The Irishman is set to make his first La Liga appearance this evening.

KIERAN GILL AT CRAVEN COTTAGE: Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea reign got off to a winning start with a 3-2 victory at west-London rivals Fulham.

The opening round of Premier League fixtures offered plenty of surprises, making for a fitting set-up for what is expected to be an unpredictable season in England

An analysis of Julian Alvarez’s future with the transfer window closing on 1 September – and the Argentine’s chances of a move from Atletico Madrid to Arsenal.

OLIVER HOLT: The title? Chelsea’s defence will have to improve but anything is possible if Palmer can stay fit and play like this.

The England striker seems dead set on leaving Villa in the lurch to join Al Hilal – which, Richard Jolly writes, is a great shame for a club and player who were very good for one another

Liverpool drew their opening Premier League fixture 2-2 at Newcastle on Sunday but Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher explained on Monday Night Football why the Reds midfield set-up – and lack of impact from Florian Wirtz – is a big problem for new boss Andoni Iraola.

The former Ipswich man was not part of the squad for Chelsea’s 3-2 Premier League win at Craven Cottage and Daily Mail Sport reported last week that the club are willing to listen to offers for him.

Ecuador midfielder was a surprise exclusion for west London derby, as was summer signing Marco Palestra

Everything you need to know ahead of the Champions League play-off second leg

Michael Carrick saw his Manchester United side beaten by promoted Hull City on the opening day of the new Premier League season; Dan Khan tells us why its not time to panic at Old Trafford yet; Man Utd host Ipswich, live on Sky on Sunday; kick off at 4.30pm

The main talking points from Chelsea’s Premier League victory over Fulham with Xabi Alonso’s official debut ending in the Blues taking all three points home with them

The Newcastle icon’s appearances on the programme are set to become increasingly limited

Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk was cleared to return to football at the end of July after the FA and the World Anti-Doping Agency “resolved” his appeal

The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous ‘hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final victory over England is sold at auction.

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.

Alexander Isak was loudly booed by Newcastle fans on Sunday the Liverpool star showed “nine red flags” that proved he was “clearly unhappy”

Michael Owen has warned Alexander Isak he is ‘running out of excuses’ after the Premier League’s record signing failed to make an impact in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle.

Celtic full-back Alistair Johnston will be out of action until October, manager Martin O’Neill confirms.

Carlos Baleba is on his way to Man United a year on from the Reds deciding against meeting Brighton’s valuation of over £100million for the midfielder.

Cottagers’ 19-year-old phenom upstaged some of Blues’ top players

Dutch side SC Cambuur says fans were left with “burns, hearing damage and eye injuries” after Feyenoord supporters threw fireworks during Sunday’s Eredivisie match.

Derek McInnes could be in the stand for his first Old Firm match as Rangers manager after a hearing date of 31 August was set for his appeal against a touchline ban.

ANALYSIS: GB News Sports Editor Jack Otway looks back at the nine games played so far ahead of Chelsea’s showdown with Fulham tonight

Follow our football betting tips as Chelsea take on Fulham in the Monday night football

The draw for the 2026/27 Champions League 36-team league phase will take place on Thursday, 27 August

Following a dispute over the length of his contract, will Jean-Philippe Mateta stay at Crystal Palace beyond the transfer window?

Harvey Elliott’s position at Liverpool looks uncertain following his absence from the matchday squad at Newcastle on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

Our Seeing Red podcast hosts Tom Canton and John Cross give their thoughts on the latest news concerning Arsenal’s interest in Julian Alvarez.

Arsenal midfielder Bruno Guimaraes has been told by Mikel Arteta that he isn’t allowed to do what he did so regularly at Newcastle

Possession numbers, the intense physicality and the pure rhythm of games all felt noticeably new as the season began

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has branded Donald Trump’s interference in FIFA affairs as “shocking”

Arsenal are actively pursuing Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez to strengthen their attacking line after he was booed over the weekend by Atletico fans, though the Spanish side want close to €150m and have ruled out selling him to Barcelona.

The new Premier League season got underway this weekend, but perhaps the most jarring sight of the first set of matches was not a goal or a standout play.

It wasn’t a win, but Sunday’s 1-1 draw against the New England Revolution was the closest New York City FC has come to one in nearly a month.

Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson saved a penalty kick from Guro Reiten to preserve a scoreless draw at home against Gotham FC on Sunday.

Gianni Infantino has come under increased scrutiny since the 2026 World Cup after controversially plotting to sell stakes in FIFA competitions to private investment firms before he backed down

Jamie Carragher slammed Andoni Iraola’s tactics as Liverpool scraped a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United in their opening Premier League clash.

SIMON JONES: The agreement for the Cameroon midfielder, 22, is made up of a £65m guaranteed payment plus £5m in bonuses.

Gary Neville has warned Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak to improve and become more tenacious if they are to succeed as Liverpool players.

Bouaddi, who excelled in this summer’s World Cup, becomes the third most expensive player in City’s history

Latest transfer news and headlines as Al Hilal work on double Premier League raid for Arsenals Gabriel Martinelli & Aston Villas Ollie Watkins; Man Utd target Alejandro Balde left out of Barcelona squad for their LaLiga opener; Couhaib Driouech set to leave PSV after failed Rangers move

Mohamed Salah scores twice on his first Turkish Super Lig start for Trabzonspor – and almost has a hat-trick – as they beat Istanbul Basaksehir.

Big-spending Tottenham suffered an abject 3-0 loss away to Brentford on Saturday in their Premier League opener, but Roberto De Zerbi saw the warning signs long before

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic kept his plan to topple Manchester United on their Premier League return under wraps for weeks, assistant head coach Dean Holden tells Match of the Day.

Brighton secured an emphatic win over Aston Villa to begin their Premier League season but a fan was taken unwell as he left the Amex, later dying despite the efforts of the emergency services

Tony Cascarino has told Roberto De Zerbi that one Tottenham star is ‘not the answer’ and urged him to sign a former Arsenal player to replace him.

Gary Neville has ‘never been so sure’ Arsenal will retain the Premier League trophy and says Chelsea could be their biggest rivals as neither Manchester City or Liverpool look like title-winning teams.

The Tangerines lost the derby and haven’t scored in their last three outings but Esselink sees enough to be confident goals are coming

Jean-Philippe Mateta could leave Crystal Palace