“This Hearts story did not begin with Stuart Findlay’s late winner at Tannadice in August. a stoppage-time intervention from Alexandros Kyziridis against Livingston later that month or the September victory at Ibrox that materially fuelled belief among Derek McInnes’s squad. Brian Cormack, Alex Mackie, Jamie Bryant, Donald Ford. Garry Halliday will not feature in the Hearts team seeking to create history at Celtic Park but that quintet set this club on a path that after 16 years has almost – though only almost – reached the ultimate glory point…”
“FA Cup. Seems strange that I guess lot of neutral fans will want CFC. I do. But not exactly expecting that to happen. I’m in the NE of Brazil, near Fortaleza, don’t follow football here, won’t be cheering for Arsenal either.”
Two goals in three minutes from Matildas forward Holly McNamara. a stunning strike by Leticia McKenna have won Melbourne City a record-equalling fifth A-League Women Championship title, defeating newcomers Wellington Phoenix 3-1 in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
As always, feel free to email in with any thoughts, feelings, predictions, observations and all that jazz. What are your plans for the day? Are you off to Wembley? Let me know!
Joshua Keeling has messaged in to say:
“I’m not a Hearts supporter, but I’m desperate for them to do it today. Football needs these stories, and Scottish football does in particular, after 40 years of Old Firm dominance. It will be so dispiriting if Celtic still win the league in a season where they’ve been in turmoil for significant periods. Come on Hearts, do it for yourselves, do it for the neutrals, do it for football.”
Eddie Howe will look back on the season with mixed feelings after admitting it has been “a challenge” managing Newcastle. They will head into Sunday’s final home game of the Premier League campaign against West Ham knowing the Magpies, who reached the knockout stage in the Champions League. the Carabao Cup semi-finals, have underachieved. Howe’s side lies 13th in the table with two games remaining. 13 points adrift of the fifth place in which they finished last season.
Asked how he would look back on the campaign the 48-year-old, whose future has been called into question as a result, said: “I suppose time will tell, to a degree,. I think my initial thought now in response to that question is I will look back with probably mixed feelings.
“Some major, major highs, some great experiences, some memorable games, successful games for us. then some challenges and some periods where we’ve had to dig really deep and question ourselves and try to come back fighting, so a real mixture. [It is] probably different to the other seasons that I’ve had here, which have been more… not consistent success because it’s never like that,. more a feeling of smoothness through the season, of invariably positive feelings. This one has been a challenge.” PA Media
Arne Slot has promised next season will be better as Liverpool’s Champions League hopes hang in the balance after a “damaging” 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa.
The Reds could have sealed their place in next season’s premier European competition. Villa secured the win following another directionless performance from the Reds as the pressure grew on the manager, who presided over an alarming 12th defeat of the season. The Dutchman accepted supporters might not find reason to be optimistic, but he is expecting a better campaign.
“I can understand at this moment. they don’t have a lot of confidence or a lot of feeling that things can be much better next season,” Slot said. “But I think then they are underestimating what a window can do, what a new start can do,. I think we know quite well what to improve.
“I think one of the things we have to improve is very, very, very obvious,. I would have preferred not to talk about it here, but you’re actually almost forcing me to.
“If you miss nine players that can start a game of football,. almost all of them are starters for us or have been for large part of the season, then if you add that to what you can improve in a window and add that to players that are playing for the second season in the Premier League, that will automatically lead to much more. I don’t think the differences are so big. only doing in a few situations the right thing can already have a best massive upwards possibility.”
Liverpool are still favourites to book a Champions League spot. it could happen in the next few days if Brighton and Bournemouth drop points, while they can look after their own business by beating Brentford on the final day.
“Damaging because we needed either a win or maybe two draws would have been enough as well,. now we know one thing for sure, that we need a win next week if we have to do it ourselves,” Slot added. PA Media
With it looking very likely that Khadija Shaw will move on this summer. the question is, how do you replace her?
The striker is on track to win her third consecutive Golden Boot. having scored 19 goals in 21 appearances so far this season. In the event that she leaves. whoever is signed to replace her will have a huge task at hand to even try to replicate those numbers.
“Saturday’s finale to the Women’s Super League season marks the end of an era,. not only because it is the final time the division will operate with 12 teams before the expansion to 14. A multitude of players synonymous with their clubs in recent years are making end-of-contract departures. the forward lines, in particular, of many of the top sides will not look the same again.”
It’s the final day of the Women’s Super League season. some key players will bid farewell to their respective clubs.
Club legends Beth Mead. Katie McCabe will play their final match in Arsenal red, alongside Victoria Pelova and Laia Codina. Naomi Williams and Manuela Zinsberger are also poised to leave north London this summer.
Sam Kerr will make her final appearance for Chelsea today. with Stamford Bridge also bidding farewell to Millie Bright following her retirement from professional football.
And a huge question mark still surrounds the future of Khadija Shaw. who is likely to leave Manchester City upon the end of her contract.
So, what’s on today?
Chelsea v Manchester City (3pm BST)
Scottish Premiership:
Celtic v Hearts (12:30pm BST)
Falkirk v Rangers (12:30pm BST)
Hibernian v Motherwell (12:30pm BST)
Women’s Super League:
Brighton v Tottenham (1pm BST)
West Ham v Manchester City (1pm BST)
Liverpool v Arsenal (1pm BST)
Chelsea v Manchester United (1pm BST)
London City Lionesses v Aston Villa (1pm BST)
Everton v Leicester City (1pm BST)
St. Pauli v Wolfsburg (2:30pm BST)
Heidenheim v Mainz (2:30pm BST)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Stuttgart (2:30pm BST)
Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund (2:30pm BST)
Bayer Leverkusen v Hamburg (2:30pm BST)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Hoffenheim (2:30pm BST)
Bayern Munich v Köln (2:30pm BST)
Union Berlin v Augsburg (2:30pm BST)
Freiburg v RB Leipzig (2:30pm BST)
After last night’s win. Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery suggested that qualifying for the Champions League now takes a weight off the shoulders of his players going into the Europa League final next week.
He said: “Now we can play the final, only thinking for a trophy. It is something making sense of everything we are trying to build here.
“The priority is always the league and it is the most difficult league. The consistency we must show all season is something we are setting as a huge challenge. We are always trying to get our highest level and to play there being comfortable.
“This season we started poor, then we were fantastic for three months, then we were down. But the consistency and demands were high and we never gave up. We were always focusing strongly on the league and today is a summary of the season.”
How the Premier League table looks after last night’s result…
Aston Villa cruised to a huge 4-2 win over Liverpool last night to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League. An Ollie Watkins double, along with goals from Morgan Rogers. John McGinn, saw Unai Emery and Co jump to fourth in the table.
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! Chelsea take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final this afternoon,. that is not the only big match we have to look forward to.
It’s the final day of the Scottish Premiership season. league leaders Hearts face second-placed Celtic in a winner-takes-all showdown at Celtic Park. Hearts need just one point to claim their first league title in 66 years.
Elsewhere, it’s the last day of the WSL season. Manchester City will lift the trophy for the first time in a decade. Arsenal travel to face Liverpool at Anfield as they look to secure second place. while Chelsea take on Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
And we’ll be previewing tomorrow’s Premier League action as teams prepare for their penultimate game of the campaign.
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