Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney feels Jose Mourinho is being made the easy target for the players’ shortcomings during the ongoing campaign. The Red Devils have been far from impressive since the Premier League season started in August and they find themselves seven points behind the leaders after just eight matches into the campaign.

As a result, there has been plenty of criticism levied towards the club’s head coach but Rooney believes the player have to stand up and produce strong performances on the field, he told The Telegraph: “It's tough [at United], it has been a tough situation.The players, the manager, it has been a tough start to the season.

It looks like Arsenal have decided that Danny Welbeck is too valuable a resource to be allowed to leave on a free transfer next season, with the Gunners management team now discussing his new contract, and hopeful a new deal can be concluded in a matter of weeks.

The decision to keep Welbeck at the Emirates has been backed by Ian Wright, with the enthusiastic Gunners legend saying that Arsenal needed to keep players such as ex-Manchester United Danny Welbeck, if they are to compete for the Champions League spaces once more.

England head coach Gareth Southgate has revealed that Luke Shaw has not suffered any major problem and he should return to first-team action with Manchester United after the mandatory one-week break. The left-back made his first England start in nearly 18 months during the Nations League game against Spain last week and he managed to make a meaningful contribution with an assist.

Despite this, the Three Lions suffered their first defeat at the Wembley Stadium in over two years and the game also ended on a sour note for Shaw after he got concussed following an aerial collision with Spain’s Dani Carvajal. Speaking regarding the same, Southgate confirmed that Shaw has returned to normalcy after the incident and he should return to first-team action once the mandatory rest period is complete, he said: “All being well he has a mandatory six to seven-day rest period, but he should be back as soon as that is done.”

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has indicated that he has the full confidence on goalkeeper Petr Cech, who started the season opener versus Manchester City. The 36-year-old was impressive with key saves during the 2-0 defeat at the hands of the reigning champions but his poor distribution skills led to fans and pundits alike calling for Bernd Leno to start between the sticks.

However, speaking to reporters, Emery has stressed that he is ‘very happy’ with the performance of the veteran goalkeeper and does not see the reason for a change for the London derby against Chelsea this weekend, he said: “I am very happy with his performance. I think he has experience, quality, and capacity like a first goalkeeper with us - and also Bernd Leno. They are two goalkeepers important for us. Different qualities but for us, like we want to play, the two goalkeepers can play. Saturday the decision is easy, Petr Cech will continue to start the match, I believe in him. If he starts bad, I believe in him also.”

Jamie Carragher believes that the departure of Antonio Conte from the Premier League is a major blow for the division. The Italian will be remembered as a manager who forced almost the entire Premier League to change their formation in order to prevent Chelsea from running away with league titles. At a time when playing for a comeback was the norm, Conte brought in his preferred 3-5-2 formation to great success at Stamford Bridge. This formation yielded a Premier League title and an FA Cup medal in the last two campaigns. However, Conte fell out with Chelsea – much like he has done at his previous clubs – and has been sacked to be replaced by Maurizio Sarri.

Conte won numerous hearts at Chelsea with his passionate display on the sidelines. The Italian still had one year left on his contract and was not ready to relinquish his role – in order to receive a compensation from Chelsea. Now, he is expected to return to Italian football since he has already turned down an offer from Real Madrid. This is unlikely to worry Conte, who may be back in management within the next 12 months. Carragher says that Conte has been an impeccable manager for the Premier League as he has been able to create a new identity.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that his side have got one of the Bundesliga’s best after Naby Keita made the move from RB Leipzig earlier in the summer. The Guinea international joined the Reds for a reported fee of around £48m as part of a pre-agreement, which had been finalised during the 2017 summer transfer window.

In a report covered by The Liverpool Echo, Klopp stressed that Keita was probably one of the best players in the Bundesliga during Leipzig’s maiden top-flight season between 2016 and 2017. The midfielder could not quite replicate a similar showing during the course of the 2017/18 season but Klopp insists the Reds have got a player who has good attributes in both sides of the pitch.