Andoni Iraola was left frustrated after Liverpool’s 3-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City, focusing his anger on Ryan Gravenberch’s red card and what he felt were soft decisions from referee Chris Kavanagh.

Liverpool were already under pressure when they conceded three times in a 13-minute spell after going down to a numerical disadvantage, and Iraola argued that Gravenberch’s first yellow was far too harsh. He also suggested the standard applied in the match should be carried through the rest of the season.

“I think the first foul of Ryan is never a yellow card, never,” said the Spaniard. “These kinds of games, just a stomp on the big toe, or something minor. He doesn’t even call the foul straight away. He lets bit go, I think Elliot Anderson does a couple of steps. He decides to go down. I don’t know why after he shows the yellow card, because it’s not a situation where it leaves advantage.

“We had nine players behind the ball. It’s like they had a lot of, you know, it was in the middle of the pitch, no danger there. And then you put, as a referee, yourself in trouble, and also you put us in trouble.”

His irritation was not confined to that incident. He added: “Also, at the beginning of the game, yellow card of Ronald [Araújo], I know he complains, he does this. But in these kinds of games, if you are going to start after a handball of [Marc] Guéhi, the punishment is for Ronald complaining.

“You put it straight away at the beginning of the game, the right back with a yellow card. I think you are in the textbooks, yes, perfect. He complains, you can show a yellow card, but then I will be very careful all the season. Every time someone complains, it has to be a yellow card.”

Gravenberch’s second booking, for pulling down Doku in the 62nd minute, was described as a clear yellow. But the first caution remained contentious, with the Dutchman booked in the 47th minute for contact that appeared minimal after he tried to pull out of the challenge. Speaking with Sky Sports, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher also disagreed with Kavanagh’s first booking decision.

Erling Haaland offered a revealing, if brief, answer when asked about Manchester United, and it said almost everything about where the rivalry sits from his point of view.

Pressed on the subject, the Manchester City forward paused, laughed and admitted: “I had to think about the name.” It was a sharp reminder that, for him, United are not the reference point they once were in the city. During his four years at City, the main challengers have been Arsenal and Liverpool, not the club once regarded as the dominant force in Manchester.

The timing of the comment mattered. Haaland had already been looking ahead to City’s trip to Anfield on Sunday, and he made no attempt to soften the mood around the fixture. The Premier League’s most productive striker welcomed the expectation of a difficult reception and said he wanted it that way.

“I hope it’s like that [hostile],” Haaland insisted, “it should be like that when Man City go to Liverpool and Anfield.”

There has been plenty of talk about the atmosphere awaiting City, especially after the official announcement of the club’s guilt regarding more than 100 breaches of financial regulations. That backdrop has fuelled predictions that the home crowd will be relentlessly hostile.

Yet the picture is not quite so straightforward. Anfield retains a fearsome reputation on European nights, but the edge around the ground has not always been so intense in more ordinary circumstances. On a Sunday afternoon, the noise can only do so much.

The match itself may prove more decisive than the setting. City go into the game top of the league with a perfect record under Enzo Maresca, while Liverpool have already dropped points against Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Fulham, all three of whom began the day in the bottom half.

Against that backdrop, Haaland’s belief that City supporters are “going to have a good time” at Anfield does not look entirely misplaced.

Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth came with an unwelcome note, as Xabi Alonso confirmed that club captain Reece James has suffered another injury. The defender had been expected to be available after returning to training, but he was left out of the squad just a day later.

James had already missed Chelsea’s defeat to Brentford before the international break, while Thomas Tuchel also left him out of England’s squad because of injury. On Friday, Alonso had sounded encouraged, saying his captain was “ready to go” for the Bournemouth match. That made his absence on Saturday a surprise, but the reason quickly became clear after the final whistle.

Alonso said the problem emerged in training and later showed up during testing.

“He felt something in training,” Alonso said after the match. “But after we did the tests later in the afternoon he had some little issues on the knee, so we need to check how long it will be.”

The new issue was described as a knee injury, and it came during Chelsea’s final session before the game. While there was no formal diagnosis, the earlier problem James had been managing before the international break was understood to be muscular. This latest setback therefore appears to be separate, and that will concern Chelsea given the short time span involved.

Alonso declined to set a return date and instead said that “we need to assess him week by week.” A trip to Everton is Chelsea’s next league assignment, and a return there is possible in the best-case scenario. Even so, the club may choose caution because of James’s injury history and the importance of avoiding another setback.

That could mean Chelsea hold him back for longer, with a home London derby against Tottenham Hotspur on Oct. 24 mentioned as another possible target. James has started the season almost exclusively as a central midfielder under Alonso, adding further weight to the decision over when he returns.