SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
Club football is back, and it came back swinging. Arsenal went a goal down to Leeds at the Emirates on Saturday morning and still rallied past them — 2-1, Riccardo Calafiori the equaliser, Bruno Guimaraes the winner off the bench — and just like that the champions are second, breathing down Manchester City’s neck. Tonight Manchester United and Tottenham play the beautiful mess under the lights. And tomorrow, at Anfield, is Liverpool vs Manchester City: the biggest game of the season so far, with both squads limping into it. This is the state of the soccer world.
Arsenal refuse to go away
Champions don’t panic; champions adjust. Arsenal fell behind at the Emirates on Saturday morning when James Justin slammed home Gabriel Gudmundsson’s pull-back ten minutes after the break, per Reuters — and for a few minutes the Emirates sounded like a library of bad memories. Then Riccardo Calafiori levelled seven minutes later, steering home Ben White’s knock-down, and in the 70th minute Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench and did what he was brought on to do: a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the box, 2-1, game over.
The maths is delicious. Arsenal climb to second on 15 points — behind Manchester City on goal difference only, and the chase for the top is properly on. Leeds sit fifth on nine points, which honestly is a better season than anyone in West Yorkshire dared to dream of. But the story is Arsenal: written off by half the league’s group chats in September, now sitting on City’s shoulder with a game at Anfield looming for the leaders tomorrow. Title races are built on days like this — not the 5-0 romps, the ugly comebacks where the bench wins it. Yesterday’s daily roundup is here, including the week Arsenal locked down Arteta and moved on Rice’s new deal.
Matchweek 6 Saturday: the beautiful mess and the cruising Blues
At the time of writing — the early games deep into the second half — Chelsea were cruising 3-1 up on Bournemouth at the Bridge (about the 59th minute, per Sportradar), while Aston Villa and Brentford were locked at 1-1 with Pau Torres limping off for Villa and Tyrone Mings coming on — talkSPORT notes Villa’s miserable start to the season has found one more thing to worry about. Sunderland vs Brighton and Ipswich vs Fulham were also in the 7am ET window.
Then tonight, 9:30am PDT, the main event of the evening: Manchester United vs Tottenham, the beautiful mess. United sit 12th on five points under Michael Carrick with an injury list that reads like a hospital ward — Manuel Ugarte (knee, long-term), Matthijs de Ligt (back), Benjamin Sesko (shin, major doubt), Patrick Dorgu (hamstring, major doubt), Noussair Mazraoui (back, major doubt), plus Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford both doubts after withdrawing from England, per Sports Mole’s injury roundup. The one ray of light: summer signing Carlos Baleba could finally make his debut.
Spurs are somehow worse off: bottom of the table with two goals scored all season under Roberto De Zerbi. De Zerbi confirmed in his October 9 press conference that James Maddison is available after missing training days, per gamedaytourist — but Spurs are still missing Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert (both ACL), Mykhailo Mudryk (ankle), and Jan Paul van Hecke (foot); Mateus Fernandes needs time to settle; the one bright spot is Conor Gallagher, who is impressing. Two battered teams, one desperate trophy of dignity. Somebody has to win. Probably.
Tomorrow’s slate: Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest (9am ET, USA), Hull vs Everton (9am ET, NBCSN/Peacock), and then the big one — Liverpool vs Manchester City, 11:30am ET on NBC. Monday: Coventry vs Newcastle (3pm ET, USA).
Super Sunday eve: the latest team news
There is new team news since yesterday, and it cuts both ways. Liverpool first: Andoni Iraola confirmed Friday that Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo are out, Reuters and Liverpool FC official report. On Gakpo: Cody has an ankle injury... it was a really bad tackle, I think. He is doing things individually but [he is] not ready for Sunday.
On Isak: Alex has a thigh injury. It’s a small injury but it’s a muscle injury... They both don’t look like long term – we will be analysing day to day. But they are not going to arrive on Sunday.
The context is brutal: Isak scored four goals in his opening five league games, and five of Liverpool’s seven league goals this season came from Isak or Gakpo. Hugo Ekitike remains out with his achilles problem; Federico Chiesa might be back but has played zero minutes. Iraola’s options: A full No.9, it’s true that we probably only have [Lewis] Koumas right now, but we have some other options... I think we will put an XI with a level enough to compete for that game.
Bradley Barcola — yet to score for club or country this season — is the other candidate. The only good news: Jeremy Jacquet is fit after his hamstring scare with France.
City have their own hole to fill: Phil Foden is SUSPENDED after the first red card of his career, sent off at Manchester United when Bruno Fernandes gave him a little push and Foden jumped up and shoved both feet into Fernandes’ midriff — Michael Oliver sent him off, VAR confirmed, per talkSPORT. Michael Gray called it Ridiculous from Foden
; Perry Groves went further: Foden has been a silly boy.
On the fitness front: Erling Haaland is fine after coming off with fatigue for Norway, while Semenyo and Nico O’Reilly are struggling with injuries, per NBC Sports. Enzo Maresca’s options without Foden: Cherki, Doku, Ndiaye, Allan — and Enzo Fernandez has settled in seamlessly
, NBC Sports reports. Their prediction, attributed as theirs: Liverpool 3-2, with the note that both sides look suspect defending counters. One line of context: this is City’s first game since the September 29 guilty verdict; the appeal was lodged October 1 and the hearing must finish by December 24. Our full Super Sunday preview is here.
MLS: thirteen games, everything on the line
Tonight is a monster in MLS — thirteen games, all times PDT. Toronto vs CF Montreal (10am) opens it; Chicago vs NYCFC (11:30am) follows — the Fire (42 points, fifth in the East) host off Tuesday’s 3-1 statement over Vancouver. Then the 4:30pm block: Atlanta vs Cincinnati, Charlotte vs Dallas, Inter Miami vs DC United, New England vs Seattle, NY Red Bulls vs San Diego, Orlando vs Columbus, Philadelphia vs RSL. At 5:30pm: Austin vs Nashville, SKC vs Portland, Minnesota vs Houston. Colorado vs San Jose at 6:30pm. And the nightcap: LAFC vs Vancouver at 7:30pm (10:30 ET) on Apple TV.
The stakes: Nashville (60 points) keep chasing the Supporters’ Shield at Austin. Vancouver (50) can clinch a playoff spot tonight, per MLSsoccer.com. Cincinnati get their reinforcements — Tyrell Malacia has his work visa and is eligible for the Atlanta trip, per yesterday’s reporting. And the late game is our full second story: LAFC hosting the West leaders with a brand-new man on the touchline. That’s below, in full.
The whisper sheet
Rumors, clearly labelled, from the people who traffic in them. Fabrizio Romano on his YouTube channel, via FootballTransfers (Oct 10): Erling Haaland is fully committed to Manchester City amid the verdict fallout — Romano’s words: No one knows what Haaland will do next. This will depend on several factors.
The long-term interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona is separate from the charges case, Romano says, not a reaction to it — and Haaland has publicly said he cares deeply about the club and supporters, considers himself a City fan, and urged unity. Watch this space, not the panic button.
Elsewhere: PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier could leave as early as January, per L’Equipe via livescore.com — signed for €40m to be the No.1, he lost his place to Matvey Safonov after a string of howlers, is yet to play this season, and is considering his options. Arsenal have held informal talks over Red Bull Bragantino’s 19-year-old right-back Ryan Augusto, per ESPN Brazil — early enquiries, classic Martinelli-style recruitment. And Bayern’s Michael Olise would only consider LaLiga if he leaves Munich, per TEAMtalk — linked with Liverpool but not keen on a Premier League return; he’s content in Munich and, per Sky Germany, in line to become Bayern’s best-paid player.
The calendar ahead
Champions League Matchday 2 lands October 13-14 — Manchester City host PSG in a game that now carries a very different charge, Roma welcome Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid face Manchester United, and Arsenal go to Lille. Then on October 26, the Ballon d’Or at the London Palladium, with Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal headlining. And if you want to watch Super Sunday with a few thousand friends, NBC’s Premier League Mornings Live fan festival takes over Denver this weekend.