Salah to miss Old Trafford trip; Newcastle ‘supportive’ of Howe; World Cup latest: football – live | Premier League

Some fans have been let loose on Sky Sports News to talk about the Premier League title race and other matters.

The Arsenal fan has surrendered, at this point:

“I’ve had four years of this and I can’t take another let-down,” he says.

“I’ve had my cry. I’ve broken down. If we win it now, I’ll be happy.”

Thanks Tom, hi everyone.

Here’s a line off Reuters about a former Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and England legend:

Raheem Sterling was meant to be a marquee signing for Feyenoord as they battled for supremacy in the Netherlands, but with three games left in the season, the Dutch club are still waiting for the 31-year-old to make an impact.

Feyenoord continue their quest for second place in the league, and qualification for the Champions League, with a trip to 12th-placed Fortuna Sittard on Sunday, but it is not certain Sterling will be in the team.

The former England international, signed on a short-term contract in February, has started four league games and made three substitute appearances, and is yet to score.

He seemed a frustrated figure when left on the bench for the key clash against third-placed NEC Nijmegen last month, and came on for the final 15 minutes in last weekend’s win against Groningen.

Feyenoord cannot win the league, sitting 19 points behind the champions PSV Eindhoven, but still have much to play for, with a tenuous three-point lead over third-placed NEC Nijmegen in the battle for second place.

Coach Robin van Persie called Sterling’s signing “one of the biggest transfers in the history of the club” but his form has not lived up to the hype.

Van Persie, however, backed him despite criticism in the Dutch media and some scorn from disappointed supporters.

The coach said last week he had a positive conversation with Sterling, who he felt was getting better and fitter, but said any decision on whether the former Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City attacker would stay next season would come later.

Sterling’s move to Feyenoord was something of a surprise but was seen as a genuine effort to resurrect his career after being sidelined at Chelsea.

Sterling had not played for nine months before his first appearance for Feyenoord, where fans gave him a rapturous reception, but he has since been jeered by supporters. Reuters

And with that, I’m handing over to Luke McLaughlin, who’ll take you through to lunchtime. Laters.

One of the biggest games of the bank holiday weekend doesn’t come until Monday night, when Hearts host Rangers knowing they could practically end the visitors’ title hopes – and massively boost theirs – with a win, turning the title race into a two-way fight with Celtic (IF the Hoops beat Hibs on Sunday). The Jambos’ manager, Derek McInnes, is trying not to think about it: “Every team in with a chance of the title will see themselves as right in it, which makes it even more exciting. We’ve got a good enough record in this fixture but we need to concentrate on ourselves and not focus too much about what the opposition are thinking.”

All sorts of rivalry-distortions are in play too – Hearts fans willing their Edinburgh foes Hibs against Celtic? Celtic fans preferring a draw for Rangers at Hearts rather than a defeat?

In case you missed it yesterday, a spot of early-summer transfer whispering with Manchester United chasing West Ham’s El Hadji Malick Diouf as possible left-back competition for Luke Shaw.

Just perusing the weekend’s Premier League and EFL fixtures, a huge number of matches have something at stake for at least one of the teams playing in them, and here’s a list:

Premier League
Leeds v Burnley
Brentford v West Ham
Arsenal v Fulham
Bournemouth v Palace
Man Utd v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Spurs
Chelsea v Forest
Everton v Man City

Championship
Derby v Sheffield Utd
Hull v Norwich
Ipswich v QPR
Millwall v Oxford
Wrexham v Middlesbrough

League One
Barnsley v Stockport
Bolton v Luton
Exeter v Bradford
Leyton Orient v Burton
Northampton v Plymouth
Stevenage v Wigan

League Two
Barrow v Newport
Bromley v Walsall
Crawley v Salford
Crewe v Cambridge
Fleetwood v MK Dons
Harrogate v Barnet
Notts County v Bristol Rovers
Swindon v Chesterfield
Tranmere v Grimsby

Gianni Infantino’s “football heals the world” schtick came off worse in an encounter with reality when his attempt to orchestrate a handshake between the Palestinian and Israeli delegates at Fifa’s congress backfired.

The Palestinian Football Association’s president, Jibril Rajoub, refused to stand alongside the Israel FA’s vice-president, Basim Sheikh Suliman, towards the end of the congress after both men had been called to the stage in Vancouver by Infantino.

Asked what Rajoub said when he refused, the Palestinian FA’s vice-president, Susan Shalabi, told Reuters: “I cannot shake the hand of someone the Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide. We are suffering.”

Matt Hughes has the story here:

Given the horror-show of a season Leicester fans have endured, the 10th anniversary of their sensational Premier League title triumph might feel a tad bittersweet, but what a season 2015-16 was, and what a team they were. Ben Fisher has been talking to some of the key participants, including Claudio Ranieri …

It changed the lives of everybody. For my players, who can say: “I won the Premier League.” I’m a very shy man, I don’t say: “I won the title!” But I’m very proud, very happy. In Leicester there is a big Indian community and some Indian people told me: “Thank you, Claudio, because now we link more with the Leicester people, the English people. When we go to the stadium, we push together.” And that is very, very special for me. It’s bigger than football.

It’s a big weekend in the Women’s Super League too and Manchester City can move closer to the title with a home win over Liverpool tomorrow, though they have been wobbling lately. Their main challengers, Arsenal, are otherwise engaged – in WCL semi-final action against OL Lyonnes.

But as the season draws to an end, fixture scheduling remains a sore point in the women’s game, as Tom Garry reports:

Waiting for men’s broadcast picks, dodging local fun runs and even having to avoid clashing with nearby comedy gigs: welcome to the quagmire of trying to arrange the Women’s Super League and WSL 2 schedule.

The fixture list is often a bone of contention for supporters, and organisers face a painstaking task in trying to organise games in venues where other teams get first dibs.

“Stadium availability is led by the men’s game and then broadcast is led by the men’s game, so it can be really hard,” Zarah Al-Kudcy, chief revenue officer at WSL Football, says. “Some of the reasons we are given as to why fixtures have to change, you just have to laugh or you’d cry.”

Eddie Howe says Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners remain supportive after meetings with PIF representatives on their trip over to the north-east this week. “I saw the owners and their representatives; it was constructive” said the manager before tomorrow’s home game against in-form Brighton. “It’s always constructive because they clearly care so much about the football club.

“There are exciting times ahead regardless of what happens in the short term. There’s no change in the level of support I’m receiving and the infrastructure but there is still an understanding of how football works and we need results.”

Howe was fairly non-commital about Anthony Gordon’s prospects of being fit to face Brighton. “He did a session on Wednesday, it was great to see him back on the pitch we’ll make an assessment closer to the game.”

Arne Slot has been up early for the press conference to preview Liverpool’s game at Manchester United and Mohamed Salah, who has scored 16 goals for the Reds against their biggest rivals, is not fit enough to make a final appearance at Old Trafford in a Liverpool shirt as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Mo is always working incredibly hard during the season when he is fit and when he is injured to get back as soon as possible. Usually he is back earlier fit than other players. He has a minor injury and we expect and need him back for the final part of the season, but not for Sunday. It is a big relief that his injury is minor and he is able to play for us and at the World Cup. If a player deserves a big send off then it is Mo.”

Slot also said that Alisson is close to a return.

Morning everyone and welcome. We’re at that stage of the season where clubs are either on the beach or deep in a world of stress/pain/excitement, each casting envious glances at the other. A hugely consequential weekend looms, starting tonight with Leeds having another opportunity to distance themselves from the relegation rabble when they host managerless and relegated Burnley. By around 3pm tomorrow we’ll know the identity of one more of the clubs replacing the Clarets, with Ipswich, Millwall and Middlesbrough duking it out for second place in the Championship, while ups, downs and playoff places in the rest of the EFL will be sorted by teatime, when everyone can chill out watching Arsenal’s bid to keep their creaking title bid on the road when they face Fulham.

There was plenty to chew on last night too. Nottingham Forest just about edged their all-English Europa League semi-final first leg against Aston Villa, but not without the inevitable VAR blow-up, Unai Emery fuming at the failure to punish Elliott Anderson for a dangerous tackle on Ollie Watkins. In the Conference League, Oliver Glasner’s chances of bowing out at Crystal Palace with a second trophy in two years were substantially enhanced in a 3-1 semi-final first leg win against Shakhtar Donetsk. The Europa League place denied them last year is now in sight.

Anyway, we’ll be across all the buildup and news going into the weekend, with pressers due at Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City this morning and pre-match chat from Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester United and Chelsea around lunchtime. And to get you in the mood, here’s 10 Premier League things to look out for, in time-honoured fashion.