Premier League
The Premier League’s unlikely pretenders to Champions League riches

The battle for a place in the Champions League is the focus of attention in the final two months of the English Premier League season, with the title race and relegation battle seemingly a foregone conclusion.
Liverpool are storming clear with a 12-point lead over Arsenal at the top, while at the bottom Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton are set for an immediate return to the second-tier Championship.
A strong season by English sides in European competitions means it is almost certain that a top-five finish will secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
And the race to be in Europe’s elite club competition has never been more open as the Premier League’s middle class has taken advantage of a woeful season for Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea and Manchester City occupy fourth and fifth on 49 and 48 points respectively with nine games to go but both also still have plenty to do after their struggles for consistent form.
Here is a look at the prospects of four surprise Champions League challengers.
Nottingham Forest (third, 54 points)
Forest may have plenty of historical pedigree in continental competition, but they have not been in the European Cup since they were defending champions in 1980.
After a 23-year absence from the Premier League and just battling to avoid relegation in the past two seasons, the Tricky Trees have stunned everyone to sit behind only Liverpool and Arsenal at the top of the table and have made it to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have a seven-point cushion in the race for a top-five finish and a favourable fixture run-in.
Forest face only two sides in the top half, Chelsea and Aston Villa, in their final nine games.
Brighton & Hove Albion (seventh, 47 points)
The Seagulls have taken 13 points from a possible 15 to roar back into Champions League contention in Fabian Hurzeler’s first season in charge.
The wheels could have come off for the 32-year-old when his ultra attacking line-up away to Forest in February backfired in a humiliating 7-0 defeat.
At that point, Brighton had won just twice in the Premier League in 12 games, but they have bounced back impressively to keep dreams of a first-ever foray into the Champions League alive.
Fulham (eighth, 45 points)
Fulham are another club never to have reached Europe’s elite level but are back in the running after their own mid-season stumble.
Marco Silva’s men won just twice in 10 games between late November and mid-January, but have beaten Forest, Newcastle United and Tottenham in their last six league maches.
However, they face a tough run if they are to qualify for Europe for the first time in 14 years.
The Cottagers face Arsenal and Liverpool in their next two and host City on the final day of the season.
Bournemouth (10th, 44 points)
The Cherries’ chances of a first-ever European adventure have suffered in a run of one point from their last four league games.
Andoni Iraola’s men appeared to be tiring before the international break and showed signs of fatigue in an FA Cup quarter-final loss to City over the weekend after taking a first-half lead.
The visit of struggling Ipswich on April 2 gives Bournemouth the perfect chance to kickstart their pursuit of the top five in what is likely to be the final few months before this squad is broken up.
Iraola himself is reportedly the man Tottenham want to succeed Ange Postecoglou if the Australian does not deliver the Europa League.
Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo have been linked with Liverpool, while Dean Huijsen is attracting interest from Real Madrid.
-AFP
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Premier League
Struggling Man United plan to build ‘world’s greatest stadium’ rather than refurbish Old Trafford

Manchester United plan to build a new two billion pound ($2.59 billion) 100,000-seat stadium that will be the biggest in Britain, next to the existing Old Trafford, the club announced on Tuesday.
“Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium, at the centre of a regenerated Old Trafford,” United’s co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said in a statement.
The British billionaire had been open about his desire for a new, state-of-the-art “Wembley of the north” since he became a minority owner in February of last year, and the club have been studying whether to redevelop the existing stadium, which has been the club’s home since 1910, or build a new one.
United appointed Foster + Partners in September to develop a masterplan for the area around Old Trafford as part of a regeneration project.
The club unveiled architectural designs for the new stadium, which will feature an umbrella design, at an event on Tuesday morning in London.
“This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today,” Norman Foster, Foster + Partners’ executive chairman, said in a statement. “It all starts with the fans’ experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar.
“The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater, and sheltering a new public plaza that is twice the size of Trafalgar Square.”
The stadium will be part of a wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area, with British finance minister Rachel Reeves recently giving government backing for the plans.
United say the project could create as many as 92,000 new jobs and will lead to the construction of 17,000 homes, and will be worth an additional 7.3 billion pounds per year to the British economy.
Old Trafford has not had any major redevelopment since 2006 and criticism of the 74,140-seat stadium, England’s biggest club ground, has grown in recent years, with issues around its leaking roof and recent rodent sightings.
-Reuters
Premier League
Ratcliffe says some Man Utd players not good enough

A number of Manchester United players are “not good enough” while some others are being “overpaid”, the club’s co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said on Monday as manager Ruben Amorim faces an uphill task to turn around the side’s fortunes.
Ratcliffe gave his backing to Amorim, who took charge in November following the sacking of Erik ten Hag, even though the Portuguese has struggled to turn around the team’s fortunes with United down in 14th place in the Premier League.
Since the 40-year-old Portuguese took charge, United have won five of 17 league matches and exited both domestic cups.
Thousands of fans protested about the club’s ownership before Sunday’s draw with Arsenal and British chemicals billionaire Ratcliffe attempted to address their concerns in a wide-ranging BBC interview on Monday, saying many of the problems were already there when he acquired a 25% stake in his childhood club and took charge of football operations.
“We’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying (Andre) Onana, we’re buying (Rasmus) Hojlund, we’re buying (Jadon) Sancho… whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out.
“For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we’re paying 17 million pounds ($21.87 million) to buy him in the summer.”
Sancho, whose fee was 73 million pounds when he joined in 2021, is currently on loan at Chelsea while winger Antony, who cost 81.5 million pounds, is on loan at Spanish club Real Betis.
“Some players are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.”
Ratcliffe has some sympathy for Amorim, saying the former Sporting coach is an “outstanding young manager”.
“If I actually look at the squad which is available to Ruben, I think he is doing a really good job to be honest,” Ratcliffe said. “I think he will be there for a long time.
“You are beginning to see a glimpse of what Ruben can produce. I think you saw a glimpse of it against Arsenal.”
Ratcliffe, whose buy-in to the club was largely welcomed by the fans, said the 20-times English champions are in a period of transformation and that tough decisions were being made.
United have made job cuts this season and the 72-year-old Ratcliffe said the club would have run out of money by the end of the year if no corrective actions were taken.
He did, however, rule out selling youngsters such as Kobbie Mainoo and winger Alejandro Garnacho to help balance the books.
“The club had got bloated so we reduced that and will finish it with a lean and efficient organisation,” he said.
“United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300m in and if we buy no new players in the summer.
“It’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans … My only interest here is returning Manchester United back to greatness again.”
Ratcliffe said he fully-supported Amorim’s tough stance on forward Marcus Rashford who was frozen out of the first team before joining Aston Villa on loan in January.
“He wants a dressing room that is full of people who are totally committed to winning football matches. He won’t tolerate people who don’t have 100% of that attitude. The players have to be in the same box,” he said.
“(Rashford) has moved out of Manchester and maybe that’s a good thing for him. I’m pleased he’s doing well because he has got tremendous talent, but for whatever reason it wasn’t working for the past couple of seasons.”
-Reuters
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Premier League
Liverpool switches back to Adidas from Nike for next season

Premier League leader Liverpool is reuniting with Adidas as its uniform supplier for the first time in 13 years, starting from next season.
It will be the third time that Liverpool teamed up with the German sportswear firm after previous partnerships from 1985-96 and 2006-12. Since then, Liverpool has worn jerseys from Warrior, New Balance and most recently Nike.
The new agreement covers all men’s, women’s and youth teams at the club. Liverpool did not disclose financial details of the deal.
“The jerseys worn during previous partnerships are some of the greatest ever created,” Adidas chief executive Bjørn Gulden said in a statement. “We are honored to once again provide the players with cutting-edge technology to perform at the highest level and are looking forward to creating more classics for the fans.”
Liverpool has a 15-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and is on course for its first league title in five years.
-AP
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