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.



Wolves, Sunderland Condemn Racist Abuse Directed at Players

22 February 2026, United Kingdom, London: Crystal Palace's Chris Richards and Wolverhampton Wanderers' Tolu Arokodare battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa
22 February 2026, United Kingdom, London: Crystal Palace's Chris Richards and Wolverhampton Wanderers' Tolu Arokodare battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa
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Wolves, Sunderland Condemn Racist Abuse Directed at Players

22 February 2026, United Kingdom, London: Crystal Palace's Chris Richards and Wolverhampton Wanderers' Tolu Arokodare battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa
22 February 2026, United Kingdom, London: Crystal Palace's Chris Richards and Wolverhampton Wanderers' Tolu Arokodare battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa

Wolverhampton Wanderers ‌and Sunderland said they were appalled by the racial abuse directed at their players on social media on Sunday following defeats in the Premier League.

Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare and Sunderland winger Romaine Mundle both received online abuse, ‌with the ‌incidents coming less than ‌24 ⁠hours after Wesley ⁠Fofana and Hannibal Mejbri were racially abused following Chelsea's draw with Burnley.

Wolves said they were disgusted by the multiple instances of abuse ⁠received by Arokodare following ‌their 1-0 ‌defeat by Crystal Palace.

"We stand ‌firmly alongside him, and alongside ‌all footballers who are forced to endure this abuse from anonymous accounts acting with apparent impunity," Reuters quoted ‌the club as saying in a statement.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Sunderland v Fulham - Stadium of Light, Sunderland, Britain - February 22, 2026 Sunderland's Romaine Mundle reacts Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith

Sunderland, who lost 3-1 ⁠to ⁠Fulham, said they were working with the authorities to identify those responsible for the messages targeting Mundle.

"The abhorrent behavior displayed by multiple individuals is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the Club under any circumstances," Sunderland wrote on their website.


Former Coach Macci Says Serena Williams Certain to Make Comeback

FILE - Serena Williams acknowledges the crowd after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic, of Austrailia, in the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Sept. 2, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - Serena Williams acknowledges the crowd after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic, of Austrailia, in the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Sept. 2, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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Former Coach Macci Says Serena Williams Certain to Make Comeback

FILE - Serena Williams acknowledges the crowd after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic, of Austrailia, in the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Sept. 2, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - Serena Williams acknowledges the crowd after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic, of Austrailia, in the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Sept. 2, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Serena Williams' former coach Rick Macci ‌believes the 23-times Grand Slam champion is certain to return to competitive tennis and said the 44-year-old is "going all out" in training to get herself ready for a return to the sport.

Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017 and has not competed since the 2022 US Open, can officially enter tournaments after rejoining the tennis anti-doping testing pool last year.

The American has denied that she is preparing to return to the sport she dominated for two decades, ‌but raised eyebrows ‌last month by deflecting questions about a ‌comeback ⁠during an appearance ⁠on NBC's Today Show.

Macci, who previously coached Williams and her sister Venus in the early 1990s, told French publication L'Equipe that he believed she is preparing for a comeback.

"She's training with lots of sparring partners - guys," Reuters quoted him as saying.

"She's also played with Alycia Parks, a good friend of hers in South Florida. ⁠So I have no doubt about it (her comeback). ‌I always thought she would ‌come back from time to time to make appearances with Venus in ‌doubles.

"But we're not just talking about doubles here ... she's ‌going all out. If she didn't think she could compete with the best and win matches, she wouldn't do it. It's 100% certain she'll dive back into competition."

Macci, 71, had no doubts about Williams' ‌ability to handle the rigors of the tour.

"The question is whether that competitive spirit is ⁠still there," ⁠he added. "She's answering that question herself: she's coming back because she is a competitor at heart."

Williams said in August 2022 that she was "evolving away from tennis" and her team has not responded to Reuters requests for comment on her potential comeback.

Macci suggested that Williams could use Indian Wells or the Miami Open to launch her comeback next month.

"It'll be interesting to see how fit she is," he added.

"Making an appearance, playing an exhibition match or a match is one thing. Doing it again the next day and the day after that, and performing well day after day is another."


Report: AC Milan's Loftus-Cheek to Undergo Surgery after Jaw Fracture

AC Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek is carried off the pitch injured during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Milan and Parma in Milan, Italy, 22 February 2026. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
AC Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek is carried off the pitch injured during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Milan and Parma in Milan, Italy, 22 February 2026. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
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Report: AC Milan's Loftus-Cheek to Undergo Surgery after Jaw Fracture

AC Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek is carried off the pitch injured during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Milan and Parma in Milan, Italy, 22 February 2026. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
AC Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek is carried off the pitch injured during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Milan and Parma in Milan, Italy, 22 February 2026. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI

England ‌international Ruben Loftus-Cheek suffered a fractured jaw and will undergo surgery after the AC Milan midfielder collided with Parma keeper Edoardo Corvi in their Serie A match on Sunday, ‌Italian media ‌reported.

Loftus-Cheek was taken ‌from ⁠the pitch on ⁠a stretcher after being injured while attempting to meet a cross around the 10-minute mark at the ⁠San Siro. Milan ‌lost ‌the match 1-0.

"In addition to ‌broken upper teeth and ‌two cuts, the Englishman suffered a fractured alveolar bone," Sky Sports Italia ‌reported. "This is a very serious injury; he ⁠will ⁠undergo surgery on Monday ... and is expected to be out for several months."

AC Milan did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside normal business hours in Italy.