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A short-corner routine by Atleti is pinged back down the left flank. Matteo Ruggeri crosses, the ball dropping onto the foot of Alexander Sørloth, who slots with a confident sidefoot from close range past the rooted Simon Mignolet. That’s a hat-trick for Sørloth, and Atleti will play either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16.

… so having said that, Atletico establish a two-goal lead, and are surely in the hat for Friday’s last-16 draw. Marcos Llorente plays a long ball down the inside-right channel for Alexander Sørloth, who should release Ademola Lookman into the box down the left. His pass across is poor, behind Lookman, but Antoine Griezmann comes over, offering himself as a wall for Lookman to ping the ball off. A one-two down the left, then Lookman crosses low. Sørloth can’t miss from six yards and that is surely that!

• La Liga side win 4-1 on the night, 7-4 on aggregate

• Atlético will face Liverpool or Tottenham in last 16

A hat-trick by Alexander Sørloth helped Atlético Madrid finally shake off Club Brugge and advance to the Champions League round of 16.

The La Liga side won 4-1 on Tuesday to complete a 7-4 aggregate victory. But the wide margin on the night didn’t tell the full story of Brugge’s resilience over two legs. A 3-3 draw in Belgium last week had seen Brugge come back from two goals down and then level again in the 89th minute.

More to follow

• England captain concerned by relentless growth of game

• Ukraine World Cup qualifier set for Hill Dickinson Stadium

England’s captain, Leah Williamson, has said she would never take the possibility of strike action off the table if players are not listened to over scheduling concerns.

Speaking before England’s first two World Cup qualifiers, against Ukraine in Turkey and Iceland in Nottingham next week, Williamson said drastic action was “always a possibility” with talk of player overloading at the highest level a growing concern.

• Funds promised for security have not been received

• Officials warn of potential cancellations to fan festivals

Local and national officials expressed concern on Tuesday that the ongoing partial government shutdown in the United States could adversely affect planning and preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which is just over 100 days away.

In a hearing before the House committee on homeland security, representatives from Miami, Kansas City and New Jersey – three locations that will host a combined total of 21 matches in the tournament, including the final – said they are still waiting on federal funds to be released to their respective local agencies. Last July, lawmakers pledged $625m in federal assistance toward World Cup security via the Trump administration’s “big beautiful” policy bill.

• Courtois: ‘This a moment for football to end these things’

• Real Madrid meet Benfica in second leg on Wednesday

Álvaro Arbeloa and Thibaut Courtois have called on Uefa to take a ­genuine stand against racism and change football following the alleged racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior by Gianluca ­Prestianni during Real Madrid’s Champions League playoff first leg at Benfica last week, with Arbeloa imploring the governing body to go beyond “just slogans” as the two teams prepare to meet again.

Courtois also expressed his disappointment with José Mourinho for linking the incident to Vinícius’s cele­bration of the only goal of the game in Lisbon and insisted suggestions that Prestianni’s defence might be that he instead used a homophobic slur would be “just as bad”.

Former Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas has played a big part in the club’s work towards gender equality in all sports

For a team that did not have a women’s side until a year ago, Porto’s rise has been rapid. The first season ended with promotion from the third division and now they are on the verge of reaching the top flight, where they would finally compete with their rivals Benfica and Sporting.

Porto are top of the final phase of the second division championship, having won the first phase. The champions of the final phase are guaranteed promotion and the next two teams will take part in the playoffs. Porto are yet to concede a goal in a league game.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Our cartoonist on the north London derby and some uncomfortable truths for the interim Spurs manager

• Buy this cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025

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• American rapper arrives to see game against Preston

• Snoop Dogg joined Swansea ownership group last July

The Swansea City co-owner Snoop Dogg was greeted with twirling towels and a guard of honour on his first visit to the Welsh club. The American rapper, who is a minority owner of the Championship club alongside the television host Martha Stewart and Croatia international Luka Modric, made his first appearance at the Swansea.com Stadium for Tuesday’s clash with Preston.

Snoop Dogg joined the Swansea ownership group last July and made his way to south-west Wales after being at the Winter Olympics, where he served as Team USA’s honorary coach as well as a special correspondent for broadcaster NBC.

• Tottenham have lowest wage bill among ‘big six’ sides

• Major overhaul of squad planned for summer by owners

Tottenham’s owners are planning to rip up the club’s rigid wage structure before a major overhaul of the squad this summer if the team avoid relegation.

There is an acknowledgment at Spurs that the club have underinvested in player salaries for years, which along with an injury crisis has led to their being 16th in the Premier League, four points off the bottom three.

England forward was among Arsenal heroes in attendance at event commemorating fan who was stabbed to death

There is a poignant silence as Tashan Daniel’s parents emerge on to Ken Friar Bridge on a cold, wet February afternoon in north London. With heads bowed, the England forwards Noni Madueke and Alessia Russo and the former Arsenal international turned TV host Alex Scott greet them with a hug before beginning a slow walk that Daniel was not able to complete in September 2019. The talented 20-year-old aspiring athlete and photographer was stabbed to death at Hillingdon station in west London on his way to watch his beloved Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup.

“I’ve got no words; it’s horrible, something that shouldn’t be happening,” says Madueke, who spent much of the half hour it took to reach Daniel’s seat inside the Emirates speaking to Daniel’s father, Chandy. “We were just talking about Arsenal, just talking about life. He’s a real Arsenal fan and his son was as well. I told him that this season’s going to be a special year. It’s such a difficult situation that they have been having to go through for so long and we wanted to come out here and try to give them strength.”

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It’s not been the best time for Turkish football in recent months, what with the suspension of 149 match officials and more than 1,000 players relating to a betting scandal. Ouch. But events in a seventh-tier match at the weekend brought some much-needed moral goodness back to the game there when a player revived a seagull that had been struck down by a flying ball. Yep, you read that right. Let’s start at the beginning shall we. Istanbul Yurdum Spor goalkeeper Muhammed Uyanik picked the ball up in the 22nd minute of a fierce battle with Mevlanakapi Guzelhisar, with the winner taking home the league title. Seeing no short options available, he went route one, pinging the ball high into the air only to see his clearance thud against a low-flying gull that spiralled in the air like a downed fighter-jet before dropping to the floor with a sickening thud.

• 27-year-old Morocco international denies allegation

• Defender says trial ‘will allow the truth to come out’

Achraf Hakimi is to face trial for rape, the Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender confirmed via a social media post on Tuesday, going on to deny the allegation.

“Today, a rape accusation is enough to justify a trial, even though I deny it and everything proves it’s false,” wrote Hakimi. “This is as unjust to the innocent as it is to the genuine victims. I calmly await this trial, which will allow the truth to come out publicly.”

• Striker has been on bench for past six league games

• Branthwaite still hopeful of making World Cup squad

Benjamin Sesko is prepared to be patient in regards to becoming a first‑choice pick for Manchester United, with the striker not telling himself “I have to start” every game.

Sesko scored United’s winner in their 1-0 win at Everton on Monday after coming on as a 58th-minute substitute. It was the third time in four games that the 22‑year‑old forward has scored after emerging from the bench. He also scored a 96th‑minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw at West Ham two weeks ago and a 94th-minute winner in the 3-2 victory against Fulham on 1 February.

• Benfica appeal against ban for Real Madrid second leg

• Brazilian alleged he was racially abused

Gianluca Prestianni will not be available for Benfica’s Champions League playoff at Real Madrid on Wednesday night after Uefa suspended him following allegations that he racially abused Vinícius Júnior during the first leg. The one‑game ban is a provisional mea­sure as an investigation continues.

Benfica have said they will appeal and regret being “deprived” of the winger, but the club admitted they did not expect to be able to prevent the 20-year-old Argentinian from missing the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu.

• Dutchman steps down for personal reasons

• Caribbean island only has population of 150,000

Dick Advocaat led Curaçao to their first World Cup but will not be in charge of the team at the tournament itself after resigning from the head coach’s post for personal reasons.

“Dick Advocaat has stepped down with immediate effect as head coach of the national football team of Curaçao,” the country’s football federation confirmed on social media, the statement going onto say that the 78-year-old will “devote his full attention to his daughter, who is facing health issues”.

• Spate of online abuse occurred across last weekend

• Prime minister and Kick It Out call for action

Police have warned anyone directing online racist abuse at Premier League footballers that they cannot “hide behind their keyboards” after opening investigations into posts aimed at four players over the weekend.

The prime minister’s spokesperson has called for social media companies such as Meta – which owns Instagram – to help identify the culprits after the Wolves forward Tolu Arokodare and the Sunderland midfielder Romaine Mundle revealed they had been sent abusive messages after their matches on Sunday. That came after Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana and Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri had also reported racist messages that were sent to them on Saturday.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin to discuss all of the weekend’s Premier League action

On today’s pod: Arsenal run riot in the north London derby, with Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres scoring twice in a comprehensive win over a Spurs side in disarray. With injuries mounting and confidence draining, the panel asks: are Tottenham Hotspur the worst team in the Premier League?

Elsewhere, Manchester City keep the pressure on with a 2-1 win over Newcastle as Nico O’Reilly shines. Is he on the plane? Liverpool snatched a dramatic late victory at Nottingham Forest in a game packed with VAR controversy and handball debate. Burnley grabbed a last-gasp point at Chelsea, Palace left it late again for Oliver Glasner, and Tammy Abraham rescues Aston Villa. There’s also a big result for Brighton, and the panel reminisce over James Milner’s breakthrough at Leeds as he sets the all-time Premier League appearance record.

Plus: racist abuse directed at multiple players prompts strong responses from Kick It Out and Meta, more twists in the Scottish title race as Hearts open up a lead, a hilarious own goal in the A-League Men’s New Zealand derby, and much more on today’s Guardian Football Weekly.

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The world’s No 9-ranked team, who have been largely absent from international competitions for over a decade, is reaping the benefits of state-sponsored investment

In 1986, when Norwegian delegate Ellen Wille stood on stage at Fifa’s annual congress in Mexico and demanded the creation of a World Cup for women, it sparked support from one of the room’s unlikeliest allies. Delegates from North Korea, so the story goes, were inspired by Wille’s speech and returned to Pyongyang with a plan: to use women’s football as a tool to reassert their collapsing power on the world stage.

The plan was simple: starting in the late 1980s, the government would invest heavily in the women’s game, inserting football programs into school curriculums, establishing women’s teams in the military where players trained full-time, creating youth talent identification pathways, and constructing brand-new facilities across the country.

Threat of relegation looms over former league champions who can still be accused of living off past glories

“We currently have zero self-confidence,” lamented Marco Friedl, “and it shows.” Werder Bremen had just come to the end of a 13th successive winless game and there was a sense that they didn’t realise that the bottom was quite this low – if indeed they are quite there. “I often have the right words, but today I’m pretty much speechless because I couldn’t have imagined the game ending like this.”

It is difficult to predict quite how this season will finish at the bottom of the Bundesliga but it feels like it has a big ending in store, with at least one big name set to tumble. This felt like a big moment for Bremen, the 2004 double winners, in freefall for months and unable to find the decisive moment away to St Pauli as Sunday evening drew in.

Sam Kerr is ready for business end of season, Chatham’s goalkeeper made to work and Kim Little continues to shine

It has not been the easiest season for Sam Kerr. After missing 20 months with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, she has had her time limited to just a handful of starts across all competition – mainly the cups. She may not have scored the winner that sent Chelsea through to the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals but her goal that gave the Blues the lead against Manchester United felt almost inevitable. Within six minutes of entering the pitch, the Australian produced an instinctive finish that will have gone some way to quieten questions about whether she could rediscover her top form. “It’s been a bit tough with many things, like not getting the minutes she wanted,” Sonia Bompastor said. “It was also a bit difficult emotionally with the decisions that have been made. [Today] will have been great for her confidence and I know she will be ready for the business end of the season.” Sophie Downey

Match report: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United

Match report: Birmingham 8-0 Chatham Town

Defeat by Carlos Cuesta’s Parma leaves Rossoneri 10 points off top spot as England midfielder sustains broken jaw

These were supposed to be the weeks when Milan held the upper hand over their Serie A rivals, granted six days to prepare for a home game against bottom-half opposition while the likes of Inter, Juventus and Atalanta dragged themselves back exhausted from European away trips. Demoralised, too, after losing to Bodø/Glimt, Galatasaray and Borussia Dortmund by a combined 10 goals to three.

It was a grim week for Italian football, the sort that provokes another round of sad think-pieces about whether the nation’s teams will ever again be competitive in the continent’s biggest tournament. A discourse which often seems to skim over the fact one of them has gone to the final twice in the past three seasons.

After relegation fears, historic late victory has goalkeeper jumping in the stands and El Sadar dreaming of Europe

There’s only one thing better than celebrating a brilliant 90th-minute winner that at last delivers victory over the team you most want to beat, 15 long years later. Celebrating it twice. So this Saturday, that was exactly what Sergio Herrera did. At the north end of El Sadar, where for one night only they thought VAR might be a good thing, Raúl García applied the brakes, sent Raúl Asencio sliding by out of shot and curled a gorgeous finish beyond Thibaut Courtois to defeat Real Madrid 2-1; at the south end, Osasuna’s keeper turned, jumped over the hoardings where the ticker tape, armbands and beach balls lay spent, and leapt into the arms of the fans going wild behind his goal, an extra notch somehow found on that volume dial, pandemonium taking Pamplona.

Which was when someone noticed that the assistant had his flag up, the referee, Alejandro Quintero, had his whistle in his mouth, and García had his hands over his face. Herrera climbed down, lamenting his lack of patience, but he didn’t have to wait long until everything turned out nice again and he got to have another go. Sixty-four seconds passed before Quintero took his finger out his ear, drew a screen and pointed at the centre circle. The offside overruled, the goal given, victory over Madrid close, Herrera set off once more. He sprinted along the line and back again screaming all the way, let loose for good this time. “Bloody hell,” he said after, the offside had been a blow – “una leche”, in his words – but this was marvellous.

The ever-increasing number of games, combined with financial regulation, has produced flat play on the field but a tighter table overall

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A constant feature of this season has been the background grumble of dissatisfaction. You don’t have to spend long on social media to see moans about the quality of play, the sense that everything has somehow gone backwards since the tactical focus began to shift away from the pure possession and positional football of the peak Pep Guardiola years to something more direct and focused on set plays.

And yet, as we enter the run-in, there appears to be a proper Premier League title race. There is an extremely competitive battle to finish in the top five and qualify for next season’s Champions League and, although Wolves and Burnley are probably doomed, there are four teams scrapping to avoid that last relegation slot with another three glancing a little nervously over their shoulders.

Everything you need to know about every Australian squad member in the football tournament hosted by Sydney, Perth and Gold Coast

The club’s vision for a young team of players from the region has been put on hold due to concerns about going down

By Get French Football News

If anyone can empathise with Stéphane Gilli, it is probably Antoine Kombouaré, the man who now replaces him as Paris FC manager. Gilli had felt like a lame duck since the Arnault family took over the club midway through last season, but earning promotion to Ligue 1 at the first time of asking bought him a stay of execution. It didn’t last long. With fears of relegation growing, Kombouaré – a former lame duck turned firefighter – has taken his place.

Just like Gilli, Kombouaré too failed to fulfil the lofty ambitions of new owners; his face didn’t fit. QSI were merciless when they dispatched Kombouaré within just months of their purchase of Paris Saint-Germain in 2011; they were top of the league when he was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. The self-proclaimed “bling bling” era had begun at PSG and, despite its flaws, there was at least a direction – which is more than can be said for Paris FC now.

Three thoughts on the opening weekend of MLS in 2026, including a new Galaxy forward to fear and a pointed celebration in DC

You know a situation is dire when it casts Luis Suárez as its level-headed participant.

Such were the scenes after Inter Miami opened their MLS Cup defense with a pitiful 3-0 defeat at Los Angeles FC. Through 90 minutes, with LAFC coming off a midweek continental match, both team’s stars stuck it out to try starting the 2026 season on the right foot. Son Heung-min made it 89 minutes, subbed out when the result was beyond doubt. Lionel Messi played every minute but was held without a goal contribution, failing to place either of his shot attempts on target and seeing all three created chances go uncashed by his teammates.

Starting next year, MLS will align itself with big European leagues and become a summer-to-spring operation. Executives see the change as an opportunity

Few constants have endured from MLS’s 1996 debut to now. It’s still an operational soccer league, for one thing. There’s the name itself, although its initial logo was shelved in 2015 for its current shield-and-kickstand. Eight of the 10 teams that launched the league remain involved, though each one has changed their name, crest, or both over time.

Another rare constant will soon fade into the rearview: the league’s schedule. MLS has run spring-to-fall/winter since its launch, more specifically from late February to early December in recent years. Preseason kicks off at the start of each new year, three weeks or so after the previous season’s championship bout. It’s a pretty well-ironed routine, even as ancillary competitions like the Leagues Cup and Club World Cup shuffle the middle bits each year.

It was a close run thing for a time, but Tottenham’s haplessness prevailed over the idea that the league leaders might be inveterate bottlers

It was a derby but it was also a clash of emerging narratives, which is always a confusing, if thrilling, moment for the great soap opera of the Premier League. In the end, Tottenham’s haplessness prevailed over the idea that Arsenal might be inveterate bottlers, fated to let another title race get away from them. But there was a time in the first half when it seemed like it might be a close-run thing.

It shouldn’t have been. Arsenal are better than Spurs. They outplayed Tottenham for long periods. They had 20 chances to Spurs’ six. They won 4-1 and could easily have won by more. But bottling takes no account of that; indeed, the better the side play the more certain it is that they are bottling if they somehow fail to win. And frankly, the fact that Arsenal were level at half‑time was hard to explain as, for the third league game in a row, and fourth in the past six, they conceded within 10 minutes of scoring. Only the vague sense that this is the sort of thing Arsenal do made it seem like they might drop points, but football is rooted in such anxieties.

The Brazilian has seen this before, football has seen this before, and yet why does it feel like nothing ever changes?

José Mourinho: against provoking opposition fans. José Mourinho: in favour of restrained celebrations. José Mourinho, once of the poke‑in‑the‑eye, sprint‑down‑the‑touchline, accost‑the‑referee-in-the-car-park school of footballing expression: now apparently very big on showing respect to the game. Well, it seems like we’ve all been on a journey here.

“I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was Black,” Mourinho recounted when asked about his conversation with Vinícius Júnior on Tuesday night. “This club, the last thing that it is, is racist.”

Extending his England men’s team contract until 2028 means increased stability and a less relentless form of pressure

Thomas Tuchel was supposed to be here for a good time, not a long time. It was win or bust when he signed up to become England’s head coach in October 2024. The target was clear – lead the side to glory at the 2026 World Cup – and it came with an acceptance that the German was nothing more than a very expensive gun for hire.

An 18-month deal, which began on 1 January 2025, saw to that. Tuchel talked about it giving him focus. He said it streamlined the role. “It’s a little bit of a step into the unknown for me,” he said. Tuchel would have to adapt. He loves being out on the training pitch, working with his players, honing their understanding of his tactics. Wouldn’t he get bored during the long months without a game? Wouldn’t he get itchy feet as soon as he saw a job open up at a big club?

Tax exile has already proven himself a terrible club owner; now his ill-informed diatribe about immigration has poured fuel on wider flames

Well I, for one, am shocked. Shocked to learn that a tax-exiled English expat who made his billions squeezing chemical plants doesn’t have liberal, let alone accurate, views on immigration. Or at least, in public anyway.

It seems highly likely Sir Jim Ratcliffe knew what he was doing in the course of his now semi-recanted Sky News interview. And it is above all vital that at least one part of his empire of influence – football, sport, Manchester United – rejects it, as the club have done to some extent in their statement.

The Winslow pub closed last month after serving pints to Everton players, managers and fans for 140 years

By When Saturday Comes

On Saturday January 24, Duncan Ferguson walked into the Winslow Hotel pub on Goodison Road and handed licensee Dave Bond £1,000 to put behind the bar. Ferguson, the former Everton centre-forward, was there because the Winslow, 140 years old and standing in the shadow of Goodison Park’s towering Main Stand, was closing. Eight months after Everton’s men left Goodison, this was another farewell party and Ferguson had turned up to say goodbye. “It was a brilliant gesture,” said Bond.

Ferguson was not the only ex-Evertonian present. Former captain Alan Stubbs, 1995 FA Cup winners Graham Stuart and Joe Parkinson, and 1987 League champion Ian Snodin each had a turn on the mic. Kevin Sheedy, one of the heroes of Howard Kendall’s great mid-1980s team, made an appearance too.

In tandem with Game Day Vision, the Premier League club are improving the matchday experience for supporters with a variety of conditions

Thomas Clements’ eyes begin dancing as he recalls in vivid detail his first trip to Highbury. It was 1995 and Ian Wright was among the scorers as QPR were defeated. Clements – named after Michael Thomas, scorer of Arsenal’s decisive second goal against Liverpool in their 1989 title decider – points to his dad, Kevin, standing a metre away. “I was sat on his shoulders in the North Bank,” he says.

That is, in itself, not unusual for a child of the 1980s. However, whereas most regular match-goers might take for granted the seemingly small things – travel arrangements, the journey to the stadium, grabbing food and drink, meeting friends and family, entering and exiting the ground – for disabled supporters such as Clements, careful thought and planning go into all arrangements.

Annual mass game in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, is centuries old and has minimal rules except competitors must come from one side or the other of a brook

• This gallery was amended on 19 February 2026 to remove images of a similar football match played in Alnwick

Lucy and Pippa Tallant have opened the Crossbar, in Brighton, to create a place for women to feel comfortable watching all sport

You can’t miss it, the giant “Crossbar” flanked by two stylised crosses in black on the whitewashed outside walls glares down the street, a stone’s throw from Brighton’s Churchill Square. Outside is the narrow shelf that the co-owner Lucy Tallant, the DIY enthusiast of the pair, attached to the wall for those wanting to hang around outside. As she worked on that shelf, two girls walked past and one proclaimed: “Yeah, they’re opening a lesbian club.” “A lesbian club?” replied the other, “Yeah, there’s one outside now.”

Lucy was in stitches, and so was social media when she posted about what she had overheard. The shelf has become a thing, with lesbians posing for photographs and then sharing online with versions of “there’s one outside now” as the caption.

A man accused of having placed secret cameras in Altach’s changing room is appearing in court next week

A man who has been accused of having videos from secret cameras in the changing room and showers of the Altach women’s team is appearing in court next week in a case that has shaken football in Austria.

About 30 women have been identified on the recordings, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Feldkirch, and some are considering a civil lawsuit against the accused. The team play in the top division in Austria.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Jamie Spangher to review a dramatic FA Cup fifth round and look ahead to the upcoming Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers

On today’s pod: late drama and penalty shootout chaos in the FA Cup as Tottenham edge London City Lionesses in a 17-penalty epic to set up a quarter-final with holders Chelsea. The panel discusses Lize Kop’s heroics, Spurs’ resilience and what the result means for both clubs.

Elsewhere, Chelsea overcome Manchester United after extra time in a heavyweight rematch of last year’s final, Liverpool claim Merseyside derby bragging rights, and Birmingham and Charlton keep WSL 2 representation alive in the last eight. The panel also reflects on Chatham Town’s historic cup run and what the growing gap between the WSL and WSL 2 tells us about the current landscape.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin to discuss all of the weekend’s Premier League action

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On today’s pod: Arsenal run riot in the north London derby, with Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres scoring twice in a comprehensive win over a Spurs side in disarray. With injuries mounting and confidence draining, the panel asks: are Tottenham Hotspur the worst team in the Premier League?

Elsewhere, Manchester City keep the pressure on with a 2-1 win over Newcastle as Nico O’Reilly shines. Is he on the plane? Liverpool snatched a dramatic late victory at Nottingham Forest in a game packed with VAR controversy and handball debate. Burnley grabbed a last-gasp point at Chelsea, Palace left it late again for Oliver Glasner, and Tammy Abraham rescues Aston Villa. There’s also a big result for Brighton, and the panel reminisce over James Milner’s breakthrough at Leeds as he breaks the all-time Premier League appearance record.

Rio Ngumoha lifts Liverpool, the tussle to be Harry Kane’s England deputy and Chelsea self-destruct

Tottenham weren’t quite as dreadful as they were in losing 4-1 to Arsenal in November, but they were still extremely so, devoid of wit, energy, solidity, creativity, quality, and everything else one would hope to see in a football team. Make no mistake, they are in serious danger of going down and, assessing their fixtures, it is not easy to see where they might win enough points to stay up – all the more so given the form of West Ham and Nottingham Forest who are both playing well. Spurs, on the other hand, haven’t won a league game in 2026 and look like they’ve forgotten how – partly, it must be said, because of an awful injury list. So, where does Igor Tudor go from here? It may well be that his only option is to pick both Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani, get balls into the box, and hope they can make enough of them to save him – which might not be The Tottenham Way^TM, but is a lot better than relegation. Daniel Harris

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.

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