🚨 Liverpool lose AGAIN, Arsenal & Spurs in striker battle, Chelsea move for world class GK, Man Utd clear-out, & more
Start your morning right with out UCL news clips, latest transfer headlines, and more!
Morning folks! Welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - your essential round-up of the biggest transfer stories and headlines delivered ad-free and straight to your inbox. Thanks for reading, and enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
Champions League round-up
Liverpool humiliated at home to PSV
Liverpool’s crisis just seems to get worse and worse, with the Reds suffering a humiliating 4-1 defeat at home to PSV last night.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired Liverpool level in the first half as it looked like they might have it in them to come back, but the Dutch side ran away with the game in the second period.
Liverpool are now 13th in the table and Arne Slot will surely be facing serious questions over his future.
FT Liverpool 1-4 PSV [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Arsenal top Champions League with win over Bayern
Arsenal continued their superb form with a hugely impressive 3-1 win over Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium.
Jurrien Timber headed Arsenal into the lead before Bayern’s 17-year-old wonderkid Lennart Karl equalised as the teams went in all square at 1-1 at half time.
But Arsenal’s superiority eventually told as Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench to score in the second half and fire the Gunners top of the Champions League table.
FT Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Tottenham lose thrilling PSG contest
Tottenham put in a good performance but just couldn’t quite hold on in a thrilling tie away to Paris Saint-Germain.
Richarlison gave Spurs the lead and Randal Kolo Muani scored twice against his parent club, but Vitinha was in inspired form to hit a hat-trick.
PSG finished with ten men but still held on to come out on top in this eight-goal thriller.
FT PSG 5-3 Tottenham [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Champions League scores in full
FC Copenhagen 3-2 Kairat
Pafos 2-2 Monaco
Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Atalanta
Liverpool 1-4 PSV Eindhoven
Olympiacos 3-4 Real Madrid
PSG 5-3 Tottenham
Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Club Brugge
Arsenal
Rodrigo Mendoza to Arsenal will be one to watch, sources confirm, with the Gunners having long kept a close eye on the Elche youngster’s progress, though La Liga giants Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are also keen. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)
Arsenal are up against Tottenham for the signing of Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, who could leave for below his €100m release clause. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)
Arsenal are eyeing Assan Ouedraogo, but face a battle with other top clubs to sign the highly-rated German wonderkid. (Bild)
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has warned them he’s worried about one specific Chelsea player right now - find out who here!
Eberechi Eze has earned special praise from Paul Scholes, who believes he is showing himself to be a £100m player. (The Good, The Bad, & The Football podcast)
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich player ratings from the 3-1 defeat away to Arsenal as Christian Falk reacts to a poor performance. (CF Bayern Insider)
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Chelsea
Marc Cucurella recently signed a new and improved Chelsea contract as a reward for his fine form, though the Blues never confirmed this with an official announcement. (Fabrizio Romano)
Chelsea look set to miss out on Nico Paz as he’s already said yes to a return to Real Madrid for summer 2026. (Fabrizio Romano)
Mike Maignan is Chelsea’s number one goalkeeper target, with AC Milan currently resigned to losing the French shot-stopper. (Sky Sport Italia)
Chelsea are chasing another elite young talent from Brazil - full story here!
Chelsea have been warned that Arsenal will be “a different ball game” from Barcelona - find out why here!
Crystal Palace
Jean-Philippe Mateta is open to leaving Crystal Palace and has long been eyeing a future in Serie A. (Give Me Sport)
Liverpool
Marc Guehi to Liverpool transfer could happen sooner than expected, with reports that the Reds have already submitted a bid to Crystal Palace for a January deal. (Indy Kaila)
Arne Slot held an “intense” tactical meeting with his Liverpool players before the game against PSV Eindhoven - full story here!
Meanwhile, Manchester United legend Paul Scholes thinks he’s identified the clear “classless” moment things started to unravel for Slot at Liverpool - more info here!
Worryingly for Liverpool fans, Slot has admitted he’s “confused” as to why his team, full of so many quality players, has started performing so poorly. (TNT Sports)
Jamie Carragher gave a lengthy rant about Liverpool’s problems, suggesting that Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are finished at this level and that the rest of the players aren’t good enough to step up. (CBS Sports)
Curtis Jones gave a furious reaction to Liverpool’s defeat - watch it here!
Manchester United
What does the future hold for Harry Maguire at Manchester United? Full story here!
Kobbie Mainoo remains a genuine top target for Napoli after they first tried signing him in the summer. (Calcio Blog)
Manchester United are planning a HUGE clear-out of their current squad - full story here!
Real Madrid
Como star Nico Paz has already said yes to a return to Real Madrid, with the Spanish club planning to bring the Argentine back in the summer of 2026. (Fabrizio Romano)
Real Madrid player ratings - a superb score for hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe as Xabi Alonso’s side got back to winning ways. (Football Espana)
Sunderland
Sunderland are insisting they won’t let Granit Xhaka leave in the January transfer window, despite strong rumours of interest from Juventus. (Football Insider)
Tottenham
Tottenham lead the race to sign Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, who could leave for below his €100m release clause. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)