Good morning football fans. It’s Friday, April. 17 - How Manchester City vs Arsenal impacts the Premier League, key Bundesliga milestones this weekend, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Premier League Matchday 33: Chelsea vs. Manchester United, Sat 18, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Chelsea have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League matches against Man Utd at Stamford Bridge. However, this fixture has ended in a draw 27 times, more often than any other match-up in Premier League history. Everton vs. Liverpool, Sat 19, 14:00 BST / 09:00 ET. Everton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League home games against their Merseyside rivals Liverpool. This fixture will also be Liverpool’s first Premier League game at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, and the Reds have won at 59 of the 61 grounds they’ve played at in this competition. Manchester City vs. Arsenal, Sun 19, 16:30 BST / 11:30 ET. Man City are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League home games against Arsenal since a 2-0 loss in January 2015. But leaders Arsenal are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games against Man City, though the Gunners have lost their last three matches in domestic competition. See every Premier League MD33 fixture here.
Results…
Europa League: Celta Vigo 1-3 Freiburg (Agg 1-6) | Aston Villa 4-0 Bologna (Agg 7-1) | Nottingham Forest 1-0 Porto (Agg 2-1) | Real Betis 2-4 Sporting Braga (Agg 3-5) (Bracket)
Conference League: Fiorentina 2-1 Crystal Palace (Agg 2-4) | AZ 2-2 Shakhtar Donetsk (Agg 2-5) | AEK Athens 3-1 Rayo Vallecano (Agg 3-4) | Strasbourg 4-0 Mainz 05 (Agg 4-2) (Bracket)
US Open Cup round of 32 (Results)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Title Race Decider?
Manchester City host Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday, April 19, at 16:30 BST (11:30 ET). Man City are trailing Arsenal by six points, though Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand. They will play an extra game in this matchweek against Burnley on Wednesday (April 22). See the Premier League table here.
Should Arsenal win the match, their projections of winning the title will rise to 98% from 85.9%, according to Opta’s prediction model. They would then need at most 10 points from their final five matches to secure their first title since 2003-04. However, if Man City, who are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League home games, win, Arsenal’s projections will drop to 69%, while Man City’s will rise to 31%. A draw would leave Arsenal with an 89% chance of the title, and Man City with 11%.
Elsewhere, in the Championship, leaders Coventry City are one point away from mathematically securing promotion to the Premier League ahead of their away match at Blackburn Rovers on Friday (April 17). A point would send Coventry back to the Premier League for the first time since 2001. See the Championship table here and upcoming fixtures here.
New Jersey vs FIFA
New Jersey’s governor Mikie Sherrill has called for Fifa to help subsidise public transport costs during the World Cup. This comes after The Athletic reported that a round-trip ticket from New York’s Penn Station to MetLife Stadium, which will host eight World Cup matches, will cost $100 — almost a seven-fold increase from the usual price of $12.90. NJ Transport said the new price isn’t official yet, and a decision is expected in the coming days.
“Our administration inherited an agreement where Fifa is providing $0 for transportation to the World Cup. Zero. That leaves New Jersey Transit with a $48m bill to safely get 40,000 fans to and from every game,” Sherrill said in a post on social media. “At the same time, Fifa is making $11bn off of this World Cup, and charging fans up to $10,000 for a single ticket for the final. I won’t stick New Jersey commuters for that tab for years to come. That’s not fair.”
Responding to the comments, Fifa said it was “quite surprised” by the comments made by Sherrill, stating that transport concerns had been addressed during the World Cup bidding phase. “The original Fifa World Cup 2026 Host City Agreements signed in 2018 required free transportation for fans to all matches,” Fifa said in a statement. “Recognising the financial strain this placed on the host cities, back in 2023 Fifa adjusted the Host Agreement requirements across all host cities as follows: All Match Ticket holders and accredited individuals shall be able to access transport (public or additionally planned transport) at cost to allow travel to Stadiums on match days.”
Bundesliga Milestones
Marie-Louise Eta will lead her first game for Union Berlin at home to Wolfsburg on Saturday (April 18), becoming the first female to take charge of a men's team in one of the top five European leagues. "I totally understand that this is a big topic. But for me it has always just been about football and working with people," Eta said ahead of the fixture. "I am often asked whether it is different to coach men and women, and I always say no. It's about football, and it's about people.”
In the title race, Bayern Munich can clinch its 13th Bundesliga title in 14 years this weekend, doing so with four rounds remaining in the season. The Bavarian side leads second-placed Borussia Dortmund by 12 points, and if Bayern win their home game against Stuttgart on Sunday (April 19) and Dortmund drops points at Hoffenheim the day before, they will be crowned champions. They could become the first side in Europe’s top five leagues to win their respective domestic competition this season.
Bayern will also look to extend their already record-breaking number of Bundesliga goals (105) scored in a season. See the Bundesliga table here.
POLL
Do you think the winner of Manchester City vs Arsenal on Sunday will go on to win the title?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has confirmed that he will leave the club in the summer (More) | Former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger has died at the age of 48 in a traffic accident (More)
> Lionel Messi has acquired Spanish fifth-tier team UE Cornella, a Catalonia-based club (More) | Barcelona have filed a second complaint to Uefa, complaining that refereeing standards were not complied with in their Champions League quarterfinal exit to Atletico Madrid (More)
> The Scottish Cup semi-finals — Celtic vs. St. Mirren and Dunfermline Athletic vs. Falkirk — take place this weekend (More)
> In the Portuguese Primeira Liga, second-placed Sporting CP host third-placed Benfica on Sunday (April 19); Sporting trail league leaders FC Porto by five points, though Porto have played one additional match (Table)
> Women’s European World Cup qualifiers Matchday 4 fixtures will be played on Saturday (April 18); see every upcoming fixture (More)
Americas
> Chicago Fire FC aim to win their fourth straight match when they head to FC Cincinnati in MLS’ Matchday 8’s Saturday Showdown (More); see every upcoming MLS fixture (More) and Conference Standings (More)
> Neymar said he is still weighing up his next transfer despite reports linking him to MLS side FC Cincinnati (More)
> The standout match in the USL Championship this weekend is the Charleston Battery vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday (April 18); see every upcoming USL Championship fixture (More) and Confernece Standings (More)
Rest of the World
> Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal have been sold by the country’s Public Investment Fund (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: After Lisandro Martínez’s red card this weekend, should hair-pulling be an automatic red card offence?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟥 Yes (80%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (19%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (1%)
Your punditry takes:
🟥 D.J: “It is an aggressive, violent act that only serves to hurt someone, and has no place on a football pitch (or anywhere). A red card all day long.”
🟥 P.K: “Automatic red, yes, but not a three-game ban, maybe one game. Sadly, in my opinion, it can only be classed as violent conduct as it would be if someone did this to a person in public.”
🙅♂️ R.H: “Intentional hair pull, yes, and the play should be reviewed for intent. Players with long hair run that risk. In American football, the player’s hair is considered part of the player's uniform and thus runs the risk of getting caught in equipment or pulled during a tackle.“
EXTRA TIME
A World Cup A to Z with names, places and moments.
Are Arsenal paying the price for a lack of rotation?
The process of enlarging the Bundesliga trophy for the next 30 years.
The latest Premier League ref cam.
Quickest players to reach 50 club goals in a single season.
Why the ‘original’ Ronaldo is so hard to compare. (video)
GAME FACE ON
Question: Which player had 13 years between his two Champions League wins in 1995 and 2008?
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.
One season without a trophy is a failure at Real Madrid. Two is intolerable.
Answer
Edwin van der Sar (Ajax 1995, Manchester United 2008).
