Football news: Tottenham make statement, Man Utd takeover update, Potter sack view – Express
We’re past the halfway point in the weekend and two more Premier League fixtures lie ahead to make for an intriguing Sunday of action. As always, the headline news doesn’t always concern matters on the pitch and Manchester United are enduring a particularly busy period behind the scenes.
The Red Devils, who are expected to change owners over the coming months after bids were lodged to the Glazers on Friday, face Leicester City in the Premier League this afternoon. We’ll keep you updated with build-up and the latest from the match itself as Erik ten Hag looks to continue a seven-game unbeaten streak in all competitions.
The mood at Stamford Bridge isn’t so positive as Chelsea were beaten by bottom side Southampton 1-0 on Saturday. Fans are asking renewed questions of manager Graham Potter, who has so far failed to get a tune out of his expensively assembled side.
Liverpool, meanwhile, put together an impressive away win over Newcastle yesterday, but rumour has it Jurgen Klopp is still looking at options to bolster his squad. For all this and more, follow Express Sport‘s live updates below…
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Qatari bidders for Manchester United have been given a major boost with reports suggesting that no parties from Saudi Arabia have made an offer for the club. Those behind Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani’s bid are now said to be confident that they can complete a deal for the club ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos group.
The last week has been an important milestone in the potential takeover with the Raine Group, who are overseeing the sale, making last Friday their ‘soft deadline’ for initial bids. So far only bids from Al Thani and Ratcliffe have been confirmed with other parties yet to go public if they have made an offer.
The current bidders have now been offered a big boost with the Daily Mail reporting that no bids have come in from Saudi Arabia. The nation’s public investment fund (PIF) already owns Newcastle United and the potential conflict of interests was deemed to be unpalatable.
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Legendary sports presenter Dickie Davies has sadly passed away, it has been confirmed.
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Tottenham have released a strong statement condemning the racial abuse directed at Son Heung-Min during today’s win over West Ham.
The club said in a tweet: “We have been made aware of the utterly reprehensible online racist abuse directed at Heung-Min Son during today’s match, which has been reported by the Club.
“We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action.”
We have been made aware of the utterly reprehensible online racist abuse directed at Heung-Min Son during todayu2019s match, which has been reported by the Club. We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action. pic.twitter.com/afKtG6YNt3
Antonio Conte is will miss next weekend’s clash against Chelsea according to Cristian Stellini. However, he could return the following week to take his place in the dugout against Sheffield United in the FA Cup.
“No I’m not expecting Antonio back for Chelsea but I’m expecting him back for the next week. Milan or we have the FA Cup,” he said when asked by reporters when Conte would return.
“Maybe not Chelsea but we don’t know. If he feels well and he can live stress without some pain or feeling something strange he’ll be back.”
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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has implored his players to focus on on-field matters as he gears up for his biggest week as the club’s manager yet.
The Red Devils face Barcelona in the Europa League before meeting Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final as he looks to get his hands on silverware at the first opportunity.
“We focus on football and perform and that is what the players and staff have to do,” he told reporters.“We are following the news, we are of course curious what will happen because we are committed, it’s our club but finally it’s nothing to do with us.
“We have to focus on football, that is all we have to do. We have to perform, we have to get the right results and don’t get distracted from things that are going around the club.”
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Full-time in north London and Tottenham take all three points.
It was reasonably comfortable for the home side as West Ham’s woes continue. Emerson Royal and Heung-min Son were on the scoresheet.
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The South Korean is threaded through by partner in crime Harry Kane and places his shot beyond Lukasz Fabianski.
The three points look to be staying in North London!
The double act is at it again ud83dudd25
Instant impact from Heung-min Son u26a1u26a1 pic.twitter.com/SUSLtbXYJ1
Tottenham take the lead in north London and the goal has come from the most unlikely of scorers.
Emerson Royal finds himself with acres of space and makes the most of it to slot home from a Ben Davies pass.
Spurs moving back into the top four as things stand!
Tottenham get the breakthrough ud83dudcaa
Royal on his 50th appearance in the Premier League u2705 pic.twitter.com/KQ6NfdtwQt
There has been little to report from Tottenham’s encounter with West Ham with neither side creating many opportunities in a scrappy match.
However, there has been one major moment of controversy. Hammers defender Thilo Kehrer handled the ball in the box but Tottenham penalty appeals were waved away by Michael Oliver and VAR did not see fit to overturn the decision.
It is the second controversial handball call involving West Ham in as many matches after Tomas Soucek’s save against Chelsea last week.
NO PENALTY! There were lots of appeals by Tottenham players for a handball in the box, but VAR says no! u274c pic.twitter.com/cwsInmf17L
We are underway in North London as Tottenham seek to claim the three points they need to leapfrog Newcastle into the top four.
Stay tuned for updates…
Jadon Sancho has sent his critics a message with an excellent performance for the Red Devils’ against Leicester.
The Englishman helped turned the game United’s way after being introduced as a half-time substitute and sealed the points with the third goal.
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The lineups are in from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the second Premier League clash of the day. Son Heung-min is a big-name absentee for the hosts.
Tottenham: Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Davies; Kulusevski, Richarlison; Kane.
West Ham: Fabianski; Kehrer, Ogbonna, Aguerd; Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Downes, Emerson; Bowen, Antonio.
Manchester United look to be coasting to a comfortable victory at Old Trafford with two quickfire goals from Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho giving the side a clear lead.
Rashford’s was initially ruled out for offside after being sent through by Fred however the decision was overturned by VAR while Sancho fired home after a quick one-two with Bruno Fernandes.
Old Trafford is rocking with fans already starting to look forward to next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with Newcastle. 
Before the game, manager Erik ten Hag admitted to Sky Sports that he was ‘curious’ to see how the club’s ownership situation pans out.
“I think for the players, for the staff, for me of course, we are following the news,” he said. “We are curious about what will happen because we are committed to the club but it has nothing to do with us.
“We have to focus on football. That is all that we have to do, we have to perform, we have to get the right results in and don’t get distracted from things going around.”
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Marcus Rashford has now scored in each of his last seven home Premier League games as he gives Man Utd the lead against Leicester.
Bruno Fernandes sends him through on goal and the in-form forward makes no mistake, leaving Danny Ward helpless with a powerful low finish into the left-hand corner.
Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar was stretchered off in tears on Sunday as he came down with a nasty ankle injury.
The Brazilian, who was visibly upset, came off just after half time, at which point PSG were 2-1 up. A rollercoaster then unfolded as Lille went 3-2 up before ultimately losing 4-3, with Lionel Messi sealing the comeback in the 95th minute.
Christophe Galtier may still feel on edge, however, until he discovers the severity of Neymar’s injury. 
Mbappe did a cheeky stepover before somehow wriggling past two players and finishing low beyond the goalkeeper.
The Frenchman finished as top scorer at the Qatar World Cup and he continues to pull up trees in Ligue 1, despite Marseille’s best efforts to catch up.
ud83cuddebud83cuddf7 Cada vez tengo mu00e1s claro que Mbappe es YA el mejor jugador del mundo ud83dudd25ud83dudd25ud83dudd25ud83dudd25#PSG #mbappe #PSGLOSCpic.twitter.com/T5hBGM1om5
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has unsurprisingly named an unchanged side from the emphatic 4-1 win over Tottenham last weekend.
Nampalys Mendy, James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho and Harvey Barnes were on the scoresheet against the Lilywhites.
See below for how the Foxes will line up at Old Trafford…
Your XI at Old Trafford. Come on Lestah! ud83dudd35ud83dudd35#MUNLEI pic.twitter.com/lSjRkzTOX8
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has made five changes from the side that drew with Barcelona last week.
Victor Lindelof, Diogo Dalot and Lisandro Martinez come into a much-changed back-line, while Casemiro is forced to serve the last match of his suspension, with Marcel Sabitzer coming in to replace him.
Lastly, Jadon Sancho drops out for Alejandro Garnacho. See the full line-up below…
ud83dudccb Presenting today’s United line-up! ud83dudd34#MUFC || #MUNLEI
The body of former Premier League footballer Christian Atsu is being flown back to Ghana today, according to The Daily Mail.
Atsu tragically died in the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria earlier this month, with his body discovered last week after almost two weeks of searching.
Former clubs Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton and Bournemouth paid tribute to Atsu before their matches this weekend.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is set to start Victor Lindelof against Leicester, according to StrettyNews.
Lindelof may come in to replace Raphael Varane, whose workload will need managing ahead of a return fixture with Barcelona on Thursday.
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Former Premier League striker Tony Cascarino has urged Mikel Arteta to fix a ‘dangerous’ problem or risk losing out on the title.
The Gunners beat Aston Villa the hard way on Saturday, relying on two stoppage-time strikes to return to the top of the table.
“You’re not going to win the title doing that – going toe-to-toe with the opposition,” Cascarino told talkSPORT. “You’re not going to win it. You’ve got to convince your players that they might have to win games 1-0 and yesterday was too toe-to-toe, it could have gone either way.
“I think Arsenal need to be really careful about doing that.”
Woodward was a controversial figure during his stint at Old Trafford, often representing a target for fans due to perceived boardroom mismanagement and a general lack of success.
He left in 2021 but retained a shareholding in the Red Devils, which he will cash in for a seven-figure sum if the takeover goes through.
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Former Premier League striker Stan Collymore has urged Man Utd takeover hopeful Jim Ratcliffe to look elsewhere.
The petrochemicals entrepreneur, along with his company, INEOS, have submitted a bid thought to be in the region of £4billion for the Red Devils.
But Collymore believes that he could find what he’s looking for by bidding for Tottenham instead.
“Sir Jim Ratcliffe should shelve his plans to buy Manchester United – and snap up Spurs instead,” he wrote for The Mirror. “He will make better business decisions in north London because he’s not emotionally involved like he would be at Old Trafford. What’s there not to like at Tottenham?”
Liverpool are interested in signing Adrien Rabiot on a free transfer at the end of the season, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
The French midfielder will be out of contract at Juventus in June, and prospects of him remaining in Turin are thought to be ‘slim’.
The Reds are expected to revamp their midfield in the summer with manager Jurgen Klopp struggling to steer his side to form this campaign.
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The former Brighton boss, who was appointed to replace the popular Thomas Tuchel earlier this season, has overseen just one win in his last 10 games, and boos echoed around Stamford Bridge on Saturday as bottom club Southampton beat them 1-0.
According to The Telegraph, however, the Chelsea board have decided not to go down the sack route as Potter retains their support, with defeat against the Saints not changing that.
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Erik ten Hag could make wholesale changes for Leicester’s visit to Old Trafford on Sunday, with the second of their two-legged tie against Barcelona just around the corner.
United have a strong enough squad to rotate, with possible starts for the likes of Marcel Sabitzer, Diogo Dalot and Alejandro Garnacho after they missed out at the Nou Camp.
Express Sport has put together the latest team news HERE so that you can brush up before the action gets underway.
Good morning and welcome to Express Sport’s Football news LIVE!
Yesterday was packed with action as eight Premier League games unfolded, including dramatic wins for Arsenal and Southampton, while there are two more intriguing fixtures in store for today.
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