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Should Southampton be thrown out of the playoffs if proven guilty? 100% they should. A fine does not give Middlesbrough an advantage on the pitch, like Southampton may have gained.
An interesting question asked and answered below the line. Ben Fisher, the Guardian’s EFL correspondent, was interviewed on Talksport earlier and said he would be very surprised if Southampton are chucked out of the playoffs if found guilty of spying on a Middlesbrough training session.
When Leeds were found guilty of spying on Derby County in 2019, they were fined £200,000, which their then head coach Marcelo Bielsa insisted on paying out of his own pocket. The difference is that there is now a specific rule against club’s spying on each other that wasn’t in place back in 2019. Watch this space …
Championship playoffs: As if the playoffs weren’t stressful enough, today’s semi-final first leg between Middlesbrough and Southampton at the Riverside Stadium has been lent added intrigue and no end of needle. Southampton have have accepted a charge of misconduct by the English Football League after a man alleged to be a junior member of Tonda Eckert’s coaching staff was caught spying on a Boro training session under the cover of some nearby shrubbery.
Southampton have not denied the allegations and have said they will fully cooperate with an independent disciplinary commission set to be convened “at the earliest opportunity”. If found guilty, the club could face a wide range of punishments ranging from reprimands to fines, points deductions and even expulsion from the competition. A couple of minutes ago, Talksport reported that Southampton have said they will fully cooperate with the investigation. Reports suggest they claim the spy in question was a rogue agent who was not acting on club orders. I’ll bring you more news on that as I get it.
Notwithstanding English football’s latest Spygate scandal, this Championship playoff semi-final is hard to call but Middlesbrough’s hopes have been significantly boosted by the news that Hayden Hackney could feature at some point over the two legs after returning from an injury that has kept him sidelined with a calf injury since mid-March. “Hayden has been on the pitch for the first time on the grass, so that’s a big step forward,” said Boro’s Swedish head coach Kim Hellberg in an interview with BBC Radio Tees. “Then if it’s possible to have him on the bench for Saturday, we’ll see. Then if it’s possible on Tuesday.” Boro’s Australian midfielder Riley McGree is available for selection but has only played 45 minutes of football in the past month.
With Eckert, his staff and players expected to be on the receiving end of endless binocular-based mime and abuse this afternoon, Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert is expected to ring the changes after resting several key players for their win over Preston. Finn Azaz, Ryan Manning, James Bree and and Cyle Larin are all expected to return. Flynn Downes is available after serving a three-match ban, while Jack Stephens is also pushing for a starting spot after a spell out injured.
And with that, it’s time for me to hand this live blog over to Barry Glendenning…
Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa has defended players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, saying their apologies for having scuffled were enough to settle the incident that led the club to fine both of them a whopping €500,000.
“My players recognised their mistake, expressed their remorse and asked for forgiveness,” Arbeloa told reporters on Saturday in his first public appearance since the fight.
“That is enough for me,” he said. “What I am not going to do is burn them on a pyre in a town square, because they don’t deserve that. It is time to turn the page.”
The tussle by the two midfielders on Thursday ended with Valverde at the hospital to treat a head wound. Valverde said he had hit his head on a table, calling the incident “a meaningless fight.”
Madrid said both players apologised to one another the next day when they met with club officials investigating the incident. They also apologised to their teammates, coaching staff and fans.
In case you somehow missed it this week, Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde was taken to hospital to have stitches after a second confrontation with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni.
Lafua Michael says:
“As a United fan, I’d really love Arsenal to capitulate at West Ham tomorrow, as much as I’d love City to breeze through Brentford at the Etihad. Yeah, yeah – it might sound all jazz to the Gunners but you never can tell, after all the EPL is a plethora of twists and turns. On to other jazz, congrats to Bruno Fernandes on his latest accolade, even though most Gunners think Rice was worthy of the crown. The only Arsenal employee worthy of the crown is Nicolas Jover, the set piece coach.”
Use this post as a reminder to update your Fantasy Premier League team. For all the team news you’ll need, click below!
Karen Timms has messaged in to say:
“First time emailing but had to communicate, and ask. - how do you diehard fans survive any season with this degree of shenanigans?! I’m only 4 years in to Man City fandom, thanks to Altrincham born partner, and I have increased my alcohol intake considerably.
“Also, I’ve done university level maths and I’m still struggling with the permutations and combinations of any results. It’s just going to be a matter of sheer grit with a dash of pride isn’t it? Reckon Arsenal would have to all come down with food poisoning not to win the League though.
“Regardless we’ll be watching from South East Australia, early AM, beer and crisps on hand.
“Thanks for all the commentary and punter inputs. Many times I’m in for the football but stay for the comedy.”
Crystal Palace’s remaining Premier League fixtures
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Crystal Palace v Everton 10/05
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Manchester City v Crystal Palace 13/05
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Brentford v Crystal Palace – 17/05
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Crystal Palace v Arsenal – 24/05
Glasner vows to rotate Palace squad
Oliver Glasner says Crystal Palace will not be to blame if his decision to rotate his squad helps decide the Premier League title race. Palace can play kingmaker in the coming weeks as they face a trip to Manchester City next Wednesday and a visit from Arsenal on the final day.
With the Eagles all but safe from relegation, Glasner does not need to risk his key players ahead of their Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano on May 27.
He said: “If somebody criticises, for me it would be nonsense.
“So it’s just the last game but there were 37 games played before, so that means if another team on matchday 25 rotated against City or Arsenal they affected the title race as well.
“I’m not responsible for Arsenal and not responsible for Manchester City. I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I get paid for doing the best things for Crystal Palace.
“I don’t know what we are doing. Maybe we play the same line-up that we play against Vallecano.
“But a league title maybe just feels like it’s decided on the last day but at the end it’s the result of 38 matchdays and everybody gets what they deserve.”
Speaking of Manchester City, they take on Brentford this evening, and Brentford full-back Michael Kayode spoke to Ben Fisher ahead of the match…
Kelvin Nel has messaged in to say:
“City have always been outsiders this year. If we win the FA Cup this will be a good season for a transition one. Arsenal have the easier run in and are ahead so will win the league.
“But looking back it would have been more of a contest had we not drawn silly game against struggling teams at the time.”
As always, feel free to email in with any thoughts, feelings, predictions, observations and all that jazz. What are your plans for the weekend? Where will you be watching the football? Let me know!
How the Premier League table looks as things stand…
Ahead of the match at Anfield this afternoon, Andy Hunter and Jacob Steinberg looked at the disappointing seasons both Liverpool and Chelsea have endured.
Today’s Premier League fixtures
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Liverpool v Chelsea
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Fulham v Bournemouth
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Sunderland v Manchester United
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Brighton v Wolves
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Manchester City v Brentford
We all love the play-offs, but how did they come about? Who thought of the idea and why?
If you’re interested, be sure to give this feature from Sam Cunningham a read…
Championship & EFL play-offs
Championship:
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Hull v Millwall (0-0 after first leg)
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Middlesbrough v Southampton
League One:
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Stevenage v Stockport
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Bolton v Bradford
League Two:
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Grimsby v Salford
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Chesterfield v Notts County
In case you missed the news yesterday, Southampton have been charged with misconduct by the English Football League and will face an independent disciplinary commission set to be convened “at the earliest opportunity”.
Middlesbrough remain furious after catching a man they maintain belongs to Tonda Eckert’s backroom staff allegedly spying on a vital training session before today’s Championship playoff semi-final first leg against Southampton at the Riverside Stadium.
Middlesbrough face Southampton in the other play-off semi-final today. The match kicks off at 12:30pm BST at the Riverside Stadium.
It’s sure to be an interesting one after the events of the last few days…
The Championship play-offs kicked off last night, with Hull and Millwall holding each other to a 0-0 draw. It’s all to play for in the second leg, which takes place on Monday.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! There may only be three weeks left of the Premier League season but this has the potential to be one of, if not the most decisive. The one to watch this weekend is West Ham v Arsenal - a match that will have huge repercussions at both ends of the table. But that one is tomorrow, so we’ll talk about that a bit later.
Before that, we have a clash between Liverpool and Chelsea to look forward to. Both teams go into the match off the back of a loss. Chelsea suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to a second-string Nottingham Forest side, while Liverpool fell to a 3-2 loss against Manchester United. Both teams are also still looking to qualify for European football, albeit different competitions.
Elsewhere, Brighton host Wolves, Fulham take on Bournemouth and Sunderland face Manchester United. Those fixtures should get you warmed up for the final game of the day as Brentford travel to face title-chasing Manchester City.
As always, we’ll also be looking at the Championship and EFL play-offs, the thrilling Scottish Premiership title race and everything else that’s happening across Europe’s top leagues.
Join us!
