Category: Football (Soccer)

• League seeking clarity in case of last-day relegation battle
• Appeal over two-point penalty will be ‘resolved urgently’

The Premier League is seeking to have Everton’s appeal against their latest points deduction heard before the end of the season in an attempt to bring some clarity to any final-day relegation battle.

Everton were docked two points last week for breaching Premier League profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by £16.6m up to June 2023. The club, already deducted six points for a financial breach of £19.5m up to June 2022, faces another hearing into whether it can exclude £23.46m in stadium interest payments from its PSR calculations for 2020-23. That case will not be heard before the end of the season, raising the possibility of a relegated club taking legal action should Everton suffer a third points deduction that would have left them in the bottom three instead.

City have not been at their overwhelming best this season, but they remain immune to the typical anxieties of a title run-in

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There are still only two points in it: Manchester City 73, Arsenal 71, Liverpool 71. It’s not over yet. If the three keep pace for the next five games, it will still be the first season since 1971-72 in which three different sides go into their final game of the season with a chance of winning the title. The hope for anybody seeking a dramatic run-in is that this weekend was just the beginning of a final month of twists and turns. But the sense is that the race has taken a decisive shift towards City and a fourth successive title for Pep Guardiola’s team.

It’s not just that City swept Luton aside 5-1. You’d expect that; they beat them 6-2 in the FA Cup in February. Nor was it just the fact that Liverpool lost at home to Crystal Palace, the opponent Jürgen Klopp had beaten more than any other, or that Arsenal lost at home to Aston Villa, managed by their former manager Unai Emery, each detail twisting the knife in a little further. It was the way they lost, coming after the way Arsenal had played in drawing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and the way Liverpool had played in losing to Atalanta in the Europa League.

Adam Wharton shines on Merseyside, Mateo Kovacic displays City’s depth and Erik ten Hag gets tetchy

Joachim Andersen was named Sky’s man of the match at Anfield and with good reason. But while the Danish centre-back won header after header and made clearance after clearance, and while the front three of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise caused repeated problems on the break, there was one figure who stood out in midfield for his calmness: Adam Wharton, perhaps the brightest of the hugely promising generation brought through by Tony Mowbray at Blackburn. The 20-year-old moved to Palace in January for an initial fee of £18m and has played at least some part in every Crystal Palace game since. No other Palace player came close to his pass completion rate of 88% and, while they rode their luck to an extent in the second half, they’d have had to ride a lot more had it not been for his distribution, which helped prevent Liverpool building up a head of steam. Jonathan Wilson

Match report: Liverpool 0-1 Crystal Palace

Match report: Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa

Match report: Manchester City 5-1 Luton Town

Match report: Bournemouth 2-2 Manchester United

Match report: West Ham 0-2 Fulham

• Premier League shock as Eberechi Eze scores Anfield winner
• Live scoreboard | And send John your thoughts in an email

The players make their way to the field, and the banners have been restored to the Spion Kop.

Jurgen Klopp spoke to Sky Sports, starting with that Atalanta team: “It was not an off day, we just didn’t get it. We’re not going to overreact, we lost a football game and now we have an opportunity to show a reaction in a different competition.

After Liverpool’s defeat to Palace, a perfect away performance gave Villa a win that solidified their hold on fourth place and Man City’s on the league title

So what do these teams mean? I’m not surprised Arsenal have left out Jorginho, whose lack of athleticism can be a problem against young, physical sides – so not Bayern – and given Rice’s ability to play as the number six and the need for three points, it makes sense to play him there to include another attacker.

In attack, meanwhile, I imagine Martinelli is being nursed back to fitness and required in midweek, hence Trossard today, while Jesus’ ability to scavenge is understandably deemed more useful for this match than Havertz’s hold-up play and aerial threat.