Key events
Alright, I guess it’s time to turn our attention to today’s action. There has been a lot written about Manchester City v Arsenal and it’s good stuff (I’ll be sharing some shortly), but I’d like to hear from you on how you think this goes down.
Fire over your thoughts to matchday.live@guardian.co.uk and I’ll get them in the blog. Here’s LukakusFirstTouch to start us off:
Here is a prediction. Arsenal will lose this match, probably with a big margin (4 -1 or similar). Given their performances, no one will say that they did not see that coming. However, they will win the league title. Man city do not have the consistency to win all their remaining matches. I don’t think that they have won more than 4 matches in a row in the league since the season before last.
Suzanne Wrack
Snow-capped mountains provided an idyllic backdrop to a less impressive performance, but England’s 1-0 win over Iceland ensured they maintained a three-point gap over Spain in their bid to earn an automatic place at the 2027 World Cup.
Only the four League A teams who top their groups will avoid the playoffs and qualify automatically, and with the European and world champions drawn in the same group, one will be left frustrated and with more games required to book their trip to Brazil.
Sarina Wiegman praised the performance of goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, whose critical stops in the second half kept England ahead when Iceland were pushing for an equaliser after Alessia Russo’s slick first-half opener.
“It is always a team effort and a team performance but it’s really nice to have a goalkeeper that stops the ball going in – especially when it’s really hard for the team and they are struggling. That’s called team work. But she showed again that she is a world-class goalkeeper,” said the England manager.
Read Suzanne Wrack’s full report from at the Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík:
Hard to disagree with lester48, here. I do think sometimes people forget these things are cyclical. Leicester dropped into League One in 2008 before getting back to the Premier League in 2014, sometimes you need a reset.
In the Championship, you have to say Leicester look relegated, they are 8 points adrift with 9 to play for, since the death of the Owner of Leicester City Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in 2018 some 8 yrs ago, it really didn’t seem that long ago they’ve been treading water. It’s such a shame for all their fans, including one of my Favourite people in the World Gary Lineker, I hope they bounce back soon. Leicester winning the Premier League under Ranieri, was a fabulous moment for all us neutrals, so good luck Leicester City next season.
Looking to Europe, there were two great stories yesterday as Marie-Louise Eta created a landmark in her as she became the woman appointed as head coach of a men’s team has taken charge of a fixture in one of continent’s top five leagues as she took charge of Union Berlin. Her side lost 2-1 to relegation-threatened Wolfsburg, here’s our European roundup:
In Spain, Real Sociedad won the Copa del Rey thanks to a remarkable performance from Unai Marrero, their 24-year-old backup goalkeeper. Read Sid Lowe’s piece from the Estadio de La Cartuja:
If you want to get in touch about anything and everything from the weekend’s football, you can via matchday.live@guardian.co.uk or in the comments section below the line.
Jacob Steinberg
At the Bridge, Liam Rosenior admitted that Chelsea have a mountain to climb after a 1-0 defeat by Manchester United put another dent in their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Matheus Cunha scored the only goal as United tightened their grip on third place by overcoming their defensive problems at home, heaping the pressure on Rosenior after a dismal run.
Chelsea are four points off fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a chance to pull clear when they face Everton on Sunday afternoon, and were toothless against a makeshift defence. They need a response when they visit Brighton on Tuesday but have lost four straight league games without scoring for the first time since 1998.
“It gives us a mountain to climb,” Rosenior said. “It’s not insurmountable but it gives us a mountain to climb and we have to go into Brighton with an idea that we have to win that game and kickstart the rest of our season.”
Read all the reaction from Jacob Steinberg at Stamford Bridge:
Ed Aarons
On Spurs, Roberto De Zerbi has warned he has “no time to see negative people” among his Tottenham players after they were denied the chance to climb out of the relegation zone by an injury-time equaliser from his former club Brighton.
Georginio Rutter’s strike made it 15 games without a victory for Spurs after they had twice led, first through Pedro Porro then Xavi Simons. The draw left Tottenham in the bottom three and a point behind West Ham who travel to Crystal Palace on Monday night. Nottingham Forest, one point ahead of the Hammers, host Burnley on Sunday.
De Zerbi could not hide his disappointment with the result but was enthused by his side’s performance. He made the bold prediction that they were capable of winning their last five matches but admitted that would require his players to continue to show the belief that they can prevent Spurs being relegated for the first time since 1977.
“I always thought and believed in the quality of the players. In this moment we need this spirit, this attitude, this mentality. It’s not finished yet,” the Spurs head coach said. “Every one of us knows it’s a tough moment, it’s a difficult situation. Now it’s difficult to hear my words. But if you watch the players, if you analyse the level of the players, I think we can win five games in a row. Not to be arrogant, because I’m not arrogant now, especially now. But we have the qualities enough to fight and to win games in a row.”
Read all the reaction from Ed Aarons, who was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yesterday:
Before we get into what’s coming up today, let’s run through a few of the headlines from yesterday:
Tottenham conceded a 95th minute goal to draw 2-2 with Brighton, a result that puts Spurs deeper into the relegation mire
Chelsea’s grip on a Champions League slipped further after a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge
The Lionesses edged to a 1-0 win over Iceland with Hannah Hampton having to be in fine form
Leeds took another step towards survival with a 3-0 win over Wolves
Pressure is mounting on Eddie Howe after Newcastle slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home against Bournemouth
Cardiff were promoted to the Championship as Bromley secured League One football next season
Leicester look increasingly likely to be relegated as defeat against Portsmouth left the Foxes eight points from safety
Preamble
Good morning! Welcome to matchday live, what a day of football we have in store, it’s not an understatement to say that this could be the defining day in the Premier League title race. Not only do we have the huge clash at the Etihad between Manchester City and Arsenal, we also have a Merseyside derby, plus a host of European action. Let’s get into it.
