Another European soccer weekend is in the books and, once again, there are narratives aplenty to dissect. Liverpool defeated Arsenal in Sunday’s presumed “clash of title contenders,” though it’s clear based on the 90 minutes that both teams are far from the finished product. (Don’t worry: it’s the same for the rest of the Premier League after just three games, and with deadline day still ongoing.) VAR dominated the headlines after cancelling out a perfectly valid Fulham goal in the Cottagers’ 2-0 loss to Chelsea, while Manchester United also had the folks at Stockley Park to thank for their late, late 3-2 win over newly promoted Burnley.

Elsewhere, there are talking points galore as Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Napoli all secured three points to send title warnings, with Luis Enrique’s charges looking the most ominous. And don’t forget about Real Madrid either, as they picked up a third win from three games to take an early lead atop LaLiga — Xabi Alonso’s side still look a work-in-progress, but results are good right now.

It’s Monday before the international break kicks in, so what better time for Gab Marcotti’s musings?

Liverpool beat Arsenal, but neither team looks ready for the season (which explains their last-ditch deals)

Sunday’s clash of title favourites at Anfield turned into what tactics nerds like to call a “chess match,” but which others might describe as simply two sides unable to execute. Liverpool, defending champions playing at home, ended the first half with an xG of 0.09 and didn’t actually record their first shot on target until the hour mark. Arsenal, already without Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard (slowed by a shoulder injury, he came on in the second half), also lost defensive stalwart William Saliba after just five minutes and clearly opted for the risk-averse route.

Situations like these usually get resolved by one of two things: either a mistake (whether by the referee or an individual player), or a moment of brilliance. Dominik Szoboszlai‘s long-range free kick screamer that decided the match fits in the latter category.

– Szoboszlai, Liverpool make statement by beating Arsenal
– Emotional turmoil for Amorim, but a key win for Man United
– The VAR Review: Fulham fume while Man United get late penalty

Liverpool boss Arne Slot will be pleased with three wins in three games and already a two-point gap at the top of the table, but it’s pretty evident that what we’re seeing on the pitch isn’t the side he hopes to field later in the season. It can’t be. In each of their first three games they needed late goals to turn draws into wins, and while the schedule (they faced Bournemouth and Newcastle before this) has been tough, we haven’t seen what we saw from them last season — hence the pursuits of Alexander Isak and Marc Guéhi, though while more and better personnel makes you better, there is a fair amount to sort through tactically as well.

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Hislop lauds Szoboszlai’s ‘moment of pure genius’ vs. Arsenal

Shaka Hislop reacts to Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick in Liverpool’s 1-0 win against Arsenal in the Premier League.

Florian Wirtz in the No.10 hole remains a long-term project. Against Arsenal, it felt like he had to navigate deeper to get the ball and escape the Martín Zubimendi–Declan Rice gorgons in front of Arsenal’s back four, though it remains to be seen whether that’s the best use of his talents. Szoboszlai didn’t just score the winner; he also had more touches than any outfield player bar Virgil van Dijk, and he did a fair Trent Alexander-Arnold impression with some of his long-range passing. Is he keeping the right-back position warm for Jeremie Frimpong‘s return, or is this something we’ll see again on a regular basis, in which case Liverpool will have three right-back solutions (if you count Conor Bradley too) who are totally different from each other? Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah, for different reasons, have had slow starts to the season too.

As for Arsenal, manager Mikel Arteta insists they played to win, though on Monday morning he got plenty of stick for being too negative. Results change narratives and, had they escaped with a point (or nicked a goal to win it, which they could have done) we’d be talking about his tactical master-class. What’s pretty evident is that the drop from Odegaard, Saka and Saliba to Mikel Merino, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera is pretty sharp. Throw in the absence of Kai Havertz — probably a better fit in a game like this than Viktor Gyökeres — and you can give Arteta a pass for Sunday.

What’s clear is that he has pushed the club to go all-in this season, adding a ton of depth that simply wasn’t there last season. Arsenal’s reserve front four — Eberechi Eze, Madueke, Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri (or Merino) — is as good as all but a handful of team’s first-choice quartets. The pursuit of Piero Hincapié adds further options to the back line (and central midfield, too). Getting the newcomers to mesh and ensuring the drop-off is limited when your starters are unavailable will take time in his case, too. They have the defensive side of the game down pat — dialing up what they do on the attacking end, particularly when the understudies are in, will be a journey.

So if you were a little disappointed with Sunday, don’t fret. Both these teams are nowhere near their ceiling. They can get a lot better.

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Will Gyökeres continue to struggle against the top Premier League defenders?

Shaka Hislop reacts to Viktor Gyökeres’ performance for Arsenal against Liverpool.

VAR farce shouldn’t distract from Chelsea’s poor performance

The headlines are all about video assistant referee Michael Salisbury, who disallowed Josh King‘s counter-attacking goal for an imaginary Rodrigo Muniz foul on Trevoh Chalobah. (HINT: When you have possession of the ball and in regaining your balance you step on the foot of the opponent behind you — and opponent you can’t see since you don’t have eyes on the back of your head — it’s not a foul.)

The Premier League‘s refereeing body, the PGMOL, admitted the error and took him off VAR duty for Sunday’s game between Liverpool and Arsenal. Admitting errors is a grown-up thing to do; it would be good if they also explained why referee Robert Jones didn’t have the guts to overrule VAR when he watched the incident on the screen.

Fulham were furious, and rightly so. Not only should the goal have stood, but the interminable review also caused the first half to run over an additional nine minutes, with Chelsea taking the lead at the very end of it. VAR also stepped in for Chelsea’s second goal, punishing a handball with a penalty, but that was more understandable.

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Should there be an apology from the referees to Fulham?

Janusz Michaliik questions the referees performance after Fulham’s goal was controversially disallowed vs Chelsea.

However, all this referee/VAR talk shouldn’t distract from a poor Chelsea performance, especially in the first half. Until the final minute of first-half injury time, their xG stood at a paltry 0.11. Cole Palmer‘s absence — and Liam Delap‘s injury — alone don’t explain it. Blues head coach Enzo Maresca needs his leaders to step up, starting with Enzo Fernández. It’s one thing to beat up a horrible West Ham United like they did last week, quite another to deal with a well-drilled, organised side like Fulham.

Quick hits

10. PSG go next level at Toulouse: There are different ways to win 6-3. It’s still a three-goal margin of victory, but sometimes it can be a tight, exciting game with one side pulling ahead at the end. Not here. Paris Saint-Germain were 3-0 up inside of 15 minutes and 5-1 up before the hour mark. Game over. The rest is garbage time, which is when — after Luis Enrique duly made his substitutions — the home team pulled a couple goals back. PSG ended up with a whopping 76% possession and weirdly got outshot by Toulouse (14-13), but only because by that stage the game was over. João Neves took the headlines with a stunning hat trick (two of them overhead kicks), while Lucas Chevalier saved a penalty (two, actually, given the first one was retaken). A lot will have to go wrong this season for PSG to drop points in Ligue 1.

9. Zambo Anguissa’s buzzer-beater saves Napoli, but this year feels different: Sometimes you deliver a stinker, somehow manage to score and eke out a 1-0 win. And sometimes you need the final kick of the game to break the impasse when really, you deserved to score earlier. Thanks to André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Napoli’s 1-0 win over Cagliari belongs to the latter category, unlike many of the 1-0 wins they got last season. Cagliari parked the proverbial bus, star signing Kevin De Bruyne was a notch below his best, and Napoli were a bit languid in their play — but the chances still came, albeit after the break. Antonio Conte, however, still has the tactical chops to give himself the edge, like he did when he sent on a genuine winger like Noa Lang. This feels like a team pacing itself, knowing it’s ready to reap what it sows. That wasn’t the sense last season, when they won the title.

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Why are things not clicking for Real Madrid?

Ale Moreno looks at the reasons why Real Madrid are still struggling despite beating Mallorca 2-1 in LaLiga.

8. Real Madrid getting results, but still waiting on performances: The good news is Real Madrid are three for three, Barcelona are three points back and Atlético Madrid a whopping seven points back. On the flip side, Saturday’s 2-1 win over Mallorca underscored how this doesn’t yet feel like a Xabi Alonso side. There’s little value-add from the coach (which may be understandable, given it’s still very early in his tenure) and it’s still about talented individuals doing what talented individuals do. Consider Kylian Mbappé‘s disallowed goals (correct, but close) or, for that matter, Vinícius Júnior‘s strike that made it 2-1. This isn’t about patterns of play; it’s about having exceptional players. Which isn’t a bad thing… just that when great players have off days, you can get stuck. It feels as if Xabi is still holding auditions for his starting XI (and, in any case, he’ll have to re-write the script when Jude Bellingham returns). Don’t expect to see Xabi’s vision of Real Madrid to come together until the new year … which is why it’s good they’re getting results under their belts in the meantime.

7. With horrible finishing and defensive lapses, Bayern nearly chuck Bavarian Derby away: I’ll start with Luis Díaz, because I’m a huge fan. He did score in Bayern Munich‘s nervy 3-2 win at FC Augsburg, but he also missed a couple of sitters, including an early “miss of the season” contender after just 20 seconds. He wasn’t the only culprit, though, as Bayern somehow contrived to put together an xG of 4.24 while scoring just three times. At the other end, there were more defensive mishaps than you’d expect (Sacha Boey, again), suggesting simply dropping Jonathan Tah into the back four isn’t going to fix the defence. It’s not what Bayern fans want to see, coming after the shaky midweek performance against third-flight Wehen Wiesbaden. The club have been quite open about their difficulties in the transfer window this summer, but these sorts of flaws can generally be attributed to focus and concentration (after all, they’re still creating the chances). That’s something Die Roten coach Vincent Kompany needs to sort out.

6. Dusan Vlahovic does it again for Juventus … so much for those who wanted him gone: I don’t want to say “I told you so” but … OK, sample size is tiny (two goals in two games) but the big man staying is, all told, a blessing in disguise. He seems fine with his role off the bench and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season: what’s not to like? With the leverage he had, a move was always going to be unlikely and with Lois Openda now reportedly on his way — a better complement in Igor Tudor’s system than Randal Kolo Muani — Juve have viable and productive front four options when you add in Kenan Yildiz, Jonathan David and Chico Conceicao. Genoa away are a prickly opponent, and Juve don’t necessarily have the fluidity they need yet. Things should get better once the window closes and there is a bit more clarity over the bloated squad as more players exit.

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Hislop: Man United’s only job was to beat Burnley

Shaka Hislop tries to look at the positives for Man United after their 3-2 win vs. Burnley in the Premier League.

5. VAR rescued Man United, but Ruben Amorim is right to not call it a “turning point:” Why should he? Manchester United have had more turning points turn into false dawns than you can shake a stick at. The winner came all the way in the seventh minute of injury time against Burnley — with Bruno Fernandes making it 3-2 from the spot thanks to VAR — but the result was deserved and the decision was correct (if you’re going to pull a jersey, be sure to let go well before your opponent enters the penalty area). You can highlight the negatives — the sheer luck on the Josh Cullen own-goal, goalkeeper Altay Bayindir screwing up (again), Matheus Cunha coming off injured, Ruben Amorim refusing to look on as Bruno took the penalty (again), the general chaotic nerviness after Burnley made it 2-2 — but they don’t change the fact that United created plenty of chances. Managing games clearly is not (yet?) their forte, but given how fragile Manchester United are mentally and how prone to psychodrama, at least they offered a reaction to the League Cup embarrassment in front of their own fans. Lest we forget, this team lost nine of 19 league games at Old Trafford last season.

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Were Bayer Leverkusen right to have sacked k Erik ten Hag?

Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens debate if Bayer Leverkusen were right to sack Erik ten Hag after just 60 days.

4. Erik Ten Hag sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after 62 days, but he can’t be the only one responsible: OK, so it’s open season on the former Manchester United boss. Appointed July 1, dismissed September 1. Nice one, Erik. It happened after another embarrassing outing: leading 3-1 against Werder Bremen, who are down to ten men with 26 minutes to go, and Bayer Leverkusen contrive to draw 3-3. Several things seem pretty clear here. Ten Hag wasn’t fired for the first two Bundesliga outings, however insipid. Clearly, some key relationships broke down very quickly, because it’s never a good look for a club to sack a guy two games into his tenure. He was likely never a good fit for a club needing to rebuild on a budget after losing half its starting XI, but that means whoever hired him has to take accountability, too.

3. Manchester City‘s collapse at Brighton is more mental than technical: Two defeats on the bounce for Pep Guardiola’s City used to be noteworthy … until last season. But this is supposed to be the rebuilding year, which makes the collapse away to Brighton all the more noteworthy. Things were fine for an hour, right up until Oscar Bobb missed the chance to make it 2-0 — and then, the bottom fell out. Matheus Nunes gave up a foolish penalty, the back four went all over the place for Brajan Gruda’s winner and they ended up conceding 2.19 xG in the last half-hour while taking just three shots, all of them off target. Had it not been for James Trafford’s standout performance, it was Brighton who could have four or even five and again, that has to be on the manager because for most of the game, City were significantly better and, indeed, Erling Haaland could have had a first half hat-trick. Guardiola was dismissive, saying that compared to last season his team is “in a good moment.” I’m more on board with the words of Rodri, who blamed lack of concentration, children’s mistakes and admitted they haven’t been at the level they should be at “for a long, long time.” Guardiola needs to take this break to think things through and sort things out. He should not compare this to last year’s aberration.

2. Atletico Madrid still winless after (lucky) draw at Alaves: Lucky because Giuliano Simeone’s goal shouldn’t have stood. The handball was accidental, but it led directly to him being able to shoot on goal (which is why the VAR was replaced). So it really should be one point from three games, eight behind Real Madrid. It’s “El Cholo” Simeone’s worst-ever start at Atletico and rarely, in his 13 years in charge, have they looked this confused. On paper, this team should be more attacking than last season’s iteration, but they take fewer shots and have lower expected goals per shot. Antoine Griezmann started slowly, Alexander Sorloth still hasn’t found the right chemistry with Julián Álvarez, Koke isn’t getting any younger and the entire new flank with Thiago Almada and Matteo Ruggeri (who was dropped for a center-back like Dávid Hancko, maybe the only bright spot among the new signings) isn’t working. Teething problems? Sure. And given his track record, you wouldn’t bet against Simeone figuring things out. But right now, it’s hard to see how these bits fit together.

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Michaliik: This is a shocking loss for Spurs

Janusz Michaliik rues Tottenham’s first loss of the season at home to Bournemouth as he believes it was a missed opportunity for Spurs.

1. Frank hails Spurs’ “heart” after Bournemouth humiliation: And, make no mistake about it, it was a humiliation. Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank got plenty of praise for some of the early performances (including the 2-0 win at Manchester City) but all of that disappeared against AFC Bournemouth. Sure, they went down to a deflected goal early, but what happened next was hard to stomach. Their first shot on goal came in minute 55 and their first (and only) shot on target in minute 68. Cherries head coach Andoni Iraola is a phenomenal tactician and Bournemouth are a tough out, but Spurs’ inability to create chances was evident. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison being injured doesn’t help, although newly signed Xavi Simons should brighten things up.

It’s interesting to note that Frank is opting for the carrot, instead of the stick after this horrid performance. He praised his teams “heart” and “effort” while conceding his attacking players “did not hit a high level.” “I don’t want to say it’s OK,” he said. “But it’s natural.” Different coach, different motivational techniques I guess…

Manchester United A deal with a deal with Antwerp For goalkeeper Sen Lamens, sources have told ESPN.

The 23-year-old € 21 million ($ 27m) is set to go to the Old Trafford in the Plus Aid-on deal.

Belgium Youth is traveling to International Manchester and will sign a five -year contract after passing through medical.

Sources have told ESPN that the arrival of lemense does not mean one of one means that one of the one. Andre onana Or Altaya biinder Will leave before the transfer deadline.

United is also 39 years old Tom Heton His senior goalkeeper as part of the group.

Sources have told ESPN that Galatasarai Finding a deal for Onana over the weekend after disappearance after signing Manchester City Goalkeeper Éderson,

, Live Blog: Follow the latest on transfer deadline day
, Men’s Grade: How we have rate PL deals
, Full transfer from major football league

Brazil Etihad Stadium is ready to join international Fanarbash,

Galatasarai has also shown interest Diaogo costa And Yan somar And the Champions are eager to sign a goalkeeper to pursue their squad before their return to the League.

A source close to Onana told ESPN on Sunday that Cameron The international does not guess leaving before the end of the window and wants to stay in the Old Trafford to fight for its place.

However, the United will listen to any appropriate proposal for the 29 -year -old and can still bid late.

Chelsey Are coming back to conversation with Bayern Munich On transfer of Nicholas jackson After the player pushed the move to revive the move, sources have told ESPN.

The West London Club had agreed to a deal for Lone Jackson for a initial € 15 million ($ 17.5m) fee in the previous weekend, with an option with the option to permanent the steps for another € 65M ($ 76m).

However, Chelsea shut down the move Liam delap Had to face a hamstring Injury against Fulham Which can sideline him for two months – or perhaps even longer.

But Jackson was already in Munich before a proposed treatment and sources say he is still desperate to join the bayern.

Chelsey has gone to remember Mark Guiuu From Sunderland To provide cover for Joao Pedro -Club’s only fit Senior Center-forward-and sources say they are open to discuss Jackson’s permanent departure with Bayern in the coming hours.

Guiu joined only Sundarland 6 August But the chalsea is ready to return amidst the lack of strikers.

Bachelor of academy Tyrich george After a delap injury with Pedro, it was played against Fulham, who was working as number 10 behind him. George can leave the club before tonight time limit amidst interest Roma,

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, Men’s Grade: How we have rate PL deals
, Full transfer from major football league

So Chelsea is looking at options. Sources say that they questioned Conrad Harder But Sporting lisbon But he chose to join RB leapzig And flying to Germany to complete a step. wolf, Jorgen Strand Larsen There is another player of interest.

Netherlands Striker Brian BrobeMeanwhile, swapping ajax For Sunderland, in the deal up to € 25 million ($ 29.3m), sources have confirmed ESPN.

Sunderland is an active transfer time limit with a brobe set to join your Dutch team partner Lootshell zartruida To sign for Premier League Side. While Gartruida is joining the loan from leapzig, Brobe is set to sign a permanent deal for a fee in an area of ​​€ 20 meters, with € 5m in € 5m.

Brobe is yet to be seen for Ajax EREDVC This season and 23 -year -old, will bolt Sundarland’s attacker options in the Premier League.

This report used ESPN’s Tom Hamilton information.