Key events

Liverpool came from behind to win at Brentford yesterday, but it wasn’t all good news. The talismanic Dominik Szoboszlai suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury and will be joined in the treatment room by Jeremie Frimpong.

“In your opinion, which other teams come close to the current PSG?” asks Krishnamoorthy V. “The magical Kvaratskelia, the inimitable Dembele, the silky Doue and the majestic Vitinha, who Bareny Ronay rightly described as the human WD40, all combine to make a formidable team. No egos, no CR7 equivalents sucking the life out - the team is an equivalent of Roger Federer in football.”

I’d not really seen them play under Luis Enrique until I liveblogged their 3-1 win over Aston Villa in March 2025. I was blown away by how good they were and have adored them ever since. I think they’re the best team since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and possibly in the top five clubs sides of all time.

We mentioned earlier that Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez had undergone successful surgery after being stretchered off at Everton yesterday. The club have confirmed that he suffered a fractured jaw in a collision with Jarrad Branthwaite.

Martinez, wearing a hospital gown, posted on social media that the surgery had gone well and that he would be back in a few weeks.

On this day in 2003… Manchester United win at Elland Road.

On this day in 1995… Juventus give Rangers a reality check.

This is the state of play in the Premier League ahead of today’s games. Manchester United could end the day as high as eighth – or as low as 16th.

On this day in 2000… AC Milan and Rivaldo share six goals in a Champions League thriller.

Another plug for Jonathan Wilson’s piece on Sunderland’s return to Europe.

On this day in 2015… Gini Wijnaldum scores F-O-U-R as Newcastle thrash Norwich.

“As a Man United fan, I absolutely can’t wait for the game later,” writes Joshua Keeling. “No, really. Desperate for it to start. Or not. The only crumb of hope is that football always retains the capacity to surprise you. Normally with United though, they surprise you by being worse than expected. Que sera, sera, etc.”

Erling Haaland scored twice in Manchester City’s 3-2 win over Ipswich. Surprise, surprise, he’s the early leader in the race for the golden boot.

On this day in 2014… Southampton put eight past Sunderland.

Yet again the mainstream wokealorium is preachifying from its pulpitrex. It’s egregious. It’s sanctiforial. It’s a wangitude of complete retardifaction.

This has not been an easy column to write. It has been difficult, gruelling in parts, but also warm, exhilarating and at times deeply erotic. Yes. I was SAVAGED by Simon Jordan. And I’ve never felt so alive.

You know who Simon Jordan is. Used to own Crystal Palace. Now a very good and listenable pundit on TalkSport, where he does the grown-up topics. Simon Jordan has strong opinions. This is his thing. His worldview says: the world is bad. The world is in need of correction. And he’s right about that, as he often is about things.

That’s what makes this all a bit surprising because I like Simon Jordan! I listen to his morning show with Jim White and it’s often really good. I respect the fact he has industry knowledge because he ran a football club. And yes that involved lots of dealings with Steve Bruce, Iain Dowie or similar, but it’s still basically the same thing.

On this day in 1998… Lazio score five away to Internazionale.

We also have some live cricket on the site today. Well, some live rain.

A reminder of today’s WSL games

The top three – Manchester City, Chelsea and London City Lionesses – all have awkward but winnable home games. We’ll have live, minute-by-minute coverage of Chelsea v Tottenham at midday.

• Chelsea v Tottenham (12pm)

• Crystal Palace v West Ham (12pm)

• Aston Villa v Liverpool (2pm)

• Charlton v Man Utd (2pm)

• London City Lionesses v Everton (2pm)

• Manchester City v Brighton (2.30pm)

From the archive: Leeds United v Man Utd classics

Leeds United 1-0 Manchester United (FA Cup semi-final replay, 31 March 1965); Leeds United 0-1 Manchester United (Division One, 17 April 1965)

Here’s where the stags really begin to rut. Don Revie’s side, freshly promoted, were on course for the Double. Only problem was, so were Matt Busby’s men. The pair were drawn in the semi-final of the FA Cup, and spent 90 minutes at Hillsborough kicking seven colours out of each other, Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner, Nobby Stiles, Denis Law and Paddy Crerand enjoying themselves like the proverbial pigs. Good luck if you found yourself in the middle of that.

Brouhahas broke out on the terraces as well, and did so again four days later during the replay at the City Ground. The on-field behaviour was much improved, though. According to Big Jack, Manchester United put on a performance as stylish and dangerous as they ever were under Busby, but Leeds somehow held on, wrested the ascendency, and nicked it in the last minute, Bremner twisting in mid-air to steer home an outrageous curling header.

Bremner was missing 18 days later when Manchester United came to Elland Road in the league. Had they won, Leeds would have gone five clear at the top with four games left. They went into the game as favourites, Busby’s side having failed to find the net against Leeds in both Cup games and the earlier league match at Old Trafford, which the visitors won 1-0. That particular lean spell ended after 14 minutes – or 284, if you like – when John Connelly drove home. Leeds failed to respond, despite the best efforts of the newly crowned Football Writers’ player of the year, Bobby Collins, and went down again in their next Bremner-less match, a 3-0 hosing at Sheffield Wednesday. Busby’s third great side won their first title; Revie’s team, not quite ready yet, lost the Cup final as well.

On this day in 1989… Spurs beat the reigning champions Arsenal.

On this day in 2008… Amr Zaki scores a spectacular goal in Wigan’s 3-2 defeat at Anfield.

The first time Fernando Roig watched Villarreal play as their president, he sat in the stand at a tiny whitewashed ground that had concrete fever and was half empty. It was a Sunday night in the second division, they lost 3-0 to Badajoz, and he didn’t enjoy it much.

But then, he doesn’t ever enjoy it much. Even on Tuesday at Anfield, he will not: into his 30th year, the longest presidency in Europe, that is about the only thing that hasn’t changed. More than 1,000 games and still it happens. “I don’t get nervous. It’s worse: I get worried, very anxious,” he says. “I suffer a lot.

“It’s emotional to play Liverpool. This will be the fifth time we have faced them, the third at Anfield. The other two were European semi-finals. I’ll watch the morning training session, travel with the team. We’ll go and eat; everywhere we go we get treated very well and we treat them well back. The next day I’ll watch the under-19s in the morning, that I do like. And then the game, which I don’t. Then we’ll fly back here very, very late. It’s very stressful.”

Scottish Premiership

Rangers missed the chance to go top of the table after drawing 2-2 at Dundee. The leaders Celtic meet third-place Hearts this afternoon.

On this day in 1992… Ian Rush becomes Liverpool’s record goalscorer in a thrilling draw at Old Trafford.

Tottenham v Coventry (Monday, 8pm)

Coventry manager Frank Lampard, whose side are looking up after two excellent wins over Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, has been chatting about his opposite number Roberto De Zerbi.

I don’t know what pressure he’s under, other than seeing a coach who has come to this country and done great jobs, an incredible job at Brighton, has come and kept up Tottenham in the league at the end of the year, which is a really tough moment for them.

We’re six games into the season and it feels very early for me for those kind of conversations. But I understand that we’re all under pressure. It’s the modern world we live in.

Dominic Booth

If the 2013 FA Cup final represented a blip for the Sheikh Mansour-era Manchester City in their quest for total domination of English football, it was a historic moment for their conquerors, Wigan Athletic. Memories of that famous day at Wembley still endure for Latics’ supporters despite the relegation from the Premier League that followed. Yet watching the modern-day Wigan, who remain bottom of League One despite a 1-0 win over Reading on Saturday, makes the toppling of City in a Cup final seem an epoch ago.

The club, perhaps understandably, continue to hark back to their halcyon days. Last season they brought back Gary Caldwell – club captain in 2013 – for his second stint as manager, having led the club to promotion from this division in 2015-16. Choosing to swap Exeter for a return to the Latics last season was seen as a risky move by Caldwell, considering the shoestring budget imposed upon him by Mike Danson, the owner who is keen to sell.

Finances are ultra-tight at the Greater Manchester club amid dwindling crowds and losses on the pitch and on the balance sheet. The local businessman Danson and his family saved Wigan from liquidation in June 2023 after mismanagement from previous owners brought a points deduction and relegation from the Championship. Three successive mid-table finishes in League One under their stewardship have brought a semblance of stability, but this season they have plummeted.

The problem is the Dansons have been unable to find an ambitious buyer to take the club to the next level. Now the prospect of a first season in the fourth tier since 1996-97 is a distinct possibility, although victory against Reading – the Latics’ second league win of the campaign, sealed by Scott Hogan’s 71st-minute strike – made the picture a little rosier.

Leeds v Manchester United (2pm)

Manchester United travel to old rivals Leeds with pressure mounting on Michael Carrick. United are off to their worst league start in 40 years and were plunged further into chaos by the defender Lisandro Martínez’s attack on the club’s hierarchy over a lack of investment in the squad after Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat by Atlético Madrid. The Argentinian pulled no punches despite being one of those most culpable for a miserable start to the campaign for his part in goals conceded to Fulham and Tottenham in recent weeks. United have won just one of their opening six league games and were also dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton. Leeds last beat the Red Devils at Elland Road back in 2002, but did inflict the only home defeat of Carrick’s interim spell in charge last season when the sides met in April. There is no love lost in this footballing War of the Roses and Michael Butler dons heavy armour at the helm of our live blog while Jamie Jackson and Barney Ronay will file reports and analysis.

In the MLS, Lionel Messi scored twice to help Inter Miami to a 3-1 win at Atlanta United. Messi and Luis Suarez had combined to set up the first goal, scored by the Mexico forward Germán Berterame. Messi took matters into his own hands – well, his left foot – after half-time with two beautiful solo goals.

European roundup

Barcelona continued their perfect start to the La Liga season by routing Real Betis 5-2, while there were also wins for Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale.

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal (4.30pm)

Arsenal demolished Lille 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Mikel Arteta’s side have little wriggle room to surrender points if they are to keep pace in the title race. The Gunners sit second on 15 points and visit Forest knowing any slip could allow Manchester City to open a significant early gap. Forest stand 15th with five points and have a frightful home record. Their last league win at the City Ground came in April, a 4-1 defeat of relegated Burnley. Daniel Harris helms the blog, while David Hytner and Jonathan Wilson watch on at the City Ground.

John Brewin

WSL: Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham

An equaliser from Olivia Smith averted defeat for Arsenal, but a home draw with Birmingham did little to calm fears for Renée Slegers’s future as Gunners coach. Boos accompanied the final whistle at the Emirates Stadium, as the result left Arsenal on six points from six matches and without a win in five Women’s Super League matches, the club’s longest winless run in WSL history. They are eighth in the table, nine points behind the leaders, Manchester City, who have played one game fewer.

Birmingham opened the scoring at the start of the second half when Océane Hurtré coolly tapped in after her run from the halfway line went unchecked. Alessia Russo had hit the woodwork in the first half with a diving header, among a slew of Arsenal chances as Sophie Baggaley was kept the busier of the goalkeepers.

The sun shone. The temperature was in the high 20s. There was a mood of great conviviality. If you were struggling with the official allocation, it turned out you could just email the president of Torreense and he’d sort you out. Were these “Nuno-tickets” real? It turned out they were. Not only that, but you could sit anywhere you wanted in a stadium too big for the game and, if you happened to have gravitated to the comfortable hospitality seating at the back of the lower tier, the beer was inexplicably free.

Locals in Leiria seemed bewildered but could hardly have been more accommodating. A beer pump had been installed outside a patisserie on the Praça Francisco Rodrigues Lobo, whose owner soon found fans happy to help stack empty barrels if that facilitated the free flow of Sagres. “There was a meeting at the town hall to explain these are not hooligans,” said the owner of a radical leftist flammkuchen restaurant between the square and the cathedral. “They told us the club comes from the labour movement and I found that very interesting.” And how had she found the fans? “Noisy, but with a quirky sense of humour.”

This was everything Sunderland fans could have wished for from their first European away game in 53 years and more. They had seen other fans experience these things, and now they could tick off the checklist: complicated travel to a pretty foreign town they would otherwise never visit, a fussy Albanian referee and a great sense of togetherness and community. There was even an injury-time winner from, miracle of miracles, Noah Sadiki.

Ask any of the 5,000 or so Wearsiders who made the trip to Portugal if the Europa League was worth it and the answer would be unanimous. Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Brighton fans would surely say something similar: European football, especially for clubs who are unfamiliar with it, is a joy and an adventure. It generates experiences that will be remembered for ever, and if the cost is that the risk of relegation goes up, that’s a price worth paying. Others at those clubs may see things differently.

Premier League match reports

• Brentford 1-2 Liverpool

• Everton 0-2 Chelsea

• Fulham 1-0 Hull

• Man City 3-2 Ipswich

• Newcastle 0-1 Aston Villa

Chelsea v Tottenham (12pm)

Spurs’ bright start to the campaign ended before the international break thanks to a 6-1 drubbing by London City Lionesses. By contrast, their London rivals are on a roll under Sonia Bompastor, unbeaten in 13 WSL games and with four wins on the spin. Six consecutive clean sheets in all competitions – their longest such run since December 2021 – underline the Blues’ glowing form. Taha Hashim is on the blog, with Suzanne Wrack reporting from Stamford Bridge.

Martinez thanks well-wishers after surgery

Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez has undergone surgery after suffering a nasty head injury against Everton.

Martinez did not specify the nature of the surgery but posted a message on social media this morning.

“Thanks to everyone for the messages,” said Martinez, wearing a hospital gown. “The operation went well. The most important thing is that we won, and kept a clean sheet. In a few weeks we’ll be ‌back.”

Leeds v Man Utd (2pm)

Plenty of eyes will be on Elland Road, where under pressure Manchester United face their old friends Leeds United. Here’s what Michael Carrick had to say about Lisandro Martinez and all that.

He’s released his statement, he’s realised he’s made a mistake and that’s enough for all of us to move on with.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to our regular Sunday service. Over the next few hours we’ll have news, reaction from yesterday’s games and previews of a busy day. There are four Premier League games, these ones to be precise.

• Bournemouth v Sunderland (2pm)

• Brighton v Crystal Palace (2pm)

• Leeds v Man Utd (2pm)

• Nottm Forest v Arsenal (4.30pm)

There’s also a repeat of last season’s title decider in Scotland, where Celtic host Hearts (3pm), and six matches in the WSL:

• Chelsea v Tottenham (12pm)

• Crystal Palace v West Ham (12pm)

• Aston Villa v Liverpool (2pm)

• Charlton v Man Utd (2pm)

• London City Lionesses v Everton (2pm)

• Manchester City v Brighton (2.30pm)