Key events
A reminder of today’s FA Cup fixtures:
Sam Cunningham spoke to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink this week about his experiences with racism. It comes after Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior accused Gianluca Prestianni of racially abusing him during the club’s recent Champions League tie with Benfica.
Be sure to give the interview a read…
Kári Tulinius has messaged in to say:
“Like most people, I’d assumed that Lens’ title bid was dead when they fell 4 points behind Paris Saint-Germain, but after the latter’s loss to Monaco, Lens have a chance to cut the gap to a single point by defeating the bottom team Metz, who unlike Wolves haven’t somehow turned into the best side in the league. Unfortunately, because I didn’t expect this match to matter, I had made plans for this afternoon, but my part of my mind will be at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.”
Elsewhere in Europe
LaLiga:
Villarreal v Elche
Getafe v Real Betis
Sevilla v Rayo Vallecano
Valencia v Alaves
Bundesliga:
Ligue 1:
Lens v Metz
Brest v Le Havre
Lille v Lorient
Nice v Rennes
Lyon v Paris FC
Serie A:
Lecce v Cremonese
Bologna v Verona
Fiorentina v Parma
Genoa v Roma
AC Milan v Inter Milan
Ben Fisher spoke to Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert this week ahead of the club’s huge FA Cup clash.
Team news – Fulham v Southampton
Fulham starting XI: Lecomte, Castagne, Andersen, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Reed, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Bobb, Muniz, Chukwueze.
Subs: Leno, Tete, Bassey, Robinson, Berge, Lukić, King, Iwobi, Raúl.
Southampton starting XI: Peretz, Bree, Wood, Harwood-Bellis, Manning, Downes, Jander, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Larin.
Subs: Long, Quarshie, Jelert, Romeu, Bragg, Matsuki, Edozie, Archer, Stewart.
Southampton are currently enjoying a nine-game unbeaten run, dating back to January 21. They take on Fulham in the early FA Cup fixture today, hoping to cause an upset.
Team news is on the way…
So, what did we learn from England’s first two World Cup qualifiers? Here are Tom Garry’s takeaways…
What’s next for England in World Cup qualifying?
The Lionesses return to action next month, when they will host Spain at Wembley Stadium before facing Iceland once again. Only the team that tops the group will earn automatic qualification for the World Cup in Brazil next year. If England finish second, they will have to qualify through the play-offs.
England v Spain – April 14
Iceland v England – April 18
Spain v England. – June 5
England v Ukraine – June 9
The Lionesses were also in action yesterday. They faced Iceland in their second World Cup qualifier and cruised to a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway. The result left England top of Group A3 going into the next round of fixtures, with a huge match against Spain up next.
And in League One and League Two…
League One:
Luton Town 2-3 Reading
Barnsley 2-1 Exeter City
Blackpool 1-1 Wigan Athletic
Bradford City 2-1 Leyton Orient
Burton Albion 0-1 Stevenage
Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Doncaster Rovers
Wimbledon face Northampton Town at 12pm GMT this afternoon.
League Two:
Grimsby Town 1-1 Bromley
Salford City 2-0 Barnet
Walsall 1-2 Notts County
Gillingham 1-1 Fleetwood Town
Crawley Town 2-2 Swindon Town
MK Dons 4-1 Harrogate Town
Accrington Stanley 1-1 Cambridge United
Chesterfield 2-3 Shrewsbury Town
Newport County 1-2 Colchester United
Bristol Rovers 2-1 Crewe Alexandra
Tranmere Rovers 1-3 Oldham Athletic
Ben Fisher
“After securing a fifth straight victory, Coventry City’s players, staff and supporters savoured the moment as one. “We are top of the league,” was the chorus stuck on loop. As Frank Lampard left the pitch with a sold-out away end at Ashton Gate serenading him, the fans invariably obliged when he asked them to turn up the volume. Josh Eccles, who joined the club aged seven, was the last to head in. To lean into an analogy parroted by the Coventry owner, Doug King, who refers to squads as decks, Lampard’s hand is akin to a royal flush…”
Despite most of the focus being on the FA Cup this weekend, there was, of course, EFL football to be played yesterday.
Let’s take a look at the Championship results…
Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Portsmouth
Hull City 1-3 Millwall
Sheffield United 1-1 West Brom
Charlton 1-0 Birmingham
Derby County 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Ipswich Town 1-1 Leicester City
Swansea City 2-1 Stoke City
Bristol City 0-2 Coventry
QPR host Middlesbrough in the final match of the weekend this afternooon.
Yara El-Shaboury
“There is a specific, restless energy to Neil Warnock that defies the traditional laws of ageing and the modern conventions of football management. At 77, he still wakes up in the dead of night to obsess over the overlapping runs of a National League South full-back…”
Don’t forget, you can join the conversation this morning by sending in any thoughts, feelings or predictions at matchday.live@theguardian.com – or leave a comment below the line.
Can Port Vale pull off an FA Cup shock today? We’re yet to see an underdog progress to the quarter-finals this weekend…
So close but no FA cup magic yet. Well played Stags and of course the Red Dragons. But it would be great if it wasn’t just the rugby that brought a smile to my face this weekend…forza Port Vale! Forza…
Reo Hatate scored a late equaliser as Celtic held Rangers to a 2-2 draw last weekend. You can recap the action here ahead of this afternoon’s game:
The final two Scottish Cup quarter-finals take place today as Rangers take on old rivals Celtic and St. Mirren host Partick Thistle.
Who will join Falkirk and Dunfermline Athletic in the semi-finals?
Which game will you be watching this afternoon?
Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City – all through to the quarter finals and eyeing the chance of silverware with City and the Gunners still dreaming of the quadruple – or at least some of their supporters are.
Today’s games rather lack much glamour with only the visit of Sunderland to Port Vale what might be termed a battle of minnows against giants.
With the League One side bottom of the division and cut adrift the game probably represents an opportunity for their players to put up an ‘I’m a talent get me out of here’ sign, more than anything else.
I can’t see the Black Cats slipping up – especially given Newcastle’s weak performance against City yesterday. Imagine the scenes if Sunderland went all the way and lifted the trophy after Newcastle’s excess of celebration over the Carabao Cup win last season.
West Ham v Brentford on Monday night is of course the classic that has stood out as the tie of the round.
Dominic Booth
There is no shortage of FA Cup pedigree at Port Vale. Emblazoned on plaques and walls around Vale Park are memories of their 1996 victory against Everton under the legendary manager John Rudge. That 2-1 victory, in a fourth-round replay having held the Cup holders at Goodison Park, was the last time Vale had reached the fifth round until Tuesday’s extra-time win over Bristol City. Now Sunderland await at Vale Park on Sunday – another chance to make history…
Guardiola joked he will go on holiday when serving his touchline ban. He said: “I will tell you something – we have all the records in this country, all of them, despite everything. We have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I want all records and now I have it, two-game ban now and I will go on holidays the next two games.”
Pep Guardiola was booked for a sixth time this season during Manchester City’s match against Newcastle yesterday. It means he is now facing a two-game touchline ban. The ban applies to Premier League and FA Cup matches but not domestic finals, meaning he will be in the dugout when City face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final later this month.
The ban is also not valid for European games, so Guardiola will also be on the touchline when his team face Real Madrid in the Champions League round-of-16 next week.
And at St James’ Park, Omar Marmoush scored twice in a 3-1 win over Newcastle to send Manchester City through to the next round.
Hollywood superstar and Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds took to social media last night to reflect on his team’s performance against Chelsea. He wrote: “Three years ago this week, we battled Maidenhead United to a draw. Today we pushed Chelsea to extra time. So incredibly proud of Wrexham’s performance today.
The Red Dragons are now targeting a fourth successive promotion, which would see them reach the Premier League. They are currently sixth in the Championship table.
Over at the Stōk Cae Ras, Chelsea came from behind twice to beat Wrexham 4-2 in added time. Sam Smith’s early goal was cancelled out by an own-goal from keeper Arthur Okonkwo before the break. With the score level for the majority of the second half, Callum Doyle got the Welsh side dreaming with a goal in the 78th minute, but Josh Acheampong levelled things up again just moments later.
Alejandro Garnacho and João Pedro then both struck in added time to secure the win for the Blues.
Speaking after the 2-1 loss to Arsenal, Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough said: I thought the effort the players gave was absolutely incredible. We wanted to make it a proper cup tie and make it uncomfortable for Arsenal. I thought we did that.
“We’re very proud. We said to the lads, if we do concede – don’t concede a second one. Then it becomes a bit too easy. That didn’t happen today. We could have done it. But I think everyone else enjoyed it.”
Arsenal survived a scare from Mansfield Town at the One Call Stadium to progress to the quarter-finals. Noni Madueke broke the deadlock for the Premier League leaders in the 41st minute, but Will Evans levelled things up after capitalising on a defensive error. Mikel Arteta responded by making a series of changes, one of which saw Eberechi Eze come on to score the winner.
Before we preview today’s games, let’s take a look back at yesterday’s FA Cup results…
FA Cup fixtures
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! We have three more FA Cup games to look forward to later as Fulham host Southampton, Port Vale face Sunderland and Leeds United take on Norwich City.
Elsewhere, Rangers take on Celtic AGAIN at Ibrox, this time in the Scottish Cup. And in Italy, the two Milan sides go head-to-head in a huge derby.
We’ll be looking ahead to all of those fixtures and recapping yesterday’s action.
Join us!
