Manchester United had six players in loan action on Saturday afternoon.

To find out where all of Manchester United’s loanees are plying their trade this season, click here

Ethan Ennis

Ennis played the full 90 minutes of Fleetwood Town’s 1-0 win over Crawley Town.

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He made one key pass and connected with three of his crossing attempts in an impressive display of traditional wing play. Ennis also completed 81% of his passes during the match.

The young winger also completed one successful dribble and came out on top in three duels.

Radek Vitek

The Czech goalkeeper made five stops in Bristol City’s 0-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.

He made one high claim and one clearance for his side. Vitek also won his only aerial duel in a strong performance despite the loss.

Jacob Devaney

The young Irish midfielder played 80 minutes of St Mirren’s 2-1 win away to Falkirk.

He made two key passes and completed an impressive 85% of his passing attempts. Devaney was also a menace in the middle of the park, winning three of his four tackles and five of his six ground duels in a tenacious effort.

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Jacob Devaney stats vs Falkirk

Dan Gore

Gore played the final 25 minutes of Rotherham United’s 0-3 defeat to Lincoln City.

He made one key pass and completed 79% of his other passes. He also won his only aerial and ground duel of the match.

Gabriele Biancheri came off the bench for The Millers for the second half. He had zero shots on goal and could not provide any key passes in a disappointing display.

The young striker did win his only tackle and also two out of four ground contests.

Ethan Wheatley played the final 45 minutes of Bradford City’s 1-2 defeat to Burton Albion.

He failed to have any shots on goal or provide any key passes during his time on the pitch.

Featured image Lewis Storey via Getty Images

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Manchester City will not be able to call on Marc Guehi in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal despite fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo being available

Pep Guardiola doesn’t like it and many can’t understand it but Manchester City will not be able to call on Marc Guehi for their Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. Nearly two months after joining the club, the former Palace defender will have to sit out the match despite the fact fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo can play.

Semenyo’s involvement caused confusion and controversy when he lined up for Guardiola’s side in their semi-final against Newcastle United. Eddie Howe was not happy that Semenyo was able to play even though he had already featured in an earlier round for Bournemouth before his £62.5m winter transfer.

Not only did he play but the Ghana international was instrumental in City’s 2-0 win at St James’ Park in the first leg of their semi-final, helping the Blues back into their first League Cup final since 2021 when they beat Aston Villa to win the trophy for the fourth consecutive time. Guardiola will be able to call on Semenyo for Sunday’s game with Arsenal thanks to that tweak to the rules to allow players to feature in the same competition for two different teams.

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Guehi will not have that chance though – not because of his prior involvement with Crystal Palace but because he was not a City player before the first leg of their semi-final with Newcastle. The new rules of the competition as of this season mean that a new signing has to have joined before that date if they want to play in either the semi-final or the final.

That effectively makes Guehi the only cup-tied player in the competition this season, an unusual quirk that left Guardiola baffled after their place in the final was confirmed. “Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup (EFL) that Marc can play the final,” he said.

“I don’t understand why he cannot play the final. Hopefully we make a letter. You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it. It is difficult to understand.”

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City are “close” to getting back to their best despite their comprehensive Champions League defeat by Real Madrid.

City’s hopes of repeating their 2023 European success were ended this week as the Spanish giants completed a 5-1 aggregate success in the last 16.

The setback has not discouraged City manager Guardiola, who has seen enough in recent months to be optimistic even if he accepts there remains a gap to bridge at the very highest level.

City have a chance to win the first major trophy of the season on Sunday as they face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and they have not given up hope of catching the Gunners in the title race.

“I have the feeling that in many things it is just underneath, it will flourish,” said Guardiola, whose side are also through to the FA Cup quarter-finals. “I have the feeling that it is close.

“In other things we need a little bit more time to realise, and for the players to realise what we need to be a strong team in many departments, but in most of the things we are close.”

Guardiola feels City’s progress this season has already surpassed that of their underwhelming 2024-25 campaign, regardless of how it now ends.

He said: “Last season we arrived in the final of the FA Cup against Crystal Palace. We played really well but there were many things behind the scenes we could not control and the season was not good.

“Even if we had won against Crystal Palace, the season had not been good. Many things happened that were not what a team should be.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen but this season has been more than decent. Most of the time we have been a team that is not perfect but is good.”

The next step, he believes, is to find consistency throughout a full season.

Guardiola said: “The other things to be aware of, maybe for the type of players that we have, is to do what we need to be consistent for 11 months in important games.

“The gap is a little but in many aspects we are an extraordinary team.”

Pressed on what was still missing, Guardiola said at a press conference: “I won’t tell you but I know it and the players know it.”

The race to complete the lineup for the historic 48-team FIFA World Cup 2026 is reaching its climax. Six remaining spots will be decided through the FIFA Play-Off Tournament and the UEFA play-offs. Alongside confirming the final participants, this decisive window will also lock in the tournament schedule for the competition in North America.

With high stakes and intense matchups ahead, 22 teams across continents are preparing for defining moments that could secure their place on football’s biggest stage.

FIFA Play-Off Tournament 

New Caledonia will take on Jamaica in the semi-final on 26 March. The winner advances to face DR Congo in the final on 31 March. New Caledonia are chasing a historic first-ever World Cup qualification. Jamaica last featured in the tournament in 1998. DR Congo, formerly known as Zaire, made their only appearance back in 1974. 

Bolivia, aiming to return to the World Cup for the fourth time (after 1930, 1950, and 1994), must first get past Suriname, a team hoping to qualify for the very first time. 

The winner of this encounter will then face Iraq in the final. Iraq’s only World Cup appearance came in 1986.

UEFA Play-Offs 

Sweden will battle Ukraine in one semi-final, while Poland, led by star striker Robert Lewandowski, take on Albania. Notably, Albania are the only team in this group yet to qualify for a World Cup.

Several teams are eyeing a return after long absences. While Norway, Austria, and Scotland have not featured since 1998, Romania must also first overcome Türkiye, who last appeared in 2002.

In the other tie, Slovakia face Kosovo, with the latter hoping to secure a historic debut qualification.

Denmark, who narrowly missed direct qualification after a defeat to Scotland, get another opportunity as they face North Macedonia. Meanwhile, Czechia will go up against the Republic of Ireland, who are aiming to end their World Cup drought dating back to 2002. 
Teams already qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026

Carl Froch has proposed Anthony Joshua vs Moses Itauma as a possible heavyweight clash, believing that one man has a psychological advantage over the other.

The two Brits shared a gym while ‘AJ’ was still working with head coach Ben Davison, ahead of his fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.

The two-time world heavyweight champion then joined forces with Team Usyk, training alongside Oleksandr, before orchestrating a sixth-round finish over Jake Paul last December.

Shortly after that, though, it came to light that Joshua had been involved in a tragic car crash, where two of his closest friends ultimately lost their lives.

It then became increasingly unclear whether the 36-year-old would resume his career, but he has since returned to the gym ahead of what many suspect will be a tick-over fight this summer.

As for Itauma, it must be said the 21-year-old is gearing up for his toughest assignment thus far, against Jermaine Franklin, who he will face at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on March 28.

After that, Froch has suggested a potential showdown between Itauma and Joshua, with the Hall of Famer telling NewBettingSites.uk that he would favour the younger man to do the business.

“Out of any of the heavyweight ex-champs, I think ‘AJ’ would be Itauma’s best pick to look good against, because I think ‘AJ’’s not the force he was.

“Psychologically and mentally, he is not there anymore. He’s been banjoed a few times. I don’t think his heart’s in the fight game anymore. So, it’s a bad fight for ‘AJ’, yeah, and I think that Itauma probably beats him.”

While many are predicting Itauma to become the next dominant force in heavyweight boxing, he is ultimately yet to face any fighter of Joshua’s calibre.

This was a risky move. In just his second fight in the UFC, Liverpool’s Luke Riley was deployed in a co-main-event slot in London – a spot he admitted he had likely not earned.

The UFC’s intent was clear: with a certain friend, teammate and fellow Scouser in his corner, Riley would have extra eyes on him on Saturday. Of course, the man in question was Paddy Pimblett.

See, “Paddy The Baddy” was used in a very similar slot at the same stage of his UFC career. After a successful debut in 2021, Pimblett was third-from-top of the bill at UFC London in 2022, as the O2 Arena’s dome threatened to fall in on itself – such was the explosion of noise from fans. Now here was Riley, having scored a KO on his UFC debut in 2025, co-headlining UFC London in 2026.

It could, and probably should, have been Michael “Venom” Page instead, as 26-year-old Riley admitted on Wednesday. But it was Riley in the end, handed the ball and asked to sprint like his life depended on it.

First came the walk, though. Did Riley’s walkout have shades of Pimblett’s from four years ago? Soft shades, yes, and Riley did need to actively stir up some excitement in the O2’s onlookers while stepping in the cage. But they met Bruce Buffer’s in-ring announcement with support, if not the hysteria they showed Pimblett in 2022, and it only grew as the fight progressed.

They chanted Riley’s name in the early going, seemingly led by a contingent from Liverpool, and as he began to find the timing on his right cross, one distinctly Scouse voice urged: “SMASH HIS HEAD IN.”

Admittedly, Riley’s very success with that punch was a sign of Aswell’s own limitations, given he was caught out by the same strike on repeat. But Aswell, to his credit, eventually began to create angles in a bid to evade, which worked for a while until Riley increased his own inventiveness in response. And as Riley grew more inventive, the crowd grew more invested.

Still, it’s worth noting that Riley ate one clean shot for every two he landed as he sought a stoppage. Earlier in the night, after handily finishing Liverpool’s Kurtis Campbell, American Danny Silva referenced Pimblett’s most-famous quote by jibing: “They always say, ‘Scousers get knocked out.’ That’s all I have to say!” Pimblett’s words have not yet haunted him, and fortunately for Riley, they did not haunt him tonight either.

Ultimately, though, as the fans longed for a finish from Riley, they were left frustrated. Yet perhaps not as much as the UFC. They had contrived this card to enable a golden moment for Riley, but he could not produce the kind of polished performance they craved; he could not shine as they hoped.

Admittedly, Riley’s mission was made more difficult given – for the second fight in a row – he had to follow a defeat by his teammate Shem Rock.

In just the second fight of the night, Rock fell to a decision loss, one day after taunting opponent Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady by faking a handshake only to shove him at the weigh-in.

After the final buzzer on Saturday, Rock was finally ready to shake hands but it was naive; Al-Sewady understandably refused, and Rock tried to slap him. Security held them apart, and in fairness, the fighters seemed to put their differences aside before Al-Sewady was declared the winner.

“It was a desperate attempt to try to get under my skin,” Al-Sewady later told media of Rock’s general behaviour. “[He’s] been in my DMs for the last month, him and his crew of guys. He came to me at the end and said: ‘It’s all business.’ I said: ‘It’s not all business. What you just did is very disrespectful to the sport.’ You don’t extend your hand for a handshake and then push someone.”

Speaking of pushing someone, the UFC is intent on doing just that to Riley. He is young and unbeaten, but he will grow as a fighter, just as Pimblett has since his watershed moment at the O2.

Even so, maybe it’s unfair to expect of Riley what Pimblett has gone on to achieve, just as the hopeful comparisons to Conor McGregor were unfair on Paddy four years ago.

Still, Pimblett exploded out of the UFC’s blocks in scintillating fashion. Riley? He was left to lament Aswell’s “cinder-block” skull.

Teddy Atlas has weighed up the attributes and limitations of Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, predicting who will emerge triumphant on May 9.

The pair will square off for Wardley’s WBO world title at Manchester’s Co-op Live, headlining a Queensberry Promotions card that promises to deliver fireworks.

This is because both heavyweights possess fan-friendly styles and carry enormous power, with each of them boasting a 95% knockout-to-win ratio.

Several of these stoppages have arrived against top-class opposition, too, with Wardley coming off an 11th-round finish over Joseph Parker last October.

The 31-year-old was then elevated from ‘interim’ to full WBO champion after Oleksandr Usyk, who still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA titles, vacated his belt in November.

Dubois, meanwhile, has not fought since his fifth-round stoppage defeat to Usyk last July, when he was relieved of his IBF title in emphatic fashion.

Before that, though, ‘Dynamite’ had scored consecutive stoppage victories over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, with the latter performance seeing him defend his world title.

But while Dubois, according to Atlas, represents a more complete package, the Hall of Fame trainer has nonetheless told BetVictor that he favours the mental resolve of Wardley.

“Wardley’s on a magic carpet ride; there’s something special going on with him.

“He’s physically strong; he’s a good puncher; he’s got a great chin; he’s got a great heart; he’s got a great engine. But if you really know what you’re looking at in the sport… there’s still progress to be made, learning to be done, and he’s doing it.

“Dubois is more complete. Dubois has an amateur background. He is a good puncher; he is athletic; he is skilled; he is very thick-boned; he’s very strong. But there’s something about the magic of Wardley I’m not going against.

“The area that I’ll finish this with is the most important area to me: the area of mental strength. I think he surpasses Dubois in that area. And because of that, I’ll take Wardley.”

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Many have accused Dubois of lacking such fortitude in past performances, especially in his 10th-round stoppage defeat to Joe Joyce and first encounter with Usyk, which came in 2020 and 2023 respectively.

Wardley, on the other hand, remains unbeaten and has shown tremendous character to overcome hard-fought battles with the likes of Parker and Justis Huni.