Key events
Righto, that’s me done here. Here’s Michael Butler to hang for the next bit – I’ll see you for Brighton v Palace in a little bit.
Xaymaca’s blog is live; we kick-off in 31 minutes.
Talking of Milan, I’m afraid we’ve some awful news from Cortina, where Lindsey Vonn has crashed and been airlifted off the mountain by helicopter. Godspeed, old mate.
In Serie A, Inter lead Milan by five points and Napoli by six, with a game in hand on the latter. They visit Sassuolo this evening; a win there will make it very hard for their pursuers.
We’ve a massive game in Ligue 1 tonight, with Marseille visiting Paris for Le Classique. Currently, Lens lead the table by a point but have an inferior goal difference to the champions, so PSG will go back top with a draw. Really, though, they need to win and play themselves into form not just to retain their title but the Champions League.
Try and beat my score of 70.
Check it!
It’s tighter in La Liga, where Barcelona lead Real Madrid by four; Alvaro Arebloa’s men visit Valencia this evening as they bid to reduce the gap to one. Last time out, they needed a red card and a penalty in the 10th minute of injury-time to win at home to Rayo, which is to say they’re not exactly convincing at the moment. Barca, meanwhile, are devastating in attack but dodgy at the back; I’d expect that to cost them in Europe eventually, as it did last term, but I think they’ve too many goals in them not to see out the title.
We’ve also got a big game in the WSL this lunchtime. City lead at the top by eight points with a game in hand on second-placed Man United; even if Arsenal win today, they’ll move third but still trail by 10 with a game in hand. Yup, the title looks settled, but Arsenal – and United – are both still in Europe, playing their first-leg last 16 matches in midweek. Already in the last eight are Lyon, Bayern, Barcelona and Chelsea; tasty.
Based on what I saw of him at Villa, I’m fairly confident in predicting Evann Guessand isn’t going to save them, but I am interested to see how Jørgen Strand Larsen goes – I think he’s a better player than his return so far suggests. If Palace can patch up JP Mateta, and if Oliver Glasner is prepared to tweak his formation, those two in partnership would be a handful for any defence.
This is what Glasner said on the former:
“There are two ways we can do this: manage the knee like we have until after the World Cup, which is Mateta’s dream to play in. The other one is he undergoes surgery,” Glasner said.
“We don’t know how long he would be out. There are a few predictions: it could be two months, three months, six to nine months. There are many opinions, but it is about doing the right thing and we will decide next week.”
Are Crystal Palace in a relegation fight? I’d say so. Though at this stage, it’s easily resolved with a couple of wins, if they don’t get one at Brighton this afternoon, their next two games are colossal: Burnley at home in midweek, then Wolves at home two weeks today. And in the middle, they’ve got a Conference League playoff- trip to Zrinjski in Bosnia.
City, meanwhile, have lots of players able to affect the game from an attacking perspective, but lack the collective cohesion associated with Pep Guardiola’s teams. Does anyone know their best XI? How do you incorporate Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki into a side which presses and dominates?
It was always going to be the case that whoever Liverpool chose to replace Jürgen Klopp would be less good – no slight on Arne Slot, just that Klopp is a once-in-a-generation genius. As happened with José Mourinho’s Chelsea after he left, the principles of play and attitude were so well inculcated they sustained nevertheless, difference being Mourinho had a youngish squad, not one at the end of a cycle. That, along with the low standard of the competition, allowed Slot a debut-season title, but it’s got real since then. With Xabi Alonso unemployed, he needs a strong few months to be certain of being in charge six months from now.
It feels like neither side quite knows what it is yet, which is kind of fine if they’re in transition; more troubling is the lack of clarity as to what each side wants to be. I quite fancy Liverpool for this one because they’ve a striker scoring goals – sometimes the game is simpler than modernity wants it to be – but given defensive weaknesses in both teams – as a collective, not just as back-fours – it’s difficult to predict outcomes with any certainty.
Here’s Jonathan Wilson on today’s centrepiece.
In terms of today’s soccer, Xaymaca will be back with you for Arsenal v Man City in the WSL, then I’m on Brighton v Palace, after which it’s liverpool v Man City with Michael Butler. Don’t say we don’t look after you.
Before we dig into the football, this is the sport we’ve got for you that’s going on as we speak.
Morning all, Daniel here taking over from Xaymaca.
Celtic beat Dundee 2-1 after extra time to progress to the sixth round of the Scottish Cup. Late goals from Junior and Adamu and Sebastian Tounekti cancelled out Ethan Hamilton’s strike. Dunfermline beat Kelty Hearts 2-0 and Partick Thistle beat Elgin City 3-2 in the two other cup games.
Former Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain signed for Celtic yesterday. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said:
We are really pleased to bring Alex to Celtic. He still has so much to offer the game, and I am sure he can add another dimension to us with his great ability and wealth of experience in the game.
This is not quite team news, but recent Liverpool signing, Jeremy Jacquet suffered a shoulder injury during Rennes 3-1 defeat at the hands of Lens on Saturday. The French defender is set to join Liverpool at the end of the season. Who else should Liverpool sign this summer?
The second rivalry is between Liverpool and Manchester City.
The two teams have dominated the last decade of English football and this game would customarily be a mouthwatering top of the table clash. Things have changed somewhat with Jürgen Klopp no longer at the helm and a Manchester City team in transition. Read Jonathan Wilson’s piece about how the mighty have fallen here.
Looking ahead then, we’ve got two rivalries in the Premier League today.
First, Crystal Palace take on Brighton. Oliver Glasner’s side haven’t won a game since mid-December, scoring only nine times in their last 12 games in all competitions. They’ll be hoping their January signings Brennan Johnson, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Yeremy Pino and Evann Guessand can fire them to victory.
Meanwhile, a win for Brighton would get Fabian Hurzeler back in the fans’ good books after a run that has seen them win once in their last 11 Premier League games. They’ve slipped to 13th in the table from fifth a couple of months ago.
There was only one game in the WSL yesterday. Manchester United got the better of Leicester in a 2-0 victory. Goals from Julia Zigiotti and Elisabeth Terland were too much for a Leicester side that find themselves in a relegation battle.
Frank Ilett is getting dangerously close to a haircut after Michael Carrick guided Manchester United to a fourth victory in a row with a 2-0 victory over Spurs. Only West Ham stand between Ilett and a set of clippers. Will day 493 mark the end of his hair growth journey and Manchester United’s search for five consecutive wins?
It was a busy day of Premier League action yesterday. League leaders Arsenal extended the gap at the top to nine points after a comfortable win over Sunderland. Cole Palmer marked his return to Chelsea’s starting line up with a first half hat-trick in their 3-1 win against a struggling Wolves side. And Brentford made history by beating Newcastle 3-2 in their first victory at St James’ Park since 1934.
Today’s WSL games (12pm GMT kick-off unless stated otherwise)
Arsenal v Manchester City
Liverpool v Aston Villa
London City Lionesses v Everton
West Ham v Brighton
Spurs v Chelsea (2:25pm GMT)
Today’s Premier League fixtures
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another matchday live. We’ve got two Premier League games for you today, with a 2pm clash between Brighton and Crystal Palace before the big one between Liverpool and Manchester City.
We’ll keep you updated on a host of WSL games this afternoon, including Arsenal v Manchester City at lunchtime.
“>Get in touch with us as ever. Are you off to a game today? What are your predictions? Are you watching that other football game tonight? Let us know.
