Manchester United defeats Ipswich Town as Liverpool draws with Nottingham Forest

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Manchester City unrepentant in victory, Spurs make progress of a sort and Noni Madueke meets the moment The manner of Manchester City’s victory at Liverpool was an article of both vindication and vilification. Those gleefully wielding inflatable bananas in the Anfield away end could thumb their noses. Why not enjoy the dances of defiance until the music stops? The same went for City players, asked to perform under the darkest of clouds, able to focus, at last, on football, rather than legal argument and uncertain futures. Beyond City, the sight of a club found guilty of 100-plus charges laying waste to such rivals as Liverpool was deeply uncomfortable. The Premier League season and product are badly damaged until the matter is somehow resolved. What happened at Anfield should double the haste for a resolution. Chants of “cheat” whenever City players, the game already won, slipped the ball around, are bound to be repeated at other stadiums. Enzo Maresca has described his club’s plight as “noise” but his team’s victory did absolutely nothing to turn the volume down. John Brewin Match report: Liverpool 0-3 Manchester City Match report: Crystal Palace 3-1 Nottingham Forest Match report: Hull City 2-2 Everton Continue reading...

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⚽ Live updates from four third-round matches ⚽ Manchester United shocked as JJ Gabriel asks to leave ⚽ Get in touch! Email Will with any thoughts The constant rollercoaster that is Manchester United Football Club is making a detour to the Carabao Cup in the latest attempt to kickstart their domestic season. Sunday’s derby defeat was caused somewhat by VAR’s ineptitude but that just glossed over the poor performance from Michael Carrick’s charges. The manager had seemingly fixed a lot of Old Trafford’s problem when put in charge after Ruben Amorim’s sacking but many have resurfaced since his permanent appointment despite a £150m summer spend on midfielders. If they were to lose the next two matches, tonight against Brighton and way to Fulham on Sunday, before an elongated international break, then plenty of words will be written to fill the void. Coventry City v Aston Villa screams of two teams who will be keen to jump out of the competition, one because they need to focus on surviving after collecting zero points from four games, while the other has bigger fish to fry. Maybe I am being too negative on the matter and the nature of it being a Midlands derby will liven it up for everyone involved. Continue reading...

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The Red Devils, who were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Brighton on Wednesday, have won just one of their opening four Premier League games this season to leave them 13th, already eight points adrift of the early pace-setters Arsenal and Manchester City. The Brighton defeat rounded off a difficult few days for United head coach Michael Carrick, whose side were insipid in the Manchester derby loss to 10-man City last Sunday. Throw in the uncertainty over academy star JJ Gabriel's future and Carrick is in dire need of three points on the road in west London.