IAN LADYMAN: For Enzo Maresca‚ relief finally came thirteen minutes into a quarter of an hour press conference when someone asked a routine question about Erling Haaland's fitness. 'Ah‚ finally‚' the coach of Manchester City smiled. It was the first and only question of the day that had anything to do with the actual football. And this - with City now living some weird post-115 version of reality - is how it will be for the foreseeable future.

IAN LADYMAN AT WEMBLEY: England have grown stronger and better and more convincing with each passing game. An 11-day spell that began with an error-strewn defeat to Spain has ended with England starting to look like the powerfully dangerous team Tuchel wanted them to be when he took the job two years ago. A fortnight ago‚ as England's players gathered at St George's Park‚ we badgered Tuchel about his team's style of play. What exactly was it? Did he know? Could it work?

IAN LADYMAN: The Bournemouth player made his first England start alongside his friend Elliot Anderson as Thomas Tuchel's team tore the Croats apart in the Nations League. Croatian legend Luka Modric has admitted he was left 'ashamed' by the outcome and Scott believes this may just be the start for Tuchel's team.

IAN LADYMAN IN PRAGURE: Thomas Tuchel is learning what it feels like to be an England manager. Expectation will always be sky high and the margin for error is mercilessly slight.

IAN LADYMAN AT WEMBLEY: An exciting night but not the result that England wanted against the world champions. Exciting going forward but a calamity at the back‚ Thomas Tuchel's side have started an important Nations League campaign with a defeat. Here Daily Mail Sport look at the good‚ the bad and the ugly of another setback for England against a top ten team.

IAN LADYMAN: I would dispute that. The bar since the Sir Alex Ferguson years has been set desperately low. As we have talked about in this column before‚ one of the greatest challenges facing any United manager is the giddiness that follows a victory and the hysteria that follows a defeat. Michael Carrick knew that before this season started and he is being reminded of it with every passing disappointment. The truth is that the United we are watching now is the one that some of us saw coming.

SPECIAL REPORT BY IAN LADYMAN: When Roy Hodgson made the step up from Fulham to Liverpool‚ he was Manager of the Year and sure of himself as a coach. What he was not prepared for was working at a club like Liverpool.

IAN LADYMAN: The Manchester United defender is not in the 27-man England squad named by manager Thomas Tuchel despite the head coach being without defenders John Stones and Dan Burn who both played in the summer tournament in America. Maguire broke the news of his exclusion last May by tweeting about his 'shock' before the World Cup party had even been announced. Meanwhile his mother Zoe said on the same platform that she was 'absolutely disgusted' by Tuchel's decision.

IAN LADYMAN: If Enzo Maresca is lucky we will one day look back and ask when it was we finally felt he had truly taken hold of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and claimed it as his own. If he is really lucky and if he does enough and wins enough to stick around for the long-term‚ then we may reflect on derby day in September 2026 as the day we finally drew a line under the years of Guardiola genius. So far it's been a slow burn for Maresca at City and that's because Guardiola still has his name and his principles running right through this City team. Phil Foden‚ Erling Haaland‚ Ruben Dias‚ Rayan Cherki. It's impossible not to see the great Catalan in so much of what they do.

MAN UNITED 0-1 MAN CITY - IAN LADYMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Manchester City have inflicted a few embarrassments on their neighbours in modern times and now they have done it again. Another big day out at Old Trafford. Another victory. Another song to sing.

LIVERPOOL 2-1 ATLETICO MADRID - IAN LADYMAN AT ANFIELD: The Liverpool midfielder this week learnt that maybe it's best to earn new contracts by winning matches rather than lighting up press conferences

IAN LADYMAN: If Manchester United had a defence as reliable and immovable as the one their manager presents to the world‚ then they would be higher up the Premier League table. Michael Carrick is proving himself spectacularly impossible to penetrate - whether his team win‚ lose or draw - and it's exactly what his team and his club need at this stage of their evolution. Carrick is not a dull man but he is making an art form of coming across as such. In doing so‚ he is making sure that he doesn't add any of the unhelpful noise that always surrounds English football's best-supported and most newsworthy football club.

IAN LADYMAN AT HILL DICKINSON STADIUM: Amid all the disappointment and rancour of Everton's transfer window‚ Ainsley Maitland-Niles slipped in the back door almost unnoticed. As the club tried and catastrophically failed to sign a centre forward‚ the recruitment of a defensively-minded utility player was never likely to turn the dial very much. Indeed in his own programme notes for this game‚ Everton manager David Moyes said only of the 29-year-old that 'we are looking forward to getting to know him'. Suffice to say‚ that job is now done. Here by the Mersey‚ in a stadium slowly preparing itself for another shot of stomach turning disappointment‚ Maitland-Niles - once of Arsenal but recently of Lyon - eased on to a loose ball in the final seconds of the 95th minute and thumped in a goal from 25 yards to rescue a point for his team.

IAN LADYMAN: Alexander Isak used to take penalties for his old club but when Liverpool won one in the 96th minute yesterday‚ I almost hoped he wouldn't take it. He didn't. But Liverpool need him. They really need him and that already feels like a problem for Andoni Iraola as he tries to navigate the early weeks of his time as Liverpool manager. As Liverpool laboured in the latter stages against Newcastle‚ Isak offered absolutely nothing but he stayed on the field simply because Iraola didn't really have any other option.

IAN LADYMAN: Pep Guardiola may be gone from the Premier League but his shadow remains. Footage from a new Manchester City documentary has revealed the desperate and unusual lengths the great Catalan went to in a bid to energise and motivate his players over the course of his final two seasons. Watching a genius struggle for new ideas is painful but insightful. Every manager in the game reaches a stage where old methods fail‚ players stop hanging on every word and the stresses and strains of the job simply become too much.

IAN LADYMAN AT ATLANTA STADIUM: Five minutes from a shot at immortality‚ England were sucker punched. But were they architects of their own downfall?

IAN LADYMAN IN ATLANTA: Thomas Tuchel was hired to win a World Cup and stands just two steps from it. He is also one defeat away from being asked some really serious questions. It's a peculiar state of affairs but not only is that the way sport sometimes works‚ it's one that is not so unfamiliar to English followers.

IAN LADYMAN IN MIAMI: If the thrill of watching England win in Mexico will form an abiding memory of this World Cup‚ so will the leaving the following day. The grace with which the co-hosts accepted their defeat was profoundly moving and maybe a little unexpected. 'Thank you for coming and I hope England win the World Cup‚' was the message at Mexico City airport check-in.

IAN LADYMAN: England's next hurdle at the World Cup as the knock-out stages begin is against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And while they may not be a household football name to a UK audience‚ DR Congo were the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the World Cup and twice won the Africa Cup of Nations‚ as Zaire. They have a string of Premier League players - including stars bought for £55million and £50m - and will be a danger to England.

IAN LADYMAN IN BOSTON: What smells here is Queiroz fanning the flames to further his own ends and his team's. That's distasteful and classless and at his age‚ 73‚ he should know better.

IAN LADYMAN AT BOSTON STADIUM: Let's be clear about this. If this had been a Gareth Southgate performance from the last Euros‚ they would have been throwing beer cups on to the pitch at the end.

IAN LADYMAN IN BOSTON: In America's Midwest‚ on the fields of Swope Soccer Village in Kansas‚ the evolution of Jude Bellingham 's standing within the England team continues. None of this was guaranteed just a few weeks ago. Bellingham is the star who Thomas Tuchel felt necessarily to bring down to earth.

IAN LADYMAN IN BOSTON: There is always a point when simply being at a World Cup is no longer enough‚ whoever you are and whoever you play for. The thrill of qualifying was real for Scotland - they haven't been at this party since 1998 after all - but some things never change in sport and one of them is that defeat still feels like failure. This is where Scotland stand now. On that knife-edge between real achievement and numbing disappointment. To go home at the first juncture after opening the tournament with a victory over Haiti would feel wrong somehow.

SCOTLAND 0-1 MOROCCO - IAN LADYMAN AT BOSTON STADIUM: Scotland are still in mix at this World Cup despite falling to defeat to AFCON champions Morocco at Boston's stunning Gillette Stadium. A goal down within two minutes‚ Steve Clarke's side looked set for a hiding against a team that scared the life out of Brazil six days earlier in New York.

IAN LADYMAN: Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti refused to blame individual players after his team started their tournament with an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Morocco in New Jersey. 'I won't take any criticism of the individual players who started the match‚' said Ancelotti. 'There is criticism for the entire team which did not play well in the first half.'

IAN LADYMAN IN NEW JERSEY: Brazil haven't lost the opening game of a World Cup since 1934 and only the brilliance of Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior saved them here in New Jersey. All of Carlo Ancelotti's nightmares came true in an opening half an hour at the MetLife that saw AFCON champions Morocco take the lead and threaten to blow the five-time champions off the face of the planet. The great Italian coach perhaps knew he was taking a risk by pairing 34-year-old Casemiro with Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes at the heart of his midfield as temperatures nudged 90 degrees at kick-off.

IAN LADYMAN IN NEW JERSEY: Brazil and the World Cup. It's hard to think of one without the other. But not since Ronaldo - the original one - struck twice to bury Germany in Japan in the 2002 final have the South Americans really come close to doing their reputation justice. They remain a hot ticket. Today's Group C opener is almost sold out with seats at the MetLife Stadium for their meeting with Morocco available on resale sites for around the £2‚000 mark yesterday. Whether they can live up the hype that always follows them to these tournaments remains to be seen.

IAN LADYMAN: There was a moment when we felt as though we may not get a game at all here in tropical Orlando. The storm that wrapped this city in its venom in mid-afternoon was the kind that had travelling England supporters reaching for their mobile phones to send the footage back home. So England coach Thomas Tuchel would have taken this outcome had he been offered it when he was sheltering with his players in the team hotel an hour before scheduled kick-off. A game‚ a dominant performance‚ a win and no injuries. There was even scope for some experimenting‚ too‚ and with that came the most intriguing vignette of England's World Cup preparations so far.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as England finish their World Cup preparation in Orlando‚ Florida‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Craig Hope and Mike Keegan reporting from the ground.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as PSG take on Arsenal in the 2025-26 Champions League final at the Puskas Arena in Budapest‚ with Oliver Holt‚ Ian Ladyman and Isaan Khan reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: Thomas Tuchel has talked about this being a World Cup of big moments and now the first one has been and gone. This is not the World Cup squad many people will have expected or picked. A 26-man party with no Trent Alexander-Arnold‚ Cole Palmer and Phil Foden would have been unthinkable when England travelled home from the European Championships as beaten finalists less than two years ago. But to those who have followed Tuchel's England through qualifying‚ this is a national coach sticking to patterns‚ beliefs and benchmarks he set out on the very first day in the role. Whether the football public agrees with him is another matter entirely.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Tottenham host Leeds at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Matt Barlow reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN AT THE ETIHAD: On this evidence - and on the back of what we saw as they rescued a point at Everton last Monday - City will not help Mikel Arteta 's team over the line. So now the baton - the burden of responsibility - passes to north London again. Now it's Arsenal's turn to answer questions at West Ham on Sunday. As City showed here at a tense and nervy Etihad Stadium‚ victories do not come easy when the stakes are this high. City deserved to win here in the end but not as comfortably as the scoreline suggested.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester City host Brentford at the Etihad in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Jack Gaughan reporting from the ground.

Follow Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Arsenal host Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final‚ with the Gunners aiming to reach their first top-tier European final in 20 years. Oliver Holt‚ Ian Ladyman and Isaan Khan report from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN AT HILL DICKINSON STADIUM: Manchester City travelled west to the banks of the Mersey intent on underling their title credentials and reaffirming their threat to Arsenal. Instead their hopes of another Premier League triumph were seconds from being washed away on a tide of cacophonous Evertonian noise. Everton left Goodison Park last May but maybe this was the night they truly said hello to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. Trailing at half-time to a Jeremy Doku goal after 45 minutes of City pressure‚ David Moyes' Everton team almost sank City's season with a second-half display of attacking fire and brimstone that brought Pep Guardiola's players to their knees. Only Doku's 97th-minute goal - a carbon copy of his first - gave City a point that saved them from complete and utter disaster.

IAN LADYMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Maybe it was actually sweeter for Manchester United to win this way. To give their great rivals some hope and then snatch it away from them again. Michael Carrick and his United team are back in the Champions League and this was quite some way to do it. Fifteen minutes in and United were two goals up and rampant. Liverpool scored seven at Anfield against Erik ten Hag's version of United back in 2023 and‚ after those early goals from Matheus Cunha and then Benjamin Sesko‚ Carrick's players must have sniffed some kind of ultimate payback.

IAN LADYMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been taken to hospital from Old Trafford this afternoon after feeling unwell at the stadium. It is understood that the 84-year-old has been taken into medical care purely as a precaution and officials at the club are optimistic that he will soon be recuperating at home. Sir Alex - the most successful manager in the club's history - is a regular at United home and away matches and had travelled to Old Trafford today ahead of the big Premier League game between his club and their great rivals Liverpool. He is understood to have been taken to hospital more than an hour before kick-off.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Chris Wheeler and Lewis Steele reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: Is Carrick the man? Or is appointing a manager on the back of results built against a backdrop of no cup distractions and endless days of rest and training just another gamble?

IAN LADYMAN: The protocol is written in plain and simply language on the website of football's official lawmakers. In fact‚ it's so clear that some of it is actually written in bold type.

IAN LADYMAN: At full-time the manager punched the air and gave it a 'Vamos!!' that could just about be heard in the seats on the lower tier of the West Stand.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Arsenal host Newcastle in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Craig Hope and Isaan Khan reporting from the grounds.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Burnley host Manchester City at Turf Moor‚ with Ian Ladyman and Jack Gaughan reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: The closer we get to the end of this dismal Liverpool season‚ the more the need for another mini-rebuild becomes clear.

IAN LADYMAN AT HILL DICKINSON STADIUM: At full-time‚ in the corner of this fabulous stadium still bathed in sunshine‚ it was Mo Salah and Andrew Robertson who were pushed to the front of the celebrating Liverpool supporters to take their own piece of the glory. A final Merseyside derby for two players who will leave Anfield this summer and a reminder‚ as if it were needed‚ of just how much this game means.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Everton welcome Liverpool to the Hill Dickinson Stadium in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Lewis Steele reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN AT ANFIELD: So now we know that there is another side to the champions of Europe. PSG of France can defend‚ too. Here at a rain-soaked but utterly engrossed Anfield‚ Luis Enrique's side really had to as Liverpool finally turned up for their manager Arne Slot. After what was pretty much a 2-0 hiding in Paris last week‚ Liverpool scared the life out of PSG here.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Liverpool host PSG at Anfield in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final‚ with Ian Ladyman and Lewis Steele reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN AT STAMFORD BRIDGE: It hasn't always looked that way this season for City. They are a new team finding their own way and at times have looked a little unsure of their own identity. But all that really matters now is what stands before them and after this second-half dismantling of Liam Rosenior 's increasingly irrelevant Chelsea ‚ it is hard not to look upon them as title favourites. It would appear as though Arsenal are going to have to land a blow in order to deny City. That opportunity comes at the Etihad next Sunday afternoon when the teams meet.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Kieran Gill and Jack Gaughan reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: The sight of the greatest forward player in Liverpool's history sitting for 95 minutes on the bench in France last night was sobering and served yet again to remind us just how far he has fallen as the end nears. Mohamed Salah was among the worst in red as his team lost 4-0 at the Etihad on Saturday but was still left on the field for all-but the final 14 minutes. It was clear that the great Egyptian was never going to play in Paris.

IAN LADYMAN: Slot lost three-quarters of a Premier League winning strike force in one summer and then - in mind‚ body and soul - he lost Mo Salah‚ too. His big summer signing‚ Alexander Isak‚ has spent his debut Anfield season short of match fitness and then with a broken leg. But with the season's end almost upon us‚ Liverpool's decline has gone beyond all that. As was evidenced at Manchester City on Saturday‚ Slot now presides over a group of players no longer willing or able to consistently do the very basics of the game for him.

IAN LADYMAN AT THE ETIHAD: With fourteen minutes left of this thoroughly ruthless dismantling of Liverpool by Manchester City‚ two great forwards left the field. One of them‚ Erling Haaland of Manchester City‚ had a hat-trick to his name and can see opportunity beckoning‚ in the FA Cup and maybe even the Premier League. For the other‚ Mo Salah of Liverpool‚ a fabulous journey into Anfield legend and folklore is coming to an end wrapped up in humiliation and embarrassment. As such it is thoroughly painful to witness.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Jack Gaughan and Lewis Steele reporting from the ground.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as England welcome Japan to Wembley for an international friendly ahead of the 2026 World Cup‚ with Oliver Holt‚ Ian Ladyman‚ Craig Hope and Jack Gaughan reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: Thomas Tuchel has admitted that the mass withdrawal of Arsenal players from international camps looks 'suspicious' but is adamant that England duo Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are genuinely too injured to feature against Japan at Wembley on Tuesday night. Rice and Saka have returned to their club without kicking a ball for England after reporting for duty to watch last Friday's draw with Uruguay. The duo were part of a group of players given time off for that game but were originally expected to play tomorrow. But both players left camp over the weekend along with club mate Noni Madueke‚ who was injured during the Uruguay game. This took the number of Arsenal players to have left national team meet-ups around the world to eleven‚ raising eyebrows give the Gunners have just lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City and have a Champions League first leg against Sporting Lisbon to play next Tuesday.

IAN LADYMAN AT WEMBLEY: This week Daily Mail Sport set out some of the key questions England manager Thomas Tuchel was hoping to answer during two friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

IAN LADYMAN: With less than three months to go before England 's World Cup starts against Croatia in Dallas‚ coach Thomas Tuchel has picked a mammoth 35-man squad ahead of two friendlies‚ against Uruguay on Friday and Japan next Tuesday. With fringe players set to be given a game at Wembley this week before senior stars are called in to camp ahead of the second fixture‚ on Saturday‚ Tuchel is trying to cover all bases before selecting his final 26-man squad for World Cup 2026 in May.

IAN LADYMAN: Among certain sections of the Newcastle fanbase‚ the debate about Eddie Howe's future rages on. After defeat in the Tyne-Wear derby there are some who believe Howe should not be invited to continue beyond this season. It's a ridiculous notion. Howe is the best thing that has happened to Newcastle for years and those who can't see that may want to be very careful what they wish for. Howe has made Newcastle credible again. Indeed‚ it's perhaps more appropriate to view the debate from the opposite side. Instead of asking whether Howe has done all he can for Newcastle‚ we should probably he talking about whether the club has anything more to offer one of the most talented managers in Europe.

IAN LADYMAN: They came to bury Igor Tudor. Metaphorically speaking‚ they had already dug the hole. But somehow‚ against enormous odds‚ the giant Croatian left the field at Anfield to a standing ovation from the supporters in the away end. There is some life left in Tudor's spell as Tottenham interim manager yet‚ life in his team's season perhaps. As for Liverpool manager Arne Slot‚ well who really knows? His team of champions - how odd it feels to say that now - are soft and meek and shockingly easy to play against. The door to the Champions League places swings wide open for Liverpool but somehow Slot's failing team sit outside the weakest top four in recent Premier League history. There are no excuses. Ahead after 18 minutes through a Dominic Szoboszlai free-kick that Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario really should have saved‚ Liverpool had the opportunity to sweep aside a team so weakened by injury and suspension that they couldn't even fill their substitutes' bench. Spurs came to Merseyside as the laughing stock of the Premier League‚ a team that knew only to lose.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest updates as Liverpool host Tottenham in the Premier League‚ with Lewis Steele and Ian Ladyman reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN AT ST JAMES' PARK: This has been a frenzied affair on Tyneside. Newcastle were one foul and one penalty kick away from everything that Eddie Howe had dreamed of. A Newcastle team pushing forward to the beat of the Gallowgate's drum. A Barcelona team in retreat far more often than maybe they had expected. And then‚ with five minutes of normal time to go‚ a goal to spark celebrations that must have had pint glasses shaking on the tables of the pubs in the Bigg Market.

IAN LADYMAN AT ST JAMES' PARK: A goal to rejuvenate a football team and perhaps to kick start a season. A goal to remind the naysayers that there is beauty still to be found in the Premier League. Newcastle were not supposed to win this game. Not after having a player - Jacob Ramsey - sent off unjustly for a dive that never was just before half-time. Once the Manchester United midfielder Casemiro equalised an Anthony Gordon penalty that had quickly followed the red card‚ it seemed inevitable that Eddie Howe's team - in such poor form of late - would wither. But despite all the over-reactive talk of falling standards and levels of entertainment‚. football at the top level remains wonderfully unpredictable and not only did Newcastle somehow retain the upper hand against a poor United team that looked short of ideas‚ they struck to win the game right at the end of a second half in which they played with courage and - from somewhere - energy.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Newcastle host Manchester United at St James' Park‚ with Ian Ladyman and Craig Hope reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: If Arsenal lift their first Premier League title since 2004 by scoring many of their big goals from corners and set-pieces this season then they will not care and nor should they. Dead ball routines have always been a part of top-flight football and if teams like Arsenal and others are perfecting the art then maybe it's time for everybody else to look in the mirror and ask why they aren't doing the same.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Leeds welcome Manchester City to Elland Road in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Jack Gaughan reporting from the ground.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY IAN LADYMAN: Now‚ three-quarters of the way through a debut season at Everton‚ Dewsbury-Hall can talk about a career revived and some ambitions of winning a first cap for his country.

IAN LADYMAN: Chelsea were largely superior from the start. The conditions may have been awful but initially the Premier League club only seemed to be affected whenever they reached the penalty area.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Chelsea take on Hull City in the fourth round of the FA Cup‚ with Ian Ladyman reporting from the grounds.

IAN LADYMAN AT THE LONDON STADIUM: Benjamin Sesko was already showing signs of becoming a proper Manchester United player before Michael Carrick walked through the door. So the current United manager can't quite claim the credit for that one. But Carrick can throw his hat on the growing feeling at Old Trafford that a season can turn permanently for the better and it was to absolutely nobody's surprise that his team retrieved a lost cause via Sesko's outstretched boot five minutes in to added time here in east London. This was not a particularly good United performance and had they lost to Tomas Soucek's 50th minute goal then they could not have complained. After recent days of adrenaline at Old Trafford‚ Carrick's team were a little flat back out on the road again.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as West Ham welcome Manchester United to the London Stadium‚ with Ian Ladyman and Nathan Salt reporting from the grounds.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Man City host Newcastle at the Etihad for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Craig Hope and Jack Gaughan reporting from the ground.

Thank you for joining DailyMail+. You will now be able to join the live Q&A on Monday at 3pm GMT‚ with our Football Editor Ian Ladyman‚ Chief Football Reporter Craig Hope‚ Midlands Correspondent Tom Collomosse‚ Chelsea expert Kieran Gill and Liverpool specialist Lewis Steele answering your questions. Put your burning questions in the comments below‚ and we will put them to the team of experts‚ who will reveal everything you need to know about the transfer window‚ the latest from Manchester United‚ Chelsea‚ Liverpool and more - plus everything else going on behind the scenes at clubs. You also now have access to all of our DailyMail+ content across the website‚ from brilliant exclusives and in-depth analysis to the writers you love every day.

IAN LADYMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Whatever is to happen in the future‚ there is an unmistakable Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vibe about what Michael Carrick is doing at Manchester United. Three games‚ three wins and more excitement packed in to five hours of Premier League football than Ruben Amorim managed to deliver in more than a year. Solskjaer did this once‚ remember. When the Norwegian stepped in to the breach for his club after the sacking of Jose Mourinho in 2018‚ he won his first eight games. If Carrick comes anywhere near that - given that they will all be Premier League matches - United will stand on the brink of Champions League qualification. It's that simple for Carrick. That's what he is here for‚ whether he eventually gets the big job or not. To leave United in a better place than in which he found them. And if he can provide thrills and spills like this as he does it then he it will be quite a ride for anyone who carries United in their heart.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Craig Hope reporting from the grounds.

IAN LADYMAN AT TURF MOOR: As Thomas Frank made the long walk to Turf Moor's corner tunnel at half-time‚ the verdict from the Tottenham fans was delivered by way of traditional and unoriginal verse. 'We want Frank out‚' they sang. Briefly they stopped in order to clap some of their players from the field but it was a temporary reprieve. And that's how football works. Give the players a pass and blame the manager.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates from tonight's Champions League fixtures featuring Tottenham vs Borussia Dortmund‚ Inter Milan vs Arsenal and Bodo/Glimt vs Manchester City‚ with Isaan Khan‚ Ian Ladyman and Matt Barlow reporting from the grounds.

IAN LADYMAN: The day you take criticism of your performances so personally that you seek validation through conversation is the day you may wish to reassess your priorities and focus as an athlete. As we have detailed on Daily Mail Sport before‚ criticism from ex-players tends to land pretty heavily in the home dressing room at Old Trafford. 'It p****s them off‚' a United source told me recently. In terms of the Class of 92 and others such as Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney‚ it is understood that they are comfortable with what they say.

IAN LADYMAN: This was a thunderingly competitive derby at times‚ a game of intensity‚ feeling and occasional spite. On the TV gantry and in the podcast studios‚ the coterie of former Manchester United players who have been central to the news agenda recently must have loved it. 'It's a daarby.' Former United captain Roy Keane likes to say‚ the Irish accent deepening in direct parallel to his habitual disapproval of most of what he watches at Old Trafford. Well this one looked like one and felt like one. Keane would have been at home in it.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester United host Manchester City at Old Trafford in the Premier League‚ with Oliver Holt‚ Ian Ladyman and Chris Wheeler reporting from the grounds.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY IAN LADYMAN: Elliot Anderson always knew he was a good footballer. He couldn't ignore the evidence. He was on the books of Newcastle United from the age of eight.

IAN LADYMAN AT THE ETIHAD: Sitting in the stand serving a one-game suspension‚ Pep Guardiola was completely impassive as his team's tenth goal went in. Sometimes the FA Cup baffles even those who have grown used to it. On the same day that Macclesfield Town had showcased the famous old competition beautifully‚ Exeter City from three divisions higher were rolled over in embarrassing fashion just a few miles up the road at the Etihad Stadium. This equalled a modern record for City when it comes to biggest wins. They stuck eight past Salford City this time last year but here they punished Exeter with ten strikes of the whip to match a rather famous 10-1 demolition of Huddersfield Town from 1987.

IAN LADYMAN AT TURF MOOR: In the away end they sang Darren Fletcher's name. They sang those of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick too‚ though‚ so in terms of a popularity contest among those keen on leading Manchester United until the end of the season‚ it was hard to call a winner. What would have helped Fletcher - manager for the night here in Lancashire - was a victory. Nothing strengthens a CV quite like Premier League points and for a while Fletcher will have thought he had three. Poor early on and behind to an Ayden Heaven own goal‚ Fletcher's United had recovered impressively to lead after an hour thanks to two terrifically taken goals from the hitherto hopeless United centre forward Benjamin Sesko.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Burnley host Manchester United on the Premier League at Turf Moor‚ with Ian Ladyman and Chris Wheeler reporting from the grounds.

IAN LADYMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: A new formation for Manchester United and a new winning goal scorer. We have waited a while for both. After more than a year of stubbornness and willfulness‚ United manager Ruben Amorim finally threw a Boxing Day surprise and started a game with a back four.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester United host Newcastle at Old Trafford in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Chris Wheeler reporting from the grounds.

IAN LADYMAN: Another home game gone for Tottenham and another defeat to mark on 2025's dismal ledger. That's just two home wins out of nine in the Premier League this season - against Burnley and Brentford - and 11 league defeats in front of their own supporters since the start of the calendar year. A Spurs home ticket is one of the most expensive in the land. No wonder those who continue to turn up do so more in vain hope than any kind of expectation.

ASTON VILLA 2-1 MAN UNITED - IAN LADYMAN AT VILLA PARK: As his manager threw his coat in the air in rapturous celebration and Morgan Rogers celebrated what transpired to be the winning goal at the Holte End‚ team-mate Amadou Onana placed an imaginary crown on his head. It felt entirely appropriate. Everything Rogers touches right now turns to goal. Two here to finish off a Manchester United team that actually played quite well followed the two that did for West Ham in London a week earlier. Rogers is the king of the midlands right now and the closer we get to the next World Cup‚ the tighter grows his hold on the number ten position in Thomas Tuchel's England team. Here the 23-year-old lit up what was actually one of Aston Villa's most modest recent performances. This was Premier League victory number ten on the spin and Unai Emery's team deserve their third place in the Premier League.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Manchester United take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in the Premier League‚ with Ian Ladyman and Tom Collomosse reporting from the ground.

IAN LADYMAN: At Stamford Bridge on Sunday‚ Chelsea and Arsenal played out a compelling draw in the Premier League and it would appear Enzo Maresca is slowly building a team worthy of the club's competitive reputation in his second season. The Chelsea coach can perhaps give it a rest when it comes to complaints about foul play from the opponents‚ though. The way his players rolled around on the turf at the Bridge‚ it's hard to tell who is really hurt‚ who is a little bit hurt and who just needs to grow up a bit.

IAN LADYMAN: The wind whipped hard outside Liverpool 's training ground today. Whether it's the type capable of blowing a man out of a door remains to be seen. Shortly before 3pm‚ a little early perhaps to get the whole thing out of the way‚ the man trying to walk through a storm ambled into a room with his hands in his pockets and sat down.

IAN LADYMAN AT THE EMIRATES: A statement performance from Arsenal yielded a statement win. Beating a meek and mild Tottenham in the north London derby is one thing‚ downing a hot and hungry Bayern Munich three days later quite another. Vincent Kompany's German champions arrived in London wearing a cloak of invincibility. Arsenal tore it from them and hung it from the ramparts of Fortress Emirates. Bayern‚ unbeaten all season‚ were given a lesson here. Arsenal were quicker‚ stronger and largely just better.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Arsenal host Bayern Munich at the Emirates as Tottenham take on PSG at Parc des Princes in the Champions League‚ with Ian Ladyman‚ Isaan Khan and Matt Barlow reporting from the ground.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as Arsenal welcome Tottenham to the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League‚ with Oliver Holt‚ Ian Ladyman and Isaan Khan reporting from the grounds.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY IAN LADYMAN: We meet in a cafe in north London‚ about half a mile away from the stadium where set-pieces and long throws are suddenly back in vogue. Have Arsenal really reinvented the wheel‚ then?

International breaks may have provided an answer or two for their detractors of late - or in the case of Scotland's thrilling World Cup qualification‚ four - but few supporters will be able to deny their excitement about the return of the Premier League this weekend. Daily Mail Sport experts Lewis Steele‚ Riath Al-Samarrai‚ Kieran Gill‚ Isaan Khan‚ Ian Ladyman sat down to discuss the big talking points.

IAN LADYMAN: So Thomas Tuchel 's England have the perfect score they wanted from eight games of World Cup qualifying. Eight wins and eight clean sheets. That's quite some record to take with them to next summer's World Cup and is doubtless more than anything the England coach could have hoped for when he set out on this journey at the start of the year.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score‚ team news and updates as England travel to Albania for their final World Cup qualifier game‚ with Ian Ladyman and Craig Hope reporting from Arena Kombetare.

IAN LADYMAN AT WEMBLEY: Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze ensured England signed off their penultimate World Cup qualifier with a deserved 2-0 victory over Serbia‚ despite Thomas Tuchel's side having already secured their place at the 2026 tournament. Saka willingly answered Tuchel's calls for him to score more goals in an England shirt‚ scoring a wonderful‚ volleyed shot to find the back of the net in the 28th minute. Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden‚ who were both left out of Thomas Tuchel's starting line-up‚ were introduced late on after the England boss' claims that the pair and Harry Kane cannot all fit into the same side together.