Fortunebets
Jarred Gillett will become the first overseas official to referee a Premier League this weekend.
The Australian, 34, will take charge of the Watford v Newcastle match on Saturday.
Gillett was promoted to the Select Group 1 of referees by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) ahead of the start of the current season.
He moved to England in the 2019-20 season to referee in the EFL after officiating in the A-League in his home country.
Barcelona needed a 90th-minute equalizer by defender Ronald Araujo, sparking jeers by many in the crowd of nearly 27,000 on Monday.
Less than a week after a demoralizing loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona faltered at Camp Nou again, being held by winless Granada 1-1 in the Spanish league.
Barcelona needed a 90th-minute equalizer by defender Ronald Araujo, sparking jeers by many in the crowd of nearly 27,000 on Monday.
The setback followed the 3-0 rout by Bayern in the team’s first defeat since losing Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain, and added pressure on coach Ronald Koeman and club president Joan Laporta.
Granada came to Barcelona winless in four matches and coming off two consecutive losses, including at home against Real Betis in the Andalucia derby last week. It defeated Barcelona at Camp Nou the last time they met in April.
“It’s a shame,” Araujo said.
“If we had been able to score earlier we could have gotten the victory. After the early goal they sat back on defense and that made it difficult for us.”
The draw left Barcelona in seventh place, five points from leader Real Madrid with a game in hand.
Coached by former Spain manager Robert Moreno, Granada opened the scoring two minutes into the match with a header by Domingos Duarte off a set-piece.
Barcelona squandered two great chances to equalize before halftime Sergi Roberto hit the crossbar from inside the area and Araujo’s header was brilliantly saved by Granada goalkeeper Luis Maximiano.
Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong also failed to capitalize on scoring chances in the second half, but Araujo finally broke through with a close-range header in the 90th.
“We know that Barca isn’t going through a good moment and it was important to try to take advantage of that early on,” Duarte said.
“Earning a point at Camp Nou is always good but we came close to getting the three points. In the end they had many chances too. It was a fair result.”
Koeman couldn’t count on several players because of injuries, including Jordi Alba and Pedri Gonzalez.
He added a few youngsters in the second half, including Riqui Puig and 17-year-old Gavi, who set up Araújo’s equalizer. Philippe Coutinho was one of the players replaced.
Veteran defender Gerard Pique played as a striker after coming into the game in the final minutes.
Everton playmaker James Rodriguez is reportedly in talks with a club in Qatar ahead of a proposed transfer this month.
Since the departure of Carlo Ancelotti and the appointment of Rafael Benitez, the Colombia international has been linked with a move away from Goodison Park.
According to BBC Sport, Rodriguez has flown to the Middle East to negotiate a permanent move to a club in Qatar, where their transfer window is open until September 30.
Despite only joining Everton last summer, the Toffees are prepared to let the 30-year-old leave as they are keen to remove his £200,000-a-week salary off their wage bill.
Rodriguez, who was linked with a return to Porto over the summer, is yet to feature under Benitez this season and has seemingly played his final game for the club.
The former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder has made 26 appearances across all competitions for Everton, scoring six goals and providing nine assists.
Ronald Koeman has insisted that he has “no fear” about his long-term future as Barcelona manager.
Despite frequent speculation about his job after a turbulent 12 months at Camp Nou, the Dutchman kept the reins for the start of this campaign.
While the Catalan giants remain unbeaten in La Liga, they were comprehensively outplayed during last week’s Champions League fixture with Bayern Munich.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Monday’s fixture with Granada, Koeman has acknowledged that there are no guarantees about the length of his spell at the club.
The Dutchman said: “I don’t know if my position is at stake because they haven’t said anything. The only thing is to think about the game and the team.
“The rest is not in my hands and I am calm. We have seven points from three games. You have to get people back to have more players available, but you have to win. In the end the results count and nothing else. I have no fear of my future.”
Barcelona will return to the top four of the La Liga table with victory over Granada.
Manchester United are reportedly prepared to make Paul Pogba the highest-paid player in Premier League history.
The France international has enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, already contributing seven assists from five appearances in the top flight.
However, the 28-year-old’s increased productivity has come at a time when he has less than 12 months remaining on his contract, putting him in a position where he can speak to other clubs in January.
According to The Sun, United are ready to increase their efforts to keep Pogba at Old Trafford by offering him a contract which would break new ground.
The report suggests that the World Cup winner will be given the opportunity to earn approximately £400,000 per week, the most lucrative terms in the history of England’s top division.
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are both monitoring the situation ahead of potentially opening discussions at the start of 2022.
Thomas Tuchel’s half-time intervention allowed Chelsea to show their Premier League title challenging credentials with an impressive 3-0 win at Tottenham.
After being second best in the first half, Tuchel introduced N’Golo Kante and switched formation and it paid immediate dividends as Thiago Silva and the Frenchman both scored in the opening 12 minutes of the second half, with Antonio Rudiger adding a late third.
It extended their unbeaten start to the season and this statement victory – their third successive win at Spurs’ new home – shows they will be contenders to win the title this season.
Tottenham – like Chelsea – were mourning the death of Jimmy Greaves and they are a million miles away from the side that Greaves was a rampant scorer in during the 1960s and even further away from the one that reached the Champions League final just over two years ago.
After winning their opening three games under new boss Nuno Espirito Santo, things are beginning to unravel with a second successive 3-0 defeat in the league.
There are serious concerns over the form of Harry Kane, who was desperate to leave the club this summer and on this evidence it is easy to see why.
With the death of Greaves announced early on Sunday, this was a perfect fixture considering he played for both teams.
The atmosphere was heightened by a warming pre-match tribute to Greaves, where a host of former players came pitchside to join in the minute’s applause for Tottenham’s record goalscorer, who scored 266 goals in 379 appearances.
Tottenham fed off the energy of that and started the game brightly, with two loose balls in the area just evading Giovani Lo Celso.
Chelsea were a threat on the counter-attack, though, and had Spurs on the rack as they broke in a three-on-two situation.
Mason Mount fed Romelu Lukaku, whose return ball was under-hit, allowing Emerson Royal to get across and block Mount’s shot.
With Kane, Son Heung-min, Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli in the team there was a different feel about Spurs from the one that limped to a 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last week and they had two big openings.
Son, returning from an injury, sent Sergio Reguilon through on goal and the Spaniard had the opportunity to drive in on goal, but instead he tried to pass to Lo Celso and the ball was cut out.
Then, just after the half-hour it was Son who was in after a Lo Celso pass, but the South Korean’s touch was heavy and Kepa Arrizabalaga came out to block the shot.
Tuchel was not happy with what he saw and brought Kante on at half-time and switched to a 3-5-2 formation.
And it transformed the game as Chelsea took a 49th-minute lead.
Marcos Alonso had a flying shot tipped over by Hugo Lloris and at a second corner from that save, Silva climbed highest and found the bottom corner with his header.
Chelsea were rampant and deserved the luck they got for their second goal just before the hour.
Lo Celso ran into trouble and was dispossessed, with Kante afforded space to line up a shot, which took a wicked deflection off Eric Dier and flew into the bottom corner.
Spurs – seemingly shattered from their first-half exertions – had nothing in the way of a response, with Kane’s fizzed shot at Arrizabalaga their only meaningful effort of the second half.
At the other end Chelsea had enough chances to rack up a handsome victory, but Lloris saved well from Silva, Timo Werner was twice denied when through on goal and Lukaku headed straight at the Frenchman.
Eventually the third goal came in injury time as Rudiger swept home Werner’s cross as Chelsea end the weekend on top of the Premier League table.
Lionel Messi was substituted late on during his home debut for Paris Saint-Germain before Mauro Icardi grabbed a last-gasp goal to secure a 2-1 win over Lyon.
With the score at 1-1, Messi was brought off after 74 minutes and looked on in shock as he passed PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino.
However, PSG secured all three points in stoppage-time through substitute Icardi’s header.
Neymar’s penalty had cancelled out Lucas Paqueta’s opener in the second half.
Messi has still not contributed a goal or assist in all competitions since joining PSG on a free transfer from Barcelona this summer.
Lyon, who made a stuttering start to the season, are ninth with eight points while Marseille moved up to second on 13 points from five games after a convincing 2-0 victory against Rennes.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino opted for an attacking lineup with Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria in front of a two-man midfield featuring Idrissa Gueye and Ander Herrera while Gianluigi Donnarumma started his second Ligue 1 game after Keylor Navas featured in the Champions League.
“It’s a really important victory against a very good Lyon side,” said Pochettino. “The team showed their character after conceding the goal and that’s the most important thing tonight.
“Now we need to work a lot to find our balance.”
Messi looked more lively than against Club Brugge on Wednesday, forcing Anthony Lopes to a great save with a low crossed shot on 32 minutes after a clever backheel from Neymar.
Four minutes later, his 25-metre curled free kick crashed onto the bar.
Lyon went ahead nine minutes into the second half when Karl Toko Ekambi played Paqueta through for the Brazilian to beat Donnarumma at the end of a late run into the area.
It spurred PSG back into action and Neymar, who was closer to his best than in any other game this season, was brought down in the box.
The Brazil forward coolly slotted the ball past Lopes to convert the resulting penalty in the 66th minute.
Messi looked puzzled when he was replaced with fullback Achraf Hakimi, whose runs down the right flank were sorely missed by PSG.
Jose Mourinho suffered his first defeat since returning to coach in Italy as his AS Roma side were beaten 3-2 by Hellas Verona in a thrilling Serie A encounter on Sunday.
A stunning volley from Verona captain Marco Faraoni proved decisive, ending Roma’s 100% start to the Serie A season while earning his side their first win of the campaign.
Roma appeared to be on course for another three points in the pouring Veneto rain after Lorenzo Pellegrini had given the visitors a halftime lead with a sublime back-heel flick.
However, the game swung in the home side’s favour early in the second half as goals from Antonin Barak and Gianluca Caprari edged Verona 2-1 in front.
Ivan Ilic’s own goal as he beat Roma striker Tammy Abraham to a cross levelled things up in the 58th minute, before Verona again took the lead five minutes later through Faraoni.
Roma piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser but Mourinho’s men were left frustrated to sit second in the standings on nine points, with third-placed AC Milan playing Juventus later on Sunday.
“We didn’t play very well, we didn’t adapt well to their way of playing.” Mourinho told DAZN. “We lost many individual duels. I need the videos, I need a few hours to better understand what happened.”
Verona moved out of the bottom three and up to 14th as new coach Igor Tudor got off to winning start after replacing Eusebio Di Francesco in midweek.
Real Madrid forwards Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema scored within the space of three minutes deep in the second half to propel their side to a 2-1 win at Valencia in LaLiga on Sunday after being outplayed for most of the game.
The hosts went ahead in the 66th minute with a thumping low strike from forward Hugo Duro, who spent last season on loan with Madrid.
Real levelled with a deflected strike from Vinicius in the 86th minute and then the Brazilian turned provider, crossing for Benzema to head home the winner in the 88th.
Valencia would have gone top of LaLiga had they held on for the win but instead Carlo Ancelotti’s Real side lead the standings with 13 points from five games.
“It’s never easy to come here especially when you concede the first goal but we never gave in, we kept working and kept persisting,” said Vinicius.
“We’ve got a great result here thanks to the work of the whole team and things are coming off for us right now.”
The win was on the back of another Real late show in midweek when Brazilian forward Rodrygo struck in the 89th minute to secure a 1-0 victory at Internazionale in their first Champions League group game.
Valencia had made a strong start to the season under new coach Jose Bordalas but suffered a setback in the build-up to kick off when captain Jose Gaya was ruled out injured.
More problems followed as midfielder Carlos Soler, who scored a hat-trick of penalties in last season’s fixture against Real, came off injured in the 15th minute while right back Thierry Correia soon followed him in hobbling off in the 23rd.
But Bordalas’ side still managed to outrun and overpower their opponents for most of the game and took a deserved lead when Duro swivelled to send a bouncing ball beyond the reach of keeper Thibaut Courtois and into the net.
Valencia continued to cause Real problems but eased off in the final 10 minutes and the visitors made the most of their deadly firepower, Vinicius scoring his fifth goal of the season and Benzema netting a sixth after bagging a hat-trick against Celta Vigo last week.
“We know what Real Madrid are like, we know they can turn the game around at any stage,” said Duro.
“We had a tough game, we got two early injuries but still managed to go ahead then the victory escaped from our grasp and they made us pay in two isolated moves. We were very unlucky to not at least get a draw today.”
Ancelotti added: “I have a squad who fight all the time, always, playing well or playing badly. It’s a team that keeps believing to the end, that’s the feeling I have today.
“What we did well was the counterattacks in the first half. But we didn’t have aggression at the back. It can happen, you sit back, and they score. After that the reaction was good, Valencia worked hard in the first half, they ran a lot, I put some fresh players on the pitch and we won the game.
“The subs did well, they came on with motivation and enthusiasm, that changed the game.”
Mark Noble came off the bench only to miss a stoppage-time penalty as Manchester United snatched a dramatic 2-1 victory at the London Stadium.
Club captain Noble, West Ham’s Mr Reliable from the spot, was sent on by manager David Moyes to take the penalty after Luke Shaw handled in the area.
The long-serving midfielder, who retires at the end of the season, had not missed a spot-kick since December 2016, but he was denied a sentimental winner by United goalkeeper David De Gea.
It was a hugely dramatic end to a thrilling match which saw Jesse Lingard return to haunt the club for whom he starred on loan last season.
In a bitter blow for West Ham and Moyes, who tried to re-sign Lingard over the summer, the England forward curled in what turned out to be the winner two minutes from time.
Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier scored his fourth goal in three matches since returning to United, cancelling out Said Benrahma’s deflected opener for the hosts.
Defeat was tough on West Ham, who showed no signs of fatigue from their Thursday night exertions in Europe as they went at United from the off.
Benrahma robbed Harry Maguire in the area and pulled the ball back for Jarrod Bowen 10 yards out, but his shot lacked power and was blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Moments later a glorious cross-field move from the Hammers culminated in another chance for Bowen, whose deflected shot was kept out by the boot of De Gea, with Tomas Soucek firing the rebound over.
Ronaldo’s first glimpse of goal came midway through the first half, with a couple of stepovers gaining him a yard on Vladimir Coufal before shooting straight at Lukasz Fabianski.
United seemed to have weathered the early storm and almost took the lead through Bruno Fernandes, Fabianski getting the smallest of touches to tip his effort on to a post.
But moments later West Ham went ahead when Benrahma’s shot from the edge of the area took a huge deflection off Raphael Varane to wrongfoot De Gea and roll into the net.
The lead lasted only four minutes before Ronaldo struck, guiding a Fernandes cross into the chest of Fabianski and reacting quickest to tuck in the rebound.
Fabianski got down well to deny Ronaldo a second before Nikola Vlasic skied a chance for the Hammers as a breathless first half came to an end.
West Ham had a major let-off at the start of the second when a wayward pass from Pablo Fornals allowed Fernandes to slip Ronaldo in, but he was denied by Fabianski.
Ronaldo felt he should have had a penalty when he went down under Coufal’s challenge in the area, but referee Martin Atkinson thought otherwise.
The Portugal star was also denied by a timely block from the impressive Kurt Zouma as he looked to get on the end of another Fernandes cross.
Lingard came on as a 73rd-minute substitute and 15 minutes later found the top corner with a fine curler.
When Shaw handled Andriy Yarmolenko’s cross to concede a VAR-awarded penalty the script was written for Noble, but De Gea tore it up with a diving save to secure the points.