Simon Stone
BBC Sport

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Will we see young Man City left-back Rico Lewis today?

The 17-year-old had a dream debut in the Champions League in midweek, scoring in the 3-1 win over Sevilla.

Pep Guardiola hailed Lewis' Champions League night to remember and assured the youngster he earned it because "we don't give presents" at Manchester City.

Bury-born Lewis has been with City since he was eight.

He marked his full debut by driving home the Blues' equaliser in their 3-1 group stage win over Sevilla.

In doing so, he was eclipsing Karim Benzema as the youngest player to score on his first start in the competition.

He left the field to a standing ovation, which was more pronounced because he had to walk halfway around the pitch after being told to leave it on the far side by the referee when he was replaced by Joao Cancelo five minutes from time.

"We don't give presents here," said Guardiola. "He had to earn it.

"The people love players from the academy but we see him every day. We know he has quality and I am really happy for him."

He is on the bench for the visit of Fulham.

Read more here.

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Fulham boss Marco Silva says Neeskens Kebano will be a huge loss to his side as he contemplates "several months" without the Congo winger.

The Cottagers confirmed on Thursday he had picked up an Achilles injury in training earlier this week and Silva admits Kebano's absence will be a dent to his team's ambitions this season.

"It's sad, sad news for us as a football club, for us as a group and for me personally as a manager," he said.

"He's a top guy, a great professional and a happy footballer. Everyone loves him at the club."

Kebano played an important part in Fulham's Championship-winning team last season and has featured in all but one of their Premier League fixtures so far, making three goals.

"I am really happy to have [had him here] the last 15 months under me," said Silva. "Of course, there is just one way to deal with the situation - support him in every way you can to make him feel better and happy again."

Unsurprisingly, Leeds United are unchanged from the side that started the 2-1 win at Liverpool last weekend.

Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville, 21, has scored in his last two Premier League appearances. Should he score in this game, he’ll be the youngest player to score in three consecutive top-flight appearances for the Whites since 20-year-old Alan Smith in August 2001.

Leeds United XI: Meslier, Kristensen, Koch, Cooper, Struijk, Adams, Roca, Harrison, Aaronson, Summerville, Rodrigo.

Substitutes: Ayling, Firpo, Klaesson, Llorente, Gnonto, Gelhardt, Greenwood, Klich, Fernandez.

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Interim Bournemouth boss Gary O'Neil responds to his side's 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham - having led 2-0 - by making one change.

Ryan Fredericks returns to the side in place of Jordan Zemura, who drops to the bench.

The Cherries have not kept a clean sheet in an away game in the Premier League since 14 December 2019 when they won 1-0 at Chelsea.

Bournemouth XI: Travers, Smith, Mepham, Senesi, Fredericks, Cook, Lerma, Billing, Tavernier, Solanke, Moore.

Substitutes: Stephens, Christie, Rothwell, Stacey, Stanislas, Pearson, Anthony, Zemura, Plain.

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Three changes for Steve Cooper's Nottingham Forest as Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson and Emmanuel Dennis all come into the side.

Jesse Lingard, Renan Lodi and Taiwo Awoniyi all drop to the bench.

Starting XI: Henderson, Aurier, Cook, Williams, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Kouyate, Yates, Freuler, Dennis, McKenna

Subs: Hennessey, Worrall, Mangala, Awoniyi, Lingard, O'Brien, Surridge, Boly, Lodi

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Thomas Frank makes two changes to the Brentford side that were held to a 1-1 draw agaist Wolves last weekend, their sixth draw of the season.

Keane Lewis-Potter and Mads Roerslev come in for Kristoffer Ajer and Ivan toney, who is serving a one match suspension.

Starting XI: Raya, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Dasilva, Wissa, Mee, Mbuemo, Lewis-Potter, Janelt, Roerslev

Subs: Cox, Canos, Zanka, Ghoddos, Onyeka, Damsgaard, Crama, Trevitt, Yarmoliuk

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Wolves make three changes from the side who drew 1-1 away to Brentford last weekend.

Hwang Hee-Chan replaces Diego Costa in the front line after the latter's sending off.

Winger Adama Traore drops to the bench with Goncalo Guedes coming in to the starting eleven.

Matheus Nunes, who had to be brought off against Brentford due to a shoulder injury, is absent from the squad. Joao Moutinho comes in.

Wolves: Sa; Semedo, Collins, Kilman, Bueno; B. Traore, Neves; Guedes, Moutinho, Podence; Hee-Chan

Subs: Sarkic, Ait-Nouri, Mosquera, Jonny, Ronan, A. Traore, Hodge, Fraser, Griffiths

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Roberto De Zerbi names an unchanged Brighton side after their 4-1 triumph at home to Chelsea last weekend.

The only differences come on the bench as youngsters Ed Turns, James Furlong and Andrew Moran make way for Danny Welbeck, Joel Veltman and Levi Colwill.

Brighton XI: Sanchez; Gross, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan; Caicedo, Mac Allister; March, Lallana, Mitoma; Trossard

Subs: Steele, Lamptey, Colwill, Welbeck, Sarmiento, Enciso, Undav, Gilmour, Veltman

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Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

Did you pick him in your Fantasy team, or not? The big news from Etihad Stadium is that Erling Haaland is back in the Manchester City squad after his injury but starts the game on the bench.

It total, City make eight changes from the side that beat Seville here on Wednesday, for their 14th successive home win.

Ederson returns in goal and has a completely new back-four in front of him, while Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva return in midfield.

Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez are the only players who started against Seville to keep their place.

Man City XI: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Cancelo, Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva, Gundogan, Grealish, Alvarez.

Subs: Ortega, Dias, Haaland, Laporte, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Fulham make three changes from the side that drew with Everton last weekend.

Top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic is not in the squad so Carlos Vinicius leads their attack. Kenny Tete replaces the suspended Bobby Decordova-Reid at right-back and Harry Wilson is in for the injured Neeskens Kebano.

Fulham XI: Leno, Tete, Ream, Diop, Robinson, Reed, Pereira, Palhinha, Wilson, Willian, Vinicius

Subs: Rodak, Kurzawa, Adarabioyo, Duffy, Cairney, James, Onomah, Mbabu, Harris

Defenders Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey, who were both injured in Everton's opening match of the season, are back in full training but not expected to feature today.

Nathan Patterson is ready to start, having made his comeback as a substitute last week.

Leicester City captain Jonny Evans could return from a four-week lay-off with a calf injury.

Ricardo Pereira is still recovering from a ruptured Achilles.

FA Cup

We've just had a David Beckham-esque lobbed goal from the halfway line in the FA Cup!

Connor Wickham has scored it for Forest Green in the 96th minute to seal a 2-0 win at South Shields.

If you get on over to our FA Cup live page you can rewind the feed and have a watch.

You can also follow all the other FA Cup ties too.

This wins Twitter today.

Any other manager-animal lookalikes knocking about?

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at Molineux

I have been chatting to a few Wolves fans outside Molineux and they all seem pleased with Julen Lopetegui's appointment.

"I am happy," one supporter, Mark Perry, told me. "He has a good pedigree and is the best available to us at the moment.

"There has been frustration but a lot of young fans have only known success. Wolves has not always been like that."

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is not surprised by Fulham’s impressive start to the season and is bracing for a challenging contest against the Cottagers on Saturday.

Marco Silva’s side are five points off the top four and have won two and drawn one of their past three games.

“They are a really good team so it’s not a surprise,” he said. “You only have to look at what they did in the Championship last season and they had a good transfer window.

“Then their manager is exceptional. In the FA Cup last season, they made us suffer. They have a good process and then they can always play long balls up to [Aleksandar] Mitrovic.

“They started really well against Liverpool and have continued in the same way.”

With Mitrovic already up to nine Premier League goals for the season, Guardiola is well aware of the threat City’s visitors will pose.

“When they look for him, our defence have to know there is a big chance we will lose that ball,” said Guardiola. “So we need to play the second ball and make sure we defend the back post really well.

“You saw how many goals he scored last year. He’s a natural striker, pushes defences to the limit and he’s clinical.”

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There was bad news for Chelsea and England defender Ben Chilwell this morning as it was confirmed he will miss the World Cup

He picked up a "significant injury" in stoppage-time of Chelsea's 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesdy.

In a statement, the club said: "Following the injury sustained in our recent game against Dinamo Zagreb, Ben has undergone a scan on his hamstring.

"Results show that Ben has suffered a significant injury and the defender is unfortunately expected to miss the World Cup.

"Ben will now begin a rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical department."

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Erling Haaland is feeling "much better" and could be in line for a return to the Manchester City XI for this weekend's game with Fulham, says Pep Guardiola.

The Manchester City striker missed the wins over Leicester and Sevilla with a bruised foot but Guardiola said the Norway striker was in contention.

"We will decide today [Friday]," he said. "He is much better and it has been a good step for him to be in training.

"We'll listen to his opinion and the doctor's opinion and then see if he is good to play 90 minutes or fewer. We'll see after training."

Julian Alvarez has taken Haaland's place and was outstanding against Sevilla, scoring one and making two more as City won 3-1.

Asked whether Alvarez was in shape to start three consecutive games inside a week, Guardiola shrugged off the question.

"He is so young," he said. "When you are that age, you can play every day."

Millions of fantasy football players wait the team news with bated breath.

Julen Lopetegui is not the only recent Spanish manager to join a Premier League club.

Unai Emery says winning silverware is at the top of his to-do list as new Aston Villa manager - before taking the club into Europe.

The 51-year-old Spaniard was speaking before his first match in charge at home to Manchester United on Sunday.

He arrives for his second spell in the Premier League, after previously managing Arsenal between May 2018 and November 2019.

"My dream is to win a trophy with Aston Villa," said the ex-Villarreal boss. "It's my personal challenge at the beginning. My second dream, my objective will be to play in Europe."

Read more here.

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist

We've seen with Sevilla, he brings more than football; football that is physical but has to do with tactics, possession, dominating games, attacking. When it worked well at Sevilla, it was wonderful to see.

I've always said Sevilla were the most 'Premier League' club in Spain. The high tempo, the diversification of the tactics, the good use of collective answers for a team that weren't the best individually - Lopetegui made the players better and the team compact, but always with the possibility of winning.

All that led to a Europa League win for Sevilla and showed that Lopetegui can maximise the potential of a team as one of the top managers around.

Between a club that was not investing in players properly having lost [Jules] Kounde and Diego Carlos for instance, and a manager that had squeezed a lot out of a side that was not properly recycled, all that meant it had to come to an end.

He had taken Sevilla into the Champions League for three consecutive seasons, something that hadn't happened before. I felt he was tired; mentally and physically. He has to give a lot of energy, something new was needed for him as well.

He took time off, his dad wasn't in a great place and he wanted to be close to him. It took priority, and Wolves said they would wait when Lopetegui said no.

Things have developed, not for the better, which means Lopetegui is rested and has given time to his dad. There is not much that can be done; he finds himself in a place where he is ready to work again, full of energy.

This is going to be one of the hardest things in football, to change a negative dynamic. But he has seen the potential of the side, he knows they are going to get better. Congratulations, Wolves fans, this is a great choice.

Former Real Madrid boss Lopetegui was sacked by Sevilla after three years in charge following a Champions League group game defeat by Borussia Dortmund in October.

He was appointed Sevilla boss in June 2019 and led the club to the Europa League title in 2020.

You may remember that Lopetegui was due to coach Spain at the 2018 World Cup only to be sacked days before the tournament after accepting an offer from Real Madrid.

He really judged that right because his time there lasted just 138 days before he was sacked after a 5-1 defeat by Barcelona.

A former goalkeeper, Lopetegui played for Real Madrid and Barcelona and won one cap for Spain.

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves have announced this morning that they have appointed Spaniard Julen Lopetegui as their new manager.

The 56-year-old will take charge on 14 November, when the Premier League pauses for the World Cup in Qatar.

Lopetegui was the club's first choice to take over after they dismissed Bruno Lage on 2 October but he opted to stay at home to be near his elderly father.

"Julen is a top coach, with excellent experience at an elite level of the game," said Wolves chairman Jeff Shi.

"Since the very beginning, Julen has been our number one choice to manage Wolves, and we look forward to welcoming him and his team when they join us in the coming weeks."

Lopetegui's first match will be away to Everton in the Premier League on 26 December, so Steve Davis remains in charge today.

The trio of clubs in the Premier League bottom three are all in action today. As are a handful of those in touching distance above them.

So tight is the bottom half of the table - just six points separating 10 teams - any victory is huge.

So Forest will see Brentford at home as a massive opportunity, Leicester will be hoping to get something at Everton later and Wolves will want to start firing against Brighton.

Speaking of Wolves...