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West Ham v Leeds, Champions League battle, Arsenal to lift trophy and Guardiola’s goodbye: Premier League finale – live | Premier League
Here’s a report on Bolton’s League One play-off final victory over Stockport. I thought the late VAR red card and penalty was complete rubbish, but the game was won by then.
With Sam Dalby’s second-half overhead kick, Bolton could start to plan their return to the Championship, a division they left in 2019 as a club in turmoil. After administration, last-minute sales, emergency loans, points deductions and a spell in League Two, they have found their way back.
Stockport, themselves a club on the rise following financial trouble that took them down to the sixth tier, were game opponents in Bolton’s second League One playoff final in three years but were overpowered at Wembley. With the score level at 1-1 after an hour, Steven Schumacher sent on Sam Dalby and by the 81st minute the substitute had stretched Bolton’s lead to 3-1 with a picture-book goal. Rúben Rodrigues’s late penalty against 10 men added gloss to the scoreline.
Much more here:
Guardiola: ‘The future will be better without me’
Pep Guardiola has a chat with Sky:
I’m good. Trying to focus on the game. It’s not easy, with many things happening around it. Not just me, Bernardo and John and some people from the staff. But yeah, try to enjoy, with my family, and an amount of people that I love.
There’s a football game, and we don’t want to make a bad last game. I’d have loved to have the chance today to play against Arsenal, but there are a lot of things around.
And on whether this is absolutely, definitely, the time to leave:
Now is the time, I’m pretty sure. Once we announced I thought, maybe I was wrong. The past has been really good with us, but the future will be better without me. You have to have a special energy..
“We can be niggly, we can be horrible, we can play different types of football, and we’ll have to show all of those attributes today,” says Brentford’s Keith Andrews of his side’s challenge at Anfield.
Could this sign hold the answer to the mystery of Mikel Arteta’s disappearing grey kecks?
“You never know when we’ll have a chance like we have today, to fight for a Champions League spot,” says Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola. “We should be aware of all the things that are happening on other pitches but we cannot lose focus. It won’t be easy, playing Forest away, last game. We have to play very well if we want the right result.”
Interesting Spurs line-up, that, with Pedro Porro predicted to start on the right wing with England’s Djed Spence at right-back, and the absolutely-dreadful-every-time-I’ve-seen-him Randal Kolo Muani taking his rightful place on the bench. They can only be stronger as a result.
An email! Um, about Mikel Arteta’s trousers! “On what we all knew would be the Arsenal manager’s red-letter day, Arteta has surprised us all by changing his trousers and making it instead a black-trouser day,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Two observations: The grey ones were certainly overdue a wash and probably a stitch or two after another stressful season. And wouldn’t it be nice if he’d just sit down for this game and let his players enjoy themselves playing football?” This is the level of attention to (irrelevant) detail I’m looking for, well played.
“We’ve analysed them and attackers are crucial for getting a result against them,” says Arne Slot of Brentford, explaining his decision to start Mo Salah in the Egyptian’s final game for Liverpool.
All the teams (eventually)
The teams have all been named and filed, and I’m sticking them in here. You may need to refresh to see the later additions.
Brighton v Manchester United
Brighton: Verbruggen, Milner, Van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper, Gross, Wiefer, Kadioglu, Hinshelwood, Gomez, Welbeck. Subs: Steele, March, Rutter, Minteh, Baleba, Kostoulas, Boscagli, O’Reilly Veltman.
Manchester United: Lammens, Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, Mainoo, Amad, Bruno Fernandes, Dorgu, Mbeumo. Subs: Bayindir, Cunha, Zirkzee, Malacia, Yoro, Ugarte, Heaven, Fletcher, Lacey.
Referee: Sam Barrott. Assistants: Simon Bennett, Blake Antrobus. Fourth official: Ruebyn Ricardo. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith.
Burnley v Wolves
Burnley: Weiss, Walker, Tuanzebe, Ugochukwu, Anthony, Humphreys, Florentino, Tchaouna, Flemming, Pires, Mejbri. Subs: Dubravka, Bruun Larsen, Edwards, Roberts, Ekdal, Ward-Prowse, Amdouni, Laurent, Barnes.
Wolves: Sa, Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Krejci, Wolfe, Rodrigo Gomes, Andre, Angel Gomes, Mane, Hwang, Armstrong. Subs: Bentley, Lima, Tchatchoua, Toti, Hugo Bueno, Sutherland, Abbey, Edozie, Arokodare.
Referee: Andrew Kitchen. Assistants: Wade Smith, Andrew Dallison. Fourth official: Adam Herczeg. VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis. Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Munoz, Clyne, Lerma, Riad, Cardines, Hughes, Kamada, Devenny, Sarr, Strand Larsen. Subs: Benitez, Lacroix, Mitchell, Pino, Johnson, Mateta, Wharton, Canvot, Guessand.
Arsenal: Arrizabalaga, Zubimendi, Mosquera, Hinapie, Calafiori, Norgaard, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Madueke, Martinelli, Jesus. Subs: Setford, Gyokeres, Gabriel, Saka, Odegaard, Eze, Merino, Havertz, Rice.
Referee: Farai Hallam. Assistants: Marc Perry, Mat Wilkes. Fourth official: Tom Nield. VAR: Nick Hopton. Assistant VAR: Craig Taylor.
Fulham v Newcastle
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Berge, Iwobi, Bobb, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Muniz. Subs: Lecomte, Tete, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Reed, Cairney, King, Wilson, Jimenez.
Newcastle: Pope, Hall, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Guimaraes, Tonali, Murphy, Woltemade, Ramsey, Osula. Subs: Ramsdale, Trippier, Wissa, Gordon, Barnes, Elanga, Willock, A.Murphy, Neave.
Referee: Rob Jones. Assistants: Nick Greenhalgh, Sian Massey-Ellis. Fourth official: Sam Allison. VAR: James Bell. Assistant VAR: Peter Wright.
Liverpool v Brentford
Liverpool: Alisson; Jones, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Ngumoha; Gakpo. Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Wirtz, Isak, Chiesa, Frimpong, Nyoni.
Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Henderson, Jensen; Ouattara, Thiago, Schade. Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Pinnock, Dasilva, Nelson, Ajer, Damsgaard, Donovan, Furo.
Referee: Darren England. Assistants: Scott Ledger, Akil Howson. Fourth official: Tom Kirk. VAR: Tony Harrington. Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes.
Manchester City v Aston Villa
Manchester City: Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Ruben Dias, Ake; Savinho, Reijnders, Gonzalez, Bernardo Silva; Semenyo, Foden. Subs: Ait-Nouri, Bettinelli, Cherki, Doku, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Alleyne, Marmoush, Nunes.
Aston Villa: Bizot; Garcia, Lindelof, Mings, Maatsen; Bailey, Bogarde, Barjkley, Buendia; Douglas Luiz; Watkins. Subs: Burrowes, Cash, Digne, Pau Torres, Hemmings, McGinn, Onana, Tielemens, Wright.
Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Richard West, Simon Long. Fourth official: David Webb. VAR: Tim Wood. Assistant VAR: Jarred Gillett.
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Jair Cunha, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Hutchinson. Jesus. Wood. Subs: Ortega; Awoniyi, Ndoye, Dominguez, Yates, McAtee, Netz, Abbott, Sillah.
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Hill, Sensi, Smith, Truffert, Adams, Scott, Tavernier, Kroupi, Rayan, Evanilson. Subs: Mandas, Cook, Toth, Diakite, Brooks, Unal, Kluivert, Adli, Gannon-Doak.
Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Lee Betts, Alistair Nelson. Fourth official: Gavin Ward. VAR: Paul Howard. Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall.
Sunderland v Chelsea
Sunderland: Roefs, Geertruida, Mukiele, O’Nien, Mandova, Xhaka, Sadiki, Hume, Le Fee, Angulo, Brobbey. Subs: Ellborg, Alderete, Cirkin, Mayenda, Rigg, Diarra, Traore, Isador, Ta Bi.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Fofana, Colwill, Hato, Gusto, Caicedo, Fernandez, Cucurella, Palmer, Neto, Joao Pedro. Subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Chalobah, James, Derry, Essugo, Santos, Garnacho, Delap.
Referee: Chis Kavanagh. Assistants: Dan Cook, Ian Hussin. Fourth official: Lewis Smith. VAR: Matthew Donohue. Assistant VAR: Eddie Smart.
Tottenham v Everton
Tottenham: Kinsky; Spence, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Joao Palhinha; Porro, Gallagher, Tel; Richarlison. Subs: Bergvall, Bissouma, Dragusin, Gray, Kolo Muani, Maddison, Sarr, Solanke, Vicario.
Everton: Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Iroegbunam; Rohl, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Barry. Subs: Alcaraz, Armstrong, Aznou, Coleman, Dibling, George, Beto, McNeil, Travers.
Referee: Michael Oliver (pictured). Assistants: Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Bobby Madley. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.
West Ham United v Leeds United
West Ham: Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf; Soucek, Mateus Fernandes; Bowen, Pablo, Summervilla; Castellanos. Subs: Areola, Kante, Kilman, Lamadrid, Magassa, Potts, Scarles, Wan-Bissaka, Wilson.
Leeds: Darlow; Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Struijk, Justin; Ampadu, Nmecha, Tanaka; Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson. Subs: Bornauw, Buonanotte, Byram, Chadwick, Cresswell, Perri, Gnonto, James, Piroe.
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Steve Martin. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.
Today’s top-flight fixtures in full:
Brighton v Manchester United
Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Fulham v Newcastle
Liverpool v Brentford
Manchester City v Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Chelsea
Tottenham v Everton
West Ham United v Leeds United
Hello world!
So, today is the day. No more procrastination, an end to doubt and vacillation. The single remaining relegation spot is by a margin the most significant position to be decided, and the crux of it is this: West Ham will go down if they don’t beat Leeds at home. They will also go down if Tottenham beat Everton at home, or if Spurs draw and West Ham win by fewer than 12 (twelve) goals. (The biggest margin of victory in the history of the Premier League is 9-0; in the history of the entire Football League there have been four victories by a margin big enough to save West Ham should Spurs win today, the most recent 80 years ago).
Meanwhile, though we know that Arsenal will finish first, Manchester City second and Manchester United third, no other position in the entire league is already determined. Liverpool need a point to seal a Champions League place, but if they beat Brentford at home and fourth-placed Aston Villa lose at Manchester City they would go to fourth, Villa drop to fifth and, thanks to Villa’s Europa League victory, a sixth Champions League spot will open up.
Bournemouth need a point at Nottingham Forest to be sure of finishing sixth, but if they lose Brighton would overtake them if they beat Manchester United at home. Chelsea need to beat Sunderland to be sure of European football, and Sunderland need to beat Chelsea if they are to have a chance of qualification themselves. If they draw Brentford would leapfrog Chelsea with a win at Anfield, but the point would still take Chelsea above Brighton if the Seagulls lose by at least two goals. A draw wouldn’t do Sunderland any good at all, and there will be no last-day gifts for them: if the Premier League gets an extra Champions League spot they will not also get an extra place in the Europa League. That whole seventh-to-10th area of the table is essentially a bit complicated.
And at the bottom, Burnley host Wolves in a wooden spoon playoff.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will be presented with their trophy after the final whistle at Selhurst Park, when Oliver Glasner will also wave goodbye to the home fans, while Pep Guardiola will bid farewell to the Etihad after City’s game against Villa and Andoni Iraola will take charge of Bournemouth for the final time. Mo Salah and Andy Robertson will play at Anfield for the final time (for Liverpool, at least).
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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