Tony Kelshaw 
Tottenham’s disappointing season has taken a turn for the worse, after a heavy defeat at Newcastle and a home draw against Manchester United all but ended their hopes of finishing in the top four. How can their interim manager turn things around?
Liverpool and Tottenham will each bid to keep their slim top-four hopes alive when they meet at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday. The good news for the Reds is that they won the reverse fixture in London 2-1 earlier this season and last lost to Spurs back in 2017.
We’ve crunched the numbers to identify the greatest Premier League penalty takers among modern-day players and their predecessors. Alan Shearer has netted the most spot-kicks, with 56 of his 260 goals in the competition having come from the spot, but is also joint-top for most misses.
It may seem unusual for Brighton to be priced up as favourites to beat Manchester United in the FA Cup, but that looks the correct decision. United’s injury problems prompted an awful Europa League display in Sevilla and may again catch up with them at Wembley on Sunday.
Newcastle are fancied to boost their hopes of a Premier League top-four finish at the expense of Tottenham at St James’ Park on Sunday. Both teams suffered setbacks last weekend, but the Magpies have been far more convincing overall in terms of recent performances.
Barcelona have just stuttered a touch in their pursuit of the Spanish title and may settle for a share of the spoils with Atletico Madrid. The visitors are on a six-match winning run in La Liga and pushing city rivals Real for second place, so should provide stiff opposition.
PSV and Ajax will be looking to stay in touch with Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord when they clash at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven on Sunday. Both teams are eight points off the pace, with the table toppers set to entertain FC Utrecht straight after this contest.
Pretty much all the evidence points towards Fulham being a rock-solid selection for Saturday’s early Premier League clash with Leeds. The Cottagers are 13 points better off in the table and have already beaten the Whites in this competition and the FA Cup this season.
Manchester City are expected to stay on course for the Treble by brushing aside Sheffield United in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final. The Blades have enjoyed a thrilling run to Wembley, including a win over Tottenham, but look ill-equipped for this daunting task.
Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia will both put unbeaten records on the line for this weekend’s much-anticipated Las Vegas showdown. A bout billed as ‘It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This’ will attract huge attention across the Atlantic and Davis is rated a percentage pick.
Manchester United must still be wondering how they only drew with Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie. The Red Devils took control of that match early on and dominated for long periods, only to concede a couple of late own goals.
West Ham were below par when drawing 1-1 away to Gent in the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final tie. However, the Hammers had previously rattled off 10 straight wins in this competition and have generally been playing well in the Premier League of late.
Roma have work to do after losing 1-0 to Feyenoord in Rotterdam in the Europa League quarter-finals but do have a fine home record. Jose Mourinho’s men beat RB Salzburg and Real Sociedad at Olimpico in the last two rounds and will be roared on by a sold-out stadium again here.
Juventus will take a hard-earned 1-0 advantage to Lisbon and are fancied to hold Sporting to a second-leg stalemate in the Europa League. The Lions were very lively in Turin but drew against Midtjylland and Arsenal at Estadio Jose Alvalade in the previous two rounds.