Key events
Another comedy type celebrity Palace fan. Dylan Llewellyn of Derry Girls and the Death In Paradise offshoot sits behind me in the main stand.
Scottish Premiership: “It’s first post-split game for Motherwell, at home to St Johnstone (so called, despite being from Perth, because in medieval times it was known as “Saint John’s Toun” after a local saint and/or church (accounts differ),” writes James Humpries.
“There’s yer pub quiz answer of the day. The Opta supercomputer has us finishing eighth, with a 0.5% of ending up in the automatic relegation place, but I know better (especially since they somehow put us out of the Scottish Cup in order to go and roll over for Celtic). It looks to be pishing down, an aw, when I could instead go to a pub and watch an almost certainly better game in the warm with a bev. Why do I do this to myself? Wish us luck!”
Chelsea v Everton: With less than 30 minutes to go until kick-off in Chelsea’s match against Everton, Marc Cucurella has been speaking to TNT Sports. “The morale is good,” says the Spanish full-back. “Today is a very important game for us. We had a good comeback last weekend so today we have a good opportunity to get another three points and be ready for the last games.
“The fans need to stay with us. We will have moments that we need to suffer but if we stay together we can do it. We have prepared well for the game and we know it is massive for us. We are going all out for everything.”
Scottish Premiership: Celtic need a point at Tannadice to confirm their status as champions and if they get it, James Forrest will become the most decorated player in the club’s history. The winger has to settle for a place on the bench today, however, as he and Adam Idah have been dropped by Brendan Rodgers. Nicolas Kuhn and Jota come into the starting line-up.
Dundee United make four changes to the side that beat St Johnstone last time out. Vicko Sevelj, Craig Sibbald, Allan Campbell and Ruari Paton get the nod from head coach Jim Goodwin.
Dundee United: Walton, Strain, Sevelj, Adegboyega, Middleton, Sibbald, Docherty, Campbell, Ferry, Dalby, Paton.
Subs: Richards, Trapanosvki, Moult, Babunski, Fotheringham, van der Sande, Gallagher, Cleall-Harding.
Celtic: Sinisalo, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, Engels, McGregor, Hatate, Jota, Kuhn, Maeda.
Subs: Bain, Trusty, Idah, McCowan, Schlupp, Kenny, Bernardo, Forrest, Ralston.
Tom Garry
Women’s Champions League: Chelsea’s squad appear to be in a relaxed mood this morning, as they train before Sunday’s second leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final against the holders Barcelona.
Sonia Bompastor watched the early parts of the session from some 30 or 40 yards away from the squad, quietly keeping her thoughts to herself. Her side know they must win by at least three clear goals at Stamford Bridge to have any hope of reaching 24 May’s final. As expected, there is no sign of long-term injury absentee Sam Kerr, while the England forward Lauren James (hamstring) remains out.
Championship: Luton Town host Coventry City in the pick of today’s two lunchtime kick-offs. It’s a massive game for both sides, with Luton knowing a win or draw will take them out of the relegation zone for a few hours at least. Coventry, by contrast, need a positive result to help consolidate their push for a playoff place. They currently sit sixth in the table but have Middelesbrough and Millwall breathing down their necks.
Luton Town: Kaminski, Makosso, McGuinness, Mengi, Jones, Dabo, Walsh, Bell, Alli, Morris, Aasgaard.
Subs: Krul, Naismith, Nakamba, Chong, Burke, Clark, Baptiste, Nelson, Nordas.
Coventry City: Collins, Binks, Latibeaudiere, Kitching, Dasilva, Grimes, Sheaf, Sakamoto, Rudoni, Wright, Simms.
Subs: Wilson, Allen, Paterson, Borges Rodrigues, Bidwell, Thomas-Asante, Eccles, Burroughs, Moore.
‘Cole Palmer, he’s going to score!’
Yara El-Shaboury
Chelsea v Everton: Yesterday, Enzo Maresca said Chelsea’s transfer plans in the summer will hinge on if the team qualify for the Champions League next season and today’s early kick-off against Everton will be a huge factor in that dream coming to fruition, writes Yara El Shaboury from Stamford Bridge.
The home side have struggled in front of goal as of late, with several of their forwards out of form. That hasn’t deterred the Chelsea fans outside of Stamford Bridge though. A pack of fans are in full voice, singing ‘Cole Palmer, he’s going to score’ while waiting for the team bus. Not a particularly creative chant but one that shows how much belief supporters have in the 22-year-old who is on a 16-game goal drought. He starts against Everton alongside Noni Madueke, Romeo Lavia, Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson.
Chelsea v Everton: Chelsea can catapult themsevles back into the Champions League qualification places with a win over Everton in today’s early Premier League kick-off at Stamford Bridge. The teams are in from Stamford Bridge and Romeo Lavia is back in midfield for his first Chelsea start since January.
Everton defender James Tarkowski is out with a hamstring injury, ending a run of 109 consecutivve Premier League games for the club, while on loan striker Armando Broja is ineligible to play against his parent club.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Lavia, Fernandez, Madueke, Palmer, Neto, Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Badiashile, Tosin, James, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Sancho, Nkunku.
Everton: Pickford, Patterson, O’Brien, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, Harrison, Ndiaye, Beto.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Keane, McNeil, Chermiti, Young, Coleman, Alcaraz, Iroegbunam.
David Tindall has all the latest news from Stamford Bridge in our minute-by-minute report.
Women’s football: Both Arsenal and Chelsea face uphilll tasks in their respective Champions League semi-finals tomorrow. Chelsea welcome Barcelona, the defending champions, to Stamford Bridge and trail 4-1 after the fiirst leg, while Arsenal go to Lyon with a 2-1 deficit to overturn.
The Guardian’s Tom Garry will be here around this time tomorrow to answer your questions on those semi-finals and the women’s game in general, so feel free to post any queries you’d like him to field in the comments section below. In the meantime, you can read Tom’s preview of the “herculean” task facing Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea side.
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers, though, has already seen her players recover from losing the first leg of their quarter-final against Real Madrid 2-0 away to go on and progress. “Of course you want to set up yourself so you don’t have to overcome setbacks, that is the starting point,” Slegers said.
“But we also know that in sports it will happen, because the further you go (in a competition), the better teams you play against, this will happen. So what happens with us when we are in that situation and we have to come back within those 90 minutes or in the second leg? I think the team so far has shown so much strength in those moments. That is key for us to be a winning team – that whatever happens, we stick to it.”
Wrexham continue their promotion push
Dominic Booth
League One: The mood music at the STōK Cae Ras – AKA the Racecourse Ground – this evening will be set by the outcome of Leyton Orient versus Wycombe, which kicks off five hours earlier at 12.30pm. So by the time Wrexham take to the field against Charlton, they’ll know exactly how they can earn promotion today, or at least how to stay in the box seat for the top two. Any dropped points by the Chair Boys today will gift Wrexham the chance to seal automatic promotion with a win.
The doomsday scenario for Phil Parkinson’s side is if Wycombe claim victory at Brisbane Road, thus piling the pressure on the Welsh club, who face an in-form Addicks team who have lost just two of their past 20 games and sit fourth. A Charlton win would blow the whole thing wide open again. And after manager Nathan Jones stoked the fire yesterday by using the word “circus” in relation to Wrexham and their Hollywood owners there’s no shortage of talking points for me as I head down the M56 and A55 later on. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have cleared their diaries by all accounts and should be in situ. Looking forward to it.
Lads, it’s Tottenham: Liverpool can win the Premier League title at Anfield tomorrow with a draw against Spurs and in the build-up to the game, Ange Postecoglou has railed against what he says is a well-worn narrative around Tottenham – the club must always be set up for a fall, negative interpretations at every turn. David Hytner reports …
Chelsea: Enzo Maresca has said Chelsea’s transfer plans depend on whether they qualify for the Champions League, writes Jacob Steinberg. The head coach, who insisted Cole Palmer’s goalscoring drought was all in the player’s head, also hinted at wanting to add more experience to his squad.
Madrid and Barca have contrived to make themselves as unpopular as each other with their hubris and financial shenanigans. On this occasion, based on the public vilification of the ref, I’m going Barca via the most dubious pen ever in the 96th minute. Please..!
Celtic zero in on their 55th Scottish title
Ewan Murray
Tuesday follows Monday, Celtic win the league. Modern day realities. Still, expect wild outpourings of emotion if Brendan Rodgers and his team claim the single point against Dundee United needed to confirm their 55th title, fourth in a row and 13th from the last 14. “Any time you win a league is special,” said Rodgers on Friday. “We don’t want to delay it any longer than we have to but for that we have to perform.”
Rodgers has taken satisfaction from the “retained hunger” of his players. The manager senses a lack of understanding over the level of work required to keep Celtic at the summit of Scottish football. While that may be true – and this broader point is no fault of Celtic’s – a league setup which has had only two champions since 1985 (the Old Firm) is unhealthy. The lack of conversation over how to change that scenario or at least breathe fresh competitive life into the top flight is dispiriting.
There can be no dispute that Celtic have been the best team in the country. The champions-elect enter the Tannadice fixture with a slightly preposterous goal difference of plus 75. In the prolific Daizen Meada, they have had the outstanding player in 2024/25.
United have European ambitions to ensure they will not roll over. Yet Celtic don’t tend to wobble with the finishing tape in sight. Expect the retention of the flag to be confirmed by mid-afternoon.
Already on the rollercoaster of a day out at Wembley. Excited, anxious…looking forward to the prematch shenanigans with mates, trying to remember which Palace socks I wore to Fulham, deciding if i should take a jacket or a jumper(it might be chilly later!), hoping for the best, fingers crossed, que sera sera, always South London and proud. Come on you Palace!!!!
What? No Kevin Day? The comedian and writer will be gutted to have been left out of Chris’s list of showbiz comedy types who support Crystal Palace, while Jonathan deserves a tip of the hat for not revealing the identity of the actor who played H in Line of Duty, electing not to spoil the show for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. And if you’re one of those people, why haven’t you seen it yet?!?!?! It’s brilliant!
Palace and Villa fans discuss their FA Cup semi-final (III)
What will be your pre-match routine? Any superstitions?
CW: “I don’t have any Wembley superstitions mainly because we don’t go there that often. But whenever there’s a big game I deliberately try and underplay the day so as not to build expectations. You’ll probably find me pre-match in the King’s Arms in Southwark with a lot of other agitated Palace fans.”
JP: “Gone (sadly) are the days of The Globe at 9am and The Green Man from 11 – but no doubt we’ll still over-lubricate the vocal cords.”
Your top celebrity fan is…
CW: “A slew of comedy types to pick from, including Eddie Izzard, Neil Morrissey, Jo Brand, Mark Steel, James Buckley. Maybe that’s just the mindset you need to be a Palace fan.”
JP: “I’m picking H from Line of Duty and Nathan Dawe for this one, resting the two future Kings of England for the final.”
Palace and Villa fans discuss their FA Cup semi-final (II)
What’s their weak link? What’s yours?
CW: “They seem to insist on playing a high line against us which never works. Our last four games ended 13-4 to us on aggregate. I’m also hoping they’ll be spent after their European exploits. Our weak link is arguably strength in depth past the first eleven, particularly in central defence and up front. Any late injuries there and it would be a real struggle.”
JP: “It’s true that Palace absolutely panned us the last two times and looked awesome doing it … but can they do it on a warm Saturday afternoon at Wembley? I reckon our biggest issue will be the inability to deal with Mateta so far. Let’s hope we can find a non-Millwall way of containing him.”
How would you sum up their club in a sentence?
CW: “Well run, expertly coached, top-six disruptor, and not afraid to spend the big bucks.”
JP: “Proper club, proper fans … but they kind of know it, which makes them a bit pleased with themselves. One of the more bearable sets of fans though.”
CW: “I’ll take that! Most Premier League grounds are now corporate bowls of silence, so Selhurst still stands out from the crowd.”
What do you envy most about their club?
CW: “Their seemingly unlimited spending power and ability to meet PSR rules with remarkable sales and purchases of high-value young English players.”
JP: “Not sure there’s anything I envy about Palace as an entity, but I certainly admire plenty of their players. I’d happily pluck Eberechi Eze from their squad – the sort of player who gets fans off their seats but isn’t just a show-pony, there’s real end product there too. Hope I’ve talked him into having a stinker now.”
CW: “If we’re plucking players, we’ll have Ollie Watkins. Seems mind-boggling to me that he was dropped to the bench recently.”
Palace and Villa fans discuss their FA Cup semi-final
Palace: Chris Waters, 50.
First match attended: “A Charlton game when they played at Selhurst in the late 1980s. Clearly didn’t make an impression.”
Best match attended: “The famous poogate play-off semi-final win over Brighton at the Amex in 2013, for the sheer limbs and unbridled joy.”
Villa: Jonathan Pritchard, 50+, grey since Paul Lambert.
First match attended: “1977, a home defeat to Birmingham. Thank God I wasn’t swayed.”
Best match attended: “Two ‘defeats’: Atletico in 1998 and PSG the other day. Almost unbearable noise, excitement and drama. And 5-1 v Blues in 2008 was retribution but, off the back of a stag do, had too much noise.”
How are you feeling about the semi-final?
CW: “Uneasy. Most of the confidence I had when the draw was made evaporated with our two recent five goal thrashings – but then the display against Arsenal raised hopes again – a bit. We do have an excellent recent record against Villa but we’re still clearly underdogs for this. I just hope we turn up this time – we drifted through the last semi against Chelsea in 2022.”
JP: “Absolutely cannot wait. We’ve been hard at it fighting on three fronts so tiredness may be a factor against a very energetic Palace side. But I always think of the semi as the people’s final, and Villa and Palace have low idiot counts in their fanbases, so whatever the result, it’ll be a great day.”
Why should neutrals back your club?
CW: “An easy one… First of all, we’ve never won anything, and we’re the obvious underdogs. Second, we’re a ‘smaller’ club from a ‘traditional’ stadium, firmly part of its community. On top of that, conceding ten goals in six days shows we’re natural entertainers. A trophy would be an amazing story for this club, and would mean the absolute world.”
JP: “I’m not so sure Palace are massively the underdogs here – they have a lot going for them. As for neutrals? I couldn’t care less what anyone else thinks.”
Hello everybody. And thank you, Gregg. Coming up: we’ve canvassed the views of a fan from each camp ahead of this evening’s FA Cup semi-final between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, a match I’m very much looking forward to as a neutral but which both sets of supporters must be approaching with extreme excitement with more than a hint of total gut-churning dread.
I’m going to pass the Matchday live baton on to Barry Glendenning now. As he gets himself comfortable in this new chair, you should really have a read of Jonathan Liew’s brilliant piece on Mohamed Salah and how the Egyptian “is more than simply a role model in his adopted home, he speaks to the city’s broader mythology.”
A Nottingham Forest supporter writes:
I will be going to Forest v Man City semi final on Sunday, it is part of wonderful season for Forest. But some of my thoughts on Sunday will go back to the last FA cup semi final I went to in Sheffield in 1989, when so many fellow supporters of the opposing team did not get to go home. I don’t often think about it after so many years, but when I do, the sadness I feel is immense. I just wish they all could have got home safely that day and had the chance to see the next game the following week, just like I did.
Another, much more troubling, European football story today is that of Spanish referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, the official for tonight’s’s Copa del Rey final between Real Madrid and Barcelona. He was brought to tears on Friday by a critical video published by Madrid’s in-house TV channel (RMTV). The video shows what RMTV says is a series of errors made by De Burgos throughout his career. “When a child arrives at school and his mates tell him that his father is a thief, it makes you sick,” said De Burgos before threatening strike action. “We are not going to continue to allow what is happening.” Madrid took no part in media activities before tonight’s final, prompting uncertainty that the game would go ahead, but have since have denied that they ever considered refusing to play against Barcelona. A statement from Madrid finally confirmed that they would play after 10pm on Friday night, just 24 hours before kick-off. The club accused the referees of “announcing supposed actions which are far from the principles of equality, objectivity and impartiality which should prevail a few hours before a footballing event followed by millions of people around the world”.
The stance taken by Real Madrid is frankly appalling. Even pointing out that their mouthpice TV channel devotes a significant amount of time to ref bashing, and how this impacts on peoples lives is somehow evidence of conspiracy against them.
Let’s have a look at what’s happening in Europe today. You’ll see the central figure in the picture at the top of this live blog is one Harry Kane, who can finally get his hands on some silverware if Bayern Munich defeat Mainz at home today and last season’s champions, Bayer Leverkusen, fail to beat Augsburg at home. It will also be Vincent Kompany’s first top-flight title as a manager (he’s been keen to point out that he won the Championship with Burnley).
Someone is not so impressed by Harry, though:
Was Kane really a better striker than James Vardy though? I don’t think so. Vardy was a one man attack that Kane never could be. Quicker, better runner off the shoulder, good link play,
better carrier.
Kane, He’s gone to Bayern and they’ve become Spurs. He is the worst England attacker in the front 3 since 2020 and he’s holding the attack the time.
Impending Bundesliga title-winners Bayern Munich have become Spurs. Discuss …
We have an email from Gordon Bird. “It’s a huge day in the Isthmian Premier Division,” he roars. “Come on Horsham!” A quick bit of research shows me that, yes, this is another non-league table that is delivering a shot of excitement on the final day. There are three teams going for the title, two of whom will be promoted. The Isthmian Premier Division is the seventh tier of football in England, one step down from the National League South so, if St Albans City do get relegated, their fans can be safe assured they’ll be dropping into a league that also delivers end-of-season thrills. Here’s how the table looks, with second-placed Horsham hosting eighth-place Hashtag United and leaders (by one goal on GD), Billericay, facing Cheshunt at home. Third-placed Dartford host seventh-placed Carshalton United. So, unlike the National League South, those three title-contending teams’ reasonably close proximity means the trophy could be located in, says, Sevenoaks and delivered within an hour of full-time to whoever wins it.
Fantasy football corner
With apologies to those who don’t play the game, here’s what you need to know before the weekend’s deadline for Premier League fantasy football (11am BST). Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City are not in action in Gameweek 34 so if you have any of those teams’ players in your first XI you need to either transfer or bench them. If you still have a Wildcard or Free Hit chip available then now could be the time to activate it.
Player to consider bringing in:
With Newcastle in a fierce race to finish inside the top-five Champions League qualification places, it could be worth stacking up on players from Eddie Howe’s side as they face a home match against sorry Ipswich, who could be relegated this afternoon. Harvey Barnes (£6m), Jacob Murphy (£5.2m), Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) and Sandro Tonali (£5.5m) could all be good value to pitch in with goals and/or assists, while Alexander Isak (£9.6m) is worth considering as captain ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£13.8m). On to Liverpool then, and with only a point needed against Tottenham to win the Premier League title again, is it worth bringing Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) back into your team? He’s the most expensive defender out there but, after his winning goal at Leicester, could he be set for a start on what could be a momentous day for the Reds? And Luis Díaz (£7.5m) loves scoring against Tottenham. He’s scored four times against Spurs (it would have been five had it not been for that VAR imbroglio), is in good form and could be a smart choice at the price.
Wolves face relegated Leicester, with Mattheus Cunha (£6.9m) back in favour and looking like a good value buy, while Bryan Mbeumo (£8m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.5m) were back at their telepathic best for Brentford in the 4-2 win over Brighton and could be worth backing to dent Nottingham Forest’s bid to qualify for the Champions League. Bernd Leno (£5m) is a decent option in goal as Fulham travel to Southampton and Reece James (£4.8m) may be a good shout as top-five chasers Chelsea host Everton.
I’m 12th in Guardian Sport’s 26-team league on 2,066 points by the way, so feel free to ignore my advice and post your own BTL. And here’s our team news and predicted lineups for the weekend, which may well inform your thinking.
Blackdogmax has asked for a little bit of focus on the Championship relegation battle. My colleague James Dart has pitched in BTL.
It might be the last weekend for fellow followers of a Plymouth Argyle persuasion to be part of the Championship, so a tip of the hat to all the travelling supporters (3.30am start in places) on their way to Preston. Similar nod to the £5 tickets from North End.
A Luton win at lunch could effectively (if not mathematically) relegate Argyle without them kicking a ball today; given their away record over this and other seasons, they should be able to handle it themselves …
And the best of luck to Truro City (and other five promotion contenders) in NLS. A huge and historic day for Cornish football beckons (or not).
My workings have it that if Cardiff and Plymouth Argyle both lose at home to West Brom and away to Preston, respectively, and Luton avoid defeat at home to Frank Lampard’s Coventry and Derby don’t lose at Hull, then both would be relegated to League One. Hull would be assured of safety if they beat Derby with one game still to play. Portsmouth’s 1-0 win over Watford last Monday means they are now safe.
More about National League south particularly St Albans City FC please.
Here at Guardian Towers, we like to please. Away from the glitz and glamour of the top leagues around Europe, the National League South has made headlines this week, where as many as six teams can still win the title. The league has confirmed that the trophy will have to be presented at a later date because, well, where the hell would they have it on standby? I’m not sure they could afford to rent a helicopter to fly the silverware in. The league table really is a sight to behold.
Here’s how Simon Burnton teed up the six-way title tussle:
The final day dawns for National League South with fully 25% of its teams capable of winning it. Truro City go into it above Torquay at the top because their goal difference is better by two (they have scored one more goal), Eastbourne Borough and Worthing are a further point back, and Boreham Wood and Dorking Wanderers are two behind them (with the division’s best and second-best goal difference respectively). Disappointingly none of the teams play any of the others on the last day, with the pick of the fixtures Truro’s against St Albans City, who need to do better than Salisbury (the two are level on points but Salisbury’s goal difference is better by one) to stay up. A few weeks ago it looked as if the title was Worthing’s to win: on 15 March they had won their past five, led the league by four and had a game in hand on every other side in the top 10. “We’re very hard to play against at the moment and I think we’re improving, we’re getting better,” their manager, Chris Agutter, said after they beat Hemel Hempstead Town that day. “We’re becoming more ruthless as well. We just need to keep working hard, and the results touch wood should keep going in the right direction.” Since then: two wins, two draws, three defeats. They end their season at Enfield, who could go down if Salisbury and St Albans win.
If you are at any of the potentially title-defining games later, do let us know which team’s scarf you’ll be wearing and what your plans are.
There was a minor shock in Ligue 1 last night, when already-crowned champions PSG’s hopes of completing an unbeaten league season went up in smoke as they were beaten 3-1 at home by Champions League-chasing Nice. A quick look at the starting lineup suggests that the Parisians did not rest a host of players before their trip to the Emirates on Tuesday for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Many would rank them as they best team in Europe right now. Are the wheels coming off, or were they just on low-power mode? Surely it gives Arsenal fans some hope though, no?
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa: FA Cup semi-final (5.15pm)
Let’s shift the focus to Wembley then, where Oliver Glasner’s much-improved side are hoping to cause a (kind of) upset by defeating Aston Villa and booking their place in the FA Cup final. They’ve never won a major honour, but with a team that are tuned expertly under the impressive Austrian, could this be their best chance of finally landing a big trophy? Ed Aarons has taken a deep dive into the club’s hunt for the holy grail.
On the other side of the centre-circle at Wembley today, will be Aston Villa. Ben Fisher has explored the restorative powers of Unai Emery at Aston Villa, and how his off-the-cuff decisions, tinkering and snap calls have kept his team on an upward trajectory. His emotional methods have certainly got the best out of key players – most notably the rejuvenated Marcus Rashford.
A headline that certainly grabbed my attention this morning was David Moyes’s analogy of what it is like to manage Everton under new owners TFG.
We’ve got a new lover coming in and we have to make sure we like them and it all goes well. People have been brought in to do it before and it didn’t work [with Farhad Moshiri]. We need to hope that we can say: ‘This is how it should be going, this is what Everton are required to do and this is how we need to do it.’”
Too much? Yes, probably. Though I think we can all agree he’s keeping his new lover happy. Look out Chelsea! That one kicks off at 12.30pm today, and as mentioned earlier, Yara El-Shaboury will bring us the mood from Stamford Bridge later this morning.
So, let’s have a look at some of the headlines this morning. Ange Postecoglou has been in siege mode for quite some time at Tottenham, and with his side 16th in the Premier League table and facing a trip to Anfield where Liverpool can win the title tomorrow, he’s been bemoaning the negative narrative around Spurs – particularly last season when they finished fifth.
I love the frenzy around finishing fifth this year … they’re all brilliant, aren’t they? We finished fifth last year. Why is it such a disaster that we finished fifth? Around this time last year, I was asked to lose a game [against City]. And I was wrong for wanting to win it. We finished fifth but it’s not a good story. A better story is my tenure has been a disaster and it continues to be. I just think that the kind of hysteria that is surrounding what’s happening at the moment is all premeditated for a certain outcome. Hopefully we can defy that.”
Welcome to matchday live!
Good morning! Welcome to our brand new live blog running on Saturdays and Sundays that will signpost the football matches and stories to look out for each day. Coming up on a stacked Saturday we’ll be talking to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa fans about their hopes (and fears) before this afternoon’s FA Cup semi-final. We’re hoping to involve you in the conversation, too, so if you happen to be heading to Wembley get in touch below the line or email us with your thoughts on the match. If you’re heading off to watch any match today, let us know why it matters to you and what rituals you’ll be carrying out in advance?
We’ll be hearing from some of our correspondents, too, with Ewan Murray teeing up Dundee United v Celtic, who are set to win a record-equalling 55th Scottish league title and we hope to have snippets from reporters elsewhere, too. Yara El-Shaboury is at Stamford Bridge for the early kick-off between Chelsea and Everton – she’ll assess the mood before that one. But if you have any thoughts on Enzo Maresca and David Moyes, do let us know. Dominic Booth will be at Wrexham v Charlton at 5.30pm, with the Hollywood darlings potentially being promoted from League One this evening, and he’ll send us a missive later to tee that one up. And Harry Kane could finally get his hands on some silverware if Bayern Munich defeat Mainz. Surely he deserves some honours doesn’t he? I’ll bring you some fantasy football tips too – they might not be useful but they will at least remind you not to miss the deadline.