Page 66 – The Pulse of Football

Oct

2025

Preview: Newcastle meet Spurs in the Carabao Cup

Both Newcastle and Spurs will have one eye on winning the Carabao Cup this season, so it’s bad news for one of them that they’ll be going out in the last sixteen.

By Ian King

Neither Spurs or Newcastle have built much momentum this season

Spurs’ 3-0 win at Everton at the weekend was a curate’s egg of a performance, a comfortable win in which they maximised their set-piece opportunities without looking that impressive. The performance at least counterbalanced their poor performance at home to Aston Villa a week earlier.

Newcastle, meanwhile, stuttered their way to a 2-1 win against Fulham at the weekend. They’ve been masters of inconsistency so far this season, having failed to win, lose or draw twice in a row in their opening nine League matches. The goalscoring issues with which they started the season have largely evaporated, but overall performances have remained mixed.

Newcastle have had a hold over Spurs in recent years

Newcastle have won five out of the club’s last six meetings, including a 6-1 win in April 2023 and a 4-0 win almost exactly a year later.

The two clubs met in the semi-finals of this competition in 1976, with Spurs winning the first leg 1-0 but Newcastle winning the return 3-1 to book a place at Wembley, where they lost to Manchester City. Spurs have won both of the clubs’ meetings in this competition since then, winning 2-1 in 2008 and 4-0 in 2014.

The Carabao Cup is an opportunity for players who haven’t yet caught light to prove themselves

The last few weeks at Newcastle have been all about Nick Woltemade, but he’s more likely than not to be rested for this one, so we have to turn our attention elsewhere. One player who may feature who could do with a kick-start is Anthony Elanga, who cost them £55 million during the summer from Nottingham Forest but has registered neither a goal nor an assist from 13 appearances for them so far.

Spurs will also be shuffling their pack, and this may mean a start for Wilson Odobert on the right wing. Odobert has made 11 appearances for Spurs this season and hasn’t registered a goal or an assist either. The Carabao Cup is a perfect opportunity for players who have been on the fringes of a regular first-team place to demonstrate their value. Odobert is another player with a point to prove to his manager.

Schedule pressures and injury lists mean that there will be changes to both teams

Valentino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Yoane Wissa and Harrison Ashby will all be missing for Newcastle through injury, while Sven Botman is also a doubt. Both teams will probably swap out their goalkeepers, which will mean a rare sighting of the lesser-spotted Aaron Ramsdale for Newcastle, while Gugliemo Vicario – who’s earned a rest, given his recent performances for Spurs – will likely be replaced by Antonin Kinsky.

Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin all remain injured for Spurs, which isn’t that far off a full team’s worth of players. For Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, there is an opportunity to shine.

Home advantage may be the key difference between two teams who’ve not found much consistency so far this season

Both teams go into this match having ended lengthy trophy droughts in 2025. Newcastle are the holders of this competition, while Spurs won the Europa League. Both of these wins were something of a surprise, and winning a trophy of some sort can often be a kick-start towards more sustained success, but neither have particularly looked like doing so yet this season.

Newcastle beat Fulham at the weekend but didn’t tear up any trees in doing so, and that’s been the story of their season so far, while Spurs’ have been getting the results without the performances quite being at the level which makes you believe that they’re not going to glitch out and perform in the way that they did against Aston Villa again at some point in the relatively near future.

When two teams who’ve both been somewhat inconsistent are meeting in a match for which both are expected to make changes, picking a winner feels particularly fiendish. But Newcastle have an excellent recent record in this fixture and it’s a long journey north for Spurs, and while winning a domestic trophy would be a perfect aperitif after their Europa League win, it does feel as though this trip might be a step too far. I’ll go for Newcastle to get home 2-1, but given the way these two teams have performed so far this season, anything could happen.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Carabao Cup with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Liverpool and Crystal Palace meet again

Anfield plays host to an intriguing Carabao Cup match-up on Wednesday evening as an out of sorts Liverpool take on a Crystal Palace team with just one win in October.

By Sam McGuire

The story so far

If you ignore the Community Shield (loss to Palace), Liverpool started the season with seven wins from seven across all competitions. Since then though, the Reds have won just one of six and this run includes four consecutive losses in the Premier League.

Arne Slot’s side have one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League and only five teams have conceded more than the Reds after nine matches. The reigning champions are now seven points off of the pace, injuries are racking up to key players while a number of their title winning team are out of form.

The Carabao Cup is both a hindrance and an opportunity. It is a game they don’t need right now with the squad looking thin and so many big matches on the horizon, but it’s a chance for a bit of a confidence boost.

The same could be said for the visitors too.

For Palace, they kicked off Liverpool’s losing run with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park. Olivier Glasner’s men had been on an 19-match unbeaten run until recently. They’re now four without a win across all competitions and find themselves 10th in the Premier League. They’ve blanked in their last two outings and are struggling for clean sheets.

Recent form

The 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt was a bit of a false dawn for Liverpool.

It was supposed to be a confidence boost for the Reds. Yet it was more of the same for Slot’s side in the loss to Brentford. Slot’s side conceded an early goal, couldn’t deal with the direct nature of their hosts and were wasteful in attack.

It was the same in losses against Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United too. The Premier League champions are in a rut.

The Eagles haven’t been as bad as Liverpool, but the wheels have fallen off a little bit over recent weeks. Glasner’s side conceded two late goals to Everton to bring their unbeaten run to an abrupt halt. They showed great resolve to claim a 3-3 draw with Bournemouth before back-to-back losses to AEK Larnaca and Arsenal. The game against the Cherries aside, Palace are finding goals hard to come by and that seems to be their problem.

Key Players

Both sides might rotate heavily with the focus being on other competitions. Both teams might go with strong starting XIs as they look to return to winning ways. It’s difficult to really know what either manager will do and, as a result, it’s difficult to know who might be the key players for this game.

Fede Chiesa will likely get the nod for Liverpool though, regardless of how strong Slot goes against the Eagles. He’s had an influential season for the Reds and will look to, once again, make the most of his opportunity in the team.

For Palace, Glasner isn’t going to resist the urge to play Ismaïla Sarr against Liverpool, is he? The Senegal forward has a good record against the Merseyside club and is one of the few players in Europe who seems to have the better of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté on a regular basis.

Team News

Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni all miss out for Liverpool while the expectation is that Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Alexander Isak won’t be risked in this clash with so many big games coming up for Liverpool. Having played so much football recently it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai rested for this clash either.

For Palace, Cheick Doucouré is still out but, other than that, Glasner appears to have a full squad to pick from.

Prediction

Under Slot, Liverpool don’t have the best record against Palace. They picked up a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park early last season but have failed to win any of the last three matches between the two teams. They could only manage a draw in the final game of the 2024/25 season, the two sides played out a 2-2 draw at Wembley in the Community Shield before Palace claimed a 2-1 win in their last meeting.

Without knowing how strong either team will go, it’s hard to predict what might happen. Liverpool have home advantage but with the way they’ve been playing recently, will it matter? We’re going to say 1-1 with the match going to penalties.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Carabao Cup with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Gilberto Mora is Mexico’s next big thing

It feels like football is getting younger and younger, mostly because it is. Some of the world’s best players are teenagers, wearing braces, doing TikTok dances, and fearlessly ripping it up on the biggest stages.

By Alex Roberts

Elite clubs are constantly on the hunt for the next big thing, scouring every corner of the earth. Many of them have landed in Mexico, hoping to snap up a 17-year-old that plays for Tijuana, Gilberto Mora.

He’s already breaking records. Over the summer he featured in Javier Aguirre’s Mexico side for their triumphant Gold Cup campaign, dazzling against North America’s biggest names.

Just 16 at the time, when a player is called up to an international tournament at that age, they must have something about them. But still, it’s almost always more of a learning experience, with little expectation of actually featuring much.

Not for Mora. Aguirre had absolutely no problem leaning on the youngster, handing him his debut in their 2-0 quarter final win over guest nation Saudi Arabia. Mora would then provide the assist for veteran striker Raúl Jiménez in their 1-0 win over Honduras in Mexico’s next game.

Aguirre was clearly impressed with his input, giving Mora the nod to start ahead of more established stars like Orbelín Pineda and Carlos Rodríguez for the final against arch rivals USA.

Mexico went on to lift the CONCACAF Gold Cup, beating Mauricio Pochettino’s lads 2-1. It was a great achievement for them, but on a personal level for Mora, he now holds the record as the youngest-ever player to lift an international trophy, aged 16 years and 265 days, overtaking Lamine Yamal and the late great Pelé.

What makes off this more interesting, is that Mora wasn’t really played in his preferred role throughout the Gold Cup and was primarily used as a midfielder. He’s more of a winger, incredibly small standing at 5’3″, but what he lacks in stature he makes up for in trickery.

Watching him play it’s easy to tell how much he loves football. Mora is so free when he steps onto the pitch, boldly getting the crowd off their seats with nutmegs and drag backs, using his remarkable close control to get the better of defenders that are old enough to be his dad.

He was just 15 when he made his Liga MX debut with the number 251 on his back. For those of you that have watched much Mexican football, that’s par for the course, it’s an unorthodox league.

Two weeks later he became the youngest goal scorer in Liga MX history, slotting home after a cross broke kindly to him around the penalty spot against Club León.

Even his manager, Juan Carlos Osorio, couldn’t help but carried away with how big of a deal Mora could be. “I hope he goes on to have a successful career,” he said after the game. “This is a triumph for the academy and for Gilberto’s family.”

He went on to play 1483 minutes across 30 league games for Tijuana last season, scoring two goals and providing one assist. It may not sound remarkable, but don’t forget Mora is a child playing in a league with a lot of pretty gruff men.

This season, he’s really starting to look the business. Playing off the left wing, although occasionally featuring up front, Mora has already beaten last season’s goal return with five in 14 across all competitions.

Mora is a modern winger, not afraid to drive toward the opposition penalty area, wriggling around defenders and striking with his preferred right foot. His low centre of gravity makes it desperately hard to get the ball off him, think Eden Hazard when he was at Chelsea, not Real Madrid.

Don’t let that make you think he’s one dimensional, however. In the game against the US, he popped up on the left demanding the ball from full-back Jorge Sánchez, turning inside and forcing ‘keeper Matt Freese into action from distance.

At club level this season, Tijuana have been happy to give him as much attacking freedom as their able, often leaving him out wide, knowing that the pros far outweigh the cons when out of possession.

He’s been an almost constant attacking threat, exceeding his xG of 2.21 by 0.79, having 17 shots, six of which have been on target, suggesting he’s adding a more clinical edge to his game.

Mora isn’t quite as creative as he should be, however, creating just eight chances for his teammates, providing one assist along the way. His 179 successful passes isn’t great either, brimming with confidence he wants the ball, knowing he can make a difference.

Having starred for Mexico’s senior team, he was called up to their under-20s for the World Cup in September. Unsurprisingly, Mora looked a cut above the rest, ending the tournament as FotMob’s highest rated player. That should make up for losing to Argentina in the quarters.

His best performance came against Spain in the group stage. Just after the half-hour mark, he nutmegs their number eight, plays it off to a teammate, who quickly feeds it back to him, allowing Mora to slot past the ‘keeper to open the scoring. He made it look so easy.

*FotMob’s best rated players at the 2025 U20 World Cup*

Spain restored parity just before the break, then went 2-1 up in the 81^st minute thanks to a penalty from Udinese striker Iker Bravo. Mora wasn’t having that. He didn’t hesitate when the ball fell to him six minutes later, sending in a gentle yet well placed volley to make it 2-2.

Mora has everything in his locker to become a household name, although there are, of course, still a few things that can be improved up. His decision making isn’t great, he also needs to bulk up a bit, but we’ll put that down to him being a kid.

It’s just a matter of time before he’s playing somewhere in Europe. Real Madrid and Barcelona have already been linked, but they’ll have to wait until he’s 18 before he can officially join.

Wherever he ends up, Mora will be fine.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow Liga MX on FotMob during the 2025/26 season – with in-depth stat coverage, xG, and player ratings, where available. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Everton host Thomas Frank’s Spurs

Everton host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, as the Toffees attempt to continue their unbeaten start to life at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

By Matt Smith

Spurs have won just once in their previous five games in all competitions, and they travel to Merseyside where they haven’t had much luck in recent years.

Everton are unbeaten in their last seven home fixtures against Tottenham, albeit at a different stadium.

Team news

Everton will be without Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson for this game. Branthwaite recently underwent surgery on a hamstring issue and is likely to be on the treatment table for an extended period, while Patterson picked up a problem playing for the U21s.

Thomas Frank confirmed that Cristian Romero, Dominic Solanke, and Destiny Udogie were unlikely to be fit enough to feature. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison also remain on the sidelines.

The Toffees need to tighten up

Everton have been known for their defensive solidity in recent years, but they have perhaps been slightly fortunate to have conceded as few goals as they have this season. The Toffees have given up 12.2 xG, but have only conceded nine goals so far.

A win this weekend could take Everton into the European places if results go their way, so it’s been far from a disastrous start to the campaign. David Moyes’ side welcome back Jack Grealish this week, which is a huge boost for the Merseyside club.

Tottenham dropping after a strong start

Spurs enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign under new manager Frank, but they’ve started to shown signs of inconsistency in recent weeks. They’ve won just once in their previous four games, but they have accumulated more points away from home than any other side.

Tottenham have created just 8.3 xG, despite scoring 14 goals this season. That could be a concern for Frank and his side, as the data suggest they might have a few more points than they possibly deserve so far this campaign.

Jack Grealish the danger man

Only Bruno Fernandes has created more chances than Grealish this season, and that’s with the Man City loanee missing their previous game and only coming off the bench in their opening match.

The England international has been a breath of fresh air for the Toffees in the final third, who have been missing a creative spark for many years now. You feel that there’s still more to come from Grealish, who has only found the back of the net on one occasion, and the motivation of getting into the England squad for the World Cup next year will only benefit Everton.

Prediction

Tottenham’s struggles to build from the back this season could play into Everton’s hands, and they have a strong record against Spurs in recent years. With the Toffees having a better squad than they’ve had in previous meetings with the north London outfit, we’re going for a 2-1 victory to Moyes’ men.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, physical metrics, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Manchester City visit unhappy hunting ground Villa Park

Villa host City with Pep Guardiola’s squad looking to leave Birmingham with three points for the first time since 2021.

By Filip Mishov

A clash of two in-form sides led by a couple of great Spanish masterminds

Unai Emery had his groove back, Aston Villa were on a five-match winning streak across the Premier League and the Europa League, but a setback followed, with the Villans’ heavily-rotated side losing to Go Ahead Eagles. However, the Midlands’ visitors still won the xG (2.82) battle and dominated the possession in the Netherlands, which is further proof that they have turned the page in terms of their performances this season.

Just like Villa, Pep Guardiola‘s squad are riding high on confidence, with the Cityzens unbeaten across all competitions since August, with Gianluigi Donnarumma keeping a clean sheet in each of the last three games. The Premier League title contenders are hitting top form ahead of an incredibly tough fixture run, including home matches against Bournemouth, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool before November’s international break.

The Sky Blues’ last win at Villa Park dates back to 2021 and the then-champions lost in Birmingham both last season as well as the season before. Unai Emery boasts a perfect record against Pep Guardiola at Villa Park, which is both rare and impressive at the same time.

Key players

Former City youngster, Morgan Rogers is excelling under Unai Emery’s guidance and the 23-year-old is Villa’s most dangerous attacker this season. The England international is the squad’s joint-top performer in the Premier League based on goals + assists (3) alongside unlikely hero, Emiliano Buendia, and the tenacious attacking midfielder is ranking high in both chances created (7) and big chances created (3), making him a threat in and around the box.

Despite Erling Haaland scoring all the goals, Man City’s results have improved mainly due to the refinement of their defence and Ruben Dias has played a key role in steadying the ship in front of Gigi. The Portuguese centre-back has started in all but two matches across all competitions this season and his presence and leadership is a settling presence. Additionally, the vice-captain is averaging a FotMob rating of 7.5 over the past five matches, while his compatriot at right-back, Matheus Nunes also deserves a notable mention for his contribution.

Team news

Unai Emery is close to having a full squad to pick from with the exception of Youri Tielemans, who is injured and will miss Sunday’s clash, while Lucas Digne is doubtful.

Abdukodir Khusanov and Rodri are the only certain absentees for City, while Nico González is a doubt. Guardiola’s side have had an extra 48 hours more than the Villans to rest and prepare for the match, which will surely benefit the visitors from Manchester.

Prediction

With both squads enjoying a decent run of form, it is hard to pick a clear favourite, but given Aston Villa’s recent home record against Manchester City, I expect goals on either side, and if I have to pick a winner, it would be the latter, only due to having the free-scoring Erling Haaland.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Table-toppers Real Madrid and Barcelona meet for the season’s first Clásico

The newest chapter of the storied rivalry between Spain’s two most successful clubs is set to be written at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday.

By Neel Shelat

Barcelona aiming for five straight Clásico wins

Barcelona’s success in all four Clásicos last season certainly was a big reason behind their triumph in all three domestic competitions. They put 16 goals past their arch-rivals’ defence, showcasing their irresistible attacking strength.

The last time the Blaugrana won four consecutive Clásicos was between 2008 and 2010, when a certain Pep Guardiola was their head coach. They capped that streak off with a fifth win – the famous 5-0, which remains the most one-sided meeting between these two teams in the 21st century.

Both sides’ weaknesses exposed in recent heavy league defeats

Barcelona will need to produce something very special if they are to relive the highs of November 2010, as they haven’t looked particularly convincing of late. The scoreline in their midweek Champions League win over Olympiacos was very flattering after a dubious red card, but they needed a stoppage-time winner to beat bottom-of-the-table Girona last weekend and suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Sevilla in their last away match.

Real Madrid’s form has been far better in contrast to that as they have won 11 of their 12 matches so far this season, but that one outlier was a 5-2 derby defeat to Atlético. They put together a quite puzzling and weird display at the Metropolitano, so they must be keen to avoid making the same mistakes.

Significant injury issues for both

Injury issues have been plaguing both Real Madrid and Barcelona for quite a while, so this match will be no exception. Los Blancos will be without at least two defenders in Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba, while Dean Huijsen as well as both the recognised right backs have not featured in recent weeks. The ex-Bournemouth centre back looked excellent at the start of the season, so his potential return would be a huge boost.

Barcelona will similarly be hoping to see the return of Raphinha, but they are sure to miss Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo and Gavi besides their top two goalkeepers. Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford are the two obvious alternative options for the striker spot, while Fermín López is in line to start behind them after netting a hat-trick in midweek.

Could the pressing battles be decisive?

Barcelona’s high line played a starring role in last season’s first Clásico as they caught Kylian Mbappé offside eight times, but the French forward now has a year’s worth of extra experience and is in imperious form. So, the visitors will likely need to limit the number of balls they allow in behind their defence if they are to make Wojciech Szczęsny’s task relatively straightforward.

On the other hand, Real Madrid might want to step up much more than they did in the Madrid derby. Their passivity seemed to cost them dear that day, so against a team without a target striker, they shouldn’t be afraid to turn up the pressing intensity.

Prediction

Xabi Alonso’s side seem to have the upper hand in terms of personnel and tactical matchups going into his first Clásico, but Barcelona certainly can open any game up.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from LaLiga with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, physical metrics, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Arsenal meet Palace at the Emirates

Arsenal can build more title momentum against Crystal Palace on Sunday with the Gunners on a six-game winning run.

By Graham Ruthven

Title chances

This could be Arsenal’s season. The Gunners were widely tipped as one of the teams that could win the 2025/26 Premier League title, but they might have made themselves favourites over the last few weeks.

A lot of that is down to Liverpool’s inconsistent form. The defending champions are on a losing run of three games in the league, while Arsenal have won their last six in all competitions.

If the door at the top of the Premier League table has been opened, Mikel Arteta’s side look ready to walk through it with Sunday’s home match against Crystal Palace an opportunity to build more momentum.

Palace will be dangerous opponents having beaten Liverpool twice already this season, but the Eagles are fresh from a disappointing loss to AEK Larnaca in the Conference League.

Nevertheless, Oliver Glasner’s side have proven their ability to upset the best teams and could hit Arsenal on the break to destabilise their growing title challenge.

Crystal Palace are remarkably leading the Premier League for Expected Goals (xG), shots on target per match and Big Chances. The Gunners mustn’t take them lightly.

Key players

Bukayo Saka was a constant danger in the Champions League victory over Atlético Madrid on Tuesday and is almost certain to start against Crystal Palace on Sunday too.

No other Arsenal player has created more chances this season than Saka (13) who is such an important component of the Gunners’ attack. With just two goals and assists to his name, the 24-year-old surely wants to improve his raw numbers.

Declan Rice will anchor things at the base of the midfield for the hosts. The England international is a threat from set pieces, as he showed by assisting Gabriel against Atleti.

Viktor Gyökeres bagged a brace on Tuesday night and is expected to lead the line for Arsenal against Palace with Eberechi Eze in line to face his former club.

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a hat trick in Palace’s whirlwind 3-3 draw against Bournemouth last weekend and will stand a good chance of physically matching Gabriel and international teammate William Saliba at the Emirates Stadium.

Ismaïla Sarr will pose a threat on the right wing while Adam Wharton will face a midfield battle against Rice who will also have Martin Zubimendi alongside him in the centre.

If Palace are to get anything from Sunday’s game, they will need their back three of Marc Guéhi, Maxence Lacroix and Chris Richards to be in top form.

Team news

Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke remain sidelined for Arsenal while Martin Ødegaard is expected to miss Sunday’s match as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Crystal Palace, however, have just one injury absence in the form of Chadi Riad. Otherwise, Glasner has a fully fit and available squad to choose from for the visit to North London.

Prediction

The Gunners don’t concede many goals, in fact they’ve conceded just once at home this season, but Palace create more changes than most. We’ll go with a home win, but not without some consolation for the visitors: Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the 2025/26 Premier League season with FotMob – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Brentford host Liverpool on Saturday night

Saturday evening sees Premier League champions Liverpool travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford. The Reds are looking to bring a three match losing streak to an end in the English top flight having returned to winning ways on Wednesday against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.

By Sam McGuire

The story so far

Liverpool are yet to draw a game this season. Arne Slot‘s side started with seven successive wins across all competitions before losing four on the spin.

They surrendered an early lead at the summit of the Premier League and now find themselves four points off the face after losses to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United.

A resounding 5-1 win over an underwhelming Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday may have snapped the Reds out of their rut. However, the real test will be against the Bees on Saturday evening.

Brentford have been pretty inconsistent this term. They’ve suffered defeats against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Fulham and Manchester City but picked up wins over Aston Villa, Manchester United and West Ham United.

Keith Andrews has done a decent job since replacing Thomas Frank and has managed to get Igor Thiago firing.

Recent form

It might be hard to believe this but Brentford are the form team heading into this game with seven points from their last five in the Premier League. They took a point off of Chelsea in a 2-2 draw, hammered Manchester United 3-1 and claimed a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham during this period.

Defensively, things have improved recently, with the Bees conceding just two across their last three outings, and this included a game against Manchester City.

Liverpool have six points across their last five Premier League games and are without a win since the 20th September when the Reds beat Everton 2-1 in the Merseyside derby.

Slot’s men are struggling for goals and have managed just one clean sheet across these fixtures, away at Burnley.

Key Players

For the hosts, the main man is Thiago. He was the Player of the Match against West Ham last time out, earning himself an 8.6 FotMob rating. He’s scored for the Bees in wins over the Hammers, Manchester United and Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup. The 24 year-old also found the back of the net in defeats to Sunderland and Nottingham Forest.

Thiago has been responsible for five of his team’s 11 goals this term.

*Player traits comparison for an in form Cody Gakpo*

For Liverpool, the key player is a surprising one. It is Cody Gakpo.

He’s scored in five successive games for club and country. He’s the joint top scorer for the Reds in the Premier League with three goals and his average FotMob rating of 7.67 is the highest in the Liverpool team.

Team News

Liverpool are without Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni while Ryan Gravenberch remains an injury doubt after sustaining an injury against United last weekend.

Brentford are missing Scotland international Aaron Hickey. Other than that, Andrews has a full squad available to him for this Saturday night clash.

Prediction

If Liverpool have title aspirations, a win is needed here. The way Brentford are playing means it’ll be a tough game though. Both teams are going to score. The Reds might edge it after a confidence boost on Wednesday. We’re saying 2-1 to the visitors.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Oct

2025

Preview: Manchester United meet Brighton aiming for third straight win

Manchester United return to Old Trafford following their Liverpool success to take on Brighton team who are also recovering from a disappointing start to the season.

By Ian King

Both teams have momentum that they’ll be looking to maintain

Both Manchester United and Brighton are on an upward trajectory that they’ll be looking to maintain, going into this late Saturday afternoon fixture at Old Trafford. United come into this match off the back of their 2-1 win at Anfield last Sunday, and have now won three of their last four games, lifting them into the top half of the Premier League for the first time since their win against Burnley briefly took them to 9th ahead of the September international break.

But Brighton have also recovered from a mixed start. Having lost two of their first four matches, they’ve now gone four League games unbeaten since the middle of September, and they had a similarly impressive result to United last weekend, with a 2-1 win against Newcastle United at the Amex.

Manchester United’s recent record against Brighton is pretty terrible

Manchester United have a pretty terrible record in recent matches against Brighton (particularly at home), having lost six and won just two of their last eight meetings, with one of those two wins being on penalties following a goalless draw in the 2023 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Brighton completed a league double over United last season, winning 2-1 at the Amex and 3-1 at Old Trafford.

*The previous three meetings at Old Trafford*

Getting Mbeumo scoring regularly could get United on track, while Welbeck could offer a reminder of what they lost

If there’s one player more than any other who seems likely to lead Manchester United back to sunnier climes, it’s Bryan Mbeumo. He took exactly a minute to open the scoring at Anfield last weekend, and getting him scoring regularly – he’s managed just two in eight in the League so far this season – would go a long way towards getting them back challenging for a European place. After all, it’s all very well talking about United having an advantage over their rivals on account of having no European football this season, but a club of this size really needs European football.

It’s now been more than a decade since Danny Welbeck was a Manchester United player, but the striker has hit a rich vein of form this season, with his four goals in eight appearances including both goals in their win against Newcastle. There’s even been talk of him getting an England recall at 34 years of age following an absence of seven years. He has it in him to become Albion’s talisman, this season.

United’s injury woes have eased, but Brighton could be without several familiar names

Manchester United’s injury problems seem to be easing. Long-term absentee Lisandro Martínez is close to a return but won’t make this one, but Leny Yoro could push for a return after only making a five-minute cameo at the end of the Liverpool match. Benjamin Šeško was also on the bench for that match, but he could also return to lead their attack.

Brighton have injury problems, both in the short and long-term. Solly March, Adam Webster and Jack Hinshelwood all remain out of action, while Kaoru Mitoma, Joel Veltman, Diego Gómez and Brajan Gruda will all need pre-match fitness tests. Carlos Baleba, who Manchester United lusted after all summer, is likely to start in midfield.

Both teams are on an upward trajectory, but there’s little between them at the moment

It would be a bit premature to say that Manchester United are BACK – Liverpool were abject last Sunday, yet still unfortunate to not take a point from the game – but confidence is building around Old Trafford and it’s starting to look as though Ruben Amorim is getting his system through to his players.

Brighton, meanwhile, have been slowly improving since a poor start to the season, and while they do have injury problems, their win against Newcastle United last weekend was a reminder that they’re a team that you simply cannot take for granted.

If Manchester United want to get back towards the top end of the table, this is the sort of home match to win. But Brighton have a good record against them in recent fixtures, and their confidence will be high following last weekend’s excellent result.

United still have question marks hanging over their defence and Brighton can blow hot and cold (often within the same 90 minutes), so I’m going for a 2-2 draw and for these two teams to end their weekend where they started it, in the middle of the Premier League table but continuing to look in an upward direction.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Oct

2025

Preview: Chelsea face Sunderland for the first time since 2017

High-flying Sunderland travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday for arguably their sternest test since returning to the Premier League, while Chelsea will be hoping to gain further ground on the top four and title chasers.

By Alex Roberts

Enzo Maresca’s young side are full of confidence after a comfortable 5-1 midweek win over Ajax, a team that looked more like a pub side than four-time Champions League winners, with three teenagers scoring for the same side in the same game for the first time in the tournament’s history.

As for Sunderland, their 2-0 win over Wolves last time out shows they’re doing exactly what newly promoted sides must do, beating the teams likely to be battling alongside them to avoid the drop.

A weird reunion for Marc Guiu

In another universe, the young Spaniard would be watching on with his Sunderland teammates rather than potentially starting with his Chelsea ones. He would have been ineligible to feature against his parent club should he have remained on loan on Wearside.

Alas, his loan was cut short after Chelsea decided to ship Nicolas Jackson off to Bayern Munich and here we are. Guiu started and scored the opener in the win over Ajax, with Chelsea looking an altogether more cohesive side with him on the pitch.

He came on against Liverpool, distracted Virgil van Dijk enough to allow Marc Cucurella to send in the cross for Estêvão’s winner, and after replacing Alejandro Garnacho at half time vs Forest, they were 2-0 up within seven minutes. It’s almost as if when Chelsea play a proper striker, they score goals.

The signing of the summer?

Sunderland spent a lot of money in the summer transfer window to get their squad ready for the step up from the Championship to the Premier League, and it appears to have worked wonders.

Few new boys across the league have had as instant an impact as Nordi Mukiele, however. The French defender is a constant, leading the charts for tackles made per 90 minutes at Sunderland with 3.3, while also making an average of eight clearances per game.

*Mukiele’s player traits, compared against defenders in top 5 leagues*

Capable of playing as a centre-back or a right back, he bagged the opening goal in the 2-0 win over Wolves having somehow found himself at left wing, playing a lovely one-two with Trai Hume, and beating José Sá. Adding goals to his game would be a welcome bonus.

Team News

Chelsea welcome Wesley Fofana back in the win over Ajax after missing the previous four games due to a concussion he picked up in the 2-1 League Cup win over Lincoln City, with Enzo Fernández also returned from a knock he picked up while on international duty.

Tosin Adarabioyo started his first game since the defeat to Man United, so Chelsea’s centre-back injury crisis appears to be over. Still, they’re missing Cole Palmer (groin), Levi Colwill (ACL), Dário Essugo (thigh), Benoît Badiashile (muscle), Liam Delap (hamstring), however.

Sunderland have a good few injuries too, with Ajibola Alese (shoulder), Dennis Cirkin (wrist), Leo Hjelde (Achilles tendon), Habib Diarra, (groin), and Romaine Mundle (hamstring) all out.

Prediction

Chelsea don’t tend to start games particularly well, so if Sunderland get an early goal, this could be interesting. We’re going to go with an edgy 2-1 home win.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.