West Ham United

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More from Nuno Espirito Santo on where West Ham must improve: "When the game against Brentford finished, we need to take the frustration, commitment and motivation so that we can play better. This is the step we need to take.

"Individually we have to improve our players. We need to improve their fitness, tactical awareness - everything. Then, we concede a lot of set-pieces - too much - but we defend them pretty well. We are improving on that but we need to improve on not conceding.

"Some of them are easy situations we can solve. So we are working on that. It's not only set-pieces or being compact. It's about improving overall.

"We didn't do enough offensively against Brentford. We need to have the freedom to attack. But it's difficult to find that balance."

West Ham United

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo provides team news: "All the players are working well. It's up to us to take the decisions in right moments. All the players are available. Some have physical problems.

"[Konstantinos Mavropanos] is injured. He is doing a scan to see the real injury he has. I cannot answer exactly how long he is out, but this game is not an option."

West Ham United

More from West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo on whether he needs reinforcements in January: "The reality is that it's us who are going to solve our problems. Us who are in the building.

"Not who is out. Us here. We must solve our own problems."

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Crystal Palace take on AEK Larnaca in the Conference League on Thursday and they will be looking to continue as they started.

In their first game in Europe this season Oliver Glasner's side beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-0. The result has put them in seventh in the table but a win tomorrow evening could edge them up the standings.

Cypriot team AEK Larnaca also began their campaign with a win after they beat AZ Alkmaar 4-0.

We will be hearing imminently from Glasner as he is speaking to the media.

It's 244 appearances and counting for Liverpool's long-serving player now, Tom. No goals yet but maybe 245 will be the charm?

West Ham United

More from West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo: "It's up to us to connect the fans again. It's up to us that the fans go to the stadium and they enjoy and that they are on our side.

"I felt it on the players. They were rushing their decisions. We have quality and talent enough to make those passes but it wasn't happening. You have to tell to the players play their game and try to ignore other things."

On the club's home record: "We are not getting enough points - that's the main issue. To do that, we must improve our game. We must play better - home and away and in training sessions. No matter where."

West Ham United

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo speaking before Friday's game against Leeds United, on the takeaways from the 2-0 defeat to Brentford: "It's that we still have problems. We are going to have problems. We didn't play good enough and the realisation that we have to improve.

"Concerns that the improvement must come from the players individually - they need to win their own games, the duels and then for sure, as a team we are going to improve.

"Annoyed is not the word. I was frustrated because we started the game really well in the first 20 minutes. But we weren't able to sustain it. That was the main disappointment."

Premier League

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Before the dust settles on the midweek Champions League fixtures, the Premier League will be back in action as Leeds United host a struggling West Ham on Friday.

Nuno Espirito Santo has not won any of his three league matches since taking over at the Hammers.

Monday's defeat by Brentford extended West Ham's winless run in the Premier League to five games and they remain in the relegation zone, two points above bottom side Wolves.

Meanwhile, Leeds are four points clear of West Ham in 16th place.

They were beaten 2-0 by Burnley in their last outing and their most recent win came at Wolves back on 20 September.

OK, is everybody ready?

It's time to hear from some Premier League managers.

Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner, Nuno Espirito Santo of West Ham and Leeds boss Daniel Farke are all speaking at this very moment.

We'll bring you quotes from all three shortly.

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Before we move on from Champions League to the afternoon's pre-match news conferences, some fairly significant news emerged during Villarreal's match against Manchester City last night...

La Liga has cancelled plans to hold a regular-season match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December.

In August, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) approved plans to move Villarreal's fixture against Barcelona to Hard Rock Stadium on 20 December - a decision that sparked discontent in Spain.

The plans to hold a top-flight game outside Spain for the first time faced a huge backlash, with players refusing to move for the first 15 seconds of matches in La Liga at the weekend.

Promoters of the match, Relevent, state the reason for the cancellation is because of "insufficient time" to organise the event, with La Liga also citing the "uncertainty in Spain".

The match will now be held at Villarreal's Estadio de la Ceramica home as originally scheduled.

The decision to cancel the match in Miami was announced during Villarreal's 2-0 Champions League defeat at home by Manchester City.

Afterwards, Villarreal boss Marcelino said it showed "absolute disrespect" to communicate this decision while his side were playing.

He added: "It is absolutely disrespectful to the club, professionals and board of directors and fans. From here onwards, the club will send an official communication but this is just what I think."

Ask Me Anything

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England and Portugal are currently on course to win the two extra Champions League places on offer for next season's competition.

The start of matchday three in the Champions League was a successful one for England on Tuesday.

Wins for Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester City moved England up one place and back to the top of the race for an EPS spot in next season's Champions League.

Defeat for Benfica to the Magpies meant that Portugal failed to pick up any points, while a defeat for Copenhagen at home to Borussia Dortmund keeps Denmark third.

Pafos' draw at Kairat Almaty meant Cyprus climbed up one place to fourth. Dortmund's win in Denmark moved Germany up one place to fifth.

Should England win one of the two EPS spots available, it would mean a minimum of five English clubs will feature in next season's Champions League.

You can read our full explainer on the league table and how it works here

Tottenham Hotspur

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With a win and a draw apiece, Tottenham are currently 12th in the Champions League table on four points.

They are also on a six-game unbeaten run in Champions League league phase/group stage and have only lost twice in their last 12 games at this stage.

But Spurs have only won one of their last seven away Champions League matches (D2 L4), though it did come in France in a 2-1 win at Marseille back in November 2022.

Tottenham's remaining six league phase fixtures:

• 22 Oct: Monaco (a)
• 4 Nov: Copenhagen (h)
• 26 Nov: Paris St-Germain (a)
• 9 Dec: Slavia Prague (h)
• 20 Jan: Borussia Dortmund (h)
• 28 Jan: Eintracht Frankfurt (a)

Tottenham Hotspur

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Tottenham will be without three defenders for their Champions League away outing against Monaco tonight.

Spurs captain Cristian Romero, who missed the Premier League defeat to Aston Villa after getting injured during the warm-up, remains sidelined.

Thomas Frank confirmed Romero had a 'minor issue' with his abductor and will be assessed this week to understand the extent of the injury.

Destiny Udogie also misses out with a "minor irritation in the knee" while Ben Davies is out for "weeks" with an hamstring issue and will be out for 'weeks'.

Among other Spurs absentees are Dominic Solank, Yves Bissouma, Kota Takai, Radu Dragusin, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer in Monaco

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The sun is shining on Tottenham Hotspur's supporters as they arrive in Monaco for tonight's Champions League game.

Spurs have four points from their opening two games, a win at home to Villarreal, before a recovery from 2-0 down to draw away to Norwegian champions Bodo Glimt.

Head coach Thomas Frank delivered upbeat messages speaking here at Stade Louis-II last night, believing Spurs played well enough despite the 2-1 home loss to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Defender and captain Cristian Romero is out with the adductor strain sustained in the warm-up before the Villa game, while Destiny Udogie has not travelled because of what Frank described as "knee irritation."

Monaco are dangerous on home turf, as they proved when securing a 2-2 draw against Manchester City, but a win for Spurs tonight would constitute a fine start to their Champions League campaign.

Tottenham Hotspur

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Thomas Frank's Tottenham would have gone second in the Premier League with a win against Aston Villa on Sunday.

But a 2-1 defeat leaves them sixth and having only won one of their past four matches heading into tonight's Champions League outing against Monaco, who are searching for their first win in Europe.

Last season's Europa League winners began their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win over Villarreal but needed a late own goal to hold Bodo/Glimt to a 2-2 draw in their second game.

But Frank is hoping an away trip to the principality would be an opportunity to get his side back on track.

"Our away form has been very good," the Spurs boss said.

"We've been good in the football foundation. We have a good base and middle and low block. We're one of the most progressive teams in the final third. We need to do the same tomorrow against a very good team."

On his tactical set-up, he said: "It's not the system, it's the guiding principles. Performances have been, overall, competitive. We need to add extra layers though."

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I know Joe Gomez played in midfield a few times in Jurgen Klopp's final season at Liverpool, Nigel, but that is a bold shout.

From what I remember he was in there during the injury crisis in the second half of that season. I'd be surprised if that is the solution Arne Slot opts for this time.

If it's extra solidity he's after then surely Wataru Endo would be the more obvious choice? There's also Curtis Jones, who looked decent when he came on at the weekend, as a more box-to-box option.

Chelsea

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After missing the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend with an injury, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez could be in contention to be involved against Ajax tonight.

"Enzo took part in the session [on Monday] but we have one more session and we will see what we do," said manager Enzo Maresca.

"It's not something to be worried about but we just have to protect Enzo."

Striker Liam Delap is still out but could be "very close" to a return, according to Maresca.

"He is not working with us yet," the Italian said.

"He is still out. Hopefully he can start in the next days to start taking sessions with us."

Delap's absence, coupled with a suspension to Joao Pedro, could mean more playing minutes for Marc Guiu, the 19-year-old Spanish striker who came on at half-time against Forest and earned praise for his display.

"We have [Guiu] and we have also Tyrique [George]," Maresca said.

"We trust Marc. We trusted him last year. He was playing in the Conference League. We gave him some Premier League games. We have shown in the past that we trust Marc. Now he is again with us and he's going to play games, for sure."

Chelsea

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Chelsea go into tonight's Champions League fixture having accumulated four red cards in four consecutive matches, including one for manager Enzo Maresca in the late win over Liverpool.

They have also had goalkeeper Robert Sanchez sent off just five minutes into their 2-1 defeat at Manchester United last month.

And speaking before facing Ajax, Maresca admitted it is something that his side have to improve on.

"It's something we can do better," the Italian said.

"I think with some of the red cards, we could avoid that. For instance, I think the Malo [Gusto] one is completely avoidable because the game is almost finished.

"For sure, when you concede five or six red cards, I don't know exactly how many, that is something you have to improve."

However, the Chelsea boss said he is not someone who would punish his players for red cards.

"In my view, I don't think it is the right way to do things," he said.

"I prefer to help them understand and then from there, do the right things.

"I have four kids, when they do something wrong, I do not punish them. I try to teach them to do the right things. I try to do this with the players too. This is the way I like to do things."