Key events
Right, I’m launching this blog down the channels for Dominic Booth to pick up now – he’ll guide you through the next two hours or so. Have a great weekend, and may your team win (unless they’re playing my team). Bye.
Villa Park will host England’s World Cup qualifier with Andorra on 6 September, because Wembley is hosting a similarly tepid room-temperature event, a Coldplay gig, It will be England’s second successive match away from the national stadium as they play Senegal in a friendly at the City Ground in June.
More of this please (England playing around the country that is, not Coldplay gigs)
In case you missed it, here’s Ben Fisher’s interview with everyone’s favourite pub-going top-flight gaffer, Vitor Pereira of Wolves.
“You need to be with the people because you need to see the smiles. When I go to a pub it’s not about the beer. Of course, I like the beer,” he grins, his go-to lager Stella Artois, “but I go to be with the people, to feel that I’m doing something to make them happy, to make them proud. This is my energy. I must go to a pub, because this is the culture.”
A bit disappointing that Pereira’s a Stella man in the spiritual home of Banks’s Mild but it’s a learning curve …
Andoni Iraola has been having a bit of a gripe about (what else?) VAR and the extent to which he feels Bournemouth have suffered from it this season, having seen Evanilson’s damaging red card against Manchester United last Sunday subsequently overturned. “The system is not working very well,” said the Cherries manager. “The decision [by VAR] supposedly has to be clear and obvious and it has big consequences for us. I support VAR but it’s clear there are a lot of things it should be much better at.”
The positive for Bournemouth is that Evanilson is of course available for the trip to Arsenal tomorrow evening.
Eric Dier to leave Bayern Munich
He’s set to join his fellow ex-Spur Harry Kane in winning a trophy, but Eric Dier will depart the Allianz Arena soon afterwards, per PA Media:
Eric Dier will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after opting not to sign a new contract. The 31-year-old joined the German giants, initially on loan, from Tottenham in January 2024 before signing a 12-month deal last summer. However, he has struggled for regular game time under Vincent Kompany this season, making just 13 starts in the Bundesliga and three in the Champions League among 25 total appearances.
He has decided not to extend his stay at the Allianz Arena and will become a free agent. Sporting director Christoph Freund said at a press conference on Friday: “We had discussions with Eric about a new contract. He told us that he doesn’t want to extend and will leave us. He’s a great guy. We had a great time together. Hopefully he crowns his time with us with his first title.”
Vincent Kompany’s side can seal the Bundesliga title with a win over RB Leipzig this weekend. Kane will miss the game due to a one-match suspension.
A bit more from Eddie Howe, on Alexander Isak: “He’s not for sale from my perspective …”
Dejan Kulusevski has been talking about how the Europa League has brought out Tottenham’s best amid a wretched domestic season, PA Media reports
“When you do performances like [the win at Eintracht Frankfurt], you want to repeat them,” Kulusevski said. “I think in Europe, we play a little bit different. We play with less risk and we put the ball up more in the space like we did today and we got to keep doing that in Europe.
“This season has been really disappointing but at least, let’s finish it in the best possible way. We have got to do everything possible every day to make it happen. It is different football (on an artificial pitch), it is a different pitch, but in life, you have to do what you have to do to find a way to win and we have got to do that.”
Asked if Spurs would train on an artificial pitch before the second leg, Kulusevski said: “Yes, probably we have to do it. It is good for me. I have been playing it in Sweden so I should be prepared.
“Happy with the 3-1 win. It is good to be winning an important game like this, so it is perfect. It was beautiful, really beautiful (the atmosphere). Hopefully it can be like this every week. It was unbelievable. The energy was there. Then we got to 2-0. We always wanted more goals but 3-1 is good. We are still two up. We are Tottenham and we have to go there and win the game.”
What can happen this weekend: Simon Burnton has helpfully mapped out what’s at stake in Leagues One and Two. A lot is already settled in the third tier, with Birmingham’s and Wrexham’s riches guiding them up and the relegation places decided, leaving Leyton Orient – who have just acquired new majority owners – and Reading – who very definitely haven’t – duking it out for the final playoff spot. Both have overachieved this season. League Two, meanwhile, features an enthralling/nerve-wrecking battle for the final automatic promotion spot and the playoff places.
Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna says Leeds manager Daniel Farke and Burnley’s Scott Parker can give him a call for advice on how to handle the Premier League, reports PA Media, but warned the gap from the Championship is only getting bigger.
McKenna said: “My phone is reachable if anyone wants to pick it up. I certainly picked up my phone last year to teams who were in this position, as I’m sure teams did in the year before that. That’s pretty common practice. Again, they will be private discussions. As I’ve said before, the gap is certainly big and getting bigger.
The Ipswich manager is upbeat about his clubs’s prospects after consecutive promotions were followed by immediate relegation. “Our journey is our journey,” he said. “We know how quickly it’s come. As I’ve said many times, I think we’ll be in a much stronger position going into next season than we have been for the previous years, and certainly the previous years at Championship level.
“I’d even like to think that as a squad, with infrastructure, staffing and everything, we’ll be in a strong position irrespective of league for I don’t know how many years. We’re on our own journey and we’re going to try and keep progressing the club in every way. We hope that that will ultimately lead to establishing ourselves in the Premier League.”
Liverpool fans cause actual quake: Boffins at the University of Liverpool’s department of Earth, ocean and environmental sciences were on site on Sunday to measure ground movement from the crowd when Arne Slot’s clinched the Premier League title with that rout of Spurs. The data revealed that the 60,415-strong crowd generated real seismic activity, particularly in response to the six goals scored during the game. “Probably Evertonians smashing crockery,” quips my Koppite colleague.
Eddie Howe has been up before the media, talking of the importance of Newcastle being in control of their Champions League destiny but wary of how quickly things can turn around.
Howe, whose Newcastle side visit Brighton on Sunday, said: “We want to be in control of our destiny but we’re very aware it can change in one round of games –we’ve been really consistent with our training but we don’t want it to tail off right at the end
It’s always a tough game against Brighton [who’ve beaten Newcastle twice this season], the two games were tight and could have gone either way. Brighton are a very good team – there’s a good atmosphere for them there but it’s a lovely pitch for away teams too – certainly we’re going to have to play at our very best because they have become a harder team to beat.”
The Toon manager also added that Joelinton is unlikely to play again this season due to ongoing knee trouble. He’s seen a specialist who’s advised some rest and he’s currently back in Brazil, providing an opportunity for Joe Willock to step up. “I still have a lot of faith in Joe – he does a lot of his best work on the left, as Joelinton does, he’s got goalscoring instincts, is a good ball carrier and very athletic. He probably needs a god run of games to be at his very best.”
It’s Friday morning, so time for 10 Premier League things to jabber about this weekend. Are you off to a game this weekend? Tell us more about your expectations, plans and rail replacement buses.
Arne Slot has admitted he will rotate his squad a little for Liverpool’s four remaining league games now the Premier League trophy is safely in the bag “We are going to these four games trying to win them all and that’s what every player who wears the Liverpool shirt should aim for. My lineups will be different – we’re not going to change everyone but there will be a certain rotation in the upcoming games. I think some of the players deserved to play earlier in the season but they are good enough to play for this club. Earlier in the season I mainly chose the same people but this is a moment to see where others are but definitely also becauase they deserved to play this season.”
Harvey Elliott, who has spoken of his desire to stay at Anfield, is one such. “I think it’s very important that players who are here want to stay – that’s a big compliment. Harvey is one of the players who’s not had as much playing time as he deserves, partly because he was injured for a long time and when he first came back he wasn’t quite the player he had been but that level has gone up now and I like hiim more now than when he came back from injury. [Players like Elliott] don’t have anything to prove because I see them every day on the trianing ground but I think they want to prove it to themselves
The Liverpool manager had praise for Sunday’s opponents, Chelsea. “We played Chelsea early in the season and I’m, competely surprised at the gap between us now because at that moment in time they were the better team on the pitch but we found a way to win. To be so many points ahead of them is a big compliment.”
And finally he batted away questions about Trent Alexander-Arnold, chuckling.
Let’s have a scroll through some of last night’s pieces. Nick Ames, fresh from his Scandinavian jaunt to tell us more about Bodø/Glimt, sees reasons to be cheerful for the Norwegian side. They’re more than handy at home, too.
Then came another of the moments that will be sung about among companions for years. How appropriate that it was a deflected strike by Ulrik Saltnes, who joined Bodø/Glimt when they were fighting for survival almost a decade and a half ago, that prised open the door. On the touchline, Knutsen and his support staff erupted. In the far corner, 3,000 fans who had undertaken that long, long journey could finally lose their minds. Tottenham remain well placed to adopt the role of playground bully next Thursday but may yet be the latest to learn that, even against the bigger boys, friends can work sporting miracles.
Sid Lowe and Jamie Jackson were at San Mamés to assess a result they probably weren’t quite expecting:
And Jacob Steinberg was in Sweden to see Chelsea dominate on Djurgarden’s big Conference League night:
Preamble
Morning everyone, here to guide you through reflections on, buildup to and news about a breathless, nerve-shredding few days of football.
Last night threw up less drama than the previous two but it pushed Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham further towards European glory, and the anomalous situation whereby two from three of the most discontented fanbases in the Premier League are going to end up celebrating a trophy this season, whereas those who’ve had a lot of fun – at Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Bournemouth etc – will end it potless. But other than the shock of Manchester United putting in a dominant display in a big game, that the Europa League final will probably be contested by comfortably the richest clubs in it comes as no real surprise.
All of which means the Premier League is likely to have a frankly ridiculous six English teams in the Champions League next season, though Forest are less likely to be one of them after their deflating defeat by Brentford.
And a busy domestic weekend kicks off tonight with Manchester City looking to strengthen their Champions League qualification hopes when they host a Wolves side feeling all nice and safe following their charge away from the drop zone. Aston Villa (at home to Fulham tomorrow), Newcastle (at Brighton on Sunday), Chelsea (hosting Liverpool later that afternoon) and Nottingham Forest (at Palace on Monday) will want plenty to say about that though.
Elsewhere, we’ve got scrambles for Championship playoff spots and against relegation slots, a tussle for sixth in League One and two automatic slots and four playoff places still to be sorted in League Two. Whether your team’s on the beach or poised to put your nerves through the wringer, we’ll have previews and news through the day. Stick around.
