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Manchester United closed the gap on their title rivals as they defeated Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 to stay unbeaten in the Women’s Super League. Elisabeth Terland, Jess Park and Lisa Naalsund did the damage for the Red Devils as Marc Skinner’s in-form side kept pace with Chelsea and Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

Beth Mead and Alessia Russo took centre stage on Sunday as Arsenal looked much more like themselves in a comfortable and convincing 4-1 win at Leicester. Despite being crowned European champions back in May, the Gunners have struggled at the start of this new season, unable to use that continental triumph as a springboard for a Women's Super League title challenge. This win, though, was a sign that the tide is turning, with it certainly the most impressive of the three on the bounce they have now registered.

Nashville started strong and held on to an early lead to beat Inter Miami in game two of their first round MLS playoff series, 2-1, on Saturday night. Lionel Messi scored the only goal for Miami, who threatened late but were unable to find a stoppage time equalizer, and could now face a second straight opening round elimination after taking a 1-0 lead.

Liverpool ended their torrid losing streak as Mohamed Salah scored his 250th goal for the club and Ryan Gravenberch netted on his return from injury in a comfortable 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield. The Reds were well worth the three points but had a slice of luck to thank as Emiliano Martinez presented Salah with an open goal to break the deadlock, before Gravenberch's deflected strike sealed the points for a Arne Slot's dominant side.

Real Madrid turned in a complete performance against a poor Valencia side, with Kylian Mbappe grabbing two and Jude Bellingham finding form in Saturday's 4-0 romp at Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos did most of their damage in the first half, and were able to overcome a missed penalty from Vinicius Jr to seal a comfortable win.

Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League's top four with a deserved 1-0 win away at Tottenham on Saturday. The Blues were head and shoulders above their London rivals, and though Joao Pedro scored the game's only goal, the disparity between the two teams was clear for all to see, with Spurs registering just three shots in total and one on target.

Manchester United's winning streak is over as the Red Devils were held to a 2-2 draw by Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday. It could have been worse for Ruben Amorim's side, who had Amad Diallo to thank for a stunning volley to level up the scores with less than 10 minutes to play after Forest had scored twice in quick succession to kick-off the second half.

Another game, another set-piece goal and another win for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta's leaders extended their advantage at the top of the Premier League table to seven points with a 2-0 success at Burnley on Saturday. It was another dominant afternoon for the Gunners, who had already seen Bukayo Saka waste a golden opportunity by the time they went in front on 14 minutes through Viktor Gyokeres' close-range finish from Declan Rice's corner.

Chelsea returned to action following the international break with a 2-0 win over London City Lionesses in the Women's Super League on Saturday. Australia internationals Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr netted for the Blues, who maintained their one-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table with a victory over their big-spending opponents that kept their long unbeaten league run under Sonia Bompastor going.

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Shortly before the coronavirus pandemic forced the world into lockdown in December 2019, Tottenham recorded and released a video of their first-team players driving academy kids to training. Lucas Moura, still basking in the heroism of his Amsterdam miracle half a year earlier, surprised an 11-year-old boy with his presence as they took the car for a spin. Along the way, the Brazil international had some words of wisdom for the child.

With the title race having already swung back and forth while the top-four and relegation battles are as open as they have been for a few years, the Premier League is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Sure, the odd match still follows the formbook, but a number of teams are proving tough to pin down and figure out what to expect from them on a game-to-game basis.

After winning an unprecedented Champions League title back in May, expectations were high for this Arsenal side coming into the 2025-26 season. Could the Gunners use their European success as a springboard and really challenge for the Women's Super League title this time around? Could they finally end Chelsea's incredible dominance which has now seen them claim each of the last six league crowns, as well as 13 of the last 18 domestic honours?

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Emma Hayes' side had a bumpy start to the October camp, but finished off in style by overpowering New Zealand 6-0

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Casemiro and Ruben Amorim have a few things in common. The Manchester United coach and midfielder share a common language; they have both played in the Portuguese top-flight, for Porto and Benfica, respectively; and they both been written off completely by Jamie Carragher live on Sky Sports. But the next time they see the former Liverpool defender, they can look him in the eye and tell him he was completely wrong.

There was no shortage of stars on show as the Lionesses took to the pitch for Tuesday's clash with an Australia side boasting plenty of household names of their own. Be it the likes of Lucy Bronze, Ella Toone, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo in the home colours, or Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley representing the visitors, there was top-class talent all over the park. And yet, it was a relatively unknown 21-year-old by the name of Lucia Kendall who stole the show.

It was one-way traffic for Emma Hayes, who started a young lineup that was determined to dominate from start to finish

This was an easy 6-0 victory for the USWNT, a near-perfect performance to end an imperfect, but hopeful, camp

Liverpool slumped to another damaging, dismal defeat as Arne Slot’s side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup, beaten 3-0 by Crystal Palace while finishing the match with 10 players on a dire night at Anfield. Slot made sweeping changes to the team which was defeated by Brentford, with one eye on the clash with Aston Villa this weekend, but the fringe players and academy hopefuls were thoroughly outclassed by Oliver Glasner's side.

Chelsea returned to winning ways on Wednesday, but they made hard work of their victory at Wolves. Goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George, Estevao Willian and Jamie Gittens saw the Blues claim a narrow 4-3 win in the Midlands to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Rayan Cherki showed his class to inspire Manchester City to a come-from-behind 3-1 win at Swansea as Pep Guardiola's side booked their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. The French playmaker was City's top performer in an underwhelming display overall against the Championship side, who took the lead through a spectacular goal from Goncalo Franco.

Arsenal booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 victory at home to Brighton on Wednesday. Second-half goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka saw Mikel Arteta's men into the next round, with several young players impressing for the Gunners after weathering an early Seagulls storm.

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England's first camp since their second successive European Championship triumph was certainly a little up and down. Marred by injuries going into the window, with there already three notable absentees before Sarina Wiegman's squad was announced and four withdrawals after it was revealed, the Lionesses then suffered a 2-1 defeat to Brazil in their first game post-Euros, despite playing for over an hour against 10 players, but were able to bounce back on Tuesday against Australia, who also had a player sent off very early on in a rather strange couple of games.

While much of the early-season crisis talk has centred on Manchester United and Liverpool, Chelsea have quietly slipped below their biggest Premier League rivals, finding themselves ninth after nine games. Consistently inconsistent, Saturday's shock home defeat to Sunderland has left them at a crossroads, with plenty of issues to address if they are to avoid their season drifting into mediocrity.