Match report: Celtic 4-1 Hearts
Scottish Premiership: Celtic came from a goal down to all but seal the title with a win over Hearts in Glasgow. They are nine points and 22 goals clear of Rangers, who have three games remaining.
Sheffield United and Luton book play-off places
Championship: Sheffield United have booked their place in the play-offs with a 4-0 thrashing of champions Fulham. Luton join the Blades, Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest in the play-offs after a remarkable season, with Middlesbrough and Millwall both missing out. Huddersfield will face Luton in the semi-finals, while Forest will take on Sheffield United.
Burnley v Aston Villa: Ashley Barnes starts for Burnley for the first time since September, while Maxwel Cornet is sufficiently recovered from injury to merit a place on the bench.
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has made changes following a bad run of results and leaves Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey and Philippe Coutinho out. Ezri Konsa, Danny Ings and Emi Buendia get the nod.
Brentford v Southampton: Yoane Wissa and Mathius Jensen come into the Brentford side, while Pontus Jansson makes it a century of starts for the club.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl hands starts to Armando Broja, Ibrahima Diallo, Stuart Armstrong and Adam Armstrong.
Crystal Palace v Watford: After being left of the Palace starting line-up only to come on and score a late winner in their most recent game against Southampton, Wilf Zaha starts today. Michael Olise is also back in the Palace side.
Watford manager Roy Hodgson makes four changes – three of them forced by injury – with Tom Cleverley and Edo Kayembe among those coming into the side.
Chelsea v Wolves: Romelu Lukaku makes a rare start for Chelsea this afternoon, while Kai Havertz and Mason Mount both drop to the bench. Pedro Neto, Jonbny and Raul Jiminez all come into the Wolves starting line-up.
Brentford v Southampton line-ups
Brentford: Raya, Ajer, Jansson, Sorensen, Henry, Jensen, Norgaard, Eriksen, Mbeumo, Toney, Wissa.
Subs: Dasilva, Jeanvier, Fosu, Baptiste, Janelt, Roerslev, Stevens, Young-Coombes, Lossl.
Southampton: Forster, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Salisu, Perraud, Stuart Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Diallo, Redmond, Adam Armstrong, Broja.
Subs: McCarthy, Lyanco, Romeu, Long, Adams, Tella, Elyounoussi, Valery, Dibling.
Referee: Michael Salisbury (Lancashire)
Crystal Palace v Watford line-ups
Crystal Palace: Butland, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Ward, Gallagher, Hughes, Olise, Eze, Zaha, Edouard.
Subs: Mitchell, Milivojevic, Tomkins, Kouyate, Ayew, Mateta, Schlupp, Matthews, Benteke.
Watford: Foster, Femenia, Cathcart, Samir, Kamara, Sissoko, Kayembe, Cleverley, Sarr, King, Dennis.
Subs: Ngakia, Etebo, Troost-Ekong, Masina, Sema, Gosling, Bachmann, Kabasele, Kalu.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Chelsea v Wolves line-ups
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, James, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso, Pulisic, Lukaku, Werner.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Christensen, Chalobah, Saul, Barkley, Mount, Ziyech, Havertz, Sarr.
Wolves: Jose Sa, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Jonny, Joao Moutinho, Neves, Dendoncker, Ait Nouri, Pedro Neto, Jimenez.
Subs: Hoever, Marcal, Trincao, Silva, Chiquinho, Ruddy, Gomes, Hwang, Cundle.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside)
Burnley v Aston Villa line-ups
Burnley: Pope, Roberts, Collins, Tarkowski, Taylor, McNeil, Cork, Brownhill, Lennon, Barnes, Weghorst.
Subs: Lowton, Hennessey, Stephens, Cornet, Pieters, Bardsley, Long, Thomas, Costelloe.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Chambers, Konsa, Mings, Cash, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Digne, Ings, Buendia, Watkins.
Subs: Sanson, Traore, Young, Nakamba, Coutinho, Olsen, Chukwuemeka, Iroegbunam, Feeney.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Chelsea: A consortium led by Todd Boehly has signed a contract to buy Chelsea and the deal to end Roman Abramovich’s ownership will go through subject to Premier League and UK government approval. Jacob Steinberg reports …
Scottish Premiership
Celtic tightened their grip on the title and are effectively champions after coming from a goal down to beat Hearts 4-1 at Celtic Park. Mathematically speaking, Rangers can still overtake them but only if Celtic lose their final two games and their Glasgow rival make a goal difference of over 20 in their last three. Rangers, who one presumes have more pressing Europa League and Scottish Cup matters on their minds, host Dundee United tomorrow.
Women’s Super League
This season’s WSL reaches its denouement tomorrow, with Chelsea in the box-seat to take the title, but Arsenal still hopeful of overtaking them on the final day of the season. Read on …
Today’s Premier League fixtures
- Brentford v Southampton
- Burnley v Aston Villa
- Chelsea v Wolves
- Crystal Palace v Watford
- Brighton v Manchester United (5.30pm)
- Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur (7.45pm)
- View the Premier League table
League Two
Forest Green and Exeter City have already booked their places in League One next season but a home win for Exeter against Port Vale will send them up as champions.
There’s a five-way battle for the third automatic promotion spot which is currently occupied by Northampton Town on 77 points, who have Bristol Rovers (77), Mansfield (76), Port Vale (75) and Swindon Town (74) breathing down their necks in the play-off places.
Sutton United (73) and Tranmere Rovers (72) are also harbouring hopes of making the play-offs but will have to rely on teams above them dropping points. At the bottom of the table, Oldham Athletic and Scunthorpe have already been consigned to the drop.
Today’s League Two fixtures
- Barrow v Northampton Town
- Bradford City v Carlisle
- Bristol Rovers v Scunthorpe United
- Exeter City v Port Vale
- Harrogate v Sutton United
- Hartlepool United v Colchester United
- Leyton Orient v Tranmere Rovers
- Mansfield Town v Forest Green Rovers
- Newport County v Rochdale
- Oldham Athletic v Crawley Town
- Stevenage v Salford City
- Walsall v Swindon Town
- View the League Two table
The Championship
It’s the final round of fixtures and Fulham and Bournemouth have already secured automatic promotion, with the team from Craven Cottage guaranteed to go up as champions following their 7-0 win over Luton Town. At the other end of the table, Derby County, Barnsley and Peterborough United are already relegated.
In the battle for the play-off places, which kicked off at 12.30pm (BST), Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town have already booked their berths, while Sheffield United and Luton occupied fifth and sixth spots before kick-off. They can still be overtaken by one or both of Middlesbrough or Millwall and Scott Murray has the latest on the final day twists and turns …
Saturday Clockwatch …
There are six Premier League fixtures slated for today, four of which kick off at 3pm. Brentford host Southampton in a game with little or nothing at stake for either side, while fans at Turf Moor will hope to witness a Burnley win over Aston VIlla as the Clarets continue their heroic attempt to beat the drop.
At Stamford Bridge, victory for Chelsea over Wolves would go a long way towards cementing their place in the top four, while anything less than a win for Watford at Crystal Palace will result in a relegation that is already signed and sealed but not quite delivered even if the postman is already knocking loudly on the door.
Meanwhile in League Two, the final round of fixtures kicks off this afternoon and with one automatice promotion spot and the play-off places up for grabs, we’ll keep an eye on proceedings in the fourth tier.