Live Football News: Haaland and Kerr Named FWA Players of the Year in Awards Ceremony by The Guardian
FWA Awards: Erling Haaland and Sam Kerr have been voted Men’s Footballer of the Year and Women’s Footballer of the year by the Football Writers’ Association. Manchester City striker Haaland won by a landslide on the back of a maiden season in which he has scored 51 goals (and counting) in all competitions.
His Chelsea counterpart Kerr has won the women’s award for the second season in a row, becoming it’s first back-to-back winner. The Australia international polled twice as many votes as Rachel Daly of Aston Villa and England, who edged out Chelsea’s Lauren James for second place.
Women’s FA Cup final: The “House Full” signs will be illuminated when Manchester United take on Chelsea in a sold-out Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. Marc Skinner’s side are hoping to win their first trophy since the club was formed five years ago. Manchester United currently sit top of the WSL table but are being stalked by Emma Hayes’s Chelsea, who sit one point behind them in second place with a game in hand and the destiny of the title in their own hands.
“I’m not thinking about that at all,” said Skinner of the title race. “I am solely focused on a one-off game. For the first time I’ve allowed our players to separate the games and we are looking at this before two difficult games in the league [against Manchester City and Liverpool]. This has no effect in our league and we are going to treat it as such, play it as the one-off event that it is.”
Asked about the pressure of playing in a showpiece final with 90,000 people in attendance and a potential TV audience of millions, Skinner seemed unphased. “It’s not pressure I don’t have every day,” he said. “I even think there’s more pressure on us than Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester City because we are Manchester United. I feel that because every Manchester United fan will want us to win and we are huge around the world. I’m sure there will be some nerves, but I’m fuelling my focus and attention to maximise this because, if we win, it will be massive.”
Newcastle United: Third in the Premier League, two points ahead of a Manchester United side that has lost two games in succession, Newcastle travel to Elland Road for tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off against a relegation-threatened Leeds United side that are desperate for points and almost certainly need to take something from the game. Eddie Howe has been talking about his side’s tilt for Champions League qualification and the challenge of facing Sam Allardyce’s side tomorrow.
“We know it’s going to be a great occasion and a great atmosphere,” he said. “Elland Road’s a brilliant place to play but we need to be ready for what’s going to come. It’s going to be a really important start to the game, those first 15-20 minutes will have a huge impact on what’s going to happen.
“We saw enough [in the defeat at Manchester City] to say that’s going to be what Sam’s going to give the team - clear organisation, clear structure and a definite philosophy in and out of possession. Watching it back, you can see the impact he’s had in a short period of time.
“We’re excited, that has to be our emotion. We’re looking forward to the challenges ahead, I don’t feel the players are daunted by it. I’ve seen them train this week, again it’s been very good and the players seem mentally in a good head space. We’re approaching it with a view of what we can achieve, rather than worrying about any consequences.”
Championship play-off semi-final: Sunderland host Luton Town late tomorrow afternoon in the first leg of their play-off semi-final. Promotion for either side would be an incredible achievement, given Luton’s low budget and the injury crisis a preposterously young Sunderland squad has been forced to endure in their first season back in the second tier after a four-year stay in League One. Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray and his Luton counterpart Rob Edwards have both been talking ahead of the game.
Tony Mowbray: “Luton had a play-off run last year as well, it’s sometimes easy to have a narrative of ‘little Luton’ but they were in the play-offs last year as well so they’ll have the experience of the play-offs.
“They’ll be disappointed they didn’t get through the play-offs last year but they’ll be trying to put that right this year. These games are all big games and the mentality of our group has been – because of the injuries, because of the adversity – to express ourselves, play as we play, do what we’re good at and see where it takes us.
“I think because of the nature of the way the injuries have piled up, they’ve all been long-term injuries and all been one on top of one another in pretty crucial areas of the pitch. It’s been a frustrating spell for us, we’ve talked about losing Ross [Stewart] early in the season and losing goals, but goals haven’t really been a problem for us with the players that we’ve got.
“We’re sitting here now about to play against a pretty physical, strong, direct team who are very connected and work extremely hard for each other without really any central defenders. I hope it’s gelling us together, the adversity of it to bring in a team tighter together.”
Sunderland have been without Ross Stewart since February, with the striker having been absent for an early part of the season, while Elliot Embleton and captain Corry Evans also remain out. Injuries have also affected the squad defensively with defenders Danny Batth and Dan Ballard sidelined, while there are concerns about whether Dennis Cirkin and Lynden Gooch will be involved tomorrow.
Rob Edwards: “I’m really looking forward to seeing how the lads handle it,” he said of the play-offs. “A number of them had the disappointment of last season and they don’t want that again. We can learn from that experience, we can talk about it.
“The one thing that I’m looking for is the performance, doing our basics and those things really well because that’s what has served us well throughout the season so far. If we do those things right you give yourself a good chance of getting a result but I can’t say ‘Yeah, we’re going to go one step further’.”
Newcastle United: Sean Longstaff has missed Newcastle’s last two games with a foot injury and has been to see a specialist amid concerns he might not play in the final four games of the season as Newcastle try to qualify for the Champions League.
“There were a few concerns that there was maybe some sort of structural damage in his foot; there wasn’t, which was good news, but there is a bit of damage to one of the ligaments,” said Eddie Howe. “He’s being re-scanned today actually, which we hope will show an improvement. It’s slightly unclear when he’ll be back but it’s not a long-term issue at all. It’s whether we can get him back before the end of the season.”
Nottingham Forest: Steve Cooper insists there is no problem between himself and Jonjo Shelvey despite the midfielder’s recent omission from Nottingham Forest’s matchday squads.
Shelvey is reported to have spat the dummy after being left of Forest’s squad to face Liverpool at Anfield in April and was forced to sit out Forest’s next game against Brighton as punishment for his impertinence. He has since been a conspicuous absentee from Forest squads in games against Brentford and Southampton, with Orel Mangala impressing in the deep-lying midfielder role.
“Jonjo is training,” said Cooper. “We have got players and squads to pick, which is what we want, but always outside of that there are players who fall on the wrong side. That is the life of a manager trying to make the right choices, sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t. There’s no problem, we’re all good.”
FWA Awards: Erling Haaland and Sam Kerr have been voted Men’s Footballer of the Year and Women’s Footballer of the year by the Football Writers’ Association. Manchester City striker Haaland won by a landslide on the back of a maiden season in which he has scored 51 goals (and counting) in all competitions.
His Chelsea counterpart Kerr has won the women’s award for the second season in a row, becoming it’s first back-to-back winner. The Australia international polled twice as many votes as Rachel Daly of Aston Villa and England, who edged out Chelsea’s Lauren James for second place.
Interview: The former Bristol Rovers, Huddersfield, Ipswich and Sunderland striker was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in January last year. Ahead of tomorrow’s charity match at Rovers’ Memorial Stadium to raise funds for the Darby Rimmer Foundation, the modest, self-deprecating 50-year-old sat down with Ben Fisher to discuss how he’s dealing with his illness and the difficulty of keeping his emotions in check ahead of an occasion he wants to be all about the charity rather than him.
Klopp on Liverpool’s summer transfer plans: “When I talk to a player - if I’m allowed to talk to a player - we cannot say in the moment if we have Champions League football,” he says. “So, if we re already talking, then it is already clear that he already knows about that situation but it’s just a general thing.
“I think if you join a club, you reach something together with the club. It’s obvious we have to be part of the Champions League, fight for trophies and these kind of things. If you want to be part of that, you’re more than welcome. We cannot guarantee this year Champions League football.
“But all the rest is the same as before: a fantastic club with a really good football team - and a better one hopefully next year. It’s really that simple. Still Liverpool. We’re really attractive to a lot of players.”
Premier League: Leicester host Liverpool in the last of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures, which is slated for Monday night, a state of affairs that means both teams will have a very clear idea of what exactly they need from the game. Liverpool currently sit fifth, a point behind Manchester Uniited having played one game more, while Leciester are battling against relegation and are two points from safety.
Klopp reveals that midfielder Naby Keita and striker Bobby Firmino will miss the game through injury and says Liverpool will need to be ready for “a real fight” against a Leicester side that needs “all the points they can get”. With his side on a run of six consecutive wins in the Premier League, Klopp is asked about Liverpool’s turnaround in form since a run of five games without a win that ended with their 2-2 draw against Arsenal at Anfield.
“We tried to give ourselves a chance for fresh start with a lot of different things,” he says. “It was a breath of fresh air for all of us. The basic principles stay. We want to control the game differently. It’s really good fun. There is a lot to play for and that’s exactly what we do. Sometimes you have to change big things. It was clear we had to change things. That’s the one good thing of this season.”
Europa Conference League: David Moyes believes that West Ham will have enough resilience to reach the final of the Europa Conference League when they resume their battle with AZ Alkmaar next week.
West Ham will travel to the Netherlands with a 2-1 lead after fighting back from a goal down to win the first leg of their Conference League semi-final at the London Stadium last night. Jacob Steinberg reports from the London Stadium …
The Premier League inches ever closer to its denouement. The women’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United takes place at Wembley. The Championship, League One and League Two play-off semi-finals get under way. The whiteknuckle ride that is the National League play-off final between Notts County and Chesterfield. Celtic’s coronation as Scottish champions following a home game against their bitter rivals Rangers.
There’ll be no shortage of highlights from an absolutely mouthwatering weekend of football action but today we’re focusing on the build-up. We’ll bring you updates from the press conferences of a procession of often ashen-faced managers, any other news that’s fit to print and much more that isn’t. Stay tuned and don’t touch that dial …
