The Daily Football Briefing

Liverpool just had to beat Tottenham, but they absolutely blew them away at Anfield, running out 4-0 winners. James Pearce discusses their dominance, Jay Harris reflects on Tottenham’s timidity and the one thing we can agree on is that it’s been a really tough week for North London. Pol Ballus was watching Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, we’ve got Lisa Nandy from The Athletic FC and…erm…a bit of an announcement… Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James Pearce, Jay Harris, Pol Ballus, Lisa Nandy Producer: Si Watts

Any concerns that Newcastle would bottle their chance of a trip to Wembley proved extremely wide of the mark. They tore into Arsenal and thoroughly deserved their 2-0 victory. George Caulkin was there and he is happy, James McNicholas was there and he is rather less so. We had Beren Cross watching Leeds win again, Dermot Corrigan saw Real Madrid get a fright at Leganes and James Pearce joins us to discuss Liverpool’s transfer window. Listen here. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: George Caulkin, James McNicholas, Beren Cross, Dermot Corrigan and James PearceProducer: Si Watts

Manchester City’s spending has been the focus of much discussion over the last 24 hours. They bought four players in the window, but will they be enough to prevent Pep Guardiola’s empire from crumbling? Rory Smith thinks not And Real Madrid have complained very loudly about VAR “manipulating” the game against them. Thomas Hill Lopez Menchero is here to tell us if they have a point. Plus we’ve got news from all of the big games around Europe too. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Si Watts, Tomas Hill Lopez-MencheroProducer: Si Watts

We’ve got a full deadline day round-up for you here with everything that was confirmed after 11pm, but before our bedtime at midnight. Deal of the day? Marco Asensio for Aston Villa? Or will it be Mathys Tel for Spurs? Chelsea were never really comfortable at Stamford Bridge, but they grabbed themselves a much needed victory against West Ham. Simon Johnson was there. And we’ve got another episode of Heavy Metal Football…statistics for you, including the answer to the question: Who’s always trying to walk the ball into the net? The answer may not surprise you… Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Simon Johnson Producer: Si Watts

Be honest. When Kai Havertz missed that first half sitter, you thought that Arsenal were going to lose, didn’t you? And why wouldn’t you? That’s how football works. It’s powered by narrativium. Except this time it wasn’t. Arsenal destroyed City and Havertz got one in the back of the net eventually. Amy Lawrence has the Arsenal angle, Sam Lee has City, but we’ve also got Carl Anka at Old Trafford, the theatre of pathos, we’ve got Jay Harris at the GTech where Spurs were impressive and if that’s not enough, Pol Ballus joins us from Spain where Barcelona have rejoined the title race.  Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Sam Lee, Amy Lawrence, Carl Anka, Jay Harris, Si Watts and Pol BallusProducer: Si Watts

It’s mission accomplished for Tottenham and Manchester United, they’ve spared themselves a Europa League play-off. So have Rangers, which very few people expected. Jay Harris was in North London, Mark Critchely was in Bucharest, but they both made time for DFB.  So did Seb Stafford Bloor because it looks like young Mathys Tel is on the move. But where to?And we’ve got a whole weekend of domestic football on the horizon, so we’ve picked out the most interesting games in the top five league. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Mark Critchley, Jay Harris, Seb Stafford BloorProducer: Tom Fuller