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There was rancour and recrimination when Mohamed Salah last faced Brighton, at Anfield in December, along with doubt over whether he would be seen in a Liverpool shirt again. Fast forward two months and the Egyptian great is starting, scoring and shaping games for Arne Slot again. Appeasement between the pair is for the greater good.

Salah produced a sublime assist, his fourth since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, and scored from the penalty spot as Liverpool moved into round five with a commanding victory over Fabian Hürzeler’s struggling team. There was no evidence of Brighton not performing for their under-pressure manager but their lack of cutting edge was glaring, as was the case when visiting here in the Premier League.

Football’s interminable video assistant refereeing debate has its latest chapter after a bizarre evening and officiating performance at Villa Park. With the FA Cup not allowing the video protocol until the fifth round, this was an occasion to make the abolitionists think twice. Is elite football already too far gone to officiate without a bank of screens in a faraway business park? Or were Chris Kavanagh, a referee promoted to the Uefa elite list in December, and his assistants just having a nightmare day at the office?

Sandro Tonali’s two goals and Nick Woltemade’s clincher booked Newcastle’s fifth-round place, completing a comeback in the face of officiating mistakes weighing against Eddie Howe’s team. It was Aston Villa who lost their discipline. They should have been down to 10 men earlier than they eventually were.

Mansfield gave blood and sweat to reach the FA Cup fifth round for the first time in more than 50 years and reduced a desperate Burnley to tears. A stunning Louis Reed free-kick completed a hard-fought turnaround for the League One side against their labouring Premier League opponents.

There is little doubt that Burnley are getting relegated, leaving the Cup as their only hope of salvaging a desperate season, but they lacked quality from start to finish on another dispiriting day for Scott Parker. Mansfield were not necessarily the better side but Nigel Clough’s men worked harder, leaving the fans and players celebrating long after the game was over.

Pep Guardiola spoke of the slog of the schedule and Manchester City performed as if dog-tired when knocking out Salford in a tie the manager pithily described as “boring”.

City were abject and half-paced and in danger of being forced into extra time, at least, until Marc Guéhi’s 80th-minute close-range strike doubled the lead. It was the defender’s first goal for the club he joined last month.

Their best players and managers may move on, but this thoroughly modern club keep punching above their weight

When the news cycle spins so fast, it’s worth remembering where Brentford were in the summer. They had lost their popular manager of seven years, Thomas Frank. They had lost their two best forwards, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. They had lost their goalkeeper Mark Flekken. And they had lost two stalwarts in Christian Nørgaard and Ben Mee (even if the latter’s involvement the previous season had been limited as he turned 35). Departure and replacement is an unavoidable part of life for a club such as Brentford, but this seemed a like a lot to deal with.

Their summer signings were hard to judge. As a rule of thumb, if Brentford are signing someone about whom you already have considered opinions, it’s likely something has gone awry. That said, Caoimhín Kelleher’s gifts are clear, and a fee of just under £13m seemed good value for a goalkeeper with Premier League experience, while Dango Ouattara had demonstrated at Bournemouth how effective he could be either through the middle or out wide. But Antoni Milambo, Michael Kayode and Kaye Furo were unknown quantities.

For West Ham’s second string, barring a shock defeat this could hardly have been a more uncomfortable ride. With the captain, Jarrod Bowen, among the clutch of regulars given a breather, it was Crysencio Summerville, a late substitute Nuno Espírito Santo would have rather kept fresh, who spared embarrassment at Burton Albion and helped them into the FA Cup fifth round. Four years ago at Kidderminster in this competition it was Declan Rice who came on to save their skin and it was a similar story here, Summerville’s extra-time strike ultimately preventing penalties.

West Ham squeezed through, Freddie Potts’s red card 11 minutes into extra time for crunching into Julian Larsson ensuring a nervy finale. A couple of nearly-moments may linger; in the final seconds, at which point these teams had been slogging it out for 133 minutes, the substitute Kain Adom saw an effort repelled by Alphonse Areola and Kegs Chauke, another sub, skittled the rebound into the side-netting to gasps.

• Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Millwall; QPR 1-3 Blackburn

• Derby into top six; Blades win late at Portsmouth

Sheffield Wednesday threatened to record only their second victory of the season after taking the lead against Millwall before their promotion-chasing opponents hit back to win 2-1.

Having not scored a goal since Boxing Day, there was a mixture of relief and jubilation among the home supporters when Jamal Lowe scored in the 60th minute to put Wednesday ahead. However, the joy was short-lived as Millwall scored two goals in two minutes after Cole McGhee put into his own goal and Macaulay Langstaff’s winner earned all three points.

• Inter’s late win over Juventus extends Serie A lead

• Real Madrid 4-1 Real Sociedad; Lens top of Ligue 1

Harry Kane scored twice in the first half as Bayern Munich cruised to a 3-0 win at Werder Bremen, restoring their six-point lead in the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund’s 4-0 win over Mainz on Friday put them within three points of the league leaders but Bayern responded.

Bayern were in control from start to finish in Bremen, with Leon Goretzka joining the England captain on the scoresheet in the 70th minute. Kane now has 26 goals in 22 Bundesliga games this season and 41 in all competitions, 13 of those from the penalty spot.

• Former Juventus head coach replaces Thomas Frank

• Croatian’s priority to ‘improve our results quickly’

Igor Tudor has been announced as Tottenham’s interim head coach on a deal until the end of the season.

Spurs dismissed Thomas Frank on Wednesday after a dismal display in a 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle a day earlier left the club in 16th position and only five points above the Premier League relegation zone.

League expansion offers top-flight teams a greater chance of staying up but jeopardy remains in contest to steer clear of finishing bottom

The state of play at the top of Women’s Super League, with Manchester City 11 points clear of second-placed Manchester United, means jeopardy has to be found elsewhere.

There is excitement to be had in the likely scenario of a different name on the WSL trophy for the first time in seven years, but at this point we are watching a procession rather than a battle, despite Arsenal’s impressive 1-0 win over City last weekend.

Ritualistic Spurs manager sacking is a marker in the year, but the failing lies with executives responsible for some really vague recruitment

Don’t talk about Spurs. Don’t talk about Spurs. Don’t keep returning to Spurs, bloodshot and shivering. Don’t end up twitching on a Manhattan street corner, nodding at Jean-Michel Basquiat as he drifts past, waiting for your Spurs man to appear out of a fire escape, uncork his Spurs pouch, and say what do you need, while you chatter about just wanting to return to the club DNA, whatever that is, nobody knows, but it’s Spurs, and Spurs is your wife and it’s your life and, you know, sources close to sources say a swoop for German wunder-coach Helmut von Wangerburg may actually be at an advanced …

So, Spurs then. It’s true that the media are addicted to this club. But it is also an understandable response to an entity that has become a content machine, perfectly structured to meet the requirements of any moreishly successful streaming drama.

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports

• ‘Society is better when we embrace other cultures’

• Haaland doubt for FA Cup tie, Rodri charged by FA

Pep Guardiola has said that blaming people from overseas for a country’s problems is wrong, the Manchester City manager’s comments coming amid the fallout of Sir Jim Ratcliffe claiming the UK is being “colonised by immigrants”.

Ratcliffe’s comment, made in an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, has led to widespread condemnation, including from within football, leading to Manchester United’s single largest minority owner saying he was sorry that his “choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe”.

• New 11-year deal agreed through to 2037

• Relationship has attracted heavy criticism

Canada Soccer has extended its controversial sponsorship and broadcast deal with its privately owned commercial partner, Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), on improved terms for the governing body ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

A new 11-year contract has been agreed through to 2037, with both parties having an option to extend by a further five years, despite the in-fighting that marred the original 10-year deal. It culminated in player strikes and the Canadian Soccer Players Association filing a $40m lawsuit against Canada Soccer board members two years ago.

• Lewis-Potter equalises from long throw by Kayode

• Arsenal miss chance to restore six-point lead at top

Mikel Arteta admitted that Arsenal weren’t ruthless enough to beat a physical Brentford team as they missed the chance to restore their six-point lead over Manchester City.

Noni Madueke’s header broke the deadlock in west London in the second half but Keane Lewis-Potter equalised 10 minutes later from a long throw by Michael Kayode to set up a grandstand finale that saw both sides spurn chances to win it.

Manchester United took a big step towards the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League by sealing a comfortable lead in the first leg of their playoff against Atlético Madrid after goals from Elisabeth Terland, Melvine Malard and Julia Zigiotti Olme.

“I think it was [a professional win],” a delighted Marc Skinner, the United manager, said. “It was ­difficult for both teams on the pitch. I can understand it with the number of storms they had ... but I did think it affected the football. I thought we were ruthless. The three goals were fantastic. I felt like our defending as a whole team was excellent.”

• Semi-final first leg: Atlético Madrid 4-0 Barcelona

• E García 6og, Griezmann 14, Lookman 33, Alvarez 45+2

You must always have faith, Diego Simeone had insisted and so it was. A biblical storm blew through the Metropolitano, leaving Barcelona in pieces and Atlético Madrid closer to a first Copa del Rey final in 13 years. “I’m not a wizard but I did believe that the team could play like this,” Simeone said at the end of a wild night, yet even he could not have imagined anything quite like this, 45 extraordinary minutes giving his team a 4-0 lead to take to the Camp Nou in three weeks’ time.

“This will remain in the memory however the tie ends,” Simeone said, careful to note that this is not over yet. Hansi Flick, meanwhile, vowed that his Barcelona team will fight, claimed they had been handed a “great lesson” that might yet be helpful, and outlined a plan for the second leg: 2-0 in each half. But an own goal from Eric García and three more before half-time here from Ademola Lookman, Antoine Griezmann and Julián Alvarez, did the kind of damage that will be mightily difficult to fix. Barcelona could not begin that task here, a Pau Cubarsí effort ruled out after a seven-minute VAR check the only “goal” of the second half. Indeed, another VAR check made their second leg task even harder when Eric García was sent off in the final minutes.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Will Unwin and Jonathan Liew as Nottingham Forest sack Sean Dyche and Manchester City close the gap on Arsenal to three points

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On the podcast today: it’s panic time at the bottom. Sean Dyche gets sacked by Nottingham Forest, who are now looking for their fourth manager of the season, with a goalless draw with Wolves not enough to save him.

In more traditional news, you got your voice note yesterday – Thomas Frank is sacked by Spurs shortly after we finished recording. We’ll analyse where it’s gone wrong and how good an interim combo of Redknapp, Sherwood and Hoddle would do.

Elsewhere, Burnley couldn’t survive … could they? A great win for them at Crystal Palace. There’s another defeat for Brighton; at least if he does get the sack, Fabian Hurzëler is young enough to retrain to do something else. A good win for Villa, who keep the chasing pack at arm’s length. Liverpool become the first team to win at Sunderland this season. And is that ominous Manchester City we see, dispatching Fulham in the first half?

Plus, Jim Ratcliffe, who moved to Monaco as an immigrant a few years ago, starts immigrant-bashing in the UK. There’s also Barry’s FA Cup factfile and your questions answered.

Chapters:

00:00 - Coming up...

01:45 - The managerial merry-go-round

25:08 - Palace 2-3 Burnley

31:55 - Villa 1-0 Brighton

34:32 - City 3-0 Fulham

42:12 - What's Sir Jim doing?

47:53:07 - Barry's FA Cup factathon

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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?

Ewan Murray discusses the reasons for Hearts' success this season and why Derek McInnes's side should be considered favourites as they hope to become the first team outside of Celtic and Rangers to win the Scottish top flight since Aberdeen in 1985

The Colombian icon joined the MLS side in a short-term deal with an eye toward fitness for the 2026 World Cup

Two weeks ago, few could’ve expected that the most notable international acquisition of the MLS offseason would be made by Minnesota United.

The team’s marquee import until last week was Finland striker Teemu Pukki, with honorable mentions for Colombian playmaker Darwin Quintero and ex-Porto midfielder Ibson. The Loons aren’t known for paying sizable transfer fees, and their wage bill last year was the league’s fifth-smallest.

Evangelos Marinakis is close to appointing fourth head coach of season after Sean Dyche’s sacking and it’s a mess of his own making because he should never have fired Nuno

Sacking three head coaches in a season does not reflect well on Nottingham Forest or their owner, Evangelos Marinakis. It is a mess of their own making, which started with the exit of their most successful manager in recent history and has the latest P45 going to the man brought in to sort out the problems created by an ill-judged appointment that lasted eight winless games.

Twelve months ago Forest were battling for a Champions League spot under the stable stewardship of Nuno Espírito Santo. A lot has changed and they will become the first Premier League side to have four permanent managers in a season, which was not a record the club were aiming for in August, when hoping to build on a seventh-place finish, an FA Cup semi-final and qualifying for Europe for the first time in 30 years.

Chelsea manager, back at Hull in the Cup on Friday, made a strong impression on Humberside, as ex-colleagues explain

“That’s the best message I’ve received,” Liam Rosenior wrote, accompanied by laughing emojis, in response to one of the many congratulation posts sent after his surprise appointment as the Chelsea head coach. His former Hull teammate James Chester had wickedly told him: “After my time with you at Derby I never thought you’d have been Chelsea manager,” alongside a photograph of Chester in the pub with his fellow former Tigers Robbie Brady and Paul McShane, raising a glass to Rosenior.

It was a sign of the close bonds Rosenior built at Hull as a player and head coach. He returns as a Champions League head coach on Friday in the FA Cup, looking to avoid an upset against a team aiming to make it a more regular rivalry. Rosenior spent seven seasons on Humberside, five as a player and two in the dugout, which were crucial for his development.

Burnley have the chance of a Cup run, Leicester fear an unwelcome repeat and Brighton fans get a raw deal

Chelsea have kept two clean sheets in 10 games since appointing Liam Rosenior as head coach last month. Repeated doziness at the back has cost them. They have held commanding advantages against Charlton, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leeds, only to give away silly goals. It is a bad habit and proved costly when a 2-0 lead was squandered during Tuesday’s draw with Leeds. Rosenior was livid afterwards, and is waiting for a consistent performance. Chelsea travel to Hull , Rosenior’s former club, on Friday night. They will surely advance against Championship opponents, but how they do it will matter. It is time for them to get serious. Jacob Steinberg

Hull City v Chelsea, Friday 7.45pm (all times GMT)

Burton Albion v West Ham, Saturday 12.15pm

Burnley v Mansfield, Saturday 3pm

Southampton v Leicester, Saturday 3pm

After just eight games, it’s fair to ask if the former Columbia University math major is having the best-ever season for a US coach in Europe

Pellegrino Matarazzo stood there, still and composed. Brown pants. Black sweater. Arms crossed, one hand to his chin and grey beard. The New Jerseyan looked less like the manager of Real Sociedad, a club that placed in La Liga’s top six for five straight seasons before last year, than a math professor. That’s what he well might have been, had his life taken only a slightly different turn; he graduated from Columbia University with a degree in applied mathematics, after all.

Instead, he was there on Saturday, at the Anoeta Stadium, calmly coaxing his side past Elche, 3-1, pumping a single fist when La Real scored, occasionally waving those arms to push his side further upfield. As if Matarazzo’s being there, as if his team taking yet another lead, was all just a matter of course. Just a big-time manager at a big-time club, doing big-time things.

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.

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.”

Win against Stuttgart was a reminder that unity remains St Pauli’s greatest strength in defying the odds again

It had begun to look like a lost cause. In a season where the Bundesliga’s relegation battle increasingly promises a richness that the title race may lack (with all due respect to Borussia Dortmund’s efforts to stalk Bayern Munich at closer quarters in recent weeks), it has felt like St Pauli were, like fellow minnows Heidenheim, ready to be cut away. The Hamburg club’s best-ever start to a top-flight season, two wins and a draw from their first three games, felt like an age ago. Nine successive defeats will do that to you.

Yet these masters of the unusual and the unexpected had another surprise up their sleeve this weekend; not least, one suspects, to themselves. Stuttgart travelled north on a fine run of form, sitting pretty in a Champions League spot and fresh from a week of qualifying for the DFB Pokal semi-finals, a trophy which they have every hope of retaining. With one league win against largely hopeless Heidenheim since that golden start for their hosts, who are also harbouring an injury list as long as one of Scottie Pippen’s arms (to paraphrase Jay-Z), it looked straightforward for Sebastian Hoeness and his men.

Roberto De Zerbi’s team has stood up to PSG this season, but they were humiliated at the Parc des Princes on Sunday

By Get French Football News

To understand Marseille’s season, you need not watch all of their games; those played against PSG will suffice. After Marseille’s 1-0 win over the European champions in September – their first at the Vélodrome in the league in 14 years – the word “finally” was the word scrawled across the front page of local paper La Provence. That victory brought relief, but also hope and optimism: the Empire could be toppled. But it struck back on Sunday night.

“Rubbish,” read the front page of La Provence on Monday. And there really was only one word for it. It was a 5-0 defeat that could have been 10 – a humiliation. The Marseille defender Facundo Medina had spoken about “seeking revenge” for his team’s defeat to PSG in the Trophée des Champions in January, a defeat on penalties so narrow and frustrating that it left Roberto De Zerbi in tears in the dressing room.

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 looks back at the mayhem on Merseyside as visitors’ late win reminded Arsenal they’re still in the hunt

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Small town club’s Serie B adventure captivated football and inspired a famous book. That spirit remains and is being passed to their successors

The WhatsApp group flickers into life at about 6am every day. It is the manager who goes first because, when you are 79, old habits die hard. “Good morning,” Osvaldo Jaconi hails his former players and staff before, little by little, the salutations roll in from across Italy. Maybe it is someone’s birthday or another special occasion; the conversation may be accelerated by an in-joke that recalls why, three decades ago, they were brought together in the first place. Just in case anyone could forget, the group’s title says: “Serie B.”

This is how miracles stay alive. Perhaps it is the point of what Castel di Sangro achieved in 1995-96. A rag-tag bunch from this backwater in mountainous Abruzzo had risen from local amateur leagues and then, in a crowning triumph with little precedent, made it to the second tier. “It’s like 30 years haven’t passed,” says Angelo Petrarca, who was nominally the masseur but often resembled a one-man backroom. “It shows how much love everybody has for each other, and did back then. As if everybody is still right here.”

When Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac became club guardians in 2021 the Premier League was a dream. Now it’s a target

Two Chewbaccas handed out flyers to passersby. No one making their way towards the Turf batted an eyelid, but then again, for five years now, a touch of Hollywood has become pretty much the norm in Wrexham.

Ninety minutes before kick-off the city’s most famous public house was heaving. Lying in the shadow of the Racecourse Ground, it is the watering hole of choice for locals, and, thanks to landlord Wayne Jones’s prominent role in Welcome to Wrexham, the hit documentary following the club’s many fortunes, a tourist attraction.

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

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Leicester City have a proud tradition of beating the odds. At the start of the 2015-16 Premier League season, the bookies rated them as no better than 5,000-1 long shots to win the title, only for the Foxes to send shockwaves around the world by doing exactly that in what is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sport. Five years later, they lifted the FA Cup despite having been priced up at the comparatively miserly – but still hefty – odds of 16-1. Earlier this week they were at it again, somehow contriving to defy the laws of probability by surrendering a three-goal half-time lead at home against Southampton and snatching the most unlikely of defeats from jaws of victory that weren’t so much gaping as unhinged like that of a snake. A capitulation that came just four days after they had been docked six points for financial shenanigans, it left them just one place above the drop zone and staring down the barrel of back-to-back relegations to League One.

Re: your coverage of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s latest comments (yesterday’s Football Daily). Alongside this billionaire’s first move at Old Trafford to cut the tea lady and the lunches, surely ‘Small Sir Jim’ would be a more accurate moniker?” – Nick Phelps.

Congratulations to Big Sir Jim for becoming the first person to put their hat in the ring for the second annual Fifa Peace Prize. A reminder that this worthless piece of junk is awarded annually ‘to reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world’. Sounds like a shoo-in to me” – John Collins.

Chile’s female players are newly protected under labour law and are hoping their official status can help the game thrive in South America

The Chilean players’ association officially became a union in December, and its president, Javiera Moreno, believes there needs to be women’s representation in players’ unions around the world.

“We want this movement to become massive,” says the former Universidad Católica captain. “Our goal is to spread this to other countries. I don’t know if in other places the path will be to have a specific union for women. This was needed here, but I think there needs to be at least representation of women’s players within every country’s footballers’ union.”

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Given the frequency with which they’ve told Thomas Frank he would be “getting sacked in the morning” in recent months, disgruntled Tottenham fans were bound to be on the money at some point. Following the club’s latest home defeat at the hands of Newcastle, the Spurs hierarchy finally acquiesced to their demands and in a statement released at 10.17am announced that the Dane was done. This morning, the 52-year-old was finally sacked. “The club has taken the decision to make a change in the men’s head coach position and Thomas Frank will leave today,” droned a club statement posted at 10.17am on Wednesday, confirming that Frank had been sacked in the morning.

In these inclement times few clubs have been as badly hit as Dundee United, with the condition of their Tannadice Stadium pitch having caused several postponements to matches due to waterlogging and flooding. (Cue the traditional jokes about the Dundee United captain after the coin toss for ends at the start of a match, ‘We’ll start with the deep end’.) The most recent announcement on the club’s website about further possible delays to today’s fixture against Aberdeen includes the puckish sentiment (hopefully as a knowing pun): ‘While there is currently no plan for a pitch inspection, this remains a fluid situation ...’ Well, what else indeed?” – Ken Muir.

Max Maxwell’s letter (yesterday’s Football Daily) was a wonderful read but I kept waiting, in vain as it turned out, for ‘jumpers for goalposts’. Wasn’t it?” – Andy Stiff.

Re: the Manchester United fan growing his hair – should he just pray for going bald? And if that does happen, will he follow his club’s greatest player Bobby Charlton with the combover to end all combovers?” – Darren Leathley.

So yesterday my team, Leicester City, heaped more misery on us beleaguered fans by somehow contriving to snatch defeat from the jaws of a three-nil lead against Southampton, going down 3-4. I don’t normally condone meltdowns by characters such as Ian Holloway, Frank Doberman (aka Harry Enfield, referenced in yesterday’s edition) and historically, one Sir Alex Ferguson. But in this instance I’m tempted to request that all three gentlemen attend the next Foxes training session, fully armed with telephones, pot plants, irons and other assorted household items. These to be bombarded at the hapless team, before unleashing a large portion of expletive-laden vitriol. It would make me feel better, at least” – Rod de Lisle.

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US captain reflects on her playing career in France and the need for greater competition as she prepares for a summer move to Denver

Lindsey Heaps is sitting in the heart of Lyon, a city that has witnessed her transformation from a self-described “baby” into the authoritative captain of the US women’s national team. Now wearing the No 10 shirt for OL Lyonnes, inherited this season from Dzsenifer Marozsán, Heaps is reflective. She is a veteran, a leader who has won almost everything, yet she remains a student of the game, constantly seeking the “good struggles” that defined her early years.

The timing of our meeting is poignant. This month Lyonnes reasserted their dominance over the Première Ligue with a 1-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain, before winning 4-0 against Saint-Étienne in a derby. The results leaves OL in a league of their own: 14 points clear of second-placed Nantes, with PSG cast adrift in fifth place, 17 points behind the leaders. For Heaps, these numbers are not just a source of pride; they are a symptom of a wider problem.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Will Unwin and Jonathan Liew as Nottingham Forest sack Sean Dyche and Manchester City close the gap on Arsenal to three points

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On the podcast today: it’s panic time at the bottom. Sean Dyche gets sacked by Nottingham Forest, who are now looking for their fourth manager of the season, with a goalless draw with Wolves not enough to save him. In more traditional news, you got your voice note yesterday – Thomas Frank is sacked by Spurs shortly after we finished recording. We’ll analyse where it’s gone wrong and how good an interim combo of Redknapp, Sherwood and Hoddle would do.

Arsenal make the leaders pay, Sonia Bompastor is defiant and Manchester United’s squad is working in harmony

Andrée Jeglertz said Manchester City’s “decision-making wasn’t ideal all the time during the game” in their 1-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates stadium on Sunday. He’s right. City may have had 22 touches in the opposition box to Arsenal’s 19 but they had only had one shot on target to Arsenal’s four. To some extent though, they have a hall pass for that lack of solid decision-making because it’s just so rare. Despite the defeat, City are sitting pretty at the top of the WSL table, their lead still a hefty eight points ahead of Manchester United. Should Arsenal win their game in hand, City’s lead will still be seven points. In a 12-team league and 22-game season, it’s incredibly unlikely that that gap will be bridged. Their goal difference is also 10 better than United’s. This is City’s title to lose and with the talent they have at their disposal the likelihood of any rot setting in is extremely slim. They play bottom-placed Leicester next, then struggling Aston Villa, who suffered a third back-to-back defeat, and those teams should fear City’s frustration. Suzanne Wrack

Liverpool rue costly mistakes, Viktor Gyökeres builds up a head of steam and Rayan gets the hype train chugging

• Premier League top scorers: the latest standings

Arne Slot was close to landing a coup against Pep Guardiola, the coach he admires most. Then came more of the individual errors that have ruined Liverpool’s title defence. Aching weaknesses within Slot’s squad were exposed again. Dominik Szoboszlai playing Bernardo Silva onside for Manchester City’s equaliser was an error midfielders playing full-back will make. Szoboszlai’s late red card was, though, foolish. Alisson’s foul on Matheus Nunes for Erling Haaland’s decisive penalty was another rush of blood. Liverpool’s huge summer spend was motivated by their executives’ belief in buying the best individuals to unlock the Premier League’s tactical cages. City’s key individuals showed such a policy can pay off, with Silva inspirational, Gianluigi Donnarumma making the save that sparked the game’s chaotic final scenes, Marc Guéhi looking an astute defensive signing and Haaland supplying Silva’s goal. City had been unconvincing but their mentality held, allowing them to eventually profit from Hugo Ekitiké’s misses and the waning of Mohamed Salah. John Brewin

Match report: Liverpool 1-2 Manchester City

Match report: Brighton 0-1 Crystal Palace

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Sunderland

Match report: Newcastle 2-3 Brentford

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

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“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?

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

• Premier League dominates list | How every judge voted | Our methodology | The top 100 female players for 2025

• 2024 edition | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

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

• 2024 list | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Meet the judges | See how every judge voted

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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