Watford’s 6-1 hammering at the hands of Liverpool certainly won’t be the happiest day in Michael Folivi’s budding footballing career.

But after the 18-year-old travelled with Watford’s Premier League squad for the first time, it certainly won’t be a day he forgets any time soon.

Folivi has been in prolific form for Harry Kewell’s Under-23s so far this year, but when he realised he may be set for a shock Premier League debut, the youngster could hardly sleep.

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And though Jurgen Klopp’s men gave Watford a harsh lesson at Anfield as they went top of the table, Folivi has got the taste for more.

“It was an amazing feeling. I got told the day before it was 50-50 I might be in the squad, so then I was obviously thinking about it the whole night,” said Folivi.

“I got to the training ground in the morning and trained, and I just wanted to see the sheet to see if my name was on it.

“I got told I was in the squad and it was a real buzz. Everyone was happy. That’s where the experience starts really. I’ve done the first bit and I’m really happy with that.”

Jesse Lingard insists the winning mentality of new signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba will rub off on the rest of the Manchester United squad.

Jose Mourinho’s side have made a sluggish start to the season and currently sit sixth in the Premier League table.

But serial winners like Pogba – who won Serie A with Juventus four seasons in a row – and Ibrahimovic who did the same in France with PSG – have helped the squad’s mindset.

And Lingard is adamant that the best is still to come from the squad.

“The players that have come in can help a lot,” he said.

“We’re still getting to know each other better, to learn off each other week in, week out. But with the four signings we’ve made [Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan being the others], I think we have a strong enough squad to win the league this season.

“The mentality of wanting to win has come into my game more.

“Before games, my first thought was to play well but often if you get the win, the performance will come with it. When Zlatan came in, the first thing he said was he wants to win. Obviously that mentality rubs off on all the team.”

Stoke City never doubted their ability to get out of trouble according to midfielder Glenn Whelan – with the Potters currently flying high under Mark Hughes.

It was a tough start to the campaign for Hughes’ side, who were bottom of the table after five matches, but they have since gone on a run of six games unbeaten and are edging towards the top half of the table.

The key, according to Whelan, was that Stoke never lost faith in themselves and were always sure they would be able to turn the corner.

That appears to have come to fruition, and with a week off for international action, Whelan admits the dressing room is a great place to be.

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“The first five games, or however long it was, we didn’t really show how well we’re capable of doing in the games,” the midfielder said.

“We just weren’t getting the luck that we needed but we knew that we were a good side.

“We’ve got good players and we knew it’d turn; people are talking now about us being six unbeaten and it’s really good.

“It goes to show how good a squad we’ve got and how good we are as a dressing room to turn things around.”

Leon Britton admits Swansea find themselves in a tough spot, but has backed the team to get out of it.

The Swans currently sit 19^th in the Premier League, level on points with bottom side Sunderland and six points from safety.

Bob Bradley has taken over from Francesco Guidolin, but they are still to win under the American in the league.

Club captain Britton acknowledges there is not much confidence in the squad at the moment, but has called for unity to try to turn things around.

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He said: “Since we’ve come into the Premier League we’ve done very well – finishing as high as eighth and winning the League Cup.

“But right now we’re not in a good run of form and are struggling.

“We need to perform better as players and, more importantly, get points.

“The confidence is low, there is no doubt about that. But when you get a win it lifts confidence.

“It’s a tough moment for us, but you need to remain professional and work hard in training to ensure you are ready to do everything you can to help the team pick up points.

“Training this week has been different because the international contingent are away, but when they are back I’m sure we will all sit down with the manager and go through the last performance and try to rectify it when we play at Everton.

“We all want to change the results on the field. The supporters have always been brilliant to us, and we want to turn this around for them.

“I know it’s been a difficult period for the fans, but their support is so important to us.

“We can only get out of this position by sticking together and, hopefully, we can get a positive result at Everton to help start turning our form around.”

Michael O’Neill admits Northern Ireland missed Chris Brunt during Euro 2016 after the West Brom winger helped them to a 4-0 win over Azerbaijan.

The 31-year-old endured an extended spell on the sidelines with a knee injury, missing the Euros this summer as a result.

But having worked his way back up to fitness, he was back for his country, playing at left-back, and finished the game with one assist and one goal against the Azeris to earn the man of the match award.

It’s not all been plain sailing for Brunt on the international stage, but O’Neill believes he has won over the supporters.

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“He came away with the man of the match award and you saw the reaction he got from the crowd to him being back,” O’Neill said.

“At times maybe Chris has been unfairly criticised for playing for Northern Ireland. But certainly in the last couple of years he has been excellent when we have played him in that position at left-back and I can’t remember a bad game he has had for us.

“I remember coming here when I wasn’t the manager and I thought it was sometimes unfair when people expect an awful lot of the lads who have the highest exposure and they play in the Premier League.

“Sometimes maybe the Northern Ireland team was struggling as a whole and certain players were singled out.

“But we would have been a far stronger team in France (at Euro 2016) had Chris been fit, there is no doubt about that. We would have been a much bigger threat in France had Chris been fit as well.

“He has been captain of his club and he is one of those players who is easy to manage.”

Willy Caballero believes unique English centre-back John Stones is maturing well under Pep Guardiola and now has very few weaknesses in his game.

Stones has settled well under Guardiola after an initially tentative few performances and City’s Argentine keeper Caballero believes his ball-playing qualities make him one of a kind among English defenders.

He also insisted that life between the sticks is much easier when you play behind Stones, Vincent Kompany, Aleksandar Kolarov and Nicolas Otamendi.

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“He’s different to the normal centre-back in England,” he said. “They are always big and very good with high balls. John plays really well from the right side, the left side, and his passing always tries to build something.

“He does everything very well. We are really happy with him. I’m pretty sure England have a great centre-back for a long time.

“To play with John, with Nico, with Vincent, with Kola – for me, as a keeper, is wonderful, because they have confidence and they have quality.

“John is so young but he plays as though he has been around for more years. He is growing up now with Pep and hopefully England can have a great centre-back in him.”

Liverpool’s rise to the Premier League summit can be put down to Jurgen Klopp’s perfect training methods, according to Estonian defender Ragnar Klavan.

Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip have been impressive in central defence for the Reds so far this season, meaning game time for Klavan has been limited.

But the 31-year-old believes Klopp is encouraging excellence throughout the squad and ensures that those who are not first-choice are always ready to step in and fill a gap.

“Dejan and Joel are both really good centre-halves and at this level there is not much difference when you analyse if one is better with another,” the 31-year-old said.

“Everybody at Liverpool is at the highest level and we are being coached by perfect coaching staff to play the way we want to play. It makes it a lot easier for everyone to jump into the team no matter which position you are talking about.

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“Sometimes it is effortless the way players slot in here. They can play so well straight away and this is because of how we do things in training.

“Even if you are not going to be in the starting XI one week, you will still get the same coaching, the same ideas, and work on the same movements.

“The amount of games we have in a season, even without being in Europe this year, is a lot and at some points you play every two or three days here.

“So I think for the team it is really good to have a fluid system that means players can easily come in and out when the manager needs them to.”

Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier admitted to being a bit overawed by clubmate Kyle Walker, even conceding that he has a special nickname for the 26-year-old right-back.

Dier also highlighted Spurs left-back Danny Rose after the trio turned out for England in their 3-0 win over Scotland, but it’s Walker who Dier calls ‘the stallion’.

Both Rose and Walker were instrumental in England’s comfortable victory and had a hand in all three goals, and Dier said that the pair have to work exceptionally hard to maintain their high standards.

But with the rewards clear to see in both club and international colours, he believes the graft is more than justified.

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“I call Kyle ‘the stallion’, because he’s like a racehorse, up and down that flank,” the 22-year-old said.

“They are unbelievable physically, no-one can match them. They offer so much both defensively and offensively.

“I’m really happy for them and being involved in all three goals, that’s great for them as well. They deserve it because they work so hard at Spurs to be at that level.

“They then show the same form in international football as well, which is great for Tottenham and England. I’m delighted for them, they were fantastic.”

Mesut Ozil has added more goals to his game this season and the Arsenal playmaker insists hard work trumps talent every time.

The German midfielder has bagged seven goals and counting this season, including a hat-trick against Ludogorets in the Champions League.

Currently on an international break, the former Read Madrid man insists he is working hard to improve his game every day.

“I think it’s really important [to keep working],” he said.

“If you want to develop as a footballer, you have to work on your weaknesses every day.

“You have to have talent but of course nobody is perfect, and you have to work hard to minimise those weaknesses as well as you can. I’m working hard on that – for example, I’m not ambidextrous, so I’m working on my right foot too.

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“Especially if you play in the Premier League, you have to look after your body because the matches are very demanding and you have plenty of matches. That’s why you have to work hard, to make sure you stay fit.

“I knew that if I moved to Arsenal, I would develop myself further, especially under the boss. I’m on a good way, the team really supports me, the manager gives me his trust and you see that I enjoy myself on the pitch.”

Sunderland forward Victor Anichebe is eager to taste further victories with his Black Cat team-mates, urging them to build on last weekend’s win over Bournemouth.

The 28-year-old was influential on the south coast last Saturday, scoring as Sunderland came from behind to win 2-1 and clinch a crucial three points.

With no Premier League action this weekend owing to the international break, Anichebe has already turned his attentions to next Saturday’s clash with Hull City at the Stadium of Light.

And he insists confidence is high that Sunderland’s winning ways can continue, as they look to move away from the foot of the table.

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“The manager has been onto us since the Arsenal game,” said Anichebe. “It wasn’t a great game and on Monday [before Bournemouth] he said we needed to forget about it and he just told us straight, ‘Saturday we need to win.’ It is as simple as that.

“We were on it all week in training and it was super hard. He told us that it was a must-win game and that is the mentality we have to have from now on.

“We have to do what we need to do and we have to really concentrate on it. We have worked extremely hard (to get the win), it shows and it paid off so hopefully that can continue.”