Europe's riches and the relative poverty of England's first division will be the driving forces of this weekend's premier league action after Arsenal put an early end to the title race.
Arsenal won their 13th championship with last Sunday's 2-2 derby draw at Tottenham Hotspur and now have only their 34-match unbeaten run to defend at home to Birmingham City today.
Chelsea are fighting Manchester United for second place, worth an automatic slot in the lucrative Champions League, while Liverpool, Newcastle United and Aston Villa are jostling to join the loser of that fight in the qualifying rounds.
At the wrong end of the table, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City could be relegated today after only one season back in the top flight.
The stakes are high for all these clubs, with relegation costing anything up to US$35.33 million and a good run in the Champions League being worth as much.
Chelsea can reach the final of Europe's showcase competition if they overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit against Monaco on Wednesday and the fact is likely to be reflected in Claudio Ranieri's team selection against Southampton.
Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, defenders Glen Johnson and William Gallas along with midfielder Scott Parker are all at various stages of recovery from injury.
But Ranieri was dealt a major blow on Thursday, when Ireland winger Damien Duff dislocated his shoulder for a second time this season, probably ruling him out for the rest of the campaign.
CRUNCH GAMES
With Duff missing, Ranieri will not want to take any risks with his men ahead of such a crucial game.
United, who have 71 points to Chelsea's 72, should have little difficulty beating Blackburn Rovers, despite Graeme Souness's side having won their last three matches.
Outside the top three, a trio of clubs are chasing the fourth and final Champions League qualifying slot with Liverpool and Newcastle on 53 points and Villa on 52.
Newcastle, who have four games to play to their rivals' three, are at Manchester City, Liverpool are at home to Middlesbrough while Villa host struggling Spurs.
A fifth place finish will mean a consolation berth in the UEFA Cup, alongside League Cup winners Middlesbrough and FA Cup finalists Millwall from the first division.
Manchester City, who are 17th and six points clear of Leicester and Wolves, hold the key to the drop zone.
Should they unexpectedly beat Newcastle, both the Midlands clubs will be all but mathematically relegated because of their far inferior goal differences.
Leicester take their faint hopes to Charlton Athletic, while Wolves are at home to Everton.
Leeds United, who are only three points behind Kevin Keegan's City, still have a fighting chance of survival, particularly if they beat Bolton Wanderers today.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
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