Manchester City breathed fresh life back into the Premier League title race with an emphatic 3-0 win at Chelsea.

Tottenham, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone after Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge ended as a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.

Guardiola wary of Arsenal

Pep Guardiola believes Arsenal are still the best team in England and Europe after Manchester City cut the gap at the top of the Premier League to six points with a comprehensive 3-0 win at Chelsea.

Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku were on-target in 17 second-half minutes at Stamford Bridge as City put real pressure on the league leaders ahead of next Sunday’s showdown between the two sides.

Should City triumph at the Etihad Stadium they will move to within three points of the Gunners with a game in hand, but despite three wins on the trot for his side, Guardiola is wary of Arsenal.

“We have done a good three games but the best team in England so far is Arsenal, the best team in Europe so far is Arsenal, because the numbers are there, the consistency they had,” said Guardiola.

De Zerbi concerned by Spurs mindset

Roberto De Zerbi admitted fear of relegation may be a problem for Tottenham after losing at Sunderland.

Despite some promising opportunities from Richarlison and Dominic Solanke in particular, Sunderland claimed three points when Nordi Mukiele’s strike deflected in off Micky van de Ven in the 61st minute.

Defeat leaves Tottenham in 18th place in the Premier League table and they are still searching for their first Premier League win of 2026.

Asked if he felt like the fear of relegation itself is the problem, De Zerbi replied: “I think so, yep. The target now is to win one game because if we win a game, we can see everything in a different way.”

Mainoo getting closer to signing new deal – Carrick

Michael Carrick says a deal to tie down Kobbie Mainoo’s long-term future at Manchester United is “getting closer”.

After an uncertain time under previous boss Ruben Amorim, academy graduate Mainoo has flourished under Carrick’s guidance as head coach and once again looks like a cornerstone player for the Red Devils.

His current contract runs until 2027, with an option for an additional 12 months, but the club have reportedly given the green light to a new five-year deal for the England international.

“We’d like to think so and it’s getting closer, so we’re positive with that,” Carrick said. “We’re calm with it, but we’re positive with it and time will tell how it goes. At the moment, we are in a good place.”

Glasner hopes Mateta can win Eagles fans over

Oliver Glasner believes Jean-Philippe Mateta deserves to be back in the good books of Crystal Palace supporters after the striker’s match-winning display against Newcastle.

Mateta upset Eagles fans by trying to leave the club in the January transfer window, only to see a move to AC Milan break down after a knee injury caused problems with his medical.

After scoring in Palace’s Conference League quarter-final victory over Fiorentina on Thursday, his redemption continued as he struck twice off the bench to help his side come from behind in the 2-1 victory.

Glasner said: “I was delighted for him and I mentioned weeks ago that is what he deserves.

“As soon as it was clear that he had to stay at Crystal Palace, he said, ‘OK, I will work very, very hard to come back and help the team win,’ and to help us achieve all our goals. This is what he has showed and he is now getting back to his top fitness.”

What’s on today?

Manchester United can bolster their position of third in the league when they welcome old rivals Leeds to Old Trafford. The visitors will be hoping to increase a three-point cushion away from the drop zone.

Arne Slot will address the media on Monday afternoon ahead of Liverpool’s crunch Champions League quarter-final second leg at Paris St Germain, who hold a 2-0 lead at the halfway point of their tie.

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin was left baffled by the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) decision to bring wrist spinner Mayank Markande against Rajat Patidar during their 18-run loss at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 12. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain scored a quick-fire fifty, including an onslaught against spin, to propel the team to a massive score.

Early into Patidar’s innings, in the 12th over, MI skipper Hardik Pandya brought Mayank Markande back into the attack. The wrist spinner had conceded 20 runs off his first over, and was up against the RCB skipper. After getting the strike from Virat Kohli, the right-handed batter smashed three consecutive sixes, including a rare reverse switch hit over point.

Markande ended up conceding 20 runs off the over once again as RCB raced away to 144-1 after 12 overs.

R Ashwin recalled a contest between RCB and SRH from IPL 2024, where Patidar struck four consecutive sixes off Mayank Markande’s bowling. He argued that bringing him into the attack made no sense at that point, especially considering the RCB skipper’s supreme ability against spin.

“Rajat Patidar is a monster hitter against spinner, and when he came into bat, you gave the ball straight to Mayank Markande. We have to understand what is going on in Markande’s mind. He had beaten him to a pulp in Hyderabad, and when Patidar came in, he was given the ball straightaway. Very very very very average, My head started spinning. This was the difference between 210 and 240. MI’s spinners gave 80 runs in six overs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Rajat Patidar scored back-to-back fifties, smashing five sixes in his knock at a strike rate of 265. Markande, on the other hand, recorded one of the most expensive spells in IPL history, prolonging his tough start to the season. The spinner has yet to take a wicket in the ongoing campaign.

R Ashwin opined that MI are struggling despite having a solid team, and barring a good run in IPL 2025, they do not have much to show for in recent years.

“This was an important game for MI, and RCB showed that why they are the defending champions. They had a very tough game against RR, but to bounce back like this, it is not easy. It is a bit surprising to me, MI have a squad, they have really good players, but they are just not able to get it right. It’s not happening for the first time, it has been happening for 2-3 years now,” Ashwin said.

MI have been on the hunt for their sixth title for the last 6 years, with their last triumph being the dominant run in IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since then, they have qualified for the playoffs only on two occasions.

“They might have ended up with 260” – R Ashwin on Virat Kohli’s sluggish fifty in MI vs RCB IPL 2026 match

RCB batters had a field day as they made the most of some poor bowling and optimal batting conditions to be among the runs. Phil Salt and Rajat Patidar slammed quick-fire fifties while Tim David also chipped in with a valuable cameo towards the end.

However, Virat Kohli could not play as freely as his teammates, as he ended up with a 38-ball 50 with a strike rate of 131.58 in the high-scoring clash.

“There is no right or wrong in this, I think sometimes you will have a day in T20 cricket where the tempo will be like this, because of that, you are not able to accelerate. Today, Virat was not able to accelerate. If RCB were able to get a power hitter like David or Shepherd earlier, they might have ended up with 260. What happened today with Kohli can happen to anyone, it happened with Ruturaj as well,” Ashwin opined.

Virat Kohli was left frustrated with his own display, and holed out to the deep of Hardik Pandya’s bowling in the 15th over, a couple of deliveries after reaching the 50-run mark.