Saturday Football
8am (all times BST) Matchday live Michael Butler rises early to barge open the door to Saturday’s football activity. He will be offering breaking news and updates from around the grounds in the buildup to five Premier League games, starting with the lunchtime meeting of the 17th and 19th clubs in the table, big names down on their uppers: Tottenham and Aston Villa, respectively. He won’t be forgetting the Championship, which braces for the renewal of two bitter feuds when the leaders, West Ham, travel to the Den on Saturday to face their London rivals Millwall for the first time in 14 years. Join the conversation by emailing your thoughts and queries to matchday.live@theguardian.com
Scottish Premiership
12pm Celtic v Rangers live Celtic have a 100% league record but are in something of a tailspin, having been thumped 3-0 in the League Cup by their Glasgow rivals at Ibrox on Sunday and then beaten 3-1 by Ferencvaros at Parkhead in the Europa League on Thursday. So it is less than an optimal moment to be going up against Rangers, who will be striving to make it six wins in succession across all competitions when they visit Celtic Park. Martin O’Neill certainly understands his side are a world away from last season’s uplift, calling their latest loss “a huge frustration” and “psychologically damning”. He admitted: “It’s not the start we wanted. Really need to concentrate now on Sunday [against Rangers] … Sunday’s a big game.” John Brewin helms the blog with Jonathan Liew reporting.
Premier League
2pm Bournemouth v Liverpool live Liverpool remain unbeaten under their new head coach, Andoni Iraola, in all competitions but managing three draws from four Premier League games has stifled any early-season momentum. Iraola will be back in familiar surroundings as his side travel to Bournemouth, the south coast club the Spaniard consistently had punching above their weight. Bournemouth are yet to win in the league under Iraola’s replacement, Marco Rose, but three draws and a rather unlucky loss at Manchester City are scant return for some eye-catching football under the German. Daniel Harris has the live blog, with Ben Fisher reporting.
Premier League
4.30pm Fulham v Manchester United live One month into the Premier League season, excuses about bedding-in processes and newly assembled squads needing time to gel are wearing thin and for Manchester United there is an acute sense of urgency as the international break looms. After so much pre-season optimism, the spotlight has turned on the manager, Michael Carrick. Only one win in four league games – at home to promoted Ipswich – has been compounded by Wednesday’s League Cup exit at home to Brighton, having led 2-0. Another setback at Craven Cottage against a Fulham side without a league win would increase the pressure on Carrick and deepen the sense that United’s season is in danger of drifting before it has properly begun. United will be buoyed by the fact they have not lost at Fulham since 2009, but while the London club have made a slow start under Álvaro Arbeloa, a draw at Liverpool last week and a League Cup win at West Ham in midweek offered glimpses of better things to come. Taha Hashim brings the noise in the live blog, with David Hytner and Jacob Steinberg our reporting team at Craven Cottage.
American football
6pm NFL week two live Graham Searles is back for the best of week two’s action. He will be concentrating on Vikings v Bears and Steelers v Patriots from the eight 6pm fixtures. Minnesota opened their season with a comeback win over Green Bay, rallying from a 12-point deficit late in the third quarter to overwhelm the Packers. The Vikings’ defense will bid to shut down Caleb Williams in a battle of unbeaten teams after the Chicago quarterback inspired a record-breaking start to the season. Williams threw two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Bears pounded the Carolina Panthers 59-37 last weekend in the highest-scoring opener in NFL history. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, are coming off the successful debut of their new coach, Mike McCarthy, after the departure of Mike Tomlin, and a vintage effort from their 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers in their opening win over Atlanta. The Patriots will be entering their second home opener under Mike Vrabel, the architect of New England’s renaissance in the post-Tom Brady era, and with a third-year quarterback in Drake Maye whose post-Super Bowl run honeymoon appears to be over after one of the worst performances of his young career in last week’s 13-10 loss to Seattle.
Caleb Williams led the Chicago Bears to a record-breaking start in the NFL’s opening weekend. Photograph: Scott Kinser/AP
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