Premier League LIVE: Watkins ends goal drought, Southgate a Manchester United target, Liverpool suffer first defeat
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Gareth Southgate is an option for Manchester United if they decide to sack Ruben Amorim, talkSPORT understands.
It comes after Brentford beat the Red Devils 3-1 in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at the Gtech, which kicked off a stunning day of results.
Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season to Crystal Palace, with Eddie Nketiah scoring in the dying embers of the contest.
Chelsea ended a second consecutive game down to ten men to lose 3-1 to Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge, with Danny Welbeck grabbing two.
Elsewhere, at the City Ground, Ange Postecoglou's wait for a first win goes on after a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.
7 minutes agoBy Joe Brophy
THE DROUGHT IS OVER!!!
Watkins is back on the goalscoring trial, and boy does the England striker look a relieved man as his song blares out at Villa Park.
Lucas Digne send a raking ball over the top, which Joachim Andersen makes a complete mess of as he jumps and misses it completely.
It bounces favourably for Watkins running in behind, and the striker lifts his shot over the head of the onrushing Bernd Leno.
VAR checked for an offside, but Watkins timed the run perfectly and the roar that booms out signals the goal has been given.
Watkins has scored his first goal in the Premier League this season, netting for the first time since May against Bournemouth.
He has ended a run of 700 minutes without scoring in the Premier League, netting five goals in his last five league games against Fulham.
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10 minutes agoBy Joe Brophy
Tyrone Mings has picked up an injury to his left and is replaced by Pau Torres, hopefully giving Villa's shaky backline some added composure.
From the restart, Sasa Lukic gets his fourth yellow card to move within one of a suspension after bringing Morgan Rogers down.
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20 minutes agoBy Joe Brophy
NO PENALTY!
Adama Traore slices through Villa's backline like a knife through butter as his threaded pass releases Josh King in behind.
The Fulham youngster attempts to take it around Emi Martinez before throwing himself to the ground.
There is slight contact from the Villa goalkeeper, but referee Andy Madley believes King was already on his way down.
The 18-year-old is booked for simulation for the second successive match!
Perry Groves told talkSPORT: "The first one I don't get whatsoever.
It's a penalty - To be booked for diving is harsh.
"Martinez didn't jump up; he was sheepish."
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33 minutes agoBy Joe Brophy
The Cottagers have instantly had their plans changed shortly after the restart following an injury to Raul Jimenez.
The Mexican lands awkwardly during the aftermath of his goal, with replays showing him grimacing after Fulham's celebrations.
Jimenez seemingly took a whack from his teammates jumping on him near the corner flag.
He tries to continue but is eventually forced off, with Adama Traore sent on in a change of shape for Marco Silva's side.
Jiménez is the first player to start a Premier League game, score and be subbed off inside 11 minutes since Samuel Eto'o for Chelsea against Arsenal in March 2014.
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41 minutes agoBy Joe Brophy
THE VISITORS TAKE THE LEAD INSIDE THREE MINUTES!
It's a simple corner to the near post, and Jimenez's run is untracked as he glances a backwards header into the far corner.
The Wolves frontman is only in the starting XI today due to an injury to Rodrigo Muniz, but has delivered for Marco Silva's men.
Each of Raúl Jiménez's last three Premier League goals have been scored with his head, as many as across his 25 goals prior.
Aston Villa have conceded their earliest goal in a Premier League home game since May 2024, when Emiliano Martínez scored a second-minute own goal against Liverpool.
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Today, 13:45By Joe Brophy
Harvey Elliott makes his first Premier League start for Aston Villa following his deadline-day move from Liverpool.
On the impact of the Europa League win over Bologna, the England star told Sky Sports:"Massively.
He's actually gone backwards since the start of the season.
"I thought in the Community Shield, he probably played his best game so far for Liverpool, which he had an impact in.
"It's early days and I'm not going after him, but I'm concerned by his performance because it's not been good."
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Today, 11:49By Joe Brophy
Gillingham have announced that Gareth Ainsworth will be away from the club for planned cardiac surgery.
The 52-year-old was in the dugout on Saturday as a 1-0 defeat to Harrogate Town ended the Gills' unbeaten start in League Two.
The retired midfielder told Gillingham's website: “I went for the LMA health check in May and they found something with my heart.
“I’ve got to have heart surgery this week.
I’ll be off for a few weeks, and then I’ll be back.”
Gillingham chairman Brad Galinson added: “We’ve known for many weeks about Gareth’s upcoming surgery.
“In typical Gareth style, he was deliberating about the best time to have it, but Shannon and I were concerned about only one thing - Gareth getting the surgery as early as possible.
“His health alone is the priority here, so it was not a conversation as far as we were concerned.
“When we appointed the best manager in League Two back in March, we also felt we were getting the best assistant manager in the league, so we have no doubt the team is in safe hands in Gareth’s absence.
“We ask now that the fans, as they always do, get right behind the boys and Dobbo.”
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Today, 10:48By Joe Brophy
Gareth Southgate is an option for Manchester United if they decide to sack Ruben Amorim, talkSPORT understands.
United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been in direct contact with Southgate in recent weeks.
The former England coach was considered when United hired under-pressure Amorim last year, but didn’t want to return to club management at the time.
The United hierarchy are reluctant to axe Amorim despite a dismal run of only 33 points from his 34 Premier League games in charge.
If they do pull the trigger, they are likely to wait until after Saturday, November 1, to reduce the level of compensation.
Although Amorim has said publicly he would walk away without a payoff, it’s believed sacking him now would cost Manchester United around £12m.
Other potential replacements include Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.
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Today, 10:18By Joe Brophy
Bernardo Silva is considering a move to Saudi Arabia when his Manchester City contract expires next summer, talkSPORT Ben Jacobs has revealed.
Silva has been engaged in on-off talks with Saudi dealmakers since the summer of 2023, when Al Hilal made an offer worth around £500,000-per-week with a sign-on fee of over £2million.
The midfielder was again linked with a move to the Middle East in the summer, before he made it clear he was not prepared to leave Man City a year out from the 2026 World Cup.
Since then, Silva has continued to be a mainstay in Pep Guardiola's side, starting four of their first six Premier League games this season.
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27th Sept 2025, 22:03By Jack Cunningham
The referee blows the final whistle, and Spurs deny Wolves a first Premier League win of the season.
Joao Palhinha's curler at the end of the game saves Spurs from what would have been a pretty shocking home defeat.
The visitors turned in a strong performance and it looked as if Santiago Bueno's goal was going to be enough, but that wait for three points goes on.
At least they've finally picked a point, though.
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27th Sept 2025, 21:57By Jack Cunningham
HEARTBREAK FOR WOLVES!
With time running out, a hopeful cross is slung into the box.
Pape Mate Sarr lays it off to Joao Palhinha.
The midfielder curls a first-time effort from the edge of the box into the back of the net.
It's a stunning goal, and it has saved a point for Spurs, who were poor.
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27th Sept 2025, 21:17By Jack Cunningham
WOLVES HAVE THE LEAD!
It is as scrappy as they come, but the visitors won't care at all.
Ladislav Krejici connects with an outswinging corner from Jhon Arias.
Guglielmo Vicario pushes it into Joao Palhinha, and it rebounds for Santiago Bueno.
He sticks out a leg and pokes the ball over the line.
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27th Sept 2025, 20:51By Jack Cunningham
What an opportunity!
Matt Doherty should have a goal on his return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A corner is whipped in from the left, and it's an excellent delivery that is glanced onto the far post.
Doherty is free and has all the time in the world from six yards.
He then fires in a shot that clips the outside of the post and goes wide, and that is half time.
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27th Sept 2025, 20:29By Jack Cunningham
Mohammed Kudus thinks he has his first Tottenham goal, but the flag denies him.
It's a lovely one-two down the right as Kudus combines with Lucas Bergvall.
The Swede guides the ball into his path, and he tucks it away into the top corner from a narrow angle.
However, the flag goes up, and he was clearly offside.
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27th Sept 2025, 20:17By Jack Cunningham
We are underway in the 8pm Premier League game, and what a save we've just seen.
It's been an even start, but Sam Johnstone has kept the game level.
Xavi Simons finds space on the left and cuts inside.
He curls a cross into the box that is begging to be put away.
Mohammed Kudus makes contact with a thumping header that Johnstone turns onto the crossbar.
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27th Sept 2025, 19:28By Jack Cunningham
Boos at the end of the game for Nottingham Forest as they fall to a 1-0 defeat at the City Ground.
It is now five games for Ange Postecoglou and no wins for the Australian.
Omar Alderte scores the winner with a first-half header, and the Black Cats are enjoying an excellent start to the season.
They are now third in the table!
Fair to play Regis Le Bris and his team.
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27th Sept 2025, 18:16By Jack Cunningham
IT'S A BAD START FOR ANGE!
Granit Xhaka delivers a free-kick from the right.
It's a brilliant ball into the box, and the centre-back Omar Alderte gets away from everyone.
Alderte connects with a header that deflects in off Matz Sels.
There is a VAR check for offside, but it's given!
Forest are unhappy as they think there is some blocking, but the goal stands.
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27th Sept 2025, 17:54By Jack Cunningham
After three defeats in four, Chelsea's co-controlling owners Behdad Eghbali and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, plus Joe Shields and Sam Jewell went straight to the dressing room.
Matt Law is reporting that the senior Blues staff members wasted no time in leaving their positions in the stands to go and persuambly speak to Enzo Maresca and the players.
It happened so quickly that the Brighton players were still on the pitch celebrating.
It has been a bad few weeks for Maresca and the Blues with ill-discipline costing them big time.
Next up is Jose Mourinho and Benfica before Liverpool, so things could get worse before they get better.
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27th Sept 2025, 17:39By Jack Cunningham
Finally, after four games as manager, Ange Postecoglou takes charge of his first home match as Nottingham Forest manager.
The Australian is still looking for his first win, but the Black Cats have proven very difficult to beat.
They have only lost one league game so far and secured a respectable 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace in their last away fixture.
We are just over five minutes in at the City Ground, and Sunderland have had the best chance of the game.
It's a mess at the back that ends with Wilson Isidor firing just wide from 14 yards.
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27th Sept 2025, 17:32By Jack Cunningham
Wow, what an afternoon of Premier League football.
Goals and carnage everywhere.
At Selhurst Park, it was a stunning afternoon for Crystal Palace as they beat Liverpool 2-1 thanks to a last-minute Eddie Nketiah winner.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea ended another match down to ten men as Trevoh Chalobah was sent off.
The Blues were leading 1-0 at that point, but that changed the game, and Danny Welbeck scored twice as the Seagulls claimed a 3-1 win.
Manchester City thrashed Burnley 5-1 at the Etihad, though, the two late Erling Haaland goals added some gloss to the scoreline after a valiant performance from the visitors.
And at Elland Road, there was a cracking 2-2 draw between Bournemouth and Leeds
Crystal Palace 2-1 LiverpoolChelsea 1-3 BrightonLeeds 2-2 BournemouthManchester City 5-1 BurnleyCopied
27th Sept 2025, 17:08By Jack Cunningham
ABSOLUTE SCENES!
Crystal Palace have won it!
A ball is worked into the box, and Marc Guehi flicks it on.
Eddie Nketiah, who has struggled hugely since his big-money move from Arsenal, brings it down on his chest.
He watches it onto his foot and buries a strike into the back of the net.
There is a VAR check for offside, but Nketiah is just on, and the Eagles have ended Liverpool's 100 per cent start to the season.
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27th Sept 2025, 16:59By Jack Cunningham
THE REDS ARE LEVEL!
Federico Chiesa continues to impress for Liverpool this season, and he has a vital goal.
The cross comes in from the right, and Chris Richards heads only as far as the Italian.
He fires in at the near post.
There is a long VAR check for a Mohamed Salah handball, and the ball does appear to change direction, but they decide to let the goal stand.
Game on!
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27th Sept 2025, 16:55By Jack Cunningham
WELL, THE NON-PENALTY MEANT NOTHING!
Yasin Ayari delivers a delightful cross to the far post.
It's headed back across goal, and they are queuing up at the back post.
It's the substitute De Cyuper, and he heads home from six yards.
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