AFC Bournemouth

OLIVER GLASNER, Fabian Hurzeler and Andoni Iraola are among the coaches under consideration to replace Ruben Amorim if he is sacked by Manchester United.

Amorim suffered his 17th Premier League defeat out of 33 games in charge of United against Brentford on Saturday, who have lost three of their six league matches this term.

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Although Amorim retains the club’s backing, United are keeping an eye on potential replacements amid their alarming form.

Club sources insist they do not have a successor to Amorim lined up but accept the speculation around the manager’s role.

Erik ten Hag was dismissed after four defeats from the first nine league fixtures last term, though the United hierarchy is more invested in Amorim, the first managerial appointment under co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

United initially placed an emphasis on Premier League-proven signings in the summer with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo and could apply that to their next managerial search.

That has had an impact on former England manager Gareth Southgate’s chances – he has not managed in the Premier League since Middlesbrough were relegated in 2009.

Southgate has suggested he may not return to management while his friend and ally, United director Sir Dave Brailsford, is no longer visible at the club after his disastrous attempt to improve performance at Old Trafford.

Glasner guided Crystal Palace to their first piece of silverware in the FA Cup last season and the Eagles are the only unbeaten side in the top flight, having ended Liverpool’s winning run with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday.

Iraola took charge of Bournemouth two years ago and led them to ninth last season.

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Despite the high-profile departures of Dean Huijsen, Ilya Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez, the Cherries are currently third.

Hurzeler replaced Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton at the start of last season and presided over an eighth-place finish.

The Seagulls beat Chelsea 3-1 on Saturday to rise to tenth.

Glasner, 51, uses the same 3-4-2-1 system that Amorim is wedded to, which could be a deterrent.

The Austrian has European pedigree from his time at Eintracht Frankfurt, whom he led to Europa League glory in 2022.

Palace have so far failed to tie down Glasner on a new contract as his current one expires at the end of the season.

Iraola’s deal also runs out in the summer of 2026, while Hurzeler is tied to Brighton until 2027.

Meanwhile, reports suggest Xavi would be extremely keen on the Old Trafford gig.

However, there is not believed to have been any interest from the Red Devils as yet.

Amorim insists he’s right man

Amorim signed a two-and-a-half year contract with United when he was appointed as Ten Hag’s replacement last November but the club finished 15th last season, their worst top-flight finish since the team was relegated in 1974.

United have invested £256.82million in six signings on Amorim’s watch but the team have plunged to 14th following Saturday’s loss.

Sunderland travel to Old Trafford next week before the October internationals and United resume their schedule against Liverpool at Anfield on October 19.

United are winless in their last ten at Anfield and have not won there since January 2016.

Asked if he can turn it around at United, Amorim replied: “I’m always confident as I know what to do.

“When you lose, you go back to the same place and you fight again for one win that can help you to create the momentum.”

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IT will come as no surprise to their stylish famous fans, but Chelsea supporters are the best dressed in the Premier League.

The club’s followers are most likely to wear a smart suit for a night out, a survey has revealed.

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Celebrity fans including Gordon Ramsay, Jeremy Clarkson, David Baddiel, Madness singer Suggs and actor Phil Daniels are always well turned out for a trip to the club’s Stamford Bridge home — and regular fans have followed suit.

But it’s not really a surprise, as back in the Seventies Chelsea’s players, including Alan Hudson and Peter Osgood, were known as the kings of the King’s Road for their fashionable sense of style.

And the club’s 21st-century fans have maintained the tradition, according to research by betting site freebet.com, with 16 per cent getting suited and booted for a big night.

While fans of Newcastle, Burnley and Wolves were in the relegation zone with just one per cent being bothered to look smart.

The table shows there’s a clear North/South divide when it comes to off-the-pitch style.

The top seven spots are filled by teams from London and the south, with Man City and Leeds sharing eighth place with Brentford and West Ham with five per cent.

Spokesman Tim Agnew said: “Our research shows Chelsea fans are the best dressed fans in the Premier League.

“They already had a reputation for wearing Gucci and Prada and our research confirms Chelsea fans like to look sharp.”

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IT’S opening night at football’s multi-billion dollar circus and spending has gone through the big-top roof.

So despite an almighty spree of his own, Arne Slot believes his Liverpool side will face tougher competition than ever if they are to retain their Premier League title.

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England’s biggest five clubs have already shelled out more than £1billion between them this summer, in a whopping total spend of £2.1billion — or £2.5bn including deal add-ons.

And as the defending champions roll up to Anfield to face Bournemouth, kicking off another season for the greatest show on Earth, the Dutchman expects the title battle to be fiercer than ever.

Liverpool’s imminent signing of Giovanni Leoni would take their summer outlay to around £300m  — with deals for Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi still possible.

But world champs Chelsea have spent another quarter of a billion, followed by Manchester United (£200.5m), Arsenal (£181.8m) and Manchester City (£150.1m for a total of £324m in the calendar year).

And Slot said: “The reason why it’s so difficult lies mainly with the fact there are so many that can win the league over here.

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“To win it once is very special, if you can win it twice in five years like us — and City did even better — then that is unbelievable.

“And probably this year’s going to be harder than any year before because every team brings in new players. Our main competitors definitely did as well.

“The challenge in the Premier League is always the teams. We start with Bournemouth — the most intense in the league in terms of running and also playing style — and after that it’s Newcastle and Arsenal.

“That sums up this league and the challenges we have.”

If winning the title is a serious achievement, retaining it is far tougher — only Pep Guardiola’s City, Sir Alex Ferguson’s United and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have won back-to-back Premier League crowns.

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Slot would be walking among giants if he wins a second title in two  seasons.

And while the signings of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez provide a major platform, he still wants Newcastle striker Isak as well as Guehi, the England defender who skippered Crystal Palace to beat the Reds in Sunday’s Community Shield.

Perennial runners-up Arsenal are in  a major recruitment drive too — adding Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Kepa  Arrizabalaga and Cristhian Mosquera ahead of a critical campaign for Mikel Arteta.

As ever, Chelsea have bought in bulk — with strikers Joao Pedro and Liam Delap joining wingers Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian, left-back Jorrel Hato and midfielder Dario Essugo at a club powered by its own brand of chaos.

Guardiola’s City — four-in-a-row champions before  last term — have made four big signings in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and James Trafford, to add to their January quartet.

With United’s attacking overhaul bringing Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in, never before have all of England’s major clubs seen such change.

Europa League winners Spurs have spent  £100m-plus, with more to come — with even promoted Sunderland well over nine figures.

The league is increasingly competitive. The Liverpool-City duopoly — when two near-perfect teams needed close to 100 points to take the crown — is over.

No longer does one defeat spell disaster, yet fewer fixtures are a formality for any title-chasers.

With Liverpool making so many changes, Slot faces a different pressure to when he inherited Jurgen Klopp’s squad last summer.

He said: “I took over a team with only two weeks to prepare due to the Euros and Copa America.

“This year we’ve brought in very good, intelligent players who need to integrate. Bournemouth will bring a big challenge but everyone is looking forward to it.”

Roll up, roll up — tonight’s the night we begin to find out if they all have more money than sense.

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A MAJOR UK TV provider is scrapping a popular sports app in just weeks, in a major blow to football fans.

Customers will lose access to the service before the end of the Premier League, with Brits urged to upgrade to avoid missing out.

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From September 22, a number older of EE TV boxes will stop supporting the Discovery+ app, the streaming home for TNT sports content.

You will still be able to watch shows in real-time, but all on-demand content will be removed from your TV box.

That means customers will no longer be able to access Premier League highlights, catch up on missed Champions League matches, or watch any of their favourite Discovery+ reality or entertainment shows on demand.

The EE TV devices that will lose support for the Discovery+ app are:

• 4K Recordable TV Box
• TV Box
• Recordable TV Box

The newer devices, TV Box Pro, TV Box Mini, and the custom Apple TV 4K EE Box will continue working as normal.

Following the changes, your subscription won’t be cancelled, and you can still watch Discovery+ and TNT Sports on other devices.

If your TV box is affected, then you will need to upgrade, or find an alternative means of watching.

To upgrade to a newer model, all you need to do is call EE.

The device will typically be sent to you for free, however, you will usually need to begin a new 24-month contract to get the upgrade.

However, it is important to note that any recordings on your older device will not be switched over to the new device, so you should make sure to watch them all before making the switch.

If you don’t want to upgrade, you can still watch Discovery+ on your Smart TVs, tablets and laptops and smartphones.

If you’ve got a Smart TV, you can watch TNT sports and Discovery+ using that, and use your EE TV box for everything else.

Alternatively, you could switch to another TV subscription service instead.

EE TV (formerly BT TV) is a service available to BT and EE broadband customers.

It offers various packages ranging from a £20 a month entertainment package to an £80 a month Full Works plan.

Grimsby Town vs Manchester United

MANCHESTER UNITED boss Ruben Amorim admitted he could not guarantee Rasmus Hojlund’s Old Trafford future – despite the Dane’s dazzling display in the Windy City.

Hojlund opened the scoring in the 4-1 trouncing of Bournemouth before creating space for the third – which he claimed but was not awarded – when Amad Diallo fired through a crowd and into the net.

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The £72million man’s goal came as United stepped up their attempts to land RB Leipzig’s Slovenian ace Benjamin Sesko as their new first-choice No9.

And while he was full of praise for Hojlund’s contribution, Old Trafford chief Amorim conceded: “I am really happy with Rasmus, but I don’t know what is going to happen until the end of the market.

“The important thing is that the strikers that are here are working really well, are improving, are helping the team and that is the most important thing.”

Amorim added: “People focus on the goals and we have suffered a lot because of the lack of goals.

“But it’s not just the goals with Rasmus. It’s also about the way he connects the play.

“Every time we have to clear the ball, we are doing so under pressure.

“His ability to hold the defender off and to connect with the support is helping us a lot to play better.

“And we are playing better because he is playing better.”

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United were far too good for the sub-par Cherries, with the excellent Patrick Dorgu storming through to claim the second and teenage substitute Ethan Williams netting the fourth with his first touch.

Bournemouth’s reply was a late own goal by Matthijs de Ligt, who had replaced Harry Maguire at half-time, but Amorim allayed concerns about the England centre-back.

He explained: “He had an issue during the holidays, during training.

“Harry’s come a little bit late, so we have to be careful with him. It’s just a little bit of fatigue with the training.

“We are trying to control everything and saving all the players to give them the exact number of minutes they need.”

Fatigue was also the reason that Brazilian Matheus Cunha was not involved at Soldier Field, but a delighted Amorim said: “It was a good game.

“We played with intensity. We were aggressive and that is something that we needed to improve on from last season.

“Overall, we had better possessions compared to the last game, so they are listening.

“Of course, scoring first in the beginning of the game can change the confidence of the team. It was a good test, a good day.

“It was just a pre-season game. But if you look at us, at the same players from last year, it looks like a different team and that is a good sign.”

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