Manager sacking looms

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering Erik ten Hag’s future, Spurs’ next buyer and much more. Enjoy Route One? Share us with a friend on WhatsApp with this link.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE STATS

Arsenal vs Paris Saint-Germain (20:00 UK). Arsenal are unbeaten in their previous four meetings with PSG in European competitions, and the French side have lost their last three away games against English sides in the UCL. Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan (20:00 UK). Milan have won just four of their last 17 away matches in the UCL, while Leverkusen continue their strong form but with leaky defence, conceding 10 goals in their first five league games this season. Slovan vs Man City (20:00). Slovan’s team is valued at just £24mn, whereas Man City are valued at £1.04bn, suggesting that the hosts have a tough job in ending their current five-game losing streak against English clubs. Find full Champions League fixtures tonight here.

Plus…

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• Bournemouth win 3 — 1 over Southampton to round up MW6 (More)

• Dembele dropped from PSG squad facing Arsenal after row with manager (More)

• The six best Premier League stats from Matchday 6 (More)

• Football Manager 25 release set for November 26 (More)

TEN HAG SAGA

Man United to back Erik ten Hag for the next two games, despite being the league’s biggest underachievers

Erik ten Hag is expected to remain the Manchester United manager despite the club’s poor start to the season. Pressure is mounting after United’s 3 – 0 loss to Spurs – their second consecutive 3 – 0 home league defeat. They sit 12th after their opening six games and are the league’s biggest underachievers.

After the 3 – 0 routing, Ten Hag said that he doesn’t fear losing his job and that United “are all on one page, one boat, the ownership, the leadership group, the staff, the players, too”. Privately, United’s board echo Ten Hag’s sentiment – that patience is required to allow the INEOS arrival to bed in. Additionally, there’s not an abundance of willing or high-profile managers to take over from the Dutchman. United’s board knows this first-hand after interviewing half a dozen managers in the summer and failing to find a replacement. At this moment, it’s easier to stick, not twist.

Ten Hag is expected to stay in charge for their games against Porto and Aston Villa – just three days apart. But two bad results and the subsequent international break could be the time and space United’s board need to make the change.

POLL

HEAD START

🇫🇷 Griezmann retires from internationals. Antoine Griezmann, 33, has announced his retirement from international football. He made 137 appearances for his country, scoring 44 goals and won the 2018 World Cup and 2021 Nations League. 

👮 Top refs stopped from officiating in Gulf states. Top referees in England have effectively been stopped from officiating in matches in Gulf states and other domestic leagues. PGMOL chief referring officer Howard Webb will only grant approval if there is a “development opportunity” for match officials. The decision comes after three officials took charge of a match in the United Arab Emirates less than 48 hours before a terrible VAR blunder in Liverpool’s 2 – 1 defeat to Spurs last season.

🤕 Player welfare concerns continue. Liverpool’s Andy Robertson is the latest of a long list of players voicing concern over player welfare and burnout. The left-back believes players should discuss a plan of action against the congested fixture schedule.

SPURS INVESTMENT

Amanda Staveley weeks away from completing investment in Tottenham, sources say

Amanda Staveley is planning to buy a sizeable stake in Spurs. Staveley is the financier who helped push through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s £305mn takeover of Newcastle. She was also involved in Mansour’s high-profile purchase of Manchester City in September 2008.

Alongside her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Staveley is expected to buy some of Joe Lewis’s shares — the billionaire who avoided jail earlier this year over inside trading. Forbes states that Spurs are currently valued at around £2.42bn ($3.2bn). Should Staveley purchase a 25 per cent stake in the club it would cost approximately £605mm. A close source said that Staveley expects the initial purchase to be completed within weeks.

Staveley’s time at Newcastle is widely viewed as a success. After the takeover, Newcastle spent £92mn in the first transfer window, the women’s team went full-time and £10mn was spent on renovations to the training ground.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is out until after the international break with injury (More)

🇩🇪 German Women’s national team: After 144 appearances for Germany, Alexandra Popp, 33, is retiring from international football (More)

🇸🇦 Saudi Pro League: Cristiano Ronaldo has more goals in his 30s (441) than in his 20s (440) after scoring for Al Nassr yesterday (More); Neymar is back training with Al-Hilal after his ACL injury (More)

🇮🇹 Serie A: Italian police arrested 19 AC Milan and Inter Milan ultras accused of criminal ties with the powerful mafia group (More)

THE WEEK AHEAD

Champions League

The league phase is back, already. Tonight sees the best fixtures of the week – Arsenal host Paris-Saint Germain, while Celtic travel to runners-up Borussia Dortmund. Manchester City will be confident in securing all three points against Slovan Bratislava. And expect a good battle between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.

Then on Wednesday, Aston Villa will face Bayern Munich. Liverpool hosting Bologna and RB Leipzig against Juventus are probably the picks of the other games. Full fixture list here.

Europa / Conference League

Yep. The Conference League starts on Wednesday but the standout fixture is on Thursday, with Chelsea vs Gent. Full list of Conference League fixtures here.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s also Europa League on Thursday. Tottenham are off to Budapest to play Ferencvaros, while Manchester United travel to Porto. Full list of Europa League fixtures here.

Carabao Cup

It wasn’t meant to be tonight but after being scrapped due to a sinkhole at Wimbledon’s stadium last week, Newcastle will host the Dons in the third round. A reminder of the fourth-round draw here.

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Do you think the transfer window should close earlier, before league games start?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🔒 Yes, it keeps things fair from the start... (72%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⏳ No, especially if other leagues don't follow... (23.9%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (4.1%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🔒 D.H: “Fairness should apply through the leagues in Europe and beyond, with one date applied to all.”

• ⏳ A.R: “It's much neater and fairer this way. Everyone knows where they stand with the season starting and the player pool settled at the same time.”

• ✍️ T: “I don’t really see why we need a window, we seemed to do OK before we had it. It just pressures clubs into buying players for inflated prices and puts clubs deeper into the FFP black hole. If there is a window why aren’t managers included in it?”

EXTRA TIME

Eden Hazard settles the ‘Hazard vs Salah’ debate.

Stylish penalty decision in the Norwegian league.

Should Pep have sold Palmer? Jordan and Keown disagree.

The top 50 Premier League players ranked.

Evra reveals Ronaldo and Bale agreed to join United in 2013...

… and it turns out Evra might be telling the truth.

Graham Potter on catching the eye of club owners.

The longest runs leading to a Premier League assist or goal.

Andy Carroll on why he’s playing in the French fourth tier.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which team in Europe has become the first to surpass 60 incidents where they would have benefited if VAR hadn’t existed?

Clue: Largest following on social media.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Champions League

• RB Salzburg vs Brest (17:45)

• Stuttgart vs Sparta Prague (17:45)

• Arsenal vs PSG (20:00)

• Barcelona vs Young Boys (20:00)

• Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan (20:00)

• B. Dortmund vs Celtic (20:00)

• Inter Milan vs Red Star (20:00)

• PSV vs Sporting (20:00)

• Slovan vs Man City (20:00)

Carabao Cup 3rd Round

• Newcastle vs Wimbledon (19:45)

*All times in UK. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Real Madrid.