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• Maresca: Chelsea 'not ready' to compete for trophies with Man City and Arsenal

  Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea "are not ready" to compete for major trophies against Manchester City and Arsenal this season.

  The Blues have made a strong start to life under Maresca, losing just two of their 10 matches so far.

  They are currently on a five-match winning run in all competitions, most recently seeing off Gent 4-2 in their Conference League opener on Thursday.

  So far, Chelsea have scored 27 goals under the Italian, with 15 of those coming in the league, outperforming their 12.2 expected goals (xG), and only failed to score in their opening Premier League match against City.

  However, Maresca has insisted people should not get carried away by Chelsea's recent form, playing down their chances of lifting any silverware this campaign.

  "I really don't think we can compete with City or Arsenal," Maresca said.

  "I really don't think that, because we are not ready. The reason is that City has worked with the same manager for nine years and Arsenal for five years. If you want to compete for big things, you need that time.

  "After Arsenal beat PSG [in the Champions League] they asked Luis Enrique, and he said the same thing, that Arsenal have had the same manager for five years and [PSG] only a year and a half.

  "Imagine us, only three months… so it's a huge difference. So, I am really convinced we cannot compete with those clubs."

  Before Maresca's appointment, Mauricio Pochettino only spent a season at Stamford Bridge, while Graham Potter before him was only in the position for just under seven months.

  After another busy transfer window for Chelsea saw them bring in 13 players, Maresca has urged for patience as they continue to find their footing in the early stages of his tenure.

  "The target is to improve and slowly, slowly to get closer to those clubs but at the moment we are not ready for that," he added.

  “There is no timeframe because you can continue to improve and add solutions to things always.”

  Chelsea face Nottingham Forest at home on Sunday in their final match before the international break. 

• Ten Hag's future 'not my call', says Man Utd co-owner Ratcliffe

  Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe says he does not hold power over the future of boss Erik ten Hag, amid the Red Devils' woeful start to the season.

  United have taken just seven points from their first six Premier League matches, only beating Fulham and Southampton while suffering back-to-back 3-0 home defeats versus Liverpool and Tottenham.

  That is their joint-worst return through six games of any season in the competition, having made identical starts under David Moyes in 2013-14 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020-21.

  In the Europa League, meanwhile, United were pegged back in a 1-1 draw at home to Feyenoord on matchday one then squandered a 2-0 lead in Thursday's 3-3 draw at Porto.

  Those results have led to fierce criticism coming Ten Hag's way, but Ratcliffe says United's new football hierarchy will make any decisions regarding the Dutchman's future.

  Asked if he retained faith in Ten Hag, who signed a new contract in pre-season, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: "I don't want to answer that question.

  "I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach but at the end of the day it's not my call.

  "It's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.

  "But that team that's running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren't there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.

  "They've only been there… you can count it in weeks almost - they've not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.

  "Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it's not there yet, obviously – that's very clear."

  United go to Aston Villa for their next Premier League game on Sunday, having won 40 Premier League games against the Villans, with only the Red Devils themselves beating an opponent more often in the competition's history (41 versus Everton).

  Villa have won just one of their last 25 Premier League home games against United (eight draws, 16 losses), with that victory coming in Unai Emery's first game in charge of the club in November 2022 (3-1).

• Rashford withdrawal down to rotation, insists under-fire Ten Hag

  Erik ten Hag has insisted Marcus Rashford's half-time withdrawal during Manchester United's draw with Porto was down to a need for rotation, not a statement on his performance. 

  United are still searching for their first Europa League win of the campaign, after Harry Maguire's late header salvaged a 3-3 draw in Porto on Thursday.

  After the Red Devils went 2-0 up through early goals from Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, a strike from Pepe and a brace from Samu Omorodion had put them on the brink of another humiliating defeat.

  To cap United's frustrations, captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a red card for a second successive game after also being dismissed in Sunday's 3-0 loss to Tottenham, having never previously been sent off in any of his first 241 games for United.

  It was the decision to substitute Rashford for Alejandro Garnacho, though, that dominated post-match talk, with no United player matching Rashford's eight touches in the Porto box or three successful dribbles all game, despite his early withdrawal.

  Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Ten Hag said: "We have to rotate. Garnacho, we didn't start him, but he had a great game not only Sunday but the whole season.

  "We go quickly with a turnaround to Villa and they have had a day longer to recover and we have an away game."

   

  Rashford now has 14 goals in the Europa League, moving him outright fourth in the all-time UEFA Cup/Europa League charts among English players, behind only Martin Chivers (22), Alan Shearer (21) and Jermain Defoe (19).

  Asked about the substitution again in his post-match press conference, Ten Hag added: "Yeah, but Garnacho was my best player on Sunday by far and also in many other games.

  "I think in the season, as I assess it so far, he is bringing us so far the offensive threat by creating chances, assists, also scoring.

  "Garnacho we also have to play as well and we have two very good players over that side."

  Pushed on whether the decision had anything to do with Rashford's role in Porto's first goal, which came down the England man's flank, Ten Hag said: "I have to watch it back and I think over the left side definitely we didn't defend well tonight.

  "Marcus also played a part in this but, as I say, it had to do with Garnacho and nothing against Rashy."