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Liverpool Poised for Premier League Coronation, Leicester, Ipswich for Relegation

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk extended his contract on Thursday. Paul ELLIS / AFP/File
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk extended his contract on Thursday. Paul ELLIS / AFP/File
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Liverpool Poised for Premier League Coronation, Leicester, Ipswich for Relegation

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk extended his contract on Thursday. Paul ELLIS / AFP/File
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk extended his contract on Thursday. Paul ELLIS / AFP/File

Liverpool could seal the Premier League on Sunday should the runaway leaders condemn Leicester to relegation and Arsenal suffer a Champions League hangover by losing at Ipswich.
Victory for the Gunners at Portman Road could also see Ipswich mathematically relegated should West Ham and Wolves win.

Unlike the battles for the league title and to avoid the drop, the race for a place in next season's Champions League is set to go down to the wire.

Just five points separate Newcastle in third from seventh-placed Aston Villa ahead of their clash at Villa Park.

AFP Sports looks at the major talking points ahead of this weekend's action.

Liverpool's Super Sunday?

Thirteen points clear at the top of the table with six games to go, it is only a question of when not if Liverpool will move level with Manchester United on a record 20 English top-flight titles.

Two more wins will finish the job for Arne Slot's men and they could not ask for more obliging fixtures as a trip to beleaguered Leicester is followed by struggling Tottenham's trip to Anfield.

However, the title race may not even go beyond Easter Sunday should Ipswich inflict Arsenal's first league defeat since February.

The focus of attention for Mikel Arteta's men has been switched to Champions League glory after an emphatic 5-1 aggregate win over holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

Three up, three down concern
Southampton's return to the Championship at the first time of asking was confirmed in record time with seven games remaining.

Leicester and Ipswich have not fared much better to spark concerns over the growing chasm between the Premier League and the second tier.

For the second consecutive season all three promoted clubs are set to be relegated.

Leicester, who shocked the world to win the title less than a decade ago, have endured a miserable campaign, especially since Ruud van Nistelrooy was installed as manager.

The Foxes have taken just four points from their last 17 matches to fall 17 points adrift of safety.

Ipswich's approach has earned more admirers but they have also won only four league games all season to sit just three points better off than Leicester.

Villa crave Champions League return
Both Villa and Newcastle are hungry for more after having a taste of the Champions League for the first time in decades over the past two seasons.

Villa's first foray into European football's elite level for the first time since 1983 finally came to an end in a thrilling 5-4 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Unai Emery, who also led the Birmingham club to the Europa Conference League semi-finals last season, is determined to take the 1982 European champions even further.

Four consecutive Premier League wins have propelled Emery's men back into contention for a top-five finish, that will be enough for Champions League qualification.

"The more demanding objective we can have is to get again Champions League," said Emery.

"The challenge we have now is for the last six matches we are going to play, try to get Europe and try to get Champions League."

Villa face a daunting run in with their next four games against competitors for the European places in Newcastle, Manchester City, Bournemouth and Fulham.

Newcastle are flying as five consecutive league wins either side of lifting the League Cup has taken the Magpies into third.

Eddie Howe is set to miss a third match due to pneumonia, but Newcastle showed little sign of missing their manager in scoring nine goals in dominant wins over Manchester United and Crystal Palace in the past week.

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Verstappen’s Japan GP Win Streak Under Threat as Mercedes Dominate

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen drives during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen drives during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Verstappen’s Japan GP Win Streak Under Threat as Mercedes Dominate

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen drives during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen drives during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

Max Verstappen says that the Japanese Grand Prix is one of his favorite races, but his chances of a fifth straight victory at the weekend look vanishingly slim as his Red Bull struggles with Formula One's sweeping new regulations.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will carry their early dominance into Suzuka with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton their nearest challengers.

Red Bull and Verstappen are scrambling to recover from a disastrous start to the Formula One season, as are McLaren whose drivers -- world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri -- both failed to start in China with separate technical problems.

Verstappen, the four-time world champion, finished sixth in the opening grand prix in Australia after crashing in qualifying.

He then limped home ninth and out of the points in the Shanghai sprint before retiring from the main race.

Verstappen has raged against the 2026 regulations and new car designs, branding them "anti-racing" and likening them to the Mario Kart video game with their electrical boost and overtake modes.

The Dutchman sought a change of scenery by competing at a four-hour race in Germany last weekend, but even that did not lift his gloom as he was disqualified after winning.

Verstappen has been unbeaten in Japan for the past four years and he clinched his second world title there in 2022.

His problems in China, where he was ordered to retire on lap 46 of the grand prix because of a cooling issue, suggest his Suzuka dominance could end on Sunday.

"Getting on top of our problems is not easy," Verstappen said in Shanghai.

"It would help if we would just have a normal start -- I've been every time dropping to last."

- Antonelli breakthrough -

Verstappen's struggles are in stark contrast to the flying start enjoyed by Mercedes, who secured one-two finishes at both grands prix so far.

Championship leader Russell triumphed in Australia and 19-year-old Antonelli picked up the first win of his fledgling career in China.

Russell took the chequered flag in the Shanghai sprint and Mercedes will target a Suzuka triumph for the first time since Valtteri Bottas won in 2019.

Antonelli, who became the youngest pole-sitter in Formula One history in Shanghai and the second-youngest race winner after Verstappen, was given a hero's welcome when he returned to his native Bologna in Italy.

The win had "removed a bit of weight from my shoulders", said Antonellii.

"It's the kind of result which gives you strength and more awareness of what you can do."

McLaren have endured a nightmare start to the campaign under the new regulations which require battery management and energy harvesting with a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power.

Defending champion Norris, who complained his car "sucks", is 36 points behind Russell while Piastri is yet to take part in a grand prix this season after he crashed on his way to the grid in Melbourne.

"We just have to take it on the chin, learn what the problem was and make sure it never happens again," Norris said in Shanghai.

"All of us want to go racing and score points."

The teams will have time to regroup after Suzuka, as there will be a five-week gap until the Miami GP as the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East.

Sports

France and Brazil Weigh Up World Cup Prospects in Glamour Friendly

16 March 2026, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Brazil's national soccer team head coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during a press conference to announce the squad for the international friendlies against France and Croatia in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. (dpa)
16 March 2026, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Brazil's national soccer team head coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during a press conference to announce the squad for the international friendlies against France and Croatia in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. (dpa)
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France and Brazil Weigh Up World Cup Prospects in Glamour Friendly

16 March 2026, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Brazil's national soccer team head coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during a press conference to announce the squad for the international friendlies against France and Croatia in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. (dpa)
16 March 2026, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Brazil's national soccer team head coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during a press conference to announce the squad for the international friendlies against France and Croatia in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. (dpa)

Brazil and France will be among the leading contenders for World Cup glory later this year and the two heavyweight nations continue their preparations for the tournament by facing off in a glamour friendly in the United States this week.

With less than three months until the big kick-off, the countries ranked fifth and third respectively in the world rankings are in the US familiarizing themselves with what lies in store in June and July and they go head to head on Thursday at the Gillette Stadium near Boston.

The home of NFL side New England Patriots is the venue for the first meeting of these teams in exactly 11 years, since Brazil came from behind to win 3-1 in a friendly at the Stade de France in March 2015 with goals from Oscar, Neymar and Luiz Gustavo.

Brazil labored their way through South American World Cup qualifying with six defeats in 18 games as they finished fifth -- now they are hoping the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as coach will give them a genuine chance of winning a record-extending sixth World Cup, and first since 2002.

After this match they will head to Orlando, Florida, for a friendly on March 31 against Croatia, the team who ousted them from the 2022 World Cup in the quarter-finals.

Neymar is now 34 and has not played for his country since October 2023, but his absence from the squad has still been one of the main talking points coming into these matches.

"It is a physical issue, not technical. With the ball he is great, but he needs to improve physically," Ancelotti said after being asked about the absence of the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain superstar, now at Santos.

"Because in my eyes and those of my staff, he is not at 100 percent. So he needs to keep working to get back to 100 percent."

In the meantime Brazil's main man is Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, while others likely to have key roles at the World Cup such as goalkeeper Alisson Becker, center-back Gabriel Magalhaes and midfielder Bruno Guimaraes are missing here.

Among those who do feature is Rayan, the uncapped 19-year-old who earned his place after impressing in the Premier League for Bournemouth since arriving from Vasco da Gama in January.

- Mbappe raring to go -

The main focus for France, as ever, is Kylian Mbappe, and the national team captain was eager to feature on this trip after overcoming a knee injury to return for Real Madrid just last week.

There had been mounting fears in France that the 27-year-old's fitness could become a real issue but he said missing the World Cup or the end of the club season was never a concern.

"It is behind me. I was following a protocol and I wanted to start playing again gradually. I hope to be able to play during this international break and to start being decisive again," he said on Monday, just before the squad headed to the US.

France, who have seen Arsenal defender William Saliba withdraw due to injury and called up Maxence Lacroix of Crystal Palace in his place, are staying in the same Boston hotel where they will be based during the World Cup.

The tournament will be coach Didier Deschamps' swansong after 14 years at the helm, with Zinedine Zidane fully expected to succeed him.

"I know his name," French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo told daily Le Figaro this week when asked about his search for the successor to Deschamps.

He refuses to explicitly say Zidane will take over, but it is hard to imagine Diallo means anyone else.

The last competitive meeting of the teams came at the 2006 World Cup, when France beat Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals, thanks to a Thierry Henry goal and a masterful performance by Zidane.

If both win their groups at the upcoming World Cup as expected, then they would not be able to meet each other until the final.

Getting that far is the aim for these sides, and Thursday's game will be a good gauge of where both stand as the competition approaches.

Sports

Asian Champions Al-Ahli Face Prospect of JDT Quarterfinal Clash

Jeddah will host the centralized competition despite the ongoing conflict ⁠in the Middle ⁠East. (SPA)
Jeddah will host the centralized competition despite the ongoing conflict ⁠in the Middle ⁠East. (SPA)
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Asian Champions Al-Ahli Face Prospect of JDT Quarterfinal Clash

Jeddah will host the centralized competition despite the ongoing conflict ⁠in the Middle ⁠East. (SPA)
Jeddah will host the centralized competition despite the ongoing conflict ⁠in the Middle ⁠East. (SPA)

Defending champions Al-Ahli will take on Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim in next month's quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League Elite in Jeddah should the Saudi Pro League side defeat Qatar's Al-Duhail in their rearranged single-leg last 16 clash.

The Saudi city will host the centralized competition despite the ongoing conflict ⁠in the Middle ⁠East, which has already forced the four Round of 16 fixtures for clubs in west Asia to be postponed from early March until April 13 ⁠and 14, Reuters reported.

Four-time winners Al-Hilal or Qatar's Al-Sadd will take on Japanese outfit Vissel Kobe, while Thai champions Buriram United will face either Tractor FC from Iran or Shabab Al-Ahli of the United Arab Emirates.

Machida Zelvia, also from Japan, will play the winner of the ⁠last ⁠16 clash between two-time champions Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia and the UAE's Al-Wahda.

The quarterfinals are due to be played from April 16 to 18 with the semifinals on April 20 and 21. The final will be held at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on April 25.