Key events
Germany rule out World Cup boycott despite calls to send Trump a message
Germany’s football federation, the DFB, has ruled out a boycott of the World Cup despite calls to send a message to Donald Trump. “We believe in the unifying power of sport and the global impact that a Fifa World Cup can have,” the DFB said. “Our goal is to strengthen this positive force – not to prevent it.”
The federation said its executive committee met and discussed the option of a boycott of this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a consideration first proposed last week by the DFB vice-president, Oke Göttlich.
Göttlich, who is also president of the Bundesliga club St Pauli, referred to Trump’s recent actions and statements and said it was time to “seriously consider” a boycott. In what appears to be a public rebuke to Göttlich, however, the DFB said “debates on sports policy should be conducted internally and not in public”.
The DFB said a boycott “is not currently under consideration. The DFB is in contact with representatives from politics, security, business, and sports in preparation for the tournament”.
Full story:
North of the border, Hearts won last night to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to seven points. Rangers and Celtic are both in action today against Hibs and Falkirk, respectively.
Further afield, PSG play Gary O’Neill’s Strasbourg in the Ligue 1 evening kick-off. The Parisiens need a win to return to the top of the table after surprise package Lens won on Friday night.
In La Liga, Real Madrid trail Barcelona by four points after the Catalans won 3-1 last night. Rayo Vallecano are the visitors to the Bernabeu this afternoon.
Inter Milan can extend their lead at the top of Serie A to eight points by winning at Cremonese this afternoon. AC Milan, who are currently second, don’t play again unil next Friday and Napoli, who beat Fiorentina 2-1 yesterday, are currently six points behind.
In Germany, Borussia Dortmund have the chance to cut Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points after Vincent Kompany’s side were held to a 2-2 draw at Hamburg. Heidenheim are the visitors at Signal Iduna Park.
On Big Website we have a lovely offering of live football action today. Coming up:
Premie League: Manchester United v Fulham, 2pm (GMT) kick-off
Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford, aiming to extend their impressive unbeaten league run to seven matches. Michael Carrick has made a perfect start as United’s interim head coach, delivering back‑to‑back statement victories over Manchester City and Arsenal, lifting United firmly into the top‑four battle. Fulham, however, arrive in strong form themselves, with Marco Silva’s side sitting seventh and having lost just once in their last eight league fixtures. Luke McLaughlin hosts our live blog with Jamie Jackson reporting.
Women’s Super League: Manchester City v Chelsea, 2.30pm (GMT) kick-off
Chelsea will be feeling the strain if they don’t come away from their top-two clash at pacesetting City with three points. The defending WSL champions slipped nine points behind City after their 2-0 defeat by Arsenal last week. Andrée Jeglertz’s side, meanwhile, keep rolling along, and following their 2-1 win at London City Lionesses – their 12th in a row – are taking giant strides closer to winning their first WSL title in a decade. City have a formidable attacking record, averaging just under three goals per game, and have scored 10 times in the final 15 minutes of their WSL matches. Emillia Hawkins hosts our liveblog with Tom Garry at the Etihad Stadium.
Premier League: Tottenham v Manchester City, 4.30pm (GMT) kick-off
Pep Guardiola’s City face an unpredictable Spurs side knowing that Arsenal’s result at Elland Road on Saturday could blow the title race wide open. Second-placed City were level on points with third-placed Aston Villa before the weekend fixtures, and were buoyed by the January additions of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi. Erling Haaland also finally ended his goal drought on Wednesday with his first from open play in 10 games. Spurs, who have not won a league game since beating Crystal Palace 1-0 on 28 December, are stagnant in 14th place. Thomas Frank’s troubled tenure enjoyed a brief uplift in midweek with an encouraging 2-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, and the Dane will be eager for his side to build on that rare win. Dominic Booth hosts our live blog, while our big hitters David Hytner and Jonathan Wilson provide reports and analysis from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
We are certainly starting to see the best of Florian Wirtz in a Liverpool shirt now. He always looked tidy and creative but he seems to be adapting more to the physical side of the game in the Premier League. Ominous for next season?
Not long ago everyone was saying that Wirtz was a waste of money.I sometimes think that no one knows less about football than football supporters.
As ever, on matchday live, we love to hear from readers. Please do send in your thoughts on the weekend’s action via the email link at top of the page or below the line in the comments section.
Andy Hunter
Konaté offered to make early Liverpool return after father’s death, Slot reveals
Arne Slot revealed Ibrahima Konaté was not due to face Newcastle after the recent death of his father. The centre-back was rewarded for responding to Liverpool’s defensive crisis with his first Premier League goal at Anfield.
Konaté returned from compassionate leave after three matches out to cap Liverpool’s convincing 4-1 comeback win against Eddie Howe’s team. The France international was in tears after scoring in front of the Kop and admitted he did not “have words to describe what I feel right now” after the poignant goal.
The Liverpool head coach revealed: “He has had a very difficult two weeks. He was planning to be back for the end of this week and it would have meant he could not play this game, but when he saw the problems we had defensively, he called me early this week and said: ‘I want to be back to help the team against Newcastle’.
Let’s start at the top…
Arsenal extend lead at the top with easy win over Leeds
Arsenal ended a run of three games without a win by strolling past Leeds at Elland Road. This looked a potentially tricky fixture but the Gunners made light work of Daniel Farke’s side. Arsenal are seven points clear of Manchester City, who face Tottenham in the 4.30pm (GMT) kick-off today. Read Aaron Bower’s report here.
Liverpool put four past Newcastle
Newcastle haven’t won at Anfield since 1994 and will have to wait another season to try and end that record. Anthony Gordon gave the visitors the lead but Hugo Ekitike lead the comeback for Liverpool, scoring twice before half-time before the Reds pulled away to win 4-1. Andy Hunter was there for this one.
Rosenior continues impressive start at Chelsea, the hard way
Chelsea beating West Ham at home should not be a huge surprise but given Liam Rosenior’s Blues were 2-0 down at the break, it ended up being a rousing win. Rosenior deserves some credit for correcting his mistake of a heavily-changed starting XI as two of his half-time changes scored in a dramatic 3-2 comeback win where Jean-Clair Todibo saw red late on. Jacob Steinberg was at Stamford Bridge.
Elsewhere… David Moyes danced on the pitch after Beto scored an equaliser with the last kick of the game to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Brighton. The Seagull’s failure to collect all three points meant that Bournemouth’s 2-0 win at Wolves moved the Cherries up to 13th.
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to Sunday’s matchday live. Decent day in the Barclays yesterday wasn’t it? Goals aplenty. Let’s hope for more of the same today. We’ll be building up to four fixtures in the Premier League, five in the WSL and a Women’s Champions Cup double-header at Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal will be going for the inaugural title in the final.
Before we get to that, let’s have a quick look back at yesterday’s headlines…
