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Good morning football fans. It’s Monday, Apr. 13 - The first female head coach in Europe’s top five men’s leagues, the Premier League’s latest projections, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
Premier League Matchday 32 (April 13): Manchester United vs. Leeds United, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Man United are unbeaten in their last 18 home league games against Leeds, a run dating back to 1981. The home side have also only lost one of their 14 Premier League games since Christmas Day. Meanwhile, Leeds have failed to score in each of their last four Premier League games, the longest ongoing run in this season’s competition. See the Premier League table here.
Results…
Premier League: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth | Brentford 2-2 Everton | Burnley 0-2 Brighton | Liverpool 2-0 Fulham | Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle | Nott’m Forest 1-1 Aston Villa | Sunderland 1-0 Spurs | Chelsea 0-3 Man City
La Liga: Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol | Real Madrid 1-1 Girona (Table)
Bundesliga: St. Pauli 0-5 Bayern Munich | Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen (Table)
Serie A: Como 3-4 Inter | Parma 1-1 Napoli | AC Milan 0-3 Udinese | Atalanta 0-1 Juventus (Table)
MLS (Results)
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Miami — Tuesday, May 19 | AutoNation Field, Davie, FL
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Kansas City — Tuesday, June 2 | Shawnee Mission Soccer Complex, Overland Park, KS
Los Angeles — Thursday, June 4 | California State University, Los Angeles
Chicago — Tuesday, June 9 | Intentional Sports
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Historic Female Appointment
Marie-Louise Eta has become the first woman appointed to manage a men’s team in one of Europe’s top five leagues. Eta has become the interim head coach of German Bundesliga side Union Berlin following the dismissal of Steffen Baumgart, and she will take over the women’s team until the end of the current season. Her historic appointment comes more than 25 years after Carolina Morace became the first woman to manage a men's professional team in Europe, when she joined Italian third-division side Viterbese in 1999.
The 34-year-old is a former professional footballer who captained Werder Bremen’s Frauen Bundesliga side and won the Women’s Champions League with Turbine Potsdam. However, her career came to a premature end at age 26. "Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” Eta said. "I am delighted the club has entrusted me with this challenging task.”
Union Berlin, where Eta first joined the coaching staff in July 2023, sits 11th in the 18-team league, and they are 11 points clear of automatic relegation with five matches remaining. Eta’s first game in charge will be at home to Wolfsburg on Saturday. See the Bundesliga table here.
World Cup Strike Threat
A union representing 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has threatened to strike during the World Cup. The union, United Here Local 11, outlined demands centred on Fifa addressing concerns about working conditions and confirming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) won’t be allowed in the city or at the games.
The contract between the workers’ union and the stadium operator, Legends Global, has ended. They’ve had two meetings at the stadium to try and agree on a new deal, but nothing has been settled. Kurt Petersen, a leader of the union, said Fifa hasn’t really listened to their concerns, making a strike a genuine possibility. The union has a history of following through on strike threats, with hotel workers in LA striking more than 175 times between July 2023 and July 2024.
SoFi Stadium will host eight World Cup matches: five in the group stage, two in the round of 32, and a quarter-final tie. LA is also estimated to welcome 150,000 more out-of-town visitors than typical for the time period.
Premier League Projections
For the first time this season, Tottenham Hotspur are the third-most likely team to be relegated to the Championship, according to Opta’s prediction model. Following their 1–0 defeat to Sunderland on Sunday, Spurs now have a 44% chance of going down, behind only Wolves and Burnley, and ahead of West Ham United (37%).
West Ham started the weekend in 18th position, but their 4–0 win over Wolves on Friday lifted them above Spurs in the table. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest and Leeds, both on 33 points, are just three points ahead of Spurs in the table and one point from West Ham. Leeds also have a game in hand, which will be played on Monday (April 13) against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
At the top of the table, Manchester City’s projections have risen to 12% from single digits before Matchday 32. Pep Guardiola’s side are now six points behind Arsenal, who lost 2-1 to Bournemouth, following their 3-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday. They also have a game in hand and play Arsenal in the league on April 19. See the Premier League table here.
POLL
Do you think Arsenal will win the Premier League?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Bayern Munich have broken the Bundesliga goal record, scoring their 105th league goal of the season in their 5-0 win over St. Pauli; the original record (101) was set by Bayern in the 1971-72 season (More)
> Championship’s Ipswich have boosted their automatic promotion chances to the Premier League following a 2-0 win over Norwich (More); Birmingham City ended their three-game losing run in a 2-0 win over Wrexham, denting the Welsh side’s play-off hopes; see the Championship table (More)
> Barcelona move nine points clear of the La Liga table with a 4-1 win over Espanyol, and second-place Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Girona on Friday (More)
> Luton Town have won the EFL’s Vertu Trophy for Jack Wilshere’s first managerial silverware in a 3-1 win against Stockport County (More)
> Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts remain one point ahead of chasers Rangers in the 2nd Phase Championship Group following a 3-1 win over Motherwell (More)
> Tottenham have a verbal agreement to sign Andy Robertson from Liverpool in June, but Premier League survival is a key factor in signing the Scottish defender (More)
Americas
> FIFA has announced the 170 match officials appointed for the 2026 World Cup (More)
> The United States women's national team defeated Japan 2-1 in what was their 10th straight win (More)
> Canada Soccer is projecting a $6.55m surplus in 2026, marking a turnaround after years of deficits (More)
> Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti has hinted that Neymar could make his World Cup squad if he plays well for Santos over the next two months (More)
> Nashville SC remain top of the MLS Eastern Conference following a 2-1 win over Charlotte FC (More); Leaders Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose are level on points (18) in the Western Conference; see every MLS result (More) and Conference Standings (More)
> El Paso Locomotive remain undefeated in the USL Championship regular season, winning 4-0 away at Hartford Athletic (More); see every USL Championship result (More) and Conference Standings (More)
Rest of the World
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Do you stick to your team or enjoy watching other teams too?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🥇 Only my team (12%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🤩 Other teams too (84%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (4%)
Your punditry takes:
🤩 K.S: “I enjoy watching football. Any football. Especially when it isn’t my team playing. When I watch my team, the game is total agony with rapturous highs and devastating lows hinging on every dribble. I’m only released from the glorious torture with the final whistle. And then I am left with only the postmortem, the relief of winning, and/or the excuses for losing.”
🤩 J.L: “I love my team, but I watch anything and everything. Premier League: always on. EFL Championship: absolutely. La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga: all of it. Major League Soccer: of course. And when I’m not watching, I’m still all in, listening to commentators or reading Route One.”
✍️ L.L: “I mainly watch my own team, but I’ll tune into big ties or finals, as well as internationals, too.”
EXTRA TIME
Hulk scores a Puskas-contending free kick.
Welcome to Wrexham renewed for three more seasons.
Everyone’s talking about PSG’s pre-match posters.
The case for Fernandes to win Prem Player of the Year.
Remembering football’s most unfair sackings. (video)
The Premier League race for Europe - how it stands.
GAME FACE ON
Question: There are 11 host cities in the United States for the 2026 World Cup. How many can you name?
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.
It’s a big punch in the face, it’s about how we react now.
Answer
Atlanta. Boston. Dallas. Houston. Kansas City. Los Angeles. Miami. New York/New Jersey. Philadelphia. Seattle. San Francisco Bay Area.
