Key events
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Cole Palmer thought he had capitalised on a defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Giorgi Marmadashvili to fire Chelsea into a deserved lead at Anfield shortly after half-time, only for his effort to be ruled out because Marc Cucurella was a smidgen offside in the build-up. Liverpool are second best at Anfield but have got off the hook thanks to VAR on this occasion. Scott Murray has the latest …
WSL: Manchester City won the title without playing and with a game to spare when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton in midweek. This afternoon, Aston Villa are hosting Arsenal in the only Women’s Super League match being played this weekend.
Alessia Russo and Frida Maanum have struck three goals between them to give the visitors a commanding lead at Villa Park, where a win for Arsenal will guarantee them a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds. With a game in hand, they will fancy their chances of overtaking second-placed Chelsea and going straight into the group stages.
Premier League: With their destiny in their own hands, Arsenal have the advantage in the Premier League title race but will they hold off Manchester City’s challenge? Harry Paterson investigates …
Arsenal: Having forged a new spirit of togetherness and defiance among his players in recent weeks, Mikel Arteta has laughed off the tut-tutting of the ‘celebration police’ and urged all concerned to retain their focus ahead of tomorrow’s crucial match against relegation-threatened West Ham. Ed Aarons reports …
Bournemouth: The club have confirmed Álex Jiménez has been omitted from their squad for today’s game at Fulham after they opened an investigation relating to social media posts, writes Ben Fisher.
Southampton: On the eve of their Championship playoff semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough, Southampton were charged with misconduct by the English Football League after a man alleged to be a member of Tonda Eckert’s coaching staff was caught spying on a Boro training session. Louise Taylor reports …
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: It’s scoreless at half-time in the first leg of the playoff semi-final and Billy Munday is hiding in some bushes, binoculars in hand monitoring proceedings from the Riverside Stadium …
West Ham: David Sullivan, the club chair, said the move to the London Stadium showed they were not a ‘tinpot club’ but West Ham are circling the Premier League drain and now a very real relegation threat looms. Words: Jacob Steinberg.
Premier League fixtures
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Liverpool v Chelsea (12.30pm)
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Fulham v Bournemouth
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Sunderland v Manchester United
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Brighton v Wolves
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Manchester City v Brentford (5.30pm)
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View the Premier League table
Saturday clockwatch
While the pick of today’s English top flight matches doesn’t start under the clockwatch … em, watch, we have several Premier League encounters to keep us ammused before all eyes turn to events at the Etihad Stadium. Liverpool and Chelsea got the afternoon action under way, with Liverpool knowing a win will guarantee them Champions League football next season. Ryan Gravenberch struck in the sixth minute to put them 1-0 up, only for Wesley Fofana to help a poorly-defended Enzo Fernadez free-kick over the line to pull Chelsea level 10 minutes before the break.
In one of trio of three o’clock kick-offs, Bournemouth travel to Fulham, hoping to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification with a win over mid-table hosts who are also in the hunt for a European place. Brighton are also in the European qualification mix and welcome already-relegated Wolves.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland host Manchester United with the visitors all but guaranteed a third place finish in the league if they can beat Wearside hosts whose Premier League record against United is little short of dismal. We’ll have team news, build-up and updates from the Scottish Premiership and the League One playoff semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County as the domestic season hurtles towards its conclusion.