Jack Grealish believes Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea gives Manchester City the perfect opportunity to put their Champions League agony behind them.
City’s hopes of successfully defending their European crown – and winning a second successive treble – were shattered on Wednesday as they were beaten by Real Madrid on penalties.
The defeat was particularly galling given that City had dominated the second leg of the quarter-final tie at the Etihad Stadium, but they have little time to dwell on their misfortune.
Attention has immediately shifted to Wembley and a key clash in City’s bid to retain one of the other two trophies they won in glorious fashion last season.
Midfielder Grealish said: “We’ve not been used to losing, especially in the last couple of years. We always knew it was going to be a tough game against one of the best teams in the world.
“It went down to penalties and it’s never nice to go out on penalties. Luckily enough for us we’ve got another game within three days where we can go and put it right.
“Sometimes it’s better when it’s like that. It’s better when you can put it right straight away rather than waiting and dwelling on it for a couple of weeks.
“It’s the perfect game for us to put it right.”
As well as being favourites for the FA Cup, City have put themselves in a strong position to win the Premier League for a fourth year in succession and a sixth time in seven years.
Grealish said: “This year, if we win the Premier League and the FA Cup it would be a hugely successful season. Hopefully we can go on and do that and that’s our aim.”
It has been a frustrating campaign in a personal sense for Grealish, although he has regained form and his place in the side in recent games.
The 28-year-old England international, who excelled in the treble-winning season, struggled to find consistency after an injury in the autumn and was then hindered by further fitness issues.
“It’s been difficult,” he said. “Especially on the back of last year, I had such a good season.
“At the moment, I feel good and I feel confident. At the start of the season, I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like I was playing well really. I didn’t really feel that fit if I’m honest.
“But I feel good now. I feel fit and I feel like I’m playing with good confidence. Hopefully I can bring that into the end of the season.
“We’ve still got a lot to play for. The season is nowhere near over yet. I still feel like I’ve got a big part to play.”
Grealish spoke recently about his determination to repay manager Pep Guardiola for guiding him through his difficult spell and he remains keen to deliver for the City boss.
He said: “I’ve got a really good relationship with him. I’ve said before that he’s the best manager in the world, in my opinion.
“I’ve had my own problems, even off the pitch, and he’s always spoken to me and been there for me.
“Hopefully, I can help him and he can help me towards the end of the season.”
Lopetegui ready to ease pressure as he targets first home win
Julen Lopetegui says he expects to be under pressure after West Ham's recent struggles at home but hopes to put that right against Ipswich Town.
West Ham have won just one of their six Premier League matches so far, away to Crystal Palace, but have lost all three of their home fixtures, conceding eight goals and scoring twice.
Having failed to win any of their last four in the league, along with a heavy 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup before last week's draw at Brentford, Lopetegui is coming under a little pressure already.
However, the Spaniard is not fazed by that, explaining his team are working hard to change their fortunes at the London Stadium.
"Always it's very important to win, and that's why we work hard every day. We want to win for sure," Lopetegui said.
"Ipswich are a good team, and all our thoughts are on Saturday.
"Our job is to live under pressure, and it is normal because we haven't won at home yet. That's why we are working, to try and win on Saturday against Ipswich."
Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys are still searching for their first win since being promoted back to the top-flight.
There is reason to be optimistic though, as Ipswich have drawn each of their last four outings, including 2-2 against Aston Villa last weekend.
Kieran McKenna is expecting another tough test but knows his players will show their competitiveness once again.
"I know it is another big game, another big challenge and one to look forward to," McKenna said.
"Let's hope we can make it really competitive. I don't think there [will be] many weeks this year where we are going to blow teams out of the water, so we need to work really, really hard to be competitive.
"We hope we can be really clinical in our execution when we have our moments and defend their moments well to give ourselves a chance to get a result."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
West Ham – Tomas Soucek
Tomas Soucek netted his 29th Premier League goal for West Ham United in their 1-1 draw with Brentford, overtaking Milan Baros (28) into second place for the top Czechia scorers in Premier League history.
He is now only behind Patrik Berger (38 goals), a record he will be keen to start chasing down.
Ipswich Town – Sam Morsy
No player has more Premier League yellow cards this season than Ipswich midfielder Sam Morsy (four) and was perhaps lucky not to receive a second against Aston Villa last weekend.
Since his Ipswich league debut in September 2021, only one player has more yellow cards in the league in England's top four tiers than Morsy's total of 40, but given his importance to McKenna's side, the manager will be hoping he can avoid another.
MATCH PREDICTION: WEST HAM WIN
West Ham have lost just one of their eight Premier League meetings with Ipswich (W3 D4), a 1-0 home loss in March 2001. Their last such meeting was a 3-1 victory for the Hammers in March 2002.
However, Ipswich won their last two league meetings with West Ham, beating them 1-0 away and 5-1 at home in the 2011-12 Championship campaign.
West Ham have lost their three home Premier League games this season, the first time they have started a season with three home defeats. The Hammers have not suffered four defeats in a row in the top-flight at the London Stadium since the final four home matches of Manuel Pellegrini's reign in November-December 2019.
Indeed, West Ham have won just five points in their opening six Premier League matches this season (W1 D2 L3), the fifth time in the last nine seasons they have had five or fewer points at this stage of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Ipswich are winless in all six Premier League games this season (D2 L4), only once starting a top-flight season with a longer winless start, in 1969-70 (seven games).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
West Ham – 51.3%
Draw – 23.8%
Ipswich Town – 24.9%
Bremer to have surgery after suffering ACL injury
Juventus centre-back Bremer will undergo surgery after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury against RB Leipzig.
The Brazil international was forced off six minutes into Juve's 3-2 win over Leipzig on Wednesday, with the club confirming the extent of his injury on Thursday.
Bremer has been key to Thiago Motta's side so far this season, playing every minute in Serie A with the team yet to concede a single goal in six matches.
Among his team-mates, he has played the most minutes (540), making the most interceptions (six) and blocks (11).
Juventus were also dealt another blow, with midfielder Nico Gonzalez suffering a thigh muscle injury.
"Bremer and Nico Gonzalez underwent diagnostic tests which revealed an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the left knee for the former and a low-grade injury to the rectus femoris of the right thigh for the latter," the club said in a statement.
"Bremer will undergo surgery in the coming days."
Vancouver Whitecaps v Minnesota United: Togetherness is key for hosts, says Veselinovic
Vancouver Whitecaps defender Ranko Veselinovic believes their togetherness will get them through their tough spot as they prepare to welcome Minnesota United in MLS.
The Whitecaps have already clinched a playoff spot, but have struggled in recent weeks, drawing one and losing three, with their last league win coming against San Jose Earthquakes on September 15.
They sit seventh in the Western Conference, with Minnesota just one place and one point below them, and Veselinovic hopes they can find a solution to their recent blip to put a bigger gap between them.
"We feel like we can do better," he said. "Seattle was a really poor performance, so we need to find a way to be better on Saturday.
"Now it's all about the mental side. We need to find a way, we don't know how yet, but we need to push through.
"The most important thing is to stay together in the locker room and get sharper in the duels and wanting to put in a better performance."
Meanwhile, Minnesota drew 0-0 with Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, failing to make it three wins on the bounce.
However, the draw was enough to clinch their playoff spot with two games remaining, though head coach Eric Ramsay is not going to ease up on the team.
"We really want to make sure that we focus on us, the upcoming games, and I've said from day one of this trip that we came here with a real sense of a mission and purpose," Ramsay said.
"We want to make sure that when we play that final home game that we are really playing for something with something secured."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Pedro Vite
Vancouver failed to score in an MLS game for the first time since early September and struggled to assert themselves in front of goal.
Pedro Vite showed their biggest threat, registering the most shots on target (two), had one of their three big chances, and had the most final third entries on the team (11).
Minnesota United – Bongokuhle Hlongwane
Minnesota also drew a blank in their most recent outing, but despite an underwhelming performance, Bongokuhle Hlongwane caused some problems.
He was responsible for 0.42 of their 0.77 expected goals (xG) and had the joint-most shots, but their top scorer could not find a breakthrough.
MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN
Vancouver are unbeaten in their last three matches against Minnesota (W2 D1), scoring three times in both of those wins, while they also got the better of the Loons in a pre-season friendly in February.
After a three-match unbeaten streak in MLS straight after the Leagues Cup break, the Whitecaps are now winless in four (D1 L3). They also drew the Canadian Championship final before prevailing on penalties last month.
Meanwhile, Minnesota have lost just one of their last six matches (W4 D1), but are unbeaten in their last three, keeping a clean sheet in each of those after a run of five without a shutout in the league.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 46.8%
Draw – 26.4%
Minnesota United – 26.8%
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