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• Mason Mount aware Man Utd must improve after stuttering start to the season

  Manchester United midfielder Mason Mount admits his side need a clear improvement after suffering their worst start to a Premier League season.

  Not since the 1989-90 campaign, when Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly one game away from the sack, have United lost four of their first seven league fixtures.

  But Joachim Andersen’s first-half goal for Palace inflicted the same fate on the current crop, which left the Old Trafford faithful booing at the end.

  Mount, who made his Premier League return after six weeks out with injury, says United must get better.

  “We know we need to win these games and it’s been a difficult start,” the England international told the club’s website.

  “As soon as they got the goal, they defended really well, they got bodies behind the ball and made it difficult to create. We had a few chances but it wasn’t enough.

  “We know we need to go back and look at the areas that we need to improve on – and we need to improve because we want to win games, we want to win every competition we’re in, we want to go right to the end. So it’s a tough one to take.

  “It was a tough start with the injury and a frustrating one but I used that time to look at areas where I could improve and coming back in the team last game, it felt good.

  “But you don’t want to lose games and, especially at home with the fans, we want to perform for them and win games for them. And yeah, we need to improve. We need to go away and look at some areas that just weren’t there.

  “But there are games coming thick and fast now. Every three days we’re playing in different competitions and this is a new start. The Champions League at home under the lights – it’s an exciting one to play in and hopefully we can perform and win that game now.”

  Andersen’s brilliant goal – a sweet first-time finish at the back post from an Eberechi Eze set-piece – proved enough for Palace to earn revenge for their Carabao Cup defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the week.

  And he enjoyed his match-winning moment.

  “That goal, for me personally, is something I’ll remember,” Andersen told the club’s official website.

  “It’s something that I need to improve on. I need to score more goals because I’m capable of scoring goals. I have the desire to score. I think I have a pretty good strike actually. I know I’m capable of scoring goals.

  “It was a good cross from Ebs and I just felt that someone would get a touch and I just sensed where the ball would fall, like a good striker would do, and I hit it really well. Amazing goal.”

• Raphinha injury blow for Barcelona

  Barcelona forward Raphinha is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in Friday’s win over Sevilla, the LaLiga club have announced.

  Raphinha pulled up after taking a shot at goal late in the first half and was seen holding his right hamstring as he signalled he needed to come off.

  In a statement, Barcelona said: “Tests carried out on the first-team player Raphinha show that he has a hamstring injury in his right thigh. He is unavailable for selection and his recovery will dictate his return.”

  The former Leeds player has featured in five league games and once in the Champions League so far this term, scoring two and registering three assists.

  Although Barca put no timeframe on his return, reports in Spain suggest he faces up to a month out, which would see him miss the Champions League match against Porto and the LaLiga fixture away to Granada before the international break.

  Barca then return to action against Athletic Bilbao on October 22 and face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League three days later.

  Raphinha could then face a race to be back in time for El Clasico against Real Madrid on October 28.

• Jurgen Klopp questions pressure on VAR officials after error denies Reds goal

  Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp questioned the pressure being put on officials after the Professional Game Match Officials Limited vowed to investigate the decision to rule out a Luis Diaz goal in the Reds’ dramatic 2-1 loss at Tottenham.

  Diaz looked to have put Liverpool ahead in the 34th minute when he raced on to Mohamed Salah’s through ball and rifled into the bottom corner of the net, but the offside flag was immediately raised.

  A VAR check by Darren England in Stockley Park occurred, with screens inside the stadium informing supporters, but play was able to quickly resume with the effort remaining offside.

  Referees’ body PGMOL has since acknowledged a “significant human error” occurred and that VAR “failed to intervene” to prevent the error.

  Liverpool went on to finish the match with nine men and suffered stoppage-time heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error.

  “Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No,” Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL statement.

  “We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier.

  “I don’t know why the people…are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick I would say for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that’s how it is.”

  After a breathless start at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Liverpool were reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Curtis Jones was sent off following a VAR review.

  Jones caught Yves Bissouma with a high, studs-up tackle on his shin that initially earned him a yellow card but referee Simon Hooper upgraded the decision to a red card after he used the pitchside monitor to review the incident.

  Diaz found the net six minutes later, but after it was ruled out Tottenham went ahead when captain Son Heung-min tapped home from Richarlison’s centre in the 36th minute.

  Cody Gakpo levelled for Liverpool on the verge of half-time but Klopp’s problems mounted when Diogo Jota was dismissed midway through the second half following two fouls on Destiny Udogie in quick succession.

  It meant Liverpool had to play the final 21 minutes in north London with nine men and their stubborn resistance was finally broken when Porro’s dangerous cross was diverted past Alisson by Matip.

  Klopp added: “I told the boys after the game I am super proud and especially with 10 men they were really good. They did everything that is necessary and on top of that we were courageous.

  “I don’t think there is anything to say about the offside goal. I knew at half-time.

  “In the first moment I thought it was clear offside but then it is right to think they have a better view and at half-time we knew with normal pictures. Easy to see, no offside.

  “But I am pretty sure whoever did make that decision did not make it on purpose. It didn’t take extremely long to come to the conclusion, that is a bit strange, but someone else has to clarify that.”

  Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, was happy to accept the rub of the green with the Diaz ruled out effort but highlighted that VAR will never be “errorless” after he watched his team’s unbeaten record stretch to seven matches in the Premier League.

  He said: “I think I’m on record as saying that I’ve never really been a fan of it since it came in. Not for any other reason than I think that it complicates areas of the game that I thought were pretty clear in the past.

  “We used to understand that errors were part of the game, including officiating errors. You’d have to cop it and some people would cop it better than others but that was part of the game.

  “The game is littered with historical refereeing decisions that weren’t right but we all accepted it that it was part of the game because we’re dealing with human beings.

  “I think that people are under the misconception that VAR is going to be errorless.

  “So much of our game isn’t factual. It’s down to interpretation and they’re still human beings. They’re going to make mistakes the same way managers make mistakes, the same way players make mistakes.

  “When you put such a high bar on something it invariably is going to fail, so if people are thinking that VAR is going to be something that at some point that is perfect, that’s never going to happen.”