Chelsea and Wolves off to winning starts - Premier League reaction

On the subject of fans in stadiums, senior sport officials are set to meet the UK government this week to discuss the return of fans to venues.

The government restricted pilot events to 1,000 spectators last week after a rise in coronavirus cases and plans for grounds to be up to a third full from the start of October are to be reviewed.

The league says around £100m per month will be lost by clubs across the leagues while matches continue behind closed doors and it is one of a number of sports bodies to have voiced concerns at the financial impact of an extended period with empty venues.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

All non-televised Carabao Cup matches from tonight, until the end of the fourth round, will be made available for supporters via an online streaming service.

UK-based supporters of Premier League clubs will be able to buy match passes for £10 on the competition's website for those ties not broadcast on Sky Sports.

Fans of English Football League sides, meanwhile, will be able to watch via iFollow, or their club's equivalent service, as they could for the first round.

All ties from the quarter-finals onwards will be televised.

Premier League teams join the Carabao Cup at the second-round stage this week - and a place in Uefa's brand new European competition on offer to the winners.

Rather than qualify for the Europa League as in the past, whoever lifts the Carabao Cup will qualify for the Uefa Europa Conference League (UECL) play-off phase - the round before the group stages.

Uefa's new third-tier tournament was announced in December 2018 and takes place for the first time next season.

If the EFL Cup winners qualify for Europe via the league - as they have each year since 2013 - the side finishing sixth in the Premier League (or seventh if the FA Cup is won by a top-six team) will go into the UECL play-offs.

Got all that? Excellent.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The season is about to start and you've just been put in charge of your dream football team.

Will you make light work of the season to win the league or fall short and face relegation?

From transfers to dealing with defeat, have a go at this fun quiz to see where your managerial decisions *might* take you...

I've just given it a go and I think it went OK...

.Copyright: .

For Chelsea fans who watched Kepa Arrizabalaga's performance last night and wondered what the latest is on Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, we are told that a deal is close.

Chelsea insist that any incomings would be to increase competition with Kepa, not replace him, but who knows how that might pan out.

The club's record £71m signing was not wholly convincing against Brighton. Maybe a greater challenge could lead to an improvement?

SMS Message: I'm sorry, but people saying teams like Liverpool & Chelsea weren't up to their usual standards need to give their heads a wobble. Most of these players haven't had a full pre season or a proper rest from the last season. Not to mention most played last week in what I thought were probably the most inconvenient set of National League games in its short history. If we keep demanding these elite players to play to the highest standards 3 times a week, then we can forget about having any decent football in the international summer tournaments. from Sam

I'm sorry, but people saying teams like Liverpool & Chelsea weren't up to their usual standards need to give their heads a wobble. Most of these players haven't had a full pre season or a proper rest from the last season. Not to mention most played last week in what I thought were probably the most inconvenient set of National League games in its short history. If we keep demanding these elite players to play to the highest standards 3 times a week, then we can forget about having any decent football in the international summer tournaments.

On signing his new long-term deal, Jack Grealish said: “I am delighted to make this commitment to Villa. It is my club, my home and I am very happy here.

"The owners have made it very clear to me how ambitious they are and how they want to build Aston Villa. There are exciting times ahead and I am very glad to be part of it.”

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Villa CEO Christian Purslow added: “Jack is an emblem of our owner’s vision for Aston Villa. He joined our Club as a local boy aged six and has developed into one of the country’s finest players, finally becoming a full England international last week.

“We are determined to build a top team around him and are delighted that he is extending his contract and committing himself to the club he loves.”

How about that one then, Villa fans?

Huge news!

Maybe that was what Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was teeing up all along...

Sean Dyche doesn't expect to have striker Ashley Barnes, defender Ben Mee or midfielder Jack Cork back ready for EFL Cup action this week.

"We’ve tried to take the cup competitions seriously, but haven’t always delivered," he added.

"The cup is not as important as the Premier League. It's nothing to do with dampening down the cup - it's just a fact that the Premier League is more important.

"We will pick a team that can win, it doesn't always work but that is the thinking."

Back to Sean Dyche for now though, and on his own transfer business the Burnley boss said "the main difficulty is finance".

"Every manager wants the players in early and to work with them. We had a short pre-season this time which made it more of a challenge.

"The group needs reinforcements, we lost players at the end of lockdown. We are looking but it is not an easy situation and the finance is what it is."

A promising sign, Arsenal fans?

Manager Mikel Arteta said at the weekend Arsenal supporters could relax over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract situation.

Could there be an announcement soon...

Burnley manager Sean Dyche says the "numbers would need to be considerable" for defender James Tarkowski to leave the club before the end of the transfer window.

Premier League rivals West Ham lodged a third bid thought to be around £30m for Tarkowski last week.

"We have nothing relevant at the moment and we are hoping it is not. We want to keep our best players," Dyche said in Tuesday's press conference.

"I don't see why any player would leave here at this moment in time and if they did I think the numbers would need to be considerable for it to be considered."

Snookered: The most important signing Wolves have made this summer is Nuno. He continues to build on excellent foundations already laid. He leads, he inspires. Above all else he has created unity at all levels. The club is at peace with itself because of him. Special bloke

Steven Blake: James had a great game last night. Werner showed he will get at least 20 goals a season for us. Havertz will take time to adapt remember he has only been training with us for a week but he is going to be great plus we have 5 players still to comeback for us

The Carabao Cup returns with the second round this evening.

Here are the ties taking place on Tuesday:

• 18:00 BST: Middlesbrough v Barnsley, Gillingham v Coventry, Millwall v Cheltenham, Reading v Luton
• 18:30: Derby v Preston
• 19:00: Bradford v Lincoln City, Fleetwood v Port Vale, Newport v Cambridge, Oxford Utd v Watford
• 19:30: Newcastle v Blackburn, West Ham v Charlton
• 19:45: Burton v Aston Villa, Morecambe v Oldham Athletic, Rochdale v Sheffield Wednesday, Bournemouth v Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient v Plymouth Argyle

Meanwhile, way back at 08:03, you're still backing Chelsea to mount a Premier League challenge this season.

It's currently 402 thumbs up versus 352 thumbs down.

We should be hearing from Burnley manager Sean Dyche shortly.

His side were, as just mentioned, without a game in the opening round of league fixtures and will instead get their season under way against Premier League rivals Sheffield United in the EFL Cup second round on Thursday.

We'll also take a quick look at what's to come in the Carabao Cup, which resumes this evening.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

SMS Message: Why do some teams play twice before some teams have even played once? from CM

Why do some teams play twice before some teams have even played once?

Manchester City and Manchester United have been given an extra week to recover after their involvement in the latter stages of last season's postponed Champions League and Europa League competitions.

City were due to host Aston Villa in their first game, while United faced a trip to Burnley - so all four teams will now begin their campaigns this coming weekend.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Paris St-Germain will "strongly support" Neymar after the Brazil forward said he was racially abused by Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez in Sunday's bad-tempered Ligue 1 match.

Neymar was one of five players to receive five red cards in a brawl at the end of the match after he hit Gonzalez.

On Twitter, Neymar accused his opponent of racism and urged the authorities to use VAR to clarify matters.

However, Marseille have made a statement saying Gonzalez is not racist.

PSG said there was "no place for racism in society, football or in our lives" and the club "looks forward to [French governing body] the LFP's disciplinary commission investigating and ascertaining the facts".