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KEY FIXTURES

Premier League: Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace, 20:00 / 15:00. Arsenal, who have already scored eight goals in two games against Palace this season, will try to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 matches. Meanwhile, although Palace have won three London derbies this year, they have lost their last six competitive matches against Arsenal. It’s also likely they’ll have their focus set on this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final with Aston Villa. See the upcoming Premier League fixtures here.

Coppa Italia, Semi-Finals: Inter Milan vs. AC Milan, Agg 1-1, 20:00 / 15:00. Despite Inter being 20 points ahead of their rivals in Serie A, AC Milan remain unbeaten against Inter this season, with two wins and two draws. However, Inter’s attack has been immense, scoring 2+ goals in 13 of their last 14 home games—while AC Milan have just one clean sheet in their last 11 games. This fixture is at risk of postponement due to the death of Pope Francis earlier this week.

Results…

• Premier League: Man City 2-1 Aston Villa (Report)

• La Liga: Barcelona 1-0 Mallorca (Report) | Valencia 1-1 Espanyol (Table)

• Ligue 1: Nantes 1-1 PSG (Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

APT Trial Confirmed

Manchester City’s second legal challenge against the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules will go to trial (paywall) in mid-October. APT rules stop clubs from profiting from deals with companies linked to their club.

In the first trial in September, an independent panel found that key parts of the rules were unlawful. Despite the Premier League rewriting the rules, City argue that shareholder loans should be included in financial calculations—claiming their exclusion gives other clubs an unfair advantage.

City’s legal action is unprecedented. No other Premier League club had previously taken legal action against the league.

This case is separate from City’s 115 alleged financial breaches, for which a verdict is expected in the coming weeks.

Time-Wasting Controversy

Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise have confirmed the identity of the person who threw a ball from their bench to stop Genk from attacking in the last minute of the match. While Union’s kitman was initially shown a red card, the club has since confirmed that the culprit was reserve goalkeeper Vic Chambarere, a former Genk player. Watch the incident here.

The ball was thrown as Genk, who had just pulled one goal back, launched their last attack in a bid for a late comeback. The time-wasting tactic overshadowed Union’s 2-1 away win, which moved them level with Genk on 40 points. Club Brugge currently lead the Championship Playoffs with 42 points.

Belgium’s top-flight has been described as the most complicated in the world. Dive deeper into why here.

Record International Duty Fees

A record €233m was distributed to 901 clubs across Uefa’s 55 member nations for releasing players to national team competitions during the 2020–2024 cycle. The total excludes the delayed Euro 2020, which took place in the summer of 2021.

Manchester City received €5.17m, the most of any European club. Real Madrid were allocated €4.79m, while Inter Milan were given €4.65m. Among Premier League clubs, Arsenal, (£3.34m), Liverpool (£3.04m) and Manchester United (£2.71m) were next on the list.

Notably, the payout reached well beyond the elite level—10th-tier English club Yorkshire Amateur earned €7,300 in international duty fees.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Gary Lineker has said he believes the BBC wanted him to leave Match of the Day (More)

> Ange Postecoglou will reportedly leave Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the season, whether his team win the Europa League or not (More) | Mykhailo Mudryk, Chelsea winger, has reportedly passed a lie detector test as he continues to serve a provisional suspension for a failed drugs test (More)

> Lamine Yamal, Barcelona and Spain forward, won the breakthrough of the year award at the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony in Madrid (More)

> Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles ended their 92-year trophy drought after beating AZ in the final of the Dutch Cup—they will qualify for the Europa League (More)

> Jack Wilshere, ex-Arsenal midfielder, will step in for the sacked Johannes Hoff Thorup for Norwich’s remaining two games of the season (More)

Americas

> A fan has filed a complaint against U.S. Soccer for defrauding the U.S. government by “not trying to win” in the She Believes Cup (More)

> Vinicius Junior will have his own documentary on Netflix, which will be released on May 15 (See Trailer)

Rest of the World

> Al-Ittihad moved six points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League after coming from behind to beat Al-Ittifaq 3-2 as title rivals Al-Hilal were held to a 2-2 draw by Al-Shabab (More)

> EA FC has released the dates for its Team of the Season announcements for each league (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Has the gap between the Premier League and the Championship grown too wide?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 📉 Yes... (73%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (24%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

• 📉 D.W: “Definitely. Both tactically and financially, the gulf between the two divisions is getting wider, and it will eventually reach a point where those teams who are promoted will never be able to compete on a level playing field.”

• 📉 N.A.W: “Yes, there is too much $$$ in top-flight football, so it is harder for the newbies to compete. But the newly promoted must also share some of the blame. In the past, those teams would play more directly and physically, putting results above playing style. Nowadays, managers and clubs are more concerned with their style being attractive rather than winning. They try to beat the elite clubs at their own game, but with a far smaller talent pool (and depth). It is not a recipe for success, which has been indicated with a lot of recently promoted sides being one-and-done.”

• 🙅‍♂️ G.C: “It’s not a matter of the Premier League and Championship changing. It’s down to the managers wanting to be fashionable rather than tactically versatile/pragmatic. Once this stops, promoted clubs will re-establish themselves in the Premier League again.”

• ✍️ S.B: “Of course, the gap is too big. However, since 1992, the idea that promoted clubs are able to compete has been a bit foolish. This will be the third time all three promoted clubs get relegated, but likewise, there have only been four times where all three promoted clubs have stayed up. One of those was the 2022/23 season.”

EXTRA TIME

You won’t believe Norway’s new MOTM award.

Opta predicts which PL clubs will qualify for Europe.

Scott Parker’s full dressing room promotion speech.

MLS ref has the most iconic VAR announcements.

Why Canada’s NSL could be a gamechanger. (op-ed)

Europe’s fastest, hardest-running teams.

BBC’s Premier League team of the week.

Could the Serie A title be decided by a play-off?

GAME FACE ON

Question: Lionel Messi is one of nine players to have won the Ballon d’Or, Champions League/European Cup and World Cup. Can you name the other eight?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Premier League

• Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (20:00)

Coppa Italia, Semi-Finals

• Inter Milan vs AC Milan (Agg 1-1) (20:00)

Women’s Super League

• Chelsea vs Crystal Palace (19:15)

La Liga

• Athletic Club vs Las Palmas (18:00)

• Celta Vigo vs Villarreal (18:00)

• Alaves vs Real Sociedad (20:30)

• Getafe vs Real Madrid (20:30)

Serie A

• Cagliari vs Fiorentina (17:30)

• Genoa vs Lazio (17:30)

• Parma vs Juventus (17:30)

• Torino vs Udinese (17:30)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

• Bobby Charlton

• Franz Beckenbauer

• Gerd Miller

• Kaka

• Paolo Rossi

• Rivaldo

• Ronaldinho

• Zinedine Zidane