United Kingdom

Arsenal record first win at Liverpool in 14 ttempts thanks to Kai Havertz goal

Arsenal went three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the English Premier League after a statement 1-0 win at Liverpool.

The Gunners had not won at Anfield since September 2012, when current coach Mikel Arteta captained the away side to a 2-0 victory, and had gone winless in their past 13 visits.

However, Kai Havertz turned home a low cross from Declan Rice after the home side were caught trying to play out from the back to silence the Kop on 16 minutes. The visitors withstood wave after wave of pressure from Andoni Iraola’s side thereafter.

Liverpool responded strongly with Florian Wirtz curling a free kick against the bar and Alexis Mac Allister heading a good chance over.

Arsenal weathered the storm, though, and defended superbly to keep Liverpool largely at arm’s length after the break, denying the home side a shot on target for the second meeting in succession.

Arteta’s side replaces Manchester City at the top with 24 points from nine games, with City on 21 after losing at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Liverpool’s second league defeat of the season left them nine points behind Arsenal in fifth place.

Manchester United one place outside EPL bottom three as Coventry City climb with 3-1 win against Sunderland.

Joint record Premier League winners Manchester United were plunged to the brink of the relegation zone by their defeat at Chelsea followed by Coventry City’s win against Sunderland.

Ten-man United were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the early kickoff in the English top flight, leaving them on their first nine-match winless run since 1986. The Red Devils have already made their worst start to a league season in 40 years.

Despite an improved display in the first-half, in which recalled captain Bruno Fernandes spurned one of many key chances, United were beaten by a brilliant solo goal by Morgan Rogers and a penalty converted by Cole Palmer.

Lisandro Martinez was shown a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Wesley Fofana in an aerial duel from a corner.

United’s day was about to get worse.

Coventry City’s 3-1 home win against Sunderland saw them leapfrog the fallen giants, leaving United just one point and one place outside the relegation zone.

There’s a chance the 20-time English champions, who have won only once in nine league games, could be in the bottom three by the end of Matchweek 9 – a desperate situation for a club widely regarded as the biggest in the country.

Man United’s only two victories from 13 matches in all competitions this season were against promoted Ipswich in the Premier League and tournament newcomer Sabah in the Champions League.

United’s next match is at home to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday with yet more doubts on whether Carrick will still be in charge.

“I think the mentality was there right from the first minute,” United forward Bryan Mbeumo said. “We still trust everyone.

“Maybe today we just missed some chances. We could have been up early in the game, but that’s a positive to take out of this game.”

Only Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Brentford ensured United did not drop into the bottom three.

The pressure regardless is piling onto Manchester United manager Michael Carrick, who is only in his first full season in charge.

The former midfielder remains in defiant mood.

“The two halves of football couldn’t probably be further apart,” said Carrick, who added he expects to be in charge for Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Roma.

“We looked in a good place going into half-time and then found a way of unravelling it second half.”

A point for Crystal Palace in the last Premier League game of the day at Tottenham will see United fall into the bottom three.

Michael Carrick’s stay of execution as Manchester United boss may not last long after his team imploded in a 2-0 Premier League loss at Chelsea.

The visitors wasted a string of chances to take the lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday before Morgan Rogers waltzed through the heart of the United defence to open the scoring on 50 minutes.

Lisandro Martinez then ruined any chance of a revival from Carrick’s men with two quickfire yellow cards, the second of which also conceded a penalty converted by Cole Palmer.

Winless in nine games, their defeat leaves the 20-time English champions still just one point above the relegation zone and in danger of ending the weekend in the bottom three.

Many expected Carrick to be axed following last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

The former United midfielder was instead given the chance to turn his side’s fortunes around and will lament a lack of ruthlessness during the first half.

Carrick recalled captain Bruno Fernandes after he was left out last weekend in the wake of criticising his manager’s tactics during the 4-1 thrashing at Como in the Champions League.

Fernandes should have marked his return with the opener when he blazed over from Bryan Mbeumo’s inviting cross.

The roles were reversed when Mbeumo could not stretch to meet Fernandes’s delivery at the back post before Amad Diallo was twice denied by Chelsea’s stand-in goalkeeper Mike Penders.

United did finally get the ball in the net when Matheus Cunha turned in Harry Maguire’s header from a corner, but the Brazilian had strayed just offside.

Carrick could not hide his frustration in a half-time interview with broadcasters and his mood soured further with a disastrous start to the second period.

Chelsea’s Rogers credits Carrick for revitalising his career during a spell together at Middlesbrough, but dealt a potentially decisive blow to his former boss.

The England international collected the ball inside the centre circle but was allowed to drive directly towards the United goal before dinking the ball over Senne Lammens.

Martinez also spoke out publicly in recent weeks to criticise United’s lack of spending in the transfer market to bolster Carrick’s squad.

But on this season’s evidence, Martinez is one of those most in need of replacing.

The Argentine international could not cope with Rogers’s strength moments later as he was penalised for hauling back the Chelsea forward.

From the resulting free-kick, Martinez then needlessly crashed into Wesley Fofana with a raised forearm.

After a VAR review, referee Peter Banks awarded a penalty and showed Martinez a second yellow card.

Lammens got hands to Palmer’s spot-kick but still allowed the ball to trickle into the bottom corner.

On a rare start since Xabi Alonso took charge of the Blues, Estevao had a third goal disallowed for offside when he crashed a pass from Palmer into the top corner.

Cries of “sacked in the morning” rained down from the Chelsea fans as their side toyed with United for the final quarter without adding to their lead.

Another big decision awaits the United hierarchy before the massive Champions League clash at home to Roma on Tuesday.

Beaten in two of their three European games so far, United face both the embarrassment and financial shock of an early exit should they fall to another defeat against the Italians at Old Trafford.

The prime minister has ruled out financial reparations despite longstanding Caribbean demands ahead of Commonwealth leaders’ summit.

Britain’s prime minister has opened the door to a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, while ruling out financial reparations.

Andy Burnham set out his position in a Guardian article on Friday, ahead of a Commonwealth leaders’ summit  in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday.

The Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, mostly former British colonies, whose Caribbean members have long pressed Britain to acknowledge slavery’s legacy and offer redress.

Burnham offered structured talks with countries and campaign groups affected by slavery, including discussions on whether Britain should issue an official state apology.

“Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process and I am open to them,” Burnham wrote.

He expressed “sorrow and regret” for the suffering of millions of enslaved people, but rejected calls for financial compensation.

“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” he said.

The stance maintains the position of previous British governments, despite his willingness to discuss an apology.

Instead, he proposed an international effort to ease the debt burden on poorer nations by extending repayment periods and cutting interest rates.

Burnham also said that former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will assist with the initiative, adding that more than 40 percent of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries spend more on debt interest than on healthcare.

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley welcomed the opening for talks but reiterated her government’s position on reparations.

In a statement reported by the Guardian on Saturday, she said cooperation could also cover healthcare, education, development and fairer borrowing terms.

Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who is hosting the summit, welcomed the debt initiative and promises of cooperation on renewable energy.

CARICOM, the regional bloc of Caribbean countries, has drawn up a 10-point plan for reparations.

Its demands go beyond payments to include an apology, support for health and education, as well as measures to address the economic and social damage left by slavery.

The dispute surfaced at the last Commonwealth summit in Samoa in 2024, when leaders called for discussions about reparations, despite opposition from then Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

King Charles III will also attend the summit. However, Buckingham Palace has said he will not issue a formal apology for slavery during his trip, despite calls from countries in the region.

Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed British actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek” and Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, has died. He was 86.

Stewart died on Wednesday in Los Angeles following “a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said in a statement on Thursday.

Although best known for his film and television roles, Stewart spent much of his career onstage, performing Shakespeare and other classics.

His career included performances as Claudius and Macbeth, a one-man adaptation of “A Christmas Carol”, and West End and Broadway productions of Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” alongside longtime friend Ian McKellen.

Stewart earned some of the best reviews of his career for his 2007 portrayal of Macbeth, including his only Tony Award nomination. The Times of London described his Macbeth performance as “an enthralling creation of frailty, appetite, egotism and grim humour”.

“Nearly 50 years I’ve waited,” Stewart told the Associated Press news agency in 2008. “I learned it when I was 14. I memorized all the soliloquies just because I thought they were great. And they stuck, so I didn’t have to learn those bits of the play, which is a blessing, because learning lines has now become the one curse of this job.”

From working-class Yorkshire to Shakespeare

Raised in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, a working-class corner of northern England, the future 24th-century commander of a starship grew up without a bathroom in his house.

He joined an amateur drama group at 12 and, as a teenager, memorised Shakespeare for fun. A scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School helped launch his acting career.

Stewart, who developed alopecia at a young age, had been bald since he was 19.

His childhood was also marked by domestic violence. His father, a former regimental sergeant major in the British Army, was prone to outbursts of “repeated violence against my mother,” as Stewart wrote in a newspaper piece. “Violence is always a choice a man makes and he alone is responsible for it.”

Stewart later became a patron of Refuge, a charity supporting survivors of domestic abuse.

From Shakespeare to Captain Picard

Stewart spent 14 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing everyone from Mark Antony and Henry IV to Shylock and Oberon.

“People who were not in the company would say to me, ‘Give it a break. Why don’t you go somewhere else?’ And I would say, ‘To do what?’” he told the AP. “Telly?”

He eventually left and appeared in the 1981 film “Excalibur”. In 1987, shortly after performing in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, he was offered a role in a science fiction series.

“I found myself in Hollywood shooting a syndicated science fiction series, which I was assured would fail,” he said.

But “Star Trek: The Next Generation” ran for seven seasons and 178 episodes. Stewart became known worldwide as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, whose command, “Make it so”, became one of the show’s best-known lines.

Stewart also played Professor Charles Xavier, the leader of the X-Men, beginning with the 2000 film “X-Men”. He returned to the role in several sequels, including 2017’s “Logan”, alongside Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

Stewart died just days after Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original “Star Trek” series, which aired from 1966 to 1969.

Queen Elizabeth II knighted Stewart in June 2010. He also served as an ambassador for the International Rescue Committee.

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville believes root of team’s problems is Glazer family, urges them to sell-up.

Gary Neville says managers sometimes need to be dismissed “for their own good” as Manchester United persist with under-pressure boss Michael Carrick.

Carrick’s future at Old Trafford has been the subject of intense speculation after a miserable run of eight games without a win.

Sunday’s 3-0 humbling at home to Bournemouth left the English giants one point above the Premier League relegation zone.

United have won just two of 12 matches in all competitions this season, with a return of seven points from eight league games representing their worst start to a league season in 40 years.

But Carrick, 45, and a former United and England midfielder, remains in charge and is expected to give a pre-match news conference later on Thursday ahead of the team’s league match away to Chelsea on Saturday.

“I reckon what’s happened in the 24 hours after Bournemouth is that [the United hierarchy] literally debated  [Carrick’s future] back and forth,” former Manchester United captain Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast.

“I don’t know this, but they’ve debated it to the point where they’ve got themselves into a muddle, and thought, ‘we’ll just stay with him’.”

“I think staying with him is a result of the lack of planning, the lack of probably available options, the lack of decision-making around the two people that probably are available. That’s when you’re really struggling.”

Neville, a former United teammate of Carrick, added: “Sometimes a manager needs sacking for their own good. I needed sacking at Valencia. I was happy that they put me out of my misery.”

‘Enough is enough’

Both Eddie Howe, previously in charge of Newcastle, and former Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann have been touted as possible replacements for Carrick at Old Trafford.

Carrick, however, appears to have the backing of the United faithful, being warmly applauded by fans as he made his way down the tunnel following the defeat by Bournemouth.

Moments later a chorus of boos erupted as the players left the pitch, as supporters made clear where they think the blame lies for United’s current malaise.

Carrick was handed a two-year deal in May after inspiring an impressive revival following the team’s struggles under Ruben Amorim — United secured third place in the Premier League and a return to the Champions League.

The drastic decline this season is an all-too-familiar story for United supporters, who last witnessed a Premier League title triumph 13 years ago under Alex Ferguson.

Neville believes the root of United’s woes is majority owners the Glazer family, saying “enough is enough” as he urged them to sell up.

The Glazers took control of the club in a controversial takeover in 2005. They remain majority owners after selling a minority stake to British billionaire businessman Jim Ratcliffe in 2024.

Neville, a longstanding critic, reiterated his call for the United States-based family to sell.

“There’s 1.2 billion pounds [$1.6 billion] of debt in that football club, they’re hamstrung in some ways,” said Neville, adding: “You’ve got a failure of 13, 14 years on the football side, you’ve subbed it out to somebody else [Ratcliffe] which is ridiculous, and not took responsibility … Enough is enough, they have to sell the whole club.”

“The fans have had enough. They have to go now.”

After a 1-1 draw in normal time, Liverpool win 6-5 to edge a narrow win after penalties in last-16 match at Liverpool.

Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 in a dramatic penalty shootout to reach the English League Cup quarterfinals.

In a clash between childhood friends Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso, it was the Liverpool manager who took the bragging rights in the last-16 tie at Anfield on Wednesday.

A 1-1 draw in normal time set the stage for the shoot-out as Chelsea’s Morgan Rogers netted from the spot, only for Cody Gakpo to equalise with a penalty of his own just before half-time.

Chelsea’s Valentin Barco hit the post in the shootout before Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas wasted a chance to win it when he blazed over.

Ryan Gravenberch was denied by Chelsea keeper Mike Penders, but Giorgi Mamardashvili saved Emmanuel Emegha’s kick to keep Liverpool alive.

After Joe Gomez scored for Liverpool, Blues defender Wesley Fofana miscued into the Kop as the hosts advanced.

It was former Liverpool midfielder Alonso’s third defeat in his three visits to Anfield as a manager, following losses with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 and Real Madrid in 2025.

In their debut campaigns at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot both reached the League Cup final, and Iraola is on course to follow in their footsteps with the 10-time winners of the competition.

“We are really happy. Three wins at home in a row is very important. We were struggling at home in the league but now we go against Arsenal on Sunday,” said Iraola, who will face his former club Bournemouth in the last eight.

Alonso added: “Every time you reach the penalties, someone will feel it is harsh to go out of the competition.

“We were showing a good level and this is what it takes to come to these stadiums. The Premier League is the main focus.”

Alonso made just four changes to the Chelsea side that lost 2-0 at home to Tottenham on Saturday, while Iraola made seven changes from Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Brighton on Sunday.

Rogers put Chelsea in front with a 40th-minute penalty after Gravenberch clattered into Moises Caicedo.

But Liverpool were level three minutes later with a penalty of their own as Gakpo converted from the spot following Fofana’s handball.

One demerit point added to the Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf’s disciplinary record for conduct during ODI against England.

Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf has been reprimanded and fined 20 percent of his match fee for “displaying conduct contrary to the spirit of the game” against England, while the visitors were fined for a slow over-rate, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.

Rauf breached Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during Sunday’s One-Day International (ODI) tri-series match against England, which Pakistan unexpectedly won by one wicket thanks to batting heroics by Shadab Khan.

The right-arm fast bowler breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “displaying conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”, according to the ICC.

One demerit point was also added to his disciplinary record, bringing the total to five, since this was his third offence within 24 months.

The incident occurred at the end of the 46th over of Pakistan’s innings, where Rauf appealed for a wide at the non-striker’s end before arguing with England all-rounder Will Jacks.

Per the ICC, Rauf raised his bat and continued the exchange with Jacks despite a warning from umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid. He then brushed past the umpire while walking towards Jacks.

Separately, England were fined 15 percent of their match fee for being three overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into account.

Players are fined 5 percent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl within the allowed time, according to Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

Rauf and England captain Harry Brook admitted their respective offences and accepted the sanctions proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. As a result, no formal hearings were required.

The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Rashid Riaz and Sharfuddoula, third umpire Wayne Knights and fourth umpire Nassir Hussain.

Pakistan are through to the two-series final, while England take on Sri Lanka on Thursday for a shot at redemption and a chance at making the final after being thrashed by the Lions last week.

British Chancellor John Healey will set out the country’s autumn budget, the government’s tax and spending plans, the first under Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s premiership amid high inflation and government spending levels.

While the budget will be announced in parliament on Wednesday at 12.30 GMT, speculation about what it will lay out has ranged from a series of tax announcements to commitments to defence spending.

But the country continues to deal with a rising cost-of-living crisis and energy bills are expected to see their biggest rise in four years in January due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

As total United Kingdom borrowing broke through the 3 trillion pounds ($3.99 trillion) barrier for the first time in September, the country is already spending 100 billion pounds ($133bn) each year just on servicing that debt.

Despite that challenge, the chancellor has said the budget will move “money and power out of Westminster and into every postcode around Britain”.

In a speech last month, Healey said that he and Burnham were in “lockstep” in meeting fiscal rules, “to balancing the books, with a buffer to protect against uncertainty, to control borrowing to bear down on inflation, and reducing long-term pressures on our public finances”.

Following the two budgets from former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, which included big tax and spending increases, Healey’s budget is expected to take a more “steady as she goes” line, which some say is the wrong approach.

Here’s how he will be expected to achieve that.

Defence spending

On Monday, Burnham said Healey would set out a plan to fully fund the government’s defence plans and commitments, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain that his government’s first challenge was financing the already announced defence investment plan.

Announced in June, the plan is backed by 298 billion pounds ($396bn) of investment and will transform the armed forces as the country moves to “warfighting readiness” and stepping up “European security”, according to a government policy paper.

But Burnham said it was “crucial that we have a funded plan that we can then implement, and we will set out more details on Wednesday as to how we’ve done that”.

He added that NATO commitments of spending 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence spending by 2030 and 3.5 percent by 2035 are included in the pathway, explaining that national security issues were “at the top of the priority list”.

As it stands, Britain spends about 2.6 percent of its GDP on defence.

The Guardian reported that on defence spending, Healey aims to close a 4.7-billion-pound ($6.2bn) funding gap in the government’s plan inherited from the previous Labour Party leader, with cuts to other departmental budgets likely to fund it.

Inflation

Government borrowing and inflation continue to rise, which is a potential spanner in the works for proposed spending.

Last week, UK inflation and government borrowing both hit their highest levels in a year.

According to the Office for National Statistics, borrowing was nearly 25 billion pounds ($33bn) last month alone, “a little higher than a year earlier, as spending, including higher debt interest costs, increased more than government income, partly reflecting the impacts of inflation”.

ONS added that in the financial year to September 2026, borrowing remained below the same period last year, but it was higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast.

However, debt at the end of last month exceeded 3 trillion pounds ($3.99 trillion), much of it due to the Iran war and the fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as the government borrowed more than expected.

According to Jasper Kanter, a professorial research fellow in ecological economics at Aberystwyth Business School, for the government to grow the economy without raising inflation levels, there needs to be an understanding of what kind of economy is created.

“The strongest policies improve prosperity, resilience and sustainability at the same time,” Kanter said.

“Growth is less likely to be inflationary when it comes from increasing the economy’s productive capacity rather than simply boosting spending. Measures that improve skills, reduce energy dependence, strengthen local economies and regenerate ecosystems are likely to deliver more lasting benefits than short-term stimulus,” he added.

Moreover, Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said in a media release ahead of the budget that Healey “faces a forecast in which borrowing is still expected to fall in coming years, and the fiscal rules are still being met”.

“Despite that, a ‘steady-as-she-goes’ budget is not an option available to the chancellor. Choosing to stay the course with the inherited tax and spending plans would mean allowing inflation to blow departments’ spending plans off course,” Miller said.

Tax on banks, online sellers

The budget is also expected to reveal new taxes on banks and online marketplaces such as Amazon, Temu and eBay, as well as a funding boost for mayoralties and local authorities.

The biggest four banks collectively made about profits of 15 billion pounds ($19.9bn) in the first six months of this year. Trade unions are calling for higher taxes on those earnings, the BBC has reported.

According to the BBC, the Treasury is leaning towards changing a 2023 surcharge rate on banks, which would raise about 2 billion pounds ($2.6bn).

On marketplaces such as Amazon, Healey is reportedly looking to crack down on foreign sellers who avoid paying VAT – a UK sales tax – which is expected to raise as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.3bn) and help fund business rate cuts for high street shops, The Times reported.

Paying for social care and benefits

According to The Guardian newspaper, Healey is expected to allocate about 1.42 trillion pounds ($1.8 trillion) this year for day-to-day spending and public investment, with about 100 billion pounds ($132.8bn) going on debt interest.

Kanter, of Aberystwyth Business School, told Al Jazeera that he expects “targeted support rather than large-scale tax cuts or rises” in the budget announcement.

“The government appears keen to signal empathy with the pressures many people are facing. Addressing the harsh cliff edge in carer’s allowance and expanding parental pay are good examples of this,” he said.

Some of the budget’s contents have already been announced, including ending the carers’ allowance limit and removing tariffs on a range of food items, including chocolate and beans, to make them cheaper for shoppers.

Pensioners are also expected to be shielded from income tax through the introduction of a new personal allowance, while Healey is expected to add another 1 billion pounds ($1.3bn) to the 39 billion pounds ($51.8bn) planned for social and affordable housing in England over the next decade.

“Pensioners will benefit from another substantial increase in the state pension, while low-paid workers will benefit from increases in the minimum wage. For most households, the bigger determinants of living standards will remain wages, inflation and energy costs rather than any new tax measures announced in the budget,” Kanter explained.

Last month, Burnham announced a new national care service to provide free personal care for elderly people. As costs of care for the elderly have soared in the UK, this was a major issue from the outset of Burnham’s premiership.

He said the plan would be introduced in phases and would be fully funded from public spending and savings from scrapping the state pension triple lock – an annual increase in state pension that goes up with inflation, wages or a fixed rate of 2.5 percent, whichever is highest.

A report on how this will be implemented is due in summer 2027.

Energy bills

Amid high gas and oil prices as a result of the US-Israeli war with Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, energy prices worldwide have increased, with Brent crude futures at $115.90 a barrel on Wednesday.

In the UK, energy prices are predicted to reach nearly 2,000 pounds ($2,655) a year for households in January after energy consultancy Cornwall Insight projected in its latest forecast last month that the government’s cap on energy prices is expected to increase by 16 percent.

On energy bills, reports suggest the chancellor is expected to announce help for households in the budget by scrapping standing charges for energy supply, among other things.

The United Kingdom’s King Charles lll is travelling to the Bahamas on Tuesday, where he will begin a nine-day tour of the Caribbean.

The tour will take him to the Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda, where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from November 1-4.

This comes as demands for reparations over Britain’s notorious role in the slave trade grow louder, and as the monarchy faces questions about its future in the region.

So what is the significance of this tour? And what does the Caribbean want?

Here’s what we know.

What’s on the itinerary?

King Charles will visit three countries in nine days.

His tour begins on Tuesday with the archipelagic country of the Bahamas, where he will be staying for three days.

Then he will make his way to Guyana, a former British colony that had more than 100,000 slaves when the trade was abolished in 1807.

After two days in Guyana, where he is expected to meet the president and elected leaders of Amerindian villages, he will head to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The meeting, from November 1-4, is expected to include discussions about the environment and trade and development, although the question of British reparations for slavery is also likely to feature.

What do the countries King Charles is visiting want?

Government officials in the Bahamas and in Antigua and Barbuda – both of which are part of the British Commonwealth with King Charles as their ultimate head of state – have signalled that they want to become republics. Guyana gained independence from the UK in 1966, and has a president as its head of state.

Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said in an interview with ITV News that while Charles “rightfully” recognised slavery as the “darkest days in human history” during a visit to Barbados in 2021 when he was still the prince of Wales, an apology should be his next step.

“You exploited the region. You destroyed lives. You created underdevelopment,” Ali said, in a reference to the lingering legacy of the British Empire and the slave trade.

In 2023, a Lord Ashcroft Poll revealed that 51 percent of surveyed respondents in the Bahamas wanted to become a republic, while 27 percent preferred to retain the British monarchy as head of state.

Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, was critical of the king ahead of his arrival. “Why do we still have a king? What does this person really represent to us? Why is he coming and how will that benefit us?” she asked.

What do other countries in the Caribbean say about slavery?

Jamaica, which is not on the itinerary for this trip by King Charles, made its stance clear in September, when it filed a $10bn slavery reparations petition in London, addressing it to the king.

That was the first time a British Commonwealth state has taken legal action pursuing “the cause of reparatory justice”, as the Jamaican delegation called it.

The petition is due to be heard by a UK privy council in March next year. The UK has, so far, refused to formally apologise or pay reparations for slavery.

Also in September, Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Secretary-General Carla Barnett said reparations are “fundamentally about justice”.

“It is about recognition, accountability and transformation, and about building a just and equitable future for the descendants of those who, as the chattel of colonial owners, endured untold suffering, loss of life and freedom,” she said.

The transatlantic slave trade was recently declared the “gravest crime against humanity” in a United Nations resolution in March this year.

The last time a British royal visited Jamaica was when Prince William and Kate Middleton, then the duke and duchess of Cambridge, toured the island in 2022 during their Caribbean Platinum Jubilee tour.

The more memorable moment of the trip was when the couple was pictured shaking hands with Jamaican children with a fence separating them, which many criticised for being “tone-deaf”.

What’s likely to happen at the Commonwealth meeting?

The meeting in Antigua and Barbuda is expected to cover climate resilience as well as trade and development.

Leaders and representatives of 56 Commonwealth countries will be attending. Many want an apology for slavery from the king, but Buckingham Palace recently announced that will not be happening.

“The visit programme will…not shy away from ‘the darkest days of our past’, as his majesty has described them, but – in keeping with the wishes of our host nations – ‌it ⁠will principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country,” a palace spokesperson said in a statement.

The palace added that it is “important” to acknowledge the “creative” ways that Charles has tried to right “enduring inequalities”.

The chair of the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations, Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, said the royal family and the UK government had failed to recognise the demands of those wanting reparations.

“I think it would be wrong to think that we can continue with platitudes. You’ve got ‘atrocity’, ‘deep regret’, ‘sorrow’, and now they’re going to say ‘darkest days’,” she said. “I think the king needs to realise that people wouldn’t keep raising it if what he was doing was anywhere near enough.

“You can tell that the Commonwealth means something to the monarchy, and I’m sure he would not want to be the monarch under which it crumbles.”

London, United Kingdom – “It’s magical,” says biology teacher Muneera Alfadhel from under her umbrella.

In fact, it is a characteristically rainy, grey day in London, but the weather is doing nothing to dampen her mood. She is among the first to walk down the middle of the iconic Oxford Street following its pedestrianisation.

For generations, shoppers have bustled along Oxford Street next to bikes, cars, black cabs and red double-decker buses. But on Monday, from Great Portland Street to Orchard Street, the road is now a pedestrian-only zone.

On Monday morning, by force of habit, most pedestrians are still sticking to the pavement. Mark Arbouine, a forensic scientist out for a stroll, is one of the few breaking ranks: “I saw there was no traffic today, so I thought, why not walk in the middle of the street and take advantage of it? I just think it’s great for the environment, great for shopping. It’s just so much easier to move around the street.”

This tiny strip of real estate is big business: about 1 percent of the UK’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is generated along this 1km (0.6 miles) stretch of street. But despite its outsized importance, Oxford Street has in recent decades been hit by lower consumer spending, as well as falling rents and footfall, which is now just 57 percent of what it was in 2006, according to New West End Company, a retail trade body.

The Greater London Authority, also known as City Hall, believes pedestrianisation could, therefore, offer a lifeline.

City Hall analysis suggests the partial pedestrianisation of Oxford Street could generate more than $109m per year and support an additional 700 jobs. Following a weekend trial in October 2025, two-thirds of businesses in the area said they had higher or similar sales figures during the pedestrianisation.

This is the first step in a multi-phase regeneration project to add two public squares, 50 trees and hundreds of public seating.

Barbara Stoll, a leading campaigner on the benefits of greener, more walkable cities, was smiling as she observed the street. The air already feels cleaner, she noted.

“It’s amazing coming here this morning. Walking down the street, it was already so uplifting that the noise is considerably lower,” she said. “People are excited. I saw people coming up from the tube and looking around. Seeing that, it’s almost like children when it’s Christmas Day.

“So I think it’s absolutely wonderful, and so needed for London.”

Residents ‘haven’t really been listened to’

On Saturday, ahead of the change, not all shoppers were convinced. A French tourist said he would avoid Oxford Street altogether if buses and cabs were no longer allowed through.

“People with disabilities who cannot walk a lot – that would be really helpful if the buses move on and they don’t discontinue [them],” a shopper told Al Jazeera.

“It would be good. Sometimes you’re tired; sometimes it’s raining.”

The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street has been years in the making, and not without controversy.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan first tried it in 2017, following a manifesto pledge. But the plan fell apart in 2018, when Westminster Council – the local government authority responsible for Oxford Street at the time – withdrew its backing, saying residents did not support it.

Following a public consultation, Khan created the Oxford Street Development Corporation, taking responsibility for the street away from local officials and transferring it to the Greater London Authority and Transport for London.

With this second, successful attempt at pedestrianisation, doubts from local authorities have not gone away.

Residents are not being listened to, said Councillor Tim Barnes, the deputy leader and cabinet member for growth and planning for the City of Westminster.

“There has been a communication process with residents, but it’s been pretty much one way. Mostly, they are being told what’s going to happen to them and how it’s going to happen; what the format of the process is going to be in future. But realistically, those who know the street best haven’t really been listened to.”

He believes the economic benefits are overstated and do not consider the impact of displacing bus routes from a major road to the surrounding, smaller streets. That fear is shared by resident Nerma Cridge, who said London’s West End will become “completely unliveable, too crowded and too noisy at night”.

“We think all of this should be done in a much more productive relationship with communities,” she told Al Jazeera over the phone.

‘People just take back the space’

Concerns over the change will fade once residents see the real-world results in the coming months, Stoll believes.

“Examples from across Europe and the world, where such projects have already happened, prove that this only makes life better overall for local residents,” she said.

“Retail gets a boost. More people linger, more people come to the street, more people spend money in the shops, and even local shop vacancies reduce. The local air pollution significantly reduces, and as activity increases, people just take back the space.”

The Oxford Street Development Corporation will be testing and reviewing the results of the pedestrianisation in the coming months, and reviewing its findings early next year. Transitioning the rest of Oxford Street into a permanent, traffic-free public space is expected to go ahead by the end of next year.

Ahead of mayoral elections in 2028, the pedestrianisation could be one of the last major initiatives that Sadiq Khan signs off. A landmark project that will also become his legacy.

Follow updates from the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony as the world’s best male and female footballers are crowned.

Pakistan had all but lost hope of winning their One-Day International (ODI) cricket match against England when all-rounder Shadab Khan walked onto the pitch to bat and stormed off it with an unlikely come-from-behind win in the bag, in front of a raucous home crowd in Lahore.

The hosts were reduced to 154-9 in the chase of 242 on Sunday, and England were in sight of their first win of the tri-nation series when Shadab and fast bowler Haris Rauf came together for the last-wicket partnership.

From there on, Shadab put on a run-chase masterclass, hitting an unbeaten century to give Pakistan a one-wicket victory and book a spot in the series final.

The 28-year-old launched a surprise counterattack on England, ending up with 113 not out off 96 balls alongside Rauf (7 not out off 19). Shadab and Rauf’s partnership was the highest last-wicket stand in a successful run chase in ODI history.

Earlier in England’s innings, Ben Duckett was the lone batting saviour, scoring 105 off 111 for his fifth ODI century. Once Arafat Minhas dismissed him, England looked hopeless as Shaheen Afridi’s impressive bowling cleaned up their batting lineup.

He took his fourth wicket (4-46) to remove Henry Crocombe. England’s last-wicket pair added 39 to post a below-par total of 241 all out from 46.4 overs.

England then decimated Pakistan’s top order as Jamie Overton (3-43) and Liam Dawson (2-19) removed Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam and Saad Baig cheaply.

The hosts ultimately slumped to 154-9, having been 74-3. By this point, England had all but secured victory as the home crowd began leaving Gaddafi Stadium after the ninth wicket fell.

Shadab stepped up to flip the script and produce the batting performance of a lifetime when he prised victory away from England, particularly after his leg-before-wicket dismissal was overturned on review.

“I dedicate this win to the two most wonderful women in my life: my mother & my wife,” Shadab wrote on social media following the victory.

“Special mention for [Haris Rauf], we win only as a team and he showed that today in the partnership. Thank you to my entire team.”

‘Won it for Pakistan out of nowhere’

The victory went some way towards restoring faith among Pakistani cricket fans, who have endured months of dismal performances at global tournaments, as well as bilateral series.

It was “an innings to remember”, as former Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Hafeez put it, while teammate Imad Wasim praised Shadab for handling the extreme pressure.

“That was a sensational innings by Shadab Khan,” Sri Lanka’s veteran cricketer Angelo Mathews wrote on X. “Won it for Pakistan out of nowhere.”

Barbadian wicketkeeper-batsman Shai Hope called the match “absolute cinema” while former West Indies cricketer Daren Sammy termed it “another thriller”, referring to Sri Lanka’s thrashing of England on Thursday when they recorded the second-highest successful run chase in ODI history.

Praise and memes kept pouring in on social media as one user joked about making a documentary of the game, while others reiterated the need for more trilateral series in ODI format.

Speaking after the match, Pakistan’s captain Afridi said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance, especially the way Shadab and Haris finished the game.

“We thought we had a lot of variation in the team, so that’s why we brought Shadab in,” the fast bowler said.

“We need top-order runs; we’re struggling. I hope in the next few games we’ll bring that energy.

“I think tonight we’ll be celebrating; tomorrow back to normal.”

‘Incredible run chase’

English cricket commentator Nasser Hussain praised Pakistan’s “incredible run chase” as he credited Shadab’s change of intent in the heat of the moment.

“Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf; that partnership, you had to be really switched on and smart how you played it,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.

“The moment they changed intent, the moment Shadab said ‘right we’ve gone one way, it’s gone nowhere, we’re going to play our shots’, there’s a lesson to be learnt,” Hussain said, referring to the previous game when England were put under pressure.

“Brilliant change of intent from Shadab Khan; that game had gone from them. Took one individual backed up by Haris Rauf to bring it back.”

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf echoed a similar sentiment.

“Superb display of positive intent! Fearless, aggressive and full of belief. Take a bow,” he wrote on X.

Speaking alongside Hussain, retired English cricketer Chris Woakes agreed on Shadab’s spectacular performance: “A hundred not out at number eight is pretty special!”

Storms Boelo and Austen kill a man in Scotland and cut power to thousands of homes in the UK, France and Germany.

A pair of storms battering northern Europe have killed one man, cut power to more than 150,000 homes, and disrupted flights and phone networks.

More than 82,000 homes in the United Kingdom, nearly 60,000 in France, and at least 10,000 in Germany had no electricity on Sunday after storms Boelo and Austen passed through the region within 24 hours, according to authorities in the countries.

A falling tree killed a man, 60, in southwestern Scotland on Sunday, while another falling tree injured two women in central Scotland, the Press Association reported.

Winds of up to 135 km/h (84 mph) were recorded in the Argyll and Bute regions of western Scotland. Trees and power cables brought down by the storm blocked roads and rail lines across Scotland and northern England.

In Brighton, on England’s southern coast, Austen blew away an unused pier on Friday.

Authorities have warned of flood risk in regions of both Scotland and England.

The Met Office, the UK’s national forecaster, warned that Boelo would bring a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves and said people should stay indoors as much as possible.

From France to Germany

Across the English Channel, Europe battled its first big storm of the autumn, with strong winds inflicting widespread power cuts.

French energy company Enedis said that at Austen’s peak on Saturday, some 288,000 homes had no electricity. Some 59,000 remained without power at midday Sunday, mainly in Normandy and Brittany.

A marathon runner in the midst of a race in northern France was lightly injured by a tree knocked over in strong winds.

In Germany, Austen cut power to 10,000 homes in and around the southwestern town of Freiburg-Breisgau on Sunday. The town’s main hospital said it had to limit service to emergency cases because of the blackout, which also cut the mobile phone network.

German police said two people were seriously hurt on Saturday by scaffolding blown away by Austen’s strong winds at a market in the town of Nastatten.

The storms also hit the Netherlands and Belgium, where falling trees injured four people in Brussels on Saturday.

In the Netherlands, north of the island of Schiermonnikoog, three crew members on board a freight ship were injured in the storms, according to the country’s coastguard. Two of them were winched off and taken by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland.

The storms caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled or diverted across northern Europe, including at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of the continent’s busiest hubs.

Experts have warned of more extreme weather events due to climate change.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick left the Old Trafford pitch on Sunday to the sound of his name being sung by the adoring home support, but he may never lead the team onto the field again.

His players followed him and the message delivered to them and the club captain Bruno Fernandes, who was an unused substitute, was quite different.

The 3-0 thumping by Bournemouth was a result that marked a 40-year low for the crisis club and plunged it to new depths – and the fans were determined to let United’s owners and playing staff know it.

The opening seven league matches marked United’s worst start since 1986. The latest defeat, their sixth of the season, leaves the club just a point above the relegation zone and without a win in eight matches in all competitions.

What has happened between Fernandes and Carrick?

Fernandes, the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Player of the Year last season, was left among the substitutes on Sunday as a result of criticising Carrick after Wednesday’s 4-1 humiliation at Como in the UEFA Champions League.

The Portuguese player has been the Red Devils’ darling since he arrived in 2020, and seemed to have sealed his place as a club legend in a time of darkness with his accolade achieved on the back of United’s third-place finish, which they have only twice bettered in 13 years.

The award came as a result of his record number of assists in a Premier League season – all the more impressive in a side that lacked a spark anywhere else on the pitch.

The upturn in fortunes under Carrick’s interim position last term, when he replaced Ruben Amorim in January, resulted in his full-time appointment in the summer.

A tenure that may now have run its course, with him and United’s best player seemingly at loggerheads.

How have fans reacted to the Premier League giant’s fall?

The United fans are famously loyal to their managers and players. Boos for anyone associated with the home side at Old Trafford were relatively unheard of until the last two seasons.

Now the boss receiving the adulation on exiting one of world football’s greatest stages – the Theatre of Dreams – may be the one on whom the curtain is being pulled.

Fernandes is no villain in this piece, but United’s fans have delivered a clear message directly to the heart of the dressing room – sending it via the player who could do no wrong in the eyes of the supporters will leave the ears of every member of the squad ringing.

Enough is enough.

Outplayed is one thing, but being outrun and outfought is another.

What is the context of Man United’s demise?

United’s history has been one of rebuilds and comebacks. They have known difficult days – their most successful manager Sir Alex Ferguson was on the verge of the sack in 1990 before winning the FA Cup and beginning one of the greatest runs of trophy-laden eras in football.

Their wait for a league title stretched from 1967 – and the Holy Trinity of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law – to 1994, when Ferguson’s inspired signing of Eric Cantona ignited glory days even the biggest club in the world at the time had never seen.

Now, United are on the edge of a precipice – quite literally if the gap to the drop zone is even to be realistically contemplated. Perhaps United’s cross-town rivals City won’t be the only Manchester club facing relegation this season.

That is demise no one is truly considering yet.

Is it a case of Carrick or Fernandes for Man United?

They are, however, at a crossroads – and the divide between Carrick and Fernandes – his captain, who criticised the tactics that stopped United pressing their Italian opponents in midweek, is likely to see the axe fall on the manager rather than a valuable asset.

“Manchester United need to make the change tonight (Sunday),” former England team-mate of Carrick, Jamie Carragher, told British broadcaster Sky Sports when asked if a sacking was needed.

“The fans have taken the side of the manager, which is not about him being the manager, it’s about him being a huge figure in United’s history – and those players have done nothing compared to teams of the past.

“So Carrick is always going to win that fight – and rightly so – with Fernandes, no matter how talented a player he is.

“But also United – one of the biggest clubs in the world – are 16th in the table right now and that can’t happen – it can’t continue and Carrick needs to be relieved of his duties.

“He wants to be sacked. It’s become untenable. He doesn’t want to be sat in the dugout with those players.

“Imagine going into training with Fernandes after not bringing him on? It’s a rancid dressing room. He wants to be put out of his misery.”

Gary Neville, former Manchester United defender and team-mate of Carrick’s for club and country, added: “Carrick is popular, but the owners, the sporting department and the players are not.

“They will probably make a decision that will disgust United fans, but it is probably necessary.

“The club is a mess.”

What has Carrick said amid rumours of the sack?

The final word of the day belongs to the man in the middle of a power battle that has seen him win the popular vote, but one that is unlikely to sway the United hierarchy.

“I take the responsibility,” Carrick said in the post-match news conference. “I totally understand the situation, I’m not expecting anything, I’m carrying on as normal and I love this place.”

In something of a reference to dropping the club captain and the response he received from the crowd at the end, Carrick continued: “I always do what I feel is going to be the best for the club, whatever decision is made.

“I’ve tried to do everything I can to not be in this position and for a number of reasons, whatever they are, we’ve not been able to stop that happening to the position we’re in.

“I’ve always felt that support and always felt that connection with the [fans].

“I have to say it is mixed emotions, I didn’t really expect that from the supporters. The respect that I have for them and for them to show that back meant an awful lot.”

Emotions are running high at Old Trafford and, even though Carrick denied it, his fanfare at the end may well prove to have been his farewell.

The Theatre of Dreams has become a house of horrors – for the 11th manager since Ferguson retired and with United’s last Premier League title now stretching back to 2013.

Manchester United’s 0-3 home loss to Bournemouth has left the 20-time champions winless in eight Premier League games.

Amid increasing pressure on his team and a growing threat to his own position as manager, Michael Carrick says he will do what is best for Manchester United after a 3-0 demolition by Bournemouth plunged his future into doubt.

Winless in eight games in all competitions, the 20-time English champions slipped to within one point of the relegation zone after a damaging defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday.

“It’s a tough situation,” Carrick told British broadcaster Sky Sports. “What is next? I don’t know.

“I’ll always do what’s best for this football club. I’ve said it all along; I don’t change that now. I love what I do. I love the responsibility, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Asked in a post-match news conference if he expects to be sacked in the coming days, Carrick replied: “I totally understand the situation. I’m not expecting anything in particular, to be honest. I’m carrying on as normal. I love this place.”

Despite a dismal run of results, the United fans largely supported the former midfielder as he made his way off the field at full-time before they turned on the club’s players.

“I have mixed emotions to have that connection with the supporters in the moment we’re in. I need time to digest that,” added Carrick.

“I appreciate their support but the situation is where it’s at. We haven’t been good enough.”

Carrick’s decision to drop captain Bruno Fernandes to the bench and not even introduce the Portuguese international as a substitute backfired.

Fernandes, last season’s Premier League player of the year, had criticised Carrick’s tactics after the 4-1 thrashing by Como on Wednesday.

Carrick said before the game that his call was a “pure football” decision, but it was hard to believe Fernandes was not being punished as he was left on the bench for the entire match.

“There’s always times in games when you are trying to change the course of the game and to make a difference,” said Carrick as he swerved questions on Fernandes’s absence. “Those were the decisions we made today.”

Carrick was appointed on a two-year deal only in May after a successful caretaker spell in charge led United to third place in the Premier League last season.

However, he has been unable to arrest the club’s steep decline since his former boss Alex Ferguson retired as manager in 2013.

United were outspent by many of their rivals in the transfer market as they added just three midfielders – Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba.

But Carrick said a lack of investment did not justify such a decline in results.

“Last season to finish third was a really good achievement in the circumstances,” added Carrick.

“We understood where that left us, what was next, what needed to be done and how we needed to improve, and where we were at as a team and as a group at that stage.

“I definitely knew that we hadn’t cracked it and there was a lot of work to be done, but that doesn’t mean to say that it should have gone this way.”

Arsenal joined Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after a 2-0 ⁠victory over Everton in torrential rain at ⁠the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, capitalising on City’s first defeat of the season earlier in the day.

City had left the door open when they fell to a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa, where Nicolas Jackson struck twice to end the visitors’ perfect start to the league campaign.

Tottenham ⁠Hotspur stunned fourth-placed Chelsea 2-0 in only their second league victory at Stamford Bridge in 36 years, while Fulham beat Coventry City 1-0 for their second league victory of the season.

With the leaders beaten in Birmingham, Arsenal seized their chance to erase the three-point gap as goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel secured a comfortable win over Everton in ⁠soaking north London conditions.

The result moved Mikel Arteta’s side level on 21 points with City in what is already shaping up to be a closely fought title race after eight games, but one played under a cloud amid City’s off-field financial case.

Arsenal made their strong start count when Martin Odegaard’s corner caused chaos in the Everton box.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford kept out the initial danger after the ball was flicked on at the near post but, with Everton unable to clear, Konsa bundled home his first goal for the club from ‌a yard out in the seventh minute.

The set-piece goal was Arsenal’s first since May, ending a run of 13 games across all competitions without one.

“I’ve come to this stadium for many seasons; I know how tough it is to play against us,” Konsa said. “It’s not surprising to me.

“We are champions and to be champions you’ve got to win games consistently. This is our home, and we want to win as many games here as possible.”

Arsenal’s two milestone men combined to give the Gunners a two-goal cushion in the 68th minute, with Ben White marking his 200th appearance for the club by clipping a cross to the far post, where Gabriel headed home on his 200th Premier League appearance.

Everton are ninth in the table.

Jackson braces downs City

At Villa Park, Unai Emery’s team climbed to sixth on 11 points with their first home league victory ⁠this season and third successive league win over City, who are playing under the shadow of an independent commission’s findings that they ⁠committed 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules.

City have always denied any wrongdoing, and have appealed.

Jackson took advantage of two City blunders, opening the scoring in the sixth minute when defender Marc Guehi’s heavy touch allowed Villa captain John McGinn to pounce and feed the striker, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Erling Haaland equalised soon after the break when he headed home Iliman Ndiaye’s clipped cross from a ⁠free kick.

But Jackson struck the winner on the hour when Ibrahim Mbaye surged down the right before cutting the ball back for his Senegal international teammate, whose shot sneaked under the diving body of keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

“It was incredible; we got the win, which is ⁠the most important thing. Man City are a strong team, the league leaders,” Jackson told TNT Sports. “It’s just ⁠the beginning; we’re trying to work game by game.”

Tottenham get rare win at Stamford Bridge

At Stamford Bridge, Spurs got on the scoresheet in the 77th minute when Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders punched a corner into his own net in his first league start.

Chelsea were reduced to 10 men when Cole Palmer was shown a second yellow card in the 80th minute for a late challenge on Conor Gallagher.

Mathys Tel sealed the victory for Spurs in the 87th when he gained ‌possession inside his own half before embarking on a surging run down the left, gliding past two defenders and firing a low shot from outside the box into the bottom corner.

“It’s very special, because we came here a lot of times and didn’t get a win,” said Tel. “And today, we made it together, all together, we showed great ‌mentality, ‌and I’m very happy about it.”

Spurs climbed to 12th with the win.

At Coventry, Fulham appeared ready to substitute Oscar Bobb before the winger produced a moment of quality in the 80th minute, driving into the box and curling a superb finish into the far corner.

Fulham are 13th in the table, while Coventry are 19th.

Who: Aston Villa vs Manchester City
What: English Premier League
Where: Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom
When: Saturday, October 22 at 12:30pm (11:30 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera will bring you all the build-up, before our live text commentary stream from 9:30am (08:30 GMT).

Manchester City can continue to put their off-field woes to one side in Saturday’s early kickoff in the Premier League when they travel to Aston Villa, where they will move six points clear at the top with a win.

Holders Arsenal entertain Everton later in the day and will very much hope to extend their winning run in the league to a third match.

City do, however, have a 100 percent record from their first seven games in the league this season, a run that defies the guilty verdict by an independent commission regarding more than 100 breaches of the competition’s financial rules.

The Manchester club have appealed the decision and no sanctions have, as of yet, been imposed.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at City’s trip to Villa Park, where the Cityzens ’ siege mentality is expected to continue.

Foden can be one of Premier League’s best again, says Maresca

Enzo Maresca said it is his job as Manchester City boss to help Phil Foden rediscover his best form after the England international ended his long goal drought.

Foden had not scored for 10 months before netting in City’s 3-2 win over Ipswich last weekend and then scored a Champions League hat-trick in a 5-1 rout of AEK Athens on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old swept the board of personal awards for the Premier League’s best player in the 2023/24 season after a 27-goal campaign.

But Foden, who has admitted struggling with mental health issues, has failed to hit top form for the past two seasons.

“Since we started, I sat down with Phil two or three times, especially at the beginning. Just to show him, I don’t know if love is the right word to use, but just to show him how important he is,” said Maresca, who took charge of City in June.

“I said many times that I know Phil from years ago, so I know how, for different reasons, the last few years it was not good enough.

“When you have more players like Phil available, you are a better team because again it’s a matter of improving players. If you improve the players, you improve the team.

“So for me, I think it’s my duty to try to help Phil to be again one of the best players in England.”

How have Maresca and Man City shaped up this season?

Other than a 4-2 Champions League defeat by holders Paris Saint-Germain, Maresca has made a flawless start to the daunting task of succeeding Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.

The Italian is the first manager ever to win his first seven Premier League games in charge of a new club.

However, City’s fine form has been overshadowed by the threat of severe sanctions against the club for the widespread flouting of Premier League financial rules.

A large points deduction, which could lead to relegation, is likely unless City win their appeal.

Maresca said the mood in the dressing room remained buoyant despite the cloud hanging over the club.

“In any club, when you lose important players, many important players, and you lose the manager after 10 years, it always takes time to compete again,” he said on Thursday.

“But this organisation last summer changed many important players, changed the manager after 10 years, and we are competing at the moment.”

How have Aston Villa fared this season?

Villa sit 12th in the table, but a win would propel them to sixth, at least for a couple of hours. Under former Arsenal manager Unai Emery, Villa have been regulars among the European spots in recent seasons, and were even challengers for the title at one point.

This term has provided a sterner examination of their credentials after the exit of a number of the top stars of recent campaigns, including Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Martinez to Chelsea, Youri Tielemans to City’s rivals United and Ollie Watkins to Al-Hilal.

The Midlands club, who beat Freiburg 3-0 to win last season’s UEFA Europa League, are on a six-match unbeaten run – of which they have won five – across the league and Champions League.

What happened the last time Aston Villa played Manchester City?

Villa were 2-1 winners at City in Pep Guardiola’s last game in charge on the final day of last season.

Antoine Semenyo gave City the lead, but an Ollie Watkins brace turned the game.

What happened in Aston Villa and Man City’s corresponding fixture last season?

Villa emerged with a 1-0 win in their Premier League clash at Villa Park last October. Matty Cash scored the only goal.

When did Man City last beat Aston Villa?

City last beat Villa when they were 2-1 winners in the Premier League fixture between the sides at Etihad Stadium in April 2025.

Marcus Rashford, on loan from United, levelled matters from the penalty spot after Bernardo Silva’s opener, but Matheus Nunes sealed the win for the home side.

When did Man City last win at Aston Villa?

City have not won at Villa Park since December 2021, when Ruben Diaz and Silva netted in the first half of the Premier League match. Watkins’s strike in the second period proved only a consolation.

Prediction – Aston Villa vs Man City

The Opta supercomputer has given City a 43 percent chance of winning the match, while offering Villa a 32 percent chance of victory.

Head-to-head – Aston Villa vs Man City

This is the 186th meeting between the sides, with City winning 82 times and Villa emerging victorious on 61 occasions. There have been 42 draws in the fixture that dates back to 1899 – and a 2-1 home win for Villa.

Aston Villa team news

Amadou Onana, Matteo Ruggeri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka miss out through injury. Johan Manzambi and Modou Keba Cisse both face fitness tests.

Predicted Aston Villa starting lineup

Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, Gomes; McGinn, Manzambi, Buendia; Jackson

Manchester City team news

Forward Antoine Semenyo is set for a lengthy spell out ⁠with a knee injury, while wing back Nico O’Reilly and midfielders Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes are doubts.

League-leading scorer Erling Haaland was rested for Tuesday’s 5-1 Champions League thrashing of AEK Athens because of a knock but is expected to be available against Villa.

Predicted Manchester City starting lineup

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Bouaddi, Fernandez; Foden, Haaland, Doku

Manchester United make worst start to a season in 40 years, but Michael Carrick ‘confident’ ahead of Bournemouth game.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick mounted an impassioned defence of ⁠⁠his leadership on Friday, accepting responsibility ⁠⁠for the club’s collapse in form and saying he remains convinced he can lead the team out of their current crisis.

Carrick’s position is under increasing pressure after United extended their winless run to seven matches in all competitions with Wednesday’s humiliating 4-1 ⁠⁠Champions League defeat at Como leaving them 20th in the table with three points.

Before taking questions ahead of Sunday’s Premier League home game against Bournemouth, Carrick delivered an emotional opening statement, acknowledging supporters’ frustrations and the scale of the challenge facing him.

“Recently, we haven’t had a good time. I think that’s ⁠⁠pretty obvious. So I totally accept what we’re going through at the moment,” he said.

“We had five months of relative success [last season] in a spell where I was happy with a lot of things I was seeing and that we were doing as a team,” he said.

“We haven’t done well enough lately. We’ve had a spell that we’re really not happy with.”

Carrick described the loss in Italy as one of the most painful nights of his tenure.

“Wednesday was a bad ‌‌night. It was a bad night for a lot of reasons. It hurt a lot,” he said. “It obviously hurt me to see us play that way. As I said after the game, it was really unacceptable.”

The defeat intensified scrutiny of Carrick after captain Bruno Fernandes appeared to question United’s tactical approach in his post-match comments.

Dressing room cracks for Carrick after Fernandes outburst

Asked whether public criticism from players suggested cracks within the dressing room, Carrick rejected any suggestion the squad was split.

He also sidestepped questions over Fernandes’ future as captain and declined to reveal whether he had held talks with the Portugal midfielder following the defeat.

Instead, he stressed that his priority was restoring an identity that has disappeared from the side in recent weeks.

“My responsibility is to ⁠⁠get a team on the pitch that represents this football club, represents the supporters and they can be proud ⁠⁠of it with the identity that we show,” Carrick said.

“We have gone away from that just recently in certain games, which I’m fully aware of and definitely doing something about.”

He reserved special mention for United’s fans, many of whom travelled to Como only to watch their side suffer the heaviest defeat of his reign.

“The supporters are a huge part of this ⁠⁠football club. They have to make the effort and the time and money they spend, to feel how we all felt on Wednesday was a tough moment,” he said.

Carrick defiant as Man United form slides

Despite growing speculation about his future, Carrick struck a ⁠⁠defiant tone, saying he remained confident United could rediscover the energy and connection that characterised ⁠⁠last season’s performances.

He took over in January 2026 after the sacking of Ruben Amorim and oversaw a remarkable turnaround, steering United to a top-three finish and Champions League qualification.

“For [the fans] to feel like they felt for five months at the start of the year … is something we need to get back to. We will get back to it. I fully believe that,” said ‌‌Carrick.

Former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is among the names linked with United’s managerial job, although the 57-year-old Italian said on Friday he had not had any negotiations “at an advanced stage” with any club.

Carrick acknowledged that United had lost their way but said responsibility rested squarely with him.

He ended ‌‌his ‌‌opening remarks by saying it was his duty to get the club back on course, describing his role as “holding the umbrella for me to get wet and everyone else to stay dry”.

United are 13th in the Premier League standings on seven points, while Bournemouth are a point behind them in 15th.