Find a Football Team

⚽ Updates from the FA Cup tie kicking off at 2pm GMT
⚽ Live scores | Sign up for Football Daily | Email Daniel

At Pride Park, Leeds have come from behind to lead Derby. They’re playing with so much confidence now they’re setting up in a 3-5-2.

Bad news for Liverpool:

⚽ Updates from the FA Cup tie kicking off at 4.30pm GMT
⚽ Live scores | Sign up for Football Daily here

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has had face-to-face talks with Manchester United regarding becoming the interim manager until the end of the season.

The Norwegian is vying with Michael Carrick for the role and wass expected to meet Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, and Jason Wilcox, the director of football, at the club’s Carrington training base on Saturday.

Daniel Farke had no need to channel Marcel Bielsa and send any spies to watch Derby train this past week to know that, even with eight changes to his starting XI, his Leeds squad had more than enough Premier League class to overcome mid-table Championship opposition. Goals from the fringe players Wilfried Gnonto, Ao Tanaka and James Justin enabled Leeds to bounce back from their dramatic 4-3 defeat at Newcastle and overturn Ben Brereton Díaz’s first-half goal. Leeds have lost just once in nine games now and, as well as an eight-point buffer from the relegation zone, can now countenance the prospect of an FA Cup run.

With all the history surrounding this midday kick-off, it was a tame opening half-hour before Leeds upped the intensity to earn the chance to go ahead. Even with their much-changed lineup, the running off the ball and incision of passing of the Premier League side suggested an opening goal was incoming. The fact it then went to Derby only accelerated the adrenaline.

After Macclesfield defeat, club must invest wisely to bolster a weak squad and convince their manager to stay

Oliver Glasner’s face told the story. The Crystal Palace manager watched in exasperation as the FA Cup holders headed towards ignominy on Macclesfield’s artificial surface and was still in shock when he conducted his post-match interview. “Honestly, I have no explanation for what I have seen today,” said Glasner.

A mere 238 days since the greatest day in Palace’s history, when he and the club stalwart Joel Ward paraded their first major trophy at Wembley, Marc Guéhi’s first thought after the final whistle at the weekend was to face the music from the diehards who had made the trip to Cheshire from south London. Accompanied by the assistant manager, Paddy McCarthy, the Palace captain held intense discussions with several supporters as Macclesfield’s celebrated their historic victory with a pitch invasion.

• Bradley to miss rest of season with serious knee injury

• Slot will not repeat past error in FA Cup third-round tie

Arne Slot has promised not to repeat last season’s FA Cup gamble against Plymouth when Liverpool entertain Barnsley in the third round on Monday. One player he will not be able to select, however, is Conor Bradley after it was confirmed the right-back will have to undergo surgery on the knee injury he sustained in Thursday’s goalless draw with Arsenal and is likely to rule him out for the rest of the season.

Slot changed all 10 outfield players for the fourth-round tie at Home Park and was punished as Plymouth, then bottom of the Championship, produced a huge shock to win 1-0. He compounded his selection risk with an inexperienced bench that included only two senior players; Curtis Jones and Darwin Núñez. Slot stands by his decision on the basis Liverpool were challenging for four trophies at the time. But with his team out of the Carabao Cup and a distant fourth in the Premier League this season, that pressure no longer applies.

Chelsea secured a statement 5-0 victory against struggling West Ham to breathe life back into their Women’s Super League title defence. Sandy Baltimore scored a brace while Lauren James and Alyssa Thompson also got on the scoresheet at Kingsmeadow in an impressive demolition of their struggling London rivals.

Rita Guarino endured a nightmare start to her West Ham tenure as her side conceded four first-half goals to put them firmly on the back foot on in an already difficult encounter.

League One club offered behind-the-scenes access for FA Cup tie and manager Gary Caldwell will not let crushing loss at Manchester City define them

“The team to win today, lads” begins Gary Caldwell. Exeter City are two hours from kicking off against Manchester City in the FA Cup third round, and their manager is addressing his players at a hotel shortly before they travel to the Etihad.

“You know why I said that?” he continues, his thick Scottish accent filling the room. No one knows. He explains the phrase is borrowed from Roberto Martínez, under whom Caldwell won the competition with Wigan in 2013. It was used to bring humour and break tension when his team were inevitably written off.

Liverpool forward will face his former teammate Sadio Mané in Afcon semi against Senegal after arguably the Pharaohs’ best performance since 2008

It is a long time since Egypt had a night this good. There have been two World Cup qualifications since their golden age of three successive Cups of Nations came to an end in 2010, and they’ve got to the finals of two Cups of Nations since, but this had a different feel to the knockout phases in 2017 or 2021 (played in 2022). This wasn’t grinding through, doing just enough (across the knockouts in 2017 and 2021, Egypt won one game without needing extra time or penalties; a grim 1-0 against Morocco in the 2017 quarter-final). It was taking on one of the giants of African football and beating them well. A 3-2 victory over Côte d’Ivoire was probably Egypt’s best single performance since they beat the same opposition 4-1 in the semi-finals of Ghana 2008.

That game in Kumasi was always going to cast its shadow over this quarter-final. Saturday’s coaches were on opposite sides when Egypt beat Côte d’Ivoire on penalties in the 2006 final in Cairo – Hossam Hassan as a 39-year-old squad captain and unused sub and Émerse Faé in the centre of midfield – but it was the semi-final two years later this game most resembled. The 4-1 hurt Côte d’Ivoire far more than the final had, the image of a bewildered Kolo Touré running away from Amr Zaki as he scored Egypt’s third a symbol of the Pharaohs’ superiority that night. Within four minutes on Saturday, Odilon Kossounou had got in a similar mess, legs tangled as Omar Marmoush sped by him to put Egypt ahead.

This was Tottenham’s second defeat to Aston Villa this season and it is becoming increasingly hard to imagine Thomas Frank being in charge when the teams come together a third time in May. A performance that put an end to any realistic chance of a trophy fell well below the expectations of a furious crowd. That their opponents currently offer the diametric opposite of Tottenham’s dysfunction can only have heightened the sting.

Goals from Emi Buendía and Morgan Rogers put this tie to bed for Villa in the first half, Wilson Odobert’s strike after half-time bringing a closeness to the scoreline that was not reflected in the general play. A scuffle on the field at the final whistle involving Rogers, João Palhinha and a host of Tottenham players only added further sourness to the occasion.

As Netflix and Paramount Skydance clash over WBD, football rights once considered peripheral could become central to the future of UK streaming

Netflix has spent years politely rebuffing Premier League and Uefa entreaties to bid for their TV rights, so it would be ironic if it picked them up by default. That intriguing outcome is a possibility as a result of the $100bn-plus takeover battle for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) between Netflix and its streaming rival Paramount Skydance which will shape the future not only of Hollywood but global news.

Much-hyped sports rights are a footnote in a deal of such magnitude that it will require signoff from the US government, but the implications for football will be profound, even if Donald Trump is more concerned about who owns (and presents on) CNN than which platform shows Bournemouth v Brighton at Saturday lunchtime next season.

Why is the film of Ireland’s 2002 World Cup falling-out not a documentary but a drama that takes liberties with events?

All history is to some extent narrative. You cannot tell a story without in some way editing it, reducing it, compressing it. Which means that anybody telling a story about a historical event, particularly one from the relatively recent past, risks outraging those who have studied it or who remember it. Often those complaints are pedantic, trivial, but sometimes they are not. It’s one thing to elide two minor characters or to tweak the timeline to simplify a story, quite another to imply misleading motivations.

Saipan, Glenn Leyburn’s and Lisa Barros D’Sa’s film about the cataclysmic row between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy shortly before the 2002 World Cup, came out in Ireland on Boxing Day and will be released in the UK on 23 January. It is obsessed by detail: the tracksuits, the sweatshirts, the kits are all right. It’s startling when the film cuts between reproductions of interviews and press conferences and actual footage to realise just how accurately these scenes have been recreated. Which raises two questions. What is the point? And how can such care have been taken over the look of the film when there are such grotesque inventions and inaccuracies in the plotting and motivation?

All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide

• Women’s transfer interactive – all the January deals

Every deal in the WSL, NWSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

• Men’s transfer interactive – all the January deals

Bournemouth will find it hard to replace a player at the peak of his powers, an attacker polished up perfectly for the elite

Antoine Semenyo’s rise is a reminder the big clubs’ scouting systems are not infallible, that not all players will flower at the same time. Fulham, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Reading and Tottenham rejected the schoolboy Semenyo. At 15, he took a year’s absence from the game.

A decade on, a circuitous route to the top alights at Manchester City, who beat a queue of big hitters to his signature. Bournemouth’s ability to find talent the elite passed over continues to prove profitable. Pep Guardiola’s squad has another player who pairs physical power with a high skill level. It also adds a long-throw specialist to the armoury; City are towards the bottom of the metrics in that voguish category.

It sums up the uneasy state of affairs at Chelsea that the new head coach winning his first match in charge was not enough to stop the mutiny. This was a controlled, clinical performance from Liam Rosenior’s second string, who strolled into the fourth round of the FA Cup after a 5-1 win over a game but limited Charlton Athletic, but once again the big talking point was the travelling support spewing venom in the direction of their unpopular owners.

Dissatisfaction with the project is not going away. It did not even matter when Rosenior looked at his bench with Chelsea 3-1 up in the second half and decided to give Estevão Willian a runout against tired, lowly Championship opposition. The Brazilian winger is one of the best young players in the world and his runs were soon making Charlton’s defenders dizzy, but even signings like Estêvão have done little to sway the view of a fanbase united in opposition to an ownership almost four years in and still to convince naysayers that their unique vision will bring success.

• Lioness will leave German club at end of season

• Aston Villa set to sign Chelsea’s Oriane Jean-François

Arsenal are among the leading candidates to sign Georgia Stanway this summer after Bayern Munich confirmed the England midfielder would leave the German club when her contract expires.

According to sources, the north London club are understood to be one of a number of teams interested in acquiring the 27-year-old on a free transfer, but Renée Slegers’ team are leading the running having tracked Stanway’s progress and are eager to add a world-class midfielder to their squad.

The romance of the FA Cup in Cleethorpes, ultimately, was limited to a good old-fashioned away following of 571 hardy yet boisterous souls from Weston-super-Mare.

The Seagull Army twice wildly celebrated second-half equalisers through Luke Coulson and their predatory striker Louis Britton before Grimsby substitute Kieran Green’s looping header settled the match and ended Weston’s stirring six-game run in the competition.

• Coach is vying with Michael Carrick to be interim manager

• Solskjær due at Carrington training base on Saturday

Ole Gunnar Solskjær will have face-to-face talks with Manchester United on Saturday regarding becoming the interim manager until the end of the season.

The Norwegian is vying with Michael Carrick for the role and is expected to meet Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, and Jason Wilcox, the director of football, at the club’s Carrington training base.

• Pepi injured after scoring in Eredivisie rout

• PSV confirm surgery and two-month absence

• US striker faces race to be fit for World Cup

United States men’s national team striker Ricardo Pepi is expected to miss roughly two months after suffering a broken forearm while playing for PSV Eindhoven on Saturday, the Dutch club confirmed.

Pepi, 23, was injured after landing awkwardly after scoring PSV’s second goal during their Eredivisie match against Excelsior. Medical examinations carried out later that night at a hospital revealed a fracture, and the club said Pepi will undergo surgery on Sunday. PSV did not indicate any complications but ruled the striker out for the immediate future.

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

• Subscribe to Moving the Goalposts, our free newsletter

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

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

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

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Jonathan Liew as Manchester City draw their third game in a row and Manchester United slip up at Burnley too

Kick off your afternoon with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Every weekday, we’ll deliver a roundup the football news and gossip in our own belligerent, sometimes intelligent and – very occasionally – funny way. Still not convinced? Find out what you’re missing here.

Try our other sports emails: there’s weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.

Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter

Get our roundup of women’s football for free twice a week, featuring the insights of experts such as Ada Hegerberg and Magdalena Eriksson

Join us as we delve deeper into the wonderful world of women’s football in our weekly newsletter. It is informative, entertaining, global, critical – when needed – and, above all, passionate. Written mainly by Júlia Belas Trindade and Sophie Downey, expect guest appearances from stars such as Anita Asante, Ada Hegerberg and many more.

Try our other sports emails: as well as the occasionally funny football email The Fiver from Monday to Friday, there are weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day roundup of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.

Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter

Our editors’ favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in

The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action

Subscribe to get our editors’ pick of the Guardian’s award-winning sport coverage. We’ll email you the stand-out features and interviews, insightful analysis and highlights from the archive, plus films, podcasts, galleries and more – all arriving in your inbox at every Friday lunchtime. And we’ll set you up for the weekend and let you know our live coverage plans so you’ll be ahead of the game. Here’s what you can expect from us.

Try our other sports emails: there’s daily football news and gossip in The Fiver, and weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown.

Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter

Australia have sent scouts across the US, Canada and Mexico to see which cities have the best facilities, hotels and general vibes to suit the team

Home is where the heart is, or at least where there is a good brew and a comfy bed. And with the 2026 World Cup six months away, key Socceroo figures have spent several weeks deep in a process that often flies under the radar but could be a secret ingredient in their quest to do something special: finding their home away from home for the global footballing showpiece.

Alongside the rest of the qualified nations, Australia submitted their preferred options for a North American base to Fifa earlier this week, with the governing body expected to assign base camps using a criterion of geography and world rankings by the end of January. Drawn to play games on the west coast, this means that Australia has 16 regionalised camps in the official Fifa brochure to consider. But they’ll also sit behind host nations the United States and Canada, as well as higher-ranked Switzerland, Belgium and Iran in the pecking order.

News from Friday’s press conferences, including updates on Fabian Schär, Emiliano Martínez and Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor

Football has to be held to account: we cannot have another generation of qualified black coaches being ignored

Football’s start to 2026 has been seismic, with the festive season soon replaced by sacking season. At times this week it has been hard to keep up. The lifetime of a head coach or a manager seems to be getting shorter, with pressure for positive results apparently never greater.

In among the churn came a landmark moment, with Liam Rosenior taking on the head coach role at Chelsea, making him the first permanent black English manager at a big-six club.

Talismanic forward’s spat with teammate Ademola Lookman highlights the problematic behaviour threatening to overshadow his talent

Victor Osimhen is the talisman, the attacking arrowhead of Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, his three goals offering a warning to Algeria before Saturday’s quarter-final. But the focus on the 27 year old this week has fallen less on his talent and more on his behaviour.

Osimhen’s volatile temperament, displayed in a spat with his teammate Ademola Lookman during Monday’s 4-0 win against Mozambique, has grabbed the headlines. The Galatasaray striker scored twice to underline his world-class finishing but that has been rendered almost an afterthought.

Macclesfield and Weston-super-Mare carry the non-league hopes while fringe players need to seize their chances

Silly goals conceded, chances missed, a lead surrendered and points squandered against relegation fodder. On the face of things, Manchester United have changed manager but nothing else. The reality is different. They started slowly at Burnley, settling into a 4-2-3-1 formation that suits them – and pretty much every other team – far better than Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 before, midway through the first half, they started to play. The deployment of Bruno Fernandes close to the opposition goal, along with a wide player, Patrick Dorgu, playing on his natural side, meant Benjamin Sesko was, for the first time, provided with decent service. Then, following Jaidon Anthony’s equaliser, Darren Fletcher’s side risked defeat by going all out for the win – one nearly achieved through the timely introduction of Shea Lacey, a richly talented 18-year-old. Brighton will present far stiffer opposition but, for the first time in a long time, United are doing what United are meant to do. Daniel Harris

Manchester United v Brighton, Sunday 4.30pm (all GMT)

Macclesfield v Crystal Palace, Saturday 12.15pm

Grimsby v Weston-super-Mare, Saturday 5.45pm

Manchester City v Exeter, Saturday 3pm

CFG have ditched Mumbai City and losing the glamour will hurt the game in the world’s most populated nation

The world’s biggest multiclub network shrank from 13 to 12 in the last week of 2025 but few blame the City Football Group for walking away from Mumbai City and India after six years. The reason for divesting their shares which gave them 65% ownership was addressed, not that anyone needed enlightening in a statement. “CFG has made this decision after a comprehensive commercial review and in light of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Indian Super League (ISL).”

Uncertainty is an underestimation. The 2025-26 ISL season was supposed to kick off in September. However, with a 15-year Masters Right Agreement between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner ending in December and no new agreement or partner in place, it never started. Most assumed that it would be a short-lived delay but here we are, in 2026, and there is still no football. A meeting took place in Delhi on Tuesday and produced a start date of 14 February, just six weeks short of a year since Mumbai’s last ISL game. How it works, if it works, remains to be seen.

Goalkeeper who swapped city rivals in the summer proved pivotal on his return with a stunning series of saves

“I hope people don’t get angry but he’s my friend.” There wasn’t long until the Barcelona derby and Jofre Carreras had briefly abandoned the warm-up to talk to the TV. There on the touchline, talk inevitably turned to his former roommate, housemate and teammate Joan García, now in goal for their greatest rivals. Carreras’s answer was just about audible over all the noise and then he was off again: he had something else to do before it all started, accepting a shirt marking his 100th game for Espanyol. Behind them as club legend Rafa Marañón presented it, the team captains lined up for a photo of their own with the first Catalan to referee this fixture in 80 years and, way off to the left out of shot, García clapped. Like everything else he did, except actually play, he did so discreetly.

Joan and Jofre, both 24, have known each other “for as long as I can remember”, in Carreras’s words. Over four years, they shared a room at Espanyol’s residency on Carretera de Mataró in Sant Adrià del Besòs and then they shared an apartment. When García collected his award as Espanyol’s best player in 2023-24, and was handed a supply of sausages, Carreras also received an award – two different supporters’ clubs rewarding two different winners on the same day. When García started being noticed beyond Barcelona, Carreras declared his friend the world’s best. And when the summer heat got a bit much – and, boy, did it – García took refuge at Carreras’s. Now though they were opponents. And that, Carreras said, was “a bit strange”.

Win over Cremonese was only made possible after a late injury led to match-winner’s inclusion as a substitute

The man who breathed life into Fiorentina’s survival bid was not meant to be playing at all. Moise Kean returned to training on Saturday after almost a week away attending to a private family matter. The club’s manager, Paolo Vanoli, did not intend to name him in the matchday squad to face Cremonese one day later, but had his hand forced by a late injury to Edin Dzeko.

“I have to tell the truth because that’s how I am – I’m a sincere person,” said Vanoli on Sunday. “When [Kean] came back I told him ‘Moise, out of respect for the group, I’m not even going to put you on the bench’.”

The club are in a decent position but there is dissatisfaction with the ownership and the new head coach must not get caught in the crossfire

The way Chelsea are run will come as no surprise to Liam Rosenior. He has longstanding relationships with three of the five sporting directors and will know from his time at Strasbourg, who are part of the same ownership, that the head coach’s best chance of surviving is not to make the mistake of rebelling against the structure.

Rosenior will have to show more political savvy than Enzo Maresca, who talked himself out of the job last week. Yet given the 41‑year‑old is familiar with the working conditions at BlueCo, the investment vehicle that owns Chelsea and Strasbourg, his biggest challenge is unlikely to be managing upwards. Rosenior will know where to train his focus and not to rock the boat. Crucially, he does not inherit a team in crisis. Chelsea are fifth and earned a creditable draw at Manchester City on Sunday; despite the rancour of Maresca’s final days, this is not a situation that calls for a major rebuild.

Even the return of Martin O’Neill is unlikely to placate supporters frustrated by poor performances, a lack of investment, and chaos in the boardroom

Any club confirming the end of an error after eight games owes an apology to their supporters. In Celtic’s case, even the admission of an all-time blunder in hiring Wilfried Nancy would be unlikely to placate the masses. Remorse has not been forthcoming anyway. As Martin O’Neill’s return as manager was confirmed, office bearers took it in turn to express disappointment at the Nancy affair. Which was very good of them.

Celtic do not have a monopoly on bad decision-making. It just currently feels as if that is the case. A club who have dominated in Scotland for more than a decade, who have vast resources and more scope to plan than others of much lower stature, should never have been seeking a fourth manager in one season. That they are points firmly towards a lack of strategy and direction. It is a preposterous situation. Celtic are lucky that O’Neill, 73, retains an appetite to work. He also ticks another box, that of being idolised in the stands.

Price tag for winger’s move to Manchester City would make headlines in any other country but not in England

Antoine Semenyo, it seems likely, will soon join Manchester City from Bournemouth for a fee of £65m. Given how well Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden have played from the right this season, it is not immediately obvious why City need him, but the modern game is the modern game, the rammed calendar makes large and flexible squads essential and Pep Guardiola may have some esoteric plan for the Ghanaian anyway. But perhaps what is most striking about the deal is the fee – or, more precisely, how little attention it has drawn.

English football has become inured to big transfers. The fee feels about right. Semenyo is 25. He has four and a half years left on his contract. He is quick, skilful, intelligent and works hard. He is disciplined, but has the capacity to do the unexpected. Of course a player of his ability costs that much. Yet £65m would make him the third-most expensive player in Bundesliga history. He would be the seventh-most expensive in Serie A history, the 14th-most expensive in La Liga history. Only nine non-English clubs have paid a fee higher than that. Even in Premier League terms, Semenyo sneaks into the top 25.

Set pieces on the rise, fans transformed to customers and conspiracies seen in every decision – is football losing its fun?

English football has always mirrored the passions, conflicts, identities and inequalities of the age. After the golden 1960s, the decay of the 1970s and ensuing disasters of the 1980s came the cap-sleeved, rebounding self-confidence of the 1990s. The 21st century so far has taken in globalisation and wanton commercialism. After that rabid, often reckless push for continued growth, society and the game alight on the uncertainties that encapsulated 2025.

To catch the 20 Premier League clubs in live action this season, and this writer completed the full set on Tuesday witnessing Arsenal’s second-half demolition of Aston Villa, has been a study in that uncertainty. From the grumbling of fans, to the ever-fragile egos of managers, to players slugging through the gristle of 90 minutes of hard-pressing slog, a leading question comes to mind: is anyone actually still enjoying this?

Our cartoonist on a typically sedate start to 2026 at two of the Premier League’s biggest football ‘projects’

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

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

The man widely expected to be the next Chelsea head coach once opined on a wide variety of topics in his Guardian column

Coaching may be Liam Rosenior’s forte but, during his days as a Brighton defender, the man widely expected to be Chelsea’s new manager was also a pretty useful Guardian columnist. His eagerly awaited dispatches were invariably packed with thought‑provoking opinions on an assortment of topics, ranging from dead balls to Donald Trump. Below are excerpts from a cross-section of Rosenior’s thoughts during his three years with us, alongside a sense of what they tell us about the 41‑year‑old and how he could carry out his duties at Stamford Bridge. It is important to remember, of course, that Rosenior’s views may have changed in the intervening period.

Sean Ruiz and his team reveal the kit preparations and dressing room routines that make the players tick

Sean Ruiz always leaves his training-ground office door wide open. He is no fan of enclosed spaces, but there is much more to it. The passing Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera spots Ruiz and pops in for a brief chat with a fellow Colombian. Minutes later an under-21s player seeks Ruiz’s counsel on a non-footballing matter.

“It’s a blessing to have these relationships,” Ruiz says. “To see them not just for what everybody else sees: a centre-back, a striker for Wolves. These guys are like family to me. I’m lucky to get to see this side of them, to be there when things are good, when things are bad. We’re not just players and staff here. It’s something more.”

Football provided direction, belonging, purpose and validation. Letting go of that has meant confronting the void left behind

Accepting retirement from professional football has felt like stepping into a landscape shaped by loss and uncertainty. Even when the decision is rational, even when the body is signalling that it’s time, there is something profoundly emotional about acknowledging that an era of your life has ended.

To me, it felt very much like grief. The shock, sadness, anger, confusion and numbness mirror the emotional responses that accompany any major loss I’ve experienced. But instead of mourning the loss of a loved one, you are mourning the loss of a part of you – a big part. For years football provided direction, belonging, inspiration, purpose and validation. A sense of being part of something bigger.

England defender publicly confronted racist abuse at the Euros and ended 2025 a title winner with club and country

The Guardian Footballer of the Year is an award given to a player who has done something remarkable, whether by overcoming adversity, helping others or setting a sporting example by acting with exceptional honesty.

Jess Carter has spent her life grappling with when to hold back and when to speak up; wrestling with being naturally herself, embodying the characteristics her parents instilled in her of being open, honest, vocal and confident, and subduing herself because, while society values those traits, in a black woman they can be viewed negatively.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Some British managers who have chanced their arm on the continent have won trophies and the adoration of supporters. Others have at least provided the Daily with plenty of content. For every Bobby Robson, there’s a Tony Adams, or to meet somewhere in the middle, Steve McClaren – who can deliver you a league title while still making an arsche of himself in TV interviews. What fate awaits Gary O’Neil, quietly ushered into the vacant hot seat at Ligue 1 Strasbourg after Todd Boehly called up Liam Rosenior for the real job? Like Rosenior, he starts his tenure with a tricky away day in the cup; hours before Chelsea play Charlton, O’Neil will take the reins for a Coupe de France tie at fourth-tier Avranches.

Back on a cold December day in 2001, I sat at Hillsborough and watched in despair as Sheffield Wednesday got absolutely shellacked by Norwich City, losing 5-0 at home. A couple of days after the game I sat down and wrote a letter (ask your parents, kids!) to our manager, Terry Yorath. I wasn’t rude, just desperate: I said I thought he ought to know that I’d been watching Wednesday for 17 years and that was the worst I’d ever seen us play. And you know what: he wrote me an actual letter back. He said he was sorry, that the club valued my support, and that he was trying hard to change things. He didn’t really change things (though we escaped relegation to League One by a point), but he did care enough to write to me, and I’ve never forgotten that. A gentleman” – Adam Gutteridge.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

There’s been much talk in recent years about moving Premier League games to various parts of the world that do not boast Premier League teams – Sheffield, Miami and so on – with the stated aim of spreading the gospel, had the gospel been stolen from Jesus and the Four Evangelists, to be bastardised and defiled, to be converted into folding green and then into geopolitical power and influence. By way of total non-sequitur, this year’s Geopolitics World Cup will be held in Donald Trump’s America. There was, of course, much anger at this ludicrous plan for many righteous reasons, then we all got back to enjoying the football as the ignoramiti knew we would, the game too chaotically, joyously puerile and affirming for its own and our own good. How can we possibly excise it from our souls when it bestows upon us the unbridled wildness of Wednesday’s behaviour, as it also did during the last round of midweek fixtures? The campaign for a fully night-time Premier League begins here.

‘She has everything to be a world-class striker – fast, two great feet, good with the head and strong,’ says the coach who set the forward’s career rolling

Since they were promoted to the Women’s Super League in 2019, no Manchester United player has managed to score more than 10 league goals in a single season. In Lea Schüller they have signed someone who has surpassed that mark seven seasons in a row in Germany’s Frauen Bundesliga, so it is easy to understand why United are so enamoured with their new striker.

With a formidable 54 goals in 82 internationals, the Germany forward arrives at Carrington with a prolific record and the match-winner profile the club have been craving. At 28 years old she could spend the best years of her career at United, where she has signed a contract until June 2029.

Once they seemed an unstoppable force but a huge gap between the Nordic leagues and Europe’s elite has emerged in the past 20 years

For a brief period in the early 2000s, Scandinavian clubs seemed unstoppable in European women’s football. Umeå lifted the Uefa Women’s Cup in 2003 and again in 2004, using a blend of technical skill and tactical intelligence. The Swedish side were a powerhouse and attracted top talent from around the world, including Marta, widely regarded as the greatest ever female player.

That dominance feels very distant. In 2025, a Norwegian, Swedish or Danish club winning the Women’s Champions League is almost unthinkable. Vålerenga were the only Scandinavian team to reach the Champions League league stage this season and they did not qualify for the knockout phase.

Today’s rumours are riding the District line

Antoine Semenyo’s farewell goal for Bournemouth, before his move to Manchester City, sets off a chain reaction over who succeeds him. Ethan Nwaneri, who has struggled for game time at Arsenal, is wanted by a few suitors.

Bournemouth are very interested in a loan move for someone who was the next big thing not too long ago. And still can be, though the word is he still wishes to stay a Gunner and play his part in a title-winning team.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Jonathan Liew as Manchester City draw their third game in a row and Manchester United slip up at Burnley too

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on email.

On the podcast today: a seven-goal thriller at St James’ Park. Heading into injury time, Leeds led 3-2 and the opening question on today’s podcast looked like it would have been about Eddie Howe’s future.

Plus: goals (not) on film and was Liverpool’s substitution chain at Spurs the longest in football?

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“After St Mirren beat Celtic in the Scottish League Cup, I wondered where it actually is,” writes Dan J. “The answer is (as everyone bar me knew) Paisley, right next to Glasgow airport. Which got me wondering, which team is closest to an airport? I reckon Glentoran, next to Belfast City, and Eastleigh, virtually in Southampton airport, are in with a shout. And Charlton if you are happy to swim part of the way. Any closer ones?”

We had so many answers to this question, so thank you to one and all. Let’s start with a ground that is but a thunderclap away from the nearest airport. “The Icelandic football club Valur is near Rekjavík airport, which is mostly a domestic airport, but also has some international flights,” writes Kári Tulinius. “The distance from the fence around the airport to Valur’s fence is about 150 metres. From training pitch to the nearest piece of airport tarmac is 230m, and from corner flag to the end of the runway is 380m. All of these distances were measured with Google Maps.”

Highs and lows for Alexander Isak, Wolves’ sobering survival chances and were Chelsea lucky at Newcastle?

• Premier League scoring charts

Can results be misleading? That is the question. Aston Villa’s winning streak continued against Manchester United, but so did the nagging doubts. They were the lesser team by several measures – fewer shots (12-15), less possession (43-57), fewer big chances (2-3). As usual, the victory was a slender one. But games are not won by stats. They are won by solid teamwork, shrewd management and individual talent – and Villa have all three. Morgan Rogers may be their only star, but he’s delivering like Father Christmas. Unai Emery is wily, battle-hardened, five years ahead of Ruben Amorim. If Rogers profited from Leny Yoro’s naivety, that was probably because Emery had spotted that Yoro is not a right-back, and told Rogers to start wide, cut in and torment him. Talent and management, working together. Tim de Lisle

Match report: Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United

Match report: Everton 0-1 Arsenal

Match report: Manchester City 3-0 West Ham

Match report: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool

Match report: Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea

Match report: Wolves 0-2 Brentford

Match report: Leeds 4-1 Crystal Palace

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