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Good morning football fans. It’s Monday, May. 11 - Championship club accepts spying charge, a Czech club has denied itself the league title, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
Premier League MD36 (May 11): Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leeds United, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. A win for Spurs would move them four points clear of 18th-placed West Ham, following the Hammers’ 1-0 home loss to Arsenal on Sunday. Spurs have won their eight of their last nine Premier League games against Leeds. However, since the start of December, only six teams have picked up more points than Leeds United (32), and only three sides have lost fewer games than the Whites (4). See the Premier League table here.
Results…
Premier League: West Ham 0-1 Arsenal | Burnley 2-2 Villa | Palace 2-2 Everton | Nott’m Forest 1-1 Newcastle | Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea | Brighton 3-0 Wolves | Fulham 0-1 Bournemouth | Sunderland 0-0 Man United | Man City 3-0 Brentford
La Liga: Barcelona 2-0 Real Madrid (Table)
Serie A: Verona 0-1 Como | Lazio 0-3 Inter | Lecce 0-1 Juventus | AC Milan 2-3 Atalanta (Table)
Scottish Premiership: Celtic 3-1 Rangers | Motherwell 1-1 Hearts (Table)
Women’s FA Cup semi-final: Liverpool 2-3 Brighton | Chelsea 2-3 Man City
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Play-Off Spy-Gate
Southampton have acknowledged their charge for breaking league rules over allegations it spied on Middlesbrough training ahead of their Championship play-off semi-final first leg, which ended goalless. The alleged staff member, whom the club say acted alone, was caught in the bushes with professional recording equipment. He had filmed Boro’s training session but, once caught, deleted the footage and left the area.
Southampton would usually have 14 days to respond to the charges, but the EFL has asked to fast-track the case. If the case is proven against the Saints, it’s unclear what punishment they’d receive from the EFL. A punishment could range from a fine, a points deduction, or even being thrown out of the play-offs, though The BBC reports that there is no suggestion that the EFL is planning on the latter.
The rule against spying was brought in seven years ago. It came after Leeds United were fined £200,000 for a staff member acting suspiciously outside Derby’s training ground. Then-Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa admitted that he had sent a member of staff to watch training sessions of every team Leeds had played that season.
Southampton will host Middlesbrough in the second leg (agg 0-0) on Tuesday (May 12) at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET).
World Cup Opening Ceremonies
FIFA is planning three different 2026 World Cup opening ceremonies at the first games in each host nation. This will be the first World Cup to feature multiple opening ceremonies. The only previous co-hosted edition was the 2002 World Cup, staged by South Korea and Japan, when the opening ceremony was held in South Korea.
Mexico, which will host the first match of the tournament, Mexico vs South Africa, will feature Grammy Award-winning pop band Mana, as well as J Balvin and Tyla. Canadian singers Alanis Morissette, Michael Buble, Alessia Cara, and William Prince will perform ahead of Canada’s opening group stage match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the same day, Katy Perry will headline an opening ceremony ahead of the USMNT’s match against Paraguay in Los Angeles. See the full list of performers here.
In related news, players who compete in their first World Cup this summer will wear a badge on their jerseys. These badges will later be authenticated, signed and eventually added to a packet of trading cards.
Title Self-Sabotage
Slavia Prague will impose lifetime bans on fans who invaded the pitch just before the club was going to win the Czech League title, now leaving the title race wide open. Just seconds before the final whistle, with Slavia leading 3-2 and the title already secured, the match was abandoned after Slavia fans flooded the field. The away side were allegedly threatened by Slavia fans, with Sparta’s goalkeeper stating that he will pursue “legal action” after being hit on the head with a flare. Watch the pitch raid here.
The Czech FA disciplinary committee is deciding on the result of the match, with the most likely outcome being a forfeit and the game awarded as a 3-0 win to Sparta. If this is the case, then Sparta would close the gap at the top of the league to five points with three games left, keeping the title race alive.
"The values of Slavia are not hatred and violence. We accept responsibility and draw consequences," Slavia chairman Jaroslav Tvrdik said on social media. “We will hand over all camera footage, results of the evaluation by the organising service, and identification data of ticket and season ticket holders from the North Stand. Identified perpetrators will receive a lifetime ban from entering Fortuna Arena in accordance with the Visitor Rules.”
POLL
Did the referee make the right decision in overturning West Ham's equaliser against Arsenal?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Millwall host Hull City in the Championship Promotion play-off semi-final second leg on Monday (May 11), following their goalless first leg (More) | Rochdale secured promotion back to the English Football League on penalties in the National League promotion final against Boreham Wood (More)
> Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been crowned the 2026 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association (More)
> Barcelona have secured the La Liga title after a 2-0 win against Real Madrid, making it the club’s 29th league title (More) | Real Madrid have fined midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde a combined €1m following their dressing room fight (More)
> Celtic are just one point behind Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts following their 3-1 Old Firm derby win against Rangers (Match Report)
> Union Berlin coach Marie Louise Eta becomes the first female manager to win a game in the Bundesliga or any of Europe’s top five men’s leagues (More)
> Galatasaray has won its fourth straight Turkish Super Lig title, the 26th in the club’s history (More) | Shakhtar Donetsk were crowned champions of the Ukrainian Premier League on Sunday after a 4-0 away win over SC Poltava (More)
Americas
> Lionel Messi became the fastest player in MLS history to reach 100 goal contributions, doing so in 64 regular-season matches (More) | James Rodriguez is set to leave Minnesota United and will become a free agent again ahead of the World Cup (More); see the MLS Conference Standings (More)
> Mexico is shortening the school year earlier than planned because of the upcoming World Cup and a heat wave (More)
> The United States has inaugurated its first-ever permanent training centre located in Georgia, costing around $250m (More)
> Portland Thorns’ NWSL lead has been reduced to one point following their 3-1 away loss to Racing Louisville (More); third-placed Utah Royals could match them for points as they play against Bay FC, which concludes shortly after publication (Live Result); see the NWSL Standings (More)
> Tampa Bay Rowdies and San Antonio FC stay top of their respective USL Championship Conference Standings (More); see every USL Championship result (More)
Rest of the World
> Saudi Arabia will host the 2027 Asian Cup in an all-Arab Group A, while two-time defending champions Qatar face Japan; see the full draw (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Is there such thing as having too many star players on one team?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (78%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (20%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 R.T: “It comes down to ego. If the players care more about team chemistry than their own glory, it can work. This is usually a short-term spurt, like national team tournaments. For league teams, it seldom proves out. For instance, when PSG had Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. They were stacked with three of the best strikers in the world. But there was no chemistry between them, and PSG were largely ineffective outside of league play.”
👍 L.J: “Too many egos from players who are used to being ‘the man’ cause off-field friction and selfishness on the pitch. It's a team sport, and it came as no surprise to me when PSG finally achieved European success after they abandoned the superstar name approach.”
🙅♂️ M.M: “There is such a thing as having too many egos, but not too many stars. There are dozens of examples across all sports where the egos were set aside for team greatness. The magical managers find this place and special teams result.”
EXTRA TIME
PSG unveil their new 2026-27 home kit.
How could extreme weather affect World Cup 2026?
Venezia has the most picturesque promotion celebrations ever.
Players who big club academies let go too soon.
Wolfsburg have unveiled a new club badge.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Lionel Messi became the fastest player in MLS history to reach 100 goal contributions with 59 goals and 41 assists in 64 regular-season matches. Whose record did he break?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
Watching [the opponents training] allows us to have less anxiety and, in my case, I am stupid enough to allow this kind of behaviour.
Answer
Sebastian Giovinco. He reached 100 goal contributions in 95 matches.
