6:01 PM ET LONDON — Nothing quite screams “Chelsea need a striker” as the sight of Ross Barkley playing at centre-forward in an FA Cup final. It was a circuitous route to this most bizarre of situations, relying on a peripheral midfielder without any first-team minutes since Jan. 8 to help close out an occasion
Football
3:53 PM ET LONDON — Liverpool are leaving absolutely nothing out on the field in their pursuit of the quadruple. It is now two down, two to go, after a second cup final penalty shootout win against Chelsea this season saw Jurgen Klopp’s team add the FA Cup to the Carabao Cup they lifted at
8:58 AM ET Arsenal are closing in on a €3.5 million deal with Sao Paulo for teenage striker Marquinhos, sources have told ESPN. The two clubs agreed a fee after the 19-year-old rejected multiple contract offers from the Brazilian club and sources suggest Arsenal moved quickly to secure a cut-price agreement. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide:
5:30 PM ET Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has said Jurgen Klopp generates public support for Liverpool because he is “the master of being the underdog.” Tuchel’s side face Liverpool in Saturday’s FA Cup Final ker’s future is “not the situation you want” on the eve of an FA Cup final against Liverpool on Saturday
9:55 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Pep Guardiola has launched a fierce defence of his Manchester City players after Patrice Evra questioned their character and mentality following the last-gasp Champions League defeat to Real Madrid. City suffered a late collapse at the Bernabeu to miss the chance to reach the final for the second year in
3:30 AM ET Top Premier League teams may only have to win six matches to lift the men’s FA Cup, but Saturday’s final (11.45 a.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+, U.S. only) will still feel like a marathon more than a sprint for Chelsea and Liverpool. This weekend’s fixture concludes the 150th edition of the
4:38 PM ET Harry Kane celebrates after opening the scoring for Tottenham against Arsenal from the penalty spot. Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images Tottenham kept their Champions League hopes very much alive with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Arsenal in a one-sided North London derby on Thursday. In a match of huge implications at the Tottenham Hotspur
5:30 AM ET Let’s be honest: It hasn’t been the most exciting season in LaLiga. The drama Real Madrid and Villarreal have packed into their Champions League runs evidently didn’t leave much for domestic play. Real Madrid wrapped up their 35th title with four games to spare, and their odds of winning said title hadn’t
5:28 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Manchester United are monitoring midfielder Frenkie de Jong‘s situation at Barcelona as they look to bolster their midfield this summer, sources have told ESPN. Erik ten Hag knows the 25-year-old from their time together at Ajax. However, sources have told ESPN that Ten Hag is not a particular pull for
6:05 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Erling Haaland hasn’t even officially signed yet, but Kevin De Bruyne wasted no time in reminding everyone that he is still the main man at Manchester City. A little over 24 hours after the club announced they had agreed a deal with Borussia Dortmund to trigger the
10:31 AM ET Austin LindbergESPN FC There was always going to be a period of adaptation. Ricardo Pepi is 19 years old. He was 18 when his $20 million transfer to FC Augsburg was confirmed. Prior to his breakout 2021 season with FC Dallas, he’d played just 528 minutes in Major League Soccer. To expect
5:00 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent At one time or another, every single one of Europe’s biggest clubs have harboured hopes of signing Erling Haaland. Some have held face-to-face talks with his representatives. Others, like Real Madrid and Barcelona, laid on tours of their training ground and at one stage, Manchester United believed they were so
12:00 PM ET After months of speculation, the cat is finally out of the bag: Erling Haaland is about to enter the next phase of his meteoric career this summer when he completes his transfer from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund to reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. 2 Related Since making his professional debut as
5:16 PM ET It wasn’t quite LeBron James and “The Decision.” After all, Erling Braut Haaland wasn’t a free agent, it wasn’t televised, there was no “hometown betrayal” narrative and there were plenty of whispers that an announcement was imminent as various suitors had dropped out of the race. But it’s not far off. Haaland
7:00 AM ET Kylian Mbappe has long been linked with a transfer to LaLiga giants Real Madrid, so news that the Paris Saint-Germain striker had been spotted in the Spanish capital this week really made waves. 2 Related What’s more, the France international was pictured just down the road from Real’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium on
12:10 PM ET Associated Press Atlanta United defender Miles Robinson will likely miss the World Cup for the United States after rupturing his left Achilles tendon in a Major League Soccer game. The team announced that Robinson would undergo surgery on Monday after an MRI confirmed the injury to the Achilles tendon in his left
12:14 PM ET The European soccer weekend saw two title races take a potentially decisive turn as Manchester City pulled clear of Liverpool at the Premier League summit, while AC Milan rallied to win and stay ahead of Inter Milan in Serie A. Jurgen Klopp wasn’t too happy about how Tottenham played, either. Elsewhere, there
8:00 AM ET Frank Lampard made a point of leaving the Everton dressing room following Sunday’s crucial 2-1 Premier League win at Leicester City to head back onto the pitch and make a personal thank you to the supporters who had helped inspire his players to victory at the King Power Stadium. There are times