Right, that’s about it for our morning and lunchtime’s coverage/buildup/hype/insight – delete as required. Thanks to our correspondents for their, er, correspondence and of course to you for reading and for your comments.
I’ll now point you in the direction of Sarah Rendell’s clockwatch updates for the afternoon games, with plenty at stake for Nottingham Forest and very little at stake for Leicester, Manchester United, West Ham, Tottenham and Crystal Palace. Team news has just dropped. Thanks again!
Could Brentford nab a European spot? They’re in the running for eighth, which could be good enough to reach next year’s Conference League.
“It’s so fun to have something to play for at this part of the season,” said their captain Christian Norgaard after yesterday’s 1-0 win over Ipswich, which was the Bees’ fourth successive win.
“It’s amazing we can create these special moments and these ‘finals’ coming into the last part of the season. Hopefully by the end of it, we can create something magic.”
A question to readers: how come so many Premier League clubs currently have a chant to the tune of ‘Is this the way to Amarillo?’ Have we time travelled?
Yesterday the football world witnessed that rarest of things … a referee going over to the VAR screen only to stick with his original decision. Well done Darren England, who earned praise from ex PGMOL chief Keith Hackett, who described the incident as “refreshing”.
England is on VAR duty for Newcastle v Chelsea today and has just told John Brooks to trot over to the screen to assess a possible red card for Nicolas Jackson. And a red card is the decision.
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Rangers v Aberdeen is a rather low-key game in the Scottish Premiership today. The only thing at stake is a potential third place finish for the Dons, who are chasing Hibs for the title of best of the rest this year. Rangers are guaranteed to finish in a fairly lonely second, currently 13 points above second but 19 off title winners Celtic.
It’s goalless after 22 minutes.
One Hamburger SV fan suffered “life-threatening injuries” and 19 more were seriously injured in celebrations after the team’s return to the Bundesliga, local fire services have said.
The Hamburg Fire Department launched what it called a “major emergency response” to contend with Hamburg fans celebrating promotion on Saturday, when thousands of supporters stormed the field. Some 44 supporters needed medical treatment, including 25 who were taken to local hospitals.
Hamburg clinched their long-awaited return to the top division with a 6-1 rout of Ulm, ensuring they finish among the top two in Germany’s second division and automatic promotion to the Bundesliga.
The club endured six seasons of just missing out on promotion since relegation from the top division before success at the seventh attempt. Agencies
Not a particularly aggressive start from Chelsea then. Sandro Tonali’s goal inside two minutes has got St James’ Park bouncing in the north east sun.
Can anyone stop Eddie Howe’s side claiming Champions League football now?
Enzo Maresca told the TNT Sports cameras that he expects Newcastle to be “very aggressive”. If you want an exhibition of how not to handle the Magpies’ intensity and aggression at SJP just watch Manchester United’s capitulation on Tyneside last month. Wilted.
Don’t do that, Chelsea. Anyway that’s just kicked off so I’ll nudge you in the direction of the live blog again.
Something else to get excited about today … can Arsenal finish second? It’d be rather embarrassing if they didn’t.
The top five/European qualification permutations remain complex and lengthy even at this late stage of the season, but suffice to say Nottingham Forest could be the big beneficiaries in the race to reach next season’s Champions League – providing they see off Leicester at home.
One (or both) of Newcastle and Chelsea will drop points, Manchester City have already done that, and Forest could feasibly end the day in fourth, just a point behind City.
After a patchy run of late, however, Forest fans won’t be confident, even against their already-relegated neighbours. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side actually won their last game and could relish the chance to dash the hosts’ top five hopes at the City Ground later.
Louise Taylor at Newcastle v Chelsea
An unusually warm north east sun means that there are a lot of men in shorts heading to St James’ Park. Many of them will have taken advantage of Newcastle’s offer of a free pint of beer or cider or a bottled soft drink to those arriving at the ground before 11am. The idea is to lift what club executives fear could be a slightly muted atmosphere ahead of an unusually early kick off.
Presumably they feel the subsequent release of inhibitions will inspire Eddie Howe’s players, while the initial outlay is likely to be recouped by fans buying second and third pints. The interesting thing in this assumption is that the 2022 World Cup in Doha was effectively dry but, for all the legitimate criticisms around Qatar hosting the tournament, the atmosphere within stadiums was excellent.
No alcohol was needed to get the stands rocking – and an additional benefit was that it created a much safer environment, for women in particular. Moreover on a day when, being Sunday, public transport is limited – and non existent in some areas – and a high percentage of fans will drive to the game is it really sensible to encourage them to drink? On the pitch for this high noon duel with Chelsea there is a blow for Newcastle as the latterly influential Kieran Trippier has failed a fitness test.
This dictates Dan Burn will almost certainly start at left back, leaving Tino Livramento to revert to the right. With Joe Willock also out injured, Howe recalls Anthony Gordon for his first start since March. With Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes also starting, that means Newcastle have three wingers on the pitch.
Thanks Sarah. Feels a bit weird doesn’t it, a Premier League game kicking off at midday on a Sunday? Hey ho, let’s engage in some more Newcastle v Chelsea buildup in the next 20 minutes or so …
And with that, my watch is over. I’m going to get prepared for the Premier League clockwatch now and Dominic Booth will see you through the rest of the day. See you soon!
FA Vase final
The gates at Wembley have just opened on a real if-a-popular-brand-of-Danish-beer-made-cup-final-afternoons day, the hallowed turf caressed by sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and the floodlights, for some reason, on.
Olympic Way looked a bit different this morning than it does in the build-up to the average cup final, not just because there were four different kits being worn but because the percentage of fans wearing colours was not as high as it often is – this isn’t just an occasion for the hardcore, but for their entire communities.
The shirt I saw most was probably Whytleafe’s green Road to Wembley T-shirt, and a run of flags decorated their designated corner of the ground even before gates opened, though Whitstable seem confident they will have the bigger support when the FA Vase final kicks off at 12.15pm – up to 10,000 is their prediction, not bad for a side whose average attendance for league games this season is 438 (and with train journeys from Kent this morning kicking off with a rail replacement bus to Faversham).
On the pitch the teams should be pretty evenly matched: Whitstable finished third in the Southern Counties East League Premier Division and Whiteleafe in exactly the same place in the Combined Counties Premier Division South, both in tier nine of the English league pyramid.
Wouldn’t it be really helpful if there was a place you could keep track of all the goals happening across Europe in one place? Yes and the Guardian agrees which is why we have a page dedicated to it. Keep up to date here for all of Sunday’s action.
Serie A
There’s always a Tottenham exception. Since leaving Siena in 2011, since he got his first break with a club that had a realistic chance of winning trophies, Antonio Conte has won league titles with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter. Going into Sunday’s matches, with three games remaining, his Napoli lead Inter by three points. In a decade and a half he has won a trophy with every club he has managed, apart from Tottenham.
Nottingham Forest v Leicester City
Forest need a point in the last East Midlands league derby for some while to be guaranteed European football for the first time since 1995/96.
Will Murillo recover sufficiently from the hamstring injury incurred after equalising against Palace on Monday to play? Will Jamie Vardy grab his 200th Leicester goal? Will these two questions prove to be connected?
Having won only two of their last six games in all competitions at the City Ground, Nuno could do with Wood rediscovering his finishing touch to reach the 20-goal mark.
Be interesting to know how much the Forest players keep abreast of the Newcastle/ Chelsea game but a draw there would feel like an early goal for Forest. Nuno’s side could then join those teams on 64 points with a victory here in the Midlands sun.
For all the updates for Newcastle v Chelsea, Rob Smyth has you covered here:
Newcastle v Chelsea team news
The first Premier League clash of the day will see Newcastle take on Chelsea and the team news has just dropped.
Newcastle make two changes from their match against Brighton last Sunday and it comes with two stars missing out. Kieran Tripper and Joe Willock are not involved as both have minor injuries.Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon come in in their place.
Newcastle (possible 4-3-3) Pope; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Murphy, Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes; Gordon, Isak, Barnes.
Substitutes: Dubravka, Ruddy, Lascelles, Wilson, Krafth, Osula, Longstaff, Miley, Neave.
Chelsea have made 10 changes to their starting line-up from their Conference League semi-final on Thursday. The changes include Reece James dropping to the bench.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Enzo; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin, Badiashile, Acheampong, Gusto, James, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho, George.
Referee John Brooks
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La Liga
Real Madrid’s players arrived at training on Wednesday morning to find seven teddy bears waiting for them. Lined up on a bush outside Valdebebas, they wore white shirts and a banner had been placed in front of them, alongside a couple of Spain flags with the club badge in the middle where the crown should go. “Grazie, Inter,” it said.
The night before, Simone Inzaghi’s side had done for them what they had not been able to do for themselves, at least not yet. Now perhaps it can be their turn, one last chance to salvage something from what has been somebody else’s season.
European football
There is a lot of action across Europe today, including El Clásico which could salvage Real Madrid’s season as a win would put them just a point behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race. But before we look ahead to that game, here’s a recap of all the action from across the continent including Harry Kane’s first trophy lift:
Premier League
Liverpool’s Mo Salah is quite a few goals ahead in the Premier League Golden Boot race as things stand. He has scored 28 in the Reds’ run to their trophy win but Newcastle’s Alexander Isak is in second and could pull off a comeback to take the crown. He is likely to be in action this afternoon against Chelsea where he’ll want to add to his 23 so far this season. Take a look at the full race here:
“Despite terrible league form the two teams I and my son follow, Aldershot and Spurs have both reached cup finals,” Big Daddy Rickster says BTL. “We’re heading to Wembley today along with about 18,000 Shots fans for the clubs first ever visit to the home of football. Whatever the result we will have a great day because as a long suffering fan of both teams I fully expect defeat in each of the games!”
You have to believe Rickster. Also for those who don’t know Aldershot are taking on Spennymoor Town in the FA Trophy from 4.15pm BST.
Premier League
Some of you may feel a little bit old when I tell you this fun fact. On this day in 2013 Frank Lampard became Chelsea’s all-time record goalscorer by scoring his 203rd goal. The score came against Aston Villa and broke Bobby Tambling’s long-standing record.
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Today marks the 40th anniversary the Valley Parade fire where 56 football supporters lost their lives. Aaron Bower has looked back at the tragedy and on how the city of Bradford came together:
Nicky Bandini on today's Serie A action
Paris Saint-Germain granted several starters a full week off after their Champions League semi-final win this week, but there could be no such luxury for Inter as they turn attention back to chasing down Napoli atop Serie A. This afternoon’s game against Torino offers an opportunity to pull level with Antonio Conte’s side before they host Genoa in the evening.
Inter will nevertheless not be at full-strength. Lautaro Martínez, after rushing back from his hamstring strain to play the return game against Barcelona, is expected to miss out and Marcus Thuram, who has battled niggling injuries for months, may be on the bench. On the other side of this contest, Torino’s Ché Adams has a chance to do compatriots Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour a favour if he can add to his nine league goals this season.
Napoli will be heavy favourites regardless against Genoa, who have lost four of their last six. Conte’s team have only dropped two points in the same stretch, and for now sit three clear with three games to go. Though as he reminded everyone this week in his favourite phrase of Neapolitan dialect “Amma faticà!” – we still have work to do.
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Newcastle v Chelsea is the first Premier League game of the day with a kick-off of midday BST but the Blues had a trophy to celebrate yesterday as they sealed an invincible season in the Women’s Super League. Chelsea became the first club to go unbeaten in a 22-game season and recorded the highest point total in WSL campaign with 60.
Thank you Rob and morning everyone. An action packed day of football ahead and I will be taking you through the next hour-and-a-half or so of build-up. Any thoughts feel free to leave them BTL or you can email me – sarah.rendell.casual@theguardian.co.uk.
It’s time for me to hand over to Sarah Rendell and start preparing for Newcastle v Chelsea. Thanks as always for your company, emails and comments – bye!
Man Utd v West Ham (2.15pm)
Rasmus Højlund is determined to prove himself “on the biggest stage” with Manchester United, although the centre-forward admits his 21-match scoring drought earlier in the season was a test of character.
Højlund’s goal in Thursday’s 4-1 defeat of Athletic Bilbao was only his 10th in 48 games, a return that has prompted some criticism. But the 22-year-old Dane is clear he can turn his form around. “I know what this football club is all about,” Højlund said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but that’s why I’m here. I want to show myself on the biggest stage.”
John Brewin was at Craven Cottage yesterday to watch Everton win 3-1. And to sample the scallops, sea bream and Veuve Clicquot in Fulham’s new Riverside Stand. Cheers! Hic!
A selection of your views on Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
Women’s Super League
Manchester City brought down the curtain on a miserable season with a 5-2 win over relegated Crystal Palace yesterday. Tom Garry was there.
The Premier League table
If Newcastle draw with Chelsea and Nottingham Forest win at Leicester, there will be only two points separating third and seventh. The phrase “Spandex-tight” was literally invented for this scenario.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 35 | 46 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Man City | 36 | 24 | 65 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 36 | 7 | 63 |
| 7 | Nottm Forest | 35 | 12 | 61 |
| 8 | Brentford | 36 | 10 | 55 |
| 9 | Brighton | 36 | 3 | 55 |
| 10 | AFC Bournemouth | 36 | 12 | 53 |
| 11 | Fulham | 36 | 1 | 51 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 35 | -4 | 46 |
| 13 | Everton | 36 | -5 | 42 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 36 | -13 | 41 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 35 | -9 | 39 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 6 | 38 |
| 17 | West Ham | 35 | -19 | 37 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 36 | -42 | 22 |
| 19 | Leicester | 35 | -47 | 21 |
| 20 | Southampton | 36 | -57 | 12 |
Iraola unhappy after Mings’ ‘very violent’ elbow on Scott
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola disagreed with Jacob Ramsey’s sending-off but felt Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings was fortunate to escape an early red card following a “very violent elbow” on Alex Scott, who was later caught in the face by Amadou Onana.
“We’ve sent Alex for an MRI (scan) because he was really feeling it,” said Iraola, whose side were beaten 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium. “I think it is a very violent elbow - very violent. Tyrone Mings sees that Alex is coming and it’s a very violent one.
“The second yellow for Ramsey, I don’t think is a second yellow. Obviously a red card in the sixth minute (Mings) or a red card the 80th minute, the value is very, very different. But we cannot change this.” PA Media
Newcastle v Chelsea (12pm)
Big game, this, with both sides part of the ongoing Champions League Royal Rumble. Louise Taylor and Jacob Steinberg have answered the key questions ahead of the game.
What would missing out on the Champions League mean?
Newcastle: Europa or Conference League involvement would also increase the probability of Howe losing at least one leading player and quite possibly unsettle his star striker, Alexander Isak. Conversely, rubbing shoulders with Europe’s elite would enable Newcastle to keep not only Isak but Bruno Guimarães too. It would also make it easier to acquire a number of high-profile targets, including Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi, Burnley’s James Trafford, Ipswich’s Liam Delap and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko. Finishing sixth or seventh would mean Howe had failed to trigger a contractual £3m Champions League bonus clause that would boost his salary to around £9m per year.
In other news, Tottingham won’t be recording a Europa League final song. Truly, the game hath gone.
Liverpool v Arsenal (4.30pm)
“Today’s match at Anfield may mean little, but personally I hope Liverpool humiliate Arsenal,” writes Tim Woods. “Michael Thomas and 1989 has not been forgotten, and given it’s now 36 years ago, safe to assume it will never be fully forgiven. So a healthy 6-0 home win would help to add a little more salve to an old wound.”
Crikey, not even Tony Soprano held a grudge that long.
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Sid Lowe's clasico preview
Football’s greatest rivals have played each other 260 times since 1902, one newspaper describing the scene then as one of “little ladies in wasp-waist dresses, rice flower on pretty faces; grave solemn gentlemen, dark colours brightened by a carnation through the buttonhole; dandies in sparkling uniforms; military men corseted into tight waistcoats and trousers like bullfighters; and playboys who have sneaked in, top hats and walking sticks with marble handles”, and every meeting seems to define the season. Rarely though has it so clearly been a title decider.
League Two playoffs: Chesterfield v Walsall (3.30pm)
FA Vase final (Whyteleafe v Whitstable, 12.15pm)
“I was both in Whitstable 70 years ago tomorrow, as it happens,” writes John Wyver. “My dad and my nncle Dick both played for Whitstable FC, and it’s so great that the club is at Wembley today. Wish I could be there, but I’ll be watching with the family on a stream in the south of France. Come on the Oystermen.”
I think around 10,000 Whitstable fans are going to Wembley. In the best traditions of Southeastern rail, there’s a bus replacement service for the first part of the journey. When you’ve been waiting 135 years to see your team play at Wembley, I guess an extra half an hour won’t hurt.
Man Utd change shirt sponsor for West Ham match
Manchester United have changed their usual shirts this weekend in a show of support for the fight against Aids, wearing one-off (RED) front-of-shirt sponsors in their matches against West Ham (men) and Arsenal (women).
The limited-edition shirts will be auctioned off on MatchWornShirt after the games to raise money for (RED), the global health charity co-founded by Bono.
Net proceeds from the auction will go to support the fight against health injustice and provide life-saving programmes in vulnerable communities. To date (RED) has generated more than $785m (£590m) for the Global Fund, helping 320 million people.
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On this day
Liverpool v Arsenal (4.30pm)
Arne Slot is planning to turn Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Anfield departure into a positive for Liverpool, the head coach has said. The right-back will leave Merseyside this summer for Real Madrid on a free transfer, meaning the Dutchman will need to find a way of replacing him.
Conor Bradley is set to start Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Arsenal at Anfield as preparations continue for next season with the title secured. Slot might have to look outside the club for someone to challenge the Northern Ireland international for the right-back berth.
The reader interview Duncan Ferguson
Look, if you don’t love Big Dunc, I’m not sure we can be friends. This is so good.
Any regrets from the Rangers years? Denny
Oh Christ, aye. I never gave myself the best chance to break through at Rangers. I wasn’t training. An amateur player would have been training harder than me. I just wasn’t dedicated enough. I thought I’d made it. Football was easy to me. I’d never had an injury, I came through at Dundee United and I was ripping it up. But then you start to get injured. You’re going on nights out, you’re not playing and it all starts to mount up. There’s a wee bit of trouble creeping into my life now. I’ve got massive regrets that I never gave myself the best crack at it because I was a Rangers boy, I supported Rangers when I was younger, but there is always a silver lining. If I’d cracked it at Rangers I wouldn’t have come to Everton.
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Napoli are three wins away from only the fourth Scudetto in their history. But the relationship between fanbase and manager feels coldly transactional.
Assessing Antonio Conte is difficult. On the one hand, his career has been a story of consistent success. If Napoli do win Serie A it will be his sixth league title with four clubs in two countries in 13 years, a period in which he also transformed an unremarkable Italy into a dynamic side who beat Spain at Euro 2016 before going out to Germany in an 18-penalty shootout. On the other, it’s a tale of strife and constant tension. For club directors, he is a permanent migraine.
“With the clear proviso that all fanbases have a level of entitlement and very vocal idiots, it has been entertaining hearing (some) Arsenal fans explain furiously how Liverpool don’t deserve the league, and Arsenal have been better, and so on and so on,” writes Matt Dony. “It’s enormously childish, but I almost hope Arsenal win today, purely to see the frothing-at-the-mouth on Twitter later on. Arteta’s post-match comments would be for the ages.”
Are Arteta’s Arsenal becoming a cult? I don’t say that pejoratively – plenty of great teams are – but it does feel like something has changed in the past few weeks. All managers present a distorted reality when it comes to refereeing decisions, but when that extends to performance I think it’s a dangerous sign.
One example. In his first year at Man Utd, Erik ten Hag was a Dutchman to the core, bracingly honest, happy to admit when United were crap. But in his second season, as the pressure mounted, he started defending the indefensible. Whatever happens with Mikel Arteta, and he probably just needs a holiday, he’s still massively in credit overall. When he took over, Arsenal were an irrelevance. The existence of this entry shows that’s not the case any more.
The next big thing
Nothing in sport stirs the soul quite like the emergence of a brilliant young talent. Which relatively unknown teenagers have caught your eye this season? Let us know BTL or by emailing matchday.live@theguardian.com.
The first person to say ‘Lamine Yamal’ gets a life ban.
The next superstar of European football?
Miguel Dantas profiles Porto prodigy Rodrigo Mora, whose release clause of £59.5m already looks like value for money.
Mora is a creative playmaker, directing attacks and connecting the midfield to the forward line. He links up well with his back to goal, often playing quick one-touch passes to connect with an advancing midfielder. He rotates fluidly in tight spaces and shows confidence when driving forward.
“He sees the game like no one I’ve ever coached,” says Nuno Pimentel, the former Porto under-15 manager.
Portuguese title race goes to the final day
A 1-1 draw between Benfica and Sporting means the Portuguese title race will go the final day. Francisco Trincao’s early goal for the leaders Sporting was cancelled out in the second half by Kerim Aktürkoğlu.
Both teams have 79 points after 33 games – but Sporting, who won the return fixture 1-0, are top by virtue of the head-to-head record. If they win their last game at home to Vitoria de Guimaraes on Saturday, they will be champions. Benfica play away to Braga knowing they need to better Sporting’s result.
Saturday's action
Plenty go get through this morning. Let’s start with the fallout from an exceedingly busy Saturday.
Premier League
Women’s Super League
Elsewhere
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to matchday live, our Ronseal-inspired weekend blog. For the next few hours we’ll have all the build-up to a big day of action in England, Spain, Italy and beyond.
There are five Premier League matches, including Newcastle v Chelsea and Liverpool v Arsenal, as well as a clásico that could decide who wins La Liga. And the top two in Italy, Napoli and Internazionale, play this evening. Nicky Bandini will join us later to discuss the Serie A title race.
We’ll also reflect on yesterday’s action, including Chelsea completing an unbeaten WSL season and Manchester City failing to score at the Premier League’s bottom club Southampton. And we’ll hear from Simon Burnton, who is at Wembley for Non-League Finals Day. Whitstable, my local team if you’re into that sort of thing, meet AFC Whyteleafe in the FA Vase final at 12.15pm; Aldershot and Spennymoor contest the FA Trophy final at 4.15pm.
These are some of today’s key matches.
Premier League (2.15pm kick-off unless stated)
Newcastle v Chelsea (12pm)
Man Utd v West Ham
Nottm Forest v Leicester
Tottenham v Crystal Palace
Liverpool v Arsenal (4.30pm)
La Liga
Barcelona v Real Madrid (3.15pm)
Serie A
Torino v Inter (5pm)
Napoli v Genoa (7.45pm)
EFL playoffs
Wycombe v Charlton (League One, 6.30pm)
Chesterfield v Walsall (League Two, 3.30pm)
Let us know your thoughts on the clásico, the Premier League top five race or anything else by emailing matchday.live@theguardian.com or posting BTL.
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