Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward has branded the abuse of Ruesha Littlejohn on social media as a “disgrace” and “disgusting”.
Littlejohn is facing a lengthy suspension from her English club Crystal Palace following an incident with Leicester City’s Hannah Cain in a League Cup game. The English Football Association has suggested that the standard punishment of a three-match ban for violent conduct would be “clearly insufficient”.
“The one thing that I don’t like, being really honest, is the outpouring of abuse on social media. In my opinion, it has been a disgrace. When do we ever learn? When do we learn that battering people in that way, it doesn’t end well. At what point do we start learning? I was close to Maddy [Maddy Cusack]. We lost Maddy. I was close to Beardy [Matt Beard]. We lost Beardy.
“I think the likes of X is getting worse and worse. I just hope when my daughter grows up it disappears because I think it’s a really vile place.
“I think organisations need to help and social media need to do better. Do I think it’s going away? No, I think it’s only going to get worse.”
All your team news here, useful if you are a fantasy football cultist.
Here’s a tale to give those of a certain body shape some hope.
Per Reuters
Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has revealed he holds an unwanted club record – for excessive body fat – but insists his love of food has never hindered him in his career between the posts.
The 35-year-old, who came out of retirement last year to help Barcelona win the La Liga title and is known for his candid admissions about smoking, says a little extra fat has never weighed him down.
“I like to eat, and even though I manage to stay within the limits, I still broke Barcelona’s record when it comes to fat, excessive fat,” he told GQ Poland in an interview published last week. The goalkeeper, who won 84 caps for Poland, shared an exchange with Barca teammate Robert Lewandowski when the pair were on international duty.
“Once, Lewy (Lewandowski), teasing me in the Polish national team’s changing room – I was in my underpants – said, ‘How could Szczesny have made such a career with that body?’ Coach Czeslaw Michniewicz, who was a goalkeeper himself, said, ‘You see, Lewy, standing in goal is like chess. You play with your hands, but you really play with your head.’ Since then, whenever anyone says to me, ‘Wojciech, go to the gym’, I reply, ‘listen, it’s like chess’.”
Here’s today’s Football Daily, looking ahead to Chelsea v Arsenal.
Daniel Farke is under fire at Leeds, who play Manchester City this weekend. They host Chelsea on Wednesday, and then there’s a relegation six-pointer with Liverpool next weekend. The pressure is on.
I’ll be honest, it’s not very enjoyable at the moment; we’re getting a lot of stick. But I don’t need to hide. I was aware of how passionate this club is from the first day here. If you can’t handle the heat don’t become manager of Leeds United. I never expected this season to be an easy ride.
Football lucre hasn’t escaped from Rachel Reeves’ budget. Though why would it?
The change will leave many top-flight players with significantly larger tax bills and several agents have said that is likely to be passed on to clubs, particularly for players who sign new contracts before the measure takes effect.
Many players receive image rights paid to limited companies for commercial earnings, such as sponsorship deals and advertising income. From April 2027 these will be subject to the 45% top rate of income tax, rather than the corporate tax rate of 25%.
Dave Estherby gets in touch: “At this rate, come May Roy Keane’s comment (15.19) will be both still 50% true and the understatement of the decade.”
Brentford v Burnley (Saturday, 3pm)
Tough trip for Burnley to Brentford. Their manager, Scott Parker, has been speaking.
“Brentford are a strong team, make no mistake about it. They’re a team that have been around this division for a while now, and you can see that in their performances. Keith has done a fantastic job in the short time he’s been in charge there – it’s going to be a tough game for us.
“They know how to get results, in particular at home – it’s always a tough place to go. “On the flip side, we’ve prepared for this game with the ambition of going there and getting a result – I certainly feel we can go there and cause them problems. We’ll go there with full steam ahead.”
Edan Tal gets in touch: “Apparently, Roy Keane was seen at Bob Dylan gig in Ireland this week. Wondering what his review would be? Is Dylan a bad champion for not defending his Nobel Prize?”
Just imagining Roy’s face after hearing this cover. And watching this video.
West Ham v Liverpool (Sunday, 4.30)
Nuno Espirito Santo on Arne Slot’s travails.
“All the managers in the Premier League and all over the world, there are always questions. The press raises the questions; it is part of the industry. I will salute him and keep it normal. But you keep asking me, I am thinking about myself, how can I help my players, how can we prepare tomorrow, and then Sunday will come, and we will have to compete.”
Crystal Palace v Manchester United (Sunday, 12pm)
Ruben Amorim on those comparisons with his 3-4-3 and that of Oliver Glasner:
“We play the different way. You can understand that by data. But it’s hard to explain everything. Like you said, it’s a different club and they are doing things better than us. So that is quite simple. You don’t say that all 4-3-3 play in the same way, right? We play in a different moment, we defend in a different space, we try to attack in a different way. They are just doing things better than us.”
The same but different, it’s not you, it’s me etc.
“Bad champions” was the label Roy Keane came up with. How do this season’s Liverpool rate?
Right, as a Kevin Keegan video from his Newcastle era once said, who knows where this magical adventure ends?
And with that update, my stint on the coalface of football news is up. Here to guide you gently on, is John Brewin.
Sunderland v Bournemouth (3pm Saturday)
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola provided an update on the fitness of a number of his players ahead of taking on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Midfielder Ryan Christie has been ruled out after an MRI scan revealed a knee injury sustained on recent international duty with Scotland, but there is better news over Antoine Semenyo, who is set to return after missing last week’s draw with West Ham, while Justin Kluivert is also making progress on the sidelines. Iraola said:
We still have to train today but he has been doing modified training with the team the previous days. If everything goes well today, I think he (Semenyo) is going to be available for tomorrow, yes.
West Ham v Liverpool (Sunday, 2.05pm)
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is not reading anything into Liverpool’s poor form as he prepares his side to take on the ailing Premier League champions.
Arne Slot’s side head to the London Stadium on the back of nine defeats in 12 matches, the club’s worst run in more than 70 years.
West Ham will have Lucas Paqueta available following suspension, while Crysencio Summerville and Dinos Mavropanos are both stepping up their recovery from injury, but Nuno is taking nothing for granted:
Liverpool is a good team and in football, what matters is what you do on the day. So what we expect is the champions of the Premier League, players that are talented and capable of doing good things, so we have to get ready.
The history of the results before, the form of the teams, doesn’t really matter. It is about the day.
It is going to be a new game, so it up to us to try and play good, knowing that we are going to face a very good team, that has players capable of doing fantastic things, so we have to get ready, to try also to go in and compete.
Everton v Newcastle (Saturday, 5.30pm)
Everton failed with an appeal to get Idrissa Gueye’s red card for fighting with teammate Michael Keane in Monday night’s 1-0 win over Manchester United overturned.
Toffees manager David Moyes said at the time that he liked the spirit of his players holding each other to account and that he thought the red card was harsh. Gueye has apologised and even staged a mock boxing match on social media with Keane this week, but the 36-year-old Senegal midfielder must still serve a three-match ban.
Speaking ahead of Everton’s meeting on Saturday with Newcastle, Moyes said:
We have appealed it and our appeal was turned down. We haven’t been given any reason why it was turned down but we did appeal it.
[The incident] was over immediately, it was done, that was it, we moved on quite quickly and it was all sorted within the dressing room.
Guardiola accuses his Manchester City side of playing with fear against Leverkusen
Pep Guardiola has accused Manchester City’s players of performing with fear in their 2-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen. The head coach made 10 changes for the Champions League match and said those selected had not taken the risks needed to win.
After two straight losses, City hope to return to form when Leeds visit on Saturday. Daniel Farke’s side have won once in their past six Premier League games, leaving them in the relegation zone. Guardiola is likely to recall many of those rested from the start on Tuesday.
“We didn’t try and in football when you play on the green you have to try things and we didn’t try,” Guardiola said of the loss to Leverkusen. “Maybe I have a theory to rotate because it’s impossible to sustain but I had a lot of confidence in them and I still do. I have a huge value for what they are as football players. Maybe I think higher of them than they think about themselves. It was a good lesson for me, as experienced as I am as a manager it was a good lesson for me for the future.”
More from Guardiola’s press conference from Will Unwin here:
Wiegman has had to rejig defence and captaincy for a Wembley friendly with China
When England welcome China to a sold-out Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon, it will mark the sixth meeting between two nations who have been on different trajectories in recent years. The marketing has focused on the clash of continental champions – England as the holders of the European Championship and China as the winners of the 2022 Asian Cup – but there has since been a change in fortunes between the two.
The widening gap was evident the last time they met, at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when England put six past the Steel Roses to progress to the last 16. It caught the eye not only because of the score but because of a bold tactical change from Sarina Wiegman – a switch from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 – to deal with the absence of Keira Walsh. It kicked the Lionesses’ campaign into life and they made the final, while China exited, registering their worst finish at the tournament.
Read Sophie Downey’s full preview of the Lionesses friendly against China
Chelsea v Arsenal (Sunday 4.30pm)
Back to Sunday’s game in west London, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has been making promising noises around the availability of Leandro Trossard, who limped off in one of the few bum notes from the Gunners’ mid-week win over Bayern Munich:
With Leo, there is another test today. We will have to see how he is feeling. There’s a good chance [he is available].
Arsenal also played a behind-closed-doors game on Thursday to get some minutes into other players on the fringes of the squad:
Gabi [Gabriel Jesus], Ethan [Nwaneri] as well wanted some minutes, so we took the opportunity for players who wanted exposure. It was very positive.
Iran is to boycott next week’s draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington, DC, in protest at the limited allocation of visas it has been permitted by US officials.
The Iranian football federation spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi told domestic sports news outlet Tarafdari: “The Iranian delegation will not be present for the World Cup draw in relation to the latest status of issuing visas for the Iranian delegation to attend the draw ceremony.”
The US has long-standing strict visa restrictions on Iranians for political and security reasons. Alavi said the US had granted visas to four members of the Iranian delegation, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei, but had not granted a visa to Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian football federation.
“Given that the decisions taken are unsportsmanlike and the path has deviated from the sporting process, it was decided that the Iranian delegation will not attend the draw ceremony,” Alavi said.
The federation said it had been in contact with FIFA for two days and informed president Gianni Infantino and the secretary general. “FIFA has said it will follow up on the matter seriously,” Alavi added.
Iran secured qualification for the World Cup in March after a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan in Tehran, sealing a seventh appearance at the tournament and fourth in a row.
Reporting by Reuters
Nott’m Forest v Brighton (Sunday, 2.05pm)
Big boost for Nottingham Forest, Morgan Gibbs-White is expected to return from injury against Brighton on Sunday. The Forest and England midfielder missed Thursday’s 3-0 victory over Malmö with a back problem but Sean Dyche is optimistic Gibbs-White will be available:
We’re hopeful he’ll be all right for the weekend. When we got in, I just said: go and play. I just wanted him to play with a smile again, because there had been a lot of [transfer] noise in the summer and it can carry a bit of weight.
Chelsea v Arsenal (Sunday 4.30pm)
As reported by Jacob Steinberg earlier, Cole Palmer is ready to return for Chelsea’s big London clash with Arsenal on Sunday. Confirming the news, Enzo Maresca said:
[Palmer] is available for both [to start and to play]. Everyone is happy.
The teammates are happy, we are all happy. The most important thing is that Cole is happy, he needs to play games.
He is our best player, we are happy he is back, we need to give him time to be 100% fit. He has done fantastic in the past and no doubt he is going to do very good for this club in the future.
Crystal Palace v Man Utd (Sunday, midday)
Injury updates coming out of Manchester United, Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko and Harry Maguire will miss the game against Crystal Palace. Here are Ruben Amorim’s words:
Sesko a little bit more time. Harry [Maguire] the same. Matheus the next one [game], not this one.
Hi everyone, I’ll be keeping you across the big stuff in football for the next couple of hours. Coming up soon we have Enzo Maresca’s press conference ahead of Chelsea’s meeting with Arsenal.
But first, a bit of news from Barcelona. Hansi Flick’s side lost to Chelsea in midweek but are starting to get to get back their key players after a bit of an injury crisis. The return of Raphinha, who has now made two appearances as a second-half substitute after missing nearly two months with a hamstring injury, is key, while Pedri and defender Ronald Araujo are also on the comeback trail. Here’s what Flick said:
I missed him [Raphinha]. I see him as one of the most important players in our team … he also has the hunger and the will to show how good he really is.
I really appreciate what I see in training. We’re focused, we have a lot of quality. And of course, players coming back now, Pedri is back … Raphinha, Marcus [Rashford] from the cold he had. We nearly have everyone.
It’s time for me to hand over to Tom Bassam, who will hopefully squeeze a bit more juice from the news cycle. Ta-ra!
Manchester City v Leeds (Saturday, 3pm)
Leeds are on a poor run of five defeats in six, but their head coach Daniel Farke is calm. Calmer than you are.
We are fully concentrated and focused. I’m confident and I’m also fully convinced. To be honest, myself and my players were fully prepared for such a situation that this would happen.
We know for which club we’re working and there’s always outside noise. There was in the past even after our best season in our history (points-wise) last season.
We fully expected that this would also happen this season. When we started, the goal was to finish 17th or above and to finish 17th would be a great success. We want to stay in this league. I didn’t expect it would be an easy ride.
We had to work with limited resources in the summer with profit and sustainability rules, we had challenges also in the summer transfer window and it was always clear there would be a period where not all performances and results go our way.
I see what the lads are doing, how they train, how tight they are together and when I judge the objective data, it gives me lots of confidence that we have enough to succeed. I’m fully confident and fully convinced.
Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has been reflecting on last night’s defeat to Strasbourg.
Maybe like the late defeat at Everton, it just feels that it was completely unnecessary and it is our fault. On the other side, we have to accept it. The effort was there but it is a game we shouldn’t definitely lose, at least getting a goal, but like always, we try to learn from it.
It just shows how much it means for this club and then of course everybody is playing on their top level, highly motivated. We always have to match this motivation, because the small margins decide it, and yesterday it looked like we didn’t match the motivation on the same level, maybe a few percentage less, and that’s why we lost at the end.
The debutant Maria McAneny scored a 96th-minute equaliser to give Scotland Women a draw in their friendly in Jerez. Scotland trailed from the 38th minute, when Roksolana Kravchuk put Ukraine ahead, but the Celtic midfielder McAneny – who came off the bench in the second half to win her first cap – scored with almost the last kick of the game.
On this day in 2007… Liverpool give Porto a doing, and Scott Murray launches THE GUARDIAN UNLIMITED PATENTED RAFA BENITEZ TANTRUM-O-METER®. Here’s the proof.
Rodri to miss City’s match with Leeds
Pep Guardiola is talking to the press ahead of Manchester City’s game at home to Leeds tomorrow. This is the news on Rodri.
No Rodri. Not far off. Hamstring.
Six words, eight syllables: you can’t get much more efficient than that.
How about another plug for Suzanne Wrack’s story on the UK bid to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup?
77 min: Ukraine 1-0 Scotland
Still 1-0 to Ukraine in Jerez. I don’t know what else to tell you.
Scotland Women are playing Ukraine in a friendly in Jerez. It’s just past the hour and Ukraine lead through a goal from Roksolana Kravchuk.
On this day in 2022… “One of the wilder matches of the World Cup group stage was Cameroon v Serbia,” writes Kári Tulinius. “While the match did peter out a bit towards the end, it was an absolute rollercoaster until then, featuring an outrageous goal by Vincent Aboubakar, and a liquid team goal from Serbia.”
On this day in 1998… a gorgeous goal from West Ham’s Trevor Sinclair against Spurs.
On this day in 1993… Ruben Sosa’s injury-time penalty earns Internazionale a 2-2 draw against Juventus. Check out the foul (sic) on Dennis Bergkamp that led to the penalty.
On this day in 2025… not much is happening, I’m afraid. I’m sure we’ll have some hardcore news after lunch. In the meantime, here’s another plug for our piece on tomorrow’s Copa Libertadores final.
The Truth Media 
The Truth Media 