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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can close the gap to Manchester City next season. Wild inconsistencies in results – beating Manchester United 7-0 and Bournemouth 9-0 but losing to struggling Leeds, their only home defeat of the season – had left the Reds 20 points adrift of the Premier League leaders going into the weekend. It has been more common for the two to push each other all the way to the final day of the season, Liverpool twice coming second by just a point, and despite their most recent troubles Klopp expects normal service to be resumed when the new campaign kicks off in August. “There are two games a season, maybe with cups three, four or five, when you play City, Arsenal and the others,” he said ahead of the trip to struggling Leicester. “There are five million ways to win a football game, you only have to find one. A successful season is you are ready for all the games, that you can win 25-odd games. “If City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham, Man United are all involved in that 25 then it is even better. “But it is about can we create a team who can win the majority of the games? Yes, we can. It was never about what the other teams do. “We didn’t become champions by a point twice and there will be some people who say it was because we didn’t have this player in that moment. “Getting 90-odd points is absolutely insane, pretty special, and no one should take these things for granted. “The top seven get even closer together, it will be more difficult and more competitive. “It doesn’t make it easier but everyone with a good idea has a chance to be part of it. If you are part of the battle up there then you can win it as well.” Liverpool’s current six-match winning run, their best sequence for more than a year, has given a glimpse of the level the side used to – and Klopp believes will again – play at. The Reds boss has spoken regularly in recent weeks about using the end to the campaign as a platform for next season and has been pleased with the way his squad have responded. “We show it in six weeks. I’m happy that this question has come and you don’t ask me, ‘how is it you can play such rubbish football for so long?’,” he added. “I never questioned these boys. Never. Mentality-wise these boys are exceptional but we still couldn’t deliver for long periods of the season consistently good, successful football. “Is that normal for human beings? The period was a bit too long, but yes. “For everyone it is a relief to go again, to be winning again in a convincing way and not (having to) scrap three points. “We have a clear idea of what we want to do and I saw so many good things we could build on. “Nothing for Match of the Day, it won’t show up there, but I saw so many things in these games. “I’m absolutely fine with the reaction now but we all think it was a bit too long until we showed it. “All we can do is go for the last three games and make the best of what we have so far.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On This Day in 2016: Max Verstappen makes Formula One history On this day in 2016: Saracens beat Racing 92 to win European Champions Cup Rookie Austin Eckroat grabs share of lead as Scottie Scheffler falters

Fresh from losing the small matter of 1,063 councillors, Rishi Sunak turned up to see his club lose their Premier League status. With supporters like him, Southampton may not need enemies. Then again, perhaps they were their own worst enemies as their 11-year stay in the top flight ended with a wretched relegation. They are the club owned by Sport Republic, supposedly the experts in studying the data, but the numbers were unflattering: the worst ones used to be the 9-0 scorelines Ralph Hasenhuttl occasionally suffered. But then Southampton went down with one point from their last eight games. They are guaranteed to get their lowest points total in the era of three per win. They could end their campaign with exactly 50 per cent of their points coming against Chelsea and Leicester and a grand total of 12 against everyone else. They have taken just 14 points against the bottom nine teams. And all that in a season when they spent around £140m. James Ward-Prowse argued after last week’s defeat to Nottingham Forest that they had learned nothing all season; more accurately, they forgot lessons of previous years, when Hasenhuttl had run the club on a budget, when they had a better mentality and a more united dressing room. Southampton initially lost their identity and intensity amid a sad end to the Austrian’s tenure. Yet demotion can be traced more to others, to Sport Republic and Nathan Jones, to a series of decisions. The most flattering assessment is that Southampton were overly optimistic and idealistic; more probably, they were misguided, naïve and at times just plain wrong. Sacking Hasenhuttl when 18th and spending the majority of the rest of the season in 20th is an illustration of how choices at boardroom level made things worse; finishing the campaign under the caretaker Ruben Selles after failing in an odd attempt to get Jesse Marsch an example of how plans went awry. The Spaniard should at least finish second in Southampton’s manager-of-the-year contest; he had some decidedly mixed results, but by then Saints needed an escapologist. Selles’ interim reign highlighted some of the paradoxes of Southampton. Six of his nine points came against Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal. Four of Hasenhuttl’s came at the expense of Chelsea and Arsenal too; if it suggested Southampton were more suited to the European Super League than the Premier League, they kept on procuring bonus points. But compile a league table without the supposed big six and they are miles adrift. The apparently winnable games weren’t winnable. That was especially apparent at St Mary’s. Nottingham Forest have got one away win this season: at Southampton. Everton and Wolves have two apiece: in each case, one was in Hampshire. For good measure, Saints lost at home to Crystal Palace, Brentford and Bournemouth under Selles. Jones had a clean sweep: his four home fixtures were against Brighton, Forest, Aston Villa and ten-man Wolves. They were four of the kind Southampton needed to target. They lost all four. Jones’ reign was more of a cameo, with eight league matches barely more than a fifth of the season. Yet the fixture list afforded him fixtures where Southampton probably required ten points. They took just three. They were playing catch-up ever since, drained of momentum, sucked to the foot of the table, only escaping it briefly in March. Those eight games capsized their chances. Fault can be found with Jones, with his strange selections and multiple formations and style of play that prompted the crowd to chorus “your football is sh*t”. More lies with those who appointed and anointed him, Southampton compiling a one-man shortlist at a time when Villa and Wolves were targeting the Europa League winners Unai Emery and Julen Lopetegui, who both went on to have transformative effects. Southampton went for Jones, a great overachiever at Luton but – and it does not require hindsight to say this – lacking the temperament, persona or credibility needed to survive in the Premier League spotlight. The Jones interlude proved a bizarre 94 days starring a man who declared himself one of the best coaches in Europe, containing an unnecessary and public argument with the manager of Havant and Waterlooville and involving a sliding-doors scenario where he settled down with a Welsh girl and became a PE teacher. Only Southampton supporters were disappointed when Jones was dismissed, because he had offered neutrals too much unwitting entertainment. It meant that even the subsequent home FA Cup defeat to Grimsby was not the most ignominious part of the season. Jones was not Sport Republic’s only mistake. CEO Rasmus Ankersen’s excellent record in the transfer market as Brentford’s director of football suggested he would be a fine fit for Southampton who, especially in the first few years after promotion in 2012, excelled at finding players, polishing them up and selling them for sizeable profits. Indeed, in Romeo Lavia, Armel Bella-Kotchap and Carlos Alcaraz, they unearthed three who are destined for better things, though relegation reduces the price Southampton can demand. Yet a policy was taken too far. Too many other signings scarcely seemed ready. Southampton seemed to overlook or underestimate the pragmatic realities of staying in the league. Crucially, they left themselves too weak in both penalty boxes. Hiring head of recruitment Joe Shields from Manchester City and allowing him to send the best part of £50m back to City came at a cost, for all Lavia’s promise. Juan Larios and Samuel Edozie were not ready for the Premier League. Gavin Bazunu, a £16m gamble of a goalkeeper, had never previously played above League One. His save percentage is a miserable 54. Go by charts for post-shot expected goals and he was the worst keeper in the Premier League. Go by the naked eye and there were too many damaging errors. Selles eventually dropped him, but too late. Meanwhile, Southampton’s focus on the future seemed to blind them to the pragmatic need for a striker for now. Danny Ings was never really replaced, though his exit was camouflaged by Armando Broja last season. The one forward Southampton did buy last summer, Sekou Mara, got a lone league goal: only Che Adams, Ward-Prowse and Alcaraz have more than two. And in the season Southampton started to spend, they did it in scattergun style. After Hasenhuttl’s years of austerity, their expenditure approached £150m . Factor in Duje Caleta-Car and Joe Aribo and six of last summer’s eight main arrivals failed. January seemed to consist of throwing good money after bad. Alcaraz is a huge talent but Jones’ Luton crony James Bree wasn’t good enough. Kamaldeen Sulemana was the quickest player at the World Cup but rarely uses his pace to accomplish anything. Southampton sought another kind of physicality from Paul Onuachu, the 6ft 7in centre-forward who was prolific in Belgium. ‘Tall Paul’ dropped out of the team after three games, out of the squad a couple of months later. Most damningly, Mislav Orsic, a scorer in the World Cup’s third-placed play-off, was given six minutes of Premier League action and soon banished from the squad. This, it is fair to say, was no masterplan. Jones had his favourites, Selles his, but there was no continuity, no cohesion, no chemistry. Along with Arsenal, Southampton had the youngest team in the Premier League. Along with Chelsea, they used the most players. Each statistic tells a tale. Saints were too callow at times. Whereas Hasenhuttl used to prefer to work with small groups, they ended up with too many players after incoherent splurges in successive windows. Amid the ever growing cast list, there should have been the basis of a fine Premier League team – Kyle Walker-Peters, Romain Perraud, Mohammed Salisu, Bella-Kotchap and, when fit again, Tino Livramento in defence, Lavia, Ward-Prowse, Alcaraz and Stuart Armstrong in midfield – but glaring weaknesses in goal and attack would have always rendered theirs a tough task. But that was a consequence of awful judgements, in the transfer market and in a managerial hunt that consisted of arrowing in on the wrong man. In their own way, Sport Republic made Southampton the Chelsea of the south coast, thinking they were cleverer than everyone else, spending too much and getting far worse. Read More Standards have not been good enough – Ruben Selles on Southampton’s relegation Southampton relegated by defeat to Fulham as Aleksansdar Mitrovic returns with a goal Coventry City aiming to come full circle after journey to hell and back Dean Smith counting on character and decision-making in Leicester survival fight Arsenal won’t stop digging for Premier League prize, Mikel Arteta vows Roy Hodgson: I won’t be telling Southgate to pick Eberechi Eze for England

A place in next season’s Premier League is on the line as four teams begin their play-off campaigns at the end of the Championship season. Two clubs have already earned automatic promotion, with Burnley cruising to the title and Sheffield United also already elevated in relative comfort as the second-placed finisher. Battling to join them in the top flight are Luton Town, Middlesbrough, Coventry City and Sunderland, with the latter two clubs securing their spots on a dramatic final day after a tight race for the final play-off places. To book a prestigious Wembley date and a shot at the Premier League they will first have to survive two-legged home and away semi-finals. Here’s everything you need to know: When are the Championship play-offs? The play-offs begin on 13 May with the first leg of the semi-final between Sunderland and Luton, and conclude with the second tier’s final at Wembley on Saturday 27 May. Who has qualified for the play-offs? In the Championship, the teams who finished third, fourth, fifth and sixth will compete for the final promotion place to the Premiership. They are: Luton, Middlesbrough, Coventry and Sunderland. How can I watch it? All of the play-off action will be live for viewers in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports. Subscribers can stream every game via the Sky Go app. Championship play-off schedule: Semi-final first legs: Saturday 13 May, 5.30pm BST: Sunderland 2-1 Luton (Stadium of Light, Sunderland) Sunday 14 May, 12pm BST: Coventry vs Middlesbrough (Coventry Building Society Arena) Second legs: Tuesday 16 May, 8pm BST: Luton vs Sunderland (Kenilworth Road, Luton) Wednesday 17 May 8pm BST: Middlesbrough vs Coventry (Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough) Final: Saturday 27 May, 4.45pm BST Who has qualified for the play-offs in League One and League Two? In League One, it is the finishers in that same spread from third to sixth: Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Bolton, Peterborough. League Two, meanwhile, awards an extra automatic promotion place, meaning the fourth to seventh placed clubs progress to the play-offs: Stockport County, Carlisle United, Bradford City, Salford City. League One play-off schedule Semi-final first legs: Friday 12 May, 8pm BST: Peterborough 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday (London Road, Peterborough) Saturday 13 May, 3pm BST: Bolton 1-1 Barnsley (University of Bolton Stadium) Second legs: Thursday 18 May, 8pm BST: Sheffield Wednesday vs Peterborough (Hillsborough, Sheffield) Friday 19 May, 8pm BST: Barnsley vs Bolton (Oakwell, Barnsley) Final: Monday 29 May, 3pm BST League Two play-off schedule Semi-final first legs: Saturday 13 May, 7.45pm BST: Salford City 1-0 Stockport County (Moor Lane, Salford) Sunday 14 May, 7pm BST: Bradford vs Carlisle (Valley Parade, Bradford) Second legs: Saturday 20 May, 12.30pm BST: Stockport County vs Salford City (Edgeley Park, Stockport) Saturday 20 May, 3pm BST: Carlisle United vs Bradford City (Brunton Park, Carlisle) Final: Sunday 28 May, 1.30pm BST Read More EFL clubs agree record £935million broadcast deal with Sky Sports Milan derby creates thrilling sensory overload that shows how football should be Vincent Kompany planning ‘smart’ recruitment for promoted Burnley When are the play-offs? On this day in 2013: Wigan celebrate FA Cup win with shock victory over Man City A closer look at this season’s play-off contenders as promotion battle resumes

Ryan Reynolds, Snoop Dogg and the Weeknd want to be the next owner of the Ottawa Senators. Why?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to play in two Thursday Night Football games this upcoming season, and cornerback Patrick Peterson isn't a fan of it.The NFL unveiled the official schedule for the 2023 season on Thursday. So all 32 teams got an idea of which order they will be facing their o...

Player ratings from the La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Getafe on Saturday night.

Mikel Arteta insists his Arsenal side will continue to dig for Premier League glory as the season enters its final fortnight. The Gunners headed into the weekend just one point behind leaders Manchester City, but having played a game more. Brighton are the visitors to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, with Arsenal hoping for the chance to move back to the summit, a position they held for the majority of the season. The destiny of the title was taken out of their own hands after a 4-1 thrashing at City followed a run of three consecutive draws. Since then, Arsenal have got back on track with impressive wins over Chelsea and Newcastle and Arteta is urging his players to keep working until the end of the campaign. “We are going to continue to dig — dig, dig, dig, dig,” he said. “And maybe the prize is there. We don’t know if it’s there, but we are going to continue to dig, just in case it is where we can get to, and make sure that we can do our best. “The stakes are huge and we are full of enthusiasm to get that prize in the best possible way. We are going to continue to dig... And maybe the prize is there Mikel Arteta “To do that, we have to win our matches and the first one is Brighton and they are fighting for something very important. “That is what is going to make it really complicated.” Arsenal will kick off against the Seagulls after City have faced relegation-threatened Everton. Arteta spent six-and-a-half years at Goodison Park before moving to Arsenal and is hoping for a favour from his former club, who shocked Brighton with a 5-1 win on the south coast last week. “Obviously they are playing for their life right now and you could see that in the last game against Brighton,” he added. “Sean (Dyche) has instilled that belief again and that cohesion around the team and the fans to create something special. “As a huge Everton fan, I want the best for them and that’s not going to change this weekend. “They had some very good results and some others that deserved more. They have been really, really competitive in the last few months. “For sure they are going to give their best, but there are teams who are fighting for Europe and others fighting for relegation and others playing the last game of the season at home, and you know what that means. “Every game has a different meaning and it will be important for sure.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bundesliga title battle continues as Bayern and Borussia Dortmund ease to wins Chris Rushworth fires Division One leaders Warwickshire to win over Essex Carlos Alcaraz back as world number one with win on Italian Open debut

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund continued their battle for the Bundesliga title with convincing wins over Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach respectively on Saturday. Leaders Bayern, who hold a one-point lead at the top, remain the favourites after thrashing Schalke 6-0 at the Allianz Arena with Serge Gnabry grabbing two of their goals. Thomas Muller, Joshua Kimmich, Mathys Tel and Noussair Mazraoui also got on the scoresheet for the Bavarians. Dortmund kept up the fight with a 5-2 home hammering of Monchengladbach. Donyell Malen pounced to put them ahead before Jude Bellingham added a penalty and Sebastian Haller struck twice. Gio Reyna wrapped up the scoring after Gladbach pulled a couple back with a Ramy Bensebaini spot-kick and Lars Stindl effort. Union Berlin moved into third place with a 4-2 victory over fellow European hopefuls Freiburg. Paris St Germain, with Lionel Messi back from his recent suspension, took another step towards the Ligue 1 crown with a thumping 5-0 win over Ajaccio. Kylian Mbappe scored twice after goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi had put PSG in command. The scoring was completed with a Mohamed Youssouf own goal but both sides ended with 10 men after Hakimi and Thomas Mangani were sent off late on. The victory lifted PSG six points clear of second-placed Lens with three games remaining. In Italy, AC Milan’s hopes of a top-four spot suffered a blow as they slumped to a 2-0 loss at relegation-threatened Spezia. Both goals came in the closing stages with Przemyslaw Wisniewski opening the scoring after 75 minutes and Salvatore Esposito adding a free-kick 10 minutes later. The result left Milan in fifth, four points behind fourth-placed Lazio, ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against city rivals Inter, in which they trail 2-0. Inter, meanwhile, moved up to third with a 4-2 win over Sassuolo. Romelu Lukaku wrapped up the win with his second goal in the 89th minute after Sassuolo had set up a grandstand finish by cutting the deficit to 3-2 through Matheus Henrique and Davide Frattesi. Inter had led 3-0 after an hour following Lukaku’s opener, a Ruan own goal and Lautaro Martínez strike. Real Madrid made eight changes for their derby against Getafe but still did enough to claim a 1-0 win that lifted them back to second in LaLiga. Karim Benzema and Rodrygo were among those to get a night off ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City while Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior came off the bench. Marco Asencio scored the only goal of what was a comfortable win at the Bernabeu. Fourth-placed Real Sociedad were held to a 2-2 draw by Girona while Villarreal tightened their grip on fifth with a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Arsenal won’t stop digging for Premier League prize, Mikel Arteta vows Chris Rushworth fires Division One leaders Warwickshire to win over Essex Carlos Alcaraz back as world number one with win on Italian Open debut

Chelsea are finalising their appointment of Mauricio Pochettino and the former Tottenham and PSG manager's arrival could be confirmed early next week.

Mauricio Pochettino has agreed terms to become Chelsea’s new manager, with the contract to be signed in the next few days. The 51-year-old has already reached the point where he is discussing prospective summer transfers, with the club looking for a striker, No 6 and goalkeeper to complete a best XI. One of Pochettino's first tasks, however, will be to oversee the cutting down of a bloated current squad. The Argentine has already made clear his admiration for energetic players such as Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana and Mason Mount. Of those potentially being signed, Declan Rice, Emiliano Martinez, Alexis Mac Allister and of course Harry Kane have been discussed. Pochettino will also seek talks with Romelu Lukaku, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan. Pochettino became the outstanding favourite for the job around three weeks ago, when it became clear he was the best fit from the initial interviews. The Chelsea hierarchy has prioritised his outstanding success with developing players at Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, as they seek to build the best young squad in Europe. While the discussions were protracted and slower than anticipated, there has long been a feeling Pochettino would ultimately end up as Chelsea manager. He will be joined by long-time coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino, Sebastiano Pochettino and Tony Jimenez, as well as a core already at Stamford Bridge. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Ryan Mason ready to take on Tottenham job as Julian Nagelsmann is ruled out Kane correct to highlight Tottenham’s lost values, admits boss Mason New manager clarity needed to save Chelsea and Lampard from themselves

ACC football fans only have to wait a few months before their favorite teams are back in action.Although it may get overlooked by some of the other leagues, we could be in for a thrilling year when it comes to ACC football.This has everything to do with Clemson still being a preeminent power...

For Erik ten Hag, the soundtrack to an afternoon on the touchline consisted of plenty of choruses celebrating a predecessor. And not even his most celebrated predecessor, even though Sir Alex Ferguson watched on from the directors’ box as Ten Hag secured a first victory in three games. But it took Manchester United a step closer to the Champions League, a competition that defines Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. And as Solskjaer made his first return to Old Trafford since his sacking 18 months ago, memories of 1999, of the Nou Camp and of Bayern Munich being beaten in injury time, lingered. His legendary status has not been diminished by his disastrous final few months in the dugout. Ten Hag has rejuvenated and roused United after inheriting a mess and yet, Solskjaer is entitled to argue, he is only on course to emulate him. The Norwegian twice secured Champions League qualification as a manager; Ten Hag only needs two more wins to follow in his footsteps after a victory that stemmed from the inspiration offered by Solskjaer’s finest signing. Anthony Martial, a Louis van Gaal capture, got the first goal to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers. Antony, Ten Hag’s own biggest buy, earned the assist. But the catalytic contribution, the key pass, came from Bruno Fernandes. The injury-time second, scored on his comeback by Alejandro Garnacho, came after Fernandes released him. Many a Solskjaer favourite has fallen by the wayside – only four of his final starting 11 began for Ten Hag here, while his anointed leader, Harry Maguire, got a late cameo – but Fernandes has retained his prominence. On a day when United were without the injured Marcus Rashford, they required some inspiration. Fernandes obliged when it felt few others could for a goal-shy side. So they recorded a 25th home win of the season, a feat they last achieved under Ferguson. Solskjaer’s past tended to invite comparisons with the great Scot. The post-Ferguson United managers, however, are perhaps best assessed against each other and, with 66 points, Ten Hag’s United have equalled their tally in two seasons when Solskjaer was at the wheel, whether for part or all of it; they could yet top his best total of 75. The Norwegian’s legacy is undeniably mixed – three years offered evidence of progress only for United to regress alarmingly in the autumn of 2021 – and the sense is that the Ten Hag revival is built on sounder foundations, but defeats to Brighton and West Ham threatened the kind of end-of-season slide that would question that analysis. Right now, United could do with the services of Solskjaer; but the potent striker rather than the well-meaning manager. Martial’s goal was their first in three games; in all competitions, Garnacho’s strike was just their fifth in seven. They lack the ability to blow teams away and victory became a grind. They were minus the injured Marcus Rashford, whose absence underlined the need to sign a high-class forward in the summer, but Martial ended an eight-game goal drought with an opportunity he could scarcely miss. It was just his fifth league goal of the season, a statistic explained in part by his frequent absences. It came from an incisive move, with Fernandes dissecting the defence with a pass, Antony showing the unselfishness and awareness to roll the ball into Martial’s path and the striker getting a tap-in. It was a rarity from Antony in various respects; a right-footed assist and, indeed, an assist of any kind. The Brazilian was nevertheless the brightest of the forwards, if also the most profligate. He spurned a glorious early chance after Max Kilman slipped. He headed wastefully wide from Luke Shaw’s cross; somehow, a particularly one-footed footballer even seemed to use the left side of his head. He had a late shot clawed away by Dan Bentley. He was, at least, persistent. But the debutant goalkeeper Bentley, who was deputising for Jose Sa, went untested for too long. Too often United were betrayed by a stray touch here and a moment of indecision there. Their decision-making was faulty at times, their confidence missing. Eventually Bentley made a fine save from Jadon Sancho, who darted in off the left. When Casemiro whipped in a shot, Bentley tipped it away. But he was helpless when, with Wolves pushing forward in their search for an equaliser, Fernandes sent the substitute Garnacho sprinting clear. He marked his recent five-year contract with a fifth goal for the club, and it is likelier that he, and they, will spend next season in the Champions League. Read More ‘Huge talent’ Alejandro Garnacho backed to play key role in Man Utd’s run-in Players really want to come – Erik ten Hag optimistic for transfer window Rashford a Man United injury doubt but Ten Hag handed defender boost Erik ten Hag faces race against time to solve Man Utd’s clear failings ‘It’s in our hands’: Erik Ten Hag not panicking over Man United’s top-four hopes Erik ten Hag reveals David De Gea contract stance after costly mistake at West Ham