-player Marc Guehi, even if his preferred destination is Liverpool (Simon Phillips), with reporter Graeme Bailey now claiming that they’re still expected to make him an offer.

Chelsea to make offer for Marc Guehi next summer

Speaking to the Chelsea Chronicle, Bailey says he is convinced that Chelsea will make an offer for Guehi, and believes that they can win the race for the ex-Cobham starlet, who left Stamford Bridge in 2021 after making two senior appearances.

In terms of potential centre-back targets, Guehi stands chief among the most appealing potential signings — both in terms of cost and quality.

The 25-year-old is now an established England international and Premier League stalwart, branded “sensational” by Palace chairman Steve Parish, and he’s likely to be one of the most in-demand free agents of 2026.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, the likes of Liverpool, Man City, Real Madrid and Barcelona are also eyeing a move for Guehi (The Mirror), among others, so the battle for his signature will be intense.

The Blaze have recruited New Zealand batter Maddy Green on a short-term deal for the Metro Bank One Day Cup and Vitality Blast.Green, part of New Zealand’s T20 World Cup-winning side in October, replaces allrounder Orla Prendergast, who has returned home to Ireland for family reasons.Green will be available or the remainder of the opening block of fixtures in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, which runs to May 20 before the competition breaks until late July, and the opening four matches in the Vitality Blast, which starts on May 30.While this will be Green’s first experience of women’s domestic cricket in England under the new county-based structure, she was part of the Nottinghamshire women’s squad in 2012, playing against the likes of Trent Bridge stablemate Tammy Beaumont as Notts reached the regional final of the T20 Cup. She also appeared for Welsh Fire in The Hundred in 2022.”I’m really excited to be here,” said Green. “The Blaze have been a strong side for a number of years, so it’s a great chance to join that and play a part. It’s brilliant to be back in Nottingham. It feels like a long time ago now, but it’s been great to see the evolution of women’s cricket in that time. I’m really pleased to be a part of it, and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running.”The Blaze are second on the One Day Cup table, five points behind Hampshire, who have played one game more.Green has represented her country 193 times across white-ball formats. She has scored 1,708 ODI runs at an average of 28.00 with two centuries and seven half-centuries. In T20Is, she has 1,193 runs at 17.04 with a strike rate of 103.29.She has also won multiple titles for Auckland and Wellington in both T20 and 50-over cricket in New Zealand and was part of the victorious Brisbane Heat side which won the 2019-20 WBBL.Craig Cumming, The Blaze head coach, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to secure a player of Maddy’s calibre at such short notice. She’ll add extra power to our batting line-up and energy in the field, and her leadership skills and experience will complement the rest of the group as we look to maintain our positive momentum this summer.”

Russell Martin accepted full responsibility after another dismal Rangers performance ended with a 1-1 draw at Falkirk, but it may not be enough to save his position at Ibrox.

When striker Bojan Miovski tapped in after 41 minutes, the travelling supporters again turned their ire on the Gers boss and there were repeated chants against the former Southampton manager before and after John McGlynn’s side deservedly levelled in the 73rd minute through substitute Henry Cartwright.

Afterwards Gers fans sat down to attempt to stop the team bus leaving but they were dispersed by police. Images showed that Martin was escorted out of another part of the stadium by security guards before reportedly leaving in a car.

The Ibrox side are in eighth place with one win in seven William Hill Premiership fixtures, 11 points behind leaders Hearts and nine behind Celtic and Martin, who described the chants as “character building”, was asked if he was getting enough from the players.

He said: “They’re giving us everything they’ve got. I think they’re really trying. So I have to take responsibility for it, not them.

“There’s been some really honest discussions with them in the dressing room, some frustration with them and each other, but ultimately I’m the one in charge of the team, so I have to accept responsibility. We haven’t had enough wins on days like today, so it’s been a frustrating period.”

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ByTom Cunningham Oct 3, 2025

Martin conceded the backing of the Ibrox board is not infinite but remains confident that he can get it right.

He said: “I think it’s the same everywhere. Just this club is intensified and the scrutiny is much higher, the noise is much louder.

“So every draw we’ve had has felt like a defeat because of the stature of this club and what it means and what we have to try and fight for.

“So I can’t answer your question really, you’d have to ask the people above me.

“I feel that the players and the staff are really behind me. I felt really supported by everyone else above me as well, and I can’t dictate whether that changes or not.

“I have to just try and focus on winning football matches (and we can do that) because of what I see every day with the players, how invested they are in it, how hard they run.

“If I felt any differently, I would feel differently here. It probably wouldn’t hurt as much, but I know they’re really trying.”

Martin "on the brink" of Ibrox sack

And Ben Jacobs reports on Sunday evening that Martin “is on the brink of being sacked” the Gers board “expected to make an imminent decision”.

Steven Gerrard and Danny Rohl are both “appreciated” in Glasgow’s South side having been on the shortlist before Martin took charge.

Litton has just a solitary half-century in T20Is in the last 12 months but he has got the team management’s backing

Mohammad Isam11-May-2025

Litton Das has a solitary half-century in T20Is in last 12 months•BCCI

Litton Das has shown enough potential to hold on to the role of Bangladesh’s T20I captain till next year’s T20 World Cup, according to assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin. The endorsement came after questions were raised about Litton’s appointment following Najmul Hossain Shanto relinquishing the job earlier this year.Litton has just a solitary half-century and a strike rate of 101.76 in the last 12 months in the format. He has also lost his place in the ODI team and was recently rested from the Test side. But he is all set to lead Bangladesh in the two-match T20I series against UAE in Sharjah next week.Salahuddin feels Litton showed enough leadership skills during Bangladesh a 3-0 win against West Indies in their backyard last December. Litton himself scored just 17 runs but took some proactive decisions under pressure, which helped Bangladesh dominate the home side.”From the Litton I knew for a long time to the one I saw leading the team [in the West Indies], it is like night and day,” Salahuddin said in a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday. “If you see one of his recent interviews, you will notice the difference. I think if the boys are guided properly, they can adjust to the situation faster. We all have to support the captain. I think Litton has all the ingredients of a good captain. He can motivate the players. He is good with strategy. He is trying to take it forward. I think he will do well if allowed to work independently. You can’t just make a leader.”Salahuddin also emphasised the challenges that come with Bangladesh’s captaincy. “We must realise that he is the captain of Bangladesh, which for us stands for the whole country. Leading Bangladesh is a very difficult job, although it may seem easy from the outside. Those who think that it is an easy thing are living in a fool’s paradise.”After Shanto stepped down, Litton is probably the only choice for captaincy in Bangladesh’s current T20I side. With Mehidy Hasan Miraz dropped from the format, there is no clear leadership group in the team. Mahedi Hasan being named as the vice-captain suggests as much.”We haven’t performed collectively,” Salahuddin said. “We have to admit that we are not consistently performing at the highest level. It is a big challenge. We have rapid ups and downs in our performance. Our people are emotional, so they have a hard time accepting how their performance isn’t the same every game.”Bangladesh have a long summer of T20 cricket. If their schedule remains as it is, they will play two T20Is against UAE, five against Pakistan, three against Sri Lanka, then three more against Pakistan in July and three against India in August.Salahuddin said that it was critical for the team to work on their batting ahead of this busy schedule. “We had some training sessions targeting skill development. We have also stressed on the players’ fitness. It is rare for us to get such time as we go from one series to another so rapidly. We want their improvement in skills and fitness. There are certain shots that we are unable to apply in the middle, so we worked on those skills that would b

Of all factors explaining the chasm between Manchester United and Liverpool right now, not one can compare with the differing approaches to appoint their latest managers. Liverpool were compelled to hire Arne Slot after consulting a highly sophisticated data model developed by a Harvard-educated physicist. United, meanwhile, recruited Ruben Amorim largely because of the vibes.

United love a good narrative, and the way that Amorim had revived Sporting CP's fortunes by delivering a first league title in 19 years was highly appealing to a club at a loss as to how to rise again after more than a decade of decline after Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. The club's main decision-makers, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Omar Berrada, wanted a young charismatic coach on the rise and in Amorim they saw shades of Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola. 

Every time Ratcliffe has discussed Amorim, he has lauded his personality, describing the Portuguese as "intelligent" and "thoughtful" while speaking fondly of their chats over coffee at the Carrington training ground, where the co-owner tells the coach "where it’s going wrong, and he tells me to f*ck off." 

What was lacking in United's thought process when they hired Amorim, however, was a thorough analysis of the most intriguing thing about him: his loyalty to the 3-4-3 system. Liverpool, by contrast, saw Amorim's formation fixation as a massive red flag and turned away from him and towards Slot.

Slot might be enduring his most difficult period as Liverpool boss as his side prepare to welcome their arch rivals to Anfield on Sunday after three successive defeats, but overall he has proved to be a brilliant hire. Quite unlike Amorim, who has created an even bigger mess than the one he inherited when he took charge of the Red Devils 11 months ago.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Contrasting processes & results

  Amorim's favoured formation was questioned when he took the United job because United's squad had been built over the last few years with the idea of playing a back four. But according to Amorim, it was a short conversation. He explained in August: "They asked me before I arrived here: 'Can you play this system?' I said 'I will do my system no matter what'." And that, bizarrely, was enough to convince United he was the right man. They spoke to no other candidates before offering him the job.

  Liverpool had previously considered Amorim as Jurgen Klopp's successor, but they saw the coach's tactics as a real obstacle to him succeeding at Anfield, where the squad had also been constructed with a view to playing four defenders. To Liverpool's lead data scientist Will Spearman and sporting director Richard Hughes, hiring Amorim would have represented a massive change from what the club had been working towards for almost a decade under Klopp. Thus, instead of ripping up their plans, they sought a smooth transition and their data model told them that Slot's Feyenoord were the team that bore the closest resemblance to Klopp's Liverpool.

  Liverpool racing to the title in Slot's first season to equal United's record of 20 English league triumphes vindicated their decision to hire the Dutchman over Amorim. In his first campaign, the Portuguese oversaw United's worst league finish, goal count and points total in 51 years, and failed to qualify the team for Europe for the first time in 11 years. In the early weeks of his second season, Amorim has lost three of his opening seven league games while the team were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Grimsby Town in United's first-ever defeat to a team from England's fourth division. 

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• Getty
  

  Choosing charisma first

  There was reported to be one dissenting voice among United's top brass around Amorim's appointment: the newly-hired sporting director Dan Ashworth. According to , the man who had been headhunted from Newcastle envisaged 'mass disruption' in appointing Amorim and instead petitioned for the club to move for Brentford's Thomas Frank. But among other members of the United hierarchy there was 'a desperation for charisma, and the strong belief was that Amorim could be a tactician to define the next generation'.

  According to , Ashworth had also suggested the club copy Liverpool's analytical approach and sub-contract a data firm to compile the most suitable candidates to replace Erik ten Hag. Ratcliffe rejected that idea out of hand because he felt Ashworth should have already known who the best candidates were. He was also reluctant to spend more money at a time when he was slashing costs across the board.

  Little more than one month after United appointed Amorim, they sacked Ashworth, paying a total of £4.1 million in hiring and firing fees for him to work for the club for just five months. Strangely, having rebuffed Ashworth's push to use a data-led approach to hiring the new manager, Ratcliffe later decried the state of club's data department, telling : "We must have the best recruitment in the world. Data analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here. There’s an immense amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we’re in the 'very poor' bracket with data analysis here."

• AFP
  

  Guided by the data

  Liverpool have long prided themselves on being at the cutting edge when it comes to data. The Reds begun taking data seriously in 2012, when they hired Ian Graham as director of research, and he helped the club develop an in-house analytics department. It led to, among other things, the creation of the 'possession value' model, which calculates how much each player improves their team's chances of scoring with each touch. The model led to Liverpool signing Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah while walking away from potential deals for Julian Brandt and Mario Gotze, whom Klopp had initially favoured.

  Data also led to Liverpool making their best-ever recruitment decision: hiring Klopp in 2015. The energetic German was one of the most admired coaches due to winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund and taking them to the Champions League final in 2013, but his last season with Dortmund damaged his reputation, as his team finished seventh while losing 14 of their 34 games. 

  Graham and his team could see, however, that Dortmund had been unlucky in many games and had just failed to take their chances. Graham explained this to Klopp when he met him and the coach was impressed that he had watched so many Dortmund games. Graham responded that he had not watched any of the matches, but had merely looked at the data. 

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  Enormous gap in goals

  Liverpool's data-driven approach has not led to a perfect transfer policy, and while Salah and Mane proved to be incredible buys, there have been some big disappointments, namely £64m ($85m) striker Darwin Nunez. But the Uruguayan, who scored 40 times in three seasons with the Reds, is the exception that proves the rule over the last few years.

  In the same era, United have an endless list of expensive attacking flops, from Antony to Jadon Sancho to Rasmus Hojlund. Liverpool's impressive list of forwards signed over the past decade, meanwhile puts United's inconsistent rabble of attackers to shame: Salah has scored 248 goals and provided 116 assists in 411 games; Mane contributed to 166 goals in 269 games; Roberto Firmino notched 187 combined goals and assists in eight seasons; the late Diogo Jota averaged a goal or an assist every two games; Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo played huge roles in last season's title win. 

  Liverpool's top five scorers over the past decade (Salah, Mane, Firmino, Jota and Diaz) found the net a combined 434 times in the Premier League. United's most prolific players in the same period (Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku) netted a combined 268 goals, a deficit of 166.

Nottingham Forest have made a frustrating start to life under Ange Postecoglou, albeit they will feel hard done by after a controversial defeat to Sunderland on Saturday evening.

Nottingham Forest lose out in tight contest with Sunderland

Balancing commitments domestically and in the Europa League, the Tricky Trees found themselves on the end of a narrow loss to Sunderland at the City Ground on Saturday courtesy of Omar Alderete’s first-half winner.

Admittedly, Nottingham Forest were the dominant side against the Black Cats and created far more on the day. However, Postecoglou has been left with plenty to ponder after making it five games without a win since taking charge.

Hovering just above the relegation slots in the Premier League, the Australian boss made it clear that his side are on the right trajectory despite losing out on a frustrating day in the East Midlands.

He told BBC Sport: “It was one of those evenings where we should’ve got the outcome we wanted. We had enough chances to certainly win the game.

“We conceded a really poor goal, albeit from a poor decision from the official, but after that we had enough chances to win the game. We are in a cycle at the moment where we are getting every outcome out of the game except the win – and that is the most important thing.”

While Nottingham Forest are producing encouraging signs, football is ultimately about winning and supporters will feel that points are an infinitely better outcome than performance, albeit the latter may suggest their long-term future under Postecoglou is looking bright.

Even with that in mind, it would be remiss not to delve into some of the refereeing controversies on show at the City Ground, something that individuals within their camp feel contributed to their defeat.

Neco Williams fumes at officials as Sunderland defeat Nottingham Forest

Speaking after the match on Sky Sports, Neco Williams made it clear that he feels Sunderland’s goal should’ve been ruled out for two reasons, claiming the Black Cats were awarded an unjust free-kick and that he was fouled in the build-up to Alderete’s decisive effort.

The £65,000-a-week full-back also made clear that he has ‘never seen’ such a decision made to award a free-kick during his career, indicating how furious he was at the controversial indicent.

He stated, cited via BBC Sport: “It’s a tough one to take. It was a game where we just didn’t finish off our chances. We created many chances but just couldn’t put it to bed.

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“We should have defended the free-kick better but, at the same time, I’ve never seen a referee give one of those free-kicks before in all my time of playing football.

“There was contact, so he got it wrong, and for the goal I was held back. He had two arms around my waist and that played a key factor in their goal. It is two poor decisions, especially by the referee and then the people on VAR.”

In truth, the Welsh international may have a point as he was visibly tugged back in an attempt to stop the ball, albeit supporters will never know if he would’ve covered the ground needed to intercept the situation at hand.

Either way, Nottingham Forest will rue missing a whole host of missed chances, which is something they will hope to use as fuel for their upcoming Europa League encounter against FC Midtjylland on Thursday.