Key events
VAR: Wrexham’s STōK Cae Ras (AKA the Racecourse Ground), Mansfield’s One Call Stadium (AKA Field Mill) and Port Vale’s Vale Park will all see the use of VAR for the first time in their history this weekend, with the technology in use across all grounds in the FA Cup from the fifth round onwards. It had previously only been used at Premier League grounds.
Realistically, Wrexham v Chelsea seems like the best chance of a cupset this weekend. Mansfield v Arsenal is a massive longshot, and while Norwich winning at Leeds would be a surprise, the two teams have played in the same division more often than not in recent years.
Maybe Port Vale v Sunderland? Another longshot, perhaps, given Vale are rooted to the bottom of League One.
Drop me an email with your thoughts on where a shock may occur in the FA Cup fifth round.
Wrexham star: Chelsea cup game an ‘amazing distraction’
Wrexham captain Dominic Hyam has called Saturday’s FA Cup fifth round tie at home to Chelsea an “amazing distraction” from their promotion charge as they look to make more history in the competition.
Phil Parkinson’s men have won three successive Championship games to strengthen their hold on a top six place as they aim for what would be an incredible fourth successive promotion, but will take time out to welcome the club world champions to north Wales this weekend. This is what Hyam said:
It could be deemed as a distraction, but what an amazing distraction it is. You want to play against the best teams and the best players. It’s what you work hard for, playing against Premier League teams in the FA Cup.
Hopefully we can be there one day and be a Premier league team playing someone in the FA Cup too.
Before the Forest game, the gaffer showed us a lot of clips on the history of Wrexham and some of the big games that happened here many years ago. Hopefully we can use that now, having beaten Forest as another example, so it’s another opportunity to create our own history.
Is this ‘game’s gone’ territory?
The three-minute hydration breaks, which will take place after 22 minutes of each half irrespective of the temperature during the World Cup, seem like a good idea. But more adverts? Football’s shift towards to NFL gets closer.
Thanks Luke.
Never mind Spurs, is there ever a quiet week at Nottingham Forest? Reports from the BBC are claiming Edu – the former Arsenal director of football who is now the global head of football at the City Ground – has been told to stay away from games. The 47-year-old has not, apparently, been present for Forest’s recent games against Fenerbahce, Brighton and Manchester City.
After sacking three managers in one season, could one of the chief suits at Forest now get the boot too? The club have told the BBC that Edu is working as normal.
Dominic Booth is here to monitor the Spurs sack-o-meter for the next little bit. Goodbye from me.
Will Unwin
Winger is “the hardest position to play” in modern football, according to Arne Slot, and Liverpool’s wide men would find it hard to disagree. A lot of Liverpool’s problems this season can be attributed to their attacking flair being stifled, leaving the champions 19 points adrift of Premier League leaders, Arsenal.
Liverpool return to Molineux on Friday, three days after a stoppage-time defeat by Wolves in the league. The FA Cup fifth-round fixture will be an opportunity for Slot to test his bullpen of wingers and see whether they can do better. Liverpool have scored 48 goals in 29 league matches, the average of 1.66 a game a long way short of the 2.26 when winning last season’s title.
Will your team still be in the hat after the FA Cup fifth round?
Here are some things to look out for over the weekend – starting with Wolves v Liverpool, which kicks off in under 12 hours.
“Who would have thought approaching mid-March Wolves would be the Midlands team – at least in the Premier League – with the most to cheer? Aston Villa, while fourth and still capable of securing a place in the Champions League, are wobbling. Nottingham Forest are fighting relegation. In the Championship, Coventry are at the summit but West Brom and Leicester are in danger of dropping into League One. Wolves may quietly fancy their chances when Liverpool visit Molineux for the second time in four days. Rob Edwards’s side triumphed on Tuesday and, while it got lost amid the stoppage-time drama, he made several changes with Friday’s Cup tie in mind. “Does it have to be one or the other?” Edwards said. “No, so we are going to try and win both. It is going to be a really exciting night.” Ben Fisher
Solanke: Spurs ‘need to improve now’
Dominic Solanke has urged his Tottenham teammates to take responsibility and realise the situation they are in after the club’s relegation fears heightened on Thursday.
Solanke’s 34th-minute opener against Crystal Palace momentarily put Spurs four points clear of the bottom three, but Micky van de Ven’s sending-off for a pull on Ismaïla Sarr changed the match.
Sarr scored the resulting penalty and Palace struck twice more in first-half stoppage time to consign Tottenham to a fifth consecutive defeat, extendeding their winless Premier League run to a club-record 11.
Only one point above 18th-placed West Ham, Solanke acknowledged the critical scenario and revealed a post-match meeting with the squad took place.
Spurs turn attention to the Champions League with a last-16 first leg tie at Atlético Madrid on Tuesday, but Solanke called for a group missing 10 players to step up in the Premier League.
“Another difficult one to take. Before the game we looked at the game thinking we definitely needed to win, but it’s another game that has passed now, and we need to realise the position we’re in,” Solanke told SpursPlay.
“It was difficult circumstances (with 10 men) but we’ve had a chat between us and we need to understand we need to improve, and improve now. It is difficult and hard to say with just words, we need to show it on the pitch but it’s something we need to do as soon as possible.
“We obviously need to realise the position that we are in. We know it’s been so difficult this season with the injuries, but we can’t change that now. Us players on the pitch need to take responsibility and ultimately change it as soon as possible.
“It’s difficult just speaking, but we need to realise the position we’re in and we need to fight for every game. Fight for every result and there is not many games left, so we need to start (winning) soon.
“I think we need to look forward to the next games. We need to see what is going wrong on the pitch, debrief that and change, but we’re not in a position to dwell on anything now. We need to make sure next game we’re going to be at it, see where we can improve and see what we can do to change this form around.” PA Media
The Leeds manager Daniel Farke has been given a one-match touchline ban after confronting a referee following his side’s defeat by Manchester City last weekend.
Farke was shown a red card after jogging on to the pitch to remonstrate with Peter Bankes after the 1-0 loss. The German insists he did not swear or act aggressively but decided to accept the suspension, which came with an £8,000 fine, rather than contest it and risk a two-game ban.
He will sit out Sunday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Norwich and be back in the dugout for the Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace on March 15. Farke had earlier placed his red card down to the manner that he took the field, saying: “I’m not like a butterfly or unbelievably cute when I jog. I have learned my lesson – I will never jog again.”
A statement from the Football Association read: “Daniel Farke has been sanctioned for misconduct following the Premier League fixture between Leeds and Manchester City on Saturday February 28.
“It was alleged that the manager entered the field of play at full-time to confront the match official/s, contrary to Law 12 of the Laws of the Game. Daniel Farke subsequently admitted the charge against him and accepted the standard one-match suspension and £8,000 fine.” PA Media
Emma John
The Crucible Theatre is best known for hosting snooker, but it claims a place in football history too. On its outer wall, a blue plaque marks the site where the Sheffield Rules of the game were agreed in 1858, back when it was the Adelphi hotel. So it is a fitting spot to be premiering a new play this month about the establishment – and subsequent dismantling – of women’s football in the early 20th century.
Football fans and theatregoers may not have always felt like the obvious overlap in a Venn diagram, but the past decade has been a banner one for the beautiful game on stage. We have had a farce about the 2018 World Cup bid (Three Lions), a Royal Court drama about homophobia (The Pass), a Pulitzer Prize-nominated exploration of teenage girlhood (The Wolves) and even a 16th-century folk horror (The Bounds). Plus Dear England, the still-touring smash hit that tells the story of Gareth Southgate’s tenure as manager of the national men’s team.
An Iranian state television presenter has labelled the women’s national soccer team as “wartime traitors” after the players did not sing their national anthem before their Asian Cup opener against South Korea in Australia earlier this week.
Iran are playing in the continental tournament as a military conflict escalates at home after the US and Israel launched air strikes over the weekend, killing the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Their players stood in silence when Iran’s anthem was played at the Gold Coast ahead of their 3-0 opening loss to South Korea on Monday, though they sang and saluted before a 4-0 defeat by hosts Australia three days later.
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said in a video that the players showed a lack of patriotism and their actions amounted to the “pinnacle of dishonour” in footage circulating widely on social media.
“Let me just say one thing: traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely,” Shahbazi said.
“Anyone who takes a step against the country under war conditions must be dealt with more severely. Like this matter of our women’s football team not singing the national anthem … these people must be dealt with more severely.”
Reuters has contacted the Asian Football Confederation for comment. Reuters has also contacted the Iran football federation and the team at the Asian Cup for comment.
Ahead of their game against Australia, Iran forward Sara Didar fought back tears and spoke about the war while coach Marziyeh Jafari said her players were doing their best to focus on the tournament despite concern for their families back home.
Iran face the Philippines on Sunday in their final group match. Reuters
The birds are singing and the rain has abated. Nigel Clough and his wife, Margaret, are taking their dog, Bobbie, for a long peaceful walk around the beautiful Derbyshire reservoir of Carsington Water. Looming on the horizon for the Mansfield manager is an FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Arsenal but Clough knows the importance of staying, as he puts it, in the “real world”.
Igor Tudor insisted that the “boat is going in the direction I want to go” despite a shambolic 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, deepening Tottenham’s relegation fears.
Although the atmosphere was toxic on another grim night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tudor is confident that he can steer his new side to safety. Tottenham have lost each of their three games under their interim manager and are a point above the bottom three after Micky van de Ven’s red card kickstarted an implosion against Palace.
Spurs have four Premier League games in May: Aston Villa (away), Leeds (home), Chelsea (away) and Everton at home on the final day, Sunday 24 May.
You’d normally say Leeds and Everton at home look winnable but the atmosphere at Tottenham Stadium is hardly positive. What sort of league position will they be in come May?
Jacob Steinberg
Tottenham are sinking in a sea of venom. Relegation is no longer a distant prospect for the owners of the country’s best and costliest stadium. On the contrary, it is all getting all too real. Tottenham have rolled the dice, replacing a bedraggled Thomas Frank with a bewildered Igor Tudor, but they are only a point above the bottom three and offered absolutely no evidence that they are capable of arresting the slide during this shambolic defeat to Crystal Palace.
Preamble
Tottenham are in crisis. Tottenham are almost always in crisis, but last night’s 3-1 home Premier League defeat by Crystal Palace means things got a lot more crisis-y. They are now just a point above 18th-placed Wolves and 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, 29 points to their 28. As Tottenham’s executives survey the wreckage of another season –and weigh up whether or not Igor Tudor is the right man to lead them through this full-blooded relegation fight – we’ll bring you the latest.
There is also FA Cup to look forward to this weekend, among other things, with Wolves v Liverpool kicking off the fifth-round action at Molineux at 8pm tonight. Then there’s Mansfield Town v Arsenal, Wrexham v Chelsea and Newcastle v Manchester City tomorrow, to name but three.
First things first, don’t miss Barney Ronay on (ever-deeper) crisis club Tottenham: