Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo believes their strength in depth is bolstering the club’s Premier League title bid.

The Netherlands international came off the bench for the 19th time in 44 appearances to score his 14th goal in Thursday’s victory over Sheffield United.

This season Jurgen Klopp’s substitutes have been involved in 24 Premier League goals (12 goals, 12 assists) which equals Manchester City’s record from 2011-12, with Gakpo combining with fellow substitute Andy Robertson for the third goal against the Blades.

It has also contributed to Liverpool winning 26 points from losing positions and Gakpo, the team’s third-highest scorer this season, attributes that to the attitude within the squad.

“That’s what this team is all about. We have so much quality, and the manager can only start 11,” he told the club’s website.

“Everybody is eager to perform well for himself, for the team and for the fans when they are coming on.

“At the beginning of the season everyone had the belief that, ‘OK, I’m not starting today but when I come on, you never know what is going to happen, and if I put all of my energy out there then beautiful things can happen’.”

With just eight league matches remaining the focus is getting sharper with every week but Gakpo said no-one was thinking ahead as that leads to scrambled thinking.

“Obviously we are aware of the situation but we just try to approach every game and stay calm,” he added.

“Obviously your mind can go all over the place if you are thinking about the end of the season, but we just have to take it game by game.

“We are doing it pretty well at the moment and we just need to stay calm and stay focused.”

The team return to Old Trafford on Sunday, where only three weeks ago they lost a pulsating FA Cup quarter-final 4-3 after Manchester United scored a winner in the final minute of extra time.

It was only the third domestic defeat of the campaign but losing to their arch-rivals, ending the hope of an unprecedented quadruple, was painful.

“Of course, we were very disappointed. Losing is never good. Especially the way we lost that day, it hurt for 24 hours after the game,” said Gakpo’s international captain Virgil van Dijk.

“We have to do better against them. They started the game well, had the crowd behind them and that gave them a push. Conceding the goals was disappointing.

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“We controlled the game but kept them alive. They made use of it in the best way possible. That’s credit to them but we are going there on Sunday to turn it around and make sure we get the three points.

“We want to win every game and that’s the focus anyway at Liverpool. We know how much this match means and how big it is for the outside world but we are in a phase where we can’t drop points and lose points.

“It never matters what happened the game before results-wise. It is on its own. We have one goal: go there and try to win the game, we will give everything.”

Philippe Clement is excited rather than nervous about Sunday’s keenly-awaited Old Firm game at Ibrox.

Rangers are one point behind reigning cinch Premiership champions Celtic with a game in hand as title race tensions increase by the week.

It is the first of eight remaining league fixtures for the Govan side, who are desperate to wrest the title back from Parkhead and it is the first home Glasgow derby for the Belgian boss.

Asked if there were any nerves from within heading into the game, Clement said: “No, I love it. I’m not nervous, I’m excited about it, I’m looking forward to it.

“This is something you need to embrace, not be nervous about. These are great afternoons.

“I have a lot of confidence in my squad and I have a lot of confidence in our fans so those are the challenging moments because you play against a good team who will do their best to beat you and there will be a lot of quality from both sides.

“It’s the only way also to grow as a player, to have challenges, to have tough games, to play against good opponents.

“If you make the next steps into that you go to another level and that’s what I want to do with this club and with the squad next season – to become better and to raise the level time after time with a lot of success and maybe some disappointments along the way because that’s also the way to success. To learn lessons out of that.

“I prefer to have success on Sunday, let’s be clear about that.”

Clement admits Rangers will need to keep an eye on Celtic captain Callum McGregor, who is expected to return from injury to the Hoops midfield where he was instrumental in guiding his side to a 1-0 win at Ibrox in September – when Michael Beale was Gers boss – and a 2-1 victory at Parkhead in December.

He said: “I don’t totally agree that he dominated the play at Celtic Park. There were moments that he was good on the ball but there were also moments where he wasn’t dominating the game.

“I think my midfielders also dominated the game in moments. I saw the first game and it’s true he was dominating but I don’t need to say too much about that.

“He’s a very good player and he’s somebody with a lot of quality.

“He’s really good on the ball and he’s very important for their team so it’s important to take that strength out of their team and that’s one part you need to do but it’s not only about one player. They have a lot of good players.”

This afternoon’s National Hunt meeting at Uttoxeter will go ahead as scheduled after the track passed a morning inspection, but racing at the Curragh has been abandoned.

Hopes of any turf racing taking place in Britain on Saturday hinged a second precautionary check at Uttoxeter at 7.30am. An initial inspection was staged at 2pm on Friday and while there was standing water in some areas, the track was described as raceable.

Officials announced a further precautionary inspection for raceday morning and were able to give the fixture the go-ahead.

The news was not so good in Ireland, with a Curragh card due to feature the Group Three Tote.ie Alleged Stakes abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Brendan Sheridan, the IHRB clerk of the course at the Curragh, said: “Following a further four millimetres of rain in the last 24 hours, unfortunately we have to cancel the fixture scheduled at the Curragh today as parts of the track are just not fit for racing.”

The disruption could continue on Sunday, with meetings at Carlisle and Downpatrick subject to morning inspections at 7am and 7.30am respectively.

Tuesday’s Flat meeting at Navan has already been cancelled, while Hexham’s jumps card on the same day also looks in serious doubt, with officials calling an inspection for 7.30am on Sunday.

Looking even further ahead, officials at Leicester have announced an inspection for 8am on Tuesday ahead of the track’s scheduled fixture on Friday, with the course currently waterlogged and unraceable.

Max Verstappen stormed to pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix as his dominance in qualifying continued.

The world champion has locked out the first spot on the grid this season and there was no answer to his pace at Suzuka.

His time of one minute 28.197 beat Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez into second place by just 0.066 seconds, while McLaren’s Lando Norris was the best of the rest.

Verstappen’s run of pole positions now stretches back to the last race of last season and he is now toasting a third pole in Japan.

The Dutchman never looked like being beaten and was quickest across all three qualifying sessions – as well as Saturday morning’s final practice.

He is aiming to get back on track after retiring in Melbourne and the rest of the field will be concerned that he could drive off into the distance from the start.

“It was quite close at the end,” Verstappen said of his latest pole lap.

“Overall this track is sensitive with the tyres and when you want to go to the limit it doesn’t always work out but what is important is being on pole. Overall, a very good day, a good starting position tomorrow and of course tomorrow is what counts.

“It is great as a team to be P1 and P2, hopefully we can keep that going tomorrow.”

Carlos Sainz won in Australia last time out and will start Sunday’s race fourth for Ferrari, with the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso fifth.

Oscar Piastri was sixth-fastest in the second McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell down in seventh and ninth, respectively.

Charles Leclerc is sandwiched between the pair, with home favourite Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10.

Tsunoda scraped into the final session, eliminating RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at the end of Q2 to the roar of the Suzuka crowd.

Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon also failed to make it through and will start 12-15th, respectively.

Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu were knocked out in Q1.

Seiya Suzuki drove in three runs and the Chicago Cubs scored five times in the second inning before holding on for a 9-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Friday's opener of a three-game series.

Michael Busch, acquired from the Dodgers in the offseason, had a solo homer against his former team to help Chicago to its fifth consecutive win. Dansby Swanson also homered for the Cubs and Ian Happ contributed a two-run triple.

The Dodgers had a four-game winning streak snapped despite Shohei Ohtani connecting for his second homer of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth inning. Teoscar Hernandez went 3 for 4 with four RBIs for Los Angeles.

After Hernandez's two-run single in the first inning gave the Dodgers an early lead, the Cubs answered and then some against Los Angeles starter Bobby Miller in the second.

Swanson got Chicago on the board with a one-out solo homer and Miller walked Busch before yielding back-to-back singles to Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal, the last of which plated Busch. Happ later walked to load the bases and Hoerner scored on Miller's wild pitch for a 3-2 Cubs lead.

Suzuki then doubled to right to knock in two more runs and extend the margin and chase Miller, who was tagged for five runs in just 1 2/3 innings.

Busch homered in the third to put Chicago up 6-2, but Ohtani followed Mookie Betts' single in the fifth with a blast into the right-field seats off Cubs' starter Kyle Hendricks to close the gap. Hendricks then walked Freddie Freeman before giving up a double to Will Smith that cut Los Angeles' deficit to 6-5.

Hendricks was charged with five runs on eight hits over four-plus innings.

Happ brought in Hoerner and Yan Gomes with a triple in the sixth to give Chicago some breathing room, then scored on Suzuki's sacrifice fly for a 9-5 lead.

Hernandez plated Freeman and Smith with a single in the seventh to get the Dodgers closer, but relievers Julian Merryweather and Adbert Alzolay shut Los Angeles out over the final two innings to protect the lead.

Rangers roll past Astros in ALCS rematch

Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien each belted three-run homers as the Texas Rangers cruised to a 10-2 rout over the Houston Astros in the American League West rivals' first meeting since last season's League Championship Series.

Garcia also had an RBI single to back 7 2/3 outstanding innings from Cory Bradford as the Rangers took the opener of this four-game Lone Star series. 

Bradford yielded just one run and two hits with no walks to help Texas end a run of eight consecutive Houston wins at the Rangers' Globe Life Park, including three during the 2023 ALCS that Texas won in seven games before later capturing the franchise's first World Series title.

The Rangers went up big early in the rematch, scoring five two-out runs off Houston starter Hunter Brown in the second inning.

Singles by Josh Smith and Semien put two runners on before Corey Seager drove in Texas' first run with a double. Semien then scored on Wyatt Langford's infield single before Garcia launched a three-run homer for a 5-0 advantage.

Smith's RBI double in the fourth and Garcia's run-scoring single in the fifth increased the margin further, and Semien made it a 10-0 lead when he homered off Brandon Bielak with two aboard in the sixth.

Bradford was removed after giving up a two-out single to Jeremy Pena in the eighth. Jake Meyers then greeted reliever Yerry Rodriguez with a two-run homer to end Texas' shutout bid.

Brown lasted just three innings and was tagged for five runs and eight hits while walking four.

Clement's homer helps Blue Jays spoil Yankees' home opener

Ernie Clement broke a scoreless tie with a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning, and five Toronto Blue Jays pitchers combined on a six-hitter to spoil the New York Yankees' home opener with a 3-0 victory.

Clement sent a pitch from Yankees reliever Caleb Ferguson into the left-field seats to help Toronto take the opener of this three-game series.

The Blue Jays tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth before ex-Yankee Chad Green worked around a pair of hits in the bottom of the inning to finish off the shutout and earn his first save of the season.

New York was dealt just its second loss in eight games this season despite an outstanding start from former Blue Jay Marcus Stroman, who yielded just three hits and struck out six in six scoreless innings.

Yusei Kikuchi was just as good for Toronto, as the left-hander permitted just four hits and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings.

Alejandro Kirk had three hits for the Blue Jays, including a single in the ninth that was followed by a base hit from Daulton Varsho. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then drew a walk to load the bases before New York reliever Nick Burdi threw a wild pitch that allowed pinch-runner Brian Serven to score for a 2-0 lead.

Burdi uncorked another wild pitch later in the inning that enabled Varsho to score Toronto's final run. 

Gary Trent Jr.'s 31 points and Immanuel Quickley's near triple-double sparked Toronto to a 117-111 win over Milwaukee on Friday, which ended the Raptors' 15-game losing streak and extended the Bucks' late-season slump.

Quickley compiled 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Trent went 7 of 15 from 3-point range to help the Raptors hand Milwaukee a fifth loss in six games. RJ Barrett contributed 26 points to Toronto's first win since March 3.

The Bucks' woes continued despite Damian Lillard returning from a three-game absence to record 36 points. Milwaukee was without its other superstar, however, as Giannis Antetokounmpo was held out with a sore hamstring.

Toronto seemed on the way towards another defeat after trailing 40-30 five minutes into the second quarter, but Trent led a 16-3 run later in the period that gave the Raptors a 56-51 advantage with a minute to go before half-time.

The Raptors eventually pushed the margin to 14 points when a Trent 3-pointer created a 77-63 lead midway through the third quarter, but the Bucks closed the gap later in the period. Lillard capped a 10-2 spurt with a 3-pointer that cut Milwaukee's deficit to 87-84 in the final minute of the third.

Milwaukee had a chance to pull ahead in the late stages, but Khris Middleton missed a potential go-ahead 3-point attempt with the Raptors up 113-111 with 20.4 seconds left. Quickley then made a pair of free throws and the Bucks were held scoreless the rest of the way.

Middleton finished with 21 points and Bobby Portis tallied 19 points with 10 rebounds off the bench for the Bucks.

Washington stars as Mavericks end Warriors' winning streak

P.J. Washington capped a 32-point night with a tie-breaking layup with 4.5 seconds left that lifted the Dallas Mavericks to a 108-106 victory over Golden State which halted the Warriors' season-high six-game winning streak.

After Golden State erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit on Stephen Curry's jumper with 13 seconds remaining that tied the game at 106-106, Dallas' Tim Hardaway Jr. found a cutting Washington for an inside basket that put the Mavericks back in front.

Klay Thompson then missed a 3-point shot just before the final buzzer as Dallas held on for its 13th win in its last 15 games.

Washington finished 12 of 18 from the field while stepping up with the Mavericks holding out star guard Luka Dončić in the second of a back-to-back, and Dallas also received a 26-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist effort out of Kyrie Irving.

Curry ended with 28 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter as the Warriors battled back from being down 98-88 with under six minutes left.

Golden State also rallied from a slow start, as Dallas built a 29–13 lead less than eight minutes into the game. The Warriors closed out the first quarter on a 19-2 run, however, to take a 32-31 edge into the second.

The game remained tight until the Mavericks scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to open up an 84-76 lead with under 11 minutes left to play.

Fast start propels Suns past Timberwolves

The Phoenix Suns used a quick start and a strong game from Grayson Allen to continue their late-season surge with a 97-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Allen gave Phoenix a lift on a night in which All-Star Devin Booker was held to 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting, as the former Duke star recorded 23 points along with eight rebounds.

Kevin Durant added 22 points in the Suns' third consecutive win, while Jusuf Nurkic compiled 11 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.

Booker did have 13 assists and scored the first five points of a 15-0 Phoenix run to open the game. The Suns never trailed at any point, as they shot 55 per cent in the first quarter to build a 32-20 lead and carried a 57-41 advantage into half-time.

Minnesota, on the other hand, struggled to score throughout the evening and fell behind by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter.

The Timberwolves shot just 38.8 per cent for the game while being dealt just their second defeat in their past eight outings. All-Star Anthony Edwards was 6 of 19 while being limited to 17 points, while starting forward Naz Reid managed just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Monday's loss dropped Minnesota into a tie with the Denver Nuggets for first place in the Western Conference.

Scotland’s Katie Archibald added Commonwealth champion to her long list of accolades on this day in 2018.

Archibald, an Olympic, world and European champion in various disciplines, took gold in the women’s individual pursuit in Brisbane, having broken the Games record in a blistering qualifying session.

Her only previous Commonwealth medal was the bronze she won on home soil in the points race in Glasgow four years earlier.

Archibald, then aged 24, said before racing began gold was the only colour she wanted and swiftly delivered, covering the 3,000m distance in three minutes 26.088 seconds to beat Australian Rebecca Wiasak.

She had set the record at 3:24.119 in a qualifying session which saw three riders go under the previous record set by England’s Joanna Rowsell Shand in Glasgow.

“It means a lot, especially in the individual pursuit because it’s not an Olympic event,” said Archibald. “2014 always stands out as a big year for Joanna Rowsell to kind of echo, because she had the title and the Games record.

“You look at the success she carried from that point in her career. I’d be very proud.”

Fired up by his sister’s performance, Archibald’s brother John then added another medal to Scotland’s tally with silver in the men’s 4,000m individual pursuit as England’s Charlie Tanfield clinched gold.

“I watched her heat run and the pressure was on her,” said John Archibald.

“The Commonwealth Games record went and they all went better than her personal best so she had her back against the wall but she pulled out and delivered on the day and that got me going.”

Max Verstappen set the pace in final practice ahead of qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion retired last time out in Australia but he was once again top of the timesheets at Suzuka.

His time of one minute 29.563 was unmatched, with Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez getting closest to the championship leader but still having to settle for a gap of 0.269 seconds.

Mercedes lost both cars at the previous race but looked in good shape here as George Russell went third fastest with Lewis Hamilton next in line.

There was plenty of running in the hour-long session after both of Friday’s practices were affected – one by a red flag and the other by rain.

Fernando Alonso was fifth fastest with Lando Norris’ McLaren sixth and Australia’s race winner Carlos Sainz seventh for Ferrari.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc was down in 10th and was left fuming with his garage after the mistimed his final run on the track, cutting short his chances of improving.

Both Williams drivers were able to run after Logan Sargeant’s car was fixed following a big shunt on Friday – although the American was down in 19th place.

England boss Sarina Wiegman conceded she was “disappointed” after her defending champions could only manage a 1-1 draw with Sweden to kick off their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign at Wembley.

Alessia Russo nodded home Lauren James’ delivery to open the scoring in the 24th minute, but it was the visitors who looked likelier to score as half-time approached.

The Lionesses preserved their lead until the 64th minute, when England’s concentration switched off and allowed Fridolina Rolfo to drift in and nod substitute Rosa Kafaji’s delivery past Mary Earps.

Wiegman said: “I think this group is really tough. Of course I’m disappointed, because we always want to win.

“I think we scored a great goal, there was momentum in the game, we played well and we kept the ball a little longer.

“Second half I thought the goal was really unnecessary. They scored because we gave away a throw-in and from that throw-in we weren’t able to take out the cross and they scored from that. That was disappointing.

“As we see Sweden is a very tough opponent. I do think we could have done a couple of things better, but also showed Sweden gave us a hard time at the moment.

“We just want to learn from these games, we want to do better every game as other countries want to do too. I think it just shows how close and how tight our competition is.”

England were perhaps lucky that Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius, who provided the winning strike in the Gunners’ League Cup final victory on Sunday, did not decide another contest this week.

She came achingly close when she found herself one-on-one with Earps shortly after the equaliser, instead directing her effort just wide of the England goalkeeper’s right post.

Wiegman made four second-half changes and staged a late rally, but were unable to find the finishing touch before the whistle blew on three minutes of added time.

Leah Williamson, who captained the Lionesses to their European triumph at Wembley in 2022, watched the entirety of the contest from the bench, almost a year out from her last England appearance.

The Arsenal defender, who was ruled out of last summer’s World Cup after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament, has experienced a number of setbacks since returning to the Gunners in January.

Wiegman, however, was quick to confirm her decision to bench the 27-year-old had nothing to do with fitness concerns that plagued Williamson in the build-up to these qualifiers, after she was substituted in the second half of the League Cup final.

She firmly stated: “She is not injured otherwise she would not have been in the squad, and I would have told you that she was injured.”

The England boss also disagreed with speculation by some pundits that she had prematurely substituted her goalscorer, who was swapped for Chloe Kelly in the 79th minute, explaining: “Alessia played well but tactically we wanted to change a couple of things. We brought Lauren Hemp inside. We just wanted something a little bit different.”

The last time these two sides faced each other was in the semi-finals of Euro 2022, when Russo memorably scored an audacious backheel in the 4-0 victory to earn a nomination for FIFA’s goal of the year.

Friday’s meeting was a much closer affair, with Sweden boss Peter Gerhardsson later revealing he was pleased by the way his side’s plan to shut down England midfielder Keira Walsh – who wore the captain’s armband – had worked.

He said: “It’s one point each now, and it’s five more games. We don’t know what is going to happen.”

Plymouth caretaker boss Kevin Nancekivell has called for his side to keep up the good work for the final five games of the season after they picked up a valuable 1-0 Championship victory at Rotherham.

The defeat rubberstamped Rotherham’s return to League One after two seasons in the second tier, while Argyle had been heading towards the trapdoor themselves following a hapless run under former boss Ian Foster.

Nancekivell and Neil Dewsnip replaced him in the hotseat this week and got a much-needed win with Bali Mumba’s first-half strike seeing them move four points above the drop zone.

He said: “I am relieved – it’s been a traumatic week and to come and get three points is massive for us.

“We are really, really pleased. It’s only three points and there is a lot of work to do but we look forward to Tuesday against QPR.

“They are all huge games now. We know what we have got to do, recover and prepare properly and hopefully get a repeat performance. We are all in it together.

“There was a lot on the game. It was a high-pressurised game and when it is, you lose that little bit of quality.

“It’s always nervous at 1-0 and the longer it goes on you get a bit fearful but you can’t be too greedy.”

Mumba’s strike just after the half-hour mark proved decisive. He was picked out by Argyle’s star man Morgan Whittaker at the back post and managed to squeeze his shot beyond Viktor Johansson.

Rotherham then went out with a whimper and never really threatened to get back in the game.

It was the visitors pushing for a goal late in the game and they missed a host of chances with substitute Ben Waine striking the post and then being denied when clean through by Johansson.

Rotherham head coach Leam Richardson, who has only won twice since replacing Matt Taylor in December, said: “That doesn’t represent me. I am not hiding away from anything, I am at the front of it and I take the full blame.

“I also take responsibility for making Rotherham United a better football club. The biggest positive is that we know about it and we know the areas where we need to get better. I have never shied away from a challenge.

“We are in a competitive league and we can’t hide away from that.

“It was a poor game. They deserved to win. I thought we would be a better version of ourselves tonight.

“There’s a couple who can still hold their head up to a level.

“It’s not one game, it’s not the Plymouth game. It’s been 40 games.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted he was “trying really hard to not get down on himself” after reaching the final of the Tour Championship in thrilling fashion with a 10-7 victory against Gary Wilson.

World number 13 Wilson knocked out Mark Selby and Zhang Anda to reach the final four and he made a brilliant recovery in the first session, coming from 4-2 down to level it at 4-4.

An end-to-end tussle saw the score swing back and forth in the evening session, but O’Sullivan eventually pulled ahead, sealing victory with a century break and he admitted post-match that he was trying to “change his mindset” while playing.

“I’m just trying really hard to not get down on myself, it’s hard but I’m trying to sort of change my mindset,” he told ITV4.

“It’s not easy, maybe two weeks ago I’d have mentally thrown the towel in just because I wasn’t flowing but I just thought, ‘just keep going, keep going’ and just focus on some of the positives that might be round the corner.

O’Sullivan has been in conversations with psychiatrist Steve Peters and hopes to see his game “flow again”.

“(I’ve spoken with him) every day, three times a day, sometimes four times,” he said. “I’ve just got to commit to it now for a good year to try and get myself out of this sort of hole I’ve got myself in mentally with the obsession of the game, tinkering.

“I know I’m never going to stop tinkering, but I have to somehow get sort of my head strong enough to be able to deal with it and not go too deep into that horrible murky world that it is.

“Every sportsman – maybe golfers, tennis players, snooker players – I suppose we all do it, but I went so deep into that it’s like detoxing myself from it.

“It’s not going to happen straight away, so if I want to get out of it I’ve got to put a lot of hard work in.

“It kind of felt like I’ve had the yips in a way – mentally, physically – it feels like you get scared to even want to go and play.

“That’s not a nice place to be, so I’ve got nothing left to do other than to try and get myself mentally out of it and hopefully my game will start to flow again, maybe.”

Wilson had the advantage in the opening frames, posting 73 and 62 before O’Sullivan began to take a grip on the match.

He hit 102 in the third frame and the momentum was firmly with him as he took the following three frames – hitting 110 in the fifth – to take the lead.

However, Wilson clawed his way back into the game with 83 and 84 to level going into the evening session.

O’Sullivan experienced a chalk hit in the first frame of the evening session, allowing Wilson to swoop back in and take the frame, but O’Sullivan quickly levelled in the following frame and took the next two to lead 7-5.

An end-to-end tussle saw Wilson charge straight out of the blocks after the interval in spectacular style, taking back-to-back frames with a huge 135 followed by 96 in just 24 minutes.

However, O’Sullivan made another comeback, scoring 77 and 98 before securing his spot in the final in style with a 129 clearance.

He will meet either Mark Williams or Mark Allen in Sunday’s final, with their semi-final taking place on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola is refusing to look beyond Manchester City’s visit to Crystal Palace despite Real Madrid looming as a Selhurst Park slip-up would leave their Premier League title hopes in tatters.

A win for City in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off will move them level on points with leaders Liverpool, who head to Old Trafford for a clash with arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

Guardiola accepts a draw or defeat would all but end their aim of claiming a fourth-successive title so even the prospect of a trip to the Spanish capital on Tuesday evening will not divert his attention.

City are also defending their Champions League crown and take on Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the quarter-final first leg but Guardiola will only start thinking about the clash after facing Palace.

“Honestly, if we were 18 points in front of second in the Premier League, I would have two eyes on Madrid but it’s not the case,” Guardiola said.

“We’re third, not far away from the top of the Premier League, but if we drop points it will be almost impossible.

“We have to win that game and after that we will have more time, not for recovery, but to prepare. So I have not had much time to see Real Madrid.

“When we have been fighting for nine or 10 months for the Premier League title, why should I be distracted now from this important game against Palace, when the distance is so close?”

Guardiola is mulling over whether to restore Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne to his starting line-up in south London after benching the pair in the 4-1 midweek victory over Aston Villa.

City will be favourites to beat a side that have claimed just two points from their last 12 and sit 14th in the table but Palace hit back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium in mid-December.

Guardiola, who could welcome back goalkeeper Ederson this weekend but will be continue to be without defenders Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake, is aware he cannot take the threat of the Eagles lightly if City are to remain in contention for a trophy he continues to prize above all others.

“I love it,” he said. “Of the domestic trophies, it is the most important. I’m not going to say the Champions League is not nice, of course it is.

“We have it and know how it feels in our soul and we are at peace, for the fact we’ve got it. But (the Premier League) is just the nicest because it’s more difficult, there are more games, every week, two or three games.

“The Champions League, of course, is important, but it depends on something you perhaps can’t control.

“Both are incredibly important, but the Premier League proves a lot. It shows the mentality of the teams, being there all the time for many, many years.

“From my education at home or whatever, every day you have to do the best – that means a lot to me personally.”

Phil Foden took his tally for the season to 14 goals with a hat-trick against top-four hopefuls Villa and Guardiola admitted he could be in the running for Premier League player of the season.

“He’s a contender like many others, many players play a good season,” Guardiola added. “He can be a contender for sure.”

Mikel Arteta pointed to Arsenal’s growing maturity as a key factor in driving their Premier League title challenge ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Brighton.

Victory at the Amex Stadium will see the Gunners finish Saturday back on top of the table with leaders Liverpool not in action until Sunday, as they chase a first league crown since 2004.

At 20 years it is the club’s longest streak without winning the top flight since they were first champions in 1930-31.

The last two decades have seen Arsenal consistently written off as being psychologically lacking when it comes to the title-race home straight.

There have been a number of significant collapses in form, particularly during spring. In early 2008 they led the table by six points late in February before finishing third, while the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons also saw points thrown away during the run-in.

In 2013-14 they spent more days on top of the league than any other side yet still finished fourth, and last season they were again dominant for much of the campaign before being overtaken in April by Manchester City.

However, with eight games to go in the title race, Arteta is confident something has changed.

“The team has matured,” he said. “They has found their own rhythm, their own leadership and a way of managing certain things.

“They know we are always there to support. We guide them, you always have to be vigilant that what you expect to happen is happening. They are a great group, they are easy.

“It’s about trust. A culture where everybody is very clear what we expect from each other; where everybody does what we expect when I’m there, when I’m not there, when someone is looking or when they’re not looking.

“Trust has to be built every day. You can have an incident or a situation, you can lose it straight away. It takes so much to build it. That’s why you have to be on it every single day. And you need good people.”

Their most recent outing – a 2-0 victory over Luton at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday – saw visiting manager Rob Edwards describe Arteta’s side as being “the perfect team” with no obvious weakness.

With previous Arsenal teams having been regularly accused of being soft and having insufficient physicality despite their bold attacking play, there is a clear sense of that missing toughness having been found.

“In this league, every game demands different things,” said Arteta, whose team have won nine of their last 10 in the league.

“Certain teams try to get you to play a certain game and, when they do, you have to play it in the best possible way. You have to have the adaptability to do that.

“That’s what we’re trying to do, to evolve as a team, be comfortable and be dominant as well.

“You have to evolve the team, you have to understand what you want. You have to have the players to do it and the knowledge to explain it.”