Sean Walsh

Manchester United took a massive step towards Champions League qualification with a 1-0 win away at top-five rivals Chelsea on Saturday evening. Matheus Cunha's first-half goal ensured the Red Devils moved 10 points clear of the Blues in sixth with only five games of the Premier League season remaining.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a devastating blow with confirmation that club captain Cristian Romero will miss the rest of the campaign due to a severe knee injury. Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has challenged his squad to step up and assume leadership responsibilities, insisting that Spurs must not feel sorry for themselves as they battle to secure their Premier League survival.

It's that time of year for Arsenal again. When the calendar rolls into April, the world sees what their team is really made of. Unfortunately for the Gunners, a familiar pattern is appearing before our eyes. Saturday's defeat at home to Bournemouth was eerily reminiscent of other losses at this stage of previous seasons.

Manchester City's trip to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon came into a more intense spotlight than anticipated after Saturday's set of Premier League results. Table-topping Arsenal surprisingly lost at home to Bournemouth to open the door to Pep Guardiola's side in the title race, while fifth-placed Liverpool avoided another slip-up against Fulham to put pressure on the Blues, who are chasing Champions League qualification.

Chelsea are now four points adrift of the Premier League's fifth and final Champions League spot after losing 3-0 at home to Manchester City on Sunday. Liverpool's victory against Fulham on Saturday meant the Blues needed to win to keep pace with their top-five rivals, but Liam Rosenior's side fell apart in the second half at Stamford Bridge and are now only three points inside the top half of the table altogether.

Frank Lampard has suggested his Coventry City players are feeling the pressure of their fight to win promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. The Sky Blues have all but secured a spot in next season's top flight having opened up a 12-point gap to Millwall in third place with four games remaining, boasting a far superior goal difference.

If you have to appoint three different permanent managers in the same season, it's probably a sign that it hasn't gone to plan. In the case of Tottenham Hotspur, the 2025 Europa League winners, this campaign could hardly have gone any worse. The club's desire to become a more streetwise outfit under Thomas Frank saw a horribly assembled squad pickpocketed and bamboozled at every turn.

Harry Kane was right to join Bayern Munich from Tottenham Hotspur in order to start winning trophies, according to Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes. The striker departed Spurs in the summer of 2023 as their all-time leading scorer, though did not claim a single piece of team silverware during his 14-year spell in the first team.

Even when Chelsea were sweeping up trophies for fun during the first two decades of the 21st century, there was still an element of jeopardy to their seasons. Back then, however, that usually revolved around whether or not they would end the year with a piece of silverware to make up for the relative inconsistency of their Premier League campaign.

Arsenal will take a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Sporting CP after prevailing in Lisbon on Tuesday. Kai Havertz came off the bench to score in the last minute of a match that was seriously lacking in quality right until the final knockings, and the Gunners now have one foot in the last four.

Manchester United have announced Harry Maguire has signed a new contract running until 2027, with the option of a further year. Maguire's previous deal was due to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season, but the Red Devils have moved to tie him down to fresh terms following another season of impressive performances.

Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship outfit Southampton on Saturday, losing 2-1 at St Mary's. The pressure was on the Gunners to book a return to Wembley having been beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final a fortnight ago, but their hopes of winning a domestic cup competition were dashed for another season in dramatic circumstances.

Chelsea put a week filled with controversy to one side to destroy Port Vale in their FA Cup quarter-final tie, prevailing 7-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to avoid a cup upset. The Blues were plunged into crisis after head coach Liam Rosenior confirmed vice-captain Enzo Fernandez had been suspended for two games for comments made about potentially joining Real Madrid, while Marc Cucurella was also reprimanded for similar sentiments about Barcelona and criticising the club hierarchy's blueprint for success.

The ownership of Chelsea has been a hot topic of debate ever since they were formed in 1905, with the main purpose of the club being to simply fill the redeveloped Stamford Bridge stadium. When Roman Abramovich took over from Ken Bates in 2003, he pumped in billions to buy the world's best players and improve the infrastructure. It led to the Blues becoming a force in the Premier League and across Europe, but those days are over.

Chelsea were knocked out of the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday after failing to overturn a 3-1 aggregate deficit to Arsenal, winning 1-0 in the second leg of their quarter-final. The Blues gave themselves too much to do after their defeat at the Emirates Stadium last week and their wastefulness in front of goal is to blame for another failed European campaign.

The 12 games of the Thomas Tuchel era have yielded mixed results and performances from England. They remain one of the best sides in international football, even if they haven't played particularly well for extended stretches since the Sir Gareth Southgate era. That said, they are among the favourites to win the 2026 World Cup for several reasons.

It's never easy with the England men's national team. On paper, they should have enough quality, experience and firepower to blow most sides on this planet to smithereens. Then you sit down, watch them and wonder whether they are actually a team of total strangers assembled purely out of spite to mildly annoy the fans who had hoped so much of them. On the basis of their March friendlies, it would be a fair assumption to make.

England's last game before the end of the 2025-26 club season saw them lose 1-0 at home to Japan in a friendly on Tuesday. Thomas Tuchel made 10 changes to the side that started their 1-1 draw with Uruguay last Friday, slotting in most of his preferred players that are expected to go to the World Cup - minus the unfit Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham - but they produced a disjointed performances that raised further questions over their chances of glory this summer.