Daniel Gallan clocks on bright and early with all the buildup to Saturday’s football action. With the Premier League signing off on Sunday, there’s still the Championship playoff final at Wembley as Hull. Middlesbrough go in search of the £200m prize for reaching the Premier League’s promised land. In Scotland, freshly minted champions Celtic seek the Double in the Scottish Cup final against the Pars of Dunfermline. Plus the German Cup final, with Bayern Munich chasing more silverware against Stuttgart at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. Then to Oslo. Women’s Champions League final between Barcelona and OL Lyonnes after Charlton and Leicester contest the Women’s Super League playoff at lunchtime. Why not join the conversation by emailing matchday.live@theguardian.com?
England claimed a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in their opening T20 clash, with Alice Capsey playing a big part. The 21-year-old opened the batting for the hosts in Derby. spearheaded England’s chase of 137 with an unbeaten 74 from 51 balls. Having drawn the one-day international 1-1, the three-match T20 series continues at sunny Canterbury. Tanya Aldred has over-by-over coverage while reporter Raf Nicholson dons sunglasses. a floppy sun hat at the St Lawrence Ground.
Saturday’s Cup final sees the reunion of Neil Lennon and Martin O’Neill. Pars manager Lennon, a former Celtic boss, played under O’Neill at Leicester. Celtic and described him as “the biggest influence on his career by a long way”. The pair go head-to-head in Scotland’s showpiece at Hampden. Lennon’s Championship side knocked out three Premiership sides on their way to the final. the 54-year-old was in bullish mood this week, saying: “I wouldn’t dismiss us. We’re the underdogs, but underdogs bite.” Barry Glendenning is our blog host with Ewan Murray reporting.
The richest game in world football has been overshadowed by Southampton’s “spygate” saga. Saints were kicked out of the Championship playoffs this week after admitting to spying on opponents’ training sessions. with beaten semi-finalists Middlesbrough reinstated. Boro accused Southampton of snooping on them before the first leg of their playoff semi-final earlier this month. A photograph emerged of a man standing behind a tree, apparently recording images on his phone. Just how much of a toll the scandal has taken may soon become clear on Saturday afternoon at a playoff final like no other. Scott Murray hosts the blog, with our reporting team at Wembley, Ben Bloom. Jonathan Wilson, shedding their wigs and false moustaches.
This is the fourth time in eight seasons that the big powers have played for the European title. In the competition’s new format, they tied on points atop the 18-team standings in December. are unbeaten in domestic competitions this season, both chasing a quadruple of trophies. It is Barcelona’s sixth straight final —. seventh in eight years — in an era shaped by Aitana Bonmatí and Alèxia Putellas. Lyon return with Wendie Renard. Ada Hegerberg, respectively the captain and hat-trick scorer when Barcelona were beaten 4-1 in the 2019 final. There is an extra layer of intrigue in the dugouts: the Lyon coach. Jonatan Giráldez, won back-to-back Champions League titles at Barcelona when the Catalan club’s current coach, Pere Romeu, was among his assistants. Will Unwin liveblogs the final, with Suzanne Wrack reporting.
Victory in the last race in Miami saw Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli carve out a yawning 20-point lead in the standings after four races. The 19-year-old Italian has won three in a row. His teammate George Russell must now chart a path back to the front of the field at the Canadian Grand Prix after missing the podium in Florida. Canada offers the chance of a big points swing, the sprint race putting another maximum eight points up for grabs. Antonelli’s lead grew in Miami because McLaren, Ferrari. Red Bull brought upgrades that helped them fight for the podium places. Now it’s Mercedes’ turn to bring upgraded parts for the car. has won all four grand prix races in 2026 so far. Philip Cornwall live blogs the sprint race and qualifying, with Giles Richards reporting.
Cameron Ponsonby picks up the blog baton as the Premier League brings down the curtain on a compelling season: 10 games kick off at 4pm, with Spurs. West Ham fans nervously awaiting the fate of their relegation-threatened clubs. At Wembley, Stockport and Bolton contest the League One playoff final. There’s the regular mix of breaking news and updates from around the grounds, plus readers’ thoughts and queries.
Coco Gauff is finding form at just the right time for her French Open title defence,. with Aryna Sabalenka hampered by injury and things just not clicking for Iga Swiatek, the American has a golden opportunity to claim a third Grand Slam. After dealing with illness. a fourth-round loss in Madrid, Gauff bounced back to reach the Italian Open final where she met an inspired Elina Svitolina. Despite leaving Rome without the trophy, the 22-year-old American took heart from her performance. said it would stand her in good stead when the French Open gets underway on Sunday. Her first assignment is against fellow American Taylor Townsend. Daniel Harris has all the lastest at the helm of our rolling blog, with Tumaini Carayol reporting from Roland Garros.
County are bidding to reach the second tier for the first time since 2002. just four years after being promoted from the National League. Wanderers, meanwhile, are old hands at this playoff malarky, with this being the sixth time that Bolton have reached the EFL playoff finals across the Championship. League One. That said, both of their attempts at promotion in the third tier have ended in defeat, losing 1-0 to Tranmere in 1991. 2-0 to Oxford in 2024. Emillia Hawkins buckles up as blog host, with Billy Munday reporting.
Spurs’ relegation battle has gone to the wire after they lost 2-1 at Chelsea on Tuesday to stay only two points above 18th-placed West Ham. The pressure is on the Hammers, who must beat Leeds and need Tottenham to lose at home. Everton have collected more points away than at home this season. Spurs have won only once at home in the league since the opening weekend, so it hardly bodes well for Roberto De Zerbi’s wobbling mob. Spurs. an ever-present in the Premier League since the first division was rebranded in 1992, last played in the second tier in the 1977-78 season. So hold tight, with Scott Murray a steady hand on the live blog tiller,. David Hytner and Jonathan Wilson reporting from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Emotions are sure to run high in the final round of a season. has already seen Arsenal clinching their first title since 2004 on Tuesday. There are plenty of narratives to work through when all 10 games are played concurrently. Besides the relegation tussle involving Spurs. West Ham (see above), there are farewells for Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva and Pep Guardiola. Salah will want a big send-off in his final game, against Brentford at Anfield,. Arne Slot could be forgiven for dropping the striker after his latest outburst. It’s still a significant game for fifth-placed Liverpool, who need a point to guarantee Champions League qualification. Bournemouth, who face Nottingham Forest, are three points back in sixth place and have an inferior goal difference of six. Guardiola, meanwhile, is leaving Manchester City after 10 glorious years. Expect strong sentiments at the Etihad for City’s home match against Aston Villa, the newly crowned Europa League champions. Simon Burnton has all the storylines at the helm of our rolling blog.
For Kimi Antonelli, the signs are good. Every driver who has won four or more consecutive Grands Prix has been an F1 champion at some point in their career. History does offer a little encouragement to his teammate George Russell, though. The one time in F1 history that a driver won four consecutive races in a season. not the title came in 2016 when Lewis Hamilton was beaten by his then-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. More recently, Oscar Piastri won three in a row for McLaren last year and still lost to teammate Lando Norris. Still, there’s heavy weather forecast for Sunday’s so expect thrills and spills as Alexander Abnos helms our lap-by-lap blog.
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