Category: English Premier League

• Summer window will open early from 1-10 June
• It will then reopen on 16 June and close on 1 September

The Premier League has confirmed it will have two transfer windows this summer due to “exceptional” circumstances surrounding the Club World Cup.

The first transfer window will open early, and run between Sunday 1 June and Tuesday 10 June. It will then close briefly before reopening on Monday 16 June. The second transfer window will run as normal before closing on Monday 1 September.

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• Chelsea Supporters’ Trust urges Premier League to act
• Club co-owner is director and investor in Vivid Seats

The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust has written to the Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, calling for an investigation into the connections of the club’s co-owner Todd Boehly with the ticket exchange and resale company Vivid Seats.

Boehly is a director and investor in Vivid Seats, an American site that allows users outside the United Kingdom to buy and sell tickets to concerts and sporting events, often at huge mark-ups. British fans cannot use the site or others like it because it is illegal to resell football tickets in this way in the UK. The Premier League lists Vivid Seats as an “unauthorised ticket website”.

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Jordan Henderson is a great English leader. But he has been encouraged and applauded for the very same acts for which minority ethnic players are castigated and stigmatised

How shall I lead thee? Let me count the ways. I lead thee by stepping up and being vocal, around the dressing room, setting standards in training. I lead thee quietly by example, you know, the not-much-of-a-shouter‑and-a-screamer-but-when-he-speaks-people-listen kind. I lead thee by having been there, done that, won everything in the game. I lead thee by never backing down from a challenge. I lead thee by sheer gravitas.

By any of these measures, Jordan Henderson is a leader. He was a leader for Liverpool, raising standards and setting the tone for 12 golden years. He was a leader for the NHS and the LGBTQ+ community off the field. He was still a leader when he left Liverpool and moved to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to create – in his words – “positive change” in the country for his beloved LGBTQ+ constituents.

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From Brentford to the NBA, experts highlight tackling ‘unhealthy habits’ around sleep for athletes to reach their peak

When it comes to optimal performance, football clubs analyse diet, physiology and a plethora of minute details to ensure players have the best chance of peaking at the right time. One area that may merit greater focus is sleep.

Insomnia and other sleep issues are prevalent across British society. It is estimated that 30% of the population do not enjoy good quality rest but in elite athletes that figure rises to more than 50%.

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Dash for cash runs risks of damage to atmosphere and core local support the Premier League prides itself on

It is the time of year when season-ticket holders receive an email from their club spelling out how much it will cost to follow them through thick and thin once again. The email often lands without warning of an increase, that bit saved for lower down after explaining the financial challenges and how the owner wants to invest to bring success. Generally it will say it was a “tough but necessary decision” to charge for loyalty. For many fans this is becoming harder and harder to swallow.

In the Premier League, with increased TV and prize money, chiselling extra out of those who almost feel obliged to attend seems unnecessary. The owners and directors who do this are well aware that fans, on the whole, will keep coming back. Football is such an integral part of many people’s lives that they cannot imagine not making every possible trip to a place they regard as a second home and are willing to cut back elsewhere to prove their commitment.

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Arne Slot’s team will almost certainly win the Premier League this season but there are welcome signs that talent in England may be becoming more dispersed

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

It wasn’t supposed to be that straightforward. Newcastle United have suffered so much disappointment at Wembley that the assumption had been that the end of a domestic trophy drought that stretched back to 1955 would be fraught, that they’d have to drag themselves over the line, nails bitten to the quick, the countdown to the final whistle having to be earned second by painful second.

As it was, although there was some anxiety after Federico Chiesa’s injury-time effort for Liverpool was ruled onside by VAR, Newcastle seemed to have the game under control from the start, and never really looked like surrendering the advantage given them by Dan Burn’s magnificent header. His story, the local lad rejected at the age of 11 by the club he supported, losing a finger, transforming himself from goalkeeper to defender, touring the country before returning aged 30 to Newcastle and then, a few days after he had been called to the England squad for the first time, scoring the winner with the sort of header, neck muscles thrusting, that wouldn’t have looked out of place when Newcastle last won at Wembley, is almost too perfect. Enough, certainly, to make people believe in the myth of football as a stage for dreams and fairytales, of heroes and emotion and yearning and fulfilment, and to forget, at least for a moment, how the whole sorry business is funded.

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Højlund finally finds the net, top-four battle hots up while Willian proves class once again

He finally scored. Rasmus Højlund broke his 21-match goal drought – dating back to 12 December – with a composed strike to put Manchester United 1-0 up against Leicester at the King Power Stadium. Having received the ball from Bruno Fernandes around 40 yards out from goal, he carried it into the penalty area before unleashing a powerful low shot into the bottom-left corner. You could just sense the relief on the striker’s face as he walked back to the halfway line for the restart. It was also a positive evening for Alejandro Garnacho, who ended his 25-game stretch without a goal, dating back to 28 November. It should give both players a much-needed confidence boost heading into the final stretch of the season. “The most important thing for me is the work they are putting in, especially defending,” Ruben Amorim said. “They live for assists and scoring goals. Rasmus, really good control right foot and then Garnacho is always trying to score a goal and he deserved that feeling.” Emillia Hawkins

Match report: Leicester 0-3 Manchester United

Match report: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea

Match report: Manchester City 2-2 Brighton

Match report: Everton 1-1 West Ham United

Match report: Ipswich Town 2-4 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Fulham 2-0 Tottenham

Match report: Bournemouth 1-2 Brentford

Match report: Southampton 1-2 Wolves

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• Minute-by-minute coverage from the 7pm (GMT) kick-off
• Email Tim with your views on the action

1 min We’re off! And United have a chance to put a long throw into the box.

As both teams go into their huddles, Bruno Fernandes is making a point quite forcefully. “Guys! I can’t score all the goals!”

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Arsenal secured their first league win in over a month thanks to a first-half Mikel Merino header

Arteta says this is a big game and the players are focused on that. They’re excited to face Real Madrid and the international break is coming next so they need to play well and hopefully get some players back afterwards.

Where is the game? Arsenal will fancy Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to run off James and Moises Caicedo, while their left flank of Lewis-Skelly and Leandro Trossard will surely target Jadon Sacnho, unrenowned for his physicality or relentlessness, and Wesley Fofana, a centre-back playing out of position.

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Vítor Pereira said he is feeling the challenge of keeping Wolves in the Premier League “with my heart” after they took a significant step towards survival with a 2-1 victory at rock-bottom Southampton.

Jørgen Strand Larsen’s double moved Wanderers nine points clear of third-bottom Ipswich, with Paul Onuachu pulling a goal back for Southampton, who are now without a win since the start of February.

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This showdown of Champions League contenders ended with spoils shared so Manchester City, in fifth place, still lead Brighton, who are seventh, by a point. The draw is a rosy result for Newcastle, as they are sandwiched between them and have played a game fewer so have an opportunity to leapfrog City.

Match day 29 for City and Brighton fired the gun on the final 10 matches and with many teams in the chase for a shot at the European Cup, final-day excitement surely awaits.

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Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard got the goals as Brentford came from behind to notch up a club record fifth consecutive league win on the road

• Read John Brewin’s match report from the Vitality Stadium

Thomas Frank was effusive in his praise for both his own team and Bournemouth during his pre-match press conference. “Bournemouth have been really, really impressive,” the Brentford manager said.

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Newcastle face Liverpool in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, while in-form Brighton visit Manchester City on Saturday

Saturday 3pm Venue Goodison Park

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Myles Lewis-Skelly could return to an old role, Wolves are still in danger and United’s strikers are running out of time

Premier League safety is all that matters to David Moyes and an eight-game unbeaten run – Everton’s best sequence since going nine matches without defeat under Ronald Koeman in 2016-17 – has almost accomplished a task that looked much more onerous when he returned in January. Publicly, the Everton manager maintains the job is not done and that no contract issues will be resolved until the club’s top-flight status is mathematically confirmed. Privately, and beneath the more relaxed demeanour that he has brought back with him to Goodison Park, there may also be a fierce ambition to finish above two clubs who deemed him surplus to requirements. Everton can go three points clear of one, West Ham, and leapfrog another, Manchester United, with victory over Graham Potter’s visitors on Saturday. With Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Chelsea to come after an impending two-week break, Moyes could do with a more clinical display from Everton to step closer to his aims. Andy Hunter

Everton v West Ham, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Ipswich v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Southampton v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Bournemouth v Brentford, Saturday 5.3pm

Arsenal v Chelsea, Sunday 1.30pm

Fulham v Tottenham, Sunday 1.30pm

Leicester v Manchester United, Sunday 7pm

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Ruben Amorim parks the bus, Son Heung-min shows he still has some spark and Marc Cucurella fires up Chelsea

• Premier League top scorers: the latest standings

Some observers look at Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou and see the same thing: stubbornness. But there is a big difference between them. With Tottenham, you have no idea what to expect. With Manchester United, you know exactly what to expect. A whole lot of nothing in the first half. Some flickers of fight in the second. Dismal results against middling Premier League teams. Decent ones against teams at the top and the bottom. This was Amorim’s first home game against a “big six” club, but it might as well have been away. He parked the bus. His nominal 3-4-2-1 was actually a 5-4-1. United started with no No 9 and just one real forward, Alejandro Garnacho. It’s three months since any of their strikers scored in the league. Their only goal threat, Bruno Fernandes, has been shunted back to central midfield. Where once they had wingers, now they have full-backs. Even when the bus moves, the handbrake stays on. Tim de Lisle

Match report: Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal

Match report: Tottenham 2-2 Bournemouth

Match report: Liverpool 3-1 Southampton

Match report: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester City

Match report: Chelsea 1-0 Leicester

Match report: Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa

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