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European roundup
Monaco opened up the Ligue 1 title race by inflicting a first home defeat of the season on the defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain on Friday night. Maghnes Akliouche had Monaco ahead at half-time, with Aleksandr Golovin and Folarin Balogun scoring after the break for the visitors, while Bradley Barcola grabbed a consolation for PSG, who are still four points clear of second-placed Lens in the standings. Lens, however, have a chance to cut into that lead when they host bottom-placed Metz on Sunday.
In Spain, Federico Valverde’s heavily deflected 95th-minute drive snatched injury-hit Real Madrid a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo in La Liga. The Uruguay midfielder needed a stroke of fortune at the death to pull his team to within one point of the leaders, Barcelona, who visit Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Napoli recorded their first home win in Serie A since late January with a 2-1 defeat of Torino to tighten their grip on third place and a Champions League spot. The reigning champions won thanks to goals from Alisson Santos after seven minutes and a 68th-minute strike from Eljif Elmas before Cesare Casadei scored a late consolation for Torino.
And in Germany, Bayern Munich cruised past 10-man Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-1 to widen their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 14 points. Even without the injured striker Harry Kane, it was one-way traffic from the start as four different scorers were on target for Bayern.
Peter Lansley spoke to Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough this week ahead of today’s match. Give the interview a read below…
Arsenal take on Mansfield Town at Field Mill in the first game of the day. Mikel Arteta suggested yesterday that the pitch could impact his team selection.
He said: “It can do, especially if there is a player that is carrying some injuries that the pitch can affect him in the wrong way, especially certain muscles, but hopefully we’re going to have the ones that we need fit and available.”
“It’s normal. It’s the beauty of this competition as well,” he also explained. “You have to go there, you have to adapt. Since I was little, we’ve all been playing in those stadiums or worse, so you need to adapt to that context and make the most out of it.”
Wrexham’s last five results:
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Charlton 0-1 Wrexham
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Wrexham 2-1 Portsmouth
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Wrexham 5-3 Ipswich
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Bristol City 2-2 Wrexham
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Wrexham 1-0 Ipswich (FA Cup)
Given their recent form, Wrexham will believe they can cause a huge upset today.
Wrexham host Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round this evening. Co-owner Ryan Reynolds and his Hollywood pal Hugh Jackman were over the moon when the two clubs were drawn against each other last month. It is set to be a huge day for the Welsh side and the local community.
Despite Tottenham’s performance against Crystal Palace earlier this week, interim head coach Igor Tudor was optimistic about the future and said: “It might sound strange, I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something. I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I need to go, and who is in the boat can stay, otherwise, [they] can leave the boat.
“When the other players come back, I’m sure we’ll have a good team and come back. It’s not easy to accept the moment we are in now.”
David Hytner
“Igor Tudor’s messaging was always going to be key. All eyes and ears were on the interim Tottenham head coach on Thursday night and how he would react; the tone he would look to set. Would there be another blast for the players? Goodness knows, the material was there.
“It had been another impossibly awful occasion at the club’s home stadium, another defeat – this one by Crystal Palace. Spurs cannot buy a Premier League win at the Temple of Gloom; they have two all season, the basis for the worst home record in the division. As relegation fears sharpen to an incredibly uncomfortable point, the emotions in the stands ranged from apathy to anger. A lot of anger…”
Let’s take a step away from the FA Cup for a moment because I have a question for you…
Could Tottenham actually be relegated at the end of the season?
It seems to be the question pretty much every English football fan is asking at the moment – and for good reason. Spurs are just one point above the relegation zone following their 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Thursday.
While they seem to be heading on a downward spiral, West Ham and Nottingham Forest are both showing signs of improvement.
Let me know what you think! Email in at [email protected] or leave a comment below the line.
From fixture fatigue to a test of priorities, here are eight things to look out for in the FA Cup this weekend…
Speaking after his team’s 3-1 win at Wolves, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said: “Every three days I have a different feeling. Three days ago my feeling was completely different to now. Good to be in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. In three-four days away, another big game in Istanbul.”
The Reds next face Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday.
In the first Cup game of the weekend, Liverpool got their revenge on Wolves with a 3-1 win at Molineux. The Reds suffered a shock 2-1 loss at the same stadium on Tuesday in the Premier League but bounced back last night to progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals. Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones scored the goals to see Arne Slot’s side through.
Today’s FA Cup fixtures
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Mansfield Town v Arsenal
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Wrexham v Chelsea
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Newcastle v Manchester City
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! It’s another FA Cup weekend and there are three games happening today, starting with Arsenal’s trip to Mansfield Town. Chelsea then travel to Wales to face Championship promotion hopefuls Wrexham, and in the late match Newcastle host Manchester City.
We’ll also be previewing tomorrow’s fifth-round games and looking ahead to other fixtures happening across the EFL and Championship.
And finally, England are in action at lunchtime as they host Iceland in their second Women’s World Cup qualifier at the City Ground.
We’ll be across it all this morning, so join us!
