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After months of deprivation, a small cohort of Liverpool fans were finally given a chance to watch their champions in the flesh on Sunday evening.

It was the first time that supporters inside Anfield had witness a Reds title winning team since 1991 but boy, was it worth the wait.

Conscious to make up for lost time, the Premier League champions put on a show for the 2,000 in attendance, strolling to a 4-0 victory over Wolves. It wasn’t just the result that was impressive, the all-round performance was irresistible as well.

Mohamed Salah got the party started inside 24 minutes, as he has done so many times before. Latching onto a mistake by boyhood Reds support Conor Coady, Salah made no mistake with the finish. It was this sort of merciless attitude that would characterise the Reds’ display.

Andy Robertson and Salah teamed up to tear Nelson Semedo to shreds throughout proceedings, while the Liverpool midfield also stamped their authority on proceedings. Curtis Jones impressed once again, showing great intelligence to plug holes defensively and choosing his moments to attack. Meanwhile, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum operated with authority.

Soon after Salah’s opener, the Reds survived a penalty scare, thanks to the intervention of VAR and went into the break 1-0 up. They came out for the second half with renewed purpose with Georginio Wijnaldum scoring his first goal of the season.

What a strike it was as well.

With a few clever passes, Liverpool turned defence into attack and this free flowing counter attack was eventually finished by Wijnaldum, who bent a precise shot into the top corner. A third goal came soon after. This time, Joel Matip was the hero, nodding in Salah’s whipped cross and celebrating exactly like a man who hasn’t scored in over a year should.

These three strikes should have been enough to get the Reds’ title rivals worried and if they weren’t, goal number four certainly was. This one involved Trent Alexander-Arnold. Remember him? The best right-back on the planet made a very welcome return to the team, whipping a cross into the corridor of uncertainty which Nelson Semedo turned into his own net.

Alexander-Arnold was not the only absentee to return either. Naby Keita also continued his rehab with a brief cameo, providing a much needed boost to Jurgen Klopp’s injury depleted squad.

Liverpool’s dominant victory comes at a time where predictions of a tight Premier League title race are starting to be spoken a little more loudly. Tottenham’s easy north London derby win over Arsenal and Chelsea’s triumph over old rivals Leeds this weekend seriously strengthened both sides title credentials. Meanwhile, Leicester City, Manchester United and Manchester City remain peculiarly brilliant at times and woeful at others, but none of them can be entirely ruled out – yet.

However, make no mistake, Klopp’s champions remain the very best team in the land and their win over Wolves – which stretched their unbeaten home run in the league to 65 games – proved that.

As a new banner at Anfield aptly put it, the Reds are ‘back on their perch’ and it will take some side to knock them off it this season.

Chelsea fans couldn’t have asked for a better welcome back to Stamford Bridge, could they?

Well, I suppose the final result could have been more comfortable, or perhaps Frank Lampard’s men might have killed the game sooner, but Leeds United were never going to roll over. In the end, the Blues put in a performance that stunk of title contenders.

And that’ll be just as exciting to the Chelsea faithful as a hypothetical, comfortable 3-0 win over their rivals. They say that in order to be taken seriously as a contender for the Premier League trophy, you must possess an array of winning methods in your locker.

Blowing teams away, grinding out results, or just edging past a dogged opponent. On Saturday night, Chelsea produced a performance that encapsulated all three of these traits in one 90-minute spell.

Lampard’s men suffered an early setback, getting caught out by a clever ball behind the defence, and a rare lapse in judgement from goalkeeper Edouard Mendy left them trailing. Against a team as canny, relentless and spirited as Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, this would have set alarm bells ringing all over West London.

Instead, the Blues were calmness personified in their pursuit of retribution. They almost hit back immediately, but Timo Werner somehow contrived to smash the crossbar from less than a yard from goal.

It’s going to be one of those days, then?

Not with this fire power, it’s not. Chelsea pushed on regardless of their missed opportunities, and worked the perfect opening to make amends. Man of the moment Olivier Giroud did not pass up his chance to shine.

Hakim Ziyech beautifully crafted some space for the onrushing Reece James, who whipped a trademark cross into the front post, and his French recipient did the rest, poking the ball home and restoring parity on the half-hour mark.

Now with the wind in their sails, the hosts were rocking and rolling. Chances came and went – but the important thing was, they came in the first place. They had to be patient and wait to edge their noses in front, with Illan Meslier in top form, and Leeds standing firm – albeit creaking a touch.

As with any top team however, they found a way. Lampard’s men broke the white barrier through defender Kurt Zouma, who towered above his markers to crash a brilliant header into the net. Stamford Bridge erupted – it was the moment they had all been waiting for.

Now ahead, Chelsea began to put on a show. They snuffed out Leeds’ threat impressively, and broke with devastating pace, as Werner and Christian Pulisic linked up to draw a string of excellent saves and blocks from the Whites’ backline.

As the minutes ticked by, Lampard’s men also showed signs of mental growth and maturity, refusing to crumble under late pressure and stood firm. The visitors worked a couple of opportunities, but Mendy was rarely tested, as the ever-reliable Thiago Silva demonstrated exactly why the Blues were right to take a punt on him, despite his advancing years.

That dynamic duo Werner and Pulisic had the last laugh, combining to rip Leeds apart and put the result beyond doubt, adding a nice, glossy shine to a hard-fought 3-1 victory.

Lampard will undoubtedly be delighted. He has finally found a winning formula that compliments both his defence and attack, and he’s beginning to land on the right personnel for the job in hand.

The Chelsea boss will play down any talk of a title push as premature for the time being, but fans who were fortunate enough to step inside the Bridge on Saturday can now confirm with their very own eyes: they are well and truly in the hunt.

Start dreaming boys and girls, Lampard is on the march.

Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has confessed that he wants to be the next foreign coach to take the Premier League by storm.

Allegri has been out of work since leaving the Allianz Stadium in 2019, meaning he’s had plenty of time to watch the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho impress in England’s top tier.

Speaking to The Times, Allegri admitted he believes English football has improved greatly because of the multi-cultural nature of its coached, and he revealed that he hopes to try his hand at leading a Premier League side in the near future.

“For me, English football is improving now because there are a lot of foreign trainers,” he said. “There are more tactics compared to ten years ago.

“England now is more sophisticated, and more tactical, but is also respecting the tradition of English football. It’s a good balance of the spirit of English football and the new quality and new tactical approach of the new coaches.

“I would like to experience the Premier League. In Italy, I was in Milan four years. Five years in Juventus. Now I expect [to work again] in Italy, but it is difficult, or in England.”

Allegri has been linked with a whole host of English sides since leaving Juventus, with links to Manchester United or Arsenal perhaps stronger than most. He admitted to have been learning English in the hope of boosting his chances of a move, but refused to be drawn on where he would like to land specifically.

However, he has clearly been keeping up to date with what is going on in the Premier League, and he seemed to suggest that he may know the key to success in England.

“The important thing is every country has its own history,” Allegri added. “England is different from Italy, which is different from Spain, from Germany. It’s difficult to change the history of the country.

“It’s difficult to change the history of the club. For example, Manchester United played for 50 years the same style. When [Louis] Van Gaal arrived, he had a different mentality. Van Gaal wants to play with possession. But Manchester United are ‘get in the box, attack, attack, cross, cross’.

“Arsenal are different to United. In Italy, the same, Juventus different to Milan. The history of Juventus was every year with one big player for the team, [Zinedine] Zidane, [Alessandro] Del Piero, [Omar] Sivori, [Michel] Platini with other players to work every day hard [alongside]. In Milan it is different.”

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos called an emergency team meeting on Thursday to discuss his side’s poor form, encouraging his teammates to get behind manager Zinedine Zidane. However, rumours persist that Ramos himself is ready to leave Madrid at the end of the season.

Ramos’ Madrid have struggled in 2020/21, losing three of their ten opening ten La Liga games and sit seven points behind leaders Real Sociedad.

In the Champions League, Los Blancos could yet do the unthinkable and exit at the group stage, with their progression dependent on the final round of fixtures next week.

34-year-old Ramos has been absent since the international break, after suffering a hamstring injury on Spain duty, watching on as Madrid lost back-to-back games against Alaves and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Some reports even claim that Zidane could be sacked if Real Madrid fail to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.

To that end, Ramos gathered his teammates for what AS call an emergency meeting on Thursday, without the manager in attendance.

It is understood that Zidane still has the support of the core group, which includes Luka Modric and Marcelo.

AS claim that Ramos told his teammates to give an ‘extra push’ until the new year.

Meanwhile, however, Onda Cero’s Jose Ramon de le Morena claims that Ramos, whose contract expires in 2021, is entertaining offers from abroad, namely from Italy and England.

It is even said that currently ‘Sergio Ramos’ thought is to leave Real Madrid’. However, that could all change as negotiations with the club over a renewal continue.

90min reported Each of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ sides have expressed an interest in signing Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos should he choose to leave Spain.

By the time next summer arrives, the world-class Ramos will have spent 15 years at the Bernabeu and he has already won five La Liga titles, two Copas del Rey and four Champions League trophies.

Manchester United and PSG served up a wonderfully chaotic 90 minutes of Champions League football on Wednesday evening as the French champions ran out 3-1 winners at Old Trafford.

United were on top for much of the game but had Fred sent off with 21 minutes remaining and a brace from Neymar ultimately condemned the Red Devils to defeat, leaving Group H fascinatingly poised going into the final round of fixtures.

PSG took the lead after six minutes, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe combining neatly before the former tucked home at the near post.

United should have been a goal and a player down when Fred appeared to head butt Leandro Paredes. The referee went to check the monitor, initially couldn’t find the monitor and eventually opted to give the Brazilian a yellow card. The pair then continued to scrap for the rest of the first half.

Fred was treading a fine line and United fans were insistent he should have been replaced ASAP. But Ole knows best and I’m sure no harm came of it.

Not to be outdone, Scott McTominay and Neymar then enjoyed a little scrap of their own after the Brazilian forward found himself on the receiving end of a thumping sliding tackle, with a petulant argument between the pair continuing into the tunnel at half time.

United came out all guns blazing in the second half with the game there for the taking. Edinson Cavani struck the cross bar with a fabulous chip, and Anthony Martial saw two terrific opportunities go begging.

But with the Red Devils comfortably the better side, PSG then inevitably took the lead once more, Marquinhos poking home from a corner.

And just to rub salt into the wound, having not been sent off for something he did do in the first half, Fred was sent off for something he didn’t do in the second after being judged to have caught Ander Herrera with a late tackle.

This instantly begged the question as to why Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had not taken Fred off at half time, with the United midfielder treading on thin ice for most of the game with Nemanja Matic sat on the bench.

United continued to push for an equaliser, before Neymar wrapped up the victory in style for PSG. The forward shimmied past a handful of United defenders on the halfway line, charged into the box and applied the finishing touches to the move that he started.

Filth. Any silver linings, Ole?

Another Tuesday night, another gigantic helping of Champions League football.

Matchday five treated us to a couple of ‘shocks’ that are happening so frequently this season they weren’t actually that surprising. We had Real Madrid falling to a(nother) defeat, Inter making it hard for themselves and Manchester City being a bit boring.

Here’s all of that – as well as everything else – rounded up in one neat little package.

There’s only one place to start – Real’s shocking 2-0 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian side also bested Los Blancos in the reverse fixture and Zinedine Zidane’s charges seemed to have not learned anything from that embarrassing performance, serving up another pitiful display in Kiev.

To be fair, they did start the game fairly well but they faded badly in the second half with Shakhtar taking full advantage to win 2-0.

Meanwhile, Inter came very close to surrendering a 3-1 lead against Borussia Monchengladbach, eventually surviving a late disallowed goal scare to claim all three points with a 3-2 victory.

The result leaves Group B delicately poised going into matchday six with all four teams still in with a chance of progression. One to keep an eye on next week for sure.

Group A is also delicately balanced after Atletico Madrid held runaway leaders Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw, while Lokomotiv Moscow fell to a 3-1 defeat to Red Bull Salzburg. The pick of the goals in this group was a fine strike from Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi (see above), who celebrated with an even more impressive backflip.

As for Liverpool, they had stand-in goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to thank after he made a fine save late on to deny Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. This helped Liverpool secure a 1-0 win over Ajax, a result which confirmed the Reds’ progression. They will be joined by either Atalanta – who were held 1-1 by whipping boys FC Midtjylland – or Ajax, who face off against each other next.

Group C closes our round up. Why? Because it might be the most boring Champions League group of all time.

The only thing of note to report is that Andre Villas-Boas’ Marseille finally got off the mark with a 2-1 win over Olympiacos, breaking their 13-game losing streak in the competition. Oh yeah, and Manchester City drew 0-0 with FC Porto to guarantee top spot.

Newcastle have had to temporarily close their training ground after even more COVID-19 cases were recorded at the club, and fear the situation could put Friday’s trip to Aston Villa in doubt.

The club announced last week that two players and a member of staff were having to self-isolate after testing positive for the virus, and that tally was taken to five two further cases were later confirmed.

The infectious nature of the virus means that is always likely to rise further as more players and staff are tested, however, and The Telegraph report that a ‘significant’ number of new cases have been found. The club have closed their training ground until at least Tuesday morning as they look to get a handle on the situation.

The overnight closure is the best case scenario, however. The situation may not be resolved any time soon, and the report notes that Friday’s trip to the Midlands may be postponed, or even forfeited, as a result.

The report stops short of confirming the precise number of new cases but it is thought to be enough that the club are not confident of resuming full training this week.

It comes after Steve Bruce acknowledged it had been a ‘difficult’ week following Newcastle’s narrow victory over Crystal Palace.

“It’s been a tough week,” he said after his side rallied for a late 2-0 win. “Can we avoid a bigger outbreak? We sincerely hope so but it’s difficult at the minute. It’s a concern and difficult to manage. But we’re trying our best to control the situation; we’re trying to stay as safe as we can be.

“My concern is not just for the welfare of my players – which is, of course, vitally important – but my staff too. I’m a bit anxious.”

Over the past few years, IFAB – the body charged with determining the laws of football – has overseen a quiet and extremely boring regulatory revolution.

For years, the rules of the beautiful game remained largely untouched. Sure, there was the odd alteration here and there but generally, football remained perfectly imperfect since the introduction of the pass-back law in 1992.

This has changed recently. As the Telegraph reported in October, former Eton schoolmaster David Elleray’s ascension to the IFAB throne in 2016 has coincided with no less than 178 law changes so far. Some of these tweaks have concerned entirely ‘trivial’ matters like ankle tape. Saying that, this is certainly not a trivial matter in my Sunday League dressing room.

Others have altered the game in a profoundly negative way, such as the new handball law that completely removed intent from the description of the crime. This has led to some ludicrous decisions of late, which begs the question, do IFAB really know what they’re doing?

Further evidence of the body’s failings can be seen in their farcical handling of concussion substitutes, an issue that was sadly brought sharply into focus during Arsenal and Wolves’ Premier League meeting on Sunday evening.

Less than five minutes into this encounter, David Luiz and Raul Jimenez were involved in a harrowing clash of heads. The only thing more shocking than the collision itself was that after just a few minutes of treatment, Luiz was bandaged up with blood still gushing from his head and sent on his merry way.

Meanwhile, Jimenez was stretchered off unconscious and sent to hospital for assessment after a stoppage of around 10 minutes. Fortunately he soon regained consciousness and responded to treatment.

The incident had particularly resonance as it came so soon after the release of a study which provided further evidence of the danger of head injuries in sport. The report, conducted by Liverpool Hope University, showed that just 20 headers with a modern ball was enough to make most players fail a pitchside concussion test.

Yet, Luiz managed to pass his? Strange, particularly as the Brazilian was then substituted at half time.

As I am not a medical expert, I would not dare question the competence of Arsenal’s club doctor, who is responsible for administering the first pitchside assessment. It is well known that a player can pass a concussion test and then fail a second one a few hours later.

The bigger concern was the sheer frustration felt knowing that concussion substitutes would have allowed said doctor to conduct a more thorough assessment, and avoided Luiz being put in any necessary danger for the sake of saving time.

Our anger was only compounded when we began to consider just how easy it would be to introduce this. Concussion subs have been on the docket at IFAB for several years with the latest update suggestion that ‘tests’ would take place in January.

But why are these tests even necessary? Cricket and rugby union already have similar systems and recent revelations of the extent of the dementia crisis in football means the need for their introduction into our game has never been more pressing.

Yet, IFAB have prioritised the tweaking of laws so utterly pointless when compared with the threat of head injuries, that it borders on negligence.

The immediate introduction of concussion substitutes by these much maligned rulemakers would finally prove that football is ready to take head trauma seriously – and my word, it’s been a long time coming.

We may only be in November, and we’ve just passed the quarter-of-a-season mark, but Sheffield United travelling to West Bromwich Albion had ‘relegation six-pointer’ written all over it.

We could all be forgiven for allowing this thought to enter our minds. After all, six points was a higher total than the two teams had collected from their opening nine games – combined. The Blades had managed a solitary point from a possible 27, which left them propping up the rest of the league.

So, going into Saturday night’s big clash, both sets of fans would have been faced with one grim thought: whoever loses this game is doomed. While not completely irrational, it’s not entirely true, either.

Whoever wins will probably still go down, anyway. Both teams have looked miles out of their depth at times this year, and although they’ve put in the odd spirited display, they’ve been let down by a severe lack of quality.

It spoke volumes of the state of both sides that their big summer signings were watching the opening exchanges from the bench. Grady Diangana and Rhian Brewster cost almost £40m between them, but neither player has shown he has what it takes at this level thus far.

Two big risks from teams without a bottomless pool of riches, and decisions which could seem even more foolish come the end of the season.

Plenty at stake going into kickoff, then.

And in fairness, the match was as nervy, tense and hard-fought as you’d expect. Both teams gave it their all and left everything on the pitch. In the end, they would only be separated by a moment of quality or a slice of fortune.

Of course, it was the latter on this occasion – purely because the lack of genuine match-winning quality on the field left little chance of the game igniting into life.

West Brom were on the receiving end of Lady Luck’s charm this time round, as Conor Gallagher’s tame shot from the edge of the box deflected and crept past Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom corner. It was a poor start to the game for Sheffield United, and one from which they failed to bounce back.

Once again, they had their chances. It wasn’t a defensive masterclass from the Baggies, more an apparent phobia of hitting the net from the visitors. A wise man (Homer Simpson) once said, “You tried and you tried and you failed miserably, the lesson is: never try.”

George Baldock probably wishes he’d taken that advice. The wing-back gambled and got himself into a great scoring position, as the Blades carved out one of the classic plays which made them so successful last year. Unfortunately, his finish was very much in form with the Sheffield United 2020/21 era.

A late flurry of chances, including a double clanger from substitutes Brewster and Lys Mousset meant that West Brom just about clung on to the three points, lifting them out of the bottom three (for the time being).

As for Sheffield United, they remain very much bottom of the table, one point from ten matches, and completely cut adrift from their fellow stragglers. The plan which proved so effective for Chris Wilder last season has been sussed by their opponents, and when that’s in the bin, all that’s left is the quality of the individuals.

That quality, is Championship level – and that’s where the Blades will be heading if they don’t sort out this mess.

And West Brom? Well, they can enjoy the three points and smile at the Premier League table. They boast some nice, intelligent players in their team in Matheus Pereira and Conor Gallagher, while the new-found defensive solidity will be music to Slaven Bilic’s ears.

The absence of a proper goalscorer remains a concern though, and they’ll have to rely on edging 1-0 victories more often than not if they are to survive. That’s easier said than done.

So, there is a winner of this six-pointer after all. But on Saturday’s evidence, both teams may end up being losers come May 2021.