Key events
Also today, the Lionesses are back in action in just over two hours. They face Iceland at the City Ground in World Cup qualifying. England opened their qualifying campaign with a 6-1 win over Ukraine on Tuesday.
Recap the action with Tom Garry’s match report below…
The way I see it, for the last three seasons Arsenal have been told they must ‘find a way’ to win the Premier League after falling short in the title race. Now, they seem to have found a way to win games with the help of set pieces. Teams counter the free-flowing football they were allowed to play in recent years by sitting deep. With those sides difficult to break down in open play, it’s easy to see why Mikel Arteta – and Nicolas Jover – have turned to corners, throw-ins and free kicks.
The Premier League’s sporting directors have held talks about the ubiquity of set-piece goals and holding in the penalty area, amid concerns these trends are damaging the spectacle.
There have been plenty of discussions around the use of set pieces over the last week. What are your thoughts?
I suspect Arsenal fans might have a differing view to those who don’t support the Gunners…
Spurs fans, if you could have any available manager take over from now until the end of the season, who would you want in charge?
Spurs are in a situation where the penny still hasn’t dropped. Pragmatic coach replaces pragmatic coach to work with a team whose main characteristic is proactive attacking football. Even the signings in the summer (Kudus/Simons/Tel) were primarily for a front foot approach and style. As I’ve mentioned before – Romero/Vdv are not box defenders, Porro/Udogie/Spence are inverting/ high touchline WBs. That’s a defence completely unsuited to how Frank/Tudor want their teams to defend. Basics.
Frank knew before the summer window closed he wouldn’t have Kulusevski/Maddison for the bulk of the season – the only real progressive passers in this team. But he and the genius DOF didn’t address this because they were not interested in having a player to deliver progressive passes. Frank was interested in second balls and transitions and set pieces – not a possession heavy game which this current Spurs squad was built for. I mean Frank ignored Tel and played Bergvall on the wings (big red flag that one). Tudor seems to specialise in playing players out of position. What a time to experiment.
This is just a sample size of the mis-profiling of coaches the chuckle brothers Vinai and Lange have managed to inflict on Spurs. Spurs only chance of survival this season is to let the handbrake off. It’s the only time this collection of players have looked remotely convincing this season – those stirring 2nd halves against Bournemouth, City, Villa etc. any of the winning CL displays. That’s why Dyche is a no, Tudor is wrong, Big Sam a joke suggestion and Frank was always wrong. Spurs have repeatedly got away with mis-profiling coaches to the needs to the squad. They spent two years building a front foot team for Ange and threw that all that planning away with the pragmatic Frank.
This cluelessness is why the club will be relegated. Waited too long to sack Frank – a coach who was too small minded and found the Spurs job too big for him. Frank was replaced by Tudor – a recommendation by the former director of football Paratici – who left the club in January as he was frustrated at being ignored by Vinai and Lange. Vinai and Lange are the absolute villains of this relegation – a parting kiss-off from Levy. As studies in bringing down a very big football club – the Spurs 25/26 season will be studied for years to come.
There is an available coach that could turn this around – that this group of players would run through brick walls for. But Vinai and Lange will never approach that coach as it would be an admittance that they got it wrong to fire him in the first place. Absolute cowards.
Time for some Spurs talk now… and it seems a fair few people believe relegation could be on the cards.
Just looking at the fixtures of some of those at the bottom. (I’m assuming Wolves and Burnley have too much to do.)
West Ham: v City (H), Villa (A), Wolves (H) – next 3
Forest:Fulham (H), Spurs (A), Villa (H)
Spurs:Liverpool (A), Forest (H), Sunderland (A)
Leeds:Palace (A), Brentford (H), Man Utd (A)
Spurs are going to find it tough going at Anfield against a Champions League-hungry Liverpool, so then that game v Forest is starting to take on epic proportions.
It’s almost impossible to predict points tallies really, but if West Ham keep their up their current resurgence and Forest play like they did for a lot of the game v Liverpool and at City, and if Spurs as they did v Palace (I never saw Fulham but the reports weren’t positive), Spurs could well be sitting in the bottom 3 very soon.
If I was a Spurs fan, all the fixtures would concern me but the way they’ve been playing would concern me more from what I’ve seen recently.
Spanish football team Celta Vigo is desperately seeking Madonna as it goes in search of a 36-year-old shirt the pop star wore during a 1990 concert at its Balaidos stadium.
Madonna appeared on stage wearing the club’s blue colours during her Blonde Ambition tour in July 1990. She delighted locals who claimed the ‘Material Girl’ as one of their own and brought unexpected attention to defender Jose Manuel Espinosa, whose No.5 shirt she wore.
However, the whereabouts of the cherished garment are unknown and, after searching fruitlessly for decades, Celta is asking the 67-year-old Madonna to help find it for the club’s archive. “Although ours was not the only football shirt you ever wore on stage, this iconic image has grown to shine differently as years have passed,” Celta president Marián Mouriño Terrazo wrote in an open letter to the American icon.
“Over time we came to better understand what you stood for back then: questioning established norms and standing up to those who try to tell you what you can or cannot do. At our club we recognise ourselves in this line of thought. That is why we hold on to the hope of finding the garment you once wore.
“Do you have it? If you know where it may be, or if you would like to join us in the search to retrieve it, please contact us via private message.”
The appeal caused a commotion on social media after it was published on Wednesday and the club doubled down before Friday’s 2-1 home league defeat by Real Madrid, playing Madonna’s songs before kickoff and putting her picture on the field and on social media.
Mouriño Terrazo told local media he was hopeful the repercussions would reach the pop star. “I imagine that the letter reached Madonna and that she will reply,” he said. AP
European roundup
Monaco opened up the Ligue 1 title race by inflicting a first home defeat of the season on the defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain on Friday night. Maghnes Akliouche had Monaco ahead at half-time, with Aleksandr Golovin and Folarin Balogun scoring after the break for the visitors, while Bradley Barcola grabbed a consolation for PSG, who are still four points clear of second-placed Lens in the standings. Lens, however, have a chance to cut into that lead when they host bottom-placed Metz on Sunday.
In Spain, Federico Valverde’s heavily deflected 95th-minute drive snatched injury-hit Real Madrid a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo in La Liga. The Uruguay midfielder needed a stroke of fortune at the death to pull his team to within one point of the leaders, Barcelona, who visit Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Napoli recorded their first home win in Serie A since late January with a 2-1 defeat of Torino to tighten their grip on third place and a Champions League spot. The reigning champions won thanks to goals from Alisson Santos after seven minutes and a 68th-minute strike from Eljif Elmas before Cesare Casadei scored a late consolation for Torino.
And in Germany, Bayern Munich cruised past 10-man Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-1 to widen their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 14 points. Even without the injured striker Harry Kane, it was one-way traffic from the start as four different scorers were on target for Bayern.
Peter Lansley spoke to Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough this week ahead of today’s match. Give the interview a read below…
Arsenal take on Mansfield Town at Field Mill in the first game of the day. Mikel Arteta suggested yesterday that the pitch could impact his team selection.
He said: “It can do, especially if there is a player that is carrying some injuries that the pitch can affect him in the wrong way, especially certain muscles, but hopefully we’re going to have the ones that we need fit and available.”
“It’s normal. It’s the beauty of this competition as well,” he also explained. “You have to go there, you have to adapt. Since I was little, we’ve all been playing in those stadiums or worse, so you need to adapt to that context and make the most out of it.”
Wrexham’s last five results:
Given their recent form, Wrexham will believe they can cause a huge upset today.
Wrexham host Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round this evening. Co-owner Ryan Reynolds and his Hollywood pal Hugh Jackman were over the moon when the two clubs were drawn against each other last month. It is set to be a huge day for the Welsh side and the local community.
Despite Tottenham’s performance against Crystal Palace earlier this week, interim head coach Igor Tudor was optimistic about the future and said: “It might sound strange, I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something. I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I need to go, and who is in the boat can stay, otherwise, [they] can leave the boat.
“When the other players come back, I’m sure we’ll have a good team and come back. It’s not easy to accept the moment we are in now.”
David Hytner
“Igor Tudor’s messaging was always going to be key. All eyes and ears were on the interim Tottenham head coach on Thursday night and how he would react; the tone he would look to set. Would there be another blast for the players? Goodness knows, the material was there.
“It had been another impossibly awful occasion at the club’s home stadium, another defeat – this one by Crystal Palace. Spurs cannot buy a Premier League win at the Temple of Gloom; they have two all season, the basis for the worst home record in the division. As relegation fears sharpen to an incredibly uncomfortable point, the emotions in the stands ranged from apathy to anger. A lot of anger…”
Let’s take a step away from the FA Cup for a moment because I have a question for you…
Could Tottenham actually be relegated at the end of the season?
It seems to be the question pretty much every English football fan is asking at the moment – and for good reason. Spurs are just one point above the relegation zone following their 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Thursday.
While they seem to be heading on a downward spiral, West Ham and Nottingham Forest are both showing signs of improvement.
Let me know what you think! Email in at matchday.live@theguardian.com or leave a comment below the line.
From fixture fatigue to a test of priorities, here are eight things to look out for in the FA Cup this weekend…
Speaking after his team’s 3-1 win at Wolves, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said: “Every three days I have a different feeling. Three days ago my feeling was completely different to now. Good to be in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. In three-four days away, another big game in Istanbul.”
The Reds next face Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday.
In the first Cup game of the weekend, Liverpool got their revenge on Wolves with a 3-1 win at Molineux. The Reds suffered a shock 2-1 loss at the same stadium on Tuesday in the Premier League but bounced back last night to progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals. Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones scored the goals to see Arne Slot’s side through.
Today’s FA Cup fixtures
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! It’s another FA Cup weekend and there are three games happening today, starting with Arsenal’s trip to Mansfield Town. Chelsea then travel to Wales to face Championship promotion hopefuls Wrexham, and in the late match Newcastle host Manchester City.
We’ll also be previewing tomorrow’s fifth-round games and looking ahead to other fixtures happening across the EFL and Championship.
And finally, England are in action at lunchtime as they host Iceland in their second Women’s World Cup qualifier at the City Ground.
We’ll be across it all this morning, so join us!
