Andrew McDermott 
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are on the verge of winning the treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in one season. Conquering Europe has been the one achievement missing from Guardiola’s record during his time at the Etihad Stadium and Champions League glory would mean he can undoubtedly be classed as one of the greatest managers in British football.
Celtic are aiming to complete an unbeaten season against Rangers when they travel to Ibrox on Saturday. The Hoops have twice beaten their Glasgow rivals at Hampden this term and have collected seven points from three meetings in the league.
Middlesbrough are the 7/4 favourites to join Burnley and Sheffield United in next season’s Premier League, according to bwin’s Championship promotion odds ahead of the play-offs. Boro ended the regular season in fourth place, which was impressive considering they failed to win any of their first five matches and were just a point outside the relegation zone when Michael Carrick was appointed as head coach in October.
Aberdeen celebrate the 40th anniversary of their European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph over Real Madrid on Thursday. The club and city council are honouring the players, who will be awarded the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen in a ceremony on Friday.
Chelsea’s season plumbed new depths in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal, not just in that it was the sixth defeat of Frank Lampard’s six-game reign but also the manner in which the team seemed to disintegrate in the first half.
Fran Kirby has become the latest England player set to miss this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The midfielder confirmed that she will be sidelined for “a significant period” due to a knee injury and will undergo surgery.
Rangers will finish the season trophy-less following Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic at Hampden Park. The Light Blues fans were again left frustrated after coming up short against their Old Firm rivals and Gers boss Michael Beale admitted there will be “the biggest rebuild this club has seen in a number of years”.
Max Verstappen is sitting pretty at the top of the Formula One Drivers’ standings after his dominant win in Australia made it two victories from the first three races of the 2023 season. The Dutchman, bidding to win a third successive world championship, is blazing a trail in his supreme Red Bull car and leads team-mate Sergio Perez by 15 points so is hard to oppose in Azerbaijan Grand Prix predictions.
Manchester City took a huge step towards a third successive Premier League title – and maybe even the treble – in midweek and look in no mood to let it slip from here. City cut the gap to leaders Arsenal to two points with two games in hand after an emphatic 4-1 victory which had all the hallmarks of a title-winning team.
With the play-offs now under way, we’re continuing our regular NBA predictions with a 6/1-plus treble from Wednesday’s fixtures. Bwin offers a range of betting markets on every match, but we’re sticking to the spread and money line NBA odds for our top tips.
Newcastle’s bid for Champions League qualification has struck a blow for the Premier League hopefuls battling to break the domination of England’s ‘big six’ sides. Only once since Everton’s fourth-placed finish in 2004-05 has a club other than Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham occupied one of the top-four places at the end of the season.
It was a bad weekend for Leeds as their defeat at Fulham and results elsewhere left them just one point above the relegation zone ahead of a tense night at Elland Road. Leicester climbed out of the bottom three by beating Wolves but are only above Everton on goal difference so the stakes could hardly be higher.
It is only early April and there have already been a record number of Premier League manager departures this season, with the recent sackings of Antonio Conte, Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter meaning there have been 13 casualties during a turbulent campaign. We have looked back at every in-season departure since 2003-04 to understand how top-flight management has changed.
It is 34 years since Arsenal clinched the league at Liverpool and while they cannot lift the trophy if they win at Anfield this weekend, they can tighten their grip on it. The table-topping Gunners head for Merseyside on the back of a seven-game winning run in the league, while the hosts have stumbled since hammering Manchester United 7-0 – losing to Bournemouth and Manchester City and drawing at Chelsea.