All good things must come to an end. Bye.
Steve Gerrard has no truck with metaphors in the run-up to Sunday’s joust with Celtic. “What do you mean by lion’s den?” he responded when asked about the atmosphere round Celtic’s way. “ There’s not going to be any lions there, is there? It’s a football pitch, the same size as the one we play on at Ibrox. It’s 11 men versus 11 men.”
“I have never known a fan to win a football match. A set of fans can make noise and make the atmosphere very interesting for everyone that we can all enjoy. But it’s not a lion’s den. A lion’s den is if you jump over a cage and you’ve got four lions chasing you and you are fearing for your life.”
More of a bear pit, maybe?
Nuno Espirito Santo insists Wolves’ 21-year wait to play a FA Cup semi-final will not distract from their Premier League focus over the next few days, reports the Press Association.
Ahead of a last-four date with Watford at Wembley next Sunday, Wolves head to Burnley on Saturday, and face Manchester United at Molineux on Tuesday.
Nuno has stressed the importance of taking a game at a time and is adamant the club’s first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 1998 will not come into their thinking until after the game with United.
“We don’t think about that, we only look at the Burnley game and how we want to play and the things that we want to do against a very tough team,” said Nuno.
“Burnley are a very good team at home, physical, organised, aggressive, and it is a very tough game for us.
“I expect a tough game between two teams who compete well. I can only focus on myself and the players, the things we want to do. But we realise how difficult it is going to be tomorrow. We have to be switched on.
“The best way to compete is that you look at the next challenge ahead of us - you don’t think about anything else. Game by game. Training session by training session. This is how we work and we have to continue like that.”
Reports this week have suggested Wolves are close to finalising a permanent deal with Benfica for striker Raul Jimenez, who has been on loan this season from the Portuguese club.
Nuno, however, insists there are loose ends to be tied up for the 27-year-old, who has scored 15 goals.
“It is the same situation. We know we have time to make a decision,” said Nuno.
“I know we have to make a decision but the right moment will be the moment that will involve all the parts and then we will announce it for sure.
“We are very happy with Raul with his performances, so when things are done, there will be an announcement.”
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s wait for a first Premier League start is set to continue with Maurizio Sarri having opted against watching the youngster’s full England debut in its entirety and set to lean on more experienced campaigners for Chelsea’s trip to Cardiff City, write Dominic Fifield.
The winger had been a surprise call-up to Gareth Southgate’s senior squad from the under-21s during the international break, and duly went on to become his country’s youngest debutant in a competitive match against the Czech Republic before starting in Montenegro. After a slow start, Hudson-Odoi excelled in Podgorica as the visitors ran out 5-1 winners. Yet Sarri, with 14 players away on international duty this month, only watched snippets of that performance as he attempted to keep track on various members of his squad, and suggested the 18-year-old, who boasts only 119 minutes of top-flight football, and no starts, this term, and 110 minutes for England, remains behind Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
Asked if he had watched Hudson-Odoi’s display at the Podgorica City stadium, Sarri said: “No, no. No, only 20 minutes because I had 14 players in the national teams, and I had no time to watch 20 matches. So I saw the English national team only for 20-25 minutes, and Callum didn’t start very well in the first 20 minutes on the right. He did very well on the left, immediately. The first time he went to the left. But I know him very well, and I know he prefers to play on the left.
“I don’t know [if he will start at Cardiff on Sunday]. I know very well the situation because, last season, Callum was only 17 and played three or four matches. This season, he is really very young - only 18 - but, at the moment, he has played for.... I don’t remember exactly, but 19 or 20 matches. So I think the evolution is the right evolution. Probably, he will play 30-35 matches next season. And so I think that, with Callum, we are on the right path. We have to play eight matches in 28 days, and so I am sure that Callum will start in two or three matches.”
As we prepare to wind down this blog, let us go into the weekend thinking of Pep Guardiola’s rousing cri de coeur [see 2.30pm], when he said: “We have football as a strong weapon to defend the principles of humanity.”
By the way, does anyone know the current laws regarding freedom of expression, association, labour, immigration and sexuality in, say, the United Arab Emirates?
'Don't go, Doucouré'
Javi Gracia says Abdoulaye Doucouré does not need to leave Watford this summer because he can fulfil his ambitions at Vicarage Road. That’s a bold claim considering that the Frenchman recently said he aspires to winning titles and competing in the Champions League. Paris Saint-Germain are among the club who think he’s good enough for that level. But Gracia reckons, kind of, that Watford could get there, too.
“When Doucouré’ said he wanted to grow, I said that I’d like him to grow with me in this team,” Gracia said. “we can do it together. If we are able to grow step by step, then we have the players to improve day by day. We have a good mentality and a good attitude.
“If we carry on working, not just Doucoure but all the squad, then I think we can grow together.
“I don’t like to speak about [the Champions League] because then after it’s a problem.
“We have to decide the best for the team and at the moment we have to win all our games.”
Watford, who are in the hunt for a Europa League spot as they prepare to take on Manchester United this weekend, also face Wolves in a semi-final of the FA Cup on Sunday week.
“I wish we have two games in the FA Cup and eight in the Premier League left to play. In these 10 games we have to show what we are able to do,” Gracia said. “It’s the most decisive part of the season, and I am focused only on the next game because we’ve done it that way for the whole season. We have to continue like that.
“In eight days we are going to play three games and we have to make the right decisions but all the games are important for us. At this moment, the most important thing is United. We have to know some players have been with their national teams and with three games in a row in a short time, we need to make decisions in selection.”
Newcastle United were unhappy to see Fabian Schär play on for Switzerland against Georgia in Tbilisi last weekend despite a clash of heads having briefly knocked the centre half out but Rafa Benitez does not want to inflame an incident centred on an apparent breach of concussion protocols, reports Louise Taylor.
“We take these things [head injuries] seriously so we try to do what we have to do,” said Newcastle’s manager whose side - without the suspended Schar - travel to Arsenal on Monday. “Schar had a test with Switzerland and he’s had another one here. He passed the test with our doctor and is training normally. He is ok so I will not create something important out of it.”
“It’s important not to say too much. I was in contact with him [by phone] after it and our doctor was talking to [the Swiss]. We try to do the right things and control these things if we can.”
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Wilfried Zaha could miss Crystal Palace’s clash with Huddersfield after a gruelling and ultimately pointless stint on international duty, reports the Press Association. Zaha made a 6,400-mile round trip to the Ivory Coast ahead of their African Cup of Nations match against Rwanda despite carrying a hamstring injury which ultimately ruled him out. The winger arrived back at Palace on Tuesday and has since been receiving treatment.
Manager Roy Hodgson, whose side are still not clear of the threat of relegation as they sit five points off the bottom three, said: “With these strains, it is important to take care, especially hamstrings. “I understand the Ivory Coast feel they need to check the veracity of the situation, so I was always aware he would have to go over there but I was disappointed he wasn’t able to come back a bit earlier for treatment here.
“You have to be so careful with hamstring injuries. It’s so difficult to know whether someone is 100 per cent fit. So I think everyone understands the caution we wanted to show going into this important stage of the season. We are grateful to Aidy Boothroyd and the England Under-21s for not pushing Aaron Wan-Bissaka to play and giving him the chance to recover. I can only hope Wilf, being as resilient as he is, can deal with the fact he’s had to have a journey back and forward to the Ivory Coast. Hopefully, the couple of days he has had back with us should stand him in good stead for Saturday.”
Full-back Wan-Bissaka is expected to shake off his hamstring problem in time.
A win for Palace could relegate Huddersfield and would also significantly ease their own fears of the drop as they would move to 36 points, eight clear of third-bottom Cardiff who travel to Chelsea on Sunday.
But Hodgson added: “I would want more than three points from our remaining eight matches. That would not satisfy me. I still think people, if they are really making certain that relegation is not a huge spectre, should be targeting 40 points.”
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'Higuain should have played for France'
Gonzalo Higuain retired from international football this week on a note of bitterness, saying his decision would probably be “to the joy of many people” who criticised his misses rather than the 31 goals he scored during his 75 caps. “When you criticise someone maliciously it hurts everyone,” said the striker. “I saw how much my family suffered, but I gave everything for the national team.”
It might all have been so different if he had chosen to play for France, according to Raymond Domenech, the former manager of Les Bleus. “All he had to do was come to us,” said Domenech, as quoted by L’Equipe. When you criticise someone maliciously it hurts everyone. I often say that jokingly and I never had the chance to say it to him in person but I do ask myself at times if he doesn’t wonder about it himself.” On the other hand, Higuain might ask his Chelsea teammate Olivier Giroud whether strikers who play for France get less criticism despite scoring quite regularly ....
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Gregg’s gone for lunch (yes, probably to Greggs) so I, Doyle, am back with you. Here’s one that falls into the category of ‘would have been far more interesting if he’d said the opposite’:
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has vowed to spend smartly as the new Manchester United manager looks to shape his side this summer.
‘United is a club that has money, and that has to be spent in a reasonable way,” Solskjaer told Norwegian media. “People who know me, know that I will use that in a good way. We have a plan with the club, they have scouted players for longer than I have been here, and we have players that we need to keep. We will not spend money just to spend money.”
Solskjaer added that he hopes Ander Herrera will agree a new deal amid reports about interest from PSG. “Let’s hope club and player find an agreement. We will have a strong squad next season. Ander has been very good since I came in.”
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Spurs will be without Eric Dier, Harry Winks and Serge Aurier when they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday. Dier suffered a groin injury in England’s 5-0 win over Czech Republic last week and was forced to withdraw from Gareth Southgate’s squad for their visit to Montenegro.
“He [Dier] has been ruled out. It’s not a big issue but he needs to recover from the problem he suffered against the Czech Republic with the national team,” Pochettino said. “One week, 10, days, two weeks. We’ll see how it is going to improve. He was running today but we need to wait for the evolution [of the injury]. Him, Harry Winks and Serge Aurier are going to be out for the weekend.”
Midfielder Winks is continuing on-field rehabilitation after a groin injury, while right back Aurier is currently undergoing assessment after sustaining a hamstring problem on international duty with Ivory Coast.
Right, Paul Doyle is back from his late lunch. I’ll hand back over to him. Bye.
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Rafael Benítez has said Fabian Schär will be treated carefully after he played on for Switzerland despite having been knocked unconscious, though the Newcastle manager treaded carefully when asked if he thought the Swiss national team had been at fault.
We take these things very, very seriously and we tried to do what we have to do. He had the test over there and then he had another test over here and then we try to be sure that he is fine, and it’s okay, so I will not create something really important for that. We take care of that, we try to do the right things and we did it. We did it with [Aleksandar] Mitrovic in the derby when we came here and he didn’t play. We control these things if we can, but that’s it. It’s important not to say too much. We know what we have to do and we did it, and that’s it.”
Sky Bet has come under fire for using Paul Merson in its adverts despite his well-documented struggles with gambling addiction. Here’s the full story:
Spurs felt 'disconnected' after Burnley game
The Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has said his side were at their best when they were playing every few days and suffered a dip that left them feeling “disconnected” when they had a week-long break.
Pochettino said: “Before the Burnley game, we were playing every two or three days and then it was a week when we didn’t play and it was like we disconnected. Everyone believed we needed to breathe and rest but I think it [the week-long break] affected us a lot in our brain – something that we disconnect.
“It is not about the energy, the legs, it is about the mental connection in the team and maybe we were affected by that disconnection. Now it makes it more difficult to connect again and perform in the way we want to perform. That is our job, that is in our capacity to try and reconnect.”
The Spurs manager, whose side face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, hopes that the impending move into the new stadium will help his players to avoid a similar feeling of detachment in the battle to finish in the top four.
“The motivation is massive because we have unbelievable games ahead. We are going to move into the best stadium in the world and everyone deserves for us to be in our best and compete and win.”
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Walk-offs can be a 'strong weapon' against racism
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City could walk off the pitch if his team suffer racial abuse, the manager stating football can be a “strong weapon” against racism. The manager’s stance comes after Raheem Sterling was one of several England players who was abused by Montenegro fans in last week’s 5-1 win in Podgorica.
Sterling, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Danny Rose were among those who had monkey chants directed at them, the behaviour later being condemned by England. Asked if City could leave a match if they experienced the same, Guardiola said: “You could do that, we have football as a strong weapon to defend the principles of humanity. People said you cannot mix politics and football. The club and the players can do it and we would follow.
“We’d do it. I’m not alone at the club, it would have to involved the chairman and CEO and the captain and why not? The situation changes when you do something, if not it’s impossible. I think in Europe, not in football, it’s getting worse, yes of course it’s a concern.”
The Catalan believes the issue is not the sport’s problem. “It’s not about the football, it’s society, [it’s] what happens in Europe, the extreme right side [politically], to win the elections, we are not safe. It’s not football, it’s society itself,” he said.
Sterling registered England’s final goal and cupped his ear to Montenegro supporters to show he had answered them by scoring. “It was good for the national team and us [his] good performance, amount of goals, chances created, it was good,” Guardiola said. “Every day, we have to complain when it happens, you have to be there every day [complaining] and Raheem with his behaviour showed us the reality of our society.”
City travel to Fulham for Saturday’s game knowing a win takes them a point ahead of Liverpool in the title race with each having played 31 matches. Guardiola has every outfield player fit again, including Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho.
“Everyone came back fit [from the international break] – Fernandinho, Kevin, Vincent [Kompany], everybody is OK,” said Guardiola.
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England enhanced their reputation as one of the favourites to win the Women’s World Cup after rising to third in Fifa’s rankings on Friday, leapfrogging tournament hosts France in the process. Phil Neville’s squad moved up thanks to their success at the SheBelieves Cup in the United States earlier this month, where they drew with the hosts and secured wins over Brazil and Japan to win the four-nation competition for the first time. However, world champions USA maintain their top ranking and are still the team to beat going into the World Cup which takes place from 7 June to 7 July. The Americans are the most successful team in the tournament’s history, having won it three times and have only been defeated once in their last 30 matches. Germany remain second in the rankings while France slip down to fourth.
Back to Glasgow now, where Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has been busy dismissing the impact Celtic fans can have on the result in the Old Firm derby at high noon on Sunday.
I’ve never seen fans win a football match, it will be loud but it won’t be a lion’s den. A lion’s den is when four lions jump over a cage and you fear for your life. You have to thrive in this atmosphere. If any of my players don’t fancy it they are at the wrong club. This time we won’t have the power of Ibrox behind us which was a big help, but the players have to have that mentality to go and get the job done. If you go in with the wrong mentality you won’t win these games. You have to take responsibility individually and collectively.
Gerrard grew up next to Knowsley Safari Park – he knows a lion’s den when he sees one. Rangers trail Celtic by 10 points going into the game.
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Managers back idea of leaving pitch if racially abused
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has backed the idea of teams being taken off the pitch if players are subject to racism. City winger Raheem Sterling was one of several players to experience racist abuse during England’s 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifying win against Montenegro in Podgorica on Monday. Uefa has subsequently opened proceedings against Montenegro, including a charge of racist behaviour, and Guardiola believes football can use its high profile to help highlight the issue. When asked whether players could walk off the pitch, Guardiola replied:
We could do that. Football is a strong weapon to defend the principles of humanity.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock added his support to the idea: “It’s got to be more severe than a fine or a slap on the wrist. A manager has got to take a team off or ban a team from the tournament, probably immediately, as well if that’s the case. The deterrent has got to be far worse than it is. I would take a team off if that’s what happened, the referee was informed and didn’t do anything about it.”
And Jürgen Klopp, too, said that he would support players in bringing matches to a halt if they were racially abused. “We have to speak loud about it. Whatever I can do, I would do. We have to stop games, anything. If I heard the whole stand I would do it [take the team off] but that is [giving] too much power to a few idiots.”
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Callum Hudson-Odoi has been targeted for abuse by racists twice in the last 11 days, first by some Dynamo Kyiv fans and then in Montenegro. Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri says he has not spoken to the “mentally very strong” teenager about it but would like to see the introduction of a rule allowing teams to take action if confronted by abuse.
“I don’t like to speak to him about this problem because, unfortunately, I am not able to solve it,” said Sarri. “In every country there are some stupid people, I think. So it’s a big problem. I think that we need to do something different. Probably it’s right to stop the match for 10 minutes at the first situation. “We need a rule, I think. A rule for the Premier League, but for all the championships across football. A rule that can permit us to stop the match.”
As for whether he will pick Hudson-Odoi to start against Cardiff this weekend, Sarri said: “We have to play eight matches in 28 days, and so I am sure that Callum will start in two or three matches.” I’m off for my lunch now. I’ll leave you with Gregg Bakowski for a bit.
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Mauricio Pochettino says Spurs’ new stadium is the best in the world and took the opportunity of today’s press conerence to offer his most sincere congratulations to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on his recent apppointment.
“I think it is amazing ... the stadium is the best in the world, we can confirm that now,” hurrahed Pochettino. “Every space is the best I have seen in my life, you can’t compare that with anything. It is going to be fantastic for the future of the club. It is going to be a massive boost for our fans and it must be for our players too.”
Regarding Manchester United’s recent hire, he says “I need to congratulate him and wish him all the best now he is officially the new manager of Manchester United.”
Steven Gerrard is grappling with some selection problems in advance of his biggest game as a manager. Needing to close the 10-point gap to Celtic by winning at Parkhead on Sunday, Rangers will be without Borna Barisic and possibly also Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack. While the forecast is grim for Rangers for this weekend, the future looks a tad brighter thanks to reports that Motherwell’s Jake Hastie has agreed terms for a summer move to Ibrox.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got pretty much everything wrong against Wolves in his last game and appeared frozen in indecision before his team fell behind en route to FA Cup elimination. And then, lo and behold, he was appointed as Manchester United’s full-time manager. Let’s see how he does at home to Watford this weekend. He has doubts over several players, including Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial. But Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia are available again.
Man United’s provisional squad: De Gea, Romero, Grant, Dalot, Valencia, Young, Darmian, Lindelof, Rojo, Bailly, Jones, Shaw, Smalling, Fred, Garner, Gomes, Matic, Herrera, Pogba, McTominay, Pereira, Mata, Chong, Lingard, Greenwood, Martial, Lukaku, Rashford.
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Jonathan Wilson considers what Jürgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have done for English football.
Hurry, hurry! For just £15 you could become the proud owner of one of these.
Yesterday Southampton’s manager, Ralph Hassenhuttl, talked about the need to protect his players from “addictive” video games. “You have to help protect them because it’s not a small problem, if you are honest it’s the same as alcoholism or getting addicted to drugs,” he said. “To protect them means helping them not to spend so much time there. We block the wifi in the hotel, for example, in the evening so they can’t play any more... As long as it’s not officially for the government an illness, then we have to protect them in our way. If it would be an illness then it would be easy for the government to say the companies have to give a block after three hours, for example, that they cannot play this game any more.”
In other news, the official ePremier League finals are on today, and Southampton appear to be excited. It’s all about moderation, you see.
Lighting up the #ePremierLeague 🔥
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 29, 2019
It's FINALS day, you've got this @VennyFIFA and @RRusher7! 👊 #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/Q4tcEaXQm2
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The glory days are back for Sunderland and Portsmouth, who will contest this weekend’s Checkatrade Trophy final. Louise Taylor tells you everything you need to know here:
Leicester are offering fans free beer, water and cupcakes before tomorrow’s game against Bournemouth to mark late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s birthday.
Have you seen Onel Hernandez in action for Norwich this season? Lovely player. Ever wondered what he’s all about off the pitch? Nick Ames had a word with him to find out.
Bournemouth will give late fitness checks to Junior Stanislas, Adam Smith and Dan Gosling before determining whether they are fit enough to play at Leicester.
Andrew Surman (calf), Simon Francis (knee), Steve Cook (groin) and Lewis Cook (knee) are out for sure.
Bournemouth provisional squad: Boruc, Ake, Daniels, Clyne, Mepham, Lerma, Ibe, Brooks, Fraser, Wilson, King, Begovic, Rico, Simpson, Taylor, Mousset, Solanke, Surridge, Stanislas, A Smith, Gosling
Bad news for Cardif City’s hopes of escaping relegation. The club have revealed that Callum Paterson will miss the rest of the season as a result of the knee injury he suffered while helping Scotland to quash San Marino 2-0. As well an important defender, Paterson has been one of Cardiff’s main goal threat this season, weighing in with four league goals. Cardiff had been concerned that playing on a plastic pitch in Kazakhstan before the San Marino match might have ben troublesome for the player, though Neil Warnock says he never tried to talk the player out of playing. “It’s a big blow, it’s no good saying it isn’t,” said Warnock of the injury. “Contrary to what was said before the Scotland game I never spoke to him about not playing on a plastic pitch. But he’s had such a bad knee over the last 12 months I think they spoke between themselves. The second game was a disaster for us, but it’s one of those things.”
Samir Nasri hasn’t completed 90 minutes yet since joining West Ham and he probably won’t do so this weekend. In fact, he may not feature at all against Everton because of calf trouble. West Ham are definitely without Jack Wilshere, Andy Carroll, Andriy Yarmolenko, Carlos Sanchez and Winston Reid.
West Ham ‘s provisional squad: Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell, Rice, Noble, Lanzini, Anderson, Hernandez, Antonio, Adrian, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Obiang, Snodgrass, Arnautovic.
Here is something that the Press Association think you should know about Burnley. Burnley are assessing Johann Berg Gudmundsson ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Wolves at Turf Moor. The winger, who missed Iceland’s 4-0 loss to France on Monday, has been nursing a minor calf injury. Aaron Lennon is pushing to be involved again before the end of the season after knee surgery, but Steven Defour is likely to be sidelined for the rest of the campaign having undergone a calf operation and Jonathan Walters last week announced his retirement due to an Achilles problem sustained while on loan at Ipswich earlier this term.
Burnley’s provisional squad: Heaton, Hart, Pope, Lowton, Taylor, Tarkowski, Mee, Gibson, Ward, Bardsley, Long, Cork, Gudmundsson, Brady, Hendrick, Westwood, McNeil, Barnes, Wood, Crouch, Vydra.
Brighton’s Florian Andone will have a late fitness test tomorrow to see whether he can play against Southampton. Pascal Gross is definitely out. Southampton, meanwhile, are hoping that Danny Ings and Mario Lemina could be back in action after long absences. Shane Long is not available.
Brighton’s provisional squad: Ryan, Button, Bernardo, Bruno, Bong, Dunk, Duffy, Burn, Balogun, Balogun, Montoya, Bissouma, Stephens, Propper, Kayal, Knockaert, March, Jahanbakhsh, Izquierdo, Andone, Locadia, Murray.
Southampton’s provisional squad: Gunn, McCarthy, Stephens, Targett, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Bednarek, Valery, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Slattery, Redmond, Armstrong, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Elyounoussi, Sims, Austin, Ings, Gallagher.
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If you or your chums are of Polish stock and live in Dublin, you might like to get yourself over to Shamrock Rovers for today’s match against UCD. The club is running a “special offer for the Polish community”, whereby two children under 14 can get in for free with a paying adult (€15) and there is also a scarf-swapping scheme, whereby you can exchange a Polish club scarf for a Rovers one.
Remember it's Polish Night tonight @tallaghtstadium Bring a scarf to swap with a Polish club scarf ☘🇵🇱🔁 pic.twitter.com/Z8h0cxR68b
— Shamrock Rovers FC 🇮🇪 (@ShamrockRovers) March 29, 2019
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Have you heard the one about the burger launched from Sheffield on a mission to explore space ... which it duly did .... before coming back to Earth in style ... by landing at Colchester United? It’s a corker.
So yes, this is the burger on its way up... #ColU pic.twitter.com/EqrUk3OoBX
— Colchester United FC (@ColU_Official) March 28, 2019
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More on Fulham: many of their supporters will stage a protest around and possibly in Craven Cottage this weekend against high ticket prices. A crowdfunded #StopTheGreed campaign has raised money to buy banners denouncing a pricing policy whereby the cheapest adult ticket in the Hammersmith End for second-rate matches is £45 while the cheapest for Category A games is £55. The club has refused to give the go-ahead for the protest but fans are determined to make their point nonetheless so let’s wish them well. £55!
Tim Ream and Jean Michael Seri are injury doubts for Fulham ahead of Saturday’s early afternoon torture at the hands of Manchester City. Alfie Mawson will definitely be spared the ordeal thanks to a knee injury. Question: have any of the fantasy league managers among you not made either Raheem Sterling or Sergio Aguero their captain for this weekend (a double-game week for many teams)?
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Huddersfield entered the Premier League with a bang in 2017 thanks to a 3-0 victory at Selhurst Park. But on Saturday they could equal a dishonourable record at the same venue, where defeat could see them relegated after only 32 games of the season, a feat previously only suffered in the Premier League era by Derby County’s class of dunces of 2007/08. For that to happen, Southampton and Burnley would both have to win as well (against Brighton and Wolves respectively) so it’s unlikely. Plus, Huddersfield could welcome back the fit-again Christopher Schindler, Jonathan Hogg and Danny Williams. So, erm, don’t discount the greatest relegation escape of all time just yet.
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Preamble
Hello. Right, that’s the formalities out of the way, now let’s talk about anything but Brexit football. After the thrills of international action, players across the world will soon return to the drudgery of domestic duty. In the Premier League, that means a potentially pivotal weekend in the title race, a crucial weekend in the jostling for a top four finish and a cheek-clenching weekend in the battle to avoid the drop. And we’ve got pretty much the same scenarios in the Championship, League One and League Two. In the Championship, for instance, Norwich go to Middlesbrough and Sheffield United host Bristol City, which means there’s a good chance of Leeds being back in the automatic promotion places if they can prevail in their always-cordial tête-à-tête with Millwall. Before all that, though, West Brom will try on this very day to foil Birmingham’s attempt to begin recovering from that nine-point deduction for financial mayhem. And in League One, half the division is still at risk of relegation - Southend v Shrewsbury has the makings of a particularly choice affair – while in League Two, Lincoln will try to stride closer to the third tier by nudging Macclesfield closer to non-league indignity. And in Scotland, Celtic and Rangers will meet on Sunday for a wholesome display of inter-faith friendship and a chat about the exact timing of Celtic’s coronation as Scottish champions. It’s all happening! But before it does, let us and managers spend a day talking about it. Yes!
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