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On All Hallows’ Eve all eyes before kick-off at Stamford Bridge were on two youngsters dressed in black and white.

Not the children ducking and weaving between doorways down the Fulham Road in search of Halloween candy, but Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, Chelsea’s two loanees featuring in something of an audition against their parent club.

For the 20-year-old Tomori, it was nightmarish start. With barely five minutes on the clock, as if spooked by a scary outfit, he took his eye off a cross, scooping the ball from his left toe onto his right shin and back into his own net.

The look on his manager Frank Lampard’s face said it all. The 40-year-old said before the game he would not celebrate if his current charges scored against his former club. He was as good as his word in that sense but he certainly lived every moment; a nervous ball of energy on the sideline, wincing at Tomori’s own goal, suppressing a fist pump as Marriott saved his blushes shortly after and wincing once again as captain Richard Keogh shunted a replica of Tomori’s error past Scott Carson.

He must at least have had a smile on his face as Derby’s fans subsequently launched into an ironic cheer of “Shall we score a goal for you?”

Another soon went in at either end in what was a manic opening 45. Not many tricks, but certainly a treat for the thousands packed in on this chilly October evening.

There were more errors and a few signs of promise from Tomori who was good on the ball and strong in the tackle but perhaps a little too eager to impress after that early blunder, often rushing into areas that left his more experienced – and slow – centre-back partner Keogh exposed.

Of the two, Mount can certainly be more pleased with his performance, leaving Stamford Bridge with an assist – a wonderfully weighted cross for Martyn Waghorn to score Derby’s second – and several knowing nods of approval from the home faithful as he twisted and turned away from pressure and fizzed the ball left and right from his advanced spot in midfield. It is those sort of flashes that earned him a spot in Gareth Southgate’s most recent squad and, we should expect, many more in future.

Not only does he wear the same No 8 shirt as Lampard did in his storied career here, but Mount embodies the two qualities his manager has spoken of demanding from his players: being “brave” on the ball and displaying great “desire”.

Always positive, always looking forward and showing impressive energy, and – unlike Lampard did in his playing days – often leadnig the line, suffocating Chelsea with a high press and forcing mistakes.

The only thing missing from Mount’s performance was a goal – seeing a Lampard-esque effort from 25 yards deflect narrowly wide and another saved low down by Willy Caballero.

Maurizio Sarri tweaked his defence after several frights, bringing on David Luiz and dropping deeper and the home side eventually saw out the win.

In his programme notes before the game, the Italian noted that he had so many players performing well that it was becoming difficult to narrow them down to a starting XI.

That could well be the biggest hurdle facing Mount in his hopes of building a career at Chelsea. But he certainly started going about it in the right way.

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Sixteen teams become eight in the Carabao Cup this week as fourth round ties are played across the country.

The pick of the week’s fixtures comes on Wednesday night when Frank Lampard takes his young Derby County side to former club Chelsea.

The Championship team will be full of confidence after conquering Manchester United in the previous round and by the fact the Blues have allowed promising loanees Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori dispensation to play against them.

Elsewhere, Tottenham face West Ham in the second of the north London side’s three fixtures this week while Blackpool travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal.

Leicester’s match against Southampton has been postponed until a later date following the tragic events at the King Power Stadium at the weekend.

Nevertheless, the draw for the quarter-finals will take place after the televised match at Stamford Bridge.

When is the quarter-final draw?

The draw takes place on Wednesday 31 October, 2018, following the conclusion of Chelsea vs Derby County

How can you watch it?

The draw will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and can be streamed on the Sky Go app or via Now TV

Who are the favourites to win?

Manchester City (5/1) are favourites to retain the cup, with Premier League rivals Chelsea (7/1), Arsenal (10/1) and Tottenham (10/1) following closely behind.

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Type ‘James McClean’ into Twitter search at your peril. Yes, it’s that time of year again when the nation honours the lives of those lost in military service by wearing a poppy, and McClean is doused in ordure for respectfully declining.

The latest frothing of bile and four-letter bitterness on both sides of a loathsome argument on social media was precipitated by a statement from Stoke City confirming that McClean would not be wearing a poppy on his shirt against Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest.

Read more: What is the white poppy’s meaning and why do some people wear them for Remembrance Day?

Twitter is no place for nuance. McClean has explained his position to various degrees at Wigan, West Brom and now Stoke since the practice of sewing poppies into club shirts began six years ago. You would have thought it unnecessary to reheat this chestnut but for the hard of understanding here is an excerpt from a missive McClean addressed to Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, setting out his stance.

Respect

“I have complete respect for those who fought and died in both World Wars, many I know were Irish-born. I mourn their deaths like every other decent person and if the Poppy was a symbol only for the lost souls of World War I and II I would wear one. I want to make that 100 per cent clear. But the Poppy is used to remember victims of other conflicts since 1945 and this is where the problem starts for me.

Read more: The far right has weaponised the poppy. Let&’s reclaim it, in memory of our troops from around the world

“For people from the North of Ireland such as myself, and specifically those in Derry, scene of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, the poppy has come to mean something very different. Please understand, Mr Whelan, that when you come from Creggan, like myself, or the Bogside, Brandywell or the majority of places in Derry, every person still lives in the shadow of one of the darkest days in Ireland’s history, even if like me you were born nearly 20 years after the event. It is just a part of who we are, ingrained into us from birth.

“For me to wear a poppy would be as much a gesture of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in The Troubles, and Bloody Sunday especially, as I have in the past been accused of disrespecting the victims of WWI and WWII. It would be seen as an act of disrespect to those people; to my people.”

Prejudice

This must rank as one of the most profound examples of political engagement by a footballer. The Catholic community in Northern Ireland was for too long on the wrong end of ruinous and painful prejudice and discrimination. Civil protest against historic, institutional bias in matters of education, housing and employment at the highest levels of government and industry ultimately escalated into the lethal upheaval referenced by McClean. Derry was on the frontline of that awful political fissure, the consequences of which are still felt today.

Read more: Why Irish people got so angry about the Taoiseach wearing a poppy

As the Brexit episode demonstrates hatred and intolerance remains a potent feature of British political discourse. On the island of Ireland the debate has a significance beyond the narrow confines of in or out. And if staying or leaving the European Union can be the cause of death threats what chance does McClean have of a fair hearing in the emotive theatre of poppy representation? Correct. Nil.

As ever his Twitter assailants value ignorance over reason and pile in with all their vacuous might, their tedious correspondence splattered with the default descriptor “c**t”. The dignified attempts by Stoke and McClean to enlighten this pitiless community are condemned to wither in the filthy atmosphere that pervades. As Shakespeare reminds us, you can’t argue with fools. So why bother? A question, perhaps, for next year.

More on Remembrance Day:

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What a great advert for football. American Football, that is. Rather than Premier League football. The NFL crest still clearly visible in the Wembley centre circle, the yardage lines marked out, the centre of the field and the flanks worn to the bone beige from all the action.

There was no hiding the match between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles the day before and there could well have been a directive from both managers, Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, to go longer more often than usual on a pitch that was, quite frankly, an embarrassment. One of the English football calendar’s most prestigious matches played on a surface that a pub team would’ve jogged out on to sheepishly on a Sunday.

Even setting the pitch aside (which is quite hard with a game of football), it really wasn’t a great advert for Premier League football at all. A particularly poor quality match — especially when you consider the sides involved; two of the league’s best ball players — in front of a tired-sounding 56,000-sized crowd. Wembley has been Tottenham’s home away from home, until everyone became confused about which part of the country they’d be playing their next home match in.

Touchdown!

The game kicked off with a pass back and, in traditional NFL fashion, a punt up field by Spurs. Then City’s sixth-minute opener — the only goal of the match — came from a long ball from goalkeeper Ederson. Hoof up field, Kieran Trippier made a hash of it with a weak header back allowing wide receiver Raheem Sterling to run in behind. Trippier had sprinted back to defend the red zone, but Sterling beat him easily and, when Hugo Lloris came out, squared for Riyad Mahrez to finish. Touchdown!

Three minutes later, Spurs striker Harry Kane, an NFL fan away from his own sport, shot narrowly above the crossbar from just less than 20 yards. It was clearly just less than 20 yards because he had just crossed the 20-yard line etched on the pitch in white before he struck the ball. There was some confusion for a moment as to whether he had been awarded three goals for a field goal — but usual Premier League rules applied, and it was simply ‘over’.

Grass roots

There was some irony to the Football Association being denied around £900million, from the potential sale of Wembley to Fulham owner Shahid Khan, to pump into grassroots football and then forcing two of the country’s top teams to play on a pitch of a similar quality to those kids around the country have to use every single week. There you go, lads, see how you like it.

So some of the finest, most technically gifted footballers in the world were pitted against each other and supporters were treated to the ball bobbling between them. Or, in the case of Moussa Sissoko in the first half, bobbling straight out of play.

It was not the FA’s fault, of course. What were they supposed to do? They can’t drop everything for a Premier League club who may or may not use their facilities at any given moment.

Spurs being unable to move into their new stadium this season caused them to play this match the day after a long-scheduled NFL fixture.

Missing quarterbacks

There were a few selection decisions which suggested the managers were weary of potential injury from the conditions. City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been making a comeback from two-and-a-half months out and started their last match. He was benched, only coming on in the final 20 minutes.

Dele Alli was also back in Tottenham’s squad following a month out with a hamstring problem, but he was not risked either, until quarter-of-an-hour was left. Neither was Christian Eriksen — Pochettino perhaps not wanting to test his ankles. De Bruyne’s and Eriksen’s absence meant the game was, for the most part, missing some of its most inventive quarterbacks.

It fell to Lucas Moura to try to make something happen from nothing for Spurs early in the second half — chipping a ball long to Kane who sprinted in behind City’s defence. He was through on goal, the crowd noise rose. So did the linesman’s flag, for offside. With the lines every 10 yards, there really was no excuse for the linesmen to get it wrong.

A bizarre passage of play ensued soon after. Bernardo Silva was weaved inside Tottenham’s penalty area, he passed across to his namesake David, who controlled the ball and seemingly only had to tap it in, but instead passed back to Sterling, who took a few more touches until he was blocked. You don’t literally need to carry the ball into the end zone, guys.

By the end it was hard to tell where the NFL ended, and the Premier League began.

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Place yourself, for a moment, in the head of a close family member, distant relative or friend of Claude Puel, the Leicester City manager. It is Saturday evening. You have been out with friends for dinner, or are watching a film curled up on the sofa. You have, by now, started to hear the concerning news that the helicopter belonging to Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha took off from the centre of the King Power Stadium pitch, as it does every home game, and just as it flew above the stands, span out of control and plummeted into the car park, bursting into flames and killing all those inside. 

At 11.30pm, roughly three hours after the crash, the BBC, on its 24-hour rolling news channel BBC News, was reporting that Leicester’s manager might have been on board. “If it’s confirmed that the chairman and I now understand reports the manager might have been on board what does that suggest for the future of the club?” a news anchor in the studio asked the on-scene reporter.

Claude Puel was not dead

A 14-second clip was cut of the video and uploaded on social media, which was viewed more than half-a-million times within 12 hours. It was a spark which spread the news through the internet like wildfire. People were discussing how tragic it was. Others said how irresponsible it was if this was not true. 

But Puel wasn’t on board. Puel was fine. It wasn’t true.

On Sunday morning, Nice-Matin, a French regional daily newspaper, confirmed that, despite the BBC’s speculation, Puel was alive. Later that day, Puel spoke to Radio France. “It’s a tragedy for the club,” he said. “I think very strongly about the victims and their families, and I wanted to reassure everyone who cares about me, I’m terribly sad but I’m fine.”

Is the public’s thirst for details of death so unquenchable and the media — and by this I include traditional and social — so obsessed with breaking the names of the dead that a little patience and accuracy are forgotten?

Speculative language

What kind of language is “understand” and “might” for reporting on the possibility of somebody meeting their death in a ball of flames? That sort of language is OK for an inconsequential transfer story, but somebody’s death? They’re either alive or dead.

Are we really so obsessed with breaking the story of someone’s tragic death that a touch of careful consideration becomes irrelevant?

“It was a complex, fast-moving situation and conflicting reports were coming in,” a BBC spokesman told me. “We were clear when information had been confirmed — and when it hadn’t.” 

Which begs the question, why were they reporting information about people’s deaths which they had not confirmed? When Britain’s public broadcaster, funded by the public and not as reliant on clicks as the rest, is so desperate for attention, what hope is there for anyone else?

Gary Lineker’s professionalism

On the one hand, there was Gary Lineker, the former Leicester striker, carefully navigating a challenging news story about his beloved club while presenting Match of the Day, on air while the events unfolded, a show he described as “the most difficult” he ever hosted, on the other a professional news anchor wildly and irresponsibly speculating. 

Apple News is the only major news aggregation app to use humans as editors rather than machine algorithms, and its editor in chief Lauren Kern, a prominent American journalist, prioritises accuracy ahead of speed. They now have 90 million regular readers, which she puts down to trust gained from human curation, allowing it to keep out fake news and inaccurate stories or posts from traditionally trustworthy sources. 

Her team often find that information reported either directly on social media or through media outlets soon after a major story breaks tends to be wrong, but spreads like a virus through Twitter, Facebook and Google nonetheless.

A little patience

Later on Sunday, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s daughter, Voramas, was next to be pronounced dead. Only, she wasn’t dead, either. She was as fine as one could be after discovering their 60-year-old father has been killed. 

The story of her death spread everywhere. So new stories had to be written on news websites with headlines indicating she was, in fact, not dead. In places, the “not” was written in caps, just to be clear that although they had said she was dead, she was actually NOT dead.

Are the clicks and the viewing figures worth it? Are the numbers and statistics more important than human feeling and emotion? Death has no patience with its victims — the least we could do is have a little on their behalf.

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Leicester City‘s Carabao Cup match with Southampton has been postponed following the death of their owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium.

The helicopter, owned by the club’s Thai billionaire and seen departing from the centre of the pitch most home match days, came down into the stadium car park shortly after it took off following Leicester’s 1-1 draw with West Ham United in the Premier League.

Leicester were due to host Southampton in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. A rearranged date will be confirmed in due course.

Read more: How Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha transformed Leicester City – and oversaw a sporting miracle

The FA Women’s Championship match between Manchester United and Leicester was also cancelled on Sunday and a minute’s silence was held at the three Premier League games between Burnley and Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Arsenal, and Manchester United and Everton.

Match details

Kick off: Date and time TBC

Venue: King Power Stadium

EFL statement

Leicester City’s Round Four Carabao Cup tie with Southampton, scheduled for Tuesday 30 October, has been postponed.

The decision comes after the devastating events at the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening when, shortly after taking off, a helicopter crashed into a stadium car park.

The Club has now confirmed that there were five people on board, including Leicester City Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and all have tragically lost their lives.

The thoughts and prayers of the EFL and its member Clubs are with the family and friends of those who have lost loved ones, Leicester City Football Club, its supporters and the wider Leicester community.

A rearranged date will be confirmed in due course.

As a mark of respect to those who perished in Saturday’s tragic events, players will wear black armbands at all EFL fixtures (Carabao Cup and League matches) over the next seven days. Clubs will also pay tribute by holding a minute’s silence or minute’s applause (whichever is deemed most appropriate by the home club). EFL Clubs will also be marking Remembrance Day 2018 at fixtures next weekend.

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If there is an accusation that Manchester United are landing upon solutions to their problems through good fortune and process of elimination rather than tactical mastery, this was a good afternoon to put forward the theory. Jose Mourinho has now dropped every member of his attack in a bid to discover some fluency in the final third. In Anthony Martial, he may have found the closest thing to a saviour.

Martial earned Manchester United’s opening goal against Everton with his quick feet and over-exaggerated tumble, allowing Paul Pogba to display his monumentally ponderous run-up and good reactions to the saved penalty. It caused Martial to celebrate with his fellow Frenchman, to delight in taking the lead in a must-win match – they all are these days. But that was a shared experience.

The second goal was individual perfection. After it was rolled across to him by Pogba, Martial swiped across the ball with a flourish that expunged 18 months of struggle for relevance. The ball hadn’t even crossed the line and he was wheeling away to welcome the adoration of an exultant Stretford End. He needed this. They needed this. United needed this.

Season-saving mission

We cannot forget that Martial has had his own serious issues with Mourinho, which rather rules out this all being part of a grand design. If he is indeed this team’s best hope to find some fluency in the final third then it has been a circuitous route to a happy ending. One that has involved club fines, transfer rumours and an expiring contract that Martial is reportedly not in any rush to extend.

But there was more zip to United’s attack, thanks to the game’s best player. Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata drifted in and out of the game as they have been so prone to do over this season. But in Martial, Mourinho has someone who thrives when driving at a full-back and grows in stature with each successful duel. Having watched Alexis Sanchez stutter and stagger in that same role since January, Martial must now be a fixture in this team.

United are now in season-saving mode with seven months of it remaining. If Mourinho wishes to paint his side as an underdog thanks to the failing of his bosses, their results have been made to look far worse by the lack of mistakes made by their peers.

This is United’s biggest barrier to this season-saving mission. Mourinho used his programme notes to insist that the table will look a lot different by the end of December, but his team are relying upon the Big Six dropping points against each other or dropping their level significantly against the rest. Whatever happens between Tottenham and Manchester City tonight, United will be at least seven points off the top four with a quarter of the season played.

Mourinho’s consistency

And then there’s Mourinho’s own history to fight against. In every full season that he has managed in the Premier League, his teams have always finished in the same position in May as they have been after 12 games. That has both worked out very well and very badly for his teams.

It seems unlikely that United will stay in top attacking gear. They had won none of their last 15 home games by more than a single goal, and they let Everton back in at 2-0 thanks to Chris Smalling’s rash challenge and were left to hang on. Mourinho’s team seem intent on making things as difficult as possible for themselves.

But fighting also expends energy. If Mourinho’s concern is that he does not have the squad depth that some of his rivals enjoy, having to wrestle with the opposition and their own incompetence just to beat middling teams at home is hardly the best way to preserve it.

A plan, then, by hook, crook or dice-rolling. In May, Mourinho used Romelu Lukaku as the example for United’s attackers to follow. It was viewed as a message to Martial that he could not expect preferential treatment or survive in this team without mucking in. Yesterday, Lukaku sat on the bench.

For now, though, Mourinho will not care how he has landed on a potential solution and neither will the home support who roared in relief at full time. If it strikes as entirely logical to give your most skillful and quickest attacker the licence to play on the front foot rather than tracking back to defend, Mourinho must now get on board with that same idea. Even if it goes against most of his principles.

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