After Bournemouth host Manchester United tonight there are seven more Premier League games across the weekend – as well as the Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City
A host of managers are taking press conferences today. Keep track of all the news here with Daily Mail Sport…
Arteta’s rallying cry to Arsenal stars
Mikel Arteta has roared on his Arsenal players to ‘attack’ the Carabao Cup final and ‘bring it home’ against Manchester City as they hunt down an elusive first trophy in six years.
Arteta’s last piece of silverware at the north London club dates back to the Gunners beating Chelsea 2-1 behind closed doors in the 2020 FA Cup final.
Since then, Pep Guardiola has led Man City to four league titles, one FA Cup, one Carabao Cup and a Champions League trophy.
But after years of being the nearly-men, Arsenal are well-positioned to finally touch silverware and go on to complete a historic season in which they are still competing on all four fronts.
They are also unbeaten in their last six meetings with Man City in all competitions.
Arteta said: ‘Our players have to perform daily at this level. But when it comes to the crucial moments and when it comes to the moment to attack a trophy and take it and bring it home, that’s when you need the big players to step up and make the difference.
Mikel Arteta is set for a Wembley reunion with his former boss Pep Guardiola
‘It’s one of the defining moments because at the end it’s whether you win the trophy or not. And that’s the most important thing once you get to the final.
‘But in order to be there, you have to do a lot of things and learn a lot of things that the team has done so far. So we need to prove that point. That’s clear. And that has to be done on the pitch.’
The Spaniard was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City between 2016 and 2019, the pair sharing a bond since Arteta was a youngster. Though the geographical distance and managing rival clubs has changed their relationship.
He added: ‘It (relationship) had to (change). He’s in Manchester, I’m in London. We are managing two different clubs. The feelings from my side hasn’t changed at all.
‘The fact is that we are never together. We cannot spend time together. That’s important in our relationship, but it’s not the most important thing.
‘Because what I feel about him and the time that we have together and why he did it for me. The inspiration has been since I was little for me. That’s never going to change.’
Isaan Khan
Branthwaite and Tarkowski could be back for Toffees
David Moyes says he is hopeful defensive duo Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski will be ‘in and around’ the squad for Everton’s home clash against Chelsea tomorrow.
The Toffees were without the pair for their late defeat at Arsenal last Saturday but both have trained this week.
On midfielder James Garner’s inclusion in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, Moyes joked: ‘I am disappointed, I thought he was Scottish! I hoped he would select Scotland instead.
‘No, I’m thrilled for Jimmy. He’s played well enough to be selected absolutely, very good all season.
‘He’s just matured a lot more, gained a lot more confidence, I don’t think it was ever in doubt he was a good player. But to step up to the level of an international squad you have to do more things.’
Lewis Steele
Salah ruled out of Brighton trip
Liverpool will be without Mohamed Salah for their trip to Brighton, boss Arne Slot has confirmed.
It is also a huge blow to Egypt who will be without him for their World Cup preparation friendly against Spain next week, with posters in Barcelona billing the battle between him and Lamine Yamal as a blockbuster clash.
Salah made the unusual step of asking to be substituted during Wednesday’s 4-0 rout of Galatasaray, which many dubbed as his – and the team’s – best performance of the season.
Mohamed Salah was substituted after scoring in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Galatasaray
Salah’s injury is understood to be muscular and not thought to be overly serious at this stage but he will miss several weeks.
Asked if Salah was fit, Slot said: ‘ Not available for tomorrow. The good thing for Liverpool is we go to the international break and the bad thing for Egypt is he can’t go there but we are hoping with what Mo has shown in the past that he can recover faster than other players in such situations because he takes such good care of his body and history has shown he can be back earlier than others.’
Joe Gomez is also a doubt for the trip to the south coast but the defender should be available to make the substitutes bench.
Lewis Steele
Howe responds to Bruno reports
Eddie Howe has shot down suggestions that Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes is set for a move to Manchester United.
Overnight reports suggested United are in ‘advanced talks’ to sign the Brazilian but ahead of Sunday’s derby clash with Sunderland the Newcastle head coach said: ‘I don’t even know how to respond to that, I don’t even think I should because it’s a waste of my energy.’
‘Bruno’s our captain, he’s fully committed, he’s injured at the moment, his only focus is coming back to fitness.
‘For me, it’s a nonsense story. Is it a problem for us? I don’t necessarily think it is a problem for us. But it is unwanted news, I suppose, is the best way to put it. You don’t want the players distracted.
‘To say our captain is in discussions with another club is totally disrespectful to Bruno more than anything else. He is totally committed here.’
Craig Hope
