With one of the most in-form strikers in Europe spearheading their attack, Feyenoord have looked liked a pretty damn good football team during the 2023/24 season.

Thanks to Santiago Gimenez's 18 goals in all competitions, the Dutch side have won 10 of their 13 games thus far. Nice work, fellas.

9. Inter (re-entry)

Back in the rankings having gone back to the top of the Serie A table, Inter undeniably look like the best team in Italy right now.

A lot of that is down to the brilliant form of Lautaro Martinez, but also props are due for the defence which has conceded a league-low five goals this season.

8. Manchester City (up 2)

After a run which saw them named 90min's Crisis Club of the Week (not a good thing, if you're wondering), Manchester City re-found their mojo this past week with wins over Brighton and Young Boys.

And they re-found their mojo because Rodri returned to the lineup. Go figure.

7. Atletico Madrid (-)

The 2-2 draw with Celtic in the Champions League wasn't ideal, but Atleti retain their seventh place ranking this week because their league form has been genuinely outstanding recently.

Diego Simeone's side have won every La Liga game they've played since their famous win over Real Madrid.

6. Real Madrid (down 3)

Is down three because of a 1-1 draw with Sevilla having seen two goals be chalked off after VAR intervention?

Yeah, probably.

But we aren't here to cut any teams slack, and those two dropped points have meant that Real Madrid head into El Clasico this weekend with just a one point lead over their arch rivals Barcelona.

5. Aston Villa (re-entry)

We're now one full year into Unai Emery's reign at Aston Villa, and judging by the fact that his side have accumulated more points than all but three Premier League clubs (Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City) during that period, we'd say things are going pretty well.

Now up to fifth in the league table, Villa look like genuine top four challengers this season.

4. Arsenal (-)

The Gunners showed some real reslience on Saturday to just about keep their unbeaten start to the Premier League season intact, coming from two goals down to salvage a draw against Chelsea.

Things were a bit more straightforward in the Champions League in midweek, as Arsenal saw off Sevilla in impressive fashion. All in, a decent week for Mikel Arteta's side.

3. Bayern Munich (re-entry)

- 16 straight Champions League group stage wins.
- 37 Champions League group stage games unbeaten.
- Eight Champions League group stage away wins on the bounce.

It's officially official: Bayern Munich are the best team in Champions League group stage history.

2. Bayer Leverkusen (down 1)

Down one this week, but still top of the Bundesliga thanks to a win over VfL Wolfsburg.

Bayer Leverkusen have shown no signs of slowing down in recents weeks.

1. Tottenham Hotspur (up 1)

After nine gameweeks, seven wins and just two draws, we think it's pretty fair to finally say that Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur are legit.

The Lilywhites have been exceptional so far this season.

Manchester United plan to ask David de Gea to return to the club on a short-term deal when Andre Onana, who replaced him at Old Trafford, heads to the Africa Cup of Nations. De Gea has not joined a new club since being released in the summer. (The Sun)

Real Sociedad defender Robin Le Normand has played his way on to the radars of both Man Utd and Liverpool. (TEAMtalk)

Bayern Munich are not yet certain to reignite their interest in Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, who came close to joining the Bundesliga giants during the summer. (Bild)

Jose Mourinho is expected to leave Roma in the summer and return to the Premier League, where he could be joined by striker Tammy Abraham. The 26-year-old is ready to return to England and is open to being used as part of a possible swap deal with Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku. (TEAMtalk)

Chelsea could also splash out €100m (£87m) on Gavi, with Barcelona fearing they may have to cash in on the youngster to help manage their financial misery. (Sport)

It would take a bid of at least £80m to convince Manchester City to entertain selling striker Julian Alvarez, who has been linked with both Barcelona and Real Madrid. (Football Insider)


Another striker on the radars of both Barcelona and Real Madrid is Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus, who is being watched closely by the two Clasico rivals. (AS)

Real Madrid will look to profit from Man Utd's interest in Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo. With a 50% sell-on clause in his contract, Madrid could trigger the 22-year-old's €60m (£52m) release clause, make half of that back and then sell Kubo to the Red Devils for €70m (£61m). (Defensa Central)

Some of that money could be used to fund a move for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabian Ruiz, who is wanted in Madrid by manager Carlo Ancelotti. (Defensa Central)

Liverpool are ready to rival Manchester City for the signing of Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen, with a January exit from Stamford Bridge on the cards for the Dutchman. (TEAMtalk)

Tottenham Hotspur hope to fend off competition from Newcastle United to sign Juventus winger Federico Chiesa. The Serie A side are open to selling the £60m-rated star to help solve their financial worries. (Calciomercatoweb)

Paris Saint-Germain wonderkid Warren Zaire-Emery is set to sign a new long-term contract at the Ligue 1 champions. (Fabrizio Romano)

Real Madrid are planning to sign both Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in the coming years by landing the former on a free transfer when his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires and triggering the release clause in the latter's deal with Manchester City. (El Chiringuito)

Kevin De Bruyne is set to be offered a bumper deal to swap Man City for Saudi Arabia in 2024. (Football Insider)

In-demand midfielder Jamal Musiala has concerns over achieving all his individual goals with Bayern Munich, who have to "work hard" to fend off interest from Liverpool and Man City. (Kerry Hau)

Arsenal are huge fans of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi and manager Mikel Arteta is keen to get a deal done soon. (Sun)

Man City are prepared to demand £50m to part ways with midfielder Kalvin Phillips, which would see them make an £8m profit on the 27-year-old. (Mirror)


Manchester United value Jadon Sancho at €35m (£30m) - a figure which has piqued the interest of Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou. (Fichajes)

Also on Tottenham's radar is Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura. (Fichajes)

Ruben Neves "dreams" of sealing a January return to the Premier League with Newcastle United just six months after leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers for Saudi outfit Al Hilal. (O Jogo)

The next youngster to attract interest from Chelsea is 16-year-old striker Dino Klapija, who currently plays for Croatian side NK Kutosija. He is expected to be available for £5m. (Daily Mail)

Barcelona are actively looking for a new midfielder and are prepared to fight off competition from Juventus to sign Royal Antwerp's Arthur Vermeeren. (TuttoJuve)

• David Raya continued in goal for Arsenal despite his error against Chelsea on Saturday, with Aaron Ramsdale back on the bench.

• Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back in Arsenal's only change from the 2-2 draw at Chelsea.

• Gabriel Martinelli made his Champions League debut while Thomas Partey missed out with a muscle injury.

Takehiro Tomiyasu hit the side netting with a low drive from the edge of the box while Martinelli had his first major chance of the game when he was played through on the break, but fired straight at Orjan Nyland when he should have done better.

Sevilla gained some confidence as Lucas Ocampos fired wide at the near post from Jesus Navas' cross - with the home side's growing belief coming at Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya's expense for a few nervy first-half minutes.

The Spaniard - jeered regularly by the home crowd following his high-profile mistakes - hit two straight passes at Ocampos in quick succession - the second error nearly leading to an opening for Dodi Lukebakio, who could not control well in the box.

Player ratings

Sevilla: Nyland (6); Navas (6), Ramos (6), Gudelj (7), Acuna (6); Sow (6), Soumare (6), Rakitic (7); Lukebakio (6), En-Nesyri (6), Ocampos (7)

Subs:Mariano (7), Lamela (6), Sanchez (n/a)

Arsenal: Raya (7); White (6), Saliba (7), Gabriel (7), Tomiyasu (8); Jorginho (6), Rice (8), Odegaard (6); Saka (7), Jesus (9), Martinelli (8)

Subs: Havertz (6), Trossard (n/a), Nketiah (n/a)

Player of the match:Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)

A stop-start first half - which included injury scares to Arsenal duo Martinelli and Bukayo Saka - nearly drifted towards a slack conclusion but came alive in injury time.

Youssef En-Nesyri fired wide when a slick Sevilla move opened up the Arsenal defence, but then the Gunners hit with seconds of the half remaining.

Jesus was the chief creator spinning two Sevilla defenders on the centre circle before feeding the rapid Martinelli, who burst past the retreating home players with ease. The Brazilian rounded Nyland before tapping into an empty net.

Arsenal continued their rise in the second half with Martin Odegaard blasting over from inside the box after Nyland denied Jesus from close range - but it was not long until the Gunners fired for a second time.

Declan Rice drove well through the left-hand side of the pitch and fed Jesus on the wing. The Brazilian cut inside as he entered the box before firing in between two Sevilla defenders into the top corner.


Arsenal pushed again with Saka, who put his first-half ankle injury worry behind him, seeing a shot blocked inside the box but then Sevilla struck back out of nowhere to halve their climb back. Ivan Rakitic's corner was headed in at the near post by Gudelj and the home crowd lifted their voices to maximum levels.

Sevilla thought they were level when substitute Mariano Diaz fired at goal from inside the box but Arsenal goalkeeper Raya tipped his rasping drive onto the crossbar, without knowing the referee would penalise the home forward for controlling the ball with his hand.

The pressure continued to build on Arsenal, especially as the excellent Jesus limped off on 81 minutes. But Raya saved again from Mariano, but the closest the home side came to an equaliser came in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

A cross from the right was punched backwards by Raya and thankfully for the Arsenal goalkeeper, the ball landed on top of the net.

It was enough for the Gunners to hang on for a big win in arguably their most challenging Group B test.


Arteta: Not many teams win here, we had to suffer

Arsenal manager Arteta hailed his side's resilience to put their most recent Champions League disappointment away at Lens behind them to respond in brilliant style in Seville.

"Very happy to win in here, not many teams have won here in the last 10 years in Europe. And we've done it," Arteta told TNT Sports.

"I really liked the team in the first 60 to 65 minutes because we played the game we wanted. After we went 2-0 up, we should have scored a third one and we had chances to score it.

"We didn't and then one corner, the first action where they had something, they scored from and from there they have the experience and a lot of presence, as well a lot of belief to win the game and we suffered.


"It's about experiences and learning from those experiences. When you lose, you sometimes learn much more than when you win and it was a very different team that played in Lens. There were moments when we were very dominant and then we had to suffer, and it's necessary to suffer to win a game."

The Arsenal manager also hailed Jesus for bringing the "big moments" required to win the game.

"That's what you need," he added. "You need magic moments in big games, you need the big players to step up and create those big moments. We need that: players performing at their best and he did something special."
Analysis: Arsenal cannot afford to lose Jesus to injury

Sky Sports' Sam Blitz:

A superb turn and a defence-splitting pass for Arsenal's first, then a brilliant curling finish for the second, Gabriel Jesus looked like someone at home in the Champions League and looking at his record, you can't be surprised.

The Brazilian made it 23 goals in 41 appearances in Europe's premier club competition - including 14 goal contributions in his last 17 Champions League starts - during Arsenal's important Champions League win in Sevilla and his vital experience was on show in Spain.

Remember, this is still a young Arsenal voyaging on unchartered waters. Even the strong-headed stars like Bukayo Saka are playing in their first Champions League campaign, Gabriel Martinelli even made his debut in the competition on Tuesday night.

But what was the perfect tonic for these young attacking stars? Jesus putting it on a plate for Martinelli late in the first half, before the Arsenal No 9 showed his fellow Brazilian how big moments are done in style at this level. And that's three goals in three Champions League group games this season.

These margins are vital, which is why Jesus' hamstring injury scare is a real "concern" for Arsenal, as Mikel Arteta put it. Jesus cannot miss another chunk of a Premier League title race, his experience is too valuable.