Premier League news conferences, including West Ham, Southampton and Brentford
Spain's high court finds Luis Rubiales guilty of kissing player without consent
Slot says Nunez miss got "in his head" during Liverpool news conference ahead of weekend's Man City clash
Reaction as Aston Villa hold Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in the Premier League - Reds go eight points clear in title race
POLL: Was Villa draw 'a point gained' or 'points dropped' for Liverpool?
WATCH: Every Champions League goal from this week's last-16 play-offs
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Keep your Get Involveds coming in guys.
Want my next hot take?
No, you probably don't, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. Gareth Southgate was unfairly criticised when he was England manager.
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Agree with Tim - recently have been many huge money signings who just kept their head down, worked hard and performed - Rice, Caicedo, Bellingham, VVD, Alisson - it is possible to go for big transfer fee and be good. At the end of the day it’s the fans money time and attention which are paying for these huge transfer fees
Anon
Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool
Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, no player has more Premier League goals against Liverpool than Ollie Watkins (six level with Tottenham's Son Heung-min).
The only Villa players with more goals against one opponent are Gabriel Agbonlahor v Everton and Watkins v Brighton (seven each).
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Most unfairly criticised - David James - incredible career yet marred with the ‘calamity James’ tag …
Ali from Cov
Image source, Getty ImagesAston Villa 2-2 Liverpool
Image source, Getty ImagesThe draw for Aston Villa last night moves them to 39 points, level with eighth-placed Fulham but having played a game more.
Villa's last win in the Premier League was a 1-0 victory against Everton at Goodison Park in January and boss Unai Emery has pinpointed where his side can improve in the final part of the season.
"We are conceding more goals than normal and we have to correct it and work it," he told Match of the Day after the game.
"We want to win and when we are winning despite conceding goals it doesn't matter but when we are not winning we have to concede less goals.
"We compete very well with our style. We needed to deal with their threat when they were competing too. Today I think the result was fair and I think it was a good result after how we played."
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Couldn’t disagree with Danny more. Big transfer fees bring the most criticism and managing that is the difference between a good Vs great player. Criticism as a whole has gone too far given the unfiltered abuse players receive via social media but that doesn’t mean players shouldn’t be immune. I don’t think fans are unreasonable… just leave everything out on the pitch and regardless of the result we will always back you. The names mentioned (Grealish, Rashford, Anthony, Pogba etc) weren’t doing that.
Tim
Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesAll eyes were going to be on Rashford as he made his first start for Villa following his loan arrival from Manchester United.
He had not started a game for over two months - since United's 2-1 Europa League win at Viktoria Plzen - and has just completed four games this season.
But the forward was central to Villa's best moments in the first half, his cross deflecting off Van Dijk, only for the offside flag to curtail the celebrations.
Rashford was a willing runner, prepared to track back, make tackles and has settled well at Villa. It was only to be expected to see him substituted midway through the second half as he regains match fitness.
He has done that in his opening three appearances for the club and, with Villa having a £40m option to buy the England forward, could have found a happier home.
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Under-appreciated player? Has to be Marcus Rashford. Considering it’s been around 10 years since his debut he’s only really had 3 bad seasons: this year, last year, and 21/22. Coincidentally, our 3 worst seasons in premier league history, which suggests to me that for the best part of a decade he was almost single-handedly carrying us to regular top 5 finishes, papering over cracks in the process, and then when he struggled nobody else stepped up leaving him to be scapegoated and lamented.
Anon
Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool
Image source, Getty ImagesWhat did Villa fans make of their performance against Liverpool last night? Here are some thoughts:
Rich: Last night summed up Villa's season. Going forward on the counter we pass through the lines at pace and look like scoring several goals a game. At the back we have struggled all season. A disrupted back four has made it very difficult to play out against teams like Liverpool and Newcastle who play a high press. And we have made too many mistakes leading to goals. We are on the right trajectory under Emery though and he is building a good strong squad.
Steven: Much of the initial reaction focused on Liverpool dropping points. They must have been watching a different game. Villa were much the better side in the first half and deserved to go in ahead. Both Liverpool goals had more than a touch of good fortune gifted to them (passing error and deflection) - and Villa put two more goals in only to be ruled offside. I expect the noises out of the Liverpool camp are born out of concern that they weren't the better side on the night.
William: There was a different feel at a Villa Park. A very decent performance with spirit and desire. Maybe there is an interesting end to our season on the cards…. Bring on the last 12 games!
That's our England press conference all wrapped up.
In the next hour we'll hear news conferences from Brentford, Southampton and West Ham.
But, as promised, first some Aston Villa reaction.
Portugal v England (Fri, 19:45 GMT)
England
England defender Lucy Bronze on fan behaviour and player safety after former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said she was targeted by a man who "exhibited fixated behaviour" at the Dubai Tennis Championships: "I think it's definitely something that players are aware of. I think as an England player we're probably quite fortunate that the FA protects us as well as they can, whether that is in person or on social media.
"It's definitely something we are aware of as players, as female players. The pitfall of the growth of the women's game is that even though it's getting bigger and we're being celebrated more, there are negative sides to it and this just happens to be that.
"As players, we just try to be as prepared as possible and like I say, the FA and our clubs try to give us as much support as possible to make sure we're as safe as we can be because I think that's the most important thing.
"I've played in different countries as well, where I have been living on my own, and I've been aware of it living in those countries as well but like I said you just have to be smart about it and take the right precautions, whether that's on social media and protecting where you're staying etc, but I think the players nowadays are a lot more educated and aware of what that looks like."
Will Hughes has played in 22 of Crystal Palace's 25 Premier League matches so far this season.
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Will Hughes at Palace. I think most of our fans have eaten humble pie after a few frustrating seasons where he always worked his socks off but was sometimes off the pace. This season, in the absence of Doucoure and Wharton, he’s made DCM his own and arguably been our most important player. We’ll never doubt you again, Hughesy!
Tom, Beckenham
Image source, Getty ImagesPortugal v England (Fri, 19:45 GMT)
England
England defender Lucy Bronze on the Portugal national team: "I think that they have a good array of players now. I think that they have developed a lot in the last 10 years, and having been watching them quite closely, I know that the league has developed a lot more, and the teams that you see in the Champions League are also developing a lot. The likes of Benfica and Sporting Lisbon.
"Kika [Nazareth], who is playing at Barcelona is a really good player and they [Portugal are developing really good players. They have fast forwards too."
Portugal v England (Fri, 19:45 GMT)
England
Image source, Getty ImagesEngland defender Lucy Bronze on her Portuguese heritage in the lead up to the game against Portugal: “I have a little Portugal flag on my boots actually. My parents are out for the whole week. They met 10 minutes away from here in the Algarve strip years and years ago. I have always been in good contact with the Portuguese federation.
"They asked me to play for them when I was 16. They are a team I always root for even though I play for England, but obviously not when we play together. I always hope for the best for them and I hope they do well in the Nations League – just not against us.
“My first ever kit was a Portugal kit. I spent all my holidays in this area and played most of my football here outside. Neither of my parents really were into my football but my Portuguese uncle was, definitely. I think it influenced me a lot. I’m just as proud to be Portuguese as I am to be English. I was raised in England but I’m half and half. My passport is half Portuguese.”
We'll have more on this story as and when we get it.
For now, we're going to return to the England women's press conference, which finished before the Luis Rubiales news broke.
Luis Rubiales was accused of sexual assault and of trying to coerce Spain player Jenni Hermoso into saying the kiss had been consensual - a charge of coercion, which he has been acquitted of.
The incident was witnessed by millions of television viewers and an entire stadium after the Spanish women's team beat England to win the 2023 World Cup.
The ensuing uproar gave momentum to a "Me Too"-style movement in the Spanish women's game, in which players sought to combat sexism and achieve parity with their male peers.
Rubiales resigned in September 2023 following weeks of resisting pressure to stand down, and after Fifa suspended him and Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation.
Rubiales was accused of sexual assault and of trying coerce Hermoso into saying the kiss had been consensual, a charge he has been acquitted of.
For more on this breaking news story, click here.
Prosecutors had demanded a prison sentence for Luis Rubiales, who last week told a court he was "absolutely sure" Jenni Hermoso had given her consent before he kissed her.
He described the kiss as an "act of affection", adding that in the moment it was "something completely spontaneous".
In her testimony earlier this month, Hermoso insisted that she had not given Mr Rubiales permission and that the incident had "stained one of the happiest days of my life".
