That’s all we’ve got for today’s blog, which started as a buildup/matchday live number, then morphed into a clockwatch that took in men’s and women’s FA Cup action, plus some bits from Europe and those vital Scottish Premiership encounters.

You can scroll down to see how it all unfolded. For now, though, we bid you farewell and say thanks for tuning in.

Oh my goodness what on earth has happened at the London Stadium?!

Two goals in added time from West Ham!! An unlikely extra-time now awaits …

And here’s that table. Three points between the three clubs. Six games to go.

Into SEVEN minutes of stoppage time at Dens Park …

Raith Rovers have won the Scottish Challenge Cup with a 4-1 victory over Inverness in the final.

Elsewhere in Europe, Köln have fought back from 2-0 to be drawing 2-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt – that could be a crucial point for them in their fight against Bundesliga relegation.

In La Liga, Real Oviedo lead 10-man Sevilla going into half-time, while it’s Pisa 0-0 Torino in Serie A.

Chris Sutton has just obliged! “He was never gonna give that up, Astley,” he smirked on Sky. Well in, big man.

Dundee’s Ryan Astley has been sent off. He brought down Yang and was certainly the last defender. Things have just gone from bad to worse for the home side.

Insert Rick Astley-related ‘never gonna give you up’ joke here.

Leeds have one foot in the FA Cup semi-finals after a penalty is dispatched by Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make it 2-0. Follow the denouement to that game here.

I’m surprised to see Daizen Maeda taken off as Martin O’Neill rings the changes. Chris Sutton, in the Sky Sports comm-box, is equally perturbed.

James Forrest is among those introduced.

Celtic, who are looking a bit panicked and frenetic chasing this game now, can ill-afford more dropped points. A 1-1 draw would leave them five points off the top with six games to go. You’d think that would reduce the title battle to a two-horse race.

73 minutes gone at Dens Park.

Staying in Scotland, and Raith Rovers have taken control of the Scottish Challenge Cup final against Inverness, scoring three unanswered goals to lead 4-1 after the sides had been level at half-time at Firhill. Dylan Easton has bagged two.

As an aside, how good is Ian Crocker on Sky Sports’ commentary of Scottish games? Such a great voice.

65 minutes gone, Celtic now pushing.

Celtic ought to have way more than their single-goal lead at Dundee. Tomas Cvancara has missed a couple of presentable opportunities, with the visitors having 11 shots on the Dundee goal so far, six of them on target. The Dark Blues are digging in.

This was Tom Garry’s full-time verdict on Charlton 0-1 Liverpool:

It’s a lovely story for Zara Shaw to get the winner, on her long-awaited return after a year out with knee injury. But that aside, the overwhelming feeling for Liverpool here is relief, because they were below their best for much of this game and really struggled to break down Charlton’s resolute five at the back. The WSL2 side fought hard and will now put their full focus on their promotion battle. That’s surely the message from their coach Karen Hills – a cup winner with Charlton as a player in 2005 – as her players and staff gather on the pitch for a post-match huddle.

It’s also HT at the London Stadium, which is currently the Ao Arena, as Tanaka’s goal gives Leeds the advantage.

What else have we got on the European football slate this early evening, I hear you ask? Well …

Celta Vigo have just nudged out Valencia 3-2 at the Mestalla to boost their hopes of securing Europa League – and possibly Champions League qualification – in La Liga.

In the Bundesliga earlier today, St Pauli were only able to draw 1-1 at Union Berlin, which means they are still firmly mired in a relegation battle. Köln are currently holding Eintrach Frankfurt 0-0 at half-time, a game St Pauli will desperately want Köln to lose, given the teams’ proximity in the table.

Pisa are leaning towards relegation from Serie A and are currently locked at 0-0 with Torino, albeit after just 23 minutes. Bologna beat Cremonese – another relegation candidate – 2-1 in the earlier game.

And, without straying into talking about the Austrian league, or the Jupiler Pro League, that’s you updated, for now.

It’s half-time at Dens Park, where Celtic lead Dundee via Yang Hyun-Jun’s eighth-minute strike.

Here’s how that result – if Celtic can see through the next 45 minutes – would leave the Scottish Premiership table. In a word: tight. In another word: exciting.

I keep forgetting tomorrow is a Bank Holiday as well as basically every other day in the past week.

So the kick-off times for Chelsea v Tottenham (1.30pm) and Birmingham v Manchester City (5pm, both BST) do not seem quite so silly as when I first saw them. Chelsea and City will be overwhelming favourites to join Arsenal and Liverpool in the Women’s FA Cup last four, for sure.

Thanks Simon. Can Liverpool hold on against Charlton to see themselves through to the Women’s FA Cup last four? They’re into added time in extra time at The Valley …

Right then, I’m off. Dominic Booth is strapping himself into the drivers’ seat. Meanwhile Leeds have a 1-0 lead over West Ham in Ye Olde FA Cuppe, and Rob Smyth is in charge of that liveblog, here:

An update from France, courtesy of the Associated Press:

Lyon’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League were further dented on Sunday after a 0-0 draw at Angers in Ligue 1 , extending its winless run in all competitions to nine matches.

Looking for a first win since mid-February, Paulo Fonseca’s players were devoid of ideas in a match that offered few chances for both teams.

Lyon has a tough schedule ahead with matches against leader Paris Saint-Germain and second-placed Lens in its remaining six Ligue 1 games. The seven-time champions are currently fifth, two points behind third-placed Lille.

In-form Monaco hosted fourth-placed Marseille later Sunday.

The top three in France qualify directly for the Champions League while the fourth-placed team enters the playoffs. On Friday, defending champion PSG increased its lead over Lens to four points by beating Toulouse 3-1. Lens endured an off night on Saturday and was well beaten by northern rival Lille 3-0.

The top of the table looks like this:

PSV’s 27th Dutch title has felt inevitable for long enough that the club has already put on sale, complete with photographs of the items being modelled, celebratory T-shirts, hoodies, keyrings, mugs, cushions in multiple designs, caps, scarves and – this one is special – charcuterie boards. Plans have been announced for a six-hour title celebration on Tuesday.

Liverpool now do have the ball in the net, with a really quite brilliant improvised contorting backheel volley, but it’s ruled out for offside.

Tom Garry is at the Valley, where Liverpool are being held 0-0 by Charlton in the Women’s FA Cup quarter-final, with quarter of an hour to play.

The second-tier side Charlton are still refusing to let Liverpool have things their own way, in this closely-fought quarter-final at the Valley, where the sun continues to shine and the gusty wind continues to make aerial balls tricky to deal with. Gareth Taylor’s visitors are controlling most of the ball, playing almost all of this game in Charlton’s half, but as we creep into the final 15 minutes of normal time, they’re still only troubled Sophie Whitehouse a couple of times and the team with the best defensive record in WSL2 this season and holding firm at the back.

The party has started in Eindhoven, who have won the Dutch title after Feyenoord failed to beat Volendam today.

PSV Eindhoven were crowned Dutch champions on Sunday when their nearest challengers, Feyenoord, failed to win at Volendam.

The goalless draw left PSV, who had won 4-3 at home to Utrecht on Saturday, with an unassailable lead with five matches left in this season’s Eredivisie.

PSV advanced to 71 points from 29 games on Saturday, meaning Feyenoord had to win to keep alive their slim hopes, but the draw at Volendam left them with 54 points - 17 points adrift.

PSV’s triumph set off immediate celebrations in the streets of Eindhoven, where fans had been waiting in expectation of Feyenoord’s failure to win.

It was a third successive league triumph for PSV, who have now won 27 league titles, bettered only by Ajax Amsterdam’s 36. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Tom Garry has filed his report from Borehamwood, where Arsenal’s dire FA Cup weekend continued with defeat for their women’s team at the hands of Brighton.

Arsenal made a surprise exit at the quarter-final stage of the Women’s FA Cup for the second successive season as Brighton stunned the record 14-time cup winners at Borehamwood.

The shock result extends Arsenal’s decade-long wait to lift the Women’s FA Cup, just four days after they knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League to reach a European semi-final. Dario Vidosic’s side stepped up and their former Chelsea forward Fran Kirby provided two assists to help Brighton secure a memorable 2-0 victory.

More here:

Team news from the London Stadium:

West Ham: Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Disasi, Diouf, Magassa, Potts, Fernandes, Bowen, Castellanos, Traore. Subs: Herrick, Pablo Felipe, Lamadrid, Soucek, Scarles, Kante, Golambeckis, Mayers, Ajala.
Leeds: Lucas Perri, Rodon, Bijol, Struijk, Bogle, Ampadu, Stach, Justin, Tanaka, Okafor, Nmecha. Subs: Darlow, Byram, Bornauw, Longstaff, Gruev, Aaronson, Gnonto, Piroe, Calvert-Lewin.
Referee: Craig Pawson.

The first men’s FA Cup quarter-final of the day starts in an hour, and Rob Smyth is all over it:

Liverpool gave somehow failed to take the lead against Charlton, O’Sullivan volleying over the bar from four yards! She was falling over at the time, so it wasn’t completely straightforward, but file that under harder-to-miss.

An email! It’s Jeremy Boyce, possibly suffering from a sugar rush after one Creme Egg too many. “Easter has often been a pivotal moment in the footie season, especially in a GeoPoliticsWorld Cup year, when everything needs to be done and dusted in good time for all the top (European) players to be totally exhausted from the hectic programme and unable to give of their best at the showcase event,” he writes. “There’s a collective football-shaped Easter egg hunt, some teams chasing glory, others salvation. Some running out of legs, others already on the beach. It’s not looking good for Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese, hovering near the drop zone, losing at home today, eating up their games but not finding any eggs, Serie B beckons. Up in bonnie Scotland it’s sadly looking as though Hearts might be running out of the physical and mental strength required to take their table-topping form into the final stages and break the Glasgow (mostly Celtic) hegemony. Erling Haaland found plenty of eggs yesterday. Arsenal have been hunting eggs everywhere, but have had them picked off one by one.

“Which brings us to this afternoon’s action at that hotbed of passion and positivity, The Lunnun Stadium, innit. We all know which eggs these teams are actually looking for, and it’s got little to do with Easter Sunday. A dilemma for both teams. A win would do wonders for confidence, until they get thrashed by City in the semi, or lose disappointingly to the Saints, in which case confidence shattered like a cheap chocolate flavoured ovoid object. A defeat would obviously dent confidence, but enable whichever to “concentrate on the League” (TM). The cheap chocolate egg of the Cup, or the Faberge diamond encrusted egg of Premier League survival. Which would you pick ? 3-2 Leeds after an extra time neither team wants, key players injured and out for the season, unwanted intervention of VAR. Should I get down the bookies’ now?” Er, might be best to swerve it.

Arsenal are pushing for something against Brighton, in the ninth of eight indicated minutes of stoppage time. Russo goes down in the penalty area, but nothing’s given.

The PSV Eindhoven captain Jerdy Schouten, who was a fixture in the Netherlands team before he sustained a hamstring injury towards the end of 2024 and returned to the international squad this season, starting their most recent game against Ecuador, has been ruled out of the World Cup after injuring a cruciate ligament against Utrecht yesterday. “When it happened, I actually felt immediately that something was wrong,” Schouten said. “You still have a glimmer of hope that it isn’t too bad, but unfortunately that turned out not to be the case. The blow is big right now, but I will move on quickly. Great things are about to happen for PSV again and I will do everything I can to be involved in everything.“

Dresden police have launched a criminal investigation into disruption to yesterday’s German second-tier match between Dynamo Dresden and Hertha Berlin. This just in from Reuters:

Dresden police have launched criminal investigations following a German second-tier match between Dynamo Dresden and Hertha Berlin in which supporters from both clubs stormed the pitch.

The unrest began early in the match on Saturday with the repeated use of pyrotechnics in both home and away supporter sections, a police statement said.

Fans entered the field, prompting police to intervene, separate the groups, and secure the area. The match resumed after a 20-minute interruption.

“As part of the operation, the Dresden police initiated more than a dozen investigations for breach of the peace, dangerous bodily harm, property damage, insult and ticket fraud,” the statement said.

Dynamo Dresden expressed deep regret over the scenes at the Rudolf Harbig Stadion, with finance director Stephan Zimmermann apologising to uninvolved spectators.

“Our home games are known for their unique atmosphere. Images like those we saw tonight are unacceptable and massively damage not only our club, but football as a whole in Germany,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

Hertha Berlin won the match 1-0 after an 80th-minute goal by Marten Winkler, leaving the capital side in sixth place in the Bundesliga 2 standings while Dresden are 15th.

And it’s half-time in the Women’s FA Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Brighton, which is resoundingly goalless.

The Dutch league title could be decided today: anything but a win for second-placed Feyenoord at Volendam would mean PSV, 18 points ahead at the top of the table, are champions. It’s currently 0-0, with 18 minutes played.

No goals yet in the Women’s FA Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Brighton, though it took a phenomenal save from Brighton’s Chiamaka Nnadozie to stop Holmberg putting the Gunners ahead with a header.

More Sunday afternoon reading: Is the traditional No9 about to make a comeback? Sam Cunningham discusses. Emile Heskey thinks it’s “no longer a sexy position”. I do not concur.

Virgil van Dijk has spoken about Liverpool’s humbling defeat to Manchester City in yesterday’s FA Cup quarter-final:

I can only apologise to the fans for what we have shown, especially the second half. It’s difficult. Mentally it has been a very tough season overall. You come out of the dressing room with the right intentions to score and make it 2-1 and change the game, but the opposite happened and then to come back from 3-0 is obviously very difficult here. But also you shouldn’t give up, and that’s maybe what happened at a certain point. Our second half, the intensity we didn’t match, the challenges we didn’t win, it was tough.

Much more here:

If you’ve forgotten how the match went down, Jamie Jackson’s match report is here:

The Women’s FA Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Brighton is just kicking off. Here are the teams:

Arsenal: Van Domselaar, Holmberg, Wubben-Moy, Codina, Hinds, Caldentey, Little, Mead, Maanum, Kelly, Blackstenius. Subs: Borbe, Foord, Fox, Harwood, McCabe, Pelova, Russo, Smith, Votikova.
Brighton and Hove Albion: Nnadozie, Minami, Hayes, Vanegas, Rule, Cankovic, Symonds, Olislagers, Seike, Kirby, Haley. Subs: Poulter, Baggaley, Camacho, McLauchlan, Mpome, Noordam, Rayner, Tsunoda, Tvedten.

So, how do we feel about referees getting in the way of footballers and what to do about it? Should giving them a healthy shove be an option? Gabriel Martinelli clearly thinks it should, given what he did to Samuel Barrott during Arsenal’s defeat to Southampton yesterday. He was booked in response: is the correct equation for shoving one arm = yellow, two hands = red?

Hello! Very close now to the time of day when football starts to happen. Here’s what we’ve got ahead of us between now and 5ish:

12.30pm: There are four games in Turkey’s Super Lig today and first up is bottom of the table and apparently doomed Fatih Karagumruk hosting Rizespor. The big one is Fenerbahce v Besiktas at 6pm.
1pm: Arsenal take on Brighton in the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals. Also Getafe play Athletic Club of Bilbao in the first of four games in La Liga. The highest-placed Spanish side in action today is Celta Vigo, who are seventh (but could end the day as high as sixth!), and visit Valencia at 3.15pm.
1.30pm: Hartberg v Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. All the best teams are in action today with the top two, Sturm Graz and Rapid Vienna, facing off at 4pm.
2pm: Livingston, bottom of the Scottish Premiership table, host second-placed Hearts. Also Cremonese v Bologna in Serie A. Not a classic day of Italian league action, but it’s Internazionale against Roma at 7.45pm this evening. Also kicking off is Angers v Lyon in Ligue 1. None of the top three playing today but Monaco v Marseille at 7.45pm.
2.30pm: Charlton play Liverpool in the women’s FA Cup quarter-finals. Also, Union Berlin v St Pauli in the Bundesliga. Eintracht Frankfurt v Koln follows at 4.30pm.
4.30pm: It’s West Ham v Leeds in the Men’s FA Cup quarter-finals, and Dundee v Celtic in the Scottish Premiership

Righto, my watch is over; here’s Simon Burnton, who’ll take you through the early games and so on. Peace out.

Godspeed.

Hearts, behind Rangers on goal difference, are away to Livingston this afternoon, kick-off 2pm, while Celtic, five off the pace, travel to Dundee for the 4.30 match.

I can’t say his career went as I hoped it would when he first joined Chelsea, but it sounds like he had a blast, so hold tight him.

Remember when titles, promotions and relegations were settled at Easter? Lincoln might just sort theirs tomorrow.

That said, it does feel like the end for Howe – the way Newcastle’s chief exec equivocated on his position made it sound like he’s toast because how can a decent run of seven games, almost nothing on the line, make a difference? They either believe in him or they don’t, and the signs overwhelmingly point to the latter.

Last summer’s signings were poor, but this one was a banger.

I can’t disagree that Howe is responsible for much of Newcastle’s grief this season. But who would they get in his stead? I guess Andoni Iraola might be someone they’d look at, whose style wouldn’t be a major departure from the one they’re playing now; the question is whether it’s one than can be scaled up to serve a team seeking to dominate. I’m not sure.

Oh man, the photo at the top of this piece.

Today’s second quarter features Charlton of WSL2 against Liverpool, who’ve improved a lot since sacking Matt Beard in February. The home side are pushing for promotion but struggling for form, while the visitors will scent opportunity.

Kicking-off at 1pm we’ve Arsenal v Brighton. Renée Slegers’ side might, again, be running into form at a decent time – though the title has gone, they’re into the last four of the Champions League, having won it last season, and will fancy themselves to beat Lyon. In the other semi, it’s Bayern v Barcelona and, though any team will be second favourites against the Catalans, in a one-off match, anything is possible – as we saw in last season’s final.

Spurs visit Chelsea in tomorrow’s lunchtime quarter-final, and not without hope. They’ve had a really good season and Sonia Bompastor’s side looked dicey at the back against Villa last weekend … problem being, they still had sufficient attacking firepower to get the win. I don’t suppose I’ll win any prophesy prizes for saying this, but I’d expect lauren James to be the difference in this one.

Can De Zerbi save Spurs? It’s a big call to stick a systems manager into this kind of mess, especially one so unwilling to compromise. My sense is they’ll do enough to get a point more than West Ham, but if they don’t, he’s then tarnished by relegation before he’s even properly started in the job. It’s a huge gamble because more than anything, the team need confidence and vibes, which it’s hard to inculcate while also upending the tactical system – all the more so if you just aren’t a confidence and vibes guy.

Still, a win against Bournemouth and a point at City would make them strong favourites for the title, so.

Indeed. However you slice it, Arteta has done a really good job at Arsenal, inheriting a mess and turning it into repeated title challengers. But, on the other hand, he’s been bought pretty much two full teams of players and, given the money spent, they ought to better than they are. His out-of-possession system is excellent, but the lack of imagination and joyfulness is a problem, not just aesthetically but practically.

Also going on:

It’s true that Arsenal have scored once more in the league than City have, but for that, they’ve been reliant on set-pieces, which doesn’t feel sustainable through an entire season. They must find a way of attacking with freedom, but more than that, they must find a way of playing with freedom; there’s no sense they’re enjoying the chase, and though Arteta is trying to take the pressure off this season – over the last few seasons, his intensity has looked from the outside to be a negative – the players know who he is, and it’s hard to pretend otherwise.

So, is it falling apart for Arsenal? Well, if City win at Chelsea a week today, then beat Mikel Arteta’s men at the Etihad, you’ll fear for them – especially if things don’t go as planned in midweek, when they visit Sporting, and at home to Bournemouth next weekend. Every time they had a chance to build an almost insurmountable lead, they faltered, and in a close race, I’d always back the the team with most routes to goal – all the more so if they’re also the team that knows how to win.

Can some please confirm that Shea Charles’ dressing-room nickname is Slim? Thanks.

And even if they get the right person next, should Barcelona replace Robert Lewandowski well and sort their defence out, their attacking verve is such that finishing above them will not be easily done.

It’s no surprise Madrid look unlikely to win the title, given their managerial upheaval, but what on earth do they do in the summer? After what happened to Alonso, no systems manager will fancy the task of imposing basic principles upon players disinclined towards duties of that ilk, but where do they find another Carlo Ancelotti?

Talking of whom…

I don’t know, Enzo Fernandez is a good player, but one likely to be wanted by Real Madrid? I can’t see it. Jude Bellingham is probably the nearest to him in the current squad, and he is much better and much more physical. Fernandez has a good range of passing, but these days, that isn’t enough for a top team.

I can’t lie, I chuckled to myself at Alejandro Garnacho scoring an injury-time penalty for 7-0, then celebrating with a leap and fist-pump. I’d hoped to see him develop this season with a change of environment, but he still looks the same player – very good in big spaces against tired legs, but erratic at best the rest of the time. He’s got a lot of what you need to be a serious player – speed, agility, self-belief – but is he self-critical enough to improve his small-space play and decision-making?

I guess I find it hard to buy into Liam Rosenior. Results have been passable, I guess, but performances have, for the main, been poor – at least the ones I’ve seen. The second half against West Ham was decent, the rest not so much, and they don’t feel like a side on the cusp of a title challenge.

Charlton, Hull, Wrexham and Port Vale is quite the run to the semis. I’d not back them to beat City in semis or final nor would I be shocked if they lost to Leeds or West Ham, but on a good day you never know.

So to Chelsea…

This summer, we know Liverpool have to replace Salah – none of Wirtz, Ekitiké and Alexander Isak can do that – but must they also replace Virgil van Dijk? They’ve needed to sign him a partner for some time, haven’t, and he now looks well over the other side of the hill. But where on earth do they find someone as aerially dominant, with recovery pace, composure and big switches?

Regular readers will know Andy Hunter is a man of measure. If he’s calling a performance “gutless”, we can be sure it’s an abject disgrace of rare depth.

One thing of which I can’t but take notice: Klopp loves Wirtz and knows exactly how physical the Prem is, so if he thinks he can do it, there’s a decent chance he can. I guess it may also turn out that Alonso is in charge of him next season, which’d give him the perfect environment in which to succeed … but can he?

What, then, to do with Florian Wirtz? He’s shown flashes of the talent we know he has, but will he ever be quick enough and physical enough for this iteration of English football? And if so, what will his position be? To me, he looks like someone you need to build a team around, but the best ones tend not to do that: they need players who contribute in all phases and circumstances, who offer something even when not on the ball or in top form. We’ve yet to see that from him.

If they address those areas in the summer, they can be good next season – though it’s worth noting that, of the five players signed, only Hugo Ekitike has been a success – but in the meantime, things might get worse before they get better. On Wednesday night, Liverpool travel to the Parc des Princes to face a well-rested PSG; the same level of performance, and it’s another hiding.

On the one hand, he did well to coax a title out of a squad whose best players are ageing; on the other, it was Jürgen Klopp’s team and it relied upon Mo Salah delivering half a season of dead-cat bounce brilliance that had little to do with anyone’s tactics.

And as for this season, who signed off on all the summer business? Changing five players is never going to be seamless, but ignoring the major weaknesses in the squad – the middle of defence and the middle of midfield – to splurge on an attack that didn’t need that level of refreshment, was a colossal error.

It’s at that point, isn’t it? It’s really hard to see a future for Arne Slot – the players and fans both seem to have given up on him and, especially with Xabi Alonso available, it feels increasingly unlikely he’ll be Liverpool manager at the start of next season. So, how much of that is his fault?

And then there’s Liverpool.

And then there’s Cherki, an old-skool attitude with a modern-day sensibility. It’s taken him a while, but he’s surely now established in City’s first XI as their most likely creator and difference-maker. His ability to conjure space and shots from all manner of unlikely and unpromising positions is very special.

O’Reilly, meanwhile, isn’t the first young midfielder to break through at full-back – Paul Ince and Roy Keane, for example, both did stints there early in their Man United careers. What is particularly enjoyable about watching him there, though, is that he’s still playing his natural game in terms of getting into the box, making the runs he’d make were he playing centrally, which are extremely hard to pick up, given they come from wide. I’m not sure I’d pick him ahead of Lewis Hall for England, who probably need something a bit more conventional – we’ll get to that in due course – but at club level, he’s a menace.

Moat notable about Khusanov is his recovery pace, but he’s going to need that less and less as his defensive nous improves. But it’ll always give the team he’s in the freedom to play a high line and allow him to go one against one with whoever the opposition leave upfield – exactly what Pep Guardiola’s systems demand.

Are Manchester City running into form? They played extremely well before the break in beating Arsenal to the League Cup, and a tousing of Liverpool kept the good vibes going. It’s been an iffy season by Erling Haaland’s stratospheric standards, but if his hat-trick sets him off on a run, he’s got plenty of scope to be the different in the race for the title, while it’s also worth mentioning Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O’Reilly and Rayan Cherki, all of whom are developing extremely quickly.

I say onwards, but we can’t really conceive of today without first looking back at yesterday – events could have ramifications beyond the simple identity of the last four in the men’s competition.