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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Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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