Thank you very much for joining me and John earlier.
Andy Hunter was at Anfield. Here is his report.
Luke Chambers: “Unbelievable. I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was six years old and to top it off with a win is great.
“I found out [I was playing] yesterday and had a bit of time with the family last night. The reality hit this morning.
“Trent has done what I aspire to do. Watching Trent do it gives us academy lad a stepping stone to recreate it. I couldn’t ask for someone better to look up to.”
Paul MacInnes was at the Amex.
More Europa League action.
How the Europa League tables stand …
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marseille | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | AEK Athens | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Brighton | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Ajax | 3 | -2 | 2 |
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 3 | 8 | 9 |
| 2 | Union Saint Gilloise | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Toulouse | 3 | -3 | 4 |
| 4 | LASK | 3 | -4 | 0 |
Updated
Full time! Liverpool 5-1 Toulouse
Liverpool were just too good for Toulouse, who did their best to make a game of it.
GOAL! Liverpool 5-1 Toulouse (Salah, 90+3)
That man Salah pokes the ball into the top corner.
Full time: Brighton 2-0 Ajax
It was all relatively straightforward in the end for Brighton thanks to goals from Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati.
Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse: Jones departs with McConnell coming on for his debut. Nice to see a few youngsters getting their chance.
Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse: Some practical joker in the crowd has just used a whistle to blow for full time. What larks. Play stops and the referee goes to have a word with the fourth official.
We are at the stage where the commentators on both matches involving English sides are repeatedly talking about some sort of boxing match coming up.
Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse: It is all pretty quiet on the pitch at Anfield. The match is over as a contest.
Brighton 2-0 Ajax: The Seagulls are calmly knocking the ball out from the back. It’s all pretty relaxed.
Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse: Elliott is booked for a late challenge, which results in him hobbling away.
Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse: Klopp permits a standing ovation for Gravenberch, replacing him with Salah.
Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse: Klopp sends on the subs … Scanlon, Gakpo and Quansah on, Alexander-Arnold, Chambers and Nunez off.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-1 Toulouse (Gravenberch, 65)
Nunez walks away with a wry smile after his stunning run and dribble earns him an open goal but he whacks his shot against the post. Gravenberch follows up and finds the corner for deserved goal.
Updated
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: Donnum tries to open up some space on the edge of the box but Gomez gets back at him to tackle the Toulouse man. His challenge results in a concerning moment for Kelleher as he watches the ball go just wide.
Down the other end Gravenberch, Liverpool’s best player tonight, pings a shot from 25 yards that the goalkeeper does well to repel.
Peter Oh emails: “That was a cool, em-Fati-c finish by the Brighton star. Ajax are in Total Disarray.”
Have you considered a career as a tabloid sub-editor?
Updated
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: Gravenberch shuffles a shot towards goal from the edge of the box, which Restes kicks up in the air somehow, resulting in a chase between the goalkeeper and Nunez. Restes just gets up quickly enough to beat the striker to the punch.
Brighton 2-0 Ajax: Almost a third for Brighton as Fati flashes a shot past the post.
Down the other end, Berghuis cuts in from the right and pings a shot against the post with Steele beaten.
What happened in the Europa Conference League? Here is the answer.
Ollie Watkins continued his red-hot form as Aston Villa cruised to a statement 4-1 win at AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League.
The striker netted his 10th goal of the season and fourth in Europe this season on Thursday. Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans – his first for Villa – put them in control in AZ Stadium after less than 25 minutes. Vangelis Pavlidis wasted the hosts' best chances but Watkins and John McGinn added more goals after the break in the Netherlands before Ibrahim Sadiq grabbed a consolation. It was the second time in two games Villa had scored four after their 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Sunday.
Ki Klaksvik became the first Faroe Islands club to win in the group stages of a European competition with a stunning 3-0 success againt Olimpija Ljubljana. Rene Joensen, Pall Klettskard and Jakup Andreasen were the heroes at at the 6,500 capacity Torsvollur national stadium.
Aberdeen's hopes of navigating a route through the Conference League group stage suffered a major blow as they threw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against PAOK Salonika on a rollercoaster night at Pittodrie. Having weathered heavy pressure in a goalless first half, Barry Robson's men found themselves two goals to the good by the hour mark thanks to Bojan Miovski and Dante Polvara. But a stunning comeback saw the Greek side take three points after goals from substitutes Kiril Despodov and captain Vieirinha, and a stoppage-time penalty, awarded after a VAR check, from Stefan Schwab.
GOAL! Brighton 2-0 Ajax (Fati, 53)
The Barcelona loanee is starting to show plenty of promise at Brighton. He superbly controls an Adingra pass and jabs a shot home.
Updated
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: There’s a lot more pressing from Toulouse in the second half. They are going down fighting.
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: There is some nice play from Toulouse in the final third and it looks like they could open up Liverpool but the attack breaks down.
Down the other end, Nunez gets a stray hand in the face but gives the impression he has suffered a career-ending injury. Nothing doing.
Brighton 1-0 Ajax: Gross slides a pass between two defenders for Mitoma to run onto but the ball just has too much on it and the goalkeeper collects.
Brighton 1-0 Ajax: It is a bright start from Ajax to the second half, concluding with a dangerous cross from Berghuis, which Steele does well to gather.
Second half
We go again!
Half-time reading …
Olympiakos v West Ham report:
Half time: Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse
Liverpool have been pretty dominant, even if they were caught on the break for an equaliser. They will not be fearing the second half.
Half time: Brighton 1-0 Ajax
Joao Pedro’s goal the difference at the break.
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: Klopp’s side are really slowing things down as they look to control possession until half time.
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Ajax (Joao Pedro, 42)
The Seagulls finally add a bit of speed to their play. Dunk slips the ball to Mitoma on the edge of the box, he gets it out of his feet and fires towards the bottom corner but Ramaj is equal to it, only to see Joao Pedro tap in the rebound.
Updated
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: Chambers swings in a beautiful cross but Nicolaisen reads the danger and volleys clear.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: The visitors are yet to muster a shot on target. All quiet at the Amex.
Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse: Nunez is a fine reminder to not judge someone by their first season in a new team. The striker was pretty mediocre for a lot of last year while showing touches of quality but now he looks settled, allowing him to utilise his attributes in a confident team.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Toulouse (Nunez, 34)
More great work from Gravenberch drives Liverpool up the pitch, he shifts the ball back to Jones to shoot but his effort pinballs around, eventually landing at Nunez’s feet to ping into the roof of the net. There is a very long check for handball by VAR but the goal is eventually given.
Updated
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: Van Hecke goes into the book for holding onto Brobbey after being spun by the forward.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Toulouse (Endo, 30)
He might not be the tallest but Endo jumps highest to head Alexander-Arnold’s cross perfectly into the bottom corner.
Updated
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: A corner is headed back across goal to Adingra but he cannot keep his powerful shot down and it keeps rising.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: Soon after the Seagulls get a free-kick 23 yards from goal, which Dunk whacks into the wall.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: Mitoma flicks a pass into the path of Joao Pedro in the box. He gets a nudge in the back from Hato, which puts him down. The Brazilian wants a penalty but the referee is not interested.
Liverpool 1-1 Toulouse: Jones catches teammate Gomez when they both go in for a tackle, leaving the centre-back on the deck. He gets up gingerly and hobbles around in the hope of running the injury off.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: The Dutch side are very much in knocking it around mode, irking Brighton in the process who are trying to put some pressure on.
Updated
Lucy Wesson emails: “On the subject of aging, I turn 52 this weekend, and have been the age to be a player’s momma for some time now. However, what is a worse happenstance is the first time someone asks if you’re eligible for the senior discount, which happened at the golf course last weekend.”
I am younger than James Milner, which would cheer me up, if it wasn’t for the fact he is currently playing in the Europa League.
Liverpool 1-1 Toulouse: It’s all quite lively at Anfield. Toulouse are not sitting back, desperate to make a game of this. I guess if you are going to make it to the Europa League, you might as well enjoy occasions like Anfield away.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Toulouse (Dallinga, 16)
What a break! The ball is played through for Dallinga to latch onto in space, he takes a few touches and then fires through Kelleher to equalise.
Updated
Liverpool 1-0 Toulouse: Elliott whips in a free-kick from the right touchline. It flicks off a head and Gomez jabs a shot. Toulouse eventually clear but the ball comes straight back via Matip and a Jota flick into Nunez’s path, who shoots at the goalkeeper. While Liverpool await to take a corner there is a penalty check for a handball in the area but the officials decide against it.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: A dangerous Seagulls cross is swung into the Ajax box and Ramaj ends up in a heap on the floor after Dunk pushes a defender straight into him.
Matt Burtz emails: “I’m watching Liverpool-Toulouse in Spanish here in the U.S. and they showed Jurgen Klopp having a friendly chat with Toulouse’s manager Carles Martinez Novell. Klopp seemed to tower over his counterpart and, not being familiar with his playing career, I was surprised to learn that he’s 6’3”. Then I learned that I’m three years older than Martinez Novell, which is always humbling. At least I’m taller than Klopp.”
I am hugely upset I am at the age where I am old enough to be a player’s father.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Toulouse (Jota, 9)
Jota squirms his way through the entire Toulouse defence and fires the ball beyond the goalkeeper from 14 yards.
Updated
Peter Oh emails: “Ajax have got a Medic on the bench, perhaps as an extension of the club’s famous Total Football, jack-of-all-trades approach.”
Does cardiology and podiatry.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: Mitoma turns an Ajax defender inside out before pulling the ball back to Joao Pedro but he steers his shot wide.
Liverpool 0-0 Toulouse: Liverpool are knocking it about nicely. Nunez looks to inject some speed into proceedings but the pass back to him goes out for a goal kick.
Brighton 0-0 Ajax: All pretty quiet at the Amex. Brighton earn a corner but Gross plays it way out of the box to makes things easy for Ajax.
Liverpool 0-0 Toulouse: Luke Chambers makes his first start for Liverpool tonight at left back. The teenager makes sure he has a few early touches.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Elsewhere … Faroese team KI defeated Olimpija Ljubljana 3-0 in the Europa Conference League to secure the Faroe Islands’ first victory in the main part of a European competition.
Starting lineups: Brighton v Ajax
Brighton: Steele, Milner, Dunk, van Hecke, Veltman, Adingra,
Gross, Gilmour, Mitoma, Fati, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Verbruggen, Igor, Webster, Dahoud, Lallana, Baleba, Ferguson, McGill,
Buonanotte, Hinshelwood, Duffus.
Ajax: Ramaj, Gaaei, Sutalo, Hato, Sosa, Tahirovic, Berghuis,
Taylor, Borges, Brobbey, Bergwijn.
Subs: Akpom, Saleh-Eddine, Medic, van den Boomen, Pasveer, Vos, Avila, Hlynsson, Godts, Gooijer, Setford.
Starting lineups: Liverpool v Toulouse
Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Matip, Chambers,
Gravenberch, Endo, Jones, Jota, Nunez, Elliott.
Subs: Alisson, van Dijk, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Tsimikas, Scanlon, McConnell, Jaros, Quansah.
Toulouse: Restes, Desler, Costa, Nicolaisen, Diarra, Suazo,
Schmidt, Sierro, Casseres Jr, Donnum, Dallinga.
Subs: Genreau, Gelabert, Kamanzi, Mawissa Elebi, Begraoui, Magri, Bangre,
Updated
Good evening! Thanks to John for doing the heavy lifting. I will be here for the lighthearted fun of Liverpool v Toulouse and Brighton v Ajax.
And so, the baton is passed to Will Unwin, who will guide you through tonight’s matches.
Here’s your full-time scores from the early kick-offs.
And here’s the group table, including those that will be completed by tonight’s matches.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Ham | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Freiburg | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Olympiacos | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Backa Topola | 3 | -4 | 1 |
| 1 | Marseille | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | AEK Athens | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Ajax | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Brighton | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 1 | Real Betis | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Sparta Prague | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Rangers | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Aris Limassol | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| 1 | Atalanta | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | Sporting | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Sturm Graz | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Rakow Czestochowa | 3 | -3 | 1 |
| 1 | Liverpool | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Toulouse | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Union Saint Gilloise | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| 4 | LASK | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 1 | Panathinaikos | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Villarreal | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 3 | Rennes | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Maccabi Haifa | 2 | -3 | 1 |
| 1 | Slavia Prague | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| 2 | Roma | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | Servette | 2 | -6 | 0 |
| 4 | Sheriff | 2 | -7 | 0 |
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 2 | Karabakh | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Molde | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Hacken | 3 | -9 | 0 |
And the biggest story of the night happened here.
🇫🇴 History is made as KÍ Klaksvík become the first club from the Faroe Islands to win a group-stage match in a European competition!!!
— The Sweeper (@SweeperPod) October 26, 2023
What a remarkable debut group-phase campaign for the minnows, who are from a village of 5,024 people and have a squad market value of €2.81m!!! pic.twitter.com/DqIdA2OUhg
Updated
Full-time: Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham
That long European unbeaten run is at its end. Olympiakos were good value for the win despite Ogbonna’s comical own-goal. That throws Group A open.
Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham: Time running out now, and time being run down. A couple of subs have been made. The boos and whistles ring out as the Hammers chase a Hail Mary moment. Paqueta’s cross is aimed for Soucek who can’t get over his marker and heads over.
Full-time: Sparta 0-0 Rangers
A big point for Rangers, and though they might have stolen it late on, they will be happy with that.
Full-time: AZ 1-4 Aston Villa
Villa’s quest for a Conference League trophy is on, and they replicated their Premier League home form in destroying the Dutch team.
Updated
Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham: Suddenly, West Ham are full of attacking zeal, with Maxwell Cornet having a shot blocked. As the Greek team seek to escape, Ogbonna almost caps his night with a red card, but escapes a second yellow. Somehow.
Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham: Eight minutes to be added on. Plenty of time for the European late show specialists? Fortounis has a dig from distance that flies just wide.
Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham: There’s an Olympiakos defender down, and that will add to the injury time in which the Hammers will seek an equaliser that looked unlikely for so long.
Goal! Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham (Paqueta, 87)
A lifeline for the Hammers. Can they find their way back into this?
Updated
Josip Ilcic ultras denied? Sturm Graz have equalised, Szymon Wlodarczyk with a penalty to make it 2-2.
We’re into the final five minutes of the first half of this feast of football.
Sparta 0-0 Rangers: Danilo and Wright continue to be troublesome for Sparta but a goalless draw looks the more likely. And Danilo rattles the crossbar, chasing down a dinked pass and a fine save is made by the Sparta goalie.
Sparta 0-0 Rangers: Rangers hanging on or going for it? Scott Wright has made a difference, as has Danilo. Sadly, the Sparta defender, Vitik, has taken a sore one and hobbles off. He was howling in agony, a player seen as a star as a future. He comes back on, perhaps foolhardily. It’s a fairly grim affair, this one.
Updated
Kári Tulinius is back: “The Faroese team KÍ, from the small town of Klaksvík, has just scored its third goal without reply against Olimpija Ljubljana. To say that the radio commentators at Faroese public broadcasting are excited is something of an understatement. That a Faroese team reached the group stage of a European competition is achievement enough, now they’re well on their way to a first ever win.”
AZ 1-4 Aston Villa: Zaniolo, under similar investigation as Sandro Tonali, banned for 10 months today, comes on for Douglas Luiz. The latest is that he wasn’t a priority name in the betting investigation. Young Van Bommel meanwhile goes close as AZ show some spirit. It appears they have plenty of young talent and chose to keep it on the bench.
Updated
AZ 1-4 Aston Villa: Stoke legend Bruno Martins Indy is putting himself about in Alkmaar, And on comes a Ruben van Bommel, whose tight curls give away that he is indeed the son of one-time Dutch international and well-travelled exec-class hatchet man Mark van Bommel.
Goal! AZ 1-4 Aston Villa (Sadiq, 66)
A long ball over the top, Matty Cash playing the young forward, just on as a sub, onside and he smashes in. A fine goal, but a consolation nonetheless.
Updated
Sparta Prague 0-0 Rangers: Connor Goldson is booked for the Gers and it’s a tired booking. Off goes Todd Cantwell, for Scott Wright. Cantwell was making his first start in a while.
Updated
Olympiakos 0-2 West Ham: To nobody’s surprise, Danny Ings has been hooked by David Moyes. On comes Antonio instead, with Jarrod Bowen too. And Lucas Paqueta.
Updated
Goal! AZ 0-4 Aston Villa (McGinn, 57)
Leon Bailey is flying now. How does Unai Emery do it? He speeds down the flank and sets up McGinn to edge the ball home.
Updated
Manchester United geeks may recognise the latest goalscorer as Molde make it 4-1 against Hacken: Magnus Wolff Eikrem, now 33, the former United youth team captain.
Goal! AZ 0-3 Aston Villa (Watkins, 52)
Villa are flying. Tielemans flying too, and he plays the ball out wide to Bailey, who cuts in and shoots, the ball coming back out to Watkins in the form of his life, to tap in.
Updated
Olympiakos 2-0 West Ham: Fortounis, the goalscorer, has just shown off his best ball skills, and David Moyes has rolled up his sleeves on the sidelines.
Brian Withington gets in touch: “I have previously opined that a half time Danny Ings heat map might require a scarf and mittens. On this occasion I would add that thermals, bobble hat and a warm overcoat might also be in order.”
Peter Oh, too: “Am I the only one confused by the message on the Olympiakos tifo? Who exactly is dining in hell? The opponents? Wouldn’t they appreciate being offered food in hell? Or is the home team dining in hell? Which would raise the question, wouldn’t they rather eat elsewhere? In any case, it sounds like West Ham have served up some cold slop so far..”
Kári Tulinius adds his ever-welcome expertise: “The pick of the halftime scores is surely KÍ 2, Olimpija Ljubljana 0, thanks to local boys, Páll Klettskarð and René Joensen. That a team from Klaksvík, a town of five thousand people, and a nation of fifty thousand people, the Faroe Islands, is doing so well is remarkable.”
A rival publication has sent their best man to that game.
I don't know if it lasts and nobody here can quite believe it (again), but KI Klaksvik are winning in a European group stage game.
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) October 26, 2023
Updated
Sparta 0-0 Rangers: The Gers have never won in the Czech Republic, Sparta have never lost to a Scottish team. Something has to give, right?
We are back underway…
Get your half-time scores here.
And get your half-time reading here and here.
Half-time: AZ 0-2 Aston Villa
Unai Emery’s team rolling on and making short work of their opponent. Good signs for the Villa squad, too, which is small and perfectly formed.
Half-time: Olympiakos 2-0 West Ham
Not great from West Ham; their 17-game Euro unbeaten run is in danger. That’s an English record – not even Rangers have beaten it….
Half-time: Sparta 0-0 Rangers
Rangers holding on fairly grimly, but will be happy with being goalless.
Goal! Olympiakos 2-0 West Ham (Ogbonna, 45+1 OG)
Told you the Hammers were well off it. A ball from the left comes in and there’s a swing at it from the Hammers captain for the night, and a deflection beyond Areola. Oh dear.
Updated
AZ 0-2 Aston Villa: Southampton legend Jordy Clasie has just been booked for AZ, who are being strangled by Emery-ball. Villa playing very well out of defence and Tielemans, who has been underwhelming as yet for Villa looks decent playing a bit further forward.
Olympiakos 1-0 West Ham: Danny Ings has touched the ball just ten times, we are told. We are also told his type of player needs just one touch, but it’s not been forthcoming. West Ham are well off it here.
Joy for the Ilcic ultras as it’s Sturm Graz 1-1 Atalanta 1, Luis Muriel getting the equaliser.
James Humphries gets in touch: Watching from a pub in Glasgow - for your international readers, that’s Glasgow, England (apparently) - and I have to say the parts game hasn’t looked “cagey” so far as much as it’s looked like Rangers doing backs-against-the-wall defending and Sparta whiffing a couple of absolute sitters. Entertaining stuff, though.”
Was it W Axl Rose who said it was great to be in “Glas-gow, England”? To not the warmest reception.
Goal! Olympiakos 1-0 West Ham (Fortounis, 36)
It’s a solo run, with James Ward-Prowse caught unawares, and Areola the goalie too. It was something of what we used to know as a “toe bung”. Steve McMahon was an expert at them.
Updated
Sparta 0-0 Rangers: The classic cagey affair in Prague too. These games eventually catch light, and Jack Butland, the well-travelled Gers goalie has just been asked to make a fine save.
It’s now Ballkani 1-2 Astana, the home team down in Therande.
Olympiakos 0-0 West Ham: Big atmosphere in Piraeus but not much of a game. Danny Ings is leading the line tonight and with a changed lineup there’s a lot of pressure on Said Benrahma.
AZ 0-2 Aston Villa: Kamara makes an error and Pavlidis has a golden chance that he blams over the ball. And he’s the most in-form player in Dutch football.
Goal! AZ 0-2 Aston Villa (Tielemans, 23)
AZ cough up the ball in their own final third and John McGinn slips in Tielemans whi almost gets the ball caught under his feet and scores. Lovely goal, and one achieved by Unai Emery pressing at its finest.
Updated
Bad news for Josip Ilcic and his Atalanta pals; their team is 1-0 down to Sturm Graz.
Goal! AZ 0-1 Aston Villa (Bailey, 13)
There’s a VAR question against it but Leon Bailey hit the ball straight and true, to follow his goal against West Ham at the weekend,
Updated
“An English club, you say?” asks Tom Grieve of my errant description below of Rangers. More English than the English, you might say.
Still goalless among our brave Brits but Ballkani 1-1 Astana, a battle of Kosovo v Kazakhstan is off to a flier.
A slow start across the continent, with Aston Villa being booed as they play the ball around in Alkmaar.
And we’re off across Europe…
For Rangers, Ben Davies will slot into the troublesome left-back role, with both Borna Barisic and Dujon Sterling missing through injury.
It’s a night when the club remembers a true club great, and great football man, Walter Smith.
💙 Today we remember the great Walter Smith.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 26, 2023
Quite simply, nobody understood Rangers better, nobody had better leadership qualities, and nobody won more. pic.twitter.com/2rlMZRYd5Y
Unai Emery has made four changes for Aston Villa. Clement Lenglet, Diego Carlos, Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey started in Holland. Ezri Konsa, Nicolo Zaniolo, Moussa Diaby and Pau Torres were named on the bench.
Football fans can be nice, number 2526262
Per Reuters: Atalanta fans making the journey from Bergamo to see their team play Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Europa League, made a stop in Maribor, Slovenia, not to visit the city’s famous castle but to surprise a former player on Thursday.
Ex-players can come in for many different forms of treatment from their former fans, but Josip Ilicic, who spent five years at Atalanta, is still very much in the hearts of the club’s supporters.
Ilicic left the club in August, 2022, his contract terminated by mutual agreement, after the player had struggled for some time with mental health issues.
The fans gave him an emotional send off before their home game with Torino on Sept. 1 2022, and over a year later it’s clear just how heartfelt that farewell was.
Ilicic joined his former club NK Maribor a month after leaving Atalanta, and the fans from Bergamo arrived at the club’s training ground on Thursday morning to surprise the 35-year-old Slovenian.
Two buses arrived, carrying 120 fans who had left Italy at midnight, and there were handshakes, hugs and chants for the beloved player, and plenty of photos taken with a visibly emotional and happy Ilicic.
The fans left him a present of the banner they had used on that farewell night in Bergamo last year, and Ilicic also confirmed he will be present at Atalanta’s game with Sturm Graz.
Atalanta fans travelling to the Sturm Graz match have stopped in Maribor to visit Josip Ilicic 👏🐐🥰💙🖤
— Atalanta BC News (@AtalantaBC_News) October 26, 2023
📸 NK Maribor pic.twitter.com/aWKudPAkL9
Sparta v Rangers teams
Sparta: Vindahl-Jensen, Vitik, Panak, Sorensen, Preciado, Laci, Kairinen, Rynes, Karabec, Kuchta, Birmancevic. Subs: Gomez, Olatunji, Pavelka, Sadilek, Mejdr, Pesek, Vorel, Vydra, Wiesner, Sevcik, Sejk, Surovcik.
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Davies, Lundstram, Raskin, Cantwell, Lammers, Sima, Dessers. Subs: Jack, Scott Wright, McCrorie, Kieran Wright, King, Devine, Lyall, Fraser, McCausland, McKinnon, Danilo.
AZ v Aston Villa teams
AZ: Ryan, Sugawara, Bazoer, Penetra, Wolfe, Clasie, Dani de Wit, Mijnans, Sadiq, Pavlidis, van Brederode. Subs: Martins Indi, Tiago Dantas, Odgaard, Verhulst, Mihailovic, van Bommel, Owuso-Oduro, Poku, Goudmijn, Kasius, Goes.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Diego Carlos, Lenglet, Digne, Bailey, Douglas Luiz, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Watkins. Subs: Konsa, Traore, Torres, Chambers, Diaby, Zaniolo, Duran, Olsen, Dendoncker, Marschall.
Updated
Olympiakos v West Ham teams
Olympiakos: Paschalakis, Rodinei, Porozo, Retsos, Ortega, Alexandropoulos, Camara, Hezze, Daniel Podence, El Kaabi, Fortounis. Subs: Gustavo Scarpa, El Arabi, Vrousai, Quini, Masouras, Joao Carvalho, Biel, Jovetic, Tzolakis, Solbakken, Papadoudis.
West Ham: Areola, Kehrer, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Emerson Palmieri, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Fornals, Kudus, Ings, Benrahma. Subs: Johnson, Cresswell, Zouma, Antonio,
Lucas Paqueta, Cornet, Alvarez, Bowen, Aguerd, Mubama, Anang.
Updated
Preamble
The European football marathon rolls on, and there’s action aplenty through the evening. Forgive our parochialism but let’s concentrate on the English clubs. West Ham, proud Europa Conference champions, travel to Olympiakos, and in Group C, Philippe Clement’s Rangers face Sparta Prague. That’s in the Europa League and in the Conference, free-scoring Aston Villa visit AZ Alkmaar.
Later this evening, as Will Unwin steps into my shoes, there’s the tie of the week in Brighton v Ajax, and Liverpool v Toulouse.
All that and the latest scores and reaction from around Europe. Join us.
