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There is also a big game in the Championship today as Portsmouth take on rivals Southampton at Fratton Park. Pompey really need a win to get out of the relegation zone, but do have a game in hand on most of the teams around them. Should they win both of those, Portsmouth would be just a point behind Saints in 15th, which goes to show jusy how tight things are at the foot of the Championship.

Saints have eased away from the drop zone since Tonda Eckert replaced Will Still in the dugout but their only win in their last six matches was against Sheffield United last time out. These two drew 0-0 back in September, will we get a different result today?

• Head coach highlights away game in Champions League

• Slot questions fixture list after difficult away trip

Arne Slot conceded his side ran out of steam in defeat at Bournemouth, after Amine Adli’s 95th-minute winner condemned Liverpool to a first loss since November. Liverpool pulled level from 2-0 down late on courtesy of Dominik Szoboszlai’s sensational free-kick, but Bournemouth responded impressively and Adli struck a winner from a long throw with almost the last kick.

The Liverpool head coach felt the referee, Michael Salisbury, should have played more second-half stoppage time taking in substitutions and video assistant referee checks but admitted he feared a Bournemouth winner. “I think it is safe to say they could have scored 3-2 a little bit earlier,” Slot said, alluding to chances for the Bournemouth pair Evanilson and Ryan Christie. “A few of our players ran out of energy and I cannot even criticise them for that because two days ago [three] we had to play an away game. We’re the only team that played in the Champions League that has two games in between.

• Head coach targeted in draw at Burnley

• Frank: ‘You can’t say we didn’t do everything to win’

Thomas Frank has called for “calm heads” after Tottenham fans urged the club to dismiss him during their draw at relegation-threatened Burnley. The away end sang “You’re getting sacked in the morning” at full time, making their views clear to the hierarchy and head coach.

Cristian Romero salvaged a late point for Tottenham after Axel Tuanzebe and Lyle Foster had turned things around to counter Micky van de Ven’s opening goal. The draw leaves Tottenham with two wins in 14 and mired in mid-table.

EFL regulations mean guests at the Blackpool Football Club Stadium Hotel can’t watch the game – our writer checks in for a trip into the dark

It seems perfectly reasonable that anyone booking a “Superior Room with Pitch View” at the Blackpool Football Club Stadium Hotel, located inside the Bloomfield Road Stadium, would expect a hotel room with a view of the pitch. And that is exactly the case except – bizarrely – when Blackpool are actually playing, with some hotel guests recently scuppered by the smallest of fine print when booking: “Due to the EFL rules and regulations, bedroom curtains have to be kept drawn throughout a match.” Failure to do so could result in a £2,500 fine. Ouch.

Across the 14 years that I have worked for the Guardian, there have been a few occasions where I have been tempted, perhaps after a stressful shift, to go and lie down in a dark room. I just didn’t think that this could be an actual assignment. But off I go to Blackpool to investigate this special type of 3pm blackout, and shortly before kick-off between Blackpool and League One relegation rivals Northampton, I find myself pulling a very heavy curtain across a panoramic window facing the Bloomfield Road pitch and the Blackpool Tower beyond. That’s my daylight done for the day.

After Pep Guardiola dropped Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, Manchester City enjoyed a first Premier League win in four games. It handed Wolves a first defeat in six and was notable for the referee, Farai Hallam, on his top-flight debut, daring to stick with his decision not to award a penalty after being sent by his video assistant for a pitchside review.

That was for a Yerson Mosquera handball and it infuriated Guardiola, though after City’s dire recent form a first three points since 27 December is what matters. The manager reiterated a long-held belief that City can receive unfair officiating and pointed to his 11 injured players as being needed to mitigate against this.

The Chelsea head coach, Sonia Bompastor, conceded that the “title race is probably gone” after a Beth Mead goal and a second from Mariona Caldentey earned Arsenal a cathartic win against Chelsea. A first victory for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, and a first away win against Chelsea in eight years, pulled them within a point of their rivals. The defending champions sit six points behind the leaders, Manchester City, who travel to London City Lionesses on Sunday.

“We know the title race is probably gone, but our mentality is to fight until the very end,” Bompastor told the BBC. “They [City] are in control and if they perform at their best it will be a difficult gap to close. My job is to make sure I lift everyone up and we take the learnings and we go into the next game ready to perform.”

Derby victory was undeniably impressive but how will club assess caretaker manager’s suitability to permanent job?

The problem Manchester United have – after 13 years and seven managers of failure – is that for whatever action they take now, there is a bad precedent. Keep Michael Carrick on, and it’s just another Ole Gunnar Solskjær situation. But replace him and, for almost whoever they appoint – be it a Premier League veteran, foreign maestro, renowned past-his-best winner, Red Bull-adjacent gegenpresser, austere Dutchman or Portuguese ideologue – they have done it before and it hasn’t worked. It’s almost like the biggest problem at the club isn’t the manager.

Carrick’s start was undeniably impressive. There was pace and zip and creativity. The relief of players being released from the 3-4-2-1 was akin to one of those videos of cows being allowed back into the pasture after being kept in a barn over the winter. Who could possibly have predicted that Amad Diallo would excel as a right-sided forward, or that Bruno Fernandes might thrive as a No 10? United didn’t just beat Manchester City 2-0; they hammered them.

Sunday’s table-topping clash with Hearts is a fixture that carries huge meaning for both clubs

It is instructive that Thursday evening’s Europa League clash in Bologna could be regarded by Celtic as an inconvenience. Aberdeen hold the Scottish Cup. St Mirren claimed the League Cup in December. Celtic find themselves involved in a title race worthy of the name. In short, domestic dominance is no longer a guarantee.

Much has been said – and screamed – about the flow of poor decision-making that at least has Celtic’s hitherto immovable position in Scotland under threat. There has also been wild exaggeration in respect of the current crop of Celtic and Rangers players being among the worst in living memory. Celtic finished fourth and adrift of Motherwell in successive seasons from 1993. Rangers rattled around unconvincingly in the lower divisions, including a failed attempt to win promotion from the second tier, after their financial meltdown of 2012. The relative weakness of others in Scotland’s top flight is a reasonable point for debate but Old Firm fans have encountered much, much worse than this.

• Massengo and Chaves strike late in Bavarian derby

• Mbappé sends Real Madrid top; Nwaneri scores on debut

Strugglers Augsburg scored twice in six minutes late in the second half to come from a goal down and stun hosts Bayern Munich 2-1 in the Bavarian derby on Saturday, the league leaders’ first Bundesliga loss of the season.

The hosts, fresh from securing a Champions League knockout spot with Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, took a 23rd-minute lead thanks to Hiroki Ito’s header but lacked any spark up front as Augsburg struck in the 75th and 81st minutes through Arthur Chaves and Han-Noah Massengo to earn their first win in Munich for 11 years.

If Bruno Guimarães is out, the 19-year-old should get his chance in midfield for game that could decide Champions League spot

For Eddie Howe, the darkest hour really did come before the dawn. It was early November 2021 and the then unemployed manager headed to bed one Tuesday night reeling from a late phone call informing him that he had not, after all, landed a new job at Newcastle United.

If the disappointment was crushing, a subsequent call early the following morning would, in Howe’s words, prove “life-changing”. The news that Unai Emery had changed his mind, withdrawn a verbal agreement to succeed Steve Bruce at St James’ Park and decided to stay at Villarreal instead was followed by a question: might Howe still be interested in swapping the south coast for Tyneside?

Buffeted by political storms and excluded from continental federations, Greenland find their chances are limited but a tournament in Croatia is a priceless opportunity

Greenland’s futsal players string out in a line before angling their bodies to the left, facing the flag on the far wall. Nobody averts his gaze as the strains of their national anthem fill the hall. The red-and-white-halved banner, with its reverse-coloured semi‑circles, hangs comfortably among those of this week’s rivals. Scotland on the right, Morocco to the left; further along, there are even representations of Uefa and Fifa.

The moment always feels special. Their long-serving coach, Rene Olsen, has been imagining it for several days. His team also know these occasions, all too rare, are to be seized. “It gives me goosebumps,” Patrick Frederiksen, one of their stars, will say later. “It’s when you realise that it is time.”

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Fulham, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool could be making moves before the window closes

By WhoScored

Shock: Chelsea have been linked with another young player. This time it is the Rennes centre-back Jérémy Jacquet, who would offer something the team is lacking.

• Former teammate and head coach supports appointment

• Carrick suggests change of strategy for Arsenal test

Michael Carrick has revealed that Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been fully supportive of his appointment as Manchester United’s interim head coach because the Norwegian, who was also interviewed for the role, is a close friend.

The pair were at United together during the 2006-07 season and Carrick was a member of Solskjær’s coaching staff when the Norwegian was first the club’s caretaker manager then a permanent appointment from December 2018 to November 2021.

• Sentnor scores twice as USA trounce Paraguay 6-0

• Rodman captains US, scores in return after injuries

• Turner debuts with goal; US face Chile on Tuesday

Trinity Rodman, fresh off signing a contract with the Washington Spirit, scored and the United States had five second-half goals in a 6-0 rout Paraguay on Saturday.

Ally Sentnor added a pair of goals and Reilyn Turner scored in her debut match for the United States. Croix Bethune and Emma Sears also scored.

The unfamiliar sensation coursing through West Ham is hope. Seemingly down and out after losing to Nottingham Forest two and a half weeks ago, the prospect of Nuno Espírito Santo pulling off the unlikeliest of escape acts no longer feels that outlandish now. There is life yet in West Ham, even if they still have a mountain to climb after treating the London Stadium to the rare sensation of a performance full of craft, desire and tactical intelligence.

Sunderland were blown away by three goals inside the first 43 minutes. It is rare for visitors to this ground to lose their composure but this was a day to forget for Régis Le Bris’ side. They were awful during the first half, folding as Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville ripped them apart on the flanks, and it summed up Sunderland’s afternoon when the closing stages of West Ham’s third consecutive win in all competitions were held up by the injured Granit Xhaka getting embroiled in a row with home fans sitting behind the away bench.

Harry Wilson’s taste for the spectacular continues to decorate Fulham’s season. In added time, the Welshman’s free-kick whipped towards Bart Verbruggen, whose failure to keep the ball out completed a regrettable afternoon for goalkeepers. Fulham had snatched an unlikely win.

When these teams fought out a draw on August’s opening day, Brighton rued missed chances and Fulham took theirs. The song remains the same. Fabian Hürzeler’s team reprised the mistakes that have kept them landlocked in mid-table.

• Boro close gap on Coventry with 4-0 win at Riverside

• Leicester 1-2 Oxford, Sheffield United 3-1 Ipswich

Kim Hellberg insisted there is more to come from Middlesbrough after they ruthlessly brushed aside Preston 4-0 to close to within three points of leaders Coventry.

Alan Browne scored against the club where he made more than 400 appearances between 2014 and 2024, before Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker capitalised on defensive lapses to put Boro three up at half-time. Preston were down to 10 men just after the break when Jordan Storey saw red for hauling down Conway, who completed the scoring as Middlesbrough claimed a fourth successive league win.

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 Jonathan Liew, Lars Sivertsen and Paul Watson to discuss Premier League teams’ success in the Champions League so far this season

On the podcast today: three victories for the Premier League sides in the Champions League, leaving five of them in the top eight, with only Manchester City outside on goal difference. What does this dominance mean for Europe’s elite competition?

In Wednesday' night’s games, Marseille forget their draft excluder against Liverpool, Harvey Barnes scores yet another great goal for Newcastle and Chelsea make heavy weather of their win over Pafos.

Plus, we’ll round up the other results before looking ahead to the Premier League weekend, Greenland FA’s quest for recognition and your questions answered.

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Form of former Crystal Palace loanee has been huge plus amid fan unrest at relentless recruitment of young players

Trevoh Chalobah appeared to be fighting a losing battle during the summer of 2024. He was exiled from the Chelsea first team, omitted from the pre-season tour and put up for sale. Being diplomatic, it was made very clear to Chalobah that he had no future at his boyhood club. A solution had to be found and one finally arrived when the defender joined Crystal Palace on a season’s loan on the last day of the transfer window.

Within a year, though, Chalobah was starting for Chelsea when they beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final. It was quite the turnaround. Chalobah made his England debut last June. He is no stranger to being doubted. There were no guarantees he would make it at Chelsea when he was in the academy. Some anticipated a succession of loans followed by a sale, only for Chalobah to catch Thomas Tuchel’s eye and establish himself as a regular after scoring on his Premier League debut in a win over Palace at the start of 2021-22.

Mikel Arteta’s side have scored 19 goals from corners this season. Why are their set pieces so effective and can they be stopped?

Set pieces are dominating the Premier League this season, with almost 30% of goals coming from corners, free-kicks, penalties or long throws. The leaders, Arsenal, are kings of the dead ball, scoring 17 of their 40 league goals from set pieces (including penalties). But what makes Mikel Arteta’s side so effective in these areas, and what can opponents do to stop them? The data provides some answers.

Blues’ record signing on adapting to English football culture, the challenge of leaving family behind and being well taught by Sonia Bompastor

Alyssa Thompson is no stranger to the limelight. Despite being only 21, her undeniable natural talent and eye‑catching career have propelled her into the headlines ever since her hometown club, Angel City, made her the first pick in the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) draft.

The past few months, however, have provided the USA international with a different challenge altogether. A high-profile deadline day move to the English champions, Chelsea, in September meant leaving her family and the comforts of Los Angeles and testing herself overseas.

James Bord’s consortium is the preferred bidder to take over Sheffield Wednesday but his data-led player recruitment record is mixed, especially with United

Sheffield Wednesday fans will be delighted to hear that one associate of James Bord describes the preferred bidder for their club as “a mini Tony Bloom”, although the professional poker player’s references from the other side of the Steel City are rather less complimentary.

Until it became clear late last year that Bord was planning to buy Wednesday his data company, Short Circuit Science, had a consultancy contract with Sheffield United to assist with their recruitment, which, as their position in the lower reaches of the Championship indicates, has delivered limited success.

Initial optimism has faded after arrival of former Burnley manager, who needs to get more from a struggling squad

There was plenty for Sean Dyche to stew on as he marched off the pitch at the Estádio Municipal de Braga with the frustrations of the Nottingham Forest supporters ringing in his ears. The boos were not universal, but fans who follow the team over land and sea are usually a decent barometer of the prevailing feeling. By the end of a sodden, joyless night in northern Portugal, it felt like false advertising, possibly one for trading standards. It wasn’t supposed to be like this?

Dyche cannot be blamed for the dismal conditions but he and the players can be for a listless performance. Beyond a likely Europa League playoff, which will mean another away day to squeeze into the schedule, fans are seemingly concerned where this is all going. Forest were devoid of sharp edges and not only in attack, where the absence of a bona fide striker was painfully apparent. It was a miserable night encapsulated by second-half events: Morgan Gibbs-White’s penalty miss, a Ryan Yates own goal 54 seconds later, Dan Ndoye being booked for simulation and Elliot Anderson being sent off.

Brazilian endured hard times in the Swedish fifth tier after his father’s death but has found a home in the Championship

Seven years ago Léo Scienza’s life broke into a thousand pieces. On his 20th birthday his father died and the young footballer locked himself in his room for two months, having lost the will to live. “You know when everything is bad and nothing makes sense any more?” the Southampton midfielder says. “My life had no meaning any more.

“Everyone has a dark side and I’m not the best person to talk about depression or what depression is. In fact, I only understood it later. My father died on my birthday – that will always be marked in my life. After he died I just wanted to stay in my dark room doing nothing. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to talk to anyone.”

• League wants tournament dates switched to summer

• Clubs and players believed to be opposed to schedule

The inaugural Women’s Club World Cup’s January 2028 dates “could be catastrophic”, the Women’s Super League has said, with the league raising serious concerns over the potential impact of the tournament on domestic calendars.

A WSL spokesperson said on Wednesday the league is firmly against the dates and have made their case strongly to Fifa, who have announced that the competition will be held from 5–30 January 2028.

Gian Piero Gasperini is clearly a fan of the on-loan Aston Villa forward who shone in their 2-0 victory at Torino

Was it even a real quote, or only an approximation, a convenient lead-in to columns such as this? After Donyell Malen put the ball in the net for the second time in the first half-hour of his Roma debut, a member of his new team’s coaching staff was reportedly heard asking: “ma chi abbiamo preso?” – who on earth have we just signed?

Nobody would clarify who said this, and frankly it did not matter. The phrase was now canon, repeated in commentary and churned across the oceans of online news aggregation. It resonated because Roma’s supporters were asking the same question of a player who arrived from Aston Villa two days before.

Carnival drums provided the backdrop to surprise victory over league leaders that was not just down to luck

“There was a little magic in the atmosphere,” Pellegrino Matarazzo said. Real Sociedad’s new coach could feel it; he could hear it too, the sound of drums beating on every street of the city he has embraced and into the stadium that has embraced him back already. When he and his players arrived at Anoeta on Sunday evening, they entered through a guard of honour, a band of soldiers and chefs lined up in the rain, hammering out the club anthem and hoping. By the time they departed around midnight, following 35,346 supporters out into San Sebastián, it had actually happened. La Real had beaten Barcelona 2-1. Celebrations, his captain Mikel Oyarzabal said, had come a day early.

This week is tamborrada, the San Sebastián festival where, at midnight on 20 January, the city flag is raised and marching bands parade through its streets in Napoleonic uniforms and cooks’ costumes grasping sticks, batons and giant cutlery, routes mapped out in loving detail and special supplements. Initially it was a popular pastiche of a military procession, a prelude to carnival, practice runs echoing round in the days before. Kids go first, adults next. An expression of civic pride, they sing of “spreading joy,” being “always happy,” and God knows they were happy now. What better way to begin it all than this? What better way to become one of them?

Relentless 5-1 comeback win was ominous and made one wonder how many goals champions could score this season

Vincent Kompany had warned after their completion of a record-pace Hinrunde of the Bundesliga season that Bayern would have to “start completely from scratch” for the campaign’s second half. The message clearly got across. Poor RB Leipzig could not have known that his players would interpret that quite so literally.

On Wednesday Bayern had done the job in Köln; on Saturday in Leipzig, they gave the full manifestation of their brilliance as the evening went on. This became the numbers of the season’s first half made flesh. It is difficult to know what their hosts could have done much differently. Leipzig had been “clearly the better team” in the first 45, as Kompany had admitted. “It felt like they were twice as good as us.” His opposite number, Ole Werner, described his team’s first half as “the almost perfect performance”, and it was difficult to argue. Had Antonio Nusa, part of the excellent collective movement that led to Rômulo’s opener, taken one of the two good chances he missed in that time, then perhaps the discussion would be different.

Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations when it comes to the US-shaped problem

Could European countries really decide to boycott the World Cup this summer? It is an astonishing question to be asking in 2026 and an indictment of the bind in which, as Donald Trump sows confusion around a potential annexation of Greenland, the world’s most popular sport finds itself. But the idea is at least seeping into the mainstream and senior figures are asking what, in a worst-case scenario, it would take for football to meet the moment.

Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations. As the Guardian reported this week, an anniversary party for the Hungarian FA on Monday became the forum for unofficial discussions among national association heads about how a unified approach to the US-shaped problem might take shape.

Manchester City have issues with injury and form, and need their big players to step up and turn the ship around

At Bodø/Glimt, in a first Champions League outing since 1 October, the 29-year-old appeared what he is: a player still recovering after 18 months out with a serious knee injury and several related setbacks. This was only a third start since his latest return began with the second 45 minutes of the goalless draw at Sunderland on New Year’s Day. Last week Rodri declared he was “ready to go” and said: “I’m really happy to be on the pitch every single day.” Yet in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Manchester United he was a one-paced, non-factor unable to do what he did with ease pre‑anterior cruciate ligament rupture: run midfield and so the contest. In Tuesday’s 3-1 humbling in Norway the Spaniard was the same, and two moments tell the tale of his form. First Jens Petter Hauge left him a statue before registering a memorable long-range strike for Bodø’s third goal; then came the two yellow cards in two minutes that had Rodri sent off.

The opportunity for this tournament’s legacy is in the fan fests, camps and tune-ups accessible to more than the lucky few

In Germany, fans watched the games on screens in crowded town squares, their roars careening off ancient buildings, or from the banks of rivers, peering at floating, double-sided big screens on barges. At the next World Cup, in South Africa in 2010, people gathered in parks and open-air markets and hotel lobbies and unlicensed, makeshift bars in people’s garages. In Brazil, four years later, fans spilled from the bars on the Copacabana or watched in restaurants or in streets closed for the occasion – not as if anybody was driving during the Seleção’s games anyway.

During the 2018 World Cup, Russia surprised visitors – and its own citizens – with its friendliness as spontaneous parties broke out all over the country. The reason the 2022 World Cup in Qatar didn’t entirely feel like a real World Cup is that those sorts of spontaneous soccer gatherings just didn’t seem to be happening, or not at the same scale, at any rate. The absence of hordes of supporters just milling about everywhere contributed to the feeling of being at a Potemkin World Cup.

Frenetic derby was just the place for the interim manager to roll out Ferguson’s old ‘use the energy of the people’ dictum

For Manchester United’s executives, City are the best-in-class runaway train they wish to emulate and aspire to. Coveted talent like Antoine Semenyo and now Marc Guéhi opt for blue when a generation ago, Old Trafford was the destination of dreams.

United’s myth and legend becomes increasingly sepia-tinged but there may be life in it yet. The list of Sir Alex Ferguson’s boys able to take the reins in times of emergency is being exhausted but Michael Carrick, on his second turn, found a way to feed off it. He has just 17 games though there is a tantalising prize on offer. A return to the Champions League looks possible. Rather than embracing the void, Carrick’s United reminded that sporting directors, analytic departments and strategic reviews may have their place in the eventual restoration of power, but dogged spirit, wanting it more, can win the day.

Our cartoonist on the latest manager in north London to take the good ship Tottenham in the wrong direction

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Passes, shots and goals are all down on last season. It might keep tacticians happy but it’s not as much fun

By Opta Analyst

Gerard Piqué spoke to his former Spain teammate Iker Casillas on his podcast last February and the topic of goalless draws came up. You might expect a centre-back and goalkeeper to be excited about the art of defending but rather Piqué suggested that teams should be punished for participating in goalless draws.

“It can’t be that you go to a football stadium, spend €100, €200 or €300, and the match ends 0-0,” said Piqué. “Something needs to change. One proposal to consider would be that if the match ends 0-0, the teams would score zero points. Then the match would open up in the 70th minute.”

Former Newcastle goalkeeper opens up on the abuse he has received and using the platform footballers have to support an anti-racism charity

It was a chance encounter that would ultimately help change countless lives for the better but, at the time, all Shaka Hislop wanted to do was escape.

As the then Newcastle goalkeeper stood on a petrol station forecourt, filling his car on a dark November night in 1995 his overriding emotions were outrage and fear. Hislop was heading home after an evening out with his wife and young daughter when, with the fuel gauge edging towards the red zone, he pulled into a garage just across the road from St James’ Park.

A guide to each club’s setups, from Chelsea’s multi-headed structure to Brentford’s smooth planning and Manchester United’s muddles

The appointment of Andrea Berta as sporting director in March was greeted with much enthusiasm by Arsenal’s supporters, given his impressive track record in more than a decade at Atlético Madrid,. The Italian, who began his career in finance, has made an instant impression. Known as a shrewd negotiator, the suave and softly spoken 54-year-old masterminded Arsenal’s outlay of more than £250m in the summer that included the arrivals of Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke. Berta takes the lead on recruitment in consultation with Richard Garlick, who was promoted to chief executive in September, the manager, Mikel Arteta, and the co-chair Josh Kroenke. James Ellis, a former scout who then spent two years as head of recruitment, was appointed as technical director in the summer and is tasked with “delivering the club’s long-term player progression strategy”, with a focus on creating a pathway from academy to first team. Ed Aarons

Full-back says she has worked her whole career ‘to lift a trophy like that’ and has not given up on this year’s WSL title

Katie McCabe had the last laugh in May. After Arsenal’s phenomenal Champions League win against Barcelona, in which she was part of a back four that did not concede a foul against the three-time European champions, Arsenal partied hard and McCabe was front and centre of the social media posts from inside the club’s after-party.

At the celebration outside the Emirates Stadium two days later, the full-back was a highlight, shades on, leading the 10,000 crowd in singing her own chant before shushing them and kicking off a rendition of the final goalscorer Stina Blackstenius’s song to the tune of Karma Chameleon, getting a huge cheer when she proclaimed “red is in my bloooood” and being spotted having to run to catch up with the coach before it left the ground when the players finished their third day of celebrations.

The former Aberdeen midfielder, now with Swindon, opens up about the debilitating effect of suffering an ACL injury during her time in Scotland

“People need to know what happened,” Laura Holden says as she reflects on her difficult two years at Aberdeen when injury changed the course of her life. “It’s not all sunshine and roses. There are demons that just get brushed under the carpet without having the light shone on them.”

It has taken the Swindon Town midfielder time and a change of club to process everything that happened in Scotland. Holden joined the Dons in August 2023, determined to establish herself as a key player at one of the biggest clubs in the Scottish Women’s Premier League. But just six matches and 31 minutes into the first season, she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament away at Hibernian.

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.

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It’s been another busy week for Gianni Infantino. The Fifa head honcho spent Sunday in Rabat looking slightly sheepish as he stood alongside Morocco’s Prince Moulay Rachid. After trying his best not to hand the Afcon trophy to Senegal’s players, Big G moved front and centre again to console Brahim Díaz and present him with the award for the worst penalty ever taken tournament’s top scorer. Having reassured Díaz that, as president of Fifa, he makes colossal errors of judgment all the time and nobody seems to mind, Infantino then jetted back to his Alpine lair to check on the chances of Morocco and Senegal meeting at the Geopolitics World Cup.

Thomas Frank ascribes Tottenham’s knack issues to being ‘cursed or something like that’, heedless of the traditional remedy of a judicious sacrifice” – Nick Coupland.

Best uberkacktor (yesterday’s Football Daily letters)? Surely to be the best own goal the scorer must forget which way they are playing. I give you the finest of the genre” – Haydn Pyatt.

In search of the kacktor to end all kacktors, in 2016, Sammy Ndjock of Minnesota United gave Bournemouth a 2-0 lead with this gem that became an early entry for a gif when you type in ‘own goal’” – Dave Shelles.

I enjoyed learning about ‘Kacktor des Monats’ (yesterday’s letters). Perhaps Herr Arntz could advise us if the Germans have a term for ‘crappy football email of the day’?” – Michael Bland.

Just to say how chuffed I am that you chose my entry as your ‘letter o’ the day’ yesterday. Apparently Arnd Zeigler and his team were equally chuffed when I pointed out to them he had made it into Football Daily” – Holger H Arntz.

Not normally being one who fully reads, let alone bothers to write in response to owt written in your daily diatribe, yesterday’s edition has sparked my wrath and I’ve finally decided that I must concoct – with my left thumb – a ‘letter’. You quoted that well-known actor Timotheéeeeee Chalamet paying homage to the ‘English north-east accent’. Excited by the statement, hailing from Sunderland, I started to read … only to learn he was referring to the Hull accent. Since when has Hull been in the north east? Have you ever been further north than Leeds, or Manchester? Please learn some geography and realise that the north east starts (probably) north of the River Tees, passes the Rivers Wear and Tyne, and actually reaches the Scottish Borders. Within that magnificent region there are probably 10 distinct accents and not one ‘actor’ could master one of them, let alone all – take Vera as an example” – Kev Richardson.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

The benefit of national team players honing skills abroad is balanced by concerns over a weakened NWSL

The dust has yet to settle on Trinity Rodman’s club status, but the star USA forward’s near future has ignited an emphatic revival of an old debate on this side of the Atlantic.

How does the National Women’s Soccer League stack up against its top competitor leagues? At what point should the league be worried, if top USWNT talent trickles across the Atlantic? And what, if anything, can be done to stop the flow?

The veteran is known for his sense of responsibility and it was apparent as his Senegal teammates threatened to quit African football’s showpiece

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Sadio Mané has done many great things for Senegal and for Senegalese football, but what he did on Sunday evening, in what he confirmed would be his last Africa Cup of Nations game, was perhaps greater than his winning goal in Wednesday’s semi-final, greater than his penalty to win the World Cup qualifying playoff against Egypt in 2022, greater even than his decisive penalty in the 2021 final.

When Senegal stormed off the pitch in protest at the award of a penalty against them eight minutes into added time at the end of the Cup of Nations final, African football faced a crisis. For this to happen at all was embarrassing, for it to happen in the final of the confederation’s showpiece would have been a humiliation – not least because many may have felt that Senegal had a point. Refereeing has been a topic of discussion in this tournament in a way it should never be.

Today’s rumours have a northern feel

Casemiro’s decision to leave Manchester United when his contract expires at the end of the season will intensify the club’s search for a midfielder. The Brazilian’s exit will also knock £350k a week off their outgoings, which should bring a smile to Sir Jim Ratcliffe as United look to follow up last week’s derby win when they travel to … oh … Arsenal this weekend.

Not exactly like for like but stories are circulating that Wythenshawe lad Cole Palmer is homesick at Chelsea and pondering a return to Manchester this summer. The twist is that he wouldn’t be heading back to City as Palmer prefers the red of United – the club he, wait for it, supported as a boy. United scouts were also reportedly in Spain last weekend to discuss on-loan Marcus Rashford’s future and check out Real Sociedad’s versatile midfielder/forward Mikel Oyarzabal. Fun fact: both Palmer (equaliser) and Oyarzabal (winner) scored in the final of Euro 2024.

Plus: legends’ funerals on state TV, record wins and losses in recent times, and referees scoring goals

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Viktor Gyökeres and Leandro Trossard are Arsenal’s top scorers in the league with just five goals each,” writes Steven Pye. “This seems quite a low total for a team that could go on to win the league. I was wondering which winner of the top flight in England has had the lowest top goal scorer, both before and after the start of the Premier League?”

Arsenal’s 40 Premier League goals have been shared among 13 players – 16 if you include own goals from Sam Johnstone, Yerson Mosquera and Georginio Rutter. Only Everton, Sunderland and Wolves have a leading scorer with fewer than the five goals scored by Gyökeres and Trossard.

13 Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 2004-05); Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City, 2020-21)
14 Eric Cantona (Manchester United, 1995-96)
15 Mark Hughes (Man Utd, 1992-93), Teddy Sheringham (Man Utd, 2000-01), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City, 2021-22)
16 Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal, 1997-98), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 2005-06)
17 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, 2006-07)

Max Rushden is joined by Jonathan Liew, Lars Sivertsen and Paul Watson to discuss Premier League teams’ success in the Champions League so far this season

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On the podcast today: three victories for the Premier League sides in the Champions League, leaving five of them in the top eight, with only Manchester City outside on goal difference. What does this dominance mean for Europe’s elite competition?

Earring-gate prevents Estelle Cascarino from making her West Ham debut while City continue to lead the pack

The sight of coaches issuing a tactical team talk while their goalkeeper receives medical treatment has become increasingly common in the WSL but it became particularly controversial after the goalless draw between Arsenal and Manchester United, especially when the visiting defender Dominique Janssen appeared to admit in an interview with Sky Sports that they had orchestrated it on purpose. Janssen said: “Phallon [Tullis-Joyce] went down for us to discuss tactical changes,” when asked about how United adapted to going down to 10 players. Marc Skinner later said that Tullis-Joyce had felt something and needed treatment, but Renée Slegers said perceived time-wasting was “frustrating for the players”, adding: “There’s so many people investing so much to come and watch us, in the stadium, on TV. I think the product needs to be attractive and I think this is probably one of the areas that brings the entertainment down a little bit.” Tom Garry

Match report: Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United

Match report: Chelsea 5-0 West Ham

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