Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has told his players their resounding Premier League victory over Brighton will count for nothing if they do not beat Leicester to clinch a place in the Champions League.
The Magpies survived a test of their top-four credentials at St James’ Park on Thursday evening when they defended a 2-1 lead in the face of a determined Seagulls backlash before eventually killing off the game to win 4-1.
As a result, they climbed four points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool with both clubs having two games left, and will play in the Champions League next season if either the Reds lose at home to Aston Villa on Saturday or they beat the Foxes on Tyneside two days later.
Asked if he could put into words how big a win it was, Howe said: “It’s a huge win for us.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but it won’t mean anything if we don’t back it up on Monday night and that’s an incredibly difficult game. After the high of today and what we’ve given in the match, we know we have to repeat it.
“Nothing is given to you in the Premier League. We know Leicester’s qualities, so we have to be very calm, recover well and we have to have the same focus and mentality that we had today.”
Newcastle looked to be cruising to victory when Deniz Undav’s own goal and a second from Dan Burn sent them in at the break 2-0 ahead, although Undav made amends within six minutes of the restart to spark something of a fightback before Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes struck at the death.
Howe’s side cannot now finish any lower than fifth and are assured of Europa League football at worst, but the 45-year-old is still not allowing himself to get excited.
He said: “Honestly I don’t [get excited]. I take great pride in the performance tonight. I’ll go back home, watch the game and I’ll be, I hope, really proud of what I see, really enthused by the players delivering a brilliant product to watch for our supporters.
“The excitement stuff doesn’t really exist in this job because you know there’s just another game and another challenge and it won’t stop even if we hit our goal. There’ll just be another challenge and it will hit us in the face next season.”
Liverpool’s seven-game winning run had piled the pressure on the Magpies, although it is Jurgen Klopp’s men who now have little or no margin for error.
However, Howe said: “We’re not looking at any other teams or trying to make any sort of statement, we just needed to win for us and that will be the same against Leicester.”
For Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, there was disappointment as he was forced to make changes to the side which beat Arsenal at the weekend, although they too have a prize within their grasp.
The Seagulls are currently sixth on 58 points, one clear of Tottenham and Aston Villa but with a game in hand.
De Zerbi, whose team host Southampton and Manchester City before finishing the campaign with a trip to Villa, said: “I think we will be able to qualify anyway for Europe. We have to win two games. We will play in our stadium and with our fans in our stadium, we play with 12 players.
“It is a difficult period, but to qualify for Europe, we have to be stronger than everything because if we do, we reach a historic target, a big target, and we have right motivation and energy.”
West Ham are one game from ending their 43-year trophy drought after they kept their heads to sink AZ Alkmaar 1-0 and reach the final of the Europa Conference League.
Substitute Pablo Fornals scored a stoppage-time winner to prompt ugly scenes at the final whistle, with West Ham players and coaching staff trying to stop AZ ultras from attacking away fans behind the dug-out.
It was a shameful end to a battling performance from the Hammers as they secured a 3-1 victory on aggregate.
A year earlier West Ham had lost the plot at the same stage of the Europa League, crashing out at Eintracht Frankfurt after Aaron Cresswell was sent off and David Moyes booted a ball at a ball boy.
But this time West Ham held on to their composure, and no ball kids were harmed, as they booked a first European final in 47 years, and the chance of some first silverware since the 1980 FA Cup, in Prague on June 7.
It was no mean feat despite the less-than illustrious opposition. AZ have a phenomenal home record in Europe, unbeaten in their previous 25 matches, and had only lost here once to an English team – Moyes’ Everton in 2007 which ended a run of 32 games without defeat.
Since then Manchester United, Arsenal, Valencia and Lazio have all tried, and failed, to win at the AFAS stadium, a ground that is such a fortress it even has a moat surrounding it.
So West Ham’s 2-1 lead from the first leg always looked slim, and none more so than when AZ dangerman Jesper Karlsson had a shot deflected over with only one minute on the clock.
But West Ham, cheered on in the away end by former striker Andy Carroll held their nerve and allowed AZ to keep possession and play in front of them, while looking to pounce on the break.
Thilo Kehrer began to get some joy down the right and when his cross was headed away from Michail Antonio it fell to Jarrod Bowen, who lashed his shot wide.
Lucas Paqueta twice tried to send Antonio through on goal, the first after a 40-yard run up the pitch, but twice the pass was too long.
Yet the Brazilian was slowly exerting his influence on the match and when he collected the ball from Antonio, he cut inside on his left foot and his curling shot from the edge of the box just clipped the far post.
West Ham hearts were in mouths before the interval, however, when a low cross from Milos Kerkez rolled menacingly across the six-yard box before it was half-cleared and the follow-up from Vangelis Pavlidis was deflected wide.
Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola had little to do in the first half, but he was tested early in the second and held a drive from Sven Mijnans before tipping a Pavlidis shot over the top and saving from Pantelis Hatzidiakos.
Likewise home keeper Mathew Ryan, who then had to paw away a 20-yard effort from Declan Rice.
West Ham had fallen foul of some of Europe’s dark arts last season, but here they were holding their own; Tomas Soucek and Kehrer were both booked for timewasting at throw-ins.
Nayef Aguerd sliced a chance to put the tie to bed wide as the clock ticked down, but in stoppage time Fornals raced clear of a tiring AZ defence and slotted the ball past Ryan in front of the delirious 900-odd travelling supporters.
Moyes, Rice and others then had to leap over advertising hoardings and try to prevent the hooligans from attacking the West Ham friends and family area behind the dug-out.
It was not a nice ending, but when the dust settles Rice, destined to leave West Ham this summer, will know he now has the chance to join Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds as the only captains to lift a major trophy for the club, and what a parting gift that would be.
Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes served up a grandstand finish to take Newcastle to the brink of Champions League football with a resounding victory over Brighton.
Having seen Deniz Undav drag the Seagulls back into the game after his own goal and Dan Burn’s towering header had given the Magpies a 2-0 half-time lead, Wilson scored his 18th of the season and then set up Guimaraes to wrap up a 4-1 win at the death in front of a delirious crowd of 52,122 at St James’ Park.
Eddie Howe’s men will be assured of a top-four finish if Liverpool lose to Aston Villa on Saturday – even a draw might ultimately prove enough as a result of their superior goal difference – but can complete the job themselves in any case if they beat struggling Leicester on Tyneside on Monday evening.
For much of the game, this was not the Brighton which effectively ended Arsenal’s title challenge on Sunday, partly because of the absence of Levi Colwill, Alexis Mac Allister, Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson from the starting line-up, but largely as a result of the relentless pressure exerted by their opponents.
Joe Willock saw an early cross hacked away to Miguel Almiron, whose shot was blocked at source as the Magpies found their rhythm, and Fabian Schar drilled a ninth-minute free-kick straight at the grateful Jason Steele.
Willock fired just wide from Almiron’s pull-back seconds later, and the Paraguay international cleared the target by some distance from a tight angle after the former Arsenal midfielder had returned the favour.
Such was the Magpies’ early intensity that the Seagulls were struggling to play their way out of their own half, much to manager Roberto De Zerbi’s agitation, although keeper Nick Pope was tested for the first time by Danny Welbeck’s 16th-minute attempt after Kaoru Mitoma had picked him out.
But the pressure finally told with 23 minutes gone when Trippier drilled the latest of a series of corners to the near post and in his attempt to clear it, Undav could only glance the ball into his own net.
Burn saw a sharply-executed 34th-minute shot on the turn deflected wide after the visitors failed to deal with another Trippier corner and although Mitoma chanced his arm with an ambitious 37th-minute strike which failed to engage Pope, Newcastle extended their lead deep into added time.
With Joelinton still seething at a Moises Caicedo challenge which went unpunished by referee Robert Jones, Tripper took full advantage of a decision which did go his side’s way seconds later, curling a free-kick on to the head of Burn, who powered it past the helpless Steele.
Almiron passed up a chance to put the game beyond the visitors within five minutes of the restart when he shot straight at Steele from Willock’s knock-down, and the miss proved costly within seconds when Undav ran on to Billy Gilmour’s through-ball and beat Pope to make amends for his earlier contribution.
Mac Allister, Enciso and Ferguson were swiftly thrown into the mix and just as quickly, Willock departed clutching his hamstring and Elliot Anderson joined the fray.
But there was no let-up as the home side saw penalty appeals waved away after Burn appeared to have his shirt tugged and Steele made a superb save to keep out Alexander Isak’s header.
Enciso glanced Caicedo’s cross wide of Pope’s far post as the game became increasingly open, but the Magpies launched a devastating late assault to wrap up the win.
Wilson added a third when he rounded off an 89th-minute counter-attack sparked by Almiron before setting up Guimaraes to make it 4-1 in injury-time.
Jurgen Klopp’s poor disciplinary record and his failure to heed previous conduct warnings were aggravating factors which led to the Liverpool manager receiving a two-match touchline ban for implying bias by referee Paul Tierney.
Klopp was fined £75,000 and will not be in the technical area for their final Premier League home game of the campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday but the second match of his punishment has been suspended until the end of next season.
The German admitted a charge of improper conduct in that his comments about Tierney implied bias, questioned the integrity of the referee and brought the game into disrepute.
Klopp, who was booked for celebrating in the face of fourth official John Brooks after Diogo Jota’s added-time goal in the 4-3 win over Tottenham last month, suggested in post-match interviews what Tierney had said to him in issuing the caution was “not OK” and went on to add “we have our story, history, with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us”.
The independent disciplinary commission, in its written reasons, said the Professional Game Match Officials Limited viewed Klopp’s comments as an “unwarranted attack on Mr Tierney’s integrity” and so immediately issued a statement in defence of the official.
Klopp later apologised, clarifying his words and denying he had questioned Tierney’s integrity and while that, and his letter to the commission, were deemed “considerable mitigation” it was his history which counted against him.
“Mr Klopp has a poor record for disciplinary offences, having appeared before commissions on three occasions in the past five years,” said the commission in its written reasons.
“In November 2022 in an appeal in which two members of the present commission sat, Mr Klopp received a touchline ban, a fine and a warning.
“Those sanctions plainly failed to deter Mr Klopp from committing nine similar breaches of the rules. Mr Klopp is a high-profile individual in the football world. He must have known that what he said would attract widespread publicity.
“He should have realised that it was incumbent on him to restrain himself and to behave properly.
“The statements that Mr Klopp made/adopted were not limited to comments on the immediate match, but extended to allegations of persistent bias against a blameless referee.
“The intense media interest that followed Mr Klopp’s remarks was highly damaging.”
Klopp created a problem for himself when he charged down the touchline following Jota’s goal after Tottenham’s 90th-minute equaliser had cancelled out Liverpool’s earlier 3-0 lead.
From evidence obtained from the officials’ audio, Brooks told Tierney “Jurgen Klopp has just run and celebrated in my face. I think it’s a yellow card mate, minimum”.
VAR backed up Brooks’ opinion and in booking Klopp, Tierney said: “I have to show you yellow… it could be red, but I am going to show you yellow. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, don’t do anything more.”
Those were the comments Klopp deemed “not OK” but it was not his behaviour on the pitch which produced the disciplinary charge but the aspersions he cast at Tierney, which he subsequently withdrew in a press conference a couple of days later and in a letter of apology to the commission.
Liverpool, in their own letter, stressed Klopp may have misunderstood Tierney and “they do not believe that Mr Tierney purposely gives decisions against LFC and that any suggestion that Mr Tierney was biased or not wholly impartial was totally unintended.
“Mr Klopp did not wish to suggest that Mr Tierney was dishonest, just that there were a long list of key decisions which he felt aggrieved by that have involved Mr Tierney.
“Both LFC and Jurgen Klopp regret that his comments have become a story in themselves and that there has been any question mark cast over Mr Tierney’s impartiality – that was not intended.”
Klopp spelled out his regret in his own letter, saying: “Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney’s integrity. I take ownership of this. On reflection, the words I used were inappropriate.
“To be absolutely clear, I know that Mr Tierney, along with all other officials, do their work without any pre-conceived bias or prejudice.
“Although not an excuse, I believe we have made up a high percentage of Mr Tierney’s matches this season? Something in the region of 20 per cent of the matches he has officiated have involved my team.
“I do not offer this as a defence, rather it is an observation and could be a reason for both the build-up of frustration governed by an inadvertent accumulation of incidents over an extended period.”
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is “optimistic” his side’s charge for European football next season will prove successful.
Villa’s 2-1 win against Tottenham last week lifted them level with the Londoners, who sit seventh in the Europa Conference League play-off place, and to within a point of Brighton, who occupy the last Europa League spot.
Emery, whose side play at Liverpool on Saturday, told a press conference: “After the match against Tottenham, I am optimistic. It’s not in our hands, but we are going to play and try to win.”
Villa responded to recent back-to-back league defeats with victory against struggling Tottenham, their 14th top-flight win in 23 games since Emery took charge last October.
That run has seen the former Arsenal boss nominated for Premier League manager of the season.
Two games remain for Emery’s side – they are at home to Brighton on the final day – and their transformation under the Spaniard has brought a possible top-seven finish into sharp focus.
“I love Europe,” Emery said: “I really want to play Europe because after 15 years, spending a lot of time playing amazing matches, amazing performances and amazing matches, I am here to try and do the same with Aston Villa.”
The 51-year-old is the Europa League’s most successful manager, winning the competition three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal, while he was a runner-up with Arsenal when they lost to Chelsea in the 2019 final.
“My focus, my passion, is to play here feeling strong emotions together, firstly in the Premier League, secondly trying to be close to trophies and then playing in Europe,” Emery said.
“That is my motivation every day. It’s the reason we have to be focused and, involving the people around us, thinking about football and the possibilities in our life.”
Emery revealed midfielder Philippe Coutinho will play no part in Villa’s last two games after sustaining an unspecified injury in training before the Tottenham match.
Emery added: “I talked with him this week. He’s a little bit unlucky with his month because I didn’t see him play matches like I want.
“But, of course, with the injuries coming, we have to be patient as well, now we are going to wait for his recovery.
“This year, he’s not going to play again until the end of this season because we are finishing in two weeks.”
Defender Calum Chambers missed training on Thursday due to illness, but is expected to be included in the squad for the trip to Anfield.
Lucas Moura will leave Tottenham at the end of the season.
The Brazilian forward has struggled for fitness and form this campaign with no goals in his 17 appearances.
Moura missed a large chunk of the first half of the campaign with a tendon injury and since his return after the World Cup has been involved in several difficult moments for Spurs, being sent off in a 1-1 draw at Everton before his error resulted in Liverpool scoring a stoppage-time winner last month.
Arguably his best moment in a Spurs shirt was when he netted a hat-trick in 2019 at Ajax that sent Tottenham through to a first Champions League final in the most dramatic fashion.
Spurs have now confirmed this term will be Moura’s last and he will get the chance to bid farewell to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful in Saturday’s home match with Brentford.
“Wherever I am, my heart will always be here. You are my club,” Moura said on Tottenham’s official Twitter feed.
“It has been the greatest honour to defend this badge. Every flick, every tackle, every leap, every goal.
“From the highest of highs to the lowest lows, from the beginning to the end, you sung my name. This has been my dream.
“This will always be my home. Some nights we will never forget, writing history together. I will always love you no matter where I go. We will meet again.”
Moura has scored 38 goals in 219 appearances since he moved to Tottenham in the winter transfer window of 2018.
“We would like to thank Lucas for his tremendous service to our club and wish him the very best for the future,” an official club statement read.
“We shall provide a further update on our wider released and retained player list following the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign.”
There is "no better pairing" than Marcelo Bielsa and Uruguay, so says Ander Herrera.
Former Argentina, Athletic Bilbao and Leeds United boss Bielsa agreed to become Uruguay coach earlier this week.
The enigmatic Argentine, who was interviewed by Everton but reportedly turned the Premier League club down in January, was sacked by Leeds last year.
Bielsa is still a legend in the eyes of many Leeds fans, but is now back in work on the international scene, having taken charge of Uruguay, whose former coach Diego Alonso resigned following a group-stage exit from the World Cup in Qatar.
Ex-Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Herrera, who is now back at Athletic Bilbao, came through under Bielsa during the latter's stint in the Basque country between 2011 and 2013.
And he thinks that the combination of Bielsa and Uruguay is perfect.
Herrera told Stats Perform: "He is a coach that will be capable of getting the best from the players and as we say in Spain, he strikes a chord on his speeches.
"He connects with this sentimental aspect that the Uruguayan footballer already has for his country and national team.
"I couldn't find a better pairing than Uruguay and Marcelo for this moment of the Uruguayan national team."
Herrera loved working under Bielsa, though knows not every player will feel the same.
"He has demonstrated that he is a great coach in clubs and national teams, but I think that is true that the intensity that Marcelo [Bielsa] has, not all the players in a club can absorb it, let's say," Herrera added.
"But in my case yes, I did it with pleasure, I live for football, but you have to understand and respect the ones that take this as a profession.
"So maybe for a national team he can be ideal."
Bielsa is famous for the level of detail he goes into, not only when assessing his opponents, but also his own players.
"He doesn't do anything for nothing as we say, so if Marcelo has chosen Uruguay's project he must have studied deeply," Herrera explained.
"I am convinced that he must have watched the under-15 and the under-16 teams, all the players who could be selected and might be of help for the coming qualifying process for the next World Cup and Copa America.
"I think that with the character of Uruguayan footballers, it is a job that will fit like a hand in a glove for him."
Herrera, who sees similarities between the Basque attitude and that of Uruguayans, also had words of advice for younger players set to be coached by Bielsa.
"I would advise them to have their ears very open, try to be like a sponge because they will remember this period the rest of their lives," he said.
"For football lovers, addicts, who understand this profession as a way of life, the experience [with Bielsa] will be useful for them for the rest of their career.
"No doubt that sometimes there will be tough days, there will be days when they will really end up feeling exhausted.
"He [Bielsa] will go into detail, I am sure of this. To each of the Uruguayan players that he will call up he must have seen them 100 times, I am more than convinced."
Jurgen Klopp’s poor disciplinary record and his failure to heed previous conduct warnings were aggravating factors which led to the Liverpool manager receiving a two-match touchline ban for implying bias by referee Paul Tierney.
Klopp was fined £75,000 and will not be in the technical area for their final Premier League home game of the campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday but the second match of his punishment has been suspended until the end of next season.
The German admitted a charge of improper conduct in that his comments about Tierney implied bias, questioned the integrity of the referee and brought the game into disrepute.
Klopp, who was booked for celebrating in the face of fourth official John Brooks after Diogo Jota’s added-time goal in the 4-3 win over Tottenham last month, suggested in post-match interviews what Tierney had said to him in issuing the caution was “not OK” and went on to add “we have our story, history, with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us”.
The independent disciplinary commission, in its written reasons, said the Professional Game Match Officials Limited viewed Klopp’s comments as an “unwarranted attack on Mr Tierney’s integrity” and so immediately issued a statement in defence of the official.
Klopp later apologised, clarifying his words and denying he had questioned Tierney’s integrity and while that, and his letter to the commission, were deemed “considerable mitigation” it was his history which counted against him.
“Mr Klopp has a poor record for disciplinary offences, having appeared before commissions on three occasions in the past five years,” said the commission in its written reasons.
“In November 2022 in an appeal in which two members of the present commission sat, Mr Klopp received a touchline ban, a fine and a warning.
“Those sanctions plainly failed to deter Mr Klopp from committing nine similar breaches of the rules. Mr Klopp is a high-profile individual in the football world. He must have known that what he said would attract widespread publicity.
“He should have realised that it was incumbent on him to restrain himself and to behave properly.
“The statements that Mr Klopp made/adopted were not limited to comments on the immediate match, but extended to allegations of persistent bias against a blameless referee.
“The intense media interest that followed Mr Klopp’s remarks was highly damaging.”
Klopp created a problem for himself when he charged down the touchline following Jota’s goal after Tottenham’s 90th-minute equaliser had cancelled out Liverpool’s earlier 3-0 lead.
From evidence obtained from the officials’ audio, Brooks told Tierney “Jurgen Klopp has just run and celebrated in my face. I think it’s a yellow card mate, minimum”.
VAR backed up Brooks’ opinion and in booking Klopp, Tierney said: “I have to show you yellow… it could be red, but I am going to show you yellow. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, don’t do anything more.”
Those were the comments Klopp deemed “not OK” but it was not his behaviour on the pitch which produced the disciplinary charge but the aspersions he cast at Tierney, which he subsequently withdrew in a press conference a couple of days later and in a letter of apology to the commission.
Liverpool, in their own letter, stressed Klopp may have misunderstood Tierney and “they do not believe that Mr Tierney purposely gives decisions against LFC and that any suggestion that Mr Tierney was biased or not wholly impartial was totally unintended.
“Mr Klopp did not wish to suggest that Mr Tierney was dishonest, just that there were a long list of key decisions which he felt aggrieved by that have involved Mr Tierney.
“Both LFC and Jurgen Klopp regret that his comments have become a story in themselves and that there has been any question mark cast over Mr Tierney’s impartiality – that was not intended.”
Klopp spelled out his regret in his own letter, saying: “Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney’s integrity. I take ownership of this. On reflection, the words I used were inappropriate.
“To be absolutely clear, I know that Mr Tierney, along with all other officials, do their work without any pre-conceived bias or prejudice.
“Although not an excuse, I believe we have made up a high percentage of Mr Tierney’s matches this season? Something in the region of 20 per cent of the matches he has officiated have involved my team.
“I do not offer this as a defence, rather it is an observation and could be a reason for both the build-up of frustration governed by an inadvertent accumulation of incidents over an extended period.”
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has signed a new contract with the club.
The England international has established himself as a key figure at the Emirates since he joined from Sheffield United in 2021.
Ramsdale’s previous terms were due to expire in 2025 and this new deal is set to run until 2026 with Arsenal holding the option to extend it by a further year, the PA news agency understands.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “We’re all so happy that Aaron has signed a new contract.
“The way Aaron has developed over the past two years has been exceptional, with his performances, contribution and overall adaptation to the club.
“It’s great that we’re continuing to build our future with our biggest talents in our young squad. We’re all looking forward to enjoying many more years of Aaron the player and the person at the football club.”
Ramsdale has made 39 appearances for Arsenal this season and kept 15 clean sheets in all competitions.
Sporting Director Edu added: “It’s great that we’ve agreed and completed a new contract with Aaron.
“We have enjoyed so many positive moments from Aaron’s performances in his two years with us and are looking forward to many more.
“We must also remember that Aaron is still very young, so there is still a lot more to come from him, as we continue to build with our young foundations.”
Bradford boss Mark Hughes insists his side are full of confidence and under no pressure as they prepare for their Sky Bet League Two play-off semi final second leg against Carlisle on Saturday.
The Bantams hold a 1-0 lead heading into the all-important deciding leg at Brunton Park thanks to Jamie Walker’s strike.
It is the first time Bradford have reached the play-offs since being relegated to the fourth tier in 2019 and is also Hughes’ first-time being involved in the post-season.
Hughes claims his side are in the preferred position and are confident based on form heading into the play-offs.
He told a press conference: “I would much rather be in our position than Carlisle’s.
“Going there with a win under our belt, not only the scoreline but the confidence that winning a football match brings. If you look at the last 10 games, we’ve had more wins than Carlisle have and we are coming off the back of a win.
“In terms of confidence, we are in a better place and there is absolutely no pressure on us because we are on the front foot and looking forward to the game and we are in a good frame of mind heading into it.
“I don’t know if there are mind games going on, might be from Carlisle’s point of view but certainly not from us, we are just confident in our own ability.”
Hughes is enjoying his first experience of the play-offs and whilst he has not been involved in the post-season before, he has drawn comparisons of the atmosphere at the University of Bradford Stadium to European nights at his previous clubs, and insists the big-game atmosphere on Saturday will not surprise his team.
He continued: “I’ve enjoyed the occasion and atmosphere around the game.
“It reminded me of the European nights and there’s a certain atmosphere and noise to a big crowd when there’s something on a game and to experience that again is something I enjoyed.
“It’s been enjoyable in the play-offs, no different really to games at the top end of the Premier League or semi-finals I’ve been involved in.
“They were very nervous in the opening period, which was a consequence of the stage and the atmosphere which will be replicated, not to the same extent, but they will have a big crowd and will have to deal with that. That’s what we are used to, every weekend basically.
The teams have met three times already this season and have only produced two goals, both sides winning 1-0 sandwiched between a goalless draw in March and the Bradford boss is not falling for any mind games being played from the opposition camp.
He said: “It’s part and parcel of the game, they will try and psych us out but we are in a good place in terms of where we are at and what we are about and we just want to get the job done.
“We are ready for it, the game itself will be a challenge and everything surrounding it but I think we will deal with it well enough.”
Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui has challenged his team to finish well in front of a home crowd at Molineux against Everton on Saturday.
Lopetegui has steered the club to Premier League safety with three games to spare after they won four home games in a row without conceding.
And the Wolves boss has called on his side to keep their run going in their final home game of the season.
Lopetegui told a pre-match press conference: “In this part of the season, fortunately we achieved our first aim, our most important aim and a very difficult aim, that is to be out of the relegation battle three matches from the end of the season.
“Of course, we want more, and we have to take the game on Saturday looking at the challenge and a chance for us to finish the season well in front of our fans.
“We want to be able to compete until the rest of the season for the respect of the league and for the rest of the teams. If we were still fighting to get out of the relegation, we would want the same from other teams, so it’s the same demand for ourselves.”
Although Wolves are out of the relegation battle, Saturday’s visitors Everton are still firmly in the mix, sat 17th in the table.
The Toffees gave their chances of survival a boost with a dominant 5-1 victory against Brighton before losing 3-0 to Manchester City at the weekend.
And Lopetegui will not allow Wolves to take things easy this weekend.
He said: “We have worked with good commitment this week, thinking of course Saturday is the last match in front of our fans so of course it’s important for us.
“In the same way we know we have one very good opponent with very good players, a good coach.
“They have had one very clear way in the last two or three months and they showed they have very good players and are a very good team.
“They are fighting, of course, to survive in the Premier League, they have shown the level in the last match against Brighton.
“So we know the kind of match we’re going to have to compete with them because, of course, we are professional, we are fighting and we know that other teams are fighting for different aims in the Premier League and we have to do our best.”
Barnsley chief executive Khaled El-Ahmad hopes the club can make dreams come true after launching their first professional women’s team.
The Sky Bet League One club will take Barnsley Ladies, recently promoted from the sixth tier of women’s football, in-house at Oakwell from next season and rebrand them as Barnsley FC.
El-Ahmad said the move was part of his vision for the Yorkshire club after he became the first Swedish chief executive in British football in July 2021.
He told the PA news agency: “It’s not necessarily the timing of it, it’s just the right thing to do as a club with a 136-year history.
“We’re sure there’s the talent pool in and around Barnsley and we can play a big role in helping young girls and women achieve their dream.”
Barnsley aim to be “a leading club in the promotion of women’s football” and plan for Barnsley FC to play some of their games at Oakwell.
The club said in a statement: “The professionalisation of the women’s team will see Barnsley FC invest in a number of areas, including but not limited to increased matchday support, access to sport science, training and physio teams, increased marketing and promotion and much more.”
El-Ahmad, who oversaw a restructuring of Barnsley’s board of directors just over a year ago, said: “We asked was why does Barnsley Football Club not have a women’s team?
“So we started our due diligence, speaking to the Council, Barnsley Ladies, I had a meeting with another Barnsley women’s team, a meeting with a Premier League club and the FA.
“We decided to make the decision and took Barnsley Ladies first team into our organisation as the best step forward for us as a club and hopefully for the borough. We’re proud and very excited.”
Barnsley hope to celebrate Thursday’s announcement by taking another big step towards promotion back to the Sky Bet Championship at the first attempt.
Michael Duff’s side play the second leg of their play-off semi-final against Bolton at Oakwell on Friday after drawing 1-1 in last Saturday’s first leg.
The Reds finished fourth in League One in Duff’s first campaign in charge, winning 26 of their fixtures during the regular season.
“Hopefully, with a bit of luck and skill and support we can win another game,” El-Ahmad added. “Then we can speak again.”
Jurgen Klopp has been given a two-match touchline ban over comments he made about referee Paul Tierney following Liverpool’s win over Tottenham in April.
The Football Association meted out the suspension after Klopp admitted his comments, in which he accused Tierney of bearing a grudge against his team, questioned the integrity of the referee, implied bias and brought the game into disrepute.
The Liverpool manager, who has also been fined £75,000, was booked in added time of his team’s 4-3 win against Spurs at Anfield for sprinting up to the face of the fourth official whilst celebrating Diogo Jota’s dramatic late winner.
The first game of the ban is to be served immediately whilst the second is suspended until the end of next season pending future conduct.
An FA statement read: “Jurgen Klopp has been suspended from the touchline for two matches and fined £75,000 following media comments that he made after Liverpool’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 30 April 2023.
“The first match of the manager’s touchline ban is effective immediately and the second is suspended until the end of the 2023/24 season on the condition that he does not commit any further breaches of FA Rule E3 in the meantime.
“(He) admitted that his comments regarding the match referee during post-match media interviews constitute improper conduct as they imply bias, question the integrity of the referee, are personal, offensive, and bring the game into disrepute.”
Klopp had just watched Liverpool snatch a stunning win over Spurs just minutes after allowing the visitors to complete a late comeback from 3-0 down.
In his post-match press conference, he said: “How they can give a foul on Mohamed Salah (just before Spurs’ third goal)? We have our history with Tierney. I really don’t know what he has against us.
“He has said there is no problems but that cannot be true. How he looks at me, I don’t understand it. My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair, but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.”
Charlie Savage is determined to make his own mark on the game as the Manchester United youngster follows in the footsteps of famous father Robbie.
It is 32 years since Savage Sr pitched up at Old Trafford, going on to play in the FA Youth Cup-winning Class of 92 before joining Crewe without making a first-team appearance.
Another Savage is now in the United youth set-up and Charlie fulfilled a lifelong dream by making his senior debut as a substitute against Young Boys in the Champions League in late 2021.
The 20-year-old regularly jokes with his dad that has the edge on him as a result, but Robbie’s humorous retort reminds him there is a long way to go.
View this post on Instagram
“I say it all the time to him,” Charlie Savage told the PA news agency. “He played 346 games in the Prem and he says come back to me when you’ve played 347!
“I’d have to play every game in a row for 10 years to do that!”
You could feel the respect as Charlie spoke about his dad’s career, which saw him represent Leicester, Birmingham, Blackburn and Derby in the Premier League as well as play 39 times for Wales.
That impressive CV and subsequent media career piques interest and leads to comparisons when the 20-year-old comes into focus, but he brushes such talk aside.
“With the industry that we’re in, it’s fair that people say about my dad and stuff,” Savage said. “But I definitely am my own player.
“I think we’re quite different as players. It’s hard to compare me and him because we’re from two different eras.
“Obviously if I go and have the career that he had, I’d be very happy – playing for your country and playing more than 340 times in the Premier League.
“My aim is to be my own man but, like I say, it doesn’t really bother me that people compare me to my dad because I am proud that he is my dad.”
View this post on Instagram
That pride is reciprocated by his father, who was emotional on co-commentary duties when Charlie came on against Young Boys.
A clip then went viral of the ex-Wales international expressing his joy after seeing his son had netted his first senior goal during his loan at Forest Green in the second half of last season.
It is a time Savage junior took a lot from, embracing life in Gloucestershire and building a bond with staff beyond the field in a season that ultimately ended in relegation from League One.
Savage says playing for a club built on sustainability has made him “more environmentally conscious” and has backed them to bounce straight back under Everton great Duncan Ferguson.
“He’s been fantastic with me,” Savage said of the Forest Green boss.
“He’s not who everyone makes him out to be in terms of the hardman persona. He’s honestly really caring.
“I’m forever grateful for him giving me a chance and sticking with me.”
Savage is now looking forward to the next step in his career for club and country.
He is taking part in a Wales training camp later this month and plans to work throughout the summer to give himself the best chance of impressing back at United.
“I think it’s tough to say at the minute,” he said of his ambitions for the 2023-24 campaign.
“Obviously it’s everyone’s dream to make it at United when you’ve come through here as a boy, so I have to work as hard as I can and see where it takes me.”
United technical director Darren Fletcher kept in frequent contact during his time at Forest Green, as did loan managers Les Parry and Danny Keough.
Savage said that hands-on approach “sticks with you”, so too the chance to work so frequently with United boss Erik ten Hag after he arrived last summer.
“I went on the tour in pre-season to Thailand and Australia,” said the midfielder, who came on at half-time in the 4-0 win against Liverpool in Bangkok before getting further minutes Down Under.
“I spent the first two, three months of the season with them every day, so it was a really, really good experience learning from him and taking knowledge from him.
“I think United have had a really good season, winning the Carabao Cup and potentially winning an FA Cup, so I’d say he’s done a really good job.”
View this post on Instagram
Savage would love to have another chance to impress this pre-season and is staying open-minded about his future.
“I’d have liked to make my debut for Wales,” he said when asked where he sees himself in a year.
“I think that’s the next one, not to tick off as such but that’s my next aim along with just playing at the highest level I can.
“Whether that be on a better loan, at United or whatever it is. Football works in weird ways. you never know where you’re going to be until maybe a week before.”
Jurgen Klopp can help convince top transfer targets to sign for Liverpool even if they are not in the Champions League next season, according to former Reds striker Ian Rush.
Liverpool have won their last seven games and currently sit fifth, just a point behind Newcastle and Manchester United, who both have matches in hand.
However, even if Liverpool can continue their impressive run and beat Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday and then finish the campaign with another victory at relegated Southampton, there would be no guarantee of Champions League football again.
There is set to be a turnover of personnel this summer, with the likes of James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Roberto Firmino all leaving
Brighton’s Argentinian World Cup-winner Alexis Mac Allister is one potential transfer target, as well as Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Ryan Gravenberch at Bayern Munich.
Rush feels even if Liverpool do end up not being able to offer Champions League football next season, Reds boss Klopp will still be able to sell a switch to Anfield.
“They had a bit of a lapse, every team has one. To win seven games on the run is like they are back to where they were when they won the league,” Rush told the PA news agency.
“Whether they get the Champions League spot or not, that is a different matter, but all Liverpool can do is win their next two games. If they do, they finish the season on a high.
“If you end up in the Europa League and can go on to win it, then you are going to be back in the Champions League.
“If you don’t make the Champions League, then you go and look to improve the team through the summer.
“I am sure Liverpool will want to do that. You have got to sign players to keep everyone on their toes.”
Rush, who is supporting Soccer Aid for UNICEF, added: “When you are signing players, it does help when your team is in the Champions League, because all the top players want to play there.
“Klopp, though, is a fantastic manager and he is in a position to change a player’s mind.
“He can say ‘listen, you want to come to Liverpool and while you will not be in the Champions League this year, we want to make you a superstar for all these fantastic fans and build a team around you’.
“He did that exactly when you look at (Virgil) Van Dijk – he could have gone to Chelsea and Manchester City were interested, but Klopp sold Liverpool to him. That is what Klopp is good at.”
While Liverpool remain in the hunt to qualify for the Champions League – a competition they won in 2019 and finished runners-up in last year – they have fallen well behind in the title race this season.
But despite a current 20-point gap to leaders Manchester City – who have overhauled Arsenal and look set to win the title for a fifth time in the past six seasons – Rush is confident the Reds can recover to mount a serious challenge once more.
“I think it is breachable,” said Rush, Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer with 346 goals in 660 appearances during a trophy-laden career.
“Liverpool have got a strong squad. It is about keeping everyone fit and I am sure they will make some additions.
“Then at the start of the new season, if everyone is well, then I am sure Manchester City will be keeping an eye on Liverpool as one of the danger teams and they will be in the mix.”
This year’s Soccer Aid event will take place on June 11 at Old Trafford and Rush is expecting another memorable occasion.
“It is for a great cause and everyone is competitive. It doesn’t matter whatever they do – actors or ex-players – all they want is for the team to win,” the former Wales striker said.
:: Tickets for Soccer Aid For UNICEF on Sunday 11th June 2023 at Old Trafford, are on sale via www.socceraid.org.uk/tickets with a family of four able to attend for just £60 — two adults and two children
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
