Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Liverpool have lived on the edge all season, as late goals have rescued victories, but there was no escape at Selhurst Park and the reigning champions did not deserve one either.

It briefly looked like another late strike, this time from Federico Chiesa, would earn a fortunate point at Selhurst Park, but their defence failed to clear a long throw and Eddie Nketiah pounced for his first goal since May.

Liverpool have been leaking goals all season, but have been able to dig themselves out of trouble at the other end.

After Crystal Palace tore their backline apart in the first 45 minutes, the Reds stepped up a gear in the second half, presumably with some angry words from Arne Slot ringing in their ears.

But they were far from fluent in what must rank as one of the worst displays since the Dutch head coach succeeded Jurgen Klopp.

BBC Sounds

If you're looking for even more Jose Mourinho content this Tuesday afternoon, More Than The Score has you covered.

BBC Sport presenter Mani Djazmi is joined by former Scotland manager Craig Levein and Portuguese sports journalist Luis Cristovao to debate whether managers should ever return to their former clubs.

Mourinho is a sucker for a second spell, having returned to Benfica 25 years after first leaving the club and having had two spells at Stamford Bridge earlier in his career.

Levein reveals that he regrets going back to Heart of Midlothian, but explains why some managers just can't resist going back.

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca is looking forward to facing "legend of the club" Jose Mourinho on his return to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues boss has received a bit of heat since his side's sub-par start to the season, collecting just eight points from their opening six Premier League matches and winning just one of their past five matches in all competitions.

But Mourinho's much-anticipated return should take the spotlight off the Italian boss tonight.

"Mourinho is a Chelsea legend," Maresca said in his pre-match press conference. "It is a privilege to come up against him, he is a legend for this club."

Maresca also admitted that he would like to achieve the Premier League and Champions League success that Mourinho did at Chelsea "one day".

When asked about fans still chanting Mourinho's name after all these years, he replied: "I would like that one day, for sure, but it is not my target. The fans have chanted 'we have our Chelsea back' before, and if they can sing that then I'm already happy."

Image source, Getty Images

Jose Mourinho will find out whether he is still considered 'the special one' on his return to Stamford Bridge tonight.

The Portuguese manager won seven major trophies across two spells as Chelsea manager, with his first appointment spanning from June 2004 to September 2007 and his return dating from June 2013 to December 2015.

Mourinho is the man who ended Chelsea's 50-year wait for a league title - and he didn't just bring them one Premier League title, he brought them three.

He built domestic dominance during his reign, leading the Blues to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup final and scooping up three League Cup titles during his two stints.

"Chelsea is a winning machine," Mourinho said in his pre-match press conference. "I'm the biggest one until someone wins four [league titles]!"

Pat Nevin
Former Chelsea winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

Chelsea fans have a very odd relationship with Jose Mourinho. They were absolutely enamoured with him throughout his time managing Manchester United, but then he went to Tottenham.

At the end of the day, time is a great healer and Chelsea fans of a certain age will remember that he took their club from being a decent side to a world-class team.

He will never be totally and utterly forgotten at Stamford Bridge, but we will see what his actions are tonight! We will see how the Chelsea fans react to him, but I think it'll be positive.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Jose Mourinho said he "will always be a Blue" - but is ready to park his affection for the club which "helped me to become a bigger Jose" for 90 minutes.

He returns to Stamford Bridge with his new club Benfica on Tuesday night, having won two and drawn one of his first three games back in the Primeira Liga.

"I will always be a Blue," said Mourinho when asked about his relationship with Chelsea. "I am part of their history. They are part of my history. I helped them to become a bigger Chelsea, and they helped me to become a bigger Jose.

"It will be my Chelsea before the start of the game and after the game, but during the game it's my Benfica and that's all that matters.

"When I say I am not a Blue, I am only speaking about the job I have to do tomorrow."

Arsenal

Arsenal fans, you're spoilt today.

If you want to watch your team training before Wednesday's game with Olympiakos then watch the stream at 13:00 BST on this page.

And then at 14:30 BST you can hear your manager, Mikel Arteta, in his news conference. Something tells me he'll be in a pretty good mood after Sunday.

Image source, Getty Images

At the top of the page you'll see the 'Get Involved' headline has changed from Oliver Glasner to concerns about Liverpool's recent form, which we'll go into in more detail shortly.

It seems a bizarre statement to say out loud considering the Reds sit atop of the Premier League table but with a leaky defence and sub-par performances - is there a genuine cause for concern for Liverpool?

Arne Slot's side have shipped nine goals in all competitions so far, excluding the Community Shield and have kept just two clean-sheets.

Late goals had become a theme but were they just papering over the cracks?

Performances have been far from great and the squad don't seem to be gelling nearly as quickly as manager Slot would have liked.

What do you think about the current situation with the Champions? Overblown nonsense or a genuine concern?

Click 'Get Involved' at the top of the page to have your say.

Champions League

A mixed bag, it's fair to say.

Four wins, two defeats.

• Manchester City 2-0 Napoli
• Newcastle 1-2 Barcelona
• Bayern 3-1 Chelsea
• Liverpool 3-2 Atletico Madrid
• Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
• Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal

Champions League

The Chammmmmmmmmpionssssssssssssss!

Yes, it's back. For round two, of eight, in the league phase. Does it have that special feeling with so many games? That's probably a conversation for another day.

Anyway, here's what you've got to look forward to over the next few days:

Tuesday 30 September

• 17:45: Atalanta v Club Brugge
• 17:45: Kairat v Real Madrid
• 20:00: Atletico v Frankfurt
• 20:00: Bodo/Glimt v Tottenham
• 20:00: Chelsea v Benfica
• 20:00: Galatasaray v Liverpool
• 20:00: Inter v Slavia Prague
• 20:00: Marseille v Ajax
• 20:00: Pafos v Bayern Munich

Wednesday 1 October

• 17:45: Qarabag v Copenhagen
• 17:45: R. Union SG v Newcastle
• 20:00: Arsenal v Olympiakos
• 20:00: Barcelona v PSG
• 20:00: Dortmund v Athletic
• 20:00: Leverkusen v PSV
• 20:00: Monaco v Manchester City
• 20:00: Napoli v Sporting
• 20:00: Villarreal v Juventus

Our attention now switches to tonight's Champions League matches, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all in action.

Could Liverpool be a bit sluggish against Galatasaray? Nothing to do with form, it's because fireworks were being set off outside their hotel last night...

"Difficult for Palace to keep him", says Rooney. "Glasner has bigger personal ambitions", says Dom.

This argument over Glasner's future will rumble on, won't it? But for now, it's going swimmingly and there's nothing at the moment to say a move is on the cards. Palace fans - enjoy the moment!

Image source, Getty Images

Former Premier League forward Wayne Rooney says Crystal Palace's recent successes are not only down to manager Oliver Glasner, but the club staying true to their values.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, Manchester United's record goalscorer said he has met Glasner on multiple occasions and describes him as a "genuine person".

"I don't think it's just down to him," Rooney said. "Over the past 10 years, Crystal Palace have recruited really well. They're bringing players in who are hungry, with desire, who've got something to gain and got something to look forward to and fight.

"They're bringing players from the streets. In the past 10 years, Palace remind me of a street football club. I don't think they've gone away from their values. I think that's really important and special.

"What they've got now is a manager who knows how to win, and knows how to win trophies. He's done it in different countries. He's done it in England now with the FA Cup.

"It's going to be very difficult for Palace to keep him."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

As well as coping without Eberechi Eze this season, Palace will also have to adapt to the challenges of European football, having qualified for continental competition for the first time following victory in May’s FA Cup final.

The Eagles have already played two qualifying games in the Conference League and play the first of six matches in the league phase on Thursday, taking on Dynamo Kyiv in Poland.

The additional workload could take a toll on the Eagles’ relatively shallow squad, though it is also a huge opportunity for the club.

Opta’s prediction model rates the Londoners as the outstanding side in the competition, giving them a 53.5% chance of lifting the trophy, well clear of second favourites and two-time runners-up Fiorentina.

Glasner has already won European silverware before, lifting the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022. Winning back-to-back trophies with Palace – who hadn’t won a major competition before his arrival – would be a truly remarkable achievement and would cement his place as one of Europe’s most in-demand managers.

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

Could Palace really challenge for a top-four place this season? The best league finish in their history was third in 1990-91, under Steve Coppell, but they have never finished higher than 10th in a Premier League campaign.

However, their form since the turn of the year is certainly amongst the league’s best.

Since 1 January, Palace’s expected goals tally is 46.2, which ranks second. They have also been strong defensively, allowing their opponents an expected goals total of just 29.4. That gives them an overall expected goals difference of 18.6 this calendar year, a figure bettered only by Liverpool.

It may be worth bearing in mind, however, that the vast majority of their games in 2025 came with Eberechi Eze in the side. The attacking midfielder joined Arsenal towards the end of the transfer window, and though replacement Yeremy Pino has made a good start to his Palace career, Eze’s departure is still likely to have an impact.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Chairman Steve Parish will be desperate to keep the charismatic Oliver Glasner at Selhurst Park.

Palace, with eight wins and 10 draws, are enjoying their joint-longest unbeaten run as a club, also 18 from February to August 1969. Three matches in that unbeaten run have been against Liverpool too.

The Eagles are now the only unbeaten Premier League side, having won three and drawn three of their opening six games.

All this being achieved after selling playmaker Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in the summer as well.

When they last achieved such a feat in 1990-91, Palace went on to finish third for their highest ever top-flight position.