Time to sign off for today – I’ll leave you with our 10 things to look out for on what promises to be another absorbing Premier League weekend. Bye!
Here’s Barney Ronay on Harry Kane, still thriving as a one-club scorer in the modern age:
The former Rangers goalkeeper Andy Goram is undergoing cancer treatment, the Ibrox club have confirmed. Goram, now 58, won six titles and five cups with the Glasgow club. He earned 43 Scotland caps, and also represented his country at cricket.
A statement on the club’s official Twitter account read: “Rangers can confirm our legendary goalkeeper, Andy Goram, is undergoing treatment for cancer in a local hospital. Club officials are in regular contact with Andy and his family. The family have asked for privacy at this time.”
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In the Women’s Champions League, Barcelona are already well on top – they lead Wolfsburg 2-0. Follow that with John Brewin over here:
This is a nice interview by Sid Lowe, who chats to Valencia midfielder Carlos Soler. His grandpa had to bribe him with a Game Boy to sign up for his local team – he has gone on to win the Copa Del Rey with Valencia, and could add a second in Saturday’s final against Real Betis.
I knew I could count on Peter Oh to help me build a scrantastic starting XI. “Scranton Ferdinand, Marco Scran Basten, and Sadio Scrané. Not forgetting Paulo Di Scranio. The manager would have to be Carlo Scrancelotti.”
Sadio Scrané really is next-level.
In League Two, Forest Green will take an electric team coach to Bristol Rovers, seeking a point to confirm promotion. Exeter could also go up if they beat Rochdale and other results go their way. Port Vale, in third, visit Walsall – they have a two-point lead over Northampton (who go to Leyton Orient) and Rovers.
Below them, the battle for play-off spots is intense. The two sides in sixth and seventh, Sutton and Tranmere go to strugglers Barrow and Stevenage respectively. Below those two and in the relegation zone, Oldham desperately need a home win over play-off chasing Salford.
In League One, Wigan can secure promotion with a home win over Plymouth, who are fighting for a play-off place. Rotherham, in second, host Oxford, who could still muscle into the top six. Third-placed MK Dons, who have played a game more, play Morecambe.
Sheffield Wednesday still have faint hopes of snatching a top-two spot; they go to sixth-placed Wycombe. Sunderland, masters of the late winner, will hope for an easier win at home to Cambridge.
Doncaster must beat Burton at home to avoid relegation being rubber-stamped and there’s a huge game at Highbury between Fleetwood and Wimbledon, both currently in the bottom four.
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Let’s take a look at the weekend’s Championship action, which kicks off tonight at the John Smith’s Stadium where Huddersfield host Barnsley. A win for the hosts would confirm Barnsley’s relegation and put pressure on second-placed Bournemouth, who welcome Fulham on Saturday. If Marco Silva’s already-promoted side win, they will have all-but secured the title.
Luton can also cut the gap to Bournemouth with a home win over Blackpool in the early kick-off, while fifth-placed Nottingham Forest go to Peterborough, who need a win to have any realistic hope of escaping the drop. Reading can end that hope regardless if they win at Hull, with relegated Derby playing for pride at home to Bristol City.
There’s an almighty scramble on to grab the final play-off spot, with Sheffield United (66pts) currently leading the race. The Blades host Cardiff, Millwall (65) go to Birmingham, Middlesbrough (63, game in hand) visit Swansea and QPR (63) travel to Stoke. West Brom (60) face Coventry (62) in what feels like an eliminator, while Blackburn (63) play Preston on Monday night. Phew!
Brentford will offer a stern test of Tottenham’s top-four credentials in what should be a highly watchable tea-time game on Saturday. Thomas Frank’s side are safe as houses and pushing for a top-half finish, their points tally boosted by a remarkable London derby record.
The Bees have beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham (twice) already this season and sit second in this notional mini-league of the capital’s teams. Yes, it includes Watford – but the Hornets have helpfully lost every game against London sides so far, so it’s moot.
Sticking with food and footballers [jarring segue alert] ... Declan Rice has turned down a third contract offer from West Ham. David Moyes has previously insisted Rice is “not for sale” but that he would cost “£150m, minimum”. Manchester United and Chelsea have previously shown interest – but to be honest, if I were him, I would stay put.
Scrani Alves? Scranthony Taylor? Joachim Scrandersen? Even if you have to idea what I’m talking about, this is still a nice read:
Ben Fisher takes a look at Leicester v Aston Villa below. It’s tempting to nominate this as the Premier League’s first Seaside Special of the season, with both teams very much on the beach – but Villa aren’t quite safe yet, and the Foxes need to tune up for the Europa Conference League semi-final against Roma. Anyway, Brighton v Southampton on Sunday is a far more suitable candidate.
It’s the 240th Merseyside derby on Sunday, and as Barry Glendenning writes, it could well take Liverpool one step closer to a Quintuple: league, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Champions League, and Everton getting relegated.
The Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has been talking about his involvement in Martin Broughton’s bid to buy Chelsea.
“I’ve been a football fan since I was a kid. I used to play football with all the kids, I was really wanting to fit in. I was the only kid of colour there ... [then] my sister Sam said I had to support Arsenal. But my Uncle Terry is a big Blues fan so I’ve been to so many games with him to watch Arsenal and Chelsea play. Ultimately I’m a sporting fan. It’s the biggest sport in the world and Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and one of the most successful. When I heard about this opportunity I thought: ‘Wow, this is one of the greatest opportunities to be part of something so great.’”
Thanks, John. Here’s another left-field contender for game of the weekend, from Steve Rackett.
“The Wessex League Division One play-off final between Newport (Isle of Wight) and Laverstock & Ford. Both teams on great form, Laverstock & Ford not lost since turn of year and Newport on a long unbeaten streak too. The final is at Smallbrook Stadium in Ryde, to decide who will play in the Premier League (Wessex) next season.”
I will sign off and hand over to my colleague Niall McVeigh with this quiz. I got 9/11, if you’d like a challenge.
Yash Gupta on PP: “Pogba represents Man United’s board failure and lazy approach perfectly. They think they have a good idea, well great. But only if it has been done at a proper time. Going for Mourinho three years late. Then missing the opportunity to sack him early at the first sight of his third year tantrums which cost United whole 2018-19 season. Hilarious bit is they gave him a new contract in 2018 summer and never backed him which was the worst of both worlds.”
Giles Richards, our F1 expert, gets the inside track on Lewis Hamilton’s interest in becoming part of Chelsea.
But my Uncle Terry is a big Blues fan so I’ve been to so many games with him to watch Arsenal and Chelsea play. Ultimately I’m a sporting fan. It’s the biggest sport in the world and Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and one of the most successful. When I heard about this opportunity I thought ‘Wow, this is one of the greatest opportunities to be part of something so great.’
The results seems certain but this is a big game for City. They did wobble a tad against Brighton.
Beat Watford and their remaining five opponents and they will have retained the championship for the second time under his management.
Ike Proud gets in touch on l’affaire Pogba: “Totally agree with you that Pogba is Man Utd’s worst transfer. Possibly the worst if the Premier League era. Down there with Ali Dia and Afonso Alves. You mentioned in that post that Man Utd finished second last season, and it’s always perplexed me that some people (not you) seem to think that therefore must’ve been good. Granted, they weren’t as bad as they have been this term, but they were still pretty dire! For my money, the only reason they finished second is because van Dijk was injured and Chelsea were managed by Frank Lampard. If last season was a few weeks longer they probably would’ve finished fourth.”
Ben Lake gets in touch at length about Paul Pogba.
“I can’t argue with the thrust of your points about Pogba but I disagree slightly on the sentiment. Pogba hasn’t been at his best on his return to Utd but he has had his moments. Having said that, much like Jadon Sancho, he was bought at colossal cost then essentially dumped onto the team sheet with no position available for him, no teammates attuned to him or role carved out for him.
“The system Utd played didn’t match the one that got the best out of him at Juventus and he was rarely allowed to play the same role. This is a huge problem with Utd’s recruitment and remains so. I would also point out that at this point, since Fergie left, there have been a lot of players who have gone to Utd and underperformed or seen their form gradually slide into oblivion because they were essentially bought as shiny baubles with no Xmas tree (formation) to hang them off. Maguire, Sancho, Martial, Depay, Bailly, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Sanchez and even Ronaldo went through an unprecedented barren spell recently.
“He has suffered a lot of injuries, and struggled to get a sustained run in the team as a result. Something that I feel players and some pundits seem to treat as a character defect rather than a quirk of luck and biology. Finally, I just like to temper absolute criticism because I feel like a player like Pogba (big fee, high wage etc) becomes a lightning rod for dissatisfaction at a club, which leads to a lot of criticism, some warranted, some of it vile.
“I’ll refer back to the first match of this season when Pogba got four assists and yet he still got slated in the Sky studios. Some of this seems directed at him because he’s a young black man who likes to experiment with different hair styles. What’s my point? I dunno after all that, I suppose just think it’s a bit simplistic to name him “worst buy ever” because a lot of the ire from that seems to get vented toward the player when I think the club has far more to answer for. “
All fair stuff from Ben but I also think Pogba will come to be recalled as a symbol of a club that went in the wrong direction. Is that all his fault? Clearly not, but as a player he hasn’t played well enough to justify the fee, hoopla or reputation, and he was brought in to be a franchise player, and came nowhere near to achieving that. Yes, he gets undue criticism from certain pundits, and at times the motives of the level of that has to be questioned, and definitely tempered. And he’s entitled to kick back against those who don’t like what he stands for or how he carries himself off the field; he’s not sinking ten pints midweek or has never been in any trouble with the law. He’s an intelligent man, and clearly popular with teammates. Journalists will tell you he’s good to talk to.
The issue of him as a player, rather than social media personality, is that the four assists against Leeds is a fleeting memory since he’s rarely sustained such form. He probably played his best football in a season - 2018-19 - where the manager in José Mourinho got sacked and the rest of the campaign was a free bet for Ole Gunnar Solskjær, no pressure. When United needed to put it up to their rivals, have someone dig it out in a pressure situation, that player has been Pogba all too rarely.
Jamie Vardy is set to return for Leicester against Aston Villa, and Brendan Rodgers is delighted.
It’s clearly very important for us. He’s a wonderful player and even for his age he has the talents and mindset to compete and show his qualities. We’ll look forward to seeing him on the field at some point on Saturday.
Knowing Jamie’s quality, you know the intensity he can bring to the game, his movement and confidence. He is a proven top-level player and we have missed him a lot. That’s the reality of it and hopefully he’s back for a really important period for us. If we can have him back that will really help us. He has trained with the squad and is hopefully back in and available tomorrow. Everything over the last few days has been really positive.
Here’s more for you football romantics out there. Paris Saint-Germain will be crowned French champions this weekend if:
- they win or draw against Lens on Saturday.
- they lose against Lens on Saturday and Marseille don’t beat Reims on Sunday.
Arsenal face Manchester United in Saturday’s 12.30 kick-off.
Things have changed plenty since the heady reigns of Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, however, and Saturday’s early kick-off is reduced to a scuffle to remain in contention for fourth spot.
Mikel Arteta has been talking about living up to the Wenger legacy as Arsenal manager, having been a contender to immediately succeed his former boss then followed Unai Emery into the job.
It was close, but things happen for a reason and it probably was too soon There are people who made the decisions and they made a different decision. They signed another exceptional coach that again is showing in Villarreal how good he was.
But sometimes it’s not about the capacity of a person, it’s the capacity of the context that you showed or the team that it fits, if it’s the right moment or not the right moment, sometimes it’s not about the capacity, it’s about the timing. The thing is, the expectations of this club are going to be always the best because we’re going to compare all the time with the beautiful moments that we lived together here. There is no choice when is the perfect moment, I don’t know.
Ralf Rangnick welcomes his successor with something akin to open arms.
Court date set for Kurt Zouma and brother Yoan
Per PA Media.
Kurt Zouma will appear in court next month after being prosecuted by the RSPCA for kicking his cat. The 27-year-old defender is due at Barkingside Magistrates Court on May 24.
Zouma and his brother Yoan, who plays for Dagenham, are being prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act.
The France international was seen kicking and slapping one of his cats in footage which surfaced on social media in February, with the RSPCA subsequently taking his two pet cats into care.
Yoan Zouma’s club suspended him last month after saying he had been responsible for filming the incident, but Kurt Zouma continued playing for West Ham until suffering an ankle injury a fortnight ago.
Frank Lampard sounds a tad downbeat ahead of the Merseyside derby.
I’m a realist. You understand the position we’re in, in the league. I’ve played Liverpool, managed against Liverpool - it’s always daunting because you respect the level of player and manager they have. It’s always a test no matter what, so I’m well-versed in that. It’s a slightly different type of test, it’s why we’re in this game.
Hands across the Irwell in Manchester where Pep Guardiola has congratulated his former colleague Erik Ten Hag following his appointment as the next manager of rivals Manchester United.
Ten Hag, the current Ajax boss, was reserve team manager at Bayern Munich while Guardiola was in charge. Guardiola said: “Congratulations to Erik and I wish him all the best. He is a top-class manager and his teams are a joy to watch. Watch his Ajax team and you see his qualities.”
And there’s a word for Roy Hodgson, whose Watford team visit Manchester City tomorrow. Pep is typically effusive on one of his peers.
Roy Hodgson is an incredibly experienced manager, when at Palace we always struggled to break them down and do good games. when you analyse Watford they have their quality and physicality, we have to be ourselves and try to get another three points.
No doubt about the big match this weekend...it’s Kilmarnock v Arbroath tonight. If Killie win, they’re promoted back to the Premiership, but the real story is if Arbroath win, they’ll be one win from going up - which is pretty incredible, given that they’re a part-time side.
Some quotes via the BBC from the two managers, Killie’s Derek McInnes and Arbroath’s veteran, ebullient Dick Campbell
Derek McInnes: “There’s been a lot said about Arbroath and what I would say is that they have had three years building that team. I have such a high regard for the players there - they have been so consistent. There are players who would be full-time in any other situation, but they have chosen to be part-time for their own personal reasons.”
Dick Campbell: “We are now serious contenders for the league. It’s bigger than Leicester. A part-time club up there against all the big-time clubs. It’s a phenomenon really. Six thousand, our ground holds. Can you imagine this place against Celtic? It’s a fascinating place to be for an atmosphere.”
Some further quotes on Pogba and some Manchester United team news from Ralf Rangnick, and that includes the return of Cristiano Ronaldo after his compassionate leave.
Paul with the scan we had two days ago, it is very likely he will play until the end of the season again. The doctor told me it will take four weeks minimum for him to recover and the last game is end of May. I don’t think it’s very likely he will play again.
Scott McTominay will be back and fit to play, he has trained with us and the same is true with Raphael Varane. Cristiano Ronaldo is available again - he’s been training with us. All of the others are still injured.
Ambitious Aston Villa have been on something of a slide, and Steven Gerrard has been trying to arrest it. They are eight points above the Premier League’s bottom three, having played a game less, after a two-week break following the 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham.
Per PA Media, Gerrard has talking about that slide ahead of their match with Leicester.
We have made mistakes within games, had moments which have gone against us and we’ve been punished heavily. I said after the Tottenham game for the first 45 minutes and pockets of the second half it’s probably the best we’ve played. Where we are right now, I’d certainly prefer a positive result rather than performance.
The priority for me coming in was to try and finish the season in a decent position so we can build on a full pre-season moving forward. That’s still possible.
FC Desna’s stadium in Chernihiv, 100 miles north of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has suffered huge damage due to heavy shelling in the area. A large crater can be seen in the middle of the playing field, while the stands and other facilities are either crumbling or covered in debris.
Onwards and upwards for Manchester United, and their bright and shiny new manager, the fifth bright and shiny new manager since Alex Ferguson, six if you include Ralf Rangnick. United fan Jay Motty penned these thoughts.
Unlike some of his predecessors Ten Hag isn’t coming to United with his best years behind him, he has not been sacked from his previous job as José Mourinho had been, and his most successful spell wasn’t decades before he arrived like Louis van Gaal’s.
Unlike Pochettino, Ten Hag seems to be a manager on the up and in contrast to David Moyes and Solskjær there don’t seem to be as many doubts regarding his CV.
Norwich can almost count on Everton losing so a win would close the gap to six points from safety with five games to play. Anything other than this scenario and hope will surely be snuffed out.
Thanks, Tom, and afternoon, all. What adventures may await this afternoon. To kick off, I am going to call the imminently departing Paul Pogba as Manchester United’s greatest ever transfer misstep. He cost £89m, will leave for free, and his best moments came four years ago. That he, at times, hasn’t even been a first-choice for this United team says so much. Perhaps Harry Maguire may succeed him, though he actually had a good season last season. Pogba hasn’t managed that, beyond flashes of form that again go back three, four years. He joined the club at a bad time, sure, but he never did enough to stop the rot and is set to be an emblem of five years of waste as United move further and further away from being a proper force. And, yes, there were two second-placed finishes but neither of those United teams put in anything resembling a title challenge. He wasn’t alone in being bad, far from it, but in summary: Pogba was a bust.
And with that, I’ll hand you over to John Brewin, who’ll be your guide and your friend through the afternoon. Bye.
Pogba's Manchester United career at its end?
Ralf Rangnick has been speaking, from his curious limbo position of being in control of the team but probably without much future influence, and he admits he’s yet to meet Erik ten Hag. “We don’t know each other and haven’t met,” said the interim Manchester United manager, “but from what I’ve seen at Bayern under-23 and at Ajax I like his football and am pretty positive that with a full pre-season and a chance to build and mould his own team I’m pretty sure we’ll see a different team.
“I knew that Erik was one of the candidates the board spoke to and told them from what I’d seen and knew that he’d be a good choice; all the other things we’ve not had time to speak about.”
As for the game at Arsenal, Rangnick will have Scott McTominay, Raphaël Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo available again but Paul Pogba is unlikely to play again this season after picking up that injury at Liverpool, which means probably he’s done with the club in general.
Commenting on the bomb threat to Harry Maguire, Rangnick said: “I only got to know about this terrible thing yesterday afternoon – again it’s another bad sign of the crazy world we’re living in and I feel very sorry for Harry to have that terrible experience. He knows we’re all behind him.”
Addressing this weekend’s game, Rangnick isn’t talking about chasing Champions League qualification. “I don’t think it makes sense to speculate on how likely we are to finish fourth after a performance like that at Liverpool. We just have to concentrate on playing with more conviction and confidence. We have to show a completely different performance.”
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In France, Paris Saint-Germain could regain the Ligue 1 title if they get a point at home to Lens, who won’t even have any fans backing them, because they’ve been banned, as Reuters reports:
Lens supporters will not be allowed to travel to the French capital for their team’s Ligue 1 game against Paris St Germain on Saturday due to fears of crowd trouble, French authorities ruled on Friday.
“The individual or collective travel, by any means, of any person claiming to be a Racing Club de Lens supporter or behaving as such is prohibited between the communes of the Pas-de-Calais department, on the one hand, and the communes of the Ile-de-France region, on the other hand,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
The ministry explained that “the relations between RC Lens and PSG fans have been fraught with animosity since a banner was displayed at the Stade de France on 29 March 2008, insulting the inhabitants of northern France.”
News from Scotland, where Rangers will have to do without Kemar Roofe for their Europa League semi-final with RB Leipzig as well as Premiership matches against Motherwell and Celtic due to the striker’s knee injury. While third-placed Hearts will assess several players with knocks including defender Stephen Kingsley before they visit Dundee United. Andy Halliday is likely to miss out with an Achilles knock. Dundee United boss Tam Courts will assess Kevin McDonald ahead of Sunday’s game.
City Football Group’s world domination enterprise has hit a rare stumbling block with its bid for the Dutch club NAC Breda failing after a backlash from fans of the second division side. NAC supporters feared the Manchester City ownership group would lose their identity and become a loan factory under Abu Dhabi ownership. David Hytner has the story:
It’ll be an emotional one at the Brentford Community Stadium tomorrow when Christian Eriksen faces Tottenham with his new side Brentford. It’s a reunion for Antonio Conte too, who describes the midfielder as “a great player and a great person”.
“I’m happy for him and his family and to see him again on the pitch makes me more than happy,” said the Spurs manager. “We are talking not just a great player but a great person, a great man. I had the opportunity to work with him and to know him as a person and I can speak only well about him. I’m delighted to see him playing again in this fantastic way. Eight months on [from his cardiac arrest] to see him on this form enjoying football in this way makes me very happy.
Quizzed about whether he’d like him back at Spurs, Conte said: “To work again with him would be a fantastic opportunity. I enjoyed the time we had together at Inter despite the first time he didn’t play regularly with me but we worked together and won that title together in Italy, Every manager, every coach likes to work with him.”
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Let’s talk football-ground food, which while often still overpriced and underwhelming, has improved in recent times. And this When Saturday Comes piece from Pete Brooksbank is well worth chewing over:
These days, Dulwich Hamlet will do you a gyros that looks just like the one you’ll order when drunk in Athens. Taunton Town will fix you some dirty nachos. Fancy curried goat? Luton and Ipswich have you sorted. There are flatbreads at Barnsley, loaded fries at Folkestone, spicy wings at Whitehawk. Tooting sell a decent jerk chicken. Grimsby Town – once notorious for food even the seagulls wouldn’t eat – have united with local street food vendors who rotate around Blundell Park’s kiosks from game to game. Want pulled pork and doner crunch wraps with your National League football? Course you do: head to Lincolnshire.
Read more here:
Eddie Howe has been speaking, about how the pain of relegation with Bournemouth in 2020 helped him approach Newcastle’s fight for survival.
It helped “a massive amount” said the Newcastle manager. “All my years of management before then were, I’m not going to say successful, but pretty much successful. That was the first big failure for me and it was very, very painful. But sometimes through those experiences, you learn so much and I certainly did a lot of self-reflection in my time out.
“That period out of the game was hugely important for me. In hindsight, I might look back in 10 years’ time and say it was the best thing that happened to me personally. Certainly I would never say that for the club because it was hugely painful and the impact of relegation is huge on any club and any town, especially with my feelings for Bournemouth. That’s why it was so painful for me personally.”
Newly-minted Newcastle are now surely safe on 40 points after Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, and Howe is enjoying the nature of his new job. He said: “It’s a 24/7 job, that’s how it is. You have to be that ingrained, for me, to be successful and that’s how I’ve always been. I drive here early, I leave quite late and even when I’m not here, I’m working. That’s pretty much it.
“I had a supporter turn up as I was driving in – I think it was about 6.20am – and they said, ‘We wanted to catch you, we’ve been here since 5.30am’. That’s the kind of devotion and passion people here have for their football club, and it’s a brilliant to experience and to be part of.”
Over in Imola, Lewis Hamilton has been fielding questions about his possible involvement in a Chelsea takeover ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, having been bantered by Max Verstappen about being an Arsenal fan. “I’ve been a football fan since I was a kid,” he said. “I played from the age of four to 17, was in school teams every year through my childhood. When I was young I played with little kids round the corner, where I was the only kid of colour there, I knew the kids always supported someone different, so I switched between them and my sister Sam pressed me and said you had to support Arsenal, but my uncle Terry is a big Blues fan so I’ve been to many games with him to watch Chelsea play Arsenal and I’m a sporting fan and chelsea are one of thee biggest clubs in the world and the opportunity came and it’s a chance to do something.”
Roy Hodgson is ‘enormously wary’ of Watford’s trip to Manchester City but says his Watford side still have some fight in them despite the body-blow of last weekend’s defeat by Brentford, reports PA Media:
Hodgson said: “We are enormously wary of the fixture because we know how easy it is to get heavily beaten up there because of their enormous attacking talent and of course the wealth of talent Pep (Guardiola) has at his disposal.
“I still think it is a good game to play and I am hoping the confidence won’t have been totally shattered by the last-minute goal in the last game where in actual fact the second-half performance was probably as good as we have given for a long period of time.
“I am hoping we will think more about the way we played against Brentford in the second half and not just the fact we have once again had to swallow the bitter pill of another defeat.”
Watford have lost their last 14 fixtures to City but Hodgson played down talk this was a match to write off for the 19th-placed side. “I don’t think I will see it as a free hit at three o’clock on Saturday, that’s the problem,” the 74-year-old insisted.
“Then I will be so concerned about how they are capable of cutting our defence to ribbons and creating spaces that we could be unable to block, but I think the players have done exceptionally well this week. After the bitter disappointment of the 95th-minute goal, which cost us in my opinion what should have been a well-earned point, we have had to pick ourselves up but in the training sessions. The preparation for the game has been as good as I can expect or want it to be.
“I have not seen any falling off in any way over the level of attention or desire to do the right things. That gives me some hope that we can give some sort of performance, like we did say at Liverpool where despite a defeat you can come away thinking ‘we aren’t that bad’.”
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Some Arsenal women news: the England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy has signed a new contract at the club. The 23-year-old re-joined Arsenal in 2020 after a spell in the USA and has since picked up seven senior England caps.
Having come through the ranks at Arsenal, her childhood club, agreeing a new deal was something she was delighted to get over the line. “It feels amazing,” she said. “This contract means so much more to me and to my family than just it being a football contract. It’s a commitment to the club and it’s a commitment to Arsenal, the community that it’s active in and to my life as a whole, because that’s what Arsenal is - it’s my life.”
Arsenal are currently a point behind the leaders Chelsea in the Women’s Super League table and visit Everton on Sunday evening.
Jurgen Klopp speaks, looking ahead to the Merseyside derby and the prospect of there not being one next season: “Of course I would miss it – there’s two clubs in the city and the derby is always big. This week we had another fixture [against Manchester United] but there’s usually a full week of buildup – it’s what all the people are talking about in the city. Maybe there’s more riding on it this week. I love intensity in foootball, I love physicality in football but there’s a rule book and we must all stick to that. I just want to have an intense, physical, legally aggressive football game but not more, because we have other games coming up. This one’s important for both sides but I can’t remember when it wasn’t important for us.
Asked about his squad’s sense of happiness after walloping Manchester United, Kloppp says: “We’re not happy all the time but [chasing four trophies] is a situation they didn’t expect to be in. It’s incredibly tough, you spoke to them after the game but that was at a good moment but it’s true we love the situation. We’ve won one competition, which is great, but there are three others to go, The boys are in a good moment but we have to prove it again on Sunday.
Klopp says Roberto Firmino’s condition is “getting better and better, but it still can be uncomfortable and painful so we have to make sure he can stay on the pitch. We might have to wait another few days and after that he could be a possible.”
Asked about Thiago’s influnce in midfield, the manager says: “It’s great but I don’t want to talk about one player because the focus can go the other way if they do something wrong. He also praises Naby Keita’s improvement and importance: “Naby could not get as much rhythm as he wished in the past maybe, but that’s over now because he’s a great player.”
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Preamble
Morning everyone. We’re at the stage of the season where every Saturday (and Sunday, and Friday night) is moving day, and we start checking permutations and testing our mental arithmetic. The form of Manchester City and Liverpool suggest the title race is going to the wire, and both host relegation-haunted teams this weekend. The old adage that form goes out of the window in derbies is rarely true these days, and Liverpool will be clear favourites for another Merseyside derby win, while Watford are signed-up members of the yo-yo club league alongside Norwich and Fulham. Manchester United players go to Arsenal with an incoming manager to impress and – just about – a top-four place still to chase, though their opponents are far better placed.
One title that is a foregone conclusion is the Bundesliga’s, and Bayern go in to a home Klassiker against Dortmund nine points clear at the top with four to play. Jonathan Liew discusses their domestic dominance here. Elsewhere in mainland Europe, the standout big-league game sees second-placed Internazionale host José Mourinho’s resurgent Roma.
And in the EFL, a crucial weekend starts tonight with third-placed Huddersfield taking on almost-relegated Barnsley hoping to close the gap on Bournemouth in the second automatic promotion place in the Championship. The form of Nottingham Forest, who are away at Peterborough tomorrow, and Luton (home to Blackpool) also suggests Scott Parker’s Cherries will be pushed all the way. Elsewhere, Wigan and Forest Green could clinch promotion from League One and League Two respectively, and it’s incredibly tight in those divisions’ play-off shake-ups.
Coming up, we’ll have press conference comment from Aston Villa, Manchester United, Norwich, Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea and Watford and plenty more besides, so stick around.
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