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Back to Manchester United v Liverpool on Sunday. Just over 18 months ago, there was a Premier League game between the two at Old Trafford (Liverpool won 3-0) when Casemiro was so bad in the first 45 minutes that he was hooked at the break and replaced by an academy prospect Toby Collyer (now on loan at Hull).
Now, the bloke can’t stop scoring headers and the legs that were gone have come back. Indeed, Casemiro has been instrumental in United’s climb up the table to third place. Jamie Jackson looks at how the soon-to-depart Brazilian is going out on a high.
On the ball – guess the footballer
The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
Tough one today. I know the player well but couldn’t get to him. Guess he’s moved around a bit. Anyway, no more clues, give it a go yourself!
The Premier League can also flex its muscles this weekend by laying on still arguably the most fiercely-contested showdown in English football: Man Utd v Liverpool. Here’s some build-up….
Arne Slot does not think a positive result against arch-rivals Manchester United will prove much to him or his doubters. Three successive league victories have pushed the club to within one win of overtaking the Premier League’s third-placed team when they meet at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Slot could become the first Liverpool boss to win his first two away league matches at United, where the team have been successful on three of their last five visits. While that will not paper over the cracks of a terrible defence of their title, a fourth successive victory would continue the momentum the Reds have built up after an awful month in which they won just twice in eight matches from early March.
However, Slot said one good result against their arch-rivals was unlikely to prove anything to his critics. “Every week we need to prove ourselves, not only for the players, for me as well,” he said. “That is not only when we play United, it’s also when we play Fulham or Palace. That is the way our lives are. We have to prove ourselves every three days and people judge us every three days. That is completely fair, we know this when we go into the job.
“I think it is for you guys to judge if I have been too harshly judged by many people. That’s not up to me. I judge my players, if they play well, if they are working hard and executing tactics. I’m not in this job to judge whether I’m criticised too harshly, that’s not the way I spend my time on a daily basis.” PA Media
The Premier League has taken some knocks this season and PSG 5-4 Bayern only seemed to highlight that the real entertainment is to be found elsewhere. But, if the Premier League could speak, it might come out with this: at least we’ve got a bloody title race. Would our top-flight be more sweary than that? That’s open to debate; the point being made is this:
Germany: Bayern 15 clear, already champions.
Spain: Barcelona 11 clear, on the brink.
Italy: Inter 10 clear, it’s all over.
France: PSG six clear. Fin.
Did this really happen? It did and where did the time go? Ten years! Ben Fisher revisits Leicester’s astonishing Premier League title win.
That Frenkie de Jong interview leads us nicely – who says this blog is just thrown together? – to La Liga’s title race. In truth, it’s not much of a race at all as Barcelona can clinch the title this weekend with four games to spare. If Barcelona win at Osasuna today and Real Madrid can’t beat Espanyol on Sunday, it’s done. Then again, maybe Barca would prefer it to roll on a week as guess who are the visitors to the Camp Nou next Sunday? Yep, Real Madrid.
Saturday
20.00 Osasuna v Barcelona
Sunday
20.00 Espanyol v Real Madrid
Fretting about your team’s result today? Relax, grab a coffee, sit outside and read this interview from sunny Spain.
As for League Two.. plenty going on there as well. It’s a straight fight between MK Dons and Bromley for who goes up as champions while Cambridge, Salford, Notts County, Grimsby, Chesterfield and Swindon are all jockeying for position in the playoff battle. At the bottom, Barrow need a win and a bit of a goal difference miracle to survive while Harrogate, Crawley, Newport and Tranmere are also in danger of dropping out of the league. All the League One and Two games kick off at 3pm BST.
Want to know the Championship’s promotion and playoff permutations? Nick Ames has them for you in this final day scene setter. Here’s a sample of what you may find:
“One thing is certain: Ipswich will be up if they beat 14th-placed QPR, on paper the perfect opponent, at an expectant Portman Road.”
Plenty of fun – or gut-wrenching drama if you’re a fan of one of the teams involved – awaits in League One today. Lincoln and Cardiff finished a mile clear to secure automatic promotion while Bolton are assured of a spot in the playoffs. But beneath them, Stockport, Bradford, Stevenage, Luton and Plymouth are all battling to grab one of the three remaining playoff berths. At the bottom, Port Vale, Rotherham and Northampton are already down. Either Exeter or Leyton Orient will join them.
Arsenal don’t exactly look like sub-two hour man, Sebastian Sawe, as the Premier League marathon enters the final few miles. The somewhat toiling Gunners were caught by Manchester City 10 days ago but due to Pep’s men, erm, heading to a drinks station/tying their laces/being interviewed live by JJ Chalmers (this analogy is breaking down terribly), Arsenal were handed the chance to kick clear again. With the Gunners playing two games before City next went into bat (mixing sporting metaphors now just to add to the mix) the fixture list gave Arsenal the opportunity to move six points in front. They banked the first three by edging past Newcastle last weekend and can double that lead by winning today’s home game with Fulham. City can respond by taking three points at Everton on Monday. This is a very long-winded way of saying, these are today’s fixtures in the Premier League…
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15.00: Brentford v West Ham
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15.00: Newcastle v Brighton
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15.00: Wolves v Sunderland
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17.30: Arsenal v Fulham
Let’s have a proper gander at the Championship table. The relegation spots have already been decided, with Oxford, Leicester (!) and Sheffield Wednesday all heading to League One. Coventry could potentially win the Championship by 14 points which is some effort in such a mad league.
Drama awaits in the Championship and the good news is we don’t have to wait too long to see it unfold. Yes, all today’s final round of games kick off at 12.30 BST.
As mentioned in the preamble, Ipswich, Millwall and Middlesbrough can all still grab the final automatic promotion spot. Here are their matches:
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Ipswich v QPR
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Millwall v Oxford
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Wrexham v Middlesbrough
A rung below that, Wrexham, Hull and Derby are all trying to secure a berth in the playoffs so there’s plenty on that Wrexahm v Middlesbrough game. As for the other two contenders, these are their fixtures.
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Derby v Sheffield United
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Hull v Norwich
Let’s start with some morning headlines:
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Leeds all but confirmed their Premier League survival with a 3-1 win over relegated Burnley at Elland Road last night.
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A number of leading European countries still expect to lose money at the World Cup despite Fifa increasing the prize and participation fund by $112m (£82m) this week.
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says freshness was the key to the Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich classic in midweek, something Premier League teams just don’t have.
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Under-fire Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admits ‘a lot is riding’ on today’s game with Brighton after meeting with the Magpies’ Saudi owners.
Preamble
Good morning everyone (shuffles papers and looks into camera while staff mill around in the background) and welcome to matchday live! We’re at the stage of the football season when every day seems significant, make-or-break, do-or-die. And that’s absolutely the case this very Saturday with three teams – Ipswich, Millwall and Middlesbrough – all having a shot at clinching the second automatic qualification spot from the Championship to the Premier League. At the very summit of the pyramid, Arsenal have the chance to pull six points clear when they host Fulham this evening. So there’s that and, quite frankly, an awful lot more. Let’s do this and, as always, get in touch with via the email at the top of the page!
