Pep Guardiola does not like predicting the future.

Before a ball had been kicked this season, Manchester City s manager refused to solidify his team and Liverpool as favourites to push for the Premier League title again.

Based on Liverpool s underwhelming start to the campaign, perhaps Guardiola was right to hold off, and the City boss kept to the same tactic on Tuesday when asked if Erling Haaland – who has scored 12 goals in eight games in all competitions this season – could be the difference when it comes to the Citizens finally ending their wait for Champions League glory.

I m not able to know it, Guardiola said bluntly ahead of City s meeting with Haaland s former club Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. The team is playing well, so is he. But right no…

Mikel Arteta insisted Arsenal s performance against Brighton and Hove Albion in the EFL Cup did not warrant defeat as he bemoaned their failures in front of goal.

The Gunners were eliminated from the third round of the EFL Cup for just the second time in their last 20 appearances after Brighton responded to Eddie Nketiah s opener with three unanswered goals.

Danny Welbeck s penalty restored parity in the first half before strikes from Kaouro Mitoma and Tariq Lamptey sealed a 3-1 victory at Emirates Stadium, where Brighton have won three of their last four.

Despite a comfortable defeat to Roberto Di Zerbi s Seagulls on Wednesday, Arteta suggested the Premier League leaders did not deserve to lose for a first time at home in nine games.

The view is that th…

Ashley Cole believes Arsenal are heading for a fifth successive season outside of the top four unless Mikel Arteta gets to grips with the current crisis at the club. 

A wretched start to the Premier League campaign has seen Arsenal drift to 15th place, losing seven of their opening 12 games including the last four at home. 

They headed into Wednesday s game against Southampton trailing their visitors by 10 points, a staggering set of circumstances so early in the season that reflects both Saints strong start and Arsenal s current malaise. 

The omens for Arsenal looked good when Arteta s team, building on some positive results and lively performances, beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final at the beginning of August. 

Yet the Spaniard, appointed last Decemb…

Fit-again Beth Mead says after “a lot of tough days” over the past year she has been “smiling like a Cheshire cat” following her return to the England squad.

Mead – top scorer and player of the tournament when England won Euro 2022 – sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage 12 months ago that saw her sit out the rest of last season and the subsequent World Cup in which the Lionesses finished as runners-up.

The winger has been back in action for Arsenal in recent weeks, scoring twice in Sunday’s 3-0 win against West Ham, and received an international recall for the forthcoming Nations League matches against the Netherlands and Scotland.

So are we

— Lionesses (@Lionesses)

She told a press conference: “I’ve been smiling lik…

Bukayo Saka is one of the best young players in the world and will be a huge threat to the United States hopes when they meet England, according to goalkeeper Matt Turner.

The USA began their World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against Wales on Monday, and they will face a stern test of their Group B credentials against Gareth Southgate s team next time out.

Saka took centre stage as the Three Lions crushed Iran 6-2, becoming the youngest player to score a World Cup brace for England (aged 21 years and 77 days).

Turner has seen Saka s talents at close quarters since joining Arsenal from the New England Revolution in June, and he knows the USA must keep a close eye on the tricky winger if they are to stand a chance on Friday.

I think it s pretty clear he s…

Rodrigo Bentancur says Uruguay enjoy thriving when they feel like they are out of the spotlight, ahead of a World Cup reunion with Portugal on Monday.

Four years on from their last-16 encounter in Russia, which La Celeste won 2-1 thanks to an Edinson Cavani brace, the pair will meet in a crucial Group H clash at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Portugal headed into that 2018 showdown as favourites and are tipped for success again this time around, having opened with victory over Ghana while Uruguay were held to a goalless draw by South Korea.

But Bentancur says his side are happy to fly under the radar and quietly go about their business.

I think it will be a different game, he said. Football has evolved. Now, we play with more intensity. We will bring our A-…

Valencia midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia is a doubt for the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona after the club confirmed he underwent a second operation on an intermuscular haematoma.

Kondogbia had a procedure due to the issue on April 7 and Marcelino was hopeful the Central African Republic midfielder would be fit to return before the end of the season.

However, Valencia announced the 26-year-old has suffered a setback and was admitted to hospital on Tuesday, damaging his chances of featuring in Seville on May 25.

Geoffrey Kondogbia was taken to hospital on Tuesday night with bleeding from an intermuscular haematoma, for which he had received surgical treatment on April 7, read a Valencia statement.

The player underwent tests and a further operation. M…

Rangers quickly swept away Old Firm frustrations with a 3-1 cinch Premiership win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox.

Philippe Clement lost his first game as Gers boss in the narrow 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Saturday but, just as it looked as if they were losing their way a bit after an energetic start, late first-half goals from wide-men Ross McCausland and Abdallah Sima gave them a commanding interval lead.

Killie, who went into the game unbeaten in six games, fought back and Danny Armstrong reduced the deficit in the 58th minute with a penalty awarded after VAR intervention.

It was the first penalty Rangers had conceded in 75 cinch Premiership matches since Lewis Ferguson netted for Aberdeen in a 1-1 draw in January 2022.

— Rangers Football Club (…

Tottenham responded to their setback at Burnley with a comfortable 4-0 win over struggling Leeds United on Saturday.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte had called his own future into question after they slipped to a fourth defeat in five Premier League games at Turf Moor, and his players produced the response he would have wanted at Elland Road.

Goals from Matt Doherty, Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane effectively settled the contest within the first 30 minutes as the visitors breathed new life into their Champions League aspirations.

Kane teed up Son Heung-min for Tottenham s fourth as they combined to make Premier League history, leaving Leeds, who have now lost three consecutive home games in the top flight for the first time since November 2003, in no doubt that they a…