Álvaro Arbeloa’s side sit nine points behind Barcelona as it stands, and they’ll need their LaLiga rivals to slip up drastically in order to leapfrog them into first place.
When these two sides met back in December, it took a late Rodrygo winner to secure a 2-1 victory for Madrid.
Team news
Real Madrid will once again be without both Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo due to injury.
Raúl Asencio also joins the injury list after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis recently.
Alavés remain without Carlos Protesoni due to injury, but other than that, they should have a fully fit squad travelling to Madrid.
They will be without Abde Rebbach, however, as he will serve a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
The form of champions?
It’s been a dismal last few weeks for Real Madrid, capped off by being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich. The second leg defeat made it four games without a victory in all competitions for the Spanish side, who will be wanting for the season to end.
It’s certainly not the form of champions, and they can have few complaints if Barcelona are confirmed winners in the next few weeks. Madrid haven’t been clinical enough in front of goal, scoring 65 times compared to Barcelona’s 84.
Old school Alavés
Alavés have picked up some impressive results of late, and are unbeaten in their previous four games. Alavés favour an old-school-style, with only Getafe making more tackles than them in LaLiga this season.
Quique Sánchez Flores’ side like to get the ball out wide as much as possible, delivering into the box to try to create chances. Only Atlético Madrid have produced more accurate crosses than Alavés in LaLiga this term.
Their recent form sees them sitting just outside the relegation zone by one point, so they’ll be desperate to come away with something from this one.
Arda Güler the man of the moment
One player who was perhaps unfortunate to be on the losing side against Bayern Munich was Turkish star Arda Güler. The 21-year-old struck twice in Munich, while he was also sent off after the full-time whistle.
Güler’s passing numbers are some of the best in LaLiga
Güler isn’t a guaranteed starter for Madrid, but his performance against Bayern might lead to Arbeloa playing him from the beginning against Alavés. The Madrid boss will be looking for inspiration from somewhere, and Güler could be the man to produce.
Prediction
Despite Madrid’s inconsistent form of late, it’s difficult to see them not securing all three points in such a crucial game if they want to stand a chance of winning the title.
We’re going for a 2-0 victory for Arbeloa’s side.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Chelsea need to stop the rot if Rosenior wants to save their season
Brighton & Hove Albion’s resilience was on full display once again as Georginio Rutter scored a stoppage-time equaliser at Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, extending their impressive four-match unbeaten run (3W, 1D) in the Premier League. Now, Fabian Hürzeler’s squad sit ninth and just a point off top six with five rounds to go, and the Seagulls’ ultimate aim will be to secure a return to European football for next season.
Fittingly enough, it’s sixth-placed Chelsea who are visiting the Amex Stadium on Tuesday.
Liam Rosenior‘s underperforming squad are in danger of slipping away from the top five with seven points now separating them from the Champions league places.
Key players
Jan Paul van Hecke is developing into one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League with the Netherlands international establishing himself as a mainstay in Brighton’s defence during the past three seasons. The talented defender is the highest-FotMob rated player in the squad (7.17), and the Dutch’s numbers stand up, with the 25-year-old leading the team in terms of accurate long balls per 90 (3.6), clearances per 90 (5.3) and blocks per 90 (0.9).
Van Hecke player traits comparison
Enzo Fernández returned to the starting XI at the weekend and the Argentine’s performance was one of the few bright spots in the defeat to United. The fiery midfielder was the squad’s highest-rated player at Stamford Bridge and continues to be their top performer in the league (season average FotMob rating 7.3). Whether or not there is a move to Real Madrid on the horizon, Rosenior is in no position to ignore his importance to the team given the fact that Enzo is Chelsea’s leading chance creator (56) and only João Pedro has more goals + assists than him this season (19 to Fernández’s 11).
Team news
Diego Gómez landed awkwardly and sustained a knee injury at Spurs, and although Hürzeler eased any fears about him suffering a long-term injury, the Paraguayan will miss the match, joining Adam Webster, James Milner, Solly March and Stefanos Tzimas on the sidelines. Lewis Dunk is, however, available again after serving a two-match suspension.
João Pedro missed the last match through injury, but the Brazilian has returned to Chelsea’s first-team training, meaning they’ll make a ‘late call’ on including the former Brighton forward in the matchday squad. availability. Estêvão is now injured and no one from the other long term absentees (Filip Jörgensen, Levi Colwill, Reece James, Jamie Gittens) looks set to return in midweek.
Prediction
Brighton have the third-best defensive record (conceding just 39 goals) but also the second-worst offensive record (scoring 45 goals) of the teams in the top half of the table, while Chelsea are on their worst league goal drought since 1998. A goal fest is not, therefore, on the cards, but I expect the formidable Seagulls to continue their unbeaten run and quite possibly get a result that would take them above Chelsea in the standings.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Another record crowd turned out to see Lionel Messi, as Timo Werner got his first MLS goal and some unlikely teams impressed, or continued to impress in Matchweek 8.
Colorado Rapids celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first-ever home game in MLS by shifting their game against Inter Miami to Empower Field at Mile High, the home of the Denver Broncos NFL team.
The Rapids first season in MLS was played at the original Mile High Stadium in Denver, but since 2007, they have played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, their soccer-specific home in Commerce City.
They expected a turnout of over 70,000 for this weekend’s game, with the eventual attendance coming in at a franchise record of 75,824. It’s the second-highest attendance in MLS history, and the third “Messi game” in the all-time top five MLS record crowds.
Fans turned out in their numbers for the anniversary, but, in truth, they were mostly there to see Lionel Messi.
The latest Messi League Soccer occasion even overshadowed the big news of Javier Mascherano resigning as Inter Miami head coach last week.
The shot map for Messi’s match winner
The idea that the majority of this crowd were there to see Messi was reinforced when he scored. His second goal, especially, was cheered by the crowd, providing the surreal experience of an away team’s go-ahead goal being celebrated.
Rapids fans had a couple of goals to cheer in the second half, and their team deserved at least a draw, but that magical Messi strike saw Miami leave with a 3-2 win.
Werner gets his goal
Timo Werner has impressed in bursts so far since his move to San Jose Earthquakes, and it was a particularly impressive burst that led to his first goal for his new club.
The clip of Werner breaking through the Los Angeles FC defence almost looked sped up, as he zoomed past opposition players to put himself in a great position to score.
The German’s settling-in period has been helped by the fact that the Earthquakes have been impressive whether he has played or not. Indeed, they were already a goal up versus LAFC through one of the Matchweek’s standout players, Ousseni Bouda, before Werner added the second.
San Jose are the in-form team in MLS, having won their last four games in a row. Long-time followers of MLS may have to read that sentence back to double-check its comtent, as this is a surprise statement given their form in recent years.
And wins don’t come much bigger than against an LAFC side who have looked like one of the best teams on the continent this year. The Earthquakes shrugged them aside with apparent ease, and the team that finished 20th overall in 2025 look to have improved dramatically in 2026, with Werner playing a big part in their statement of intent, and now on the field, too, with his first goal.
Real standout players
Two players earned FotMob match ratings well into the nines this week, and their respective teams deserve plenty of praise for their performances in Matchweek 8.
Prince Owusu registered three assists plus a goal of his own from the penalty spot as CF Montréal shocked New York Red Bulls with a 4-1 win at the Stade Saputo.
It gave Montréal their first home win of the season and some encouragement that they are capable of lifting themselves out of the lower reaches of the MLS table under interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy.
Real Salt Lake have no such confidence issues this season, and a headed brace plus an assist from Sergi Solans gave them a 4-2 win against San Diego, which stretched their unbeaten run to six games, made up of five wins and a draw.
Solans is quietly one of the most impressive players in the league this season, and it’s worth keeping an eye on the Spaniard, who made his way to this level through the US college system and amateur leagues.
Roldan reinforces his USMNT importance
Between now and the World Cup squad announcements on May 26, there will be plenty of speculation as to the makeup of Mauricio Pochettino’s United States roster, not least around which MLS players will be involved.
One MLS player who has been regularly involved in Pochettino’s team of late is Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan, who has not only been a useful squad option but also a player who can knit the various strands of the group together off the field.
For Seattle this weekend, he showed his importance on the field with two goals from the same set-piece move in an impressive 4-1 win against St Louis City.
Roldan’s player traits comparison
He has featured in every USMNT friendly since the 2025 Gold Cup, having not featured in the squad since the previous Gold Cup in 2023.
Maybe Pochettino has realised he needs more leaders in the dressing room, and Roldan is the type of player who can contribute in a tournament even if he is not playing games.
Though Roldan might be one of those players left out of many USMNT World Cup roster projections, he could be one of Pochettino’s key selections.
Nashville Cats
It’s been a big year for Nashville so far, as the team from Tennessee continue to impress both domestically and on the continent.
The 2025 US Open Cup champions recorded one of the biggest results in club history when they defeated Mexican giants Club América in the Concacaf Champions Cup last week. In doing so, they became the first MLS team to win a match at the famous Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and the goal they scored in the Mexican capital gave them a 1-0 aggregate win across the two legs.
It doesn’t get more impressive than that, but following up an away match in the Champions Cup with a win in MLS can be just as difficult, and they managed it with a 2-0 win in Atlanta on Saturday night.
Nashville are looking like genuine contenders on multiple fronts this season, and it’s Tigres up next in the Champions Cup.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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For the first time in a while, the two Merseyside clubs go head-to-head, where they could be battling to finish in a similar position in the Premier League.
If the Toffees win, they go within just two points of their rivals and are in contention for a spot in the Champions League.
In this fixture last season, at Goodison Park, Everton secured a 98th-minute draw as James Tarkowski volleyed home an equaliser.
Recent H2H record
Team news
It was a positive press conference from David Moyes this week as he discussed team news ahead of the game. The Everton boss should have a fully fit squad, barring Jack Grealish, with Carlos Alcaraz now ready to be involved.
Moyes has to decide whether he wants his side to sit back and absorb pressure, or press high up the pitch to try to win the ball back. Liverpool struggled at times against PSG during the week when the French outfit applied pressure when the Reds tried to build out, and that could be key for Everton this weekend.
Only four sides in the Premier League have won possession in the final third more than Everton this season. Slot might be expecting the Toffees to sit deeper, but there’s every chance Everton look to take the game to them in front of their home crowd.
Who’s going to pounce in the box?
It’s been a difficult season for Liverpool, struggling to replicate the heights of their previous campaign. Plenty has gone wrong, but there’s no doubt they are getting the ball into the right areas.
No side has more touches inside the opposition box, but without Ekitike and Alexander Isak not being fully fit, who is going to be pouncing in the area? Liverpool fans will be hoping Isak is ready to start firing, but Slot has already confirmed he’s not ready to play 90 minutes.
Rio vs O’Brien
The most interesting match-up could be Rio Ngumoha against Jake O’Brien. Rio has started two of Liverpool last three Premier League games, scoring against Fulham last time out, and there’s every chance Slot hands him another start.
His pace and trickery could be key for Liverpool, and he’s up against O’Brien, who couldn’t be more of an opposite physical profile, standing at almost two metres tall. O’Brien is no slouch when it comes to a foot race, either, so it could be an interesting battle.
Prediction
The Merseyside derby is always a cagey affair, and we’re expecting no different this weekend. Everton are unbeaten in the last three meetings on their own turf, so we’re going for a 1-1 draw.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Even as top-of-the-table clashes go, Sunday’s encounter between Manchester City and Arsenal deserves a big billing. It could be a season-defining match for both teams.
What once looked like Arsenal’s title now appears to be slipping from the grip of Mikel Arteta and his players. The Gunners have won just one of their last five fixtures in all competitions and can ill-afford another defeat after last weekend’s damaging home loss to Bournemouth.
City, on the other hand, have won five of their last seven in the league including a statement victory away to Chelsea last weekend. Pep Guardiola has the scent of another title in his nostrils.
Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 11 home matches against Arsenal in all competitions and haven’t lost to anyone at home in the league since the opening day of the season.
Momentum seems to be with Guardiola’s team even if Arsenal still hold a six-point advantage at the top of the table. A City win might make them favourites to win a seventh Premier League title in nine years.
Key players
Rayan Cherki embodies the difference between City and Arsenal at the moment. While the Gunners are struggling for open play creativity, the French playmaker is producing assists for fun as the chasers close the gap on the leaders.
Indeed, Cherki has registered 10 Premier League assists this season despite starting just 15 matches. He is the creative force pushing Manchester City forward in the title race.
Erling Haaland has scored more goals than any other player in the Premier League this season, but has drawn a blank in six of his last eight outings for City. His goalscoring hasn’t been as consistent as in previous seasons.
Jérémy Doku is averaging more successful dribbles per 90 than any other player in the Premier League and will be a threat in the wide areas against Arsenal.
Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi will be tasked with controlling the centre of the pitch for the visitors to the Etihad Stadium with the former particularly impressive in Arsenal’s mid-week Champions League performance against Sporting CP.
Arteta has a decision to make over the identity of his centre forward with Viktor Gyökeres and Kai Havertz capable of playing that position, albeit in a very different way.
Arsenal’s title challenge has been based on defensive solidity, making Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba central to the Gunners’ chances of leaving the Etihad Stadium with a positive result this weekend.
The Gunners have kept more clean sheets than any other Premier League side this season with David Raya another Arsenal player who must find top form against City.
Team news
Nico O’Reilly came off with a muscle injury against Chelsea and is a doubt to feature in Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash meaning Guardiola might be forced to reshuffle his defensive line.
Joško Gvardiol is still sidelined with a long-term injury while Rúben Dias and John Stones are concerns ahead of this weekend’s meeting with Arsenal.
At the start of 2026, both sides were in very similar positions, vying for a top four finish. Since then, Man United have pulled away, sitting in third and Chelsea are in danger of falling into mid-table.
Liam Rosenior hasn’t been the inspired appointment BlueCo had hoped he would be. If the Premier League had started when he joined, they would be in ninth, and the 3-0 defeat to Man City last time out is just their latest collapse.
Michael Carrick has been everything Rosenior hasn’t. Clearly commanding the respect of his players and the fans, Man United have gone from looking like a basket case club to one of the more sensible. Not even a 2-1 defeat to Leeds can bring them down.
Bad vibes in West London
Chelsea haven’t even scored a goal in their last four Premier League games, they’re now closer to Bournemouth in 11th, a three-point gap, than they are to Liverpool in 5th, the final Champions League spot this season.
They’ll be hoping to avoid a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat. The last time that happened, Frank Lampard was in the middle of his disastrous interim spell in 2023. Rosenior is a lot more like Graham Potter, he’ll probably get until the end of the season though.
To make matters worse, the protests have begun. Fan groups from sister club, Strasbourg, also unhappy with some ridiculous ownership decisions, have made the trip to make their feelings known alongside their Chelsea counterparts ahead of this game. It’s all a complete mess.
Martínez was shown a straight red for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair at Old Trafford in their last game, while Maguire was handed an additional one game ban for improper conduct after having a go at a fourth official.
Still, Heaven and Yoro are two young yet very capable centre-backs, and given Chelsea’s recent goal scoring issues, they may not have too much to worry about. We’re in to the business end of the season, and squads need to be used to their fullest.
Team news
Rosenior has confirmed that Enzo Fernández is back from Chelsea’s self-imposed two game suspension following his flirting with Real Madrid. Hindsight is 20-20, but he was certainly missed in their defeat to City.
Other than their issues at centre back, Man United don’t have too much to worry about. Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) is still out and not expected to return until the end of the month, with the same being said of Kobbie Mainoo (knock).
Prediction
This is the most drawn fixture in Premier League history, and we’re expecting it follow suit on Saturday. So, 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Roberto De Zerbi’s honeymoon period at Spurs lasted just over an hour
If there was one at all, Roberto De Zerbi’s honeymoon period at Spurs lasted a few seconds over an hour. That’s how long it took Sunderland to find a way through their porous defence last Sunday, and with West Ham United having already picked up three points on the Friday night, the North London club are now in the bottom three following their 1-0 defeat on Wearside, a place they’ve deserved to occupy since about the start of November.
The relegation picture
De Zerbi’s second match now pitches him against the club with whom he fell out with two years ago, Brighton & Hove Albion. Somewhat ominously for him, his former club – who have broadly been a model of inconsistency throughout this season – are in a bit of a purple patch at the moment, having won five of their last six Premier League matches. They’re in 9th place in the table going into the weekend, and they’re only two points short of a Europa League place for next season.
De Zerbi was the Brighton manager, the last time Spurs beat them
It’s also been two years since Spurs last beat Brighton in a competitive match, when they won 2-1 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Last season brought a double for the Seagulls, including a 4-1 away win on the final day of the season which acted as something of a canary in the coalmine for this season’s Spurs calamities, while their meeting earlier this season at the Amex ended in a 2-2 draw.
Micky van de Ven needs start proving himself, with a World Cup looming
The injury to Cristian Romero which now seems likely to leave the Argentinian out of the World Cup puts even more pressure on Micky van de Ven. The Dutchman has had one of the most underwhelming seasons of all Spurs players in 2025/26, and he is playing for a place in the Netherlands squad for the upcoming World Cup. There’s certainly been little to warrant his inclusion in his form this year, but it’s not quite too late to turn that around.
At 35 years of age, he seldom plays a full 90 minutes any more, but there’s little question that Danny Welbeck has been Brighton’s star performer this season. With twelve Premier League goals and even calls for him to go to the World Cup with England this summer, Welbeck has been having one of the great Indian summers to a playing career this season, and he can cause even greater damage to an already wounded defence.
At this stage, serious injuries are no longer even a surprise for Spurs
In the latest instalment of this long-running series, Cristian Romero limped from the pitch at the end of the Sunderland match with a knee injury that will keep him out of the remainder of this season and the World Cup. Kevin Danso will most likely replace him in the centre of their defence.
Like most sensible Premier League clubs, Brighton’s injury list is nowhere near as severe as this. Stefanos Tzimas is out for the season and Adam Webster won’t be ready until the end of the month, and captain Lewis Dunk will be missing suspended after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season. One possible returnee is the ageless James Milner, who missed the trip to Burnley but could be ready again for this match.
Time is starting to run out for Spurs to hang onto their Premier League place, but Brighton have Europe on their minds
If Spurs fans had hoped that West Ham’s win against Wolves dropping their team into the bottom three might have sharpened the players’ resolve a little at Sunderland, they ended up mightily disappointed. There has been growing recognition in recent weeks that the players are a huge part of the problem with their club. When they haven’t been injured, they’ve broadly shown themselves to be a limited set of players running on microscopic amounts of confidence.
Those who are already calling this as done and dusted are, of course, being a little premature. There are six games left to play and a couple of wins could have a potentially transformative effect. But the opportunities to steer this listing vessel away from the rocks are diminishing, and it remains as difficult as it has since the new year to see where the win which may galvanise them is even going to come from.
Brighton have had a decent last few weeks and, in a congested middle of the Premier League table, still have a shot at securing European football for next season. This, plus a completely natural and understandable desire to put one over on Roberto De Zerbi makes it difficult to predict anything but a positive result for them.
But Spurs have a lot to play for and their performance at Sunderland wasn’t completely abysmal, so I’m going to go for a 1-1 draw in this one. The real make or break game for Spurs comes next week away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, but at this stage of the season every point counts, even if one is no longer enough to lift them out of the bottom three.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Rayan Cherki is an anomaly. Both in the current landscape of the Premier League and Pep Guardiola’s highly-regimented Manchester City set-up. He gets away with things no other City player would. Sometimes he doesn’t, as illustrated by the number of times Guardiola is shown shaking his head at the impish Frenchman like a disapproving parent.
Cherki, however, is the sort of natural creator considered to be rare at the elite level of the English game right now. As the Premier League title race continues to tighten, he could be the player who decides the destination of the trophy this season. If City end up catching Arsenal, Cherki might become the symbol of why.
Cherki’s player traits compared to similar players in Top 5 leagues
Arsenal’s home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday was Mikel Arteta’s team at their worst. The Gunners created just 0.18 Expected Goals (xG) from open play. They struggled badly to construct attacks with the ball and ultimately succumbed to the nervousness that built inside the Emirates Stadium over the course of the match.
24 hours later, Manchester City made a big statement by dismantling Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Guardiola’s side imposed themselves in every possible way with Cherki at the heart of their performance. The Frenchman registered two assists and was irrepressible as he drifted into space wherever he could find it. Chelsea couldn’t handle him.
Cherki shot map vs. Chelsea
In the juxtaposition between the two performances, the difference between the title rivals became clear. Cherki is everything Arsenal are missing. He embodies the cavalier momentum of City’s late title challenge compared to the stiff and stilted form of the frontrunners from North London.
Cherki’s statistics in the Premier League this season make more impressive reading, especially because the 22-year-old has only started 15 games. Only Bruno Fernandes has registered more assists while Cherki ranks above the Manchester United playmaker for Expected Assists per 90. He is also up there for Big Chances created.
“The numbers are incredible and the quality in the first season in the Premier League, he is something unique,” said Guardiola when asked about Cherki’s impact this season. “Rayan has something special. The second goal [against Chelsea], I said choose the pass right and he passed to Marc Guéhi that I could not even see from outside. He is a top talent and again what I said, if Manchester City decide to bring that player in, it is because Manchester City is working really well.”
Cherki’s Premier League passing stats
Guardiola also made comments suggesting he isn’t entirely satisfied with Cherki’s work ethic. The City manager has more than once also slapped the Frenchman on the wrist for showboating at various times this season. Guardiola, however, must be careful not to suppress the natural creativity of his most exciting player.
Arteta might have been guilty of this with Eberechi Eze. Signed for £67.5m from Crystal Palace last summer, the England international was meant to be Arsenal’s Cherki. The creative force capable of producing something out of nothing when his team is struggling to find a way through.
Eze has been that player in a handful of matches, but not enough. Against Bournemouth on Saturday, for example, the 27-year-old came off the bench with 36 minutes still to play, but failed to register a single shot in that time. Eze created one chance and got on the dribble once or twice, yet struggled to make any genuine impact.
Sunday’s top-of-the-table encounter could provide the starkest sign yet of the difference between Arsenal and Manchester City. While the former have a six-point lead to protect, the latter need a win to supercharge their chances of winning a seventh Premier League title in nine years. The stakes could hardly be any greater.
Guardiola’s City remains a work-in-progress. They are still midway through a rebuild that will continue with the exit of Bernardo Silva at the end of the season. There will be further signings made by the Etihad Stadium outfit this summer as they retool the squad for the seasons to come.
Through this process, though, Manchester City have evolved over the course of the campaign. Guardiola has used a variety of different formations and combinations to get to this point. Arsenal, on the other hand, are the same team now they were at the start of the season. They have failed to find an extra dimension.
For Manchester City, Cherki is that extra dimension. The player who sees things others, including his own manager, can’t. The number 10 who is the exception to the rule within Guardiola’s team. The guy who offers something special. Watching him is a joy, unless you’re Arsenal.
(Images from IMAGO)
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Hearts’ title chances surely flashed before their eyes as the clock ticked closer and closer to full time on Saturday. Anything less than a victory at home to Motherwell would have seen the lead of the Scottish title race change just five games from the end of the season. The Jam Tarts, however, scored two late goals to maintain their advantage.
That advantage stands at just one point heading into The Split – the final stage of the Scottish Premiership season when the table splits into the top six and the bottom six. Rangers and Celtic, to a certain extent, are resurgent, but Hearts are still setting the pace even if their matches are increasingly tense.
The league table going into the weekend
Tension is understandable. It’s been 40 years since a non-Old Firm team won the Scottish title. Celtic and Rangers’ duopoly is the strongest of any two sides in Europe yet Hearts have been able to disrupt their dominance. Having come this far, it would be devastating for the Edinburgh outfit were they to be pipped to the post.
Few believed Tony Bloom when he vowed Hearts would challenge for the title this season. The professional gambler had been successful in Belgium and England with his data-driven approach, and few doubted his influence would ultimately improve Hearts, but his pre-season prediction seemed naive.
Five games from the end of Bloom’s first season as Hearts co-owner, he has already delivered on his bullish vow. Derek McInnes’ team have indeed challenged for the title. They have electrified Scottish football at a time when it desperately needed something to shake up the landscape.
For a long time, it appeared Hearts’ only challenge would come from Celtic. Rangers started the season under Russell Martin and struggled for any sort of consistent form. They won just one of their opening eight league fixtures and were humbled by Club Brugge in Champions League qualification.
When Martin was sacked after just 123 days in the job, Rangers hired Danny Röhl to point them in the right direction again. The 2025/26 season already looked to be a write-off, but the charismatic German slowly began to introduce his own ideas to a team that had lacked any sort of coherent identity until then.
With Röhl at the helm, Rangers have played with a stronger defensive footing. Their pressing structure has improved match-by-match over the course of the season while Röhl has managed to get more out of several players including Youssef Chermiti, Mikey Moore and Thelo Aasgaard who had been written off as flops under Martin.
Celtic’s journey to this point of the title race has been even more chaotic. The Hoops have gone through three different managers, hiring Martin O’Neill as interim manager after the sacking of Brenden Rodgers ahead of appointing Wilfried Nancy who lasted just 33 days before bringing back O’Neill.
At 73 years old, O’Neill is merely keeping the seat warm for whoever comes in as Celtic’s next permanent manager this summer. Even still, the legendary Irishman has just about kept the team active in the Scottish title race. O’Neill’s pragmatic style of play hasn’t always been exhilarating to watch, but Celtic are just three points off the top of the table.
“We may be lacking some things as a team, but you could say that about all the teams that are in it. We have a really good spirit and that can carry us through.”
It’s been uttered more than once over the course of the season that this is only the start of Hearts’ rise as a genuine force in Scottish football. That Bloom’s approach will continue to push the Tynecastle side closer and closer to Celtic and Rangers, on and off the field. There’s logic in the argument looking at Bloom’s success at Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise.
However, Bloom’s model will surely see Hearts lose at least one key player this summer. Claudio Braga has been a sensation for the Jam Tarts, scoring 14 league goals. Alexandros Kyziridis is another player who has caught the eye for the Scottish Premiership and could be on the radar of bigger clubs around Europe.
Realistically, Hearts might have to take a step backwards to take another step forward in the seasons to come. Bloom’s model is clearly effective, but would it really be able to immediately replace players like Braga and Kyziridis and the attacking output that would leave with them?
Celtic and Rangers will almost certainly improve too. They surely won’t endure the sort of chaos that saw both sides of the Old Firm shuffle through multiple managers in the same season. This looks like being Hearts’ best chance at becoming the first team since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen to conquer the Scottish game.
(Images from IMAGO)
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Marie-Louise Eta has made history after being appointed interim head coach of Union Berlin for the rest of 2025-26, the first woman to take charge of a men’s club in Europe’s top five leagues. So, who is she?
Steffen Baumgart’s sacking after their 3-1 Bundesliga defeat to FC Heidenheim came as a bit of a shock. Yes, Union Berlin had won just two of their 14 league games since the turn of the year, but with his side in 11th, seven points off the relegation play-off spot, it could have been worse.
Still, Union needed to stop the rot, they’re not yet out of the woods, and anything can happen over the final five games of the season. They looked for some continuity, and Marie-Louise Eta, an objectively exciting young coaching talent, was the obvious choice.
Equal parts predictable and nauseating, the basement dwellers hiding behind anonymous accounts on social media came out in force to let the world know why it’s taken so long for a female manager to get such a job.
The club’s social media team deserve a shoutout, they didn’t let anyone get away with their nonsense. Posting “Gambling’s as stupid as sexism” in response to someone that said they’ll bet against Union Berlin in every game was a personal favourite.
Director of football Horst Heldt isn’t taking any of the “nonsense” either, very clearly rebuking the sexist abuse. “I’ve noticed it, but I also refuse to read or even just expose myself to that kind of nonsense, because for me, this is about quality — leadership quality. We have 100 percent confidence in Loui, complete conviction,” he said.
“I find it insane that we have to deal with this in this day and age. We’re talking about a highly competent leader here, and you can be sure that everyone here at Union, whether in the stands or within the club itself, stands 100 percent behind this decision and will do everything in their power to ensure that this doesn’t lead to any further discussion in the future.
“It’s just embarrassing.”
Eta is used to making history, though. In 2023, Union Berlin appointed her as an assistant coach to then manager Marco Grote, becoming the first woman to take on such a role.
Again, in 2024 Eta became the first woman to lead a Bundesliga team from the dugout, when she deputised for Nenad Bjelica, the man who replaced Grote, while he was suspended. Union won that game, in case you were curious.
Since the start of this season, Eta has played a key role as part of Union Berlin’s U19s coaching set up, and she is set to become the manager of their women’s team in the summer. So, it’s not like she has come out of nowhere.
As a player, she’s played at the very top level. Eta, an energetic midfielder, played for Turbine Potsdam, Hamburger SV, Cloppenburg and Werder Bremen, as well as various youth levels with Germany, before being forced into retirement at the end of the 2017/18 season aged 26 due to reoccurring injury issues.
Her time at Turbine Potsdam was by far her best. Eta won the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2010, alongside three Frauen-Bundesliga titles and two DFB-Hallenpokal trophies.
Anyone who has watched any of Union’s U19s has lauded them. Full of energy and a confident presence needed to make it in senior football, they were clearly very well coached by Eta, who has a clear philosophy in playing progressive football.
It’s an appointment that also caught the attention of England women’s manager Sarina Wiegman, who was clearly delighted to have seen the glass ceiling broken while speaking ahead of the game against Spain.
“It’s great,” Wiegman said. “She’s a trailblazer. I think this was only a matter of time anyway. It’s exciting, it shows that, again, football is moving up. There are women in society everywhere and the next step is that it’s also in football, male and female.”
There have been plenty of men to manage women’s sides, it’s taken a little while for the reverse to happen. It’s not unheard of, though. Sabrina Wittmann took charge of German third division side Ingolstadt in the summer of 2024.
Wittmann’s story is similar to Eta’s. They’re both 34-years-old and were appointed after impressive runs within their respective club’s youth set-ups. Wittmann is now on course to celebrate her second season at Ingolstadt.
In France, former national team manager, Corinne Diacre was at the helm of Ligue 2 side Clarmont Foot for three years. Across the Channel, in the UK, no woman is yet to take charge of a competitive men’s game.
Hannah Dingley, now girls’ head of academy at Manchester City, had a brief spell as caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers as they prepared for the 2023/24 season before David Horseman took over. Horseman was sacked six months later.
Current USWNT coach Emma Hayes came close. The former Chelsea women’s manager was linked with an EFL side every season, most notably AFC Wimbledon back in 2021. She didn’t deem coaching in the men’s lower leagues as an “upgrade”, and rightfully so.
“Men’s football isn’t ready for female coaches. I’ve said this a million times over. You can find a female pilot, a female doctor, a female lawyer, a female banker. But you can’t find a female coach working in the men’s game, leading men. It shows you how much work there is to be done,” Hayes once said. In England, she’s probably correct.
The papers are signed, Eta’s time as manager of Union Berlin’s men’s side will only be until the end of the season, then she will head over to the women’s team, currently mid-table in the Frauen Bundesliga. So, plenty of parallels.
Globally, the Bundesliga attracts over one billion viewers a season, that’s roughly two billion eyes, give or take, across more than 200 nations. For the first time in history, no matter how short it may be, aspiring female coaches will be able to see someone who truly represents them in the dugout.
That’s what it’s all about.
(Images from IMAGO)
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