Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

Posted on

Manchester City v Liverpool kicks off FA Cup quarter-finals, Fernández latest – matchday live as it happened

News and discussion ahead of the FA Cup quarter-finals, with Manchester City hosting Liverpool

The Women’s FA Cup is being played, too. Suzanne Wrack runs the rule over the ties.

Arsenal v Brighton, Sunday 1pm

Charlton v Liverpool, Sunday 2.30pm

Chelsea v Tottenham, Monday 1.30pm

Birmingham v Manchester City, Monday 5pm

Peretz was inspired by the Germany goalkeeper as a boy – he had a giant photo of the 2014 World Cup-winner on his bedroom wall – but in Bavaria Neuer, who turned 40 last week, morphed into a mentor. “[It went] from admiring the players, to them becoming my friends and my teammates.

“I watched every single save [Neuer] made and then he was with me day by day and he became a friend,” Peretz says, recalling the emotions of their first encounter. “I was sweating all over, so nervous that I could not speak. I had goosebumps, everything.”

Continue reading...
Posted on

Survival or glory? Farke weighs up options as Leeds’ season nears climax

A first FA Cup semi-final since 1987 is within reach but manager says Premier League is ‘our bread and butter’

As Leeds travel to West Ham for an FA Cup quarter-final both teams could arguably do without, one thing is not in doubt: Daniel Farke knows how to read a balance sheet. As the holder of an MA in economics and a diploma in sporting directorship, the Leeds manager needs no reminders that, financially, avoiding relegation is infinitely more important than trying to win the FA Cup. “The Premier League’s our bread and butter,” he said on Thursday . “It’s our priority.”

There is, though, another side to Farke. Away from the training pitches at Thorp Arch, one of the German’s preferred ways of switching off is to spend hours reading on his sofa, transported to different worlds through his love of literary fiction. His favourite novels include Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Southampton’s Daniel Peretz: ‘We have a lot of respect for Arsenal, but we are not afraid’

Goalkeeper on representing Israel, learning from Manuel Neuer at Bayern and targeting an FA Cup upset

A few days after returning from international duty, there is only one place to start with Daniel Peretz: his pride at representing Israel during the unsettling and tense backdrop of war and geopolitical conflict. His excitement at facing Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals can wait. Almost all of his family are in Tel Aviv, where wailing air raid sirens have become a staple of the mood music. “Unfortunately, it has become a bit of a routine,” says the Southampton goalkeeper, who is on loan from Bayern Munich.

When they sound, his loved ones head to the nearest bunkers and safe rooms. “It’s not always easy to do this separation in life and you are worried a lot about what’s happening,” he says. “But they are always following the instructions and I’m always in touch with them. We speak regularly to check everything is OK.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Pep Guardiola will not stand in Rodri’s way if he wants to join Real Madrid

  • Manchester City midfielder can leave if ‘not happy’

  • ‘My wish is that Rodri could stay as long as possible’

Pep Guardiola will not stand in Rodri’s way if the midfielder wishes to leave Manchester City for Real Madrid, though the manager believes he will stay at the club beyond this summer.

During the international break Rodri, whose contract expires in June 2027, was asked about reports that Real’s president, Florentino Pérez, wished to sign him. When answering, the 29-year-old referenced how being a former Atlético Madrid player would be no obstacle.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Slot has no regrets over treatment of Salah and insists forward solely decided Liverpool exit

  • Salah critical of head coach in December after being left out

  • Slot: ‘The only one who can talk about it is Mo himself’

Arne Slot has no regrets over his treatment of Mohamed Salah and claimed it was entirely the forward’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.

The Liverpool head coach declined to divulge why or when Salah decided to leave the club as he faced the media on Friday for the first time since the Egypt international’s announcement. Slot believes it should be left to Salah to explain the reasons for exiting 12 months before his contract is due to expire.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Coventry City 3-2 Derby County: Championship – as it happened

Jack Rudoni came on to score twice and edge Coventry a little closer to a Premier League return

2 min: Van Ewijk looks long for Simms. Clarke intercepts. Then Esse hassles Ward down the left and forces the first corner of the match. Coventry have scored 24 goals from set pieces this season, the division’s best … but this one comes to nothing.

Derby get the ball rolling. The CBS Arena roaring.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Five matches, 16 days, a season to save: Slot’s Liverpool vision faces a defining moment

Starting at Manchester City in the FA Cup, Arne Slot must show doubters his plan for a team in transition can succeed

There were more important reasons for Jürgen Klopp’s return to Liverpool last Saturday, but it was apposite his presence reminded Anfield of the unshakable bond and belief they once shared, the joy his football brought. Those pillars of Klopp’s reign are weakening under Arne Slot and April may determine whether they are left standing at all.

Two cup quarter-finals in succession should signal a season on the right track for Liverpool; showpiece occasions such as Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday whetting the appetite for what May could have in store.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Championship roundup: Coventry edge past Derby to close in on promotion

  • Wrexham rally against West Brom to boost playoff push

  • Leicester earn precious point against Preston

Jack Rudoni came off the bench to score twice as Championship leaders Coventry moved 11 points clear of second-placed Millwall with a 3-2 victory against Derby.

The midfielder had been out of action since 28 February but returned to devastating effect as Coventry made it eight wins in nine league outings.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Burslem Globetrotters: Port Vale’s travelling stars plot Chelsea shock

Australian manager Joe Brady and New Zealand striker Ben Waine have guided League One strugglers to quarter-finals

The Port Vale manager, Jon Brady, left Australia as a 17-year-old to chase his dream of playing in the United Kingdom. Spells at Brentford, Swansea and Wycombe did not make a first-team debut a reality. The sacrifice would not be wasted as determination to make a career in England grew stronger, becoming a non-league stalwart, but always with an eye on what came next.

Like Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final opponent, Chelsea’s head coach Liam Rosenior, Brady plotted a route to the dugout from early on, earning his B licence at the age of 23. Twenty-eight years later, he has managed more than 500 league games, in charge of Brackley and Northampton before joining League One’s bottom club in January, and embarking on a surprising Cup run.

Continue reading...
Posted on

FA Cup quarter-finals and trouble brewing at Chelsea | Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nick Ames and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan to preview the weekend’s action.

Subscribe to The Guardian Football Weekly ► https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast?sub_confirmation=1

Chapters:

00:00 - Chapters
00:56 - FA Cup quarter-final preview
01:12 - Where do Slot’s priorities lie?
05:16 - Have Manchester City had a good season?
06:49 - Southampton v Arsenal
10:35 - Would defeat rattle Arsenal?
16:03 - Marc Cucurella comments
21:52 - West Ham v Leeds United

25.43 - Ad break
25:46 - EFL preview
28:26 - Nigel Farage photoshoot at Portman Road

36.49 - Ad break
36:49 - WCL roundup
40:15 - Nick Ames spends time in Kosovo
44:35 - Answering listener correspondence

Support the Guardian ► https://support.theguardian.com/

Guardian Football Weekly podcast:

Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/football-weekly/id188674007

Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/6w8qWe0kjgHEHSWDSDGoLW?si=231c666f7f5a4453

Follow Guardian Football Weekly:

Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/guardian_footballweekly/

TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian_footballweekly

Continue reading...
Posted on

Championship chaos resumes with Millwall, Mr Roy and much more

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

The Championship – a league so chaotic it makes a piano falling down some stairs resemble a Zen garden – resumes with an old-fashioned Easter weekend double header. Automatic promotion, playoff places and the drop into the abyss all remain up for grabs, with only beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation rubber-stamped as the contenders jockey for position on entering the home straight. Not a Stone Island jacket will go unworn as fans of all 24 clubs proudly get the badge in before heading off to support their teams over a hectic bank holiday schedule. At the top, Frank Lampard’s Coventry City are in the box seat for automatic promotion, with an 11-point cushion between them and Ipswich Town in third. They will fancy their chances of at least maintaining the gap in tomorrow night’s televised Geographically Quite Near Each Other But Not Really A Derby derby against, er, Derby County. With no Good Friday game due to Southampton’s weekend FA Cup appointment with Arsenal, Ipswich will have additional time to de-Farage Portman Road for Monday’s visit of Birmingham.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Italian football in crisis as FA chief resigns and Ceferin issues Euro 2032 warning

  • Exit could spell end of Gennaro Gattuso’s tenure

  • Ceferin: ‘Infrastructure is among the worst in Europe’

The crisis engulfing Italian football has deepened with the country’s football federation president, Gabriele Gravina, resigning and the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, warning that it risks losing its co-hosting rights for Euro 2032.

Gravina announced his resignation at an emergency meeting of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) general council two days after Italy failed to reach a World Cup finals for the third successive time, losing on penalties to the outsiders Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had come under heavy scrutiny since their exit in Zenica, the country’s minister for sport, Andrea Abodi, intensifying the pressure by calling for “a renewal of the FIGC leadership”.

Continue reading...
Posted on

‘I don’t need a crutch’: Roy Hodgson relishes Bristol City return at age of 78

  • Veteran returns to club 44 years after being sacked

  • ‘It boils down to two words: energy and enthusiasm’

Roy Hodgson insisted he does not require “a crutch” after making a shock return to Bristol City at 78 years old and believes he is healthier than when last coaching two years ago, when he was taken ill at Crystal Palace. The former England manager, who took training at the Championship club for the first time on Monday, has taken interim charge for the final seven games of the season.

Hodgson left Palace in February 2024, four days after collapsing at training, but he was tempted out of retirement by Richard Scudamore, the former Premier League chief executive who joined City’s board last October. Hodgson was at home in Richmond, west London, when he received a message out of the blue from Scudamore, a lifelong City fan, asking if he could pick his brains.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Mohamed Salah warned by Egypt team director that MLS move would diminish spotlight

  • ‘You won’t remember Salah more than I remember Messi’

  • Forward urged to consider Saudi Arabia or Europe

Egypt’s national team director, Ibrahim Hassan, has cautioned Mohamed Salah against moving to Major League Soccer when he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season. Salah has yet to announce his next move after he ends a hugely successful nine-year spell at Liverpool, where he won two Premier League titles and the Champions League.

The MLS commissioner, Don Garber, has said he would love to see Salah in the league, though it is unclear whether any teams will attempt to sign the 33-year-old.

Continue reading...