In fact, our weekend of live action starts … now, with Hull City v Millwall in the first leg of their Championship playoff. Time to sign off here, thanks for joining us.

The Premier League, Championship playoffs, Women’s FA Cup semi-finals and a title-defining clásico – it’s all on Guardian sport this weekend.

Get ready for the top-flight weekend with our match previews, including a huge game at the London Stadium that could decide matters at the top and bottom.

Here’s today’s Football Daily, by yours truly, on Real Madrid’s toxic drama.

Chelsea go to Anfield for Saturday’s early game on the back of six straight Premier League losses, but caretaker manager Calum McFarlane is staying positive. “We’re not in the best form at the moment, but I do think there are foundations there for this team to be successful,” he said this afternoon.

“We’ve got four games left, we need to attack every game and show our level like we have done at times this year – not recently – and put ourselves in the best position to achieve that,” he added. “It’s a challenge, it’s tough, you don’t like losing games, no one does, but I’m enjoying the challenge and I’ve got a job to do.”

At one stage, this looked like a crucial fixture in the battle to reach the Champions League – but Chelsea’s drop-off has been so severe that they are already locked out of the top five. After their last league win (at Villa Park on 4 March), the Blues were sandwiched between Aston Villa and Liverpool in fifth place.

Davies won’t feature for Bayern again this season, but the Bundesliga title is already won.

Vincent Kompany’s side go to Wolfsburg on Saturday, facing a team in dire need of points before what looks like a relegation eliminator at St Pauli on the final day.

Also on tomorrow’s fixture list: Stuttgart host Leverkusen in a match that could decide the battle for fourth place. Bayern will then face Stuttgart in the German Cup final on 23 May.

Some troubling news for co-hosts Canada as the World Cup approaches. Alphonso Davies is facing another injury layoff after picking up a hamstring problem.

Southampton have a long journey to Middlesbrough for their playoff first leg tomorrow, and can expect a “venomous” reception after spying allegations made this week. Louise Taylor reports …

Barcelona can secure the Spanish title against Real Madrid on Sunday, but there’s also one hell of a relegation battle brewing in La Liga.

Levante host Osasuna tonight, and a win would put them on 36 points. Above them, the teams from 12th to 18th are separated by just three points, from Valencia (39) to Alavés (36).

Alavés face Elche on Saturday while Sevilla (just a point outside the drop zone) host Espanyol. Valencia face a tricky trip to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

The Women’s FA Cup semi-finals take place on Sunday, with Liverpool hosting Brighton before Chelsea face Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

City sealed the WSL title on Wednesday, ending Chelsea’s six-season reign as champions – but reports the next day suggested Chelsea were in pole position to take Khadija “Bunny” Shaw off City’s hands.

The City manager, Andrée Jeglertz, has tried to play down speculation today. “I still hope she signs a new contract for Manchester City, definitely. Right now, Bunny Shaw is our player and she is here to compete with us and do everything she can in these weeks we have left of the season.”

“What happens after that is not a discussion for me to talk about,” Jeglertz added. “It is more for (director of football) Therese (Sjögran) and other people that are communicating with her.”

Thanks, Dave – I’ve collected said ball with a slightly heavy first touch, and am now chugging down the wing.

That’s my cameo completed. Spraying the ball out to Niall McVeigh now.

Three games to go in the Premier League season. And something looks very familiar.

• It’s matchweek 36

• A team without a title for over 20 years leads the table

• Manchester City are lurking in second

• Liverpool are about to host Chelsea

These are the exact same circumstances we saw in 2013/14. On that occasion, Liverpool were three points clear of City but then Jose Mourinho came to Anfield, Steven Gerrard slipped and the Reds lost their grip on the title. Blowing a 3-0 lead at Crystal Palace straight after added to the drama although, in reality, City’s goal difference after Liverpool lost to Chelsea meant Pep’s men just had to keep winning to render the Reds helpless.

The lesson: chickens shouldn’t be counted yet. If Arsenal lose at West Ham this weekend, City can do what they did to Liverpool 12 years ago. Surely it can’t happen again, can it?

Real Madrid have released a statement following the bust-up between Aurélien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, revealing that both players have been fined €500,000.

Real Madrid CF announces that, following the events that led to the opening of a disciplinary case yesterday against our players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, both appeared today before the case investigator.

During the appearance, the players expressed their deep regret for what happened and apologised to each other.

They have also apologised to the club, their teammates, the coaching staff and the fans, and both have made themselves available to Real Madrid to accept whatever sanction the club deems appropriate.

Given these circumstances, Real Madrid has decided to impose a financial penalty of five hundred thousand euros on each player, thus concluding the corresponding internal procedures.

Brentford: Ahead of Saturday’s 5.30pm kick-off at Manchester City, boss Keith Andrews has delivered mixed news on the well-being of three of his players: Jordan Henderson, Vitaly Janelt and Rico Henry.

The squad are good, they’re full of energy, and they’ve had a really good week. I’m not long off the training pitch and there’s a good energy around it; everyone’s in a pretty good place.

Vitaly will be a little bit closer now, with another week’s training under his belt. He did well to even be involved last weekend, and we wanted him to be in the squad.

Jordan will be involved tomorrow; he’s had a good week’s training as well. Rico was back on the grass on Friday, but he won’t be involved... he’s not ready yet.

Henderson has been missing since the 0-0 draw at Leeds on 21 March. As for Brentford reaching Europe, Andrews had this to say:

We’ve got a lot of work to do over the next three games to do anything like [qualify for Europe]. The focus is on tomorrow, first and foremost, but we want to finish the season really well

The performance levels, the energy and the appetite from the players have been there in abundance. Tomorrow is obviously going to be very, very difficult, but we want to go there and show what a good team we are.

Thanks Yara. Let’s open with some Nottingham Forest team news. I didn’t see the press conference but Vitor Pereira’s delivery reminds me of PSB’s ‘Go’.

“[Ola] Aina out, [Dan] Ndoye out, [Ibrahim] Sangare out, Callum [Hudson-Odoi] out, Murillo out, Morgan [Gibbs-White] out.

“It’s too much, too much. I don’t know if some of them can recover for the next match.”

That is all from me for today. Dave Tindall is here to guide you through some more news.

Rob Edwards has said that Wolves’ poor season is “not his fault” after he was booed by supporters against Sunderland. Jeers rung around the stadium before and after the full-time whistle as many supporters appeared to lose faith that Edwards could spearhead immediate promotion from the Championship.

Edwards was appointed in November when Wolves had won just two points and were already destined for Premier League relegation. Their relegation was confirmed with five games to go in the season but the manager has said that there was little he could do to fix the situation.

I’m in the situation I am in right now, but this is not my fault. It’s been going on a long time. We came into this situation, so I feel energised by what we’re going to do and the difference we’re going to make going forward. We’re going to have to ride out this difficult period and stay strong.

We’ve come into a team that haven’t won for ages on two points in the Premier League. We’ve not been able to play the way we want, we’ve been playing survival football and trying to keep confidence levels and trying to get our minimum level of hard work, It’s been challenging and completely different to any time I’ve experienced before. Not many people would come into this situation either.

The football players’ union Fifpro hailed a “landmark” legal win after a European rights body agreed to investigate whether France failed to uphold labour standards for professional footballers.

The unanimous decision by the European Committee of Social Rights on 16 March marks the first time a players’ union has successfully advanced a collective complaint under the European Social Charter, paving the way for an investigation into whether France has failed to ensure proper working conditions for professional players, including minors.

Fifpro described the heart of the dispute as the French state’s failure to protect professional footballers from the health and safety risks posed by a congested and expanding international match calendar, which it argues is driven by Fifa’s unilateral decisions on competition formats.

The French government had sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that any alleged labour violations were the responsibility of private sports bodies, such as Fifa or the French Football Federation (FFF), rather than the state.

The committee rejected that objection, affirming that national governments remain legally responsible for ensuring fundamental workers’ rights are upheld within their jurisdictions, regardless of whether a private entity manages the industry.

Fifpro Europe, which is supporting the French National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) in the case, described the decision as a “signal case” for the industry. It added that the complaint highlights how global governing bodies “frequently bypass national labour standards regarding rest periods and collective bargaining”.

Fifpro Europe confirmed it would provide full support to the UNFP during the upcoming proceedings and called on other European states to hold football authorities accountable for “systemic failures” that it said prioritise commercial interests over player safety.

“France is not alone: many other states are in a comparable situation, with minimum standards for working time, rest periods, occupational health and collective bargaining structurally undermined by decisions taken at global level,” it said in a statement.

Kylian Mbappé trained today after recovering from a hamstring injury ahead of the el clásico against Barcelona, with Aurélien Tchouameni also involved after his bust-up with teammate Federico Valverde.

Mbappé had been sidelined for two weeks but Real said the French striker completed part of the group session two days before their trip to Barcelona. Tchouameni also took part in the training the day after his altercation with Valverde resulted in the latter reportedly needing stitches.

The team confirmed that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against both players after the training ground clash, one of a spate of such incidents. Tensions are high at Real with the prospect of a second consecutive season without a major trophy.

Everton: David Moyes has confirmed Idrissa Gueye will miss Everton’s trip to Crystal Palace this weekend. The Blues take on the Eagles at Selhurst Park on Sunday, looking to maintain their push to secure European football for next season.

Gueye missed Everton’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium and Moyes confirmed the 36-year-old midfielder remains unavailable. Jack Grealish and Jarrad Branthwaite – with foot and hamstring injuries respectively – are also unavailable.

[Gueye] is fine. He’s not training yet but it’s not a serious injury, so we hope he’ll be back soon.

There are no talks [about Grealish’s future], at the moment, because we’re really waiting to see how his foot is. It’s improving greatly – he’s out of the boot he was wearing now and he’s doing a lot more training. There is no further news on Jack, at the moment, but everyone knows Jack – he’s loved wherever he goes, and he’s certainly loved here.

Moyes was also asked about Tim Iroegbunam and Merlin Rohl’s selection:

I think both of them have given me something to think about for most of the season but, for long parts of the season, we’ve been relatively settled in some ways. Gueye and Jimmy Garner have played very well in the middle of the pitch, so we’ve known [Iroegbunam and Rohl’s] capabilities.

Tim has probably had a bit more than Merlin but I think Merlin is also getting used to the speed of the Premier League as well. They both played really well [against Manchester City].

Old Firm: The Celtic manager Martin O’Neill senses the fear of losing their title is fuelling his players as he prepares to face Rangers with a fit Daizen Maeda.

The in-form Maeda has overcome a foot injury ahead of Sunday’s derby as Celtic bid to keep on the trail of leaders Hearts. The champions could go into the Parkhead clash six points behind the title favourites, who face Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday. Celtic also travel to Lanarkshire before hosting Hearts on the final day where they will be aiming to clinch a fifth successive title – if they still have a chance.

The Hoops have enjoyed sustained dominance in Scottish football since O’Neill first arrived in 2000 and have won 13 out of the last 14 championships and the 74-year-old believes the danger of losing their title is now driving players on.

“I’m sure of it, It’s not a position that the football club has found itself in in recent years. Generally speaking, they’ve gone clear and there’s been no opposition. There’s been plenty of opposition this year, not just from Rangers but obviously from Hearts.

So it is a big, big change, not something that a number of these players have been used to. You have to get used to it. You’ve been chasing, you have to keep chasing.

Maeda completed last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Easter Road but hobbled off with a bare left foot after the game. The Japan international has netted four goals in three matches after a 17-game run without scoring for his club.

Daizen hurt himself towards the end of the game. He’s fine, which is really, really good. He has trained and he has got no reaction. And so he’s going to be fine. He’s had a super couple of weeks.

Non-league football: Two co-owners of the non-league football club Maldon & Tiptree have been charged with human trafficking for sexual exploitation as well as rape after an investigation by Essex police.

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 57, was charged with multiple offences on Friday alongside Scott Drewitt-Barlow, 32. Both men, of Southwood Chase, Danbury, Essex, will appear at Chelmsford magistrates court later.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the men had been charged with arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation, as well as sexual offences including rape.

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow became Britain’s first gay surrogate parent in 1999. The CPS said he had been charged with three counts of sexual assault on a male, four counts of rape of a man 16 or over and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Scott Drewitt-Barlow has been charged with one count of sexual assault on a male, one count of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Read the full story below.

Mikel Arteta has dismissed criticism that Arsenal overdid the celebrations after reaching their first Champions League final for 20 years.

An emotional Arteta led his players on a lap of honour after they saw off Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night to set up a meeting with Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest later this month. The Arsenal manager was spotted dancing to an Arsenal song that went viral on TikTok and mentions every first-team player as well as some of his more famous catchphrases.

That exuberance has been criticised by some supporters of other clubs, although Arteta claimed he was unaware of the term “celebration police”.

“First of all, I didn’t know about it but I don’t know,” he said when asked if he cared. “I think you have to respect every opinion and place them where they belong.”

Arteta also insisted his players are fully focused on their crucial trip to West Ham on Sunday rather than gaining revenge on PSG, who beat them in last year’s Champions League semi-finals. “I was in a really high emotional state after the game, obviously, because we know what it means to everybody, to the club. You could tell what it means to everybody, to our supporters, players, the staff,” he said. “But you have to believe me, straight after that, my concentration, my focus, my energy was West Ham. What do we have to do on the mental side, physically, tactically, technically, to prepare in the best possible way to go there and win the game. That’s it.”

Crystal Palace: The club may be celebrating reaching a first European final in their history but Oliver Glasner says they are still not safe in the Premier League. The Eagles sealed a 5-2 aggregate win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday to book a Conference League final date with Rayo Vallecano at the end of the month.

Before then they have four matches to play, starting with Everton on Sunday, still needing three points to be mathematically safe from the drop.

First of all we want to win against Everton because then we are safe. We see all the teams at the bottom are winning. Tottenham now two wins in a row, West Ham, Nottingham Forest was on a very good run.

So all these teams are now closer and we are not 100% safe. That means get one more win.

Nevertheless, Glasner gave his players Friday off to let their European achievement sink in.

If you’re full of adrenaline, it just makes no sense calling them in in the morning, So they should recover and then we will meet on Saturday preparing for Everton.

Thanks Dom and hello again all. Let’s turn to Crystal Palace where Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media.

I’m handing the reins back to Yara for a short while. Plenty more Premier League pressers to come!

It’s not football but I do very much enjoy Tanya Aldred’s county cricket live blog. The best way to follow the second best sport on the planet.

Alphonso Davies has injured his hamstring with just over month to go before his native Canada co-hosts the World Cup.

Bayern Munich released a statement on the injury, saying Davies is expected to be out “for several weeks”. Canada start their World Cup campaign on 12 June against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto. Davies hurt his left hamstring during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain that knocked the Bavarians out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage.

Davies, 25, is a key player for his country, having scored 15 goals in 58 appearances.

So this summer Liverpool are going to need a centre-back (or possibly two), a full-back of some description (Robertson needs replacing but the right-back situation is dicey) plus a Salah replacement on the right flank … that certainly looks like another huge window of recruitment for the FSG boys. Not quite £400m-odd but in excess of £200m.

Missing out on Marc Guéhi really was a bitter blow for them, plus the fact Isak started poorly and then got injured while Salah dropped off so dramatically.

Arne Slot was asked whether next season could be another transition campaign at Liverpool, given the likes of Mo Salah and Andy Robertson are leaving the club – and others may potentially follow them.

The club chose to spend big and bring in an influx of new players last summer, spending upwards of £400m on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike.

And more change may be coming, with Slot likely to be under pressure to return Liverpool to the top after a poor season this time around.

He said: “I’m only looking forward, as I looked forward to working with these players two years ago. It will be another little transition, probably not as drastic as it was last summer but we have to change some personnel with the two players leaving.

“But my main aim at the moment is getting over the line for the upcoming three games, and then going on holiday.

“Always new players change things, that’s what we’ve seen. You always play to the strengths of the players and how we can look next season depends who we can bring in.”

Slot has revealed Alexander Isak trained yesterday so could be involved for Liverpool against Chelsea tomorrow, and a similar thing can be said for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Alisson Becker remains out.

On Salah, he said: “Mo also hasn’t trained with us yet but is also getting very, very close to train with us.”

Arne Slot on the question of how, and how much, Liverpool have underperformed this season:

“I think it always weighs heavy on the players if you lose more games than you want. It’s never a nice feeling to lose, especially at this club. [There’s been] underperformance very clearly in the Premier League, but I think we deserved better results than we’ve been having.

“In the Champions League we finished third in the group phase, beat Galatasaray and lost to PSG over two games. No team over two games has been able to beat them.

“We’ve been vulnerable to counterattacks but I don’t think that’s the only thing we’ve been vulnerable to. It’s a mix of everything and it’s clear where we have to improve. It’s something we will address in the summer, in the market and afterwards on the training ground.

“The focus for this team after everything we’ve been through is now qualifying for the Champions League.”

Arne Slot is about to speak at his Liverpool press conference. We’ll bring you the top lines from that shortly …

Here’s another Ben Fisher piece – he’s been busy lately. An interview with Brentford’s Michael Kayode on having a long throw, and being pigeon-holed as a long throw specialist.

“It is simple. Obviously it is a weapon, but across 90 minutes, in that period the ball is out for maybe not even five minutes for throw-ins.” Does he practise throw-ins? “No, no, not at all.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s women’s team managing director Andy Rogers will leave the club this summer after 24 years working in various different roles at the north London club.

Rogers, who is said to be leaving to spend more time with his family, has been overseeing the women’s team since February 2023 and he told the club’s media channels: “I am so proud of the incredible staffing group that we’ve constructed. I sincerely believe we have created the foundations for them to continue to learn, develop and carry the ambition of the club as high as I know it can reach.”

Tottenham chief executive Vinai Venkatesham added: “Andy has made a significant contribution to the growth and development of our women’s team over the past three-and-a-half years.

“We have been building on these foundations with a renewed, more ambitious vision for Spurs Women set at the start of this season, and this work will continue to accelerate as we look forward.”

With one match remaining, Spurs are guaranteed to finish fifth in the WSL this season.

Bournemouth have confirmed Álex Jiménez, has been omitted from their squad for Saturday’s game at Fulham after they opened an investigation relating to social media posts.

It follows alleged exchanges on social media between Jiménez and an individual who appears to state that they are a 15-year-old girl.

Jiménez has made 32 appearances for Bournemouth this season and started their past five Premier League matches.

In a statement released on Friday, the club said: “AFC Bournemouth are aware of posts circulating on social media involving right-back, Álex Jiménez. The club understand the seriousness of the matter and it is currently being investigated. As a result, Álex will not be included in the squad for tomorrow’s Premier League game against Fulham and the club will be making no further comment at this time.”