Brighton & Hove Albion
Carrick rejects simplistic criticism after United’s opening defeat
Carrick dismisses shallow criticism of United’s defeat, urging a closer look at the details.
Michael Carrick has pushed back at the reaction to Manchester United’s opening defeat of the 2026/27 season, describing some of the judgment as “easy and lazy” after the loss to Hull City.
Carrick admitted he was angry immediately after the final whistle in East Yorkshire, though he kept that frustration away from the cameras. By the time he spoke again ahead of the visit of newly promoted Ipswich, his irritation was directed less at the result itself and more at the way the defeat had been framed.
“It’s one game. Just because we lose a game doesn’t just mean leadership [is responsible]. I got ‘passion’ thrown at me after the game—it’s not just that. You lose two set plays like we did, it changes the game,” he said, also insisting there is “enough leadership in our dressing room.”
He also rejected the idea that outcomes can be reduced to effort alone. Winning and losing, he said, is “not just because you try or you don’t try” in the match.
“There’s all sorts of different reasons. I don’t have to give you the total reason, because we know what we’re trying to improve on. I think it’s so easy and lazy … a team loses a game, everything’s wrong: this is wrong, this is wrong, not trying enough, not enough passion.
“We’ve probably played like that [against Hull] and won games, and everyone goes: ‘What a great team, what a great coach, what a great load of players,’ when we find a way to win 1–0.
“We’ve got to dig deeper than that and understand the details of it. And we don’t get carried away when we win certain games because we know it’s not been perfect.”
The calendar offers little room for reflection. United are moving quickly from recovery work into preparation, with seven matches in four weeks across the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup before the first international break.
That run includes United’s first Champions League fixture in three years on Sept. 10 against Sabah, a Carabao Cup third-round tie with Brighton & Hove Albion, and the season’s first derby against Manchester City on Sept. 13.
Aston Villa
Premier League Gameweek 4 predictions: derby day heads the weekend card
A full set of Gameweek 4 score predictions, including the Manchester derby and Arsenal’s trip.
The first midweek stretch of the season has already brought Champions League and Carabao Cup action, and the Premier League schedule now tightens again around Gameweek 4.
Sunday’s Manchester derby is the clear centrepiece, but there is plenty elsewhere to weigh up, from Chelsea and Liverpool enjoying home advantage to Arsenal facing a testing trip away from home.
Here is a revised look at how the weekend may unfold, based strictly on the evidence from recent form, results and context in the draft.
Aston Villa are tipped to edge Nottingham Forest 2-1, with both sides still searching for their first league win and Villa Park likely to favour the home team. Bournemouth and Brentford could cancel each other out in a 1-1 draw, while Chelsea are expected to make short work of Hull and win 3-0 as their attack meets a defence that has impressed but may not be able to sustain that level.
Crystal Palace are backed to beat Ipswich 2-1 after a timely lift in form, and Liverpool are forecast to defeat Fulham 3-1, with the hosts carrying momentum into the fixture. Tottenham and Everton look set for a 1-1 draw, a result that would fit the recent frustrations around Spurs and the unbeaten start made by the visitors.
Arsenal are predicted to keep their perfect start going with a narrow 1-0 win at Sunderland, while Brighton are expected to leave Coventry with a 3-1 victory. The weekend’s biggest game, Man Utd against Man City, is called as another 1-1 draw, reflecting uncertainty on both sides despite City’s winning run.
Monday closes with Leeds against Newcastle, a meeting that could finish 2-2 after both clubs have shown enough going forward to suggest another open contest.
Aston Villa
Premier League matchday three: a flawed, revealing set of performances across the board
Matchday three showed Premier League quality everywhere, but also familiar flaws, late swings and missed chances.
Martin Ødegaard’s claim that “all of the teams are good” has already been tested by three weeks of Premier League football, and matchday three offered more evidence that quality in this division is abundant, but perfection remains elusive.
Across the round, several teams produced encouraging spells without turning them into clean, controlled wins. Some were left to regret missed chances, others survived by narrower margins than expected, and a few drifted into the familiar territory of being competitive without quite being convincing.
At one end of the scale, Liverpool were pushed hard by Ipswich, with Gary O’Neil admitting: “I hate having to talk about good performances when you don’t get points because you need to maximize them,” while Ipswich could not consistently threaten a side that still looked vulnerable at times.
Aston Villa’s visit to the MKM Stadium was harder to explain. Unai Emery insisted the match had gone exactly as intended, although the performance raised obvious questions about how a game plan can survive without even a shot on target.
Chelsea began sharply, with Morgan Rogers’s second-minute volley setting the tone after a set-piece routine, but Arsenal gradually took control. Chelsea created almost nothing after the interval, while Martin Ødegaard’s winner underlined the difference between a bright start and a complete performance.
Elsewhere, Hull’s seven points from three games drew a playful Champions League reference from Sergej Jakirović, while Tottenham remained stubbornly in the middle ground. Roberto De Zerbi’s side were held to a goalless draw that suited neither heaven nor hell.
There were also reminders that strong starts can unravel quickly. Bournemouth led 2-0 at St. James’s Park before another late setback, while Everton earned a point thanks to Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s 96th-minute strike and Manchester United were undone by Everton’s set-piece threat after a flat first half.
Elsewhere, Brighton “woke up too late,” Nottingham Forest were left frustrated by a disallowed goal, Brentford needed a triple half-time change to find a response, and Leeds experienced a textbook game of two halves. Sunderland, meanwhile, secured a different outcome from the same spot and the same goalkeeper, when Enzo Le Fée produced a far better penalty than he had before.
For Manchester City, Erling Haaland again provided the decisive edge, as Coventry’s resistance made the result far less straightforward than expected.
Arsenal
Premier League clubs set a new transfer spending benchmark in 2026
Premier League clubs lifted transfer spending to $4.75 billion across the 2026 summer window.
Premier League spending climbed beyond the $4 billion mark for the second straight summer in 2026, with total outlay across the division reaching $4.75 billion (£3.5 billion). That figure tops the roughly $4.1 billion (£3.1 billion) spent on new signings in 2025 and confirms another aggressive market across the league.
The final day of the window supplied the biggest individual headline, as Manchester City completed a $168.8 million (£125 million) joint-British transfer record move for Enzo Fernández. Activity at Aston Villa and Newcastle United also contributed to the increase, taking the league to levels not seen before.
Manchester City finished as the biggest spenders on $609.1 million (£458m). Chelsea were second with $470.7 million (£349m), followed by Tottenham Hotspur on $423.9 million (£302m). Newcastle United spent $362.2 million (£268m), Aston Villa $347.4 million (£256m), Liverpool $306.2 million (£198m) and Arsenal $262.8 million (£194m). Ipswich Town’s total came to $255.3 million (£171m).
Further down the list, Brighton & Hove Albion recorded $208.4 million (£154.5m), Hull City $203.2 million (£150.5m), and Manchester United $200.4 million (£148m). Coventry City stood at $171.8 million (£126m), Nottingham Forest at $159.9 million (£117.5m), and Brentford at $143.8 million (£106m). Everton, Fulham and Leeds United all finished above $100 million, while Crystal Palace and Bournemouth were below that threshold.
Sunderland were the lowest spenders at $88.7 million (£65.7m). The totals were compiled by Transfermarkt.com and last updated on Sept. 2 at 6:00 a.m. ET, with fees converted at the prevailing rate.
Manchester City’s Enzo Maresca-led rebuild finished above $600 million overall, with Fernández and Ndiaye joined by Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Allan. Chelsea, after a miserable 2025-26 season, were the second biggest spenders and made Morgan Rogers their key addition, with the Aston Villa player arriving for a club record $159.6 million. Chelsea were one of 11 Premier League clubs to break their transfer record this summer.
Tottenham also broke their transfer record twice, signing Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali for a combined $252 million. Ipswich Town’s $255.3 million left them eighth, while Sunderland ended bottom despite signing Malick Fofana from Lyon on Deadline Day.
