Right, thanks for reading and all the comments. Just getting a message in my ear piece..... “Chris Wilder has...” Nope, it’s cut off.
As the blog comes to a close, Chris Wilder’s exit remains imminent rather than confirmed. Here’s Paul Doyle on how this tumultuous day at Bramall Lane unfolded.
Let’s focus on another South Yorkshire club instead. Excellent piece here about bang-in-form Barnsley from Ben Fisher.
Chris Wilder now checking train times from Sheffield to Glasgow. Why’s that? He’s just been installed as the 4/6 favourite to become next manager of Celtic. Things move fast in football.
Have a go at the Sports Quiz. Questions don’t include “when will the Chris Wilder press conference take place?”...
While the Blades bedlam continues, here’s Barry Glendenning with today’s edition of The Fiver. And, yep, Chris Wilder plays a leading role.
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Def Leppard want this sorted. Joe Elliott checking his phone contacts to see if Sean Bean can “get here now” and do some shouting.
Owls fan Alex Turner WhatsApps the other Arctic Monkeys with the word “shambles” and some smiley emojis.
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Martin Fry and Jarvis Cocker exchange texts. “Not happening”, says the former ABC frontman.
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The Human League packing their equipment away again as the tour bus waits outside in a deserted Bramall Lane car park.
Well, what’s this. Apparently the 5pm press conference at Sheffield United has now been cancelled. It’s due to “circumstances beyond our control”, according to the club.
You would have thought if anyone could control it, they could. Not the case though. As another famous manager once said: “What sort of thing is happening here?”
Here’s Greg Wood with his latest piece on the collapse of Football Index. Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers, who had Football Index as their shirt sponsors, are dropping the logo with immediate effect.
If you missed the Women’s Champions League draw earlier, here’s a reminder plus some extra context from Suzanne Wrack.
Chris Wilder now preparing some quotes for his press conference. Ex-Chelsea star Oscar will read them out apparently.
I have nothing to declare except my genius.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
Little Blade the dog still gracing the front of the Sheffield United website.
Nothing else going on there today I guess.
Wilfried Zaha could be back in the Crystal Palace starting XI when the Eagles host West Brom at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The Palace talisman came on as a sub in the 4-1 defeat against Tottenham after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Not that we need reminding of his importance but here’s a stat relevant to Saturday’s opponents.
- Zaha has scored four goals in his last four Premier League games against West Bromwich Albion, netting a brace in the reverse fixture at the Hawthorns.
Less than an hour before the Chris Wilder press conference. As the clock ticks down, have a read over what else is happening in the Premier League this weekend.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed that Raul Jimenez is wearing a protective headband during training drills as he continues his recovery from a fractured skull.
The Mexican has been absent since a sickening clash of heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz in November.
The Molineux manager said Jimenez’s return and positive outlook on the injury has lifted spirits in the Wolves camp.
It’s a protective headgear that he uses during the training sessions, something that prevents any kind of contact on the skull. He’s not decided yet if he’s going to wear it when he returns to competitions but now it’s a better approach for him to be more involved inside of the training sessions.
He’s doing quite well and he’s improving. We still have to wait but it’s not decided yet whether he’s going to wear it in the future. First we have to put him back in the pitch in the best and safest way to do it.
It’s a big lift because he’s a fantastic boy. With the serious situation he’s faced and the doubts, it was clear that he never doubted, he was always positive, he’s always with a smile, he’s always engaged to do things.
That, by itself, is a big, big lift when you see someone with something so serious and he’s so positive about it all. Raul is amazing.
Nuno believes Jimenez could still return before the end of this season. Wolves host Liverpool on Monday night.
Now this you must read. It’s a piece from the Guardian Sport Network and tells a Maradona story that many won’t know.
“Using software he had purchased to digitise his parents’ home movies, Canadian filmmaker Adrijan Assoufi brought to life the footage of one of Maradona’s last matches.”
Brighton shuffle along the south coast to play Southampton this weekend and Seagulls boss Graham Potter knows results need to start matching performances.
Brighton are only above third-bottom Fulham on goal difference and the Cottagers have greater momentum in the battle to stay up.
Potter says Brighton just need to keep the faith.
I think you’ve got to deal with the results because clearly they’re important, you have to deal with them and then you have to look at the performance and how you can use the performance to turn those results into positive ones, that’s where the work is and that’s what we’ve got to do.
Of course we’re frustrated because we’d like to have a better points tally but it is what it is. We know we’re in the situation we’re in, we know we have to fight for the points, we know we have to fight for the results and that’s what we’ll do.
There’s 11 games to go, a lot of points to play for and a lot of football to play but every game is a massive opportunity to try and get something and we’ll go and do our best against a really good opponent.
Brighton are again without Tariq Lamptey and Potter says the youngster will now need surgery on his troublesome hamstring problem.
We just have to focus on getting him fit and strong and ready for the start of next season. It’s a big blow for him, but we’ve sort of got used to him not being available because he hasn’t been available for a while, but still it’s disappointing for us of course.
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Who wants some hard-hitting Opta stats and numbers for the weekend?
(This section of the blog is sponsored by Kraftwerk)
- Arsenal are winless in their last five meetings with Tottenham in all competitions (D2 L3) – they’ve never gone six without a win against their north London rivals before.
- Leicester have won a league-low 36% of their Premier League points in home games this season (19/53). Only Crystal Palace in 1997-98 (33%) have ever won fewer than 36% of their points in a Premier League season at home.
- Manchester United are looking to keep four consecutive league clean sheets under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the first time, last doing so in January 2018 under José Mourinho.
- Liverpool have scored with just two of their last 67 shots in open play in the Premier League, with these efforts at goal seeing an xG value of 6.7, meaning Liverpool would have been expected to score almost seven goals.
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhüttl isn’t buying into the idea that 36 points will be the magic number to ensure Premier League survival this season.
Saints have 33 and should be fine with 10 games still to go. But he’s keen to look well beyond what some are suggesting is the target number.
“I don’t think that 36 (points) are enough this season to be honest because Fulham has a good run now and are showing up.
“But we are not focusing on 36, we are focusing on getting as much points as possible, and on the weekend we have a chance of getting a few more.”
Danny Ings is still out injured with a leg injury while Moussa Djenepo is touch and go due to a groin issure.
Hasenhüttl gave this update on the Mali midfielder: “It doesn’t look that bad so hopefully he can start training by the end of the week. So he could be an alternative for the weekend but we don’t know it yet.”
Let’s not forget that we have Premier League action tonight as Newcastle host Aston Villa.
Aston Villa are again without Jack Grealish while Newcastle miss top scorer Callum Wilson along with Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almirón.
A Grealish-based Opta stat:
- Since returning to the Premier League last season, Aston Villa have won just 17% of their league games when Jack Grealish has been absent (1/6), compared to 35% when he plays (20/58). The Villans average just 0.7 goals-per-game without him (1.3 with) and 10.5 shots-per-game when he doesn’t play (13 with).
Thanks Luke. A cameo to match that of John Barnes in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.
And that’s all from me - handing you back to the estimable David Tindall for the rest of today’s football countdown.
Reuters reports that the Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is unsure as to where captain Sergio Ramos’s future lies after recent speculation about the defender’s next move. “I want to be honest and I have to say I don’t know what’s going to happen with him,” Zidane said before this weekend’s meeting with Elche. “We want him to stay here. He’s always going to be an important player and I want him to remain here, that’s what I’ll say as a coach.”
It’s only Rodrigo Vilca’s birthday.
Who ... would have thought it! The Newcastle youngster turns 22 today.
Happy birthday to Rodrigo Vilca, who turns 2⃣2⃣ today! 🎁🎂🥳
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) March 12, 2021
Have a great day, @RodrigoVilca27! 🇵🇪 pic.twitter.com/JQYi2oozmL
Some positive news for injury-ravaged Leicester City before their meeting with Sheffield United. Jonny Evans, Ayoze Pérez and Dennis Praet are all pretty much ready to go after injuries, says Brendan Rodgers:
“We’ve got really good news with Jonny Evans back and he will be available,” Rodgers said. “Dennis Praet has been training this week as well, so he should be available, and Ayoze Pérez. I’ll check with all those three before we select the team, but it’s great to have those back in the squad.
“He (Pérez) looks very, very good in training. He was doing some finishing exercises this morning and was excellent. The thing with him is he actually has a good fitness level because he’s been able to continue with that side of things, but I’ll speak with him later or first thing in the morning and see where he’s at. They’re all available, which is important, and it gives us that flexibility.”
Rodgers added that there is no update on a comeback for the influential midfield schemer James Maddison. (Note: Rodgers didn’t call Maddison an influential midfield schemer, I did.)
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Apropos of nothing (at least with regard to weekend football), if you missed this yesterday, it is superb and well worth reading:
“When I was little, living in Nigeria, it was quite common. People would say ‘you’re just a Dundee United’, or ‘don’t be a Dundee United’, and it basically means an idiot or a loser.”
Already mentioned by David earlier, here is Jamie Jackson’s story on the possibility that David de Gea will miss Manchester United’s meeting with West Ham -
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Thank you David and hello, everyone. A few lines here courtesy of PA, from Big Sam’s West Brom press conference ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with his former club Crystal Palace. He says that keeping the Baggies up would rank as his greatest escape:
“I think probably (this would be) the greatest because of the number of points we need compared to the other clubs I’ve been at,” Allardyce said. “From this period of 10 games to go, it’s obviously a lot more difficult because of the amount of points we need to gain to try and get safe and keep this club in the Premier League.
“We probably turned more victories in at Palace than we have done here at West Brom,” added Allardyce. “So this period was a crucial time for me, where all the new players had settled in and helped the players already here to improve the performances - and the big slip-up is too many draws (compared) to victories. Unfortunately we look back on those periods and say those victories really should have been achieved. But in the main we can only hold ourselves accountable for that because far too many chances have been missed to win a game and that’s left us in a more difficult position than we probably were at Crystal Palace.”
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Okay, I’m off to look at some videos of muddy pitches for a bit. I’ll hand over to Luke McLaughlin to guide you through the next half hour or so.
Manchester City travel to Fulham on Saturday evening and Pep Guardiola is impressed by opposite number Scott Parker.
Fulham have lost just one of their last seven games and scored a routine famous 1-0 win at Anfield last weekend to boost hopes of avoiding relegation.
Says Pep: “They play incredibly well. They were relegated with Scott and promoted again. I was really impressed when they played here with their physicality, their strength. It is a big challenge.”
City won the reverse fixture 2-0.
Pep Guardiola has a grass problem. Nope, don’t get the lawyers involved, he means the Etihad pitch.
They’re working a lot, they are trying to find a solution but the grass is not good. All the players know how good the grass is and sometimes it is not. I know the weather conditions here in England are tough but there are stadiums where the grass is good. We were in London against Arsenal, at Anfield, at Old Trafford and the grass was better. We were in Budapest in the Champions League and the grass was incredible, red carpet – and our grass still is not good.
Dear oh dear. Check out Maine Road in the ‘70s mate.
Manchester United also have selection problems at the other end of the pitch with Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford ad Edinson Cavani all doubtful for the West Ham game.
Here’s Ole Gunnar Solskjær again:
On Martial: “Anthony, he got a whack on his hip so that’s another forward that we need to scan and have to look at.”
On Rashford: “Definitely hope Marcus is back for next Thursday in Milan, I’m not sure if he’ll make Sunday, but fingers crossed because we will need him.”
On Cavani: “Edinson I don’t think will be ready for Sunday, no.”
Paul Pogba, Donny van de Beek and Juan Mata are also out.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær isn’t sure if goalkeeper David De Gea will be back for the visit of West Ham on Sunday.
The Spaniard has returned to England following the birth of his first child but putting him straight back into the team in place of Dean Henderson isn’t that simple due to coronavirus restrictions. Current regulations allow travellers from Spain to be released from quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 after five days of isolation.
Totting up the days on his hand and doing his best confused Stan Laurel impression, the Manchester United boss said: “Yeah, David is back in Manchester. He is quarantining or self isolating. He’s just touch and go for Sunday, I think. I can’t really know when he came back, so I’m not really sure if it was Monday or Tuesday that he arrived back in Manchester. I think the rules are that he’s got to stay at home. He’s not training with us anyway. It’s different if you travel away and compete so, no, he’s not been training since he came back.”
That’s that cleared up then.
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Some bad news for Everton as they try and push for a top-four finish. French midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure could be out for up to 10 weeks due to a fractured bone in his foot while playmaker James Rodriguez won’t feature again until after the international break.
Doucoure picked up his injury against West Brom just over a week ago while Rodriguez has had to fight through a calf problem. The Colombian will miss Saturday’s Premier League game against Burnley and next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final at home to Manchester City.
Boss Carlo Ancelotti has given this update:
On Doucoure: “Doucoure had a small fracture on his foot. I don’t know how long, maybe eight weeks or 10 weeks. I hope he can recover before the end of the season.”
On James: “James played well, really well, against Man United and against Liverpool but he was not 100 per cent fit. We decided to give him a proper recovery and don’t let him play at 70 or 80 per cent. We have taken this decision together. The player agrees.”
Harry Kane should be fit for the derby against Arsenal despite picking up a knock in Thursday’s Europa League win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Kane scored twice in that game and boss Jose Mourinho can’t say enough good things about the England striker.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with players with great ambitions, it’s not possible to have a career like mine without players with ambition.
He has that, no doubt he has that. No doubt that of course he wants to win matches, score goals, win trophies. Totally committed with the club, totally committed with the national team.
He’s a very good example of a top professional and a top player. Sometimes top players are not always top professionals, and vice-versa. He’s a top player, he’s a top professional and he’s a great example for everyone.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has been speaking ahead of Sunday’s North London derby. The Mischievous One says he’s more worried about the teams above Spurs.
I look up, I don’t look down. If Arsenal was seven points ahead of us, I would look to them. But because we have seven points more than them, I don’t look down. But at the same time, we look always to the next match. And if instead of Arsenal it was Villa or Newcastle, the next matches we’re going to play, exactly the same feeling.
We feel we’re better than the position we have in the table and we want to improve our position so we need points for that.
It doesn’t matter the opponent, doesn’t matter if it is a London derby – in fact it’s the fourth in a row in the Premier League. It’s a Premier League match, three points are there to fight for and that’s what we’re going to try to do.
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Hearing reports that an 80s Sheffield band are performing at the Chris Wilder press conference.
Just can’t think who it might be or what song they may choose. Singer looks kind of familiar though.
Today’s Sheffield United press conference scheduled for 1.30pm will now be held at 5pm. So plan your daily walk around that.
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EmJackson2021 observes: “Pep’s Manager of the Month Award looks like a deodorant from a Lynx gift-set.” (see 12:39)
Good spot. Forget Lynx Africa, try Lynx Guardiola (available in body spray and shower gel).
Another Chris Wilder update. A matter of when not if.
Latest from the PA:
Chris Wilder is set to leave Sheffield United, the PA news agency understands.
An announcement is expected later on Friday which will confirm the 53-year-old has been relieved of his duties as manager.
The Blades cancelled their Friday morning press conference with a player amid reports Wilder was set to be sacked, with the boss scheduled to face journalists via Zoom in the afternoon.
That media duty, scheduled for 1.30pm, was also rescheduled into the early evening.
But the club confirmed a player would not be appearing for interview as planned, suggesting something was going on behind the scenes.
Have a read of Barney Ronay’s latest piece on Liverpool.
“A brilliant team built out of Jürgen Klopp’s own restless energy have come to resemble a band of hollow men limping from stage to stage, but the manager has been more or less silent on the causes. Instead he has looked uneasy, an ancient mariner stalking the fringes – a little haunted and hollow-eyed, but passing for now on the discharge of blame. This is significant in its own right. Klopp analyses, and overanalyses. He will have his own very clear version of events. But right now he just isn’t telling.”
Another award for Pep. Perhaps Fulham boss Scott Parker will be in the running for March if wearing iffy jackets is a factor as well as excellent results.
He’s done it again! For a second month running, Pep Guardiola wins February’s Barclays Manager of the Month in the @premierleague. Well done Pep!
— Barclays Football (@BarclaysFooty) March 12, 2021
It’s #AllToPlayFor pic.twitter.com/syce8G4DXL
Promisinglight asks: “Who’s Neil Young in this scenario? Dele, Lucas, or Lamela?”
It’s not a perfect science. Alli has too many syllables to be Young. Perhaps Alli, Kane, Bale and Son?
Chris Wilder update... and it’s getting a little confusing. Apparently, there is a press conference at 1.30pm GMT. Other rumours are suggesting he hasn’t gone. Perhaps they just mean yet. We’ll know more in just over an hour. Wonder if Steven Gerrard fancies it. Stepping stone to Liverpool? And he might be able to get a tune out of Rhian Brewster at least.
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Sorry about the comments not being available earlier. We have an ex-prison warden with a big set of keys that has to unlock them and he was dealing with a couple of questionable characters loitering near Guardian HQ. They’re back on now. Comment away!
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And if you want to add the Neil Young element... Moura, Kane, Bale and Son scans nicely.
Tottenham’s version of Crosby, Stills & Nash - Kane, Son & Bale - have found some welcome harmony of late. The Spurs frontmen have combined for 10 goals across Tottenham’s last five games and share 34 Premier League goals in the current campaign.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is wary of the Tottenham trio ahead of Sunday’s North London derby:
It’s very difficult because the level of quality, precision, understanding and chemistry that they have between them makes them probably one of the most special (attacks) in Europe.
And they don’t need much. They are able to create their own chances, they are able to link as a team.
So it is really difficult to do, but we will prepare the game well to try to stop them obviously.
A list of contenders for the Sheffield United job is emerging although still no official news yet on Chris Wilder’s exit.
Current U23s coach Paul Heckingbottom is the favourite with the bookmakers and then, in odds order, we have Neil Lennon, Eddie Howe, Frank Lampard, Danny Cowley, Slaven Bilic and David Wagner.
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Women’s Super League champions Chelsea have announced that Fran Kirby has signed a contract extension.
The England forward, who joined from Reading in 2015, has scored 15 goals in 21 appearances for Emma Hayes’ side this season.
She said on the club’s website:
I’ve been a part of this club for a very long time, and it didn’t take much thought.
I knew where I wanted to be, and I think you could see that in my performances. I was really trying to prove myself to the fans who haven’t been able to watch me for a long time and to the club. It was a no-brainer for me that I wanted to stay in this environment.
On the back of that Women’s Champions League draw, it seems a good time to flag up our exclusive interview with Manchester City and England defender Lucy Bronze.
Women's Champions League draw
The draw has been made for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League.
The two English sides left in - Manchester City and Chelsea - were kept apart in the draw so both could meet in May’s final in Gothenburg.
Chelsea face two-time winners Wolfsburg in the last eight while City go up against Barcelona.
Quarter-final draw (24/25 March & 30 March/1 April)
Bayern Munich vs Rosengard
Paris Saint-Germain/Sparta Prague vs Lyon (holders)
Barcelona vs Manchester City
Chelsea vs Wolfsburg
Semi-final draw (24/25 April & 1/2 May)
1: Paris/Sparta/Lyon vs Barcelona/Manchester City
2: Bayern/Rosengard vs Chelsea/Wolfsburg
Final (16 May: Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg)
Winner semi-final 2 vs Winner semi-final 1
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Manchester United co-chairman Avram Glazer has put shares worth more than £70m up for sale.
Here’s the full story.
Some team news from Chelsea. Striker Tammy Abraham and defender Thiago Silva will both miss Saturday lunchtime’s trip to Leeds.
Blues boss Thomas Tuchel gave an update this morning.
On Abraham: “Tammy still has ankle pain from the tackle against Newcastle, from the same injury. He’s still not 100 per cent comfortable. Yesterday he went off, the day before he was fine, yesterday he had some training. Honestly I’m a bit concerned because it’s still the pain from the tackle against Burnley, so we’re talking about a long time now where he does not really feel 100 per cent free and comfortable; I can see it in training.
On Thiago Silva: “Thiago also had a little setback in training, at the end of the training session, the day before yesterday, he felt at the very end something around the same area (thigh) where he was injured. So we had to take him off and he’s back into a transition phase but not back in team training. So he will be out.”
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For those asking (actually no-one but whatever), the dog on the front page of the Sheffield United website is called Little Blade.
This lead story opens with: “Little Blade is no longer so little and has really had a growth spurt since Christmas. With his beautiful white coat, he can now easily be confused for a small polar bear.”
Really? I know it’s been cold in Sheffield but...
Anyway, on a more serious note, Little Blade deserves a pat on the back. “He’ll begin full time training to become a life-saving support dog for a family affected by autism, epilepsy or disability.”
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Another PA update on Chris Wilder.
The PA news agency understands an announcement is expected later on Friday which will confirm Wilder, 53, has been relieved of his duties as manager and will leave the club.
Sheffield United have cancelled their Friday morning press conference so that looks pretty ominous.
The PA have more info:
The Blades were scheduled to make a player available to the media at 10am but the club said this morning that would not be happening. It remains to be seen if the manager’s afternoon press conference will go ahead – and who will be in Wilder’s place should he depart beforehand.
Tensions between Wilder and club owner Abdullah Bin Musa’ad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud have heightened recently, with Wilder last week stating he did not know if he will be manager next season, despite confirming he wants to remain in charge at Bramall Lane if the board and owners “stick to the plan”.
Meanwhile, the official Sheffield United website has a cute dog as its lead image to presumably try and defuse the rage surrounding Chris Wilder. Look at his little face (the dog’s that is).
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Lots of ‘hot takes’ around about Chris Wilder’s imminent departure but some are more balanced than others and have used actual reasoning and stats.
Chris Wilder obviously did a fantastic job, but you can see why Sheffield United want someone to help oversee transfers if he had full control. The three strikers signed for £50m have played 48 Premier League games this season and scored one goal.
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) March 12, 2021
Sheffield United travel to Leicester this weekend - and it appears they’ll do so without Chris Wilder.
The general consensus appears to be that an announcement will be made this afternoon. The Twitter outrage is revving up. Will there be an official press conference? And, if so, will he storm off the set?
Notably, a check of the bookmaker websites shows they seem to have pulled their Next Premier League Manager To Be Sacked markets.
What you will find, though, is odds for the Next Permanent Liverpool Manager. Steven Gerrard is 6/4, Pep Ljinders 11/5, Xabi Alonso 11/2, Julian Nagelsmann 10/1 and Rafa Benitez 16/1.
Not sure Nagelsmann has done much to turn Liverpool heads in recent weeks.
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Some rather dramatic early news. Chris Wilder is set to be sacked by Sheffield United today, according to several sources.
The Blades boss has been in charge since 2016 but after last season’s fairytale when they flirted with the top four before finishing ninth, the current campaign has been a nightmare.
United have won just four of their 28 Premier League games this season and are four points adrift at the bottom of the table.
We’ll keep an eye for anything more concrete.
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Preamble
Howdy football fans!
The Premier League fixture list is going with a 1-4-4-1 formation this weekend. The two bookends are Newcastle v Aston Villa tonight and Wolves v Liverpool on Monday evening. The meat in this tasty top-flight sandwich includes Leeds v Chelsea, the North London derby between Arsenal and Spurs and Sunday evening’s ‘Jesse Lingard’ derby at Old Trafford where Manchester United host West Ham. However, it’s in name only as the rejuvenated on-loan midfielder cannot face his parent club.
There’s much to talk about as we set the scene for what fantasy players are quite rightly calling Gameweek 28. Peeeeep, let’s get this bad boy started.
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