Fulham

Alvaro Arbeloa is wary of the threat posed by Fulham’s Carabao Cup opponents West Ham after they hammered Wrexham 6-0 to move top of the Championship.

The Hammers have picked themselves up quickly from relegation in May to make a commanding start to life in the second tier as they seek an immediate return.

They will get their first chance this season to test themselves against top-flight opposition at the London Stadium and Arbeloa is under no illusions the Hammers retain Premier League quality.

“An away game in another difficult stadium, against a team that are performing so well,” he said. “They won their last game 6-0, they beat Southampton in the Carabao Cup also, so we know them."

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Richarlison was not included in the Tottenham squad for tonight's game and earlier he publicly expressed his displeasure at Roberto de Zerbi's decision to leave him out.

The Brazil striker shared a screenshot of a social media post about his omission and accompanied it with the message "Why?" and a tearful sad-faced emoji.

Richarlison's future in north London has become increasingly uncertain after a proposed transfer to Brazilian side Vasco da Gama fell through last week.

Sources suggested the Premier League club had agreed a fee with with Vasco for the 29-year-old, but personal terms were not agreed before the Brazilian transfer window closed on Friday.

"At the start of this season, I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to," De Zerbi said in his pre-match news conference on Monday.

"I can't go every day to pray for him to stay."

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Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi believes "for sure" that Dominic Solanke will rediscover his form and score 10 to 15 goals this season.

The 29-year-old striker endured an injury-hit campaign last season, scoring three goals in 15 Premier League games.

Solanke, who joined the club in 2024 from Bournemouth for a deal worth up to £65m, is yet to score in the league this season.

"I can't understand why I have to think negatively. OK, because last season he was injured many times, yes," De Zerbi explained.

"It's not the same last season [compared to] this season. This season, we have top physical and medical staff. We don't have three games per week.

"I spoke with him and I would like to manage him in the best way I can, in the physical aspect and in the mental aspect, because he's a sensitive guy. He needs to feel full confidence, and from myself he has big, big confidence.

"I believe he can score 10-15 goals for sure. He's already scored at Bournemouth, so why can't he score at Tottenham? It's the same sport, different stadium, no pressure, because in our stadium, if we push, if we play well, the fans are with us."

Arsenal

Boss Mikel Arteta has insisted Arsenal's Max Dowman will get minutes this season but warned they must be earned.

Arsenal were Carabao Cup runners-up last season after they lost at Wembley to Manchester City and head to Ipswich Town for a tricky all-Premier League tie eager to make it five victories from five for the new campaign.

Dowman, 16, has been an unused substitute on four occasions for Arsenal this season, most recently at Napoli last Wednesday, but has topped up his game time with a handful of runouts for the under-21s and featured in a 4-1 loss to Chelsea at the weekend.

Last season Dowman became the youngest player to start a Premier League fixture when he featured at Crystal Palace and scored his first professional goal against Everton.

Dowman did not travel to Sunderland, but is in the starting 11 tonight at Portman Road.

“We have a limitation with the numbers we have,” Arteta said in his latest remark about the Premier League rule of 20 players in a matchday squad.

“Max will have his chance. He will have his minutes and he will have to earn them like anybody else. You know the talent that we have, the players we have there, we need to help him and find a way to make sure he continues to develop.”

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It promises to be an emotional evening at London Stadium as West Ham will hold a period of appreciation to former goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko at the Carabao Cup third-round tie against Fulham.

Miklosko died earlier this week, aged 64, following a battle with cancer.

He made almost 400 appearances for the Hammers between 1990 and 1998 after joining from Banik Ostrava. He announced his decision to withdraw from further cancer treatment in December 2024, three years after his diagnosis.

The Czech helped West Ham win promotion to the top flight in 1991 and 1993 and was much loved by supporters, who regularly sang his name long after he left the club. He later returned as a goalkeeping coach.

Miklosko, who represented Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup, ended his playing career with QPR.

West Ham's Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek will place a shirt with Miklosko's name on the back on the pitch before the game as a tribute.

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Peterborough United XI: Bass, Mills, Okagbue, Feeney, Mendonca, Khela, Ashfield, Williams, Ormerod, Edwards, Leonard.

Subs: Andeng-Hall, Weir, Freeman, Kelly, Jones, Conn-Clarke, Abbey, Shofowoke, Fox.

Barnsley: Flavell, Kay, Gale, O'Riordan, Noslin, Connell, McGeehan, Cleary, Kelly, Richards,Toure.

Subs: Andrassy, Shepherd, Okedina, Town, Bland, Kirk, Taylor, Alker, Farrell.

As a result of last week's Champions League ties and games this week in the Europa League, the third round of the Carabao Cup has been split over two weeks.

Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Bradford City, Sunderland, Newcastle United and Chelsea all won their third-round ties last week.

The draw for the fourth round will take place on Wednesday night, after the Manchester United v Brighton match.

A reminder that there are five League Cup matches tonight with four more tomorrow and one on Thursday.

Peterborough host Barnsley at 19:30 BST while Fulham travel to West Ham for a London derby at 19:45 BST.

The final three matches - Ipswich Town v Arsenal, Liverpool v Tottenham and Reading v Brentford - get under way at 20:00 BST.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town boss Gary O’Neil wants his side to harness the energy of the Portman Road support under the lights as they look to topple Arsenal in the Carabao Cup third round.

“Arsenal are tough to beat, even if you do everything right,” said O’Neil, according to the Ipswich Star.

“I’ll make some changes to my team, I’m sure Mikel will make changes to his team, but it’s a game we want to win. I want to get as far in the cups as we can.

“We’re going to give it our best go at home under the lights. I think we missed the opportunity against Liverpool. We played well, but it was already 2-0. We missed the opportunity to use the energy of Portman Road under the lights against a big side.

“So we can correct that. We can start the game well. We can take the fans with us on an attempt to beat one of the best sides around.”

This was a Premier League fixture last season but West Ham are now in the Championship following their relegation from the top flight.

The Hammers have made a strong start to life in the second tier and sit top of the table after seven games.

"They have a Premier League level squad, so they aren't Championship opposition in my opinion," Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa said.

"If we want to beat them, we will have to perform well."

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Liverpool have made an unbeaten start to the season under Andoni Iraola but they have drawn three and won two games.

Performances have been mixed, with an excellent display against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League followed by a drab goalless draw against Fulham in the Premier League.

"We have to accept there are going to be ups and downs in this process," said Iraola.

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The early rounds of the League Cup is often seem by many managers as a chance to rotate their squad and give fringe players some gametime.

It is an understandable tactic with lots of fixtures to consider, but Brentford boss Keith Andrews believes the Bees owe it to their fans to make sure they take this competition as seriously as possible.

"We've got 5000 fans going to the game. That for me says it all - the belief the fans have that we are taking it very seriously," he said.

"We did it last year. We pushed as hard as we could. We didn't get to where we wanted to but that's the plan this year."

Arsenal, who lost in the final of the EFL Cup last season to Manchester City at Wembley, have won every game they have played so far this season.

"It's the next game ahead and the next competition," says Mikel Arteta.

"We will look at the players' eyes, they will say they want to play, they want to win the game, they want to improve and they want to review the [Sunderland] game and they will be willing for me, because I know the boys."

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Arsenal teenager Max Dowman gets his chance to impress tonight with a start for the Gunners.

The 16-year-old attacker made13 appearances in all competitions last season and scored against Everton to become the youngest scorer in Premier League history.

"You know the talent that we have, the players that we have there, we need to help him and find a way to make sure he continues to develop," Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said before tonight's game.

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Ipswich Town hand a start to striker Zian Flemming, who scored a late winner in the 3-2 victory at Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Goalkeeper Christian Walton played a key role in helping Town win promotion from the Championship last season and he is in goal for the hosts.

It is 10 changes from Gary O'Neil from the side that began the Palace game, with defender Jacob Greaves the only one to stay in.

Ipswich Town XI: Walton, Furlong, Kipre, Greaves, Ouattara, Florentino, Nunez, McAteer, Mehmeti, Philogene, Flemming.

Subs: Palmer, O'Shea, Davis, Lukic, Walle Egeli, Clarke, Maeda, Enciso, Akpom.

Defender Marli Salmon, 17, makes his first appearance for Arsenal this season, as does 16-year-old midfielder Max Dowman.

Apart from those two, the Arsenal side is packed full of experience, with Gabriel, Bruno Guimaraes, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres among the starters, while Ezri Konsa, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz are on a strong bench.

Mikel Arteta has made nine changes from the side that won 1-0 at Sunderland on Saturday evening, with Gabriel and Myles Lewis-Skelly the two to remain.

Arsenal XI: Arrizabalaga, Salmon, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Guimaraes, Merino, Dowman, Madueke, Eze, Gyokeres.

Subs: Meslier, Konsa, Calafiori, Ibrahim, Julienne, Tzolis, Odegaard, Saka, Havertz.

Reading starting XI: Pereira, Roberts, Masterson, O'Connor, Ahmed, Savage, Fraser, Kyerewaa, Stokes, Williams, Reid.

Subs: Godwin-Malife, Dorsett, Wing, Earthy, Brown, Lisbie, Stevens, Lane, Beacroft.

Brentford starting XI: Balcombe, Henry, Diouf, Ajer, Kayode, Lewis-Potter, Sangare, Carvalho, Damsgaard, Ouattara, Wilson.

Subs: Kelleher, Hickey, Yarmoliuk, Schade, Thiago, Anthony, Janelt, Schuster, Fredrick.

Aadam Patel
Liverpool Reporter

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You get the feeling that the schedule and length of turnaround between fixtures will be a common topic of conversation with Andoni Iraola.

Liverpool were brilliant against Atletico Madrid last Wednesday but followed that up with a poor display against Fulham less than 72 hours later.

Iraola pointed out the lack of freshness on Saturday as a factor and now, just over 72 hours after that game, Liverpool will play at Anfield for the third time in less than a week when Tottenham are the visitors in the Carabao Cup third round.

Iraola insists he is "very happy" with his squad and a cup game against Premier League opposition will provide a strong indication about how reliable his options really are.

Aadam Patel
Football Reporter at Anfield

Andoni Iraola makes 10 changes for Liverpool with only Ronald Araujo retaining his place. Otherwise it's much-changed line-up from the 0-0 draw against Fulham.

Liverpool: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Araujo, Gomez, Kerkez; McConnell, Nyoni; Gakpo, Mac Allister, Ngumoha; Koumas.

Substitutes: Alisson, Endo, Jacquet, Szoboszlai, Isak, Munoz, Barcola, Gravenberch. Chambers

Tottenham’s only win this season has come in this competition and Roberto De Zerbi makes eight changes from their draw against Everton on the weekend. Andy Robertson is on the bench for his return to Anfield.

Tottenham: Dubravka; Gray, Tosin, Senesi, Udogie; Bentancur, Bergvall, Gallagher; Kudus, Marmoush, Tel.

Substitutes: Kinsky, Robertson, Van Hecke, Maddison, Savio, Fernandes, Solanke, Davies, Van de Ven.