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West Ham v Leeds buildup plus Scottish Premiership and Women’s FA Cup – matchday live | Football
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Spurs visit Chelsea in tomorrow’s lunchtime quarter-final, and not without hope. They’ve had a really good season and Sonia Bompastor’s side looked dicey at the back against Villa last weekend … problem being, they still had sufficient attacking firepower to get the win. I don’t suppose I’ll win any prophesy prizes for saying this, but I’d expect lauren James to be the difference in this one.
Can De Zerbi save Spurs? It’s a big call to stick a systems manager into this kind of mess, especially one so unwilling to compromise. My sense is they’ll do enough to get a point more than West Ham, but if they don’t, he’s then tarnished by relegation before he’s even properly started in the job. It’s a huge gamble because more than anything, the team need confidence and vibes, which it’s hard to inculcate while also upending the tactical system – all the more so if you just aren’t a confidence and vibes guy.
Still, a win against Bournemouth and a point at City would make them strong favourites for the title, so.
Indeed. However you slice it, Arteta has done a really good job at Arsenal, inheriting a mess and turning it into repeated title challengers. But, on the other hand, he’s been bought pretty much two full teams of players and, given the money spent, they ought to better than they are. His out-of-possession system is excellent, but the lack of imagination and joyfulness is a problem, not just aesthetically but practically.
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It’s true that Arsenal have scored once more in the league than City have, but for that, they’ve been reliant on set-pieces, which doesn’t feel sustainable through an entire season. They must find a way of attacking with freedom, but more than that, they must find a way of playing with freedom; there’s no sense they’re enjoying the chase, and though Arteta is trying to take the pressure off this season – over the last few seasons, his intensity has looked from the outside to be a negative – the players know who he is, and it’s hard to pretend otherwise.
So, is it falling apart for Arsenal? Well, if City win at Chelsea a week today, then beat Mikel Arteta’s men at the Etihad, you’ll fear for them – especially if things don’t go as planned in midweek, when they visit Sporting, and at home to Bournemouth next weekend. Every time they had a chance to build an almost insurmountable lead, they faltered, and in a close race, I’d always back the the team with most routes to goal – all the more so if they’re also the team that knows how to win.
Can some please confirm that Shea Charles’ dressing-room nickname is Slim? Thanks.
And even if they get the right person next, should Barcelona replace Robert Lewandowski well and sort their defence out, their attacking verve is such that finishing above them will not be easily done.
It’s no surprise Madrid look unlikely to win the title, given their managerial upheaval, but what on earth do they do in the summer? After what happened to Alonso, no systems manager will fancy the task of imposing basic principles upon players disinclined towards duties of that ilk, but where do they find another Carlo Ancelotti?
Talking of whom…
I don’t know, Enzo Fernandez is a good player, but one likely to be wanted by Real Madrid? I can’t see it. Jude Bellingham is probably the nearest to him in the current squad, and he is much better and much more physical. Fernandez has a good range of passing, but these days, that isn’t enough for a top team.
I can’t lie, I chuckled to myself at Alejandro Garnacho scoring an injury-time penalty for 7-0, then celebrating with a leap and fist-pump. I’d hoped to see him develop this season with a change of environment, but he still looks the same player – very good in big spaces against tired legs, but erratic at best the rest of the time. He’s got a lot of what you need to be a serious player – speed, agility, self-belief – but is he self-critical enough to improve his small-space play and decision-making?
I guess I find it hard to buy into Liam Rosenior. Results have been passable, I guess, but performances have, for the main, been poor – at least the ones I’ve seen. The second half against West Ham was decent, the rest not so much, and they don’t feel like a side on the cusp of a title challenge.
Charlton, Hull, Wrexham and Port Vale is quite the run to the semis. I’d not back them to beat City in semis or final nor would I be shocked if they lost to Leeds or West Ham, but on a good day you never know.
So to Chelsea…
This summer, we know Liverpool have to replace Salah – none of Wirtz, Ekitiké and Alexander Isak can do that – but must they also replace Virgil van Dijk? They’ve needed to sign him a partner for some time, haven’t, and he now looks well over the other side of the hill. But where on earth do they find someone as aerially dominant, with recovery pace, composure and big switches?
Regular readers will know Andy Hunter is a man of measure. If he’s calling a performance “gutless”, we can be sure it’s an abject disgrace of rare depth.
One thing of which I can’t but take notice: Klopp loves Wirtz and knows exactly how physical the Prem is, so if he thinks he can do it, there’s a decent chance he can. I guess it may also turn out that Alonso is in charge of him next season, which’d give him the perfect environment in which to succeed … but can he?
What, then, to do with Florian Wirtz? He’s shown flashes of the talent we know he has, but will he ever be quick enough and physical enough for this iteration of English football? And if so, what will his position be? To me, he looks like someone you need to build a team around, but the best ones tend not to do that: they need players who contribute in all phases and circumstances, who offer something even when not on the ball or in top form. We’ve yet to see that from him.
If they address those areas in the summer, they can be good next season – though it’s worth noting that, of the five players signed, only Hugo Ekitike has been a success – but in the meantime, things might get worse before they get better. On Wednesday night, Liverpool travel to the Parc des Princes to face a well-rested PSG; the same level of performance, and it’s another hiding.
On the one hand, he did well to coax a title out of a squad whose best players are ageing; on the other, it was Jürgen Klopp’s team and it relied upon Mo Salah delivering half a season of dead-cat bounce brilliance that had little to do with anyone’s tactics.
And as for this season, who signed off on all the summer business? Changing five players is never going to be seamless, but ignoring the major weaknesses in the squad – the middle of defence and the middle of midfield – to splurge on an attack that didn’t need that level of refreshment, was a colossal error.
It’s at that point, isn’t it? It’s really hard to see a future for Arne Slot – the players and fans both seem to have given up on him and, especially with Xabi Alonso available, it feels increasingly unlikely he’ll be Liverpool manager at the start of next season. So, how much of that is his fault?
And then there’s Liverpool.
And then there’s Cherki, an old-skool attitude with a modern-day sensibility. It’s taken him a while, but he’s surely now established in City’s first XI as their most likely creator and difference-maker. His ability to conjure space and shots from all manner of unlikely and unpromising positions is very special.
O’Reilly, meanwhile, isn’t the first young midfielder to break through at full-back – Paul Ince and Roy Keane, for example, both did stints there early in their Man United careers. What is particularly enjoyable about watching him there, though, is that he’s still playing his natural game in terms of getting into the box, making the runs he’d make were he playing centrally, which are extremely hard to pick up, given they come from wide. I’m not sure I’d pick him ahead of Lewis Hall for England, who probably need something a bit more conventional – we’ll get to that in due course – but at club level, he’s a menace.
Moat notable about Khusanov is his recovery pace, but he’s going to need that less and less as his defensive nous improves. But it’ll always give the team he’s in the freedom to play a high line and allow him to go one against one with whoever the opposition leave upfield – exactly what Pep Guardiola’s systems demand.
Are Manchester City running into form? They played extremely well before the break in beating Arsenal to the League Cup, and a tousing of Liverpool kept the good vibes going. It’s been an iffy season by Erling Haaland’s stratospheric standards, but if his hat-trick sets him off on a run, he’s got plenty of scope to be the different in the race for the title, while it’s also worth mentioning Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O’Reilly and Rayan Cherki, all of whom are developing extremely quickly.
I say onwards, but we can’t really conceive of today without first looking back at yesterday – events could have ramifications beyond the simple identity of the last four in the men’s competition.
Preamble
Morning all
It’s another big day in the FA Cup, with West Ham facing Leeds in the last of our men’s quarter-finals while, in the women’s competition, Arsenal entertain Brighton with Liverpool travelling to Charlton.
Onwards!
Four people in a minibus were also taken to hospital, Leicestershire Police say.
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Middle East crisis live: US and Iranian envoys arrive in Islamabad for conditional peace talks | US-Israel war on Iran
Interim summary
For those of you just joining us, welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East with talks between Iranian and US officials scheduled to begin in Islamabad. Stay tuned here for all the updates – but first, a quick recap.
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The US delegation has touched down ahead of high-stakes talks with the United States on Saturday, joining Iran’s delegation which had arrived earlier. The US side is led by the vice-president, JD Vance, alongside the special envoy, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
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Iran’s delegation is headed by the powerful parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghaliba, reportedly accompanied by Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister; Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran’s defence council; Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of Iran’s central bank; and several members of the Iranian parliament. Ghalibaf said earlier on Friday that two previously agreed measures – a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets – “must be fulfilled before negotiations begin”. Israel and the US have denied that the ceasefire extends to Lebanon.
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The planned talks come as Trump threatened fresh strikes if talks fail, adding that the Iranians “have no cards” and the only reason they are alive “is to negotiate”. Trump told the New York Post that the US is loading its warships with the “best weapons” in case talks with Tehran fail. “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them and we will be using them very effectively,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Lebanon and Israel have agreed to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss a ceasefire and to set a date to begin talks. The conversation on Tuesday will be mediated by the US and take place at the state
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Lebanon’s health ministry has updated the death toll from Israel’s most brutal strikes on the country in years on Wednesday to 357 killed. It brings the total killed in Lebanon since Israel renewed its offensive on 2 March to more than 1,953 people. The number of people wounded stands at 6,303, the health ministry added.
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US intelligence reports that China is preparing to send new air defence systems to Iran over the new few weeks, CNN reports, citing anonymous sources. The US state department, White House and Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Key events
Shah Meer Baloch
In an address to the nation before the talks, Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said the upcoming US-Iran talks in Islamabad were “make or break,” warning the next phase will determine whether a lasting ceasefire can be secured.
An Iranian delegation led by speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf landed in Islamabad on Friday night, with Pakistani jets escorting the Iranian planes as they entered the country’s airspace. Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, received the Iranian delegation led by Ghalibaf.
Ghalibaf said in a statement after reaching Islamabad: “Iran has come in good faith, but doesn’t trust the US. Iran is ready for an agreement if the US presents a genuine deal and recognises Iran’s rights.”
A statement by the foreign minister, Dar, expressed hope for constructive talks. Dar said Pakistan would continue to facilitate sustainable and long-lasting solution between the parties. He said he hoped the both parties would engage in constructive talks.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Here’s the full list of members of the Iranian delegation.
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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the delegation and the Iranian parliamentary speaker;
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Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister;
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Reza Amiri Moghadam, the ambassador to Pakistan;
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Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a member of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran;
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Ali Bagheri Kani, the deputy to the Supreme National Security Council and former acting foreign minister;
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Esmael Ahmadi Moghadam, the president of the National Defense university;
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Mohammad Jafari, the assistant to the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council;
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Naser Hemati, the governor of Iran’s central bank;
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Kazim Gharibabadi, a deputy foreign minister;
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Majid Takht e Ravanchi, a deputy foreign minister;
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Valiollah Nouri, a deputy foreign minister;
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Esmail Baghaei, a deputy foreign minister and spokesperson for the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs;
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Abolfazl Amouei, an Iranian MP;
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and Mohammad Nabavian, an Iranian MP.
As we wait for the Islamabad talks to commence, the conflict in the Middle East continues as we see in these images from the last 24 hours.
The UK will host a strait of Hormuz meeting next week, bringing together multiple countries aiming to restore free movement of ships through the strait, which has been blockaded by Iran since the beginning of the war and inflicted heavy damage on the global economy.
A British official told AP that the meeting will oppose the idea of tolls being charged for passage through the waterway, as proposed by Iran as part of ceasefire negotiations.
The meeting follows a foreign minister’s call on 2 April involving about 40 countries and a military planning meeting attended by about 30 nations. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said that it is essential to have a “viable plan” to reopen the strait and get the global economy moving.
Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
US delegation touches down in Islamabad
A plane carrying the US envoys headed for talks with Iran has touched down in Pakistan’s Islamabad, sources told Reuters.
The delegation is led by the US vice-president, JD Vance, and includes president Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Iranian delegation had already arrived earlier.
About 100 members of an advance US team are already in the city, a Pakistani source told Reuters.
The meeting is the first since the outbreak of the war more than a month ago. Both sides have claimed conditions before the onset of negotiations, with Iran demanding an end to Israeli strikes in Lebanon and the US concerned with nuclear weapons and the fate of transit through the strait of Hormuz.
The Athens-based Marine Traffic said on Friday that only 14 vessels – only half of which were loaded – have crossed the strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire was declared, according to AP.
Vessels exiting the Gulf accounted for 70% of vessels, the group posted on X, with “sanctioned or shadow-fleet-linked vessels account[ing] for nearly two-thirds of all crossings”.
Before the conflict, over 100 ships passed through the strait each day – most with oil outbound to Asia.
US intelligence reports China preparing to send air defence systems to Iran in next few weeks
US intelligence indicates China is preparing to deliver new air defence systems to Iran within the next few weeks, CNN reports, citing three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments, according to Reuters.
The network said Beijing could be routing shipments of shoulder-fired anti-air missiles known as MANPADs through third countries to mask their origin, citing unnamed sources. The US state department, the White House and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
President Trump and Pakistani officials have confirmed that China helped step in to push Iran to accept a tentative ceasefire. But while the Chinese government says it backs the ceasefire, it has not to date tried to claim any diplomatic credit as a security guarantor, with a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington merely saying “as a responsible major power, China will continue to play a constructive role and make efforts to de-escalate tensions”.
Lebanon’s health ministry say the provisional death toll from Israeli strikes on Wednesday had risen from 303 to 357, with 1,223 people wounded, AFP reports, with Israel claiming to have killed 180 militants in those attacks. The Israeli military say Hezbollah had fired around 30 projectiles into Israel and claims to have “dismantled” more than 4,300 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon since fighting began.
Digital monitor Netblocks says Iran’s internet blackout has lasted over a thousand hours, AFP reports.
While Iran’s domestic intranet remains operational, access to the global internet has been restricted since February.
“It is the Israeli public that holds Netanyahu’s fate in its hands,” writes Jonathan Freedland, writing on the role of the Israeli PM in the current Middle East tensions.
“What record will he be able to present to that domestic electorate, the one that judges him by his own lights? … Netanyahu-ism has gained nothing, and it has come at a monstrously high price.”
Read more of his analysis below:
In Islamabad, mutual mistrust remained the order of the day, Agence France-Presse reports.
“We have good intentions but we do not trust,” Iranian state TV quoted the head of the Iranian delegation, parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, as saying upon his arrival. “ Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises”.
JD Vance, the US vice-president and head of their delegation, was equally wary. “If [the Iranians are] going to try and play us, they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he told reporters.
Donald Trump has said his top priority is to ensure the Islamic republic cannot have a nuclear weapon – “That’s 99% of it” – but stopping the continuing Israeli strikes on Lebanon, a key demand from Iran as a condition of the truce, as well as the precise terms for allowing shipping traffic through the blockaded strait of Hormuz will also play a key part.
The Iranian side say negotiations cannot begin without commitments on Lebanon and on unblocking Iranian assets seized as part of sanctions. Israel and the US’s position is that that Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire.
Trump, posting on social media, said “The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. They only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!”
Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif says making progress will be hard work. “This is the stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of ‘make or break’,” he said.
In Islamabad, all routes leading to the Serena hotel, which is hosting the talks, were blocked off with heavy security, with banners and signs along the expressway heralding the “Islamabad Talks”. But in Tehran, a 30-year-old local told AFP he was skeptical negotiations would be successful, describing most of what Trump says as “pure noise and nonsense”.
Islamabad continues to prepare for the upcoming ceasefire talks and the arrivals of delegates in Pakistan’s capital. Here are some new images coming into the newsroom today.
Opening summary
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East with talks between Iranian and US officials scheduled to begin in Islamabad in just a matter of hours.
Stay tuned here for all the updates. If you are just joining us, below is a quick recap of the latest news
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Iran’s delegation has arrived in Islamabad ahead of high-stakes talks with the United States on Saturday, which the Pakistani prime minister described as “make or break” for achieving a permanent ceasefire. The delegation is headed by Iran’s powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and he is reportedly accompanied by Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran’s defence council, Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of Iran’s central bank, and several members of the Iranian parliament. Ghalibaf said earlier on Friday that two previously agreed measures – a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets – “must be fulfilled before negotiations begin”.
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US vice-president JD Vance, who is en route to Islamabad, said he was “looking forward to negotiations” and expected them to be positive – though he warned Iran not to “play” the US. He is leading the US delegation and will be accompanied by Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
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The planned talks come as Trump threatened fresh strikes if talks fail, adding that the Iranians “have no cards” and the only reason they are alive “is to negotiate”. Trump told the New York Post that the US is loading its warships with the “best weapons” in case talks with Tehran fail. “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them and we will be using them very effectively,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Lebanon and Israel have agreed to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss a ceasefire and to set a date to begin talks. The conversation on Tuesday will be mediated by the US and take place at the state department.
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Lebanon’s health ministry has updated the death toll from Israel’s most brutal strikes on the country in years on Wednesday to 357 killed. It brings the total killed in Lebanon since Israel renewed its offensive on 2 March to more than 1,953 people. The number of people wounded stands at 6,303, the health ministry added.
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Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, said on Friday that 13 state security personnel were killed in an Israeli strike on a governmental building in the southern city of Nabatieh. In a statement, Aoun condemned continued Israeli attacks and said targeting state institutions would not deter Lebanon from defending its sovereignty.
Sion documented his weight loss journey online and was shocked to find a company was using his photos.
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