He had just turned 14 — a devoted Manchester United fan, hoping to catch a glimpse of his heroes.

It was November 1986, Alex Ferguson’s first week as the club’s manager, when the schoolboy set off from home, catching two buses across the city to make his way to The Cliff, United’s famous then training ground.

We cannot use his real name because of an anonymity order, granted by the UK’s High Court after he brought a claim against the club, having first come forward in 2024 to allege that Billy Watts, a now-deceased member of United’s backroom staff, had sexually abused him during that visit to The Cliff. That is also why comments have been turned off on this article.

Today, though, that former autograph-hunter has decided to tell his story — how his childhood ordeal has affected him throughout his adult life and why speaking about it, he hopes, will help with the healing process. Now in his fifties, he says he is still coming to terms with what happened and remains extremely hurt that United have never offered him the apology he says would “help me get proper closure”. 

As The Athletic revealed on Thursday, United reached an out-of-court settlement in March — without any public statement — to pay an undisclosed sum in damages, without admitting any liability. It is the first time the club have been sued for an incident of this nature in the 10 years since football’s sexual-abuse scandal broke. Other clubs have typically paid low five-figure sums, around £10,000 to £20,000, to settle similar cases.

United have previously accepted, in an inquiry into sexual abuse in football, that there have been reports of other alleged incidents involving Watts, including one in the training-ground showers and another in the sauna, and that youth-team players referred to him as a “pervert”. Watts, who died in 2009, worked at the club for another three years beyond the incident, then unreported, that led to this settlement.

“I’ve often thought to myself, ‘Who else has he done this to?’” says the alleged victim. “Or was I a test person? He had a lot of access to young people.”

The Cliff, on Lower Broughton Road in Salford, will always be famous as home to arguably the best conveyor belt of young talent English club football has ever seen.

It was here, on the banks of the River Irwell, that the Class of ’92 came through the United system and, before that, Matt Busby’s brilliant production line, aka the Busby Babes, who led the club to European Cup glory in 1968. Everyone who knows United’s history understands why their striker and later manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once described this piece of land as “the DNA of the club”.

“As a kid, I always had a fascination with United,” says the then young football fan who was drawn to The Cliff out of his love for the club. “I’d been to Old Trafford (their home stadium) a few times, when I could save up enough money to go in the Stretford End, and I’d worked out the bus routes to The Cliff. I really wanted to see Alex Ferguson and hopefully get some autographs.”

Autograph hunters were a common sight outside United’s old training ground at The Cliff (Matthew Ashton/Empics via Getty Images)

What happened instead caused so much emotional damage that he talks openly about how, aged 19, he went to the highest floor of a multi-storey car park in Manchester city centre and contemplated throwing himself off.

Two older boys were also at The Cliff on that fateful day. Unlike him, they weren’t collecting autographs. He had already seen them go inside the main building, where there was little security in those days, to steal a pair of football boots. Then he heard them talking about taking one of the footballs lying at the side of the pitch.

“So when I saw (United goalkeeper) Gary Bailey going to his car, I went up to him. ‘You see those two lads over there,’ I said, ‘they’ve stolen some boots and they’re trying to get the Adidas Tango balls.’ Gary went back inside the main building. Then two members of groundstaff came out to grab these lads, and the police turned up to take them away.”

That was when Watts arrived on the scene.

Officially, he was the caretaker. Yet he also had several other roles, predominantly as kitman and groundsman, and was often the first person visitors would meet at The Cliff, standing behind the red metal gates that formed the main entrance.

“He was wearing dark-tinted glasses,” the schoolboy fan recalls now, becoming visibly upset. “He said to me, ‘Gary’s really impressed with what you’ve done. He would like your address, so he can send you two tickets.’ I gave him my address. I wish I hadn’t. After what happened next, that was scary. He knew where I lived and, for a long time, I thought he would come to my house to find me.”

Ferguson was in his native Scotland on the day in question, meaning the youngster never got to see United’s newly-appointed manager. But the trip was still shaping up to be a happy experience for a boy of his age.

“He (Watts) asked me how long I was going to be around. ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘I’ll take you up to the canteen.’ He took me upstairs and I sat next to (United’s then captain) Bryan Robson. I could barely speak — he was my boyhood hero. They put a roast chicken dinner in front of me. I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t even eat it.”

Bobby Charlton, one of the club’s all-time greats, was kicking a ball around on an indoor pitch and the young United fan was allowed to watch the 1966 World Cup winner in action.

“I watched Bobby for 15 minutes and, when I came out of the building, it was raining. I stood near the changing rooms and Billy Watts approached me again. ‘Why don’t you come in and have a shower or a bath with me?’ he said. And the next thing I knew, he had me cornered in a doorway.

“He sexually assaulted me. He grabbed at my crotch and started pulling at the top of my trousers, trying to undo them. I broke free. I ran, I scattered. I was absolutely petrified.”

He launched his claim — XYZ v Manchester United Football Club Limited — last November.

The impact of the abuse, he says, has been serious and long-lasting. His life has been scarred by depression, failed relationships, a gambling disorder, homelessness and other issues. He has an intense dislike of being hugged or touched physically.

Everything, he says, goes back to his childhood trauma, exacerbated by growing up in a turbulent family environment. After his encounter with Watts, he “turned into a s**t” and “didn’t give a f**k,” running away from home and doing badly at school. A psychological report last year concluded that he had post-trauma symptoms.

“I’ve had (Watts) in my head all my life,” he says. “I didn’t have the relationship with my mum and dad where I thought I could tell them. I didn’t tell anyone. As a kid, nobody knew. I’d try to keep myself busy, so I wasn’t thinking about it. But I’ve never been able to block it out completely.

“I’ve always had his face at the back of my mind. Even now, there are some days when I just stay in bed and stare at the ceiling.”

In 2024, he was invited to a safeguarding meeting at Old Trafford, shortly after writing to United in an attempt to alert Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire new shareholder who effectively runs the club for the Glazer family, their American long-term majority owners. At that meeting, he says he asked for Watts’ name but wasn’t given it. When he subsequently found it out for himself, he says United “closed me down” and told him he would have to direct everything to England’s Football Association.

“He (Watts) had worked there for years, going back to the Ron Atkinson and Dave Sexton (managerial) eras,” he says. “It felt like the club were just trying to get rid of me.”

In 2019, The Athletic revealed that United had reported several historic complaints against Watts to the independent inquiry, commissioned by the FA, into the sex-abuse scandal engulfing English football.

The four-year inquiry, led by Clive Sheldon KC, was launched in 2016 after ex-footballer Andy Woodward waived his right to anonymity in an interview with UK newspaper The Guardian detailing the abuse he suffered at the hands of now-deceased Barry Bennell, a former Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra junior coach and talent-spotter.

Bennell, described in court as a “child abuser on an industrial scale”, was sentenced to 36 years in prison, and there were so many follow-up complaints — a “tidal wave,” in the words of the FA’s then chairman Greg Clarke — it largely went unreported that a former employee at United’s training ground was mentioned in Sheldon’s findings as another potential offender.

“The club (United) was made aware in 2016 of allegations that, in the 1980s, the caretaker had made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature, physically pulled an individual into an office against his will, followed an individual into a sauna at the training ground and wrestled with him,” Sheldon’s report states.

“There was also an allegation that the caretaker had tried to touch another individual inappropriately in the showers; that the caretaker was referred to by youth team players as a ‘pervert’. There was a further allegation that the caretaker had tried to touch another boy and, when confronted, had said, ‘I’m only messing, shut up.’ The club referred the matter to the FA in 2016.”

Watts was in his fifties at the time — a smallish man, maybe 5ft 4in (162cm), with a strong Salford accent, a combover and nicotine-stained fingers. His alleged victim, speaking to The Athletic, describes him as “one of those people who obviously smoked a lot, with longish greasy hair that looked like he’d tried dying it”.

In 1988, Watts was featured among a series of staff profiles in the Manchester United Official Yearbook.

“We’ve never been able to find out just what Billy does!” the article read. “Suffice to say that he always seems to be busy and is quite a fixture now at The Cliff, our main training ground in Salford.”

“I didn’t see that picture of him until more than 30 years later, and my first thought was, ‘Jesus, I’ve described him to a tee’,” says his alleged victim. “It was shocking and overwhelming to see his face again. I thought he was taller than others have described him. But you have to remember I was just a kid. At that age, I was tiny.”

Watts was the subject of a disciplinary case, overseen by then United secretary Ken Merrett, in 1989. The specific nature of that complaint is not clear. Yet United confirmed to the Sheldon inquiry that they “redeployed” Watts to a new role at Old Trafford, taking him away from The Cliff and the club’s youth-team players.

Two further incidents were also brought to United’s attention after Watts’ death, and both were flagged up by the club to the Sheldon inquiry.

In the case of the former autograph-hunter, he wrote to the Sheldon inquiry in October 2019 to identify Watts — 10 years after his death — as a sexual offender. In that letter, seen by The Athletic, he tells Sheldon that he had also reported it to the club earlier that year.

United have previously stated that, although official records from the 1980s are not available, they believe Watts left the club within a few months of being disciplined and took a job as a cleaner in a police station.

For the schoolboy fan, trying to bury the trauma became impossible, he says, after an incident in his adult life when he alleges he was indecently assaulted in a work setting. He says he suffered a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The police investigated but decided there was not enough evidence to press charges.

Every day, he says, is a battle. He undergoes psychotherapy sessions, and it is particularly hard for him to understand why there has been no apology from United. It is, he notes, in stark contrast to the way Manchester City invited in more than 100 of Bennell’s victims for long, often emotional, meetings with senior boardroom executives. In the past few weeks, he has written to City director Simon Pearce to thank him for the club’s approach.

“It’s about getting closure,” he says. “Instead, it feels to me like United have taken the attitude of, ‘This has happened, we’ve paid you off, we’ve swept you under the carpet and we don’t have to deal with you any more’.”

United have not commented about the specific High Court case. In 2019, however, the club gave a statement to The Athletic in relation to this matter and referred back to it when the High Court claim was launched last November.

When contacted by The Athletic for this article, a club spokesperson said: “As we said at the time, we cooperated fully with the Sheldon review in an effort to make sure we were as comprehensive on this important matter as we could be. While it would not be appropriate to comment on individuals, we take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously and have met and listened to anyone who has come forward with dignity and respect.”

In equestrian sport, there might be just two athletes in the ring: a rider, and a horse. But the jump-offs and championship wins could not happen without a competition groom.

A competition groom’s job is the ultimate in multitasking and requires a huge array of skills that extend far beyond the essential care of feeding, mucking out of stables, bathing and grooming the horse and ensuring water and hay supplies are constant.

Bettina Cardinael, groom to Belgian Olympian Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and winner of the FEI’s Best Groom award in 2024, wants people to understand that grooms are part of a sports team.

“It’s not just about ‘patting ponies,’ or making them pretty,” Cardinael said. “There’s a huge management part. The best grooms are very organized and have an eye for the details.”

Scheduling and managing a horse’s massive support staff falls to the grooms. Like top athletes, a horse’s schedule includes visits from physiotherapists, osteopaths, veterinarians, chiropractors and sometimes even animal communicators and reiki practitioners.

Managing hoofcare is essential work as well: Tracking when the horse is due its next shoeing or if the ground require studs, and if so, the type of studs.

Assisting the rider encompasses a wide variety of considerations, from scheduling a rider’s warm-up and earlier training rides to keeping the saddlery clean and in good repair. Many grooms also take on the lion’s share of the driving, piloting 18-tonne trucks through the night on trips that often eclipse many hundreds of miles. And they often ride, too.

All of this and more are part of the job.

Even her own family didn’t realise the scope of her role until Cardinael won the FEI award.

“It’s common knowledge the hours we work and the commitment and the love we have for our horses, but I don’t think most people realize that we have a lot of responsibilities,” Cardinael said.

“But it’s worth all the hours when you’re at a big show and you see your horse and your rider doing well, evolving or winning the class. It’s always full of emotions. We learn to know these horses inside and out.”

Tabitha Fiorentini, groom for United States eventer Hallie Coon. Grooms have a wide range of critical responsibilities. (Tilly Berendt Media)

A head groom is the equivalent to a pit crew chief in Formula 1. They bring a wealth of hard-won experience to the role, understand the quirks and nuances of each of their charges, and manage a team of staff both at home and in competition.

But while crew chiefs at the top F1 teams can earn over $1 million a year, the compensation for their equestrian equivalents has historically been a thornier matter.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have mainly good experiences in the jobs I’ve had,” Cardinael said.

“But I have been to a place where I felt I was not properly paid nor fairly treated — and because the riders know we love the horses, they can sometimes take advantage of that emotion and that attachment to make you work too much. They can also justify their behaviour because it’s high-level sport. Luckily, it’s just a small amount of riders who are like that, but if your first experience is in a job like that it can seem like it’s very normal.”

The traditional pathway for a young equestrian keen to get a foot in the door begins with taking on a role with an established professional as a working student. It is essentially an unregulated apprenticeship.

In many cases, this proves to be a functional trade-off. The working student is compensated with housing for themselves and their horse, plus a stipend. They have set days off and receive daily education in and out of the saddle. When they finish their tenure they are ready to step into a paid role as a groom or can pursue their ambitions as a rider.

But while many top-level show jumping grooms anecdotally make four-figure sums per week, it is just as common to hear stories of grooms earning a fraction of that for the same output.

In 2024, a British Grooms’ Association (BGA) study found that 64 percent of respondents did not have formal employment contract, while 46 percent reported that they were paid less than the national minimum wage; 51 percent did not receive payslips and 44 percent were not enrolled in a pension scheme.

It was in 2007 that former groom Lucy Katan and British Equestrian, horse sport’s governing body in the UK, launched the BGA, which provides support and employment advice, as well as insurance policies, to grooms in the UK, regardless of their employment contract status.

The formation of the Equestrian Employers’ Association (EEA) followed in 2017. The group was designed to provide guidance on staffing, employment law, and safeguarding to stable managers and owners.

But it is the International Grooms Association (IGA), launched in 2022, that is Katan’s magnum opus. Though its global scope means the association can’t provide the same services as the BGA since insurance and employment law advice are unique entities from country to country, it does serve as a valuable representative for grooms. The IGA gives grooms a unified voice at shows and within the sport’s global governing body, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

“It’s a democracy, and most of our board members are current or former grooms,” Katan said. “They all put forward excellent rule change ideas, and we then take them to the FEI, to the sports forums and working groups, and present our case for change.”

FEI President Ingmar de Vos partnered to develop the Grooms’ Charter, which launched in 2024, and means anyone can now access an online learning platform designed to update employees on industry best practice and rule changes. The charter also marked the first time in the FEI’s century-long tenure that grooms had been officially recognized as essential team members.

Among the IGA and FEI’s combined successes so far is a change to late-night prize givings — a huge positive shift for show jumping grooms, who often have to work into the middle of the night for under-lights classes or late starting classes at winter indoor shows.

While the fight against late start times is ongoing, Katan successfully campaigned for a change in ceremony requirements. Now, just the top three horses and riders in a night class must be present for the awards. Previously, that could stretch to the entirety of the top 10, adding potentially hours of additional work to a groom’s day.

Through their IGA membership, grooms can also undertake the International Groom Clean certification, launched last month, which aims to keep grooms and stable staff aware of anti-doping regulations and risk factors. Katan hoped that this certification will soon become a requirement for grooms at FEI competitions.

“In any other sport, you have one party that could get an anti-doping violation: the athlete,” she said.

“In equestrian sport, you have two failure opportunities. There’s the human athlete and there’s the horse — but who takes care of the horse? Who looks after the rider? If you don’t ensure your staff are up to date on anti-doping, you’ve created a real weak link in your system.”

Paul Drew, groom for British show jumper Tim Gredley. Grooms are being recognized for the contributions to the success of the team. (Tilly Berendt Media)

More and more competition venues are coming on board with Katan’s vision for a more equitable industry.

“[The FEI World Championships at] Aachen was the model for how it should be, going forward,” Katan said. “Everything they did was fantastic in terms of groom recognition: the grooms were on the start list; the grooms’ photos and names were on the screens with the riders and horses; the grooms got their own moment on the podium.”

It is, she says, “all about being recognized. You’re no longer just somebody hiding in the stables. The FEI had a campaign in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics called ‘Two Hearts’ and I said to them at the time, ‘no, you’re wrong — it’s not just two hearts.’”

The ‘third heart’ even became its own storyline during the World Championships as grooms were fitted with heart rate monitors. Those heart rate numbers were shown on screen whenever the broadcast turned to each rider’s support team watching the round.

Beyond the arena, Aachen provided updated grooms’ lounges, social evenings for stable staff, and improved residential options, too — something that is a primary focus of the IGA.

This week at the Brussels Stephex Masters, which culminates in Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix, grooms are as essential a part of the fabric as at any show — but the organizing team is determined to carry on the legacy of recognition established at Aachen. Each day, the competition crowns a Groom of the Day — a unique accolade that is just one of the reasons competition grooms enjoy the fixture.

Katan hoped respect, recognition, and the formalization of qualifications and contracts will raise the profile of grooming as a career option.

Grooms are, after all, essential, skilled industry professionals.

Remember last Friday evening when we all picked defending champions Arsenal to beat new boys Coventry City, and everyone’s 100 per cent prediction record was intact? Life was good.

Then, just like Manchester United on their trip to Hull City, those records were mauled by ‘The Tigers’…

This season, our band of The Athletic “experts” will give you a preview of the 10 fixtures each gameweek and our predictions: home win, away win or draw, with three points for a correct call — which mirrors the Pick ’Ems game you can play here.

Our picks will go up against those of an algorithm (Algo), a weekly guest subscriber and Wilfred, who is now a seven-year-old child.

Last time, Oliver Kay bravely went it alone, but for 2026-27 he will be joined by Elias Burke, Andy Jones (me!) and Duncan Alexander to form a rotating cast of know-alls from our pool of writers.

In gameweek one, promoted Hull’s home win against United in Saturday’s early kick-off was the first shock result, but it ended up being a weekend full of surprises. Thankfully (from a predictions perspective), Manchester City staged a late comeback to beat Bournemouth on Sunday but there was heartbreak for Algo when Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai netted a 99th-minute penalty to deny Newcastle United an opening-day win a couple of hours later.

My fellow in-house expert Elias was the only predictor brave enough to tip Everton to beat Crystal Palace, while Jack Clarke made us all pay for not backing promoted Ipswich Town, with a 90th-minute winner to take one point away from Sunderland (and three points away from The Athletic, Algo and Wilfred). Wilfred celebrated his seventh birthday at the weekend with a present of Anton Stach’s free-kick brilliance for Leeds United to snatch late victory against Nottingham Forest.

Of course, Algo picked Brentford, who are essentially the algorithm of the Premier League, to defeat Tottenham Hotspur, while the experts and subscriber Ryan both correctly predicted wins for Brighton & Hove Albion against Aston Villa and Chelsea over Fulham.

So, on to gameweek two.

The Athletic leads with five correct predictions (15 points), so that’s where we are going to end things for this season. Thanks for playing…

… that’s what I was hoping the editors would say anyway, but instead they’ve assigned me to this set of fixtures, so there’s a great chance for everyone to catch up.

Oh… and we saw your comments. From this week onwards, we will also include scoreline predictions from our Athletic Experts after you guys said you missed them from last season. They won’t be a part of the scoring, but they are there if you’d like to know the exact score our writers are expecting.

OK, off we go with gameweek two, where we are joined by our guest subscriber Matt, 48, a Manchester United fan from London.

Subscriber’s match of the week

Manchester United vs Ipswich Town

Matt says: As a United fan, this is the biggest game of the week. Any pre-season optimism was cut short after last weekend, and it’s vital to get some form of forward momentum back with a win this time.  The same could be said for Spurs, while there seems very little to be optimistic about for a decimated Aston Villa.

HOME WIN

Andy says: Michael Carrick was probably wondering what the fuss was all about during his successful interim reign as United coach in the second half of last season. Then Hull rocked up on Saturday, punched his side in the nose, and there was little response. They need to be much improved for their home opener, and it feels like striker Benjamin Sesko, who was on the bench last weekend, providing a focal point will be key. Hull’s victory overshadowed Ipswich making a winning return to the Premier League themselves. Their performance may not have been as eye-catching, but it was effective. The expectation, though, is United will dust themselves off and not drop more points to a promoted side. They will need to show a lot more open-play creativity, though.

HOME WIN

Score: 2-0

It wasn’t an ideal start for Manchester United in GW1 (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

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Our Expert’s other predictions

Crystal Palace vs Manchester City

Andy says: It may have been underwhelming, but Enzo Maresca’s City side found a way to start their campaign with three points. The late come-from-behind victory at home against Bournemouth on Sunday gives them momentum, but improvements are needed. Marc Guehi returns to his previous club in this Friday night fixture, but how long will the No 6 experiment both work and last — the same goes for Erling Haaland’s haircut. Palace need to bounce back from a disappointing opening-day defeat at Everton. Ongoing transfer situations with Ismaila Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta aren’t helping Pierre Sage’s settling-in process.

AWAY WIN

Score: 1-2

Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest

Andy says: After an unconvincing draw with Newcastle, you’d think new Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola would welcome home comforts. But in Forest you have a side who have won back-to-back league games at Anfield, and are now managed by Oliver Glasner, whose Crystal Palace teams caused Liverpool plenty of problems in recent seasons. Forest will probably just be glad to not be playing Leeds again, having lost to them twice in four days in the league (1-0) and then the Carabao Cup (2-0). Iraola will expect his side to be much improved, but Forest, a work in progress themselves, have been given a blueprint by Newcastle of where to target their opponents.

HOME WIN

Score: 2-0

Glasner and Forest will just be happy to not face Leeds again after two losses to them in four days (David Rogers/Getty Images)

Bournemouth vs Everton

Andy says: Even after switching head coaches in the summer, Bournemouth continue to look like Bournemouth and they were 10 minutes away from a huge opening-game victory in Manchester. The late collapse against City will sting, but there was plenty to be positive about for new boss Marco Rose. The same goes for counterpart David Moyes, who oversaw a relatively drama-free winning start for Everton at home to Palace. The Vitality Stadium had been a place of nightmares for Everton (six Premier League defeats and two draws in eight trips) until they won there 1-0 last season, thanks to a Jack Grealish goal. Bournemouth, though, haven’t lost a home league game since title-bound Arsenal pipped them 3-2 on January 3.

HOME WIN

Score: 2-1

Coventry City vs Hull City

Andy says: Talk about differing experiences for two promoted sides. Frank Lampard and Coventry were welcomed back to the Premier League with a thump from a Mikel Arteta-shaped hammer. Meanwhile, Oli McBurnie and company were playing Whack-a-Mole with Manchester United as they looked every bit a team that can compete now they’re back at the top level. Hull are riding a wave of momentum, while Coventry could do with getting points on the board at home against another of the division’s newcomers. It would be unfair to judge them after an opening game away to the reigning champions. In the two games these sides played against each other in the Championship last season, a total of zero goals were scored. Ominous.

DRAW

Score: 1-1

Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United

Andy says: Spurs can’t be as bad here as they were at Brentford, can they? If there is one thing Roberto De Zerbi must do this season, it is turn the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into a place that is tough for opponents to go to, rather than his own players. Newcastle’s outlook appears much more optimistic than it was seven days ago, after a turbulent summer but a positive opening match. They were seconds away from a first win for new coach Matthias Jaissle on debut and Yoane Wissa finally looked like a player worth the £50million he cost, after a 2025-26 debut season to forget. This should be high-tempo and should have goals in it.

DRAW

Score: 2-2

Wissa looked much improved as he began his second season with Newcastle (Michelle Mercer/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Andy says: If you had asked Fabian Hurzeler to draw up his perfect first day of the new season, his side’s 4-0 dismantling of Aston Villa may have exceeded it. Though was it a reflection of how good Brighton were, or how bad Villa were? Hurzeler’s counterpart in the dugouts for this game, Xabi Alonso, would have been delighted by his front three all getting on the scoresheet against Fulham, but the less said about Robert Sanchez’s display at the other end of the pitch the better (though their subsequent signing of Emi Martinez from Aston Villa speaks volumes). Only 38.1 per cent possession on Monday night is not a very Alonso-like stat either for his first official game as manager, and if Brighton have that much of the ball they will surely fancy repeating last season’s result at Stamford Bridge — a 3-1 win. This has all the ingredients of an entertaining contest.

DRAW

Score: 2-2

Leeds United vs Brentford

Andy says: Leeds may have won their first two competitive games of the season, but they’re now up against Keith Andrews, who appears to be in charge of the best club team in the world currently (are we getting carried away?). The 3-0 victory over Tottenham could not have been much more comprehensive — looking at you, Igor Thiago — and midfielder Mamadou Sangare’s debut seems to be another illustration of Brentford being the smartest guys in the room. I, on the other hand, am not, and despite Brentford’s brilliance last Saturday, you cannot discount Leeds at Elland Road with a bit of confidence and momentum: they won nine of their 19 home league games last season.

AWAY WIN

Score: 0-1

Sunderland vs Fulham 

Andy says: Did everyone hear Jamie Carragher predict Sunderland to finish bottom on Sky’s Monday night show? I keep having to go back and check. He does have his reasons for thinking that, and it will be concerning that Sunderland managed to get Sunderlanded as they fell victim to the opening-day-promoted-team-at-home trap against Ipswich. Plenty of the ball (62 per cent to 38 per cent) but only one shot more than Gary O’Neil’s home side (11 to 10). Home form (nine wins, only four defeats) was key for them last season, and it will have to be again — although they did lose this very fixture 3-1 in February. Fulham were a good watch against Chelsea on Monday and even though the result wasn’t there, new coach Alvaro Arbeloa will be pleased with his side’s intensity, and particularly the performance of Josh King. The challenge is sustaining those levels, and making sure it wasn’t just first-game-of-the-season adrenaline.

DRAW

Score: 1-1

Aston Villa vs Arsenal

Andy says: In recent seasons, this has always felt like one of Arsenal’s most difficult fixtures. They lost at Villa Park last season thanks to an Emiliano Buendia 95th-minute winner, but aside from him, Unai Emery’s squad has been ripped apart for differing reasons over the summer. Villa must be in the running for ‘Most unprepared team entering the season’ based on their sobering 4-0 defeat in Brighton on matchday one. Meanwhile, Arsenal cruised past Coventry and look as prepared as you can be for a strong title defence. Can Villa create a siege mentality with this being the first home game of the campaign? Maybe, but that feels unlikely to be enough.

AWAY WIN 

Score: 1-3