Nottingham Forest sign Ortega, Premier League and WSL buildup, plus more – matchday live

The first four WSL fixtures of the weekend have just kicked off. Here is the team news…

Manchester United v Liverpool:

Manchester United XI: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Sandberg, Naalsund, Zigiotti, Miyazawa, Park, Terland, Malard. Subs: Rendell, George, Lundkvist, Turner, Awujo, Rolfo, Drury, Schuller, Wangerheim.

Liverpool XI: Falk, Shimizu, Clark, Fisk, Bernabe, Nagano, O’Sullivan, Bergstrom, Kapocs, Holland, Thomas. Subs: Kirby, Parry, Evans, Olsson, Enderby, Woodham, MacLean, Bonner, Csillag.

Brighton v London City Lionesses:

Brighton XI: Nnadozie, Rule, Minami, Vanegas, Olislagers, Seike, Symonds, Cankovic, Kafaji, Noordam, Haley. Subs: Baggaley, Rayner, Hayes, Tvedten, Camacho, McLauchlan, Tsunoda, McEwen, Gay.

London City Lionesses XI: Lete, Fernandez, Sangare, Linari, Pattinson, Perez, Roddar, Godfrey, Goodwin, Corrales, Asllani. Subs: Orman, Goldie, Kumagai, Franssi, Parris, Marashi, Imuran, Kennedy, Geyoro.

Everton v Aston Villa:

Everton XI: Brosnan, Blundell, Fernandez, Mace, Kitagawa, Van Gool, Wheeler, Hayasahi, Vignola, Gabarro, Momiki. Subs: Ramsey, Ishikawa, Hobson, Lawley, Harbert, Galli, Pacheco.

Aston Villa XI: D’Angelo, Wilms, Patten, Deslandes, Salmon, Jean-Francois, Taylor, Maltby, Hijikata, Mullett, Hanson. Subs: Clark, Parker, Maritz, Nighswonger, Staniforth, Round, Lea, Grant.

West Ham v Tottenham:

West Ham XI: Walsh, Endo, Nystrom, Cascarino, Hanshaw, Siren, Gorry, Wandeler, Ueki, Asseyi, Martinez. Subs: O’Hanlon, Hansen, Belloumou, Zelem, Tennebo, Brasero, Houssein, Cemal, Piubel.

Tottenham XI: Kop, Rybrink, Koga, Hunt, Vinberg, Summanen, Spence, Blakstad, Holdt, Gaupset, England. Subs: Bartrip, Wijk, Ahtinen, A Nilden, Hamano, M Nilden, Gunning-Williams, Tandberg.

Nottingham Forest have signed Stefan Ortega on a permanent deal from Manchester City, the goalkeeper signing a contract until the end of the season. The 33-year-old will provide competition for Matz Sels after No 2 John Victor was ruled out for the season. Ortega made 56 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side after joining in 2022.

Edu, Forest’s global head of football, said: “When it became clear the goalkeeper position was somewhere we needed to address, Stefan stood out straight away. He will provide great competition for our group of goalkeepers, and will help the team on and off the pitch.”

Both teams will be desperate for the win today. Spurs currently sit 14th in the table, three points behind 13th-placed Brighton. Meanwhile, Manchester City are chasing Arsenal and will be eager to keep the pace with Aston Villa, who welcome Brentford to Villa Park this afternoon.

As usual we should beat Spurs but they have this hoodoo over us where they are rubbish leading up to these games, and rubbish afterwards, but are world beaters against us somehow. Think with Rodri getting better, Guehi and Semenyo back in probably till the end of the season today should start that winning run towards a title of some kind.

It is a huge day for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard agreed to join the Premier League giants exactly 10 years ago today, on February 1, 2016.

How time flies…

Rob Draper has looked back on the last decade and how it changed both City and English football in general.

Both Manchester City men and women face huge games in their respective league title races today. While the women’s team face Chelsea, who sit nine points behind them in the charge for the WSL crown, the men face Tottenham, who have become somewhat of a bogey team for them in recent years.

Elsewhere in women’s football today, Arsenal take on Brazilian side Corinthians in the Champions Cup final. The match kicks off at 6pm GMT at the Emirates Stadium.

Today’s WSL fixtures (11:55am GMT kick-off unless stated otherwise)

• West Ham v Tottenham

• Everton v Aston Villa

• Brighton v London City Lionesses

• Manchester United v Liverpool

• Manchester City v Chelsea (2:30pm)

Team news for the 11:55am fixtures will be available shortly.

Jonathan Wilson

“Ask a Crystal Palace fan what price they would have paid at this time last year to win the FA Cup. Would they have taken a run of 11 games without a win, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guéhi sold, Oliver Glasner disillusioned and on his way out of the club, and a probable relegation battle ahead? Almost certainly, yes.

But equally that Palace fan would be within their rights to ask why there should be a pay-off at all. This isn’t like Portsmouth winning the FA Cup in 2008 while living beyond their means under Alexandre Gaydamak, going into administration in 2009-10. It’s not like Wigan winning the FA Cup as they were relegated in 2013 having been sustained in the Premier League by Dave Whelan.

It’s not even like Leicester who were forced into cutbacks and relegated, two years after adding an FA Cup to their 2016 Premier League title (and were fined on their return to the Championship for Financial Fair Play breaches in their promotion season of 2013-14). There is no suggestion at all of Palace having overstretched; rather they have been chewed up by the economic realities of the modern game…”

Aston Villa have the opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal today. A win at home against Brentford will see them move four points behind the Gunners and potentially above Manchester City, depending on their result against Tottenham.

You can’t count them out of this title race!

A reminder of today’s Premier League fixtures…

• Aston Villa v Brentford

• Manchester United v Fulham

• Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace

• Tottenham v Manchester City

United were dealt a blow the other day when it was revealed that Patrick Dorgu, who scored a stunning goal against Arsenal last weekend, had suffered a hamstring injury that could keep him out for several weeks.

Michael Carrick could not have asked for a better start to life as Manchester United head coach. Two wins from two – against their biggest rivals in Manchester City and Arsenal.

However, could it be argued that today is actually his biggest test so far? United tend to play better in the ‘bigger’ games against the Premier League ‘big six’ and they have been susceptible to slipping up against the underdogs.

Today’s meeting with Fulham will be a good indicator of the team’s mentality.

Thanks Tom, and hello readers! Let’s kick things off by looking at Manchester United, who face Fulham this afternoon…

Right, that’s my stint on matchday live done for the morning. Emillia Hawkins is taking over for the remainder.

Marco Silva at Manchester United? It’s not a bad shout. Out of contract in summer, of course.

Marco Silva’s United manager audition is today. If Fulham can puncture United’s bubble and bring them crashing back down to earth then he will enhance his credentials as a potential successor to Amorim. Another win for Carrick however -especially if United play easy on the eye football – will do no harm to the United legend.

Have you played ‘On the ball’ yet?

The rules are simple: guess the Premier League player, past or present, with the fewest clues possible, and impress your pals – and yourself – by doing so.

It’s up to you whether you choose to start with a player’s country, the three clubs they have played for the most, when they made their Premier League debut, their age, the number of Premier League appearances or titles they have to their name, or how many different countries they have been based. The aim is to guess the player with the fewest clues, with points deducted for every clue used up, and to land a score as close to 100 points as possible.

Each day will see a new player to guess. Can you remember who else Mohamed Salah played for? Which midfielder has played for Tottenham, Leicester and Norwich? Go on: test yourself. And your friends.

Get On the ball from the Puzzles tab of the Guardian app.

Germany rule out World Cup boycott despite calls to send Trump a message

Germany’s football federation, the DFB, has ruled out a boycott of the World Cup despite calls to send a message to Donald Trump. “We believe in the unifying power of sport and the global impact that a Fifa World Cup can have,” the DFB said. “Our goal is to strengthen this positive force – not to prevent it.”

The federation said its executive committee met and discussed the option of a boycott of this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a consideration first proposed last week by the DFB vice-president, Oke Göttlich.

Göttlich, who is also president of the Bundesliga club St Pauli, referred to Trump’s recent actions and statements and said it was time to “seriously consider” a boycott. In what appears to be a public rebuke to Göttlich, however, the DFB said “debates on sports policy should be conducted internally and not in public”.

The DFB said a boycott “is not currently under consideration. The DFB is in contact with representatives from politics, security, business, and sports in preparation for the tournament”.

Full story:

North of the border, Hearts won last night to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to seven points. Rangers and Celtic are both in action today against Hibs and Falkirk, respectively.

Further afield, PSG play Gary O’Neill’s Strasbourg in the Ligue 1 evening kick-off. The Parisiens need a win to return to the top of the table after surprise package Lens won on Friday night.

In La Liga, Real Madrid trail Barcelona by four points after the Catalans won 3-1 last night. Rayo Vallecano are the visitors to the Bernabeu this afternoon.

Inter Milan can extend their lead at the top of Serie A to eight points by winning at Cremonese this afternoon. AC Milan, who are currently second, don’t play again unil next Friday and Napoli, who beat Fiorentina 2-1 yesterday, are currently six points behind.

In Germany, Borussia Dortmund have the chance to cut Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points after Vincent Kompany’s side were held to a 2-2 draw at Hamburg. Heidenheim are the visitors at Signal Iduna Park.

On Big Website we have a lovely offering of live football action today. Coming up:

Premie League: Manchester United v Fulham, 2pm (GMT) kick-off

Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford, aiming to extend their impressive unbeaten league run to seven matches. Michael Carrick has made a perfect start as United’s interim head coach, delivering back‑to‑back statement victories over Manchester City and Arsenal, lifting United firmly into the top‑four battle. Fulham, however, arrive in strong form themselves, with Marco Silva’s side sitting seventh and having lost just once in their last eight league fixtures. Luke McLaughlin hosts our live blog with Jamie Jackson reporting.

Women’s Super League: Manchester City v Chelsea, 2.30pm (GMT) kick-off

Chelsea will be feeling the strain if they don’t come away from their top-two clash at pacesetting City with three points. The defending WSL champions slipped nine points behind City after their 2-0 defeat by Arsenal last week. Andrée Jeglertz’s side, meanwhile, keep rolling along, and following their 2-1 win at London City Lionesses – their 12th in a row – are taking giant strides closer to winning their first WSL title in a decade. City have a formidable attacking record, averaging just under three goals per game, and have scored 10 times in the final 15 minutes of their WSL matches. Emillia Hawkins hosts our liveblog with Tom Garry at the Etihad Stadium.

Premier League: Tottenham v Manchester City, 4.30pm (GMT) kick-off

Pep Guardiola’s City face an unpredictable Spurs side knowing that Arsenal’s result at Elland Road on Saturday could blow the title race wide open. Second-placed City were level on points with third-placed Aston Villa before the weekend fixtures, and were buoyed by the January additions of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi. Erling Haaland also finally ended his goal drought on Wednesday with his first from open play in 10 games. Spurs, who have not won a league game since beating Crystal Palace 1-0 on 28 December, are stagnant in 14th place. Thomas Frank’s troubled tenure enjoyed a brief uplift in midweek with an encouraging 2-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, and the Dane will be eager for his side to build on that rare win. Dominic Booth hosts our live blog, while our big hitters David Hytner and Jonathan Wilson provide reports and analysis from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

We are certainly starting to see the best of Florian Wirtz in a Liverpool shirt now. He always looked tidy and creative but he seems to be adapting more to the physical side of the game in the Premier League. Ominous for next season?

Not long ago everyone was saying that Wirtz was a waste of money.I sometimes think that no one knows less about football than football supporters.

As ever, on matchday live, we love to hear from readers. Please do send in your thoughts on the weekend’s action via the email link at top of the page or below the line in the comments section.

Andy Hunter

Konaté offered to make early Liverpool return after father’s death, Slot reveals

Arne Slot revealed Ibrahima Konaté was not due to face Newcastle after the recent death of his father. The centre-back was rewarded for responding to Liverpool’s defensive crisis with his first Premier League goal at Anfield.

Konaté returned from compassionate leave after three matches out to cap Liverpool’s convincing 4-1 comeback win against Eddie Howe’s team. The France international was in tears after scoring in front of the Kop and admitted he did not “have words to describe what I feel right now” after the poignant goal.

The Liverpool head coach revealed: “He has had a very difficult two weeks. He was planning to be back for the end of this week and it would have meant he could not play this game, but when he saw the problems we had defensively, he called me early this week and said: ‘I want to be back to help the team against Newcastle’.

Let’s start at the top…

Arsenal extend lead at the top with easy win over Leeds

Arsenal ended a run of three games without a win by strolling past Leeds at Elland Road. This looked a potentially tricky fixture but the Gunners made light work of Daniel Farke’s side. Arsenal are seven points clear of Manchester City, who face Tottenham in the 4.30pm (GMT) kick-off today. Read Aaron Bower’s report here.

Liverpool put four past Newcastle

Newcastle haven’t won at Anfield since 1994 and will have to wait another season to try and end that record. Anthony Gordon gave the visitors the lead but Hugo Ekitike lead the comeback for Liverpool, scoring twice before half-time before the Reds pulled away to win 4-1. Andy Hunter was there for this one.

Rosenior continues impressive start at Chelsea, the hard way

Chelsea beating West Ham at home should not be a huge surprise but given Liam Rosenior’s Blues were 2-0 down at the break, it ended up being a rousing win. Rosenior deserves some credit for correcting his mistake of a heavily-changed starting XI as two of his half-time changes scored in a dramatic 3-2 comeback win where Jean-Clair Todibo saw red late on. Jacob Steinberg was at Stamford Bridge.

Elsewhere… David Moyes danced on the pitch after Beto scored an equaliser with the last kick of the game to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Brighton. The Seagull’s failure to collect all three points meant that Bournemouth’s 2-0 win at Wolves moved the Cherries up to 13th.

Good morning and welcome to Sunday’s matchday live. Decent day in the Barclays yesterday wasn’t it? Goals aplenty. Let’s hope for more of the same today. We’ll be building up to four fixtures in the Premier League, five in the WSL and a Women’s Champions Cup double-header at Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal will be going for the inaugural title in the final.

Before we get to that, let’s have a quick look back at yesterday’s headlines…