Everton duo stake England claim, Jaydee Canvot steps up for Crystal Palace, and Benjamin Sesko struggles to settle
Amid the headlines about Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham being recalled for England, there was a little less said about Nico O’Reilly being named in Thomas Tuchel’s squad. Myles Lewis-Skelly paid the price for his lack of game time and now the City man gets his opportunity to stake a claim for a World Cup spot. The 20-year-old now goes into camp having become the latest defender to shut out Mohamed Salah. That’s less of an achievement than it used to be, but O’Reilly still had to show tenacity and patience against this nuggety, late-era version of the Egyptian superstar. The City full-back nicked the ball off his man regularly – much to the delight of the home fans – and got forward to decent effect, too. If Pep Guardiola trusts O’Reilly in the biggest games and he can avoid injury there is no reason to think that the City academy graduate cannot make England’s most open position his own. Tom Bassam
Match report: Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool
After a 4-0 win, presumably it was smiles all round for Aston Villa? It felt that way as Unai Emery and his players departed the pitch after destroying Bournemouth. For Harvey Elliott, though, it was another difficult afternoon. Omitted from the match squad for the third successive league game (though he was ineligible to face his parent club, Liverpool), the 22-year-old last played for Villa on 2 October as an 86th-minute substitute against Feyenoord. His last league appearance came in September, when he was hooked at half-time against his former club Fulham. Emery points to the form of those with whom Elliott is competing, including Emi Buendía and Ross Barkley, both among the scorers on Sunday. Then there is Morgan Rogers, who has evolved into one of Emery’s undroppables. Elliott, a deadline-day arrival, has to play at least 10 games to trigger a £35m permanent move from Liverpool but, after just seven matches and 98 top-flight minutes, might he have played his final game for Villa? Ben Fisher
