GM football fans. It’s Friday, Apr. 04 - Women’s World Cup hosts confirmed, Premier League creative accounting under scrutiny, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

Premier League MW31: Manchester United vs. Manchester City, Sun 06, 16:30 / 11:30. United are looking for home-and-away league successes over City in the same season for the first time in five years. However, a loss would see United equal their record of 14 defeats in a Premier League season. Explore the history of this fixture here.

La Liga: Barcelona vs. Real Betis, Sat 05, 20:00 / 15:00. Barcelona have won nine La Liga games in a row and lead the table by three points ahead of Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Betis are on a six-match winning run in La Liga and sit sixth, just six points off the Champions League places. See the La Liga table here.

Results…

• Premier League: Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Report)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Women’s WC Hosts

The United States and the United Kingdom are the sole respective bidders for the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cups. It would be the third time the US hosts the tournament, and the first on UK soil. Official confirmation is expected next year.

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland submitted a joint expression of interest in March to hold the World Cup across the home nations. Spain was expected to submit a joint bid with Portugal and Morocco, but the deadline passed on Monday and Fifa confirmed they only had one valid bid to host the 2035 edition.

Both tournaments are expected to be expanded to 48 teams from 32. The 2027 edition, featuring the traditional 32-team model, will be hosted in Brazil.

Dive deeper into the history of the Women’s World Cup here.

PSR Loophole Investigated

Chelsea appear to have complied with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by selling the women's team to itself. However, the league has yet to approve whether the £150m+ sale of the women’s side was at fair market value. Learn about PSR in more detail here.

Chelsea could’ve breached financial fair play rules if they hadn’t sold the women’s team to BlueCo, the club’s parent company. The strategy to avoid PSR is entirely within the league’s rules, as only 11 clubs voted in favour to outlaw it last year–14 were needed for it to pass. The sale price, not the method, is under scrutiny.

As the west London club were previously cleared for selling its hotels to a sister company, it’s possible that the Premier League will not take any action. However, Uefa has far stricter rules, and European football’s governing body will review whether these internal sales breach its regulations at the end of the season.

PSG Nears Crown

Paris Saint-Germain can seal their fourth straight Ligue 1 title if they avoid defeat at home to 14th-placed Angers on Saturday (Apr. 5). The 12-time champions are unbeaten domestically this season with seven matches remaining.

A quadruple remains possible for Luis Enrique’s side. They’ve already won the Trophee des Champions against Monaco in January, they face Aston Villa in the Uefa Champions League quarter-finals, and will play Stade de Reims in the Coupe de France final.

PSG could be the first team in Europe’s top five leagues to win their domestic league this season. Liverpool and Bayern Munich can win their leagues as early as April 20. The La Liga and Serie A title races are too close to call this early–Opta gives Barcelona an 81.3% chance and Inter Milan an 82% chance of winning their titles.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> The Premier League announces the dates for several rearranged fixtures (More) | Arsenal have ruled out defender Gabriel for the rest of the season due to injury (More) | James Tarkowski should have been sent off during Everton's defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday, the league’s refereeing body has acknowledged (More)

> Dani Olmo and Pau Victor are eligible to play for Barcelona for the rest of the season, the Spanish government has ruled (More) | Real Madrid’s Champions League win earned the club €138.8m (£116.4m; $154m) in prize money last season, Uefa confirms (More)

> The UEFA Women’s Nations League league stage returns with Matchday 3 to be played on Friday (Apr. 04) and Matchday 4 to be played on Tuesday (Apr. 08) (Fixtures) | Catch up with what’s happened so far (More)

> Saint-Etienne have been awarded a victory over Montpellier by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) in Ligue 1 after their match in March was abandoned due to a fire caused by supporters throwing smoke bombs; Montpellier were trailing 2-0 at the time (More)

Americas

> Inter Miami lost for the first time under Javier Mascherano in their 1-0 loss to LAFC in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarter-final, breaking a 14-match unbeaten streak (More); see all Concacaf Champions Cup results (More)

> Charlotte host Nashville to kick off the MLS weekend on Saturday (Full Schedule)

Rest of the World

> The Zambia women’s national team have removed their four NWSL players from the squad for a tournament in China due to concerns over US travel measures (More)

> The Saudi Pro League Capital Derby between Al Hilal and Al Nassr takes place on Friday (Apr. 04) (More); see the SPL table (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think a fan-owned model would benefit your club?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 ⬜️ 👏 Absolutely... (62%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (34%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (4%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👏 G.D: “Fed up hearing about money launderers owning clubs and leaving them in a sorry state. Supporters have far more passion and, if they have appropriate guidance, they will stay with the club throughout.”

• 🙅‍♂️ D.F: “It's all very well being fan-owned, and it feels great at first, but on the whole, fans don't have the money to compete at the top level. Brentford was fan-owned, but struggled financially until Matthew Benham (who is a fan) stepped in and bought the club. The rest is history. Had we not sold to Matthew, we'd still be League One or League Two at best.”

• ✍️ F.S: “If it were legislated that 50% of the club was owned by the fans, in my opinion, you would stop investors buying clubs, and that would inevitably lead to poorer clubs, not for me, I'm afraid. However, I would favour a system similar to the draft in American football to stop the same rich clubs from buying all the best talent, but that's another story.”

• ✍️ W.T: “My club is fan-owned, and it's an incredible model. As a member of Union Berlin, you feel like you're part of a family. Spotting someone wearing the jersey is like running into an old friend, not just another "fan" in a sea of plastics.”

EXTRA TIME

Photo emerges of VAR referee placing bets during a live game.

Club hosts ex-player after wrongly declaring him dead.

The making of the MLS—30 years on.

… and MLS’s updated MVP rankings.

Boca Juniors release championship third kit.

A guide to football’s most overused jargon.

Comparing Mbappe and Cristiano’s debut Madrid seasons.

Galatasaray mock cartoon Mourinho. (via X)

How Liverpool nearly missed out on Salah.

GAME FACE ON

Who Am I…

• I made my senior debut in the Premier League, becoming my club’s youngest-ever first-team player at the time.

• I’ve assisted a World Cup-winning goal and scored the winning penalty in two separate Euros shootouts.

• I now manage a club that I part-own.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

UEFA Women’s Nations League

• Full list of fixtures here.

La Liga

• Rayo Vallecano vs Espanyol (20:00)

Bundesliga

• Augsburg vs Bayern Munich (19:30)

Serie A

• Genoa vs Udinese (19:45)

Ligue 1

• Nice vs Nantes (19:45)

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

Answer

Cesc Fabregas.