Chelsea must beat champions Liverpool on Sunday to maintain their top-five push while Aston Villa host Fulham
Friday 8pm Sky Sports Premier League Venue Etihad Stadium
Continue reading...Leicester v Southampton may be El Crapico – but it’s a game with meaning
Two worst Premier League teams still have something to play for, not least to recognise the resilience of their fans
They’re calling it the worst Premier League game in history. They’re calling it El Chaffico. El Crapico. The Derby Della Mediocre. They’re calling it the first Premier League game in which both teams somehow manage to lose. They’re posting memes of old men playing walking football and Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes.
They’re mentioning the fact that none of the three relegated teams have won more games against Premier League opposition than Paris Saint-Germain have. The fact that since Leicester scored their last league goal at home, Southampton have sacked a manager, appointed an interim, appointed a permanent replacement, sacked the permanent replacement and re-appointed the interim from earlier.
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
City will be wary of a resurgent Wolves, Graham Potter needs a derby win and Roméo Lavia is vital to Chelsea
Six straight wins in a run of seven unbeaten has lifted Wolves to 13th. Now Vítor Pereira’s side pose a problem that Manchester City must solve as the latter chase maximum points from their last four games in the race for Champions League qualification. Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in the last eight in all competitions and buoyed up by last Sunday’s reaching of a third successive FA Cup final, so this should be a close one. Keep an eye out for Guardiola potentially having a complimentary word with Matheus Cunha, as is his habit when coming up against a high-class opposition player. Jamie Jackson
Manchester City v Wolves, Friday 8pm (all times BST)
Aston Villa v Fulham, Saturday 12.30pm
Everton v Ipswich Town, Saturday 3pm
Leicester City v Southampton, Saturday 3pm
Arsenal v Bournemouth, Saturday 5.30pm
Brentford v Manchester United, Sunday 2pm
Continue reading...Nottingham Forest 0-2 Brentford: Premier League – as it happened
Kevin Schade and Yoane Wissa made the most of defensive mistakes to dent Forest’s Champions League hopes
Nuno speaks: “All the games are the biggest ones. These ones mean a lot. Nothing else matters, just these games.
“You have to compete against very good teams, they all fight for everything. We have one result in our mind.
Continue reading...Was Liverpool’s title Klopp’s final masterpiece or Slot’s foundation stone?
After a drama-free title race, the legacy of Liverpool’s 20th league triumph will be determined in the years to come
It was probably just as well the decisive match came against Tottenham. Liverpool fans object to the suggestion this season has been anti-climactic, as though that somehow diminishes their achievement, but it is not a criticism to point out no side has come close to staying with them, that the title was effectively won on the January afternoon when Darwin Núñez scored twice in injury time to beat Brentford then Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead to draw against Aston Villa.
That was the season in microcosm: Arsenal carelessly squandering points, Liverpool always having enough, turning games their way in the second half. Nine times this season in the league, Arsenal have led in games that they have failed to win. On 13 occasions, Liverpool have improved their result in the second half (that is, turned a draw into a win, or a defeat into a draw or a win). It has not been a thrilling conclusion – they’ve wrapped the title up before the end of April with four games to spare and have looked probable champions for at least three months – but at least they had their day of celebration of Anfield.
Continue reading...Liverpool fans ecstatic after winning Premier League in Arne Slot’s first season at club – video
Five years after Covid-19 restrictions prevented Liverpool fans from celebrating at Anfield their team's first top flight title triumph in 30 years, Reds faithful wasted little time on 27 April getting the party started on another Premier League success. With Anfield filled to the brim, Liverpool equalled Manchester United's record of 20 English top-flight titles with their 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur. But it was after Alexis Mac Allister struck a blistering shot to put the Reds ahead for good in the 24th minute that the delirious crowd at the sun-drenched stadium erupted and they did not stop singing until well after the final whistle sounded.Thousands of fans not fortunate to be inside Anfield on Sunday celebrated outside, setting off flares before the game ended in a party that carried on through the night
Continue reading...Slot showed Liverpool in pre-season how to win Premier League, Konaté reveals
- Head coach told squad what was wrong and how to fix it
- Konaté sat alone in stands after title win almost in tears
Arne Slot predicted Liverpool could win the Premier League providing they corrected the flaws that undermined their title challenge last season, Ibrahima Konaté has revealed. The Liverpool defender was almost in tears after the club’s record‑equalling 20th league championship on Sunday. He took a moment to sit alone in an empty Main Stand at Anfield long after the 5-1 rout of Tottenham to absorb the size of the achievement.
Konaté cast his mind back to Slot’s debut pre-season. Liverpool had tailed off the title pace in Jürgen Klopp’s final campaign, dropping points in five of their last eight games to slip from first to third. One of Slot’s opening acts as head coach was to show the squad where they went wrong and what needed to change.
Continue reading...Premier League and FA Cup semis: 10 talking points from the weekend
Palace’s best-paid player shows his class, Ipswich meet their fate and Mateo Kovacic sounds a warning
In April 1964 a side from north London came to Anfield with Liverpool one good result from winning the league, and conceded five. “Arsenal did little to allay the general suspicion that they were there just to be sacrificed,” Eric Todd wrote in his report for the Guardian. This time it was Tottenham but otherwise, for anyone whose memory stretches back 61 years it was a familiar story. Time and again Spurs meekly surrendered possession in dangerous areas, and while they defended in numbers – which suggests willing – they did so with terrifying inefficiency, which suggests poor organisation. Their focus is now fully on the Europa League, but if Liverpool had been a little more ruthless this would have been truly another real embarrassment in a season full of them. In April 1988 it was Spurs themselves who came to Anfield with Liverpool needing one point to guarantee the title. It had been a terrible season for Tottenham, and they were only just outside the bottom three. They lost 1-0. “Tottenham remain in the relegation penumbra,” wrote Stephen Bierley in his Guardian report. “Strange it seems that nobody much under the age of 30 will remember them being champions. Who would have thought it?” Simon Burnton
Match report: Liverpool 5-1 Tottenham
FA Cup report: Nottm Forest 0-2 Man City
Match report: Bournemouth 1-1 Man Utd
Continue reading...Arne Slot’s coolness lies at heart of Liverpool’s record-equalling title | Andy Hunter
Head coach inherited a fine culture and squad but his level-headedness, honesty and analysis propelled club to a 20th league triumph
Liverpool players were looking for signs last summer as to how their new boss would succeed a club legend and turn his rich inheritance into Premier League champions. Arne Slot made sure they were unmissable from the start.
At the plush Fairmont hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, first port of call on Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the US and their first bonding trip abroad last July, names would be written on a board giving advance notice of that day’s meeting schedule. There were one-on-one meetings for players with a member of Slot’s coaching team, squad meetings with all of the new backroom staff, meetings to analyse the double training sessions and meetings to analyse individual performances within them. There had been two meetings a day at Liverpool’s Axa Training Centre before the trip but this was another level.
Continue reading...Liverpool 5-1 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened
After falling behind Liverpool cantered to an easy win over Tottenham, and for the first time in 35 years a packed Anfield celebrated a league title
History was made in 1964: it was the first time the reporter responsible for informing Guardian readers of a Liverpool title victory got a byline. Eric Todd celebrated by quoting Thomas Gray’s The Progress of Poesy, an ode in Pindaric form. They had secured the trophy with a 5-0 thrashing of Arsenal. Here’s a bit of Todd’s missive:
Having already exhausted most of the available superlatives on the team, Mr W Shankly, its manager, and the Kop, I can think of no more fitting a preface to my last dispatch from Anfield than a statement by Mr Shankly shortly after Liverpool had won promotion. “We are not merely going to be sitting on the First Division fence,” he said. They finished a useful eighth last term and, after a modest start, they dropped several broad hints that they intended winning something this season.
Yet Saturday’s proceedings were less satisfying than had been expected or hoped for. For one thing, there were fewer than 50,000 spectators – some of them had queued all night, and others for seven hours. For another, Liverpool made rather more mistakes than usual, and finally Arsenal did little to allay the general suspicion that they were there just to be sacrificed. The atmosphere was charged with tension and emotion, so that perhaps it would be unfair to be hypercritical. The indisputable fact remains, however, that Liverpool did what they set out to do. They are worthy champions, and Arsenal, who have enjoyed a good share of the game’s honours over the years, paid them generous tribute.
Continue reading...Bournemouth 1-1 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
Manchester United rallied to grab a point through Rasmus Højlund and dent their 10-man hosts’ European hopes
The teams walk out into the sunshine. Bournemouth are in their Stendhal stripes, United in all-white, like a poor man’s Real Madrid.
As United go into their huddle, Luke Shaw seems to be giving the pep talk, which is a nice touch. Shaw is at left centre-back, so the wing-backs are Mazraoui and Dorgu. Amorim does like to have three full-backs on the field at all times.
Continue reading...Matheus Cunha eclipses Vardy as Wolves rack up sixth consecutive victory
If this proves to be a tale of two departing star strikers, Matheus Cunha eclipsed Jamie Vardy with as much comfort as Wolves have breezed past Leicester in this game and over the past five months.
Manchester United target Cunha scored the first goal and made the others for Jørgen Strand Larsen and Rodrigo Gomes while Vardy, having announced he will leave Leicester at the end of this tumultuous season, had his penalty saved by José Sá.
Continue reading...Ten-man Ipswich relegated after Isak and Burn fire Newcastle up to third
Kieran McKenna and his Ipswich players arrived in the Premier League pledging to stay true to their purist principles but had an ignominious return to the Championship rubber stamped amid acrimony, indiscipline and refereeing controversy.
In mitigation Ipswich started quite well at Newcastle, their low block frustrating Eddie Howe’s side and the striker Alexander Isak in particular. Then they imploded in a manner that perhaps reflected the frustrations of a long, hard season when, all too often, a team who were League One residents two years ago proved not quite good enough to bridge the growing chasm between the top and second tiers.
Continue reading...Fuham’s last-gasp winner keeps Southampton sweating over points record
A stoppage-time winner from Ryan Sessegnon revitalised Fulham’s European qualification prospects and denied Southampton the chance to move past the record-low Premier League points total set by Derby.
Jack Stephens’ 14th-minute opener had already-relegated Saints on course for a first home league victory since November, but Emile Smith Rowe levelled for Fulham after 72 minutes to set up a nervy finale at St Mary’s.
Continue reading...FA Cup and Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action
Palace, Villa, Forest and Man City bid to reach the FA Cup Final while Liverpool can secure the Premier League title
FA Cup semi-finals (stats from all competitions)
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