Richard Martin

Kobbie Mainoo scored his first goal of the season to secure Manchester United a satisfying but hard-fought 3-2 win over Liverpool on Sunday which booked their ticket back to the Champions League and left them in a strong position to finish third in the Premier League.

Manchester United have not beaten all their 'Big Six' opponents in one season for three years, but interim head coach Michael Carrick can complete the set with victory over Liverpool on Sunday. If his team can pull that particular feat off and clinch third place in the Premier League, then no one will be able to say that he does not deserve to be in charge next season.

Within the last two months, Phil Foden has made more starts at Wembley than the Etihad Stadium. They have all, however, reached a familiar and sad ending, with the Manchester City and England midfielder being substituted after a hugely disappointing individual performance.

Manchester United can almost hear the sound of the Champions League anthem after Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko propelled them to a 2-1 win over Brentford on Monday. The Red Devils stay third in the Premier League table but now possess an 11-point lead over sixth-placed Brighton, meaning they have all-but secured a top-five finish and a ticket back to Europe's top table for the first time in three years.

Manchester United will be wearing a different front-of-shirt sponsor than usual in Monday's Premier League match against Brentford in order to raise funds for the fight for health around the world.

When Bryan Mbeumo joined Manchester United last summer, he said his mentality was "to always be better than I was yesterday". But after a wonderful start to life at Old Trafford. the £71 million signing has hit a wall, with no shortage of fans starting to wonder whether he was worth the money at all.

Nico Gonzalez scored a late screamer as Manchester City roared back from an almighty scare to beat Southampton 2-1 on Saturday and reach the FA Cup final for a fourth consecutive season. Finn Azaz's unstoppable curler had given the Championship side an unlikely lead, but Jeremy Doku's deflected equaliser soon restored parity before Gonzalez provided the grandstand finish.

"It's a long way from Cumbria", said James Trafford after 25 friends and family travelled to watch the Manchester City goalkeeper star in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley in March. But many of those who were there to support Trafford that day will again be making the same 300-plus mile journey on Saturday to see him in action against Southampton in City's FA Cup semi-final, and will hope to do so again for the final on May 16.

Erling Haaland scored the only goal as an underwhelming Manchester City beat Burnley 1-0 to move top of the Premier League and relegate the Clarets in the process. Three days after netting the winner in the title showdown against Arsenal, the Norwegian demonstrated his physical prowess to score the winner in just the sixth minute as Pep Guardiola's men edged to victory.

Arsenal fans love to chant, 'Tottenham Hotspur it's happening again' every time their north London rivals suffer a big defeat. But despite enjoying endless fun laughing at their relegation-threatened neighbours this season, the Gunners are heading for their own deja-vu-laced nightmare after Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City. Mikel Arteta's side gave it their all in the unmissable title showdown, but there was a familiar feeling once the final whistle went.

Erling Haaland scored for the first time in the Premier League since February on Sunday, and his intervention was more than worth the wait as it gave Manchester City a 2-1 win over Arsenal which put them in the driving seat to win the title. A magical dribble from Rayan Cherki gave City the lead in the make-or-break showdown in Manchester, only for a terrible touch by Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand Kai Havertz an equaliser.

The Premier League has never been more popular and yet this season there has been a noticeable rise in people, from everyday fans to respected pundits to even elite coaches, insisting they are losing interest. When Arne Slot said the English top flight was "not a joy to watch" many agreed with the Liverpool manager and the data backed up his argument.

Be it double World Cup finalist Ruud Krol, the marauding Ronald Koeman, total football icon Ruud Gullit or serial winner Virgil van Dijk, the Dutch have a fine tradition of producing defenders who have made their mark on the game. And there is a new kid on the block that every top club wants to get their hands on: step forward FC Twente's teenage star centre-back Ruud Nijstad.

Manchester United sunk to their first home defeat under Michael Carrick as the Red Devils were beaten 2-1 at home by local rivals Leeds United on a dramatic and feisty evening at Old Trafford. Noah Okafor struck twice in the first half after defensive errors from Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez, who was then sent off early in the second period.

Manchester City's trip to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon came into a more intense spotlight than anticipated after Saturday's set of Premier League results. Table-topping Arsenal surprisingly lost at home to Bournemouth to open the door to Pep Guardiola's side in the title race, while fifth-placed Liverpool avoided another slip-up against Fulham to put pressure on the Blues, who are chasing Champions League qualification.

Manchester City are breathing down Arsenal's necks after a dominant second-half display propelled them to a 3-0 win at Chelsea to close the gap on the Gunners and leave the title race in their own hands. Nico O'Reilly broke the deadlock with another crucial header in London just three weeks after his match-winning double in the Carabao Cup final before Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku struck to clinch the win.

With 24 days between Manchester United's last game against Bournemouth and their next match against Leeds, Michael Carrick has had plenty of time to think about which areas of the squad he needs to improve if he is named permanent coach in the summer. Carrick made the most of the extended break by taking his side on a mid-season training camp to Ireland, giving him the chance to further assess his squad.

Pep Guardiola has revealed the best decision he made this season as Manchester City prepare to resume their chase of Arsenal in the Premier League title race. City lost momentum in the title race by drawing their last two league games against Nottingham Forest and West Ham but have boosted their confidence with their Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal and thumping Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup.