European Leagues

Lille beat Marseille to boost Champions League hopes

Canadian star Jonathan David scored his 23rd goal of the season to set Lille on the way to a 3-1 win over Marseille on Friday that kept them firmly on course for next season’s Champions League.

David’s penalty put Lille ahead early in the second half. Remy Cabella doubled their lead on 71 minutes by scoring against his former club.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang claimed a goal back for Marseille, but substitute Gabriel Gudmundsson made sure of the victory for Lille late on.

The northern side, who face Aston Villa next week in their first ever European quarter-final in the Europa Conference League, move up to third in Ligue 1 ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.

They are a point behind second-placed Brest and ahead of Monaco in fourth on goal difference, with the gap to Nice in fifth now six points.

The top three in Ligue 1 will qualify automatically for next season’s expanded Champions League, with the team in fourth entering Europe’s elite club competition in the preliminary rounds.

Marseille are seventh, which may yet be enough to sneak into Europe next season depending on who wins the French Cup, but they are a huge 10 points adrift of the top four and only have six matches left to play.

OM, who face Benfica in Portugal in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final next week, have lost four straight in all competitions.

Prior to that, they had recorded five wins on the bounce following the appointment of Jean-Louis Gasset as their third coach this season.

Lille were seeking to extend an impressive home record which had seen them lose just one of their previous 37 matches at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, going back to August 2022.

They went ahead nine minutes after the break when David converted from the spot after he had been fouled in the box by Samuel Gigot.

Sixteen of his goals have come in Ligue 1, with only Kylian Mbappe, who has 24 for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring more.

Cabella curled in a delightful shot to make it 2-0 for Paulo Fonseca’s impressive team, before Aubameyang gave Marseille a glimmer of hope, appearing to get the last touch as Lille’s defence made a mess of clearing their lines.

Shortly after that, in the 84th minute, Gudmundsson swept in Lille’s third goal as they prepared in the best possible manner for next Thursday’s trip to Villa Park.

Brest host struggling Metz on Sunday, with Monaco entertaining Rennes and Nice going to Reims later the same day.

Leaders PSG are at home to bottom side Clermont on Saturday.

Premier League

Scholes suggests Amorim may need to offload up to 14 players at Man United

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes believes that current manager Ruben Amorim may need to offload up to 14 players as part of a major rebuild.

Scholes stated that Amorim faces a far bigger rebuilding job than Mikel Arteta did at Arsenal, citing the challenges Amorim has encountered since taking over at Old Trafford. The 40-year-old manager recently referred to the team as the worst in the club’s history.

Scholes highlighted Arteta’s transformation of Arsenal, which began when he inherited a team in disarray. Arteta’s success came through significant player changes, such as moving on Matteo Guendouzi, Mesut Ozil, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Amorim appears to be following a similar path. He has left Marcus Rashford out of his matchday squad for over a month and has also sidelined Casemiro.

“The trouble Amorim’s got is there’s not just three of them,” Scholes told The Overlap fan debate. “You could be talking about 13 or 14 of them he doesn’t want.”

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Slot rests key players for Champions League clash against PSV

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot has opted to leave out several key players for their upcoming Champions League match against PSV on Wednesday night.

Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and seven other prominent players have not made the trip to the Netherlands, with Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Luis Díaz also being rested.

Slot is focusing on Liverpool’s busy schedule, with important Premier League and Carabao Cup fixtures ahead.

Caoimhin Kelleher is set to start in goal, while fringe players such as Wataru Endo, Darwin Núñez, Federico Chiesa, and Harvey Elliott are expected to feature. Cody Gakpo, a former PSV player, will also be part of the squad and could face his old team.

Liverpool’s squad for the match includes:

Goalkeepers: Kelleher, Jaros, Davies.
Defenders: Quansah, Bradley, Norris, Nallo, Tsimikas, Robertson.
Midfielders: Endo, Mabaya, McConnell, Morrison, Morton, Nyoni.
Forwards: Chiesa, Gakpo, Elliott, Kone-Doherty, Danns, Núñez.

Premier League

PGMOL stands by referee Michael Oliver amid controversial red card, assigns him to key fixtures

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has decided not to drop referee Michael Oliver for the upcoming Premier League fixtures despite recent controversy.

Oliver has faced criticism for his decision to send off Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly during Saturday’s match against Wolves. The 39-year-old referee issued a straight red card to Lewis-Skelly after he caught Wolves defender Matt Doherty’s calf and ankle with his studs. The decision was upheld by VAR, and Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory at Molineux.

There had been speculation that Oliver would be sidelined due to the backlash and online abuse. However, he is scheduled to referee Wednesday’s Champions League clash between Barcelona and Atalanta.

The Premier League has confirmed that Oliver will officiate Ipswich Town’s match against Southampton at Portman Road on Saturday.

Additionally, he has been assigned to handle next month’s rescheduled Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park.