Referee chief Howard Webb called Liverpool executives to apologise after the match and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) – the body that represents referees – released a statement describing it as “a significant human error”.
However, in a statement Liverpool dismissed the apology as “unacceptable”, insisting that “sporting integrity” had been “undermined”. The club added: “We will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.” Liverpool have made a formal request to the PGMOL for audio conversations between officials from Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Tottenham.
But i has been told by prominent sports lawyers that it will be “extremely difficult” for Liverpool to successfully mount legal action, should the club pursue that course, due to protections in the laws of the game.
“Whilst it is undoubtedly frustrating for Liverpool and its supporters, this is clearly not the first incorrect decision involving VAR since it was introduced, nor will it be the last,” Mishcon de Reya lawyer Oliver Millichap told i.
“However, a disgruntled club will find it extremely difficult to successfully bring a challenge against the Premier League, the PGMOL and the match day officials in connection with the incident for a number of reasons.
“The laws of the game specifically make it clear that any decision by the referee on the pitch is final. These laws even go as far as declaring that match officials will not be liable for any loss a club may suffer due to any decision taken in accordance with the laws of the game.
“In addition, Ifab’s [International Football Association Board] rules in relation to VAR state a match will not be invalidated because of a match official’s decision not to review an incident or where a wrong decision was reached when VAR was used, which appears to be the case here.”
Key Ifab laws
Law 5, paragraph 2
The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.
Law 5, paragraph 7
A referee or other match official is not held liable for any other loss suffered by any individual, club, company, association or other body, which is due or which may be due to any decision taken under the terms of the Laws of the Game or in respect of the normal procedures required to hold, play and control a match.
In the game, Curtis Jones was sent off for a straight red card – a decision Liverpool appealed on Monday – and Diogo Jota was dismissed for two yellow cards. Liverpool lost to an own goal scored by Joel Matip in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
If legal claims are not resolved satisfactorily for an aggrieved club they can be escalated to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Yet CAS has previously been dismissive of challenges against decisions on the pitch.
Millichap added: “Had an incident like this taken place towards the end of the season, and the decision – or lack of – had a significant impact on that club’s season – such as missing out on the Champions League or title itself – it wouldn’t be completely surprising if the disgruntled club at least attempted to bring a claim – potentially against the Premier League itself – albeit, I suspect the chance of success would still be low.
“In the past where challenges to ‘field of play decisions’ in other sports have been escalated to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – CAS has made it clear that generally it will only get involved where a decision has been tainted by fraud, bad faith, bias, arbitrariness or corruption that claimants have been successful, and I would expect the same principle to be taken by any arbitral panel that is constituted should a disgruntled club pursue this further.”
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Did we reach peak refereeing discourse at the weekend, with Liverpool’s wrongly disallowed goal against Tottenham causing an online outpouring of anger that threatens to further shift the arguments further towards the point of no return.
Do we have a crisis of officiating or just one of abuse culture? Does it matter how we recruit and train officials, or are people simply destined to be annoyed whatever the weather? We examine six arguments surrounding Premier League referees, and explain why none of them come with simple answers…
“Refereeing standards are lower than they have ever been”
It’s an interesting theory, and one on which there is mainstream agreement. It suggests that, despite referees being fitter, being assessed more often, being paid more and having a longer training journey than, say, 30 years ago, the number of correct decisions being made has decreased.
1) Recency bias – other than the infamous howler decisions (and you’re reading the thoughts of a man who still thinks about Paul Gascoigne not being sent off in the 1991 FA Cup final at least once a week), we do not tend to remember the mistakes of yesteryear. Watch any game on YouTube from, say, the 1990s and you see a litany of mistakes or contentious subjective decisions. Which brings us to…
2) Culture – thirty years ago (we’ll stick with that nominal date) people simply didn’t create online spreadsheets in which they kept a tally of the perceived injustices against their team. Of course supporters moaned about referees, but that was typically kept within the context of the match and immediate aftermath.
In addition, football’s inflated importance from cultural pursuit to capitalist wet dream means that all of this seems to matter more to people than it ever did. There is far less acceptance of mistakes by officials and far more outcry when a team suffers from a perceived error, despite players and managers also making mistakes because – spoiler alert – they’re all human. At the same time, the acceptance of inherent subjectivity changed – “seen ‘em given” became “how dare that be given against us?”.
3) Mania – thirty years ago you didn’t see every game. You didn’t have controversial decisions recorded on social media. You didn’t have endless post and pre-match coverage. If the standard of decisions has declined at exactly the same time as the scrutiny of those decisions reached its peak, it’s a heck of a coincidence.
When you add increased importance to increased anger to increased information (seeing more games than ever before plus social media), you create a perception of vastly declining standards.
“Referees will get respect when they get more decisions right”
I honestly don’t understand this argument as anything other than bad faith. If we can all agree that what we want is the highest standards possible (caveat: some people really do just want to get angry about football and stopping that will be impossible), is an acceptable answer to the problem to be more vicious in our criticism?
We have an abuse crisis in football, whether or not you choose to accept it. There is a chronic shortage of grassroots referees as a result and I have spoken to a broad spectrum of officials who have offered anecdotal evidence of the grim status quo. That is the biggest hindrance to improving or maintaining standards. Managers, writers, players, fans – all are on the same side and the referee is the enemy.
If your answer to what you perceive to be a problem of individuals and system is to abuse individuals more often and more fervently to try and provoke a positive response, I hope you don’t manage or nurture people in your professional and personal lives.
“We should just recruit referees from abroad”
This is the most fashionable argument and it’s no surprise. After all, how else did the Premier League rapidly improve its standards of technical ability and effective coaching structure than by throwing money at foreign leagues to shortcut their way to what they wanted?
But it’s not as simple this time. Firstly, there is little evidence that foreign officials actually want to move to England to enter the Premier League maelstrom. There’s also little indication that foreign leagues would be happy about losing their best officials to the Premier League.
But more than that, this is a rose-tinted solution that doesn’t reflect reality. People have fallen into the trap of persuading themselves that there exists an elite crop of referees in other European leagues who are far more capable than what we have, an army of Pierluigi Collina clones just ready to save the day. They’ve done the same about our domestic league too, the “send them down to the Championship” argument. There is no magic cupboard of referees waiting to burst out and whistle.
The Premier League has recruited one foreign official, Jarred Gillett, who went viral from Australia and caused fervent demand to bring him over (Gillett moved to England for family reasons, in the end). After two games, everybody decided that Gillett was just as bad as what we had.
Google “World Cup 2022 referee criticism” and then meet me back here. The problem is not that our individuals are significantly worse than what we might import. The problem is the environment in which the referees, domestic or foreign, are operating in.
“Referees should explain their decisions after the game – there needs to be accountability”
Another popular argument, but you have to ask: how does this actually help? It might well be entertaining television. It might well help to explain one or two contentious decisions. But if you honestly think that an angry football supporter (happy to include myself in this list from time to time) is going to be appeased at being told by an official why the decision was technically correct according to the laws of the game, I have some magic beans to sell you.
We have an outrage culture building. Every decision is replayed over and over and to be pored over. The focus of punditry is now on officials more than players and managers. Is having referees live on television, turning them into interviewees for pundits, going to ease that? Or is it simply going to create an extra layer of media content and more reason for the debate about decisions to extend further from the weekend and into midweek?
“We should train VAR specialists – it shouldn’t be referees”
I broadly agree (my solution would also be to get rid of VAR, but that’s not going to happen because we built Pandora’s Box Enterprises ltd. in Stockley Park). VAR and on-field refereeing clearly have overlaps in the required skill sets, but they are not the same. The elements of fitness and player management, both of which require extended time and experience, are not prerequisites to be a VAR official.
But there’s also a predictable ending here. If a trained VAR makes a mistake – or a decision supporters of a club disagrees with – are you trying to tell me that the majority reaction will be “Well I disagree with that but this guy is a trained professional so they must be right – I’ll move on”? If so, more magic beans.
The core of the debate (and it’s more nuanced, obviously) is this: does it matter who we have making the decisions? Or is the point that you could tell a percentage of football supporters that a decision was technically right and they won’t believe you. You could tell them that it was subjectively justified and they won’t believe you.
“We need to fund more referees from grassroots level up”
Absolutely. And if the choice is between a funding overhaul of our own system vs paying larger sums to foreign referees, thus abandoning the chances of maintaining standards below the Premier League (something people seem to ignore in that argument), then I’m all for it. A vast programme of recruitment, particularly at younger ages. Pathway development to allow for fast-tracking of the shining stars. Both are good.
But plenty of this is already happening. Every stakeholder in the game knows that we need more referees and every stakeholder wants the highest standards possible. There is a recruitment drive. But we end where we started: the culture. Refereeing is not an attractive proposition because it’s an incredibly tough environment for a newbie. Even at grassroots level, the result means everything to the competitors and so they react accordingly.
Double grassroots per-game pay from, say, £20 to £40. Work out who will pay – Premier League clubs annoyed by recent decisions are presumably more than happy to fund it? It will not suddenly lead to an influx of referees. Stamping out the normalisation of their abuse and offering a safe environment free from physical and verbal abuse might. But then which is more likely to happen?
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There are currently no plans to stop Premier League match officials working in the Middle East, i understands, after it emerged the video assistant referees who made a “significant human error” in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham had only just returned from the United Arab Emirates.
VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook had been officiating a match in the UAE Pro League between Al Ain and Sharjah.
i has been told the duo arrived back in the UK on Friday. The error during Saturday’s game, which saw Luis Diaz’s goal wrongly disallowed for offside, was attributed by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to a “momentary lapse of concentration”.
Referees are currently permitted to work abroad if they are given permission by the FA, who then approach the PGMOL. It is understood that their work overseas does not affect their consideration for selection for weekend Premier League games.
As it stands, though, there are no English referees scheduled to work overseas. If more requests come in, they will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Craig Pawson refereed a Greek Super League match between Panathinaikos and PAOK in May, though he did not take charge of another game in England, Millwall’s 4-3 defeat to Blackburn, until five days later. Andy Madley refereed a number of Japanese J-League games in the Premier League’s close season. EFL referee Tom Bramall also went to Japan in March.
In April, Michael Oliver took charge of a Saudi Pro League game between Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo’s side, and Al Hilal. He was then in the middle for Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest four days later.
Officials who have been working in other countries are typically now placed on VAR or fourth official duty, as Oliver was this weekend having also been part of the UAE cohort. He has reportedly been approached about working in Saudi Arabia full time.
The PGMOL contacted Liverpool shortly after their loss to Spurs to acknowledge the error, which occurred because England and Cook believed they were being asked to confirm if Diaz was onside – when they realised he was, they told on-field referee Simon Hooper that the check was complete, and he proceeded with his original decision of offside.
Liverpool responded to the PGMOL on Sunday night with a damning statement, claiming that “sporting integrity had been undermined” and saying they would be exploring “the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
English officials regularly work on Thursday night matches in the Europa League, and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the Champions League.
Diogo Jota of Liverpool reacts as he is shown a red card by referee Simon Hooper (Photo: Getty)
However, it is around a seven-hour flight to the UAE and at three hours, the time difference is greater than in most European countries.
England and Cook have been temporarily stood down, with England replaced as the fourth official for Nottingham Forest’s draw with Brentford on Sunday. Cook will miss Fulham against Chelsea on Monday.
Workload and tiredness are not the only concerns about the growing demand for Premier League officials in UAE and Saudi Arabia. The idea of referees staying in England and “freelancing” elsewhere is complicated by the fact that Manchester City and Newcastle United are effectively state-owned by the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively.
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There were shocks galore in the Premier League as VAR once again dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons on an action-packed weekend of football.
Brighton were thrashed 6-1 by Aston Villa in the opening game on Saturday. Erling Haaland failed to score. Heck, even Luton managed to pick up their first win of the season.
But arguably the biggest talking point of the weekend was at Tottenham, where Liverpool controversially saw an equaliser ruled out for offside before being reduced to nine men.
Read i‘s analysis on every team below (listed in table order).
Man City
After seven years and 12 major trophies at Manchester City, it is unlikely Pep Guardiola has been found out, but successive defeats at Newcastle (in the Carabao Cup) and now at Wolves should prompt some questions about playing football’s smoothest machine.
It is perhaps unsurprising that both opponents harried City, denied them space, took their chances and defended manfully. Unless you are Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, that is possibly the only way to play Manchester City. However, what should concern Guardiola that four times in five matches his side has conceded first.
Not even Manchester City can regularly overcome this kind of self-inflicted handicap. You would have to go back to April 2018 to find the last time City lost three on the bounce -home and away to Liverpool in the Champions League and to Manchester United in the Premier League. Should they go down to RB Leipzig, a team they put seven goals past in March, then maybe, just maybe, somebody might use the word “crisis”. By Tim Rich
Premier League table
Tottenham
For over an hour after Heung-min Son’s opening goal, as chance after chance was denied by the woodwork and a stand-out goalkeeping display from Alisson, it began to look more and more like the ball just would not find its way into the net for Ange Postecoglou’s men, who could only have regarded a draw here as two points lost.
But then Pedro Porro’s cross fizzed in off a helpless Joel Matip, and the Spurs half of north London erupted as Tottenham notched their first win against Liverpool since 2017.
It could be argued that the Tottenham of old might not have found a way to bag all three points, as this side managed with two stoppage-times goals a fortnight ago against Sheffield United, and did once more against a resolute defensive effort from Liverpool on Saturday evening.
And this isn’t to say Spurs did not deserve their win, but Postecoglou will surely wish his side had put this to bed sooner than they did. After all, everyone gets their fair share of luck, but it won’t happen like that every time.
One worry will no doubt be the availability of Son, who appeared to be in some discomfort when he was withdrawn in the 68th minute after scoring his seventh goal of this campaign.
The South Korean forward had already been an injury doubt coming into this match, and this Spurs attack would not have the same bite without him at the head of it. By Alex Dakers
Kai Havertz looked almost embarrassed as he was mobbed by his Arsenal teammates and serenaded by the travelling support after tucking home his penalty in the win at Bournemouth.
The big-money signing from Chelsea had failed to make any meaningful impact in his opening nine games before Bukayo Saka seemingly took pity on his colleague, tossing him the ball to score from the spot.
While the band of Arsenal fans celebrated and Havertz’s name rang from the away end for the next 10 minutes, while Mikel Arteta enthused that this could “change everything” for a man who has scored the winning goal in a Champions League final, Havertz seemed entirely nonplussed by the occasion.
He will be all-too aware that scoring the third goal in a routine 4-0 win – and from the penalty spot no less – will not automatically usher in a run of form to both silence his critics and make him a certain starter for Arteta.
Havertz may only be 24 years of age but he has top-level experience with Chelsea, has played 39 times for Germany and is now looking to bed in at a club with title-winning ambitions.
He is right not to have dived into the fans in celebration, to come out after the game and hail a “turning point” in his fledgling Arsenal career – Arteta praised his hard work and dedication on the training ground and Havertz will want to knuckle down and use this moment as a starting point and will know full well his performances still need to vastly improve if he is to hit the heights he believes he is capable of. By Martin Bedford
Liverpool
What happened to Luis Diaz in the 34rd minute is not just about Liverpool, or the VAR Darren England and assistant Dan Cook, who have been relieved of their next two games for their “significant human error” in disallowing a perfectly onside goal.
VAR is the beast we all had a part in creating, demanding perfection and the eradication of mistakes which are never going to disappear; we know this, but aside from goal-line technology, the offside rule was the one metric which was uncontestable.
The lines were drawn, and trusted, and an incident like this has not just denied Liverpool points; it totally undermines the whole process.
How many other goals must now be looked back on with an uncertain eye? Why are our officials refereeing in the United Arab Emirates but 48 hours before a game? What is the point of even having an assistant VAR if they are only there to mindlessly nod along like the Churchill Bulldog?
Somehow, from all this, Liverpool can still take plenty of heart. This was a tremendous performance with nine men (two more debatable decisions) and in fact, when they were down to 10, it barely showed at all. Jurgen Klopp said he would “remember it forever”.
Moving on will not be easy. Cody Gakpo suffered a knock from Destiny Udogie in the build-up to his goal and left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a brace.
Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones are now suspended and Joel Matip will bear scars from that most unfortunate of own goals in the dying seconds. It is Spurs, not Liverpool, who edge closer to Manchester City – but they can take some comfort in a performance which suggested it may not stay that way for long. By Kat Lucas
Aston Villa
This was a game that drowned in its own statistics. Not since Andy Gray in 1976-77 had an Aston Villa player scored two hat-tricks in a single season as Ollie Watkins has now done. Not since Dwight Yorke in 1996 has a Villa player scored in five successive home games as Douglas Luiz has now done.
Villa’s 6-1 destruction of Brighton was their biggest win since Liverpool were demolished 7-2 in October 2020. There is probably no Premier League team playing as entertainingly as Aston Villa under Unai Emery but those stats need to be put into context. After humiliating Liverpool, Aston Villa lost their next three home games.
The others are more encouraging. Dwight Yorke’s side finished fifth in 1997 and, 20 years before, an Aston Villa side spearheaded by Andy Gray scored more goals than anyone else and finished fourth behind Liverpool and Manchester City and one place ahead of Newcastle. Given that only Pep Guardiola has taken more Premier League points in 2023 than Emery, a repetition seems plausible. By Tim Rich
It should be a matter of considerable pride to Brighton that their next four opponents – Marseille, Liverpool, Manchester City and Ajax – have all won the European Cup. Given the ludicrously open way they defended against Aston Villa, it should be a matter of considerable anxiety.
Not since February 2012 at West Ham have Brighton conceded six – it must be the claret and blue shirts. Roberto De Zerbi predicted we would see “a different Brighton” at Marseille on Thursday night and that might be more than the usual “we’ll bounce back” rhetoric after a heavy defeat.
After big losses last season to Newcastle, Everton and Arsenal, De Zerbi’s men won their next match. However, as De Zerbi has pointed out, this season Brighton are now playing two games a week. Last season it was one. By Tim Rich
West Ham
David Moyes has become the kind of manager he was at Everton; a man who sends out well-drilled, efficient teams who beat the sides they are expected to overcome, spring a few surprises and only really fail against the elite of the Premier League.
This season has been a case in point. West Ham’s only defeats have come against Manchester City and Liverpool – and they might have got something at Anfield. Surprises have been sprung against Chelsea and Brighton and Sheffield United were put away as most at the London Stadium would have expected.
The win had shades of West Ham’s display at Liverpool – Jarrod Bowen scored and the first-half display was much better than after the interval. The difference was that the week before they had been facing Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, players of a calibre Sheffield United simply do not possess. By Tim Rich
Newcastle
Miguel Almiron’s goal was his second of the season (Photo: Getty)
The finishing touches are being put in place to ensure St James’ Park is ready to host Champions League football for the first time in 20 years, but Eddie Howe hopes at least one thing is missing when Kylian Mbappe and his Paris Saint-Germain teammates arrive on Tyneside.
“I certainly hope we’re not laying out any mats for anybody,” was the Newcastle manager’s euphemistic way of pointing out the crucial role 50,000 home supporters can play in making Wednesday’s Group F encounter an uncomfortable experience for the French Champions.
Howe has several injury absences to deal with and will have to do without Sven Botman, Joelinton and Callum Wilson in addition to longer-term casualties Harvey Barnes and Joe Willock as his side look to build on their encouraging opening game draw at AC Milan. He insisted: “We’re determined to do well.
“One thing I’m absolutely certain about is the atmosphere will be as good as I’ve ever experienced here. I know the supporters will get behind us and we’re really looking forward to the challenge. I’ve already started my preparation for the game, it’s going to be an extreme test but one we can’t wait for.”
Newcastle go into the game on the back of five consecutive clean sheets after Saturday’s routine 2-0 victory over Burnley lifted them to eighth in the Premier League. The smart money will be on an outcome either way against Paris as the Magpies are yet to draw in 12 previous Champions League home games, winning seven and losing five. By Jason Mellor
Leaving Old Trafford with victory has become an easier proposition in recent years, but to win three in a row on the famous old ground is no mean feat, in whatever guise Manchester United appear.
For Roy Hodgson, victory on Saturday, one that never really appeared under much threat, took the wily old campaigner to five unbeaten – the first manager in Premier League history to go on such a run.
This was no tactical masterclass like Robert De Zerbi provided in United’s previous home loss, but a result garnered more pragmatically. There is more than one way to skin a frightened cat.
With his favoured centre-back pairing of Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi back together, Hodgson had his solid base with which to frustrate United from and once the visitors had their goal, a spectacular one at that, they could sit back and see out a famous win without going beyond their limits.
Anderson completed 10 clearances in the match, a number bettered only five times by an individual player in any match this season. Guehi weighed in with eight, too.
And with Eberechi Eze and Jean-Phillipe Mateta carrying the ball into the channels to further frustrate and run the clock down, Palace’s desire to stick to the tried and trusted blueprint for Big Six scalps worked a treat.
It really was textbook stuff. Palace finished the game with a 23 per cent possession figure, the second-lowest figure for a victorious visiting team to Old Trafford in the Premier League (since 2003-04), after West Brom in May, another 1-0 win.
They did not have to over-exert, given the ineptitude of their opponents and Hodgson has been around the block for too long to know what happens to teams who choose a leading position against United to stretch their tactical legs. By Pete Hall
Man Utd
Rasmus Hojlund needs time to fulfil his potential (Photo: Getty)
Chasing the game with only a few minutes left, what manager would not want the luxury of being able to call upon £120m of talent to spearhead a last-gasp rescue act.
With 78 international caps between them, the Manchester United cavalry was not lacking in experience for the sodden Old Trafford battlefield on Saturday, but Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek perfectly represented everything that is wrong about a haphazardly-assembled squad as they plummeted deeper into the depths of despair against Crystal Palace.
A fourth defeat from seven league games that sealed a worst start to a league campaign since 1989-90 was not on them, the damage had been done. But the fact this is all United had to turn to – two big-money acquisitions who don’t even want to be there – sums up just where this excuse for a footballing behemoth are at.
It turns out last season seems to be more of an aberration – this United squad remains in no state to inspire a long-overdue title tilt.
Ill-thought-out transfer dealings have been United’s modus operandi in the post Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Huge names have come in, for record fees, without thinking where they would fit and whether the manager could work them into their respective footballing ethos.
The performances of new arrivals last season, however, helped inspire a mini-revival. Casemiro finally added adequate quality in the midfield anchor role, Lisandro Martinez formed a centre-back partnership with Raphael Varane that threatened to reach Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic levels of cohesion, while Christian Eriksen looked like the bargain of the year after joining on a free.
Fast forward to Saturday’s latest disasterclass, the squad feels as lifeless and crestfallen as at any point since Ferguson left. The other player to come on late in the day against Palace cost £50m, but into his ninth season in Manchester, we are still waiting for Anthony Martial to look like the once world’s most expensive teenager.
As the performances of Casemiro, Martinez and Eriksen have dropped off, and the goals of Marcus Rashford have stopped bailing United out, failure to improve vital areas with suitable signings in the summer is coming back to haunt the club’s hierarchy.
Mason Mount is an exceptional player in his own right, but just like Angel Di Maria or Paul Pogba before him, another ineffective showing against Palace added further credence to claims he is the latest star player unable to find a home in the United system.
Rasmus Hojlund is another example of a luxury United, in their current rotten state, do not have.
Hojlund could well be a superstar in the making, as he has all the attributes to lead the United line for years to come. However, such an embryonic talent, with only nine goals in a top European league to his name so far, is going to need time, and plenty of it, to fulfil that potential.
In reality, having made improvements last year and started to assemble a squad worthy of the name, United needed someone for the here and now and the fact they had one of the best in the business waiting for the call makes it all the more galling for their desperate fanbase.
Harry Kane would not have cost much more than Hojlund, but instead went to Bayern Munich where he has nine goals in seven starts for his new team, compared to the young Dane’s one.
The party line is the club wanted to look more to the future, but the present needs too much work for such an approach to be justified.
United supporters believe Erik ten Hag can be the revolutionary figure the club has been crying out for. Quite how he goes about bringing lasting change, with the misshapen tools at his disposal remains to be seen. By Pete Hall
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest are once more managing to distil genuine Premier League quality from their lucky dip transfer policy. Nico Dominguez and Ibrahim Sangare both showed flashes of brilliance against Brentford, most clearly Dominguez’s first Forest goal.
Helping by a looping cross from Harry Toffolo, the Argentine international whipped the ball over Mark Flekken with incredible dexterity of neck, bringing his 10-man side back into the game.
But as Steve Cooper made abundantly clear after the game, this was another game decided with the help of VAR, although the distribution of decision-making was much more equitable, if not much more accurate, than for Liverpool the day before. Moussa Niakhate could probably consider himself slightly unlucky to receive a second yellow, although Yoane Wissa was unfortunate not to win a penalty having been cleared out by Matt Turner. This was swings and roundabouts, even if both were wrong.
Forest also gave a Premier League debut to 21-year-old centre-back Murillo, or Murrillo, as the club kitman had clearly decided he should be called for the afternoon. Sealed with an off-the-line clearance, this was a first appearance of consummate quality for the Brazilian centre-back, especially once Moussa Niakhate was sent off.
And finally – a nod of respect to Toffolo, making his first Premier League appearance since being charged with 375 betting rule breaches and handed a five-month suspended ban two weeks ago. The commission dealing with his case concluded the bets he placed “were the result, at least in large part, of the significant mental health challenges” and a gambling addiction.
Producing an inch-perfect assist within five minutes of coming on was the highlight of a faultless half-hour which highlighted Toffolo’s immense mental strength and talent. Among the ever-changing chaos of Forest’s line-up, there may be a consistent spot available to him on the back of this showing. By George Simms
Fulham
Play against Chelsea on Monday evening.
Wolves
Hwang Hee-chan made sure Pep Guardiola will remember his name from now on (Photo: Getty)
This was not a fluke but a vindication of the Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil. His team might have drawn at Manchester United. They took the lead against Liverpool and now, at Molineux, they took the lead against Manchester City and this time they held it.
O’Neil came to a club that seemed beset by financial difficulties, emphasised by the loss of Matheus Nunes to City for £53m, a fee the club could not possibly turn down. The surprise was not so much that Wolves took the lead but that when Julian Alvarez equalised they did not cave in as they had against Liverpool. They performed not just with backs-to-the-wall grit, epitomised by Craig Dawson’s goal-line clearance, but they also counter-attacked with pace, verve and discipline.
However, when he managed Manchester United, who dominated the league in a way their neighbours do today, Sir Alex Ferguson used to say that any team that beat him would usually lose the next match because they had put so much into the performance. Aston Villa, who face Wolves on Sunday, would hope this rule of thumb stays true for those who beat Manchester City. By Tim Rich
Brentford
With the likely relegation spots seemingly predetermined by an inherent tactical and financial disparity, a certain class of Premier League club risks treading water for most of the season. They will neither challenge for anything meaningful nor be under grave threat of demotion, yet will still be expected to perform to the best of their abilities and beyond week-on-week.
Perhaps the clearest example of these clubs – Wolves, Fulham, Crystal Palace, among others – is Brentford. As recently as March, they were still darlings of English football, rivalling Brighton for their financial efficacy and strategic ingenuity.
Yet now, seven months on, they’re just here for the ride. They’ve lost David Raya, Ivan Toney, Rico Henry and Kevin Schade for varying time periods. There’s no “but somehow they’ve improved” twist here. They’re tangibly, clearly poorer for it. There’s going to be no overoptimistic talk of Europe. This is what Brentford will have to learn to find enjoyment in throughout this season – Premier League purgatory.
Nothing exposes the banal reality of this more than a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest. Thomas Frank’s side were fine. There’s a legitimate argument the Bees should have had a penalty when Yoane Wissa nicked the ball off Matt Turner so the Turner cleared out his Congolese counterpart instead. They won the great xG battle 1.83 to 0.53. As they so often do, they scored from a set-piece.
But Brentford have only won one Premier League game in which they had more possession than their opposition (at home to Forest last season) since the start of 2022/23, something other teams appear to have worked out. Now, they’ve only won one league game this season full stop. Looking down the table, there’s no reason for panic, but looking up it, there’s no cause for celebration either. By George Simms
When selecting a first home game for the club’s prospective new owners to attend, the people at 777 Partners must have thought Luton Town at home was an obvious opportunity to bathe in some reflected glory.
However, despite good away wins at Brentford and Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup, Everton at Goodison Park remain a timid, easily beatable side. Luton’s 2-1 win was Everton’s seventh home defeat in eight matches in which they have rustled up four goals.
There has long been a feeling under successive managers that Everton have something of a complex about playing in front of their own, easily frustrated supporters. Given that their next home game is against fellow strugglers Bournemouth that complex will have to be addressed if Goodison Park, like Filbert Street and Roker Park, is not to say farewell to football with relegation. By Tim Rich
Luton
Luton fans with long memories might recall that Everton used to be seen as something of a bogey side. In the 1985 FA Cup semi-final and in the quarter-final a year later, they took the lead against a side that was probably the best in England and lost.
These days, Everton are far from that but the 2-1 win at Goodison would remove some of the unspoken pressure that even in September suggested Luton might go through the entire season without a win. Luton’s strength is in their set-pieces and at Goodison they converted two and then clung on.
Their first away win in the top flight since beating Aston Villa in April 1991 should be celebrated for its own sake but if they can repeat the tactics at home to Burnley and at Nottingham Forest, then Rob Edwards’s side might not be so obviously doomed. By Tim Rich
Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola was brought into Bournemouth tasked with changing the style of play, to modernise the on-field approach in alignment with some of the Premier League’s most successful sides.
The Spaniard has certainly altered the game-plan, charging his players to be brave on the ball and to attack the opposition – results to date, however, suggest it has be somewhat foolhardy to try and make these changes overnight.
Bournemouth have slipped into the relegation zone, some feat when you consider the form of the three promoted clubs in the early weeks of the season, and have yet to win a league game under Iraola – scoring just once at home in four fixtures.
He needs time, of course, and may yet crack the formula that sees Bournemouth play commanding football while also getting results but to set-up in such a manner against the likes of Arsenal – to not have a Plan B in place for when his new system clearly is not fit for purpose, could leave Iraola staring into the abyss sooner than anyone at the club would have desired.
He said after the loss to Arsenal that his team not fallen below the level he expects of them, now it is up to him and his coaching staff to raise that standard – especially with Everton, Wolves and Burnley to come in the next three games.
Against those opponents, Iraola’s tactics could make the difference but he needs to adapt against the bigger and better teams in the division or else 4-0 home defeats to the clubs at the top could become par for the course. By Martin Bedford
Burnley
Is it too early for a must-win game in the first week of October?
Clearly, nothing will be set in stone whatever the outcome at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night, but the trip on Luton already has the feel of a hugely significant fixture and the ramifications of the three points up for grabs are likely to be seismic once the dust settles in May.
Originally scheduled for the second weekend of the season in August, Burnley declined an opportunity to switch the game to Turf Moor when the Hatters were unable to host due to on-going developments to make their modest home Premier League-ready.
Burnley’s reasoning to stymie the potential swap was perfectly valid in that they didn’t want to cause disruption to their supporters. But they might now be rueing that decision, given they travel to Bedfordshire to face opponents buoyed by a first-ever Premier League win at Everton on Saturday, making it four points from their last two games.
The second-bottom Clarets are members of a bottom three all still searching for that elusive first victory of the campaign, and another defeat to match the 2-0 reversal at Newcastle would see them at a six-point disadvantage to one of their main relegation rivals.
That might not sound much after seven games, but given that as few as 30 points could be enough to secure safety, to be 20 percent of that figure behind the Hatters would rightly give cause for concern.
Perhaps better then for Vincent Kompany to remind his players of Burnley’s impressive record at ‘the Kenny’ where they have won on their last three visits, and are unbeaten this Millennia as they aim for a first top flight victory since the 2-1 win at neighbouring Watford in April 2022. The Turf Moor boss said: “Against Luton, everybody knows that we just want to get a result.” By Jason Mellor
Sheffield United
Sheffield United find themselves exactly where they were the last time they were in the Premier League, bottom of the table with one point after seven matches.
Their 8-0 humbling by Newcastle meant that in terms of goal difference, Paul Heckingbottom’s side are worse off than Chris Wilder’s in the autumn of 2020. Wilder did not survive which did not prevent Sheffield United being relegated in last place. Even at Bramall Lane, most would expect a repetition but Sheffield United made slightly more of a fist of it than they had against Newcastle.
If they had not, Heckingbottom might already have been sacked. Their displays against Manchester City, Everton and Tottenham demonstrated they can compete but there was insufficient grit at the London Stadium. Luton’s win at Goodison Park will have made defeat at West Ham even more deflating but in the Premier League’s cold universe a plucky defeat is still a defeat. By Tim Rich
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It was already advantage to the champions in the title race courtesy of Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool. Emma Hayes’ side do not always start as they mean to go on – they have lost on the opening day on each of the last two seasons – but goals from debutant Mia Fishel and Lauren James ensured the perfect beginning to their quest for a fifth consecutive title.
It was just as well James, who had already rattled the crossbar, was able to poke home from close range, with Guro Reiten’s strike having crossed the line moments earlier.
The Shed erupted – the officials and the scoreboard did not blink. The WSL does not have goal-line technology, though it would be possible to install for the games played at main stadia like Stamford Bridge and the Emirates. The officials are still only part time so it is unreasonable to berate them, and it mattered little given James’ finish seconds later, but it is not a good look for the league.
Hayes described it as “madness” that VAR is not being used, adding: “I don’t understand why we don’t have VAR light across the league… I don’t think there should be any excuse.”
For Fishel, at least, this was all a footnote to a perfect afternoon for her new club. The 22-year-old, a childhood Chelsea devotee – albeit from afar growing up in San Diego – could not have dreamed of a better debut, scoring Chelsea’s opener, heading in the opener from Niamh Charles after the England defender had skipped past Celin Bizet Ildhusoy. Fishel was left to lead the line in the absence of Sam Kerr, whom Emma Hayes has confirmed will be available next weekend.
It was all the more special to do it in front of the Stamford Bridge crowd, who reserved their biggest cheer of the afternoon for the returning Fran Kirby, featuring for the first time since her knee injury in February.
The numbers were not what they might have been, however, with an attendance of 14,776. A 5.30pm kick-off on a Sunday cannot have helped.
This fixture has previously sold out – last season it was played here in front of 38,350.
In July Chelsea announced they would be inflating ticket prices; Hayes said the ground felt quite full but when asked if the cost had deterred some, with some seats in the Matthew Harding stand going for £60, she replied: “I’ve said it before, paying £12 to watch an elite-end game, you can’t have the best of both worlds.
“You can’t ask to see the best players in the world, play in this league, and play in a larger stadium, and it be free. So I don’t think it’s about higher ticket cost, respecting that we’re in a cost of living crisis.” Hayes added that it costs around £300,000 to host a match at Stamford Bridge.
“Is this the Emirates”? Taunted the pocket of Tottenham fans in the corner. Even in defeat they will have been heartened.
Robert Vilahamn’s impact is already clear and he will have been frustrated that so much of their good work was undone by brief moments of sloppiness. Martha Thomas deserved her goal, capitalising as Zecira Musovic spilled the ball to her feet. The Scotland international had already seen her a penalty appeal turned down after a tussle with Millie Bright, and the England captain would deny her again with a vital clearance at the near post.
There is something slightly strange about seeing Bright, James and Jess Carter all in action again so soon. Beth England was forced to watch from the stands as she recovers from hip surgery. The scheduling has not been kind to any of these players but it does not look to have taken the wind out of Chelsea’s sails as the road to five in a row began in style.
Player of the match: Lauren James
Hayes’ “Papa” shirt
Chelsea players, led by Bright, presented Hayes with a shirt reading “Papa 82” on the back as a nod to her father who recently passed away.
Quote of the day
“I said to the fourth official: ‘I bet you’re grateful that went in’.” – Hayes reacts to Reiten’s goal that never was.
Emotional scenes at full time as Chelsea come together to support Emma Hayes following her father's passing. pic.twitter.com/ZJadvxHT6T
Arsenal began this match with five World Cup semi-finalists on the bench, testament to their strength in depth, but also reflecting women’s football’s scheduling crisis.
They ended it with all but World Cup winner Laia Codina on the pitch, but that’s because the Gunners didn’t need a defender. They were desperately scrambling to rescue a point, and perhaps their entire season.
They failed. Liverpool, defending Miri Taylor’s shock 48th-minute goal with organisation and desire, held on to gain their first top flight away victory since January 2020.
It was not what a 54,115 WSL record crowd, breaking the mark Arsenal set last year, had come for – except for the visiting fans packed into an “away end” corner celebrating in the autumn sunshine.
WSL results
Aston Villa 1-2 Manchester United
Everton 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Arsenal 0-1 Liverpool
Bristol City 2-4 Leicester City
West Ham United 0-2 Manchester City
Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham
For Arsenal it has been a disastrous start to the season. Already knocked out of the Champions League in the first qualifying round they find themselves three points adrift in a league with the tightest of margins.
After a summer of impressive recruitment, and a gate that suggests Arsenal have become the first WSL club to crack the problem of drawing fans in huge numbers to theoretically run-of-the-mill matches, the platform for a successful season seemed laid.
But instead head coach Jonas Eidevall is racing against time to integrate his new signings after a summer in which Arsenal had 16 players at the World Cup including eight involved in the final weekend six weeks ago.
“We have had 10 sessions in four months with a full squad. That’s not great,” he said. “We need to invest time in relationships. Every minute we play, train, counts. We are not at the level we want, we need to be better, we need to develop, we are not having a lot of time to do that.”
“But we can’t use it as an excuse, it is what it is. We need to perform better than today.”
Having been knocked out of the Champions League the WSL is the focus of Arsenal’s season but a club with five players in recuperation from ACL injuries knows better than most the danger of overload and Eidevall ultimately included only two of his five new recruits, Canadian striker Cloe Lacasse and England’s Alessia Russo.
Neither impressed against obdurate opponents who had problems of their own. A combination of Covid-19 and injuries meant Liverpool could only name five of their nine allotted substitutes with star signing Sophie Roman Haug one of many absent forwards.
Arsenal dominated possession and chances, forcing 19 corners and having 18 shots but the longer the game went on the less they seemed likely to score.
In the opening period Rachels Laws saved well from Lottie Wubben-Moy, Katie McCabe, Frida Maanum and Kim Little, but in the second she was largely untroubled. Caitlin Foord hit the post from a corner and the bar when a cross hit her but clear chances were rare.
For all their pressure and talent rarely did Arsenal create a move as slick as the one that led to the goal. Marie Hobinger won possession and nutmegged Lia Walti before releasing Missy Bo Kearns. She went to the byline then cut back a cross that was rolled by Taylor past a flat-footed Manuela Zinsberger.
“Defensively we were outstanding,” said Liverpool manager Matt Beard. “People will say you were lucky…we weren’t, we defended, we put our bodies on the line and made great saves when we needed to.”
But he cautioned: “It’s one game. We beat Chelsea on the opening day last year, everyone was raving about it and then we went on a run without winning for four. We’ll take it game by game.”
Player of the match: Gemma Bonner
No Beth Mead
Beth Mead, working her way back to fitness after last November’s ACL injury, was not on the bench despite having been among the subs for the Champions League qualifying round and spoken in the programme of “starting to feel good now.”
Quote of the day
“Sorry, we want to be better, please come back, give us another chance” – Jonas Eidevall to the Arsenal fans in the record 54,115 crowd.
WSL talking points
Aston Villa players are unhappy about the design of the current home shirts (Photo: Getty)
Aston Villa were forced to wear the club’s “wet look” shirts despite the controversy surrounding the kit. They were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United.
The new season got off to a nightmare start for Leila Ouahabi, who was shown a red card at West Ham for kicking out at Emma Harries – but it did not faze Manchester City as they ran out 2-0 winners, Netherlands international Jill Roord scoring on debut.
Bristol City shipped four goals on their WSL return – Leicester City’s struggles up front last term seemed to disappear against the newly promoted side. It could be a long season for them.
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