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What do we make of that then? Josh King a better player than Cole Palmer? Looks like this goes beyond just playing ability. Tuchel’s press conference is set for 11am so we’ll see how he explains what looks like a huge snub.

The other big news in Tuchel’s squad announcement is that there is again no place for Cole Palmer. Other surprise omissions include Noni Madueke and Kobbie Mainoo.

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Nottingham Forest are a strange proposition. Lots of quality players but they’ve only won one Premier League game so far this season. They’ve only conceded 10 goals – an Oliver Glasner trademark is defensive organisation – but Liam Delap is yet to fire and today they face another well-organised defence in Brentford. Every chance Forest start November in the bottom three, a position which has typically cost the manager his job. Forest fans, what do you make of the season so far?

I am at the big one.

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Dejan Kulusevski returned to competitive action for Tottenham after a 17-month injury layoff to play the last few minutes in the club’s 3-1 home victory against Coventry last week and followed that up with another substitute appearance in Saturday’s win at Chelsea.

Kulusevski had multiple setbacks after knee surgery in May 2025. But a second procedure in March finally set him on the road to recovery.

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Álvaro Arbeloa’s been talking ahead of Fulham’s trip to Coventry on Saturday, and buoyed up by last weekend’s much needed win over Hull. “Nothing has changed for us,” insisted the manager, “we were not winning games but we believed in ourselves, we were doing so many things well,

“The most important thing [about the Hull win] is we were in same situation against Manchester United and Ipswich but didn’t win but now we had to improve in our transition and did. We controlled the ball in their half better than before.”

As the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry faded, though, so too did the clásico’s relevance. This isn’t to say matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid no longer matter. They always have and always will. In 2026, however, it’s difficult to measure a clásico’s standing. Is it still the sport’s biggest fixture?

Sunday’s match at Camp Nou will be watched by hundreds of millions of viewers all over the world. A clásico always carries significance, but this weekend’s edition will be especially significant. A Barça win would move them nine points clear of their rivals at the top of La Liga. A Real Madrid victory could be a catalyst for the rest of their season.

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Michael Carrick returned his most impressive performance precisely when required as he took questions in the midst of the first crisis engulfing him as Manchester United’s manager.

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Andy Hunter was Andoni Iraola’s Friday press briefing…

Iraola: ‘Uncertainty is no good for anyone’

• Updates on Manchester City and Nations League news

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That’s it from me for now. Luke McLaughlin is here to take over.

Manchester City: Andy Burnham’s intervention in the Manchester City debate has revived tensions between the Premier League and the UK prime minister.

Club facing sanctions from the Premier League after being found guilty of more than 100 charges relating to financial rules breaches

One of the best players in the world right now is Raphinha and Sid Lowe sat down with him about life at Barca, read here:

The Premier League may be on an international break but there are some English domestic games happening this weekend in the Women’s Super League. There are some big matches too with two derbies.

Charlton Athletic v Manchester City, Saturday, 1.30pm

London City Lionesses v Brighton, Saturday, 5pm

Manchester United v West Ham, Sunday, 1pm

Birmingham City v Crystal Palace, Sunday, 2pm

Liverpool v Everton, Sunday, 2pm

Tottenham v Aston Villa, Sunday, 2pm

Chelsea v Arsenal, Sunday, 4.30pm

⚽️ Buildup, news and discussion before Saturday’s games
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Saturday 5.30pm Sky Sports Premier League Venue Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Referee Darren England This season G2 Y7 R0 3.50 cards/game

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Matthias Jaissle revealed that summer signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo is edging closer to starting for Newcastle.

The 21-year-old forward arrived on Tyneside from Lille on deadline day and has featured as a substitute in Newcastle’s last two matches.

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The chief executives of the Football Association, Rugby Football Union and England and Wales Cricket Board have joined forces with leading broadcasters and YouTube in writing to the chancellor requesting tax credits for production companies to help deliver more television coverage of women’s sport.

The champions added another big signing and Leandro Paredes received a 10-game ban for his part in the World Cup final brawl

Nothing like a bit of exclusive news to kick off the shift. Can we keep this momentum going? We shall see!

Uefa and Concacaf have begun talks about setting up a combined Nations League tournament featuring all 96 European and North and Central American and Caribbean countries, in another direct challenge to Fifa.

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Arsenal are in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over Jarell Quansah. The asking price for the England defender expected to be at least €50m (£43m). He joined the German club from Liverpool last summer for an initial £30m, with the Reds inserting a buy-back clause in the deal.

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The big early news pre-stage was the announcement from Visma-Lease a Bike revealing that defending Pauline Ferrand-Prévot would not be starting stage eight. The Frenchwoman had not been able to live with the GC contenders when the racing got tough this week and her team have now said she had come down with an illness and was withdrawing from the race. Here’s the statement from Visma-Lease a Bike:

Unfortunately, Pauline was not feeling well this morning. In consultation with the medical staff, it has been decided that she will not start today. We wish Pauline a speedy recovery!

Updates as the riders head for the formidable Ventoux
Stage six report | Follow us on Instagram | Mail Tom

114km to go Korevaar’s attack couldn’t hold. The peloton is back together as the road starts veering upward before we hit the category three climb up the Colombier.

122km to go We are seeing the first attacks of substance on the flat section to Col du Colombier. Jeanne Korevaar (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) has burst clear of the peloton and got herself a lead of about 15secs.

Stage 20 runs for brutal 170.9km and concludes at Ale d’Huez
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148km to go You have to love Pedersen. He’s trying to bridge across to the peloton and looks like he’s swallowed a mouthful of wasps. Pure pain. What a rider.

149km to go Pedersen’s little batch of riders are hanging around, they’re only 25secs behind the peloton. With 12km to go to the top of this climb, Pedersen could get back on or even aim to catch the main group on the descent to make a bid for the intermediate sprint.

Tadej Pogacar broke the record for the fastest Alpe d’Huez ascent, earning a dominant stage win and extending his GC lead beyond seven minutes

127km to go No rest for the wicked, we’re straight on to the category Col Bayard, a 4.8km drag at 7.2%.

There’s Christian Prudhomme popping out of the sunroof and waving his little yellow flag, we’re off.

Ecuadorian takes impressive victory at Orcières-Merlette as Tadej Pogacar maintains overall lead despite illness concerns in his team

161km to go The five riders up the road are Mathis le Berre (TotalEnergies), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Nikolya Vinokurov, Aaron Gate (XDS Astana) and Lewis Askey (NSN). They managed to get 45secs on the main bunch but that is about to disappear rapidly.

174km to go Five riders have broken away and churned out a lead of around 20 seconds. That is unlikely to last when they hit Côte d’Engins shortly.

Tour de France updates from Évian to Thonon-les-Bains
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We could have a new leader here, Mattia Cattaneo (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) is on a heater. He’s gone through the 1km to go marker with a nine second advantage on Armirail. Can he hold it?

There are five points on offer in the polkadot race today for the rider that posts the quickest time up the Côte de Larringes. Pogacar is the current leader in the mountains classification but Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick-Step) is wearing the jersey (skinsuit today) because the race leader can’t wear both. The Frenchman will be emptying the tank up the climb, not worrying too much about his overall time, and hoping the GC leaders try to pace themselves a bit more evenly later on. Paret-Peintre has about 4km to go on the climb. One to keep an eye on.

Tour de France updates from 12pm BST/1pm CEST
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There’s no exlplosion off the start but it’s a narrow road to navigate from the flag drop.

We’re still about 3.5km out from the flag drop. Adam Yates is in need of some technical assistance, but should have time to get that sorted before we begin racing.