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Evangelos Marinakis often takes action when the crowd turns against a head coach. The Nottingham Forest owner watched from his throne, enduring 90 minutes of inept finishing and sloppy play in a desperate goalless draw against rock‑bottom Wolves, resulting in boos and insults aimed at Sean Dyche at full time, which sealed a third head coach sacking of the season.

Thirty-five shots came and went for Forest, few testing José Sá but the patience of the crowd was thoroughly tested, ultimately costing Dyche his job. It was a missed opportunity for the hosts, who moved only one point further north of 18th-placed West Ham, when three were there for the taking.

Manchester City’s week is ­moving along sweetly, this win closing the gap to three points to Arsenal, who travel to Brentford on Thursday. On ­Sunday, they defeated Liverpool at Anfield, on Wednesday they downed ­Fulham at home to reel off a 20th consecutive victory against them.

The rosiest moment for the title challengers was Erling Haaland’s 39th‑minute strike, a first in the competition from open play in nine games, though more con­cerning was his removal at the break, when City led 3-0.

Arne Slot does not believe his job security hinges on Liverpool securing Champions League qualification this spring but the Dutchman would much prefer not to put that particular notion to the test.

On this evidence there seems a decent chance last season’s title winning manager will not have to. In finally ending Sunderland’s proud unbeaten home record in the Premier League, sixth placed Liverpool left themselves only three points adrift Manchester United and two behind Chelsea.

• Heitinga could be interim option to end of season

• De Zerbi available after leaving Marseille

Tottenham are exploring their options after sacking Thomas Frank on Wednesday morning, with Roberto De Zerbi and one of their current coaches, John Heitinga, in the conversation.

It is unclear whether the chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, and the sporting director, Johan Lange, who are overseeing the process, will favour an interim choice which could be Heitinga. If they did, it would buy them time until the summer when other candidates could be available, including Mauricio ­Pochettino and Andoni Iraola.

On a night when James Milner made history, equalling his former teammate Gareth Barry’s Premier League appearance record, his former club Aston Villa created more unwanted headlines for Fabian Hürzeler.

A Tyrone Mings header, deflected in off Jack Hinshelwood with four minutes of the 90 to play, was sufficient to defeat Brighton and extend their miserable run.

Burnley were dead and buried. Trailing 2-0 to the £48m striker Jørgen Strand Larsen’s first goals for Crystal Palace after half an hour, it looked inevitable that Scott Parker’s side would match their club‑record 17-match winless run in the top flight that dates all the way back to 1890.

Yet after all the misery since their last victory in October, everything changed in the space of seven scintillating minutes just before half-time. Burnley hit back through Hannibal Mejbri, Jaidon Anthony and an own goal from Jefferson Lerma to record only a second away win of the season since being promoted. It keeps alive their slim hopes of survival, although Parker will know it will take several more results like this to conjure up the greatest of escapes.

Arsenal delivered a dominant and efficient display away to OH Leuven to take a 4-0 lead into the second leg of their Women’s Champions League playoff at the Emirates Stadium next week.

Frida Maanum opened the ­scoring, Olivia Smith added the second, Maanum struck again and Alessia Russo finished things off against the Belgian side before the midfielder Kim Little came off the bench late on to put the cherry on top of the evening, making a staggering 400th appearance for the club.

• Matches to take place in Florida in early June

• England based in Kansas City during tournament

England will play World Cup warm-up matches against New Zealand and Costa Rica in Florida and base themselves in Kansas City for the duration of the tournament.

Thomas Tuchel and his squad will fly to Florida at the start of June and take on New Zealand on 6 June and Costa Rica four days later. They will then transfer to the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, having identified the city as their preferred location in January 2025.

• Celtic close gap at top with dramatic win over Livingston

• Rangers’ title hopes suffer blow in draw with Motherwell

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain netted a late winner on his Celtic debut to earn a 2-1 Premiership win at home to Livingston.

The rock-bottom visitors looked set to earn an unlikely point after Robbie Muirhead’s penalty had cancelled out a first-half opener from Marcelo Saracchi. But with the clock into the second minute of time added on, Oxlade-Chamberlain curled an effort into the far corner to give his team the win that moves them to within six points of leaders Hearts, with a game in hand.

• Ukrainian FA president seeks meeting on Thursday

• Fifa president due at Uefa congress in Brussels

Andriy Shevchenko will seek a meeting with Gianni Infantino on Thursday to discuss the Fifa president’s recent comments that favoured Russia’s return to international football competitions.

Infantino sparked condemnation in Ukraine when, speaking in an interview last week, he said the ban on Russia’s participation should be reassessed. Shevchenko, the Ukrainian Association of Football president, is looking to restate Ukraine’s position in private when the pair attend Uefa’s congress in Brussels.

The former England international is a pioneer in football and the media. But her broadside on TV punditry is another own goal, empowering the most chauvinistic commentators

Is this what Eni Aluko envisioned? Did she think reigniting the somewhat one-sided row between herself and fellow pundit Ian Wright would resurrect her broadcasting career or make Wright reflect differently on the incident that she triggered 10 months ago? If so, the exercise has failed and we sit staring at an overwhelmingly sad and depressing episode that is showing no sign of quieting down.

No one credible would dispute Aluko’s record as a player. Her 105 caps and 33 goals for England, involvement in five major international tournaments, four FA Cup wins, three WSL titles and Serie A and Coppa Italia medals speak for themselves.

PM calls comments by Man United co-owner, who also hit out at people on benefits, ‘offensive and wrong’

Keir Starmer has said Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe should apologise for his comments that the UK is being “colonised” by immigrants.

In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Britain’s seventh-richest man, who moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020, took aim at people receiving state support and immigrants.

• Marseille beaten 5-0 by PSG and 3-0 by Club Brugge

• De Zerbi joined as head coach in 2024 after Brighton exit

Roberto De Zerbi has left Marseille in the wake of a 5-0 thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain. The nine-times French champions said on Wednesday they had ended “their collaboration by mutual agreement”.

The heavy defeat on Sunday at the Parc des Princes restored PSG’s two-point lead over Lens after 21 rounds, with Marseille fourth. De Zerbi’s team also endured an embarrassing 3-0 loss at Club Brugge two weeks ago that resulted in Marseille exiting the Champions League.

• Acting director Todd Lyons called ICE ‘key’ to security

• 2026 World Cup takes place this summer in 11 US cities

The acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told a congressional committee on Tuesday that his agency is a “key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup” and refused to commit to pausing operations near games at this summer’s tournament.

The 2026 World Cup will be hosted this summer by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with 78 of the 104 games taking place in the US. Various entities have estimated that up to 10 million people could visit the 11 US host cities for the quadrennial tournament. However, ICE’s role in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown – including an extended and widespread operation in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area in which two people were killed by federal agents – has raised serious concerns among fans.

• City manager blames fixture schedule for striker’s fatigue

• ‘Intelligent’ Abdukodir Khusanov also earns praise

Pep Guardiola has insisted Erling Haaland should not put too much pressure on himself to constantly score for Manchester City.

Haaland’s stoppage-time penalty against Liverpool on Sunday not only sealed a 2-1 victory for City but was also only his third goal in 10 appearances, with only one of these from open play. Afterwards, Haaland stated he must improve his output and refused to blame fatigue for his form. Guardiola, though, has praised the contribution of the 25-year-old, who has 28 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions for the club this season.

Hill Dickinson Stadium is no place like home for Everton. Not yet, anyway. Sixth place and momentum in the push for European qualification was the tantalising prize for beating Bournemouth but, not for the first time at their plush new stadium, David Moyes’s team let it slip through their grasp.

Andoni Iraola’s visitors extended their unbeaten Premier League run to six games courtesy of second-half headers from Rayan, the 19-year-old Brazilian who could well be their latest gem, and Amine Adli. Bournemouth’s goals and a red card for the Everton defender Jake O’Brien arrived in an eight-minute spell in which the hosts imploded to leave themselves without a home win since 6 December. Moyes’s side have collected 17 points from their last eight away games but only eight from the last nine at home. Their quest for Europe is floundering on home soil.

Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planet

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The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individuals

What makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.

After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure.

Aitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female player on the planet by our panel of 127 experts ahead of Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo

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The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes

They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.

Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Mark Langdon and Jacob Steinberg as Tottenham Hotspur lose at home to Newcastle. On the podcast today; another defeat for Spurs. Thomas Frank was still in his job at the time of recording. Not any more. Elsewhere, Benjamin Sesko scores a late equaliser against West Ham to deny them the chance to move level on points with Spurs and there’s a brilliant comeback from Leeds at Stamford Bridge. Plus, Bournemouth’s good form continues, a remarkable game between Leicester and Southampton and your questions answered.

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Plus: a perfect hat-trick of assists, more almost-one-club players and Oxford’s penalty drought

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“In their Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven, Bayern Munich made four substitutions in the 62nd minute,” writes Stephan Wijnen. “The four players entering the pitch together had a combined estimated value of €265m (Harry Kane, Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies). Is this the most expensive combined substitution ever?”

Before we go any further – a player’s estimated value is not an objective measure, but using transfer fees doesn’t necessarily work, with some players moving for no fee (Kylian Mbappé, for example). Like Stephan in his question, we are going to use Transfermarkt’s valuations in a bid for consistency, and will focus on the value of players coming on.

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The winning run may be over but his Manchester United team showed fight until the end against West Ham

On nights such as these it can feel as though football is choosing to remind you of its true nature. Which is, it turns out, the most gloriously perverse, slow-burn, 400‑miles‑from‑home, 10.15pm on a Tuesday, waving your arms in the air, gripped‑with‑final‑plot‑twist-ecstasy pursuit ever devised.

For Manchester United’s travelling support this game must have felt like a slow-motion strangulation. Your team have had two shots on target all night. They’re 1-0 down against relegation-haunted West Ham – 95 minutes have passed. Narratives are being muddled. Arcs of hope reined in.

Fifa president will be under major scrutiny when he goes to Brussels to address the Uefa annual congress on Thursday

Assuming Gianni Infantino turns up on time, he is expected to make his customary address to Uefa’s annual congress on Thursday. The couple of hours spent in Brussels Expo Hall 3 will be largely procedural but the Fifa president’s messaging will be worth delegates’ attention. Even by the standards of relations between football’s major governing bodies, the past 12 months have been fractious. The fault lines hardly get narrower and there is certainly no reduction in the number of thorny issues simmering away.

At last year’s edition, in Belgrade, Infantino used the gathering of European football’s great and good to make a caveated case for Russia’s return to competitive action. If that was a rolling of the pitch, his comments on the matter in an interview last week amounted to letting the sprinklers loose. Infantino said the ban on Russian sides should be reassessed, at least for age-group teams, but there is little chance of his views gaining weight around Europe even if he elects to revisit the argument.

The Brazilian was often exposed by the tactics of Ten Hag and Amorim, but was always adaptable and a replacement will be expensive

“Leave the football before the football leaves you.” The meme-baiting quote from Jamie Carragher hung heavy over Casemiro for a long while, but it is testament to the Brazilian’s character and durability that he will leave Manchester United this year on his own terms, two years after those infamous words from the former Liverpool player.

In fairness to Carragher, context at the time was key. After United were hammered 4-0 by Crystal Palace in May 2024, Casemiro looked spent at the elite level, bypassed too easily in increasingly fast‑tempo matches and left for dead by Erik ten Hag’s high-risk tactics.

Referee Craig Pawson sent off Dominik Szoboszlai by the letter of the law; the only way it should be done

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Refereeing is the most thankless of jobs. There are times when you can get a decision absolutely right and still you get criticised on all sides.

In the final seconds at Anfield on Sunday, with the Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson caught upfield, Rayan Cherki rolled the ball towards the Liverpool goal. Erling Haaland gave chase and would have gotten there to nudge the ball definitively over the line but he was pulled back by Dominik Szoboszlai, who would then have caught up with the ball to clear had he not been pulled back by Haaland. The ball crossed the line but the referee Craig Pawson, after a VAR review, gave not a goal but a free-kick for the first offence, sending Szoboszlai off for the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.

VAR’s application has been a divisive topic everywhere it has been introduced. It was more of the same in Serie A

You might not be shocked to learn that Daniele De Rossi thinks football has gone soft. Since retiring and moving into management, the man with the “beware the sliding tackle” tattoo has acknowledged he sometimes misses getting to stick the boot in. But would the stick figure seen flying into an opponent on the back of his right calf even stand a chance in this era of VAR?

“I don’t know what to say any more,” lamented De Rossi after his Genoa team lost 3-2 to Napoli on Saturday. “The football we played no longer exists. We were naïve, but it seems I don’t know anything. I don’t know what sport I am coaching.”

The Grateful Dead and some other interesting influences define the best and worst of this year’s crop of tops

Major League Soccer’s 31st season is nearly upon us, and fans across the league are busy offering takes. Takes on roster building, on relevance, on playoff potential. And, of course, on kits.

It at times feels like there is nothing soccer fans across the globe like more than discussing kits and kit culture. Supporters, even those entirely bereft of any fashion sense to speak of, start offering up terms normally reserved for the catwalk come release day.

With 13 clubs punished, Chengdu are the only Super League top six side that will start the upcoming new season on zero points, but China’s U23s and provincial sides are lifting spirits

When Keir Starmer met Xi Jinping recently, reporters said the British prime minister was shocked at his Chinese counterpart calling Crystal Palace “Palace”, liking Manchester City and Arsenal and supporting Manchester United. The reasons can be guessed. Fan Zhiyi was popular at Selhurst Park in the late 1990s, Sun Jihai was a cult hero at Maine Road and Manchester United had Dong Fangzhuo. The president of the world’s second most populous country and second biggest economy didn’t, however, mention Everton.

Li Tie spent four seasons at Goodison Park, playing the most in his first, 2002-03, with 29 Premier League appearances. The Chinese international moved into coaching on returning home and managed the national team from 2019 to 2021. Since December 2024, he has been in prison, serving a 20 year sentence on charges of taking bribes. Since last Thursday, he has been banned from all football activities for life.

The window to impress on Mauricio Pochettino is waning, and the pressure is on for the No 9s on the bubble

In past points of his managerial career, Mauricio Pochettino could upgrade his squad via the transfer market. When Tottenham sold striker Roberto Soldado in 2015, his replacement came two weeks later: Son Heung-min. It’s a facet of the job completely absent in his role with the US national team, though he’d be forgiven for wishing a similar market was available ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

With provisional World Cup squads due 11 May and Pochettino wanting to avoid a “cruel” scenario of bringing players over for the final friendlies in May and June only to leave them off of his tournament squad, the window for hopefuls to make an impression is nearly closed. There are positional battles across the pitch; there’s no ironclad starting goalkeeper, a likely opening (or two) at center back beside Chris Richards, and multiple midfield places.

The USMNT manager said players should stay out of conversations that don’t deal with soccer

Last week, Mauricio Pochettino began a World Cup year with an unforced error.

At the tail-end of a virtual press conference that covered a wide range of ongoing USMNT business, the 53-year-old Argentine – who has made himself commendably available to the American soccer press – was asked about recent comments by Tim Weah.

Leander Schaerlaeckens’ book on the United States men’s national soccer team, The Long Game, is out on 12 May. You can preorder it here. He teaches at Marist University.

Vivid dreamscape sold to fans in 2021 is yet to materialise amid layers upon layers of bureaucracy, economics and geopolitics

Layer two: Nick Woltemade, signed for £69m in the hot madness of summer, has stopped scoring. Anthony Elanga, a £55m winger, has struggled for game time and goals. Malick Thiaw, a £35m centre-half bought from Milan, keeps making basic errors. Last summer’s transfer window, conducted without a sporting director and with an outgoing chief executive, looks increasingly like a disaster. The football seems a little slower and less urgent these days, St James’ Park a little quieter and more anxious. Eddie Howe is basically holding this thing together with hugs and smiles.

Layer three: turns out Alexander Isak lighted the exit path so that others might follow. Sandro Tonali’s agent decided to make a little mischief on transfer deadline day, putting Arsenal on alert. Perhaps Tonali will be the next painful transfer saga, perhaps Bruno Guimarães or Lewis Hall or Tino Livramento. The sporting director, Ross Wilson, is still getting his feet under the table. The chief executive, David Hopkinson, reckons Newcastle can be the best team in the world by 2030. They sit 11th in the Premier League. No signings arrived in January.

Coach should not ‘stick to football’ when football strays into politics and death but his role as fluffer for his club’s autocratic owners cannot be ignored

You may find yourself living in a glass and steel yak-fur-lined penthouse. You may find yourself with six Premier League titles and a sport refashioned in your image. You may find yourself in front of a large advert board covered in words such as Experience Abu Dhabi, haunted by images of suffering, a scythe clanking gently at your shoulder. And you may say, well, how did I get here?

There are only ever two types of Pep Guardiola article. First, articles announcing that Guardiola’s influence has reached some new level of annihilating dominance, that what we have here is our own cashmere-draped, cranium-whirring Ideal Tactics Man, that Pep-ism is bigger than smartphones, bigger than internet porn, bigger than a mother’s love, that playing out from the back is now visible from space.

The winger seems to have lost a yard of pace but he is only 31 and leaving Stamford Bridge to make a fresh start may be the best thing for him

While Raheem Sterling’s bank balance was boosted by his unhappy spell at Chelsea, the professional cost has been huge. The winger’s career has nosedived since his departure from Manchester City three and a half years ago. Sterling was hailed as a marquee signing when he joined Chelsea in the summer of 2022 but there was no place for him inside the tent by the time an agreement was finally reached to end his £325,000-a-week contract by mutual consent on Wednesday.

The decline has been sad to watch. There was excitement when Sterling became the first player to join Chelsea after the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover. He had won four Premier League titles with City and had undoubted pedigree. Thomas Tuchel wanted his threat in the final third and much was made of Sterling, who grew up near Wembley, returning to London when Chelsea signed him for £47.5m.

I played out a torturous, all-too-familar dance after the Gunners’ title-race stumble. But if we’re suffering like this in January, how will we feel in May?

I sometimes joke that I’m not sure I actually like football, just Arsenal. Hate-watching rivals aside, if a game doesn’t concern the Gunners it probably doesn’t concern me, such is my one-club tunnel vision. Even then, there are occasions where my love of Arsenal appears debatable. As a friend recently put it to me: “I’ve watched Arsenal games with you. I’m not sure you like Arsenal and yet you’re possibly the most fervent Gooner I know.”

Ah, the torturous dance between joy and torment. I relived it again last Sunday evening, when Arsenal lost to Manchester United. On paper, it should have been simple enough to compartmentalise: you can’t win them all and we’re still four points clear at the top of the league table and looking strong in all three cups. And yet, for the first time this season, I succumbed to true result-induced head loss.

Our cartoonist on the Swindon Town manager’s fiery response after his captain was suspended at short notice

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After impressive work by Manchester United and Liverpool and disappointment for Chelsea, we assess every team’s business

With the contracts of so many senior players expiring in June, Arsenal’s focus was on preparing for the summer when they are expected to go through a major rebuild. Therefore their quiet window was no surprise, but they will be relatively pleased to have brought in a star of the future, Smilla Holmberg, at right-back and to have fulfilled their need for a backup goalkeeper, with Barbora Votíkova’s deadline-day loan. Much more significant, though, is the positive progress they are understood to have made in their attempt to sign Georgia Stanway on a free at the end of the season, and big decisions such as not seeking to extend Katie McCabe’s stay, as they prepare to refresh the team.

Will Arsenal regret Nwaneri move? Have Sunderland traded brilliantly again? We run the rule over every team’s business

The foot injury sustained by Mikel Merino made the last few days of the window a bit more interesting for Arsenal supporters, although in the end there was no big signing. Deadline-day links to Sandro Tonali of Newcastle and Leon Goretzka came to nothing, and Arsenal missed out to their north London rivals Tottenham on the 18-year-old Scotland striker James Wilson. They did sign the England Under-19 defender Jaden Dixon from Stoke but will Mikel Arteta regret allowing Ethan Nwaneri to join Marseille on loan with Merino poised to be out for at least two months? Ed Aarons

As the winter transfer window closes, here are the patterns which have emerged across Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues

Were there an Early Bird Award for prompt recruitment, Eintracht Frankfurt would be making space in their trophy cabinet. Before the transfer window even opened they had announced the signings of Younes Ebnoutalib and Keita Kosugi, reportedly for a combined £13m, while Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab and Arnaud Kalimuendo followed within a week. Throw in the arrival of Love Arrhov from Swedish side Brommapojkarna, a deal agreed last May but effective on New Year’s Day, and they had five new names in the squad in time for their first game after the Bundesliga’s winter break, a 3-3 draw with Borussia Dortmund. Ebnoutalib, an imposing 6ft 3in striker signed from second-division Elversberg, scored in that game, assisted by Kalimuendo, who arrived on loan from Nottingham Forest. In fact, it has been a promising start for their January arrivals: Amaimouni-Echghouyabe opened his account the following week against Stuttgart, while Kalimuendo has scored against Bremen and Hoffenheim. Unfortunately, Frankfurt won none of those matches. Even so, there are reasons to hope their signings can help revive a listless season. Will Magee

Well drilled, well balanced and boasting enviable depth, City can move closer to dethroning Chelsea on Sunday

After six consecutive years as champions, Chelsea find their once firm grip on the Women’s Super League crown has been reduced to a little finger clinging to the side of the trophy. They head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday nine points behind their opponents and surely sensing that only a win could prevent the title from transferring to Manchester City’s outstretched arms.

City have endured plenty of near misses since they last won the WSL 10 years ago, finishing second five times – or six, if we include 2017’s shorter Spring Series. They have frequently made it look as if “next year” would finally be their year, so there is something incongruous about their flourishing form arriving after they finished 17 points behind Chelsea last season.

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Perhaps the only thing everyone can agree on is that, according to our old friend The Letter of the Law, the “goal” Rayan Cherki scored from inside his own half in the dying moments of added time of Manchester City’s wild win at Liverpool was correctly ruled out. It took a while but, between them, referee Craig Pawson and his coterie of curtain-twitching buzz-killing fun sponges in the Stockley Park VAR bunker got there in the end. Football Daily shudders to think about how much tedious debate Cherki could have put a stop to by simply putting his boot through the ball a bit harder. But we’re guessing he spent much of his weekend watching curling at the Winter Olympics and was trying to channel his inner Jen Dodds by sending the ball trundling on its merry way with just enough force to cross the goal line but not so much that it might do anything so vulgar as ripple the net. Like the match officials, it got there in the end but only after Dominik Szoboszlai and Erling Haaland had engaged in some tit-for-tat fouling that led to the goal being correctly disallowed, the Hungarian correctly sent off and an entertaining debate between those who would prefer matches to be ultimately governed by “vibes” over VAR.

Is Friday’s last line (full email edition) a link to Ian Holloway’s meltdown and Harry Enfield’s much-loved pub character Frank Doberman, whose pleasant mien gradually dissolves, finishing up in full-on rant mode? It was either that or the flat-capped ‘You don’t want to do it like that, did you?’ fella shaking his head at Jhon Durán’s latest career move to Russia” – Mike Kilner.

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The FA’s proposals for a shake-up of the competition have met a groundswell of opposition with fans arguing it would bolster the wealthy elite

As so much of the modern game increasingly sucks the joy out of football, there remains something pure and precious about the sight of those famous black and white numbered balls being tipped out of the velvet bag for an FA Cup draw.

Your heart rate intensifies as they clatter when tipped into the bowl. Each side has the same chance of being pitted against any other club and, for those few moments, there is a special feeling. Hope.

Organisation formed by journalist Miriam Walker-Khan is taking the next step in making sure South Asian women and girls feel welcome in football at all levels

There was a different kind of energy in an upstairs room at Stamford Bridge after escaping the buzz of the match-going crowd before Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat of Chelsea in the Women’s Super League 10 days ago. There was a celebratory, empowering energy, but also a determined and hopeful vibe.

The room was full of people celebrating the third anniversary of Brown Girl Sport, the award-winning online platform and community that aims to highlight the stories of South Asian women and girls in sport in order, according to its website, “to smash stereotypes that Brown women don’t do, care or know about sport”.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Nedum Onuoha to chew over Manchester City’s late win at Liverpool

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On the podcast today: a game packed with incident at Anfield. Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick, Alisson’s reckless tackle and a hilarious disallowed goal in injury time. All that meant Manchester City remained just six points behind Arsenal and the title race remains on.

Plus: footballers’ weddings on live television, the most successful fictional teams, and more

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“Ian Muir played 95% of his games for Tranmere,” writes Robert Abushal. “One-club players aside, who’s the closest to 100% without being 100%?”

One-club men and women are among football’s more celebrated groups, the players who dedicated their entire career to one particular cause. Athletic Club give out the One Club Man and One Club Woman awards each year; the list of recipients include Paolo Maldini, Matthew Le Tissier and Malin Moström.

We haven’t included non-league teams, which rules out Paul Scholes (three games for Royton) and Le Tissier (Eastleigh) among others. We’ve also excluded Hamburg legend Uwe Seeler, whose one appearance for Cork Celtic was in a sponsored event.

Data on appearances for individual players can vary from source to source, particularly for older players. We made a judgment call in each case, so the figures may only be 99.82% correct. But that’s appropriate for this question, right? Right?

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Emily Keogh to analyse the weekend’s WSL games and Arsenal’s triumph in the inaugural Fifa Women’s Champions Cup

On today’s pod: Manchester City take a giant step towards the WSL title with a stunning 5-1 demolition of champions Chelsea, opening up a 12-point lead at the top. The panel assesses a ruthless display from Andrée Jeglertz’s side, Kerolin’s hat-trick and the mounting pressure on Sonia Bompastor after the Blues’ heaviest defeat in years.

Elsewhere, Manchester United move into second with a hard-earned win over Liverpool, Everton finally end their Goodison Park hoodoo against Aston Villa and Tottenham edge past West Ham. The panel also wraps up comeback wins for London City Lionesses and reflects on Brighton’s difficult week.

Álvaro Arbeloa’s team have concerns as they look ahead to the knockout stages, while Jamie Carragher has concerns about the draw

It was billed by broadcasters as “Matchday Mayhem”. Finally, after 17 of the 18 final day matches had finished, came a chaotic denouement. Not even José Mourinho’s long Champions League heritage had included a moment like this, though his wild celebration was familiar. Benfica were beating Real Madrid 3-2, and Mourinho’s former club were already dropping out of the top eight. “I was told [the scoreline] is enough, so let’s close the door,” said Mourinho.

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and go even further back. Here’s our Premier League class of 2025