Premier League resumes with Manchester City in spotlight: football news – live

Key events22m agoEverton owner exploring sale of club after two years24m agoPreamble“Khaldoon says he would rather spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers in the world and sue Uefa for the next ten years than agree a financial penalty.”Rob Draper looks at the words of Manchester City’s lawyer Simon Cliff as he profiles the club’s chair, Khaldoon al-Mubarak – the man who has dictated the aggressive, confrontational stance City have taken with football authorities.Before facing the national media for the first time since Manchester City’s guilty verdict this morning, Enzo Maresca has given an in-house interview with the club’s media. There are plenty of references to “the noise” following City at the moment but Maresca was keen to insist his players will not be distracted by it.“The feeling is fantastic, to be honest,” said Maresca. “The players are excited for the next two games. But especially they are excited because in this moment we are top of the league. The players are just focused on that. They know what we can control is the football side – they are not worried at all about different things.“They know their profession and they know that the noise is there but they don’t care too much about the noise. They are just focused in this moment on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win in Anfield.”Everton owner exploring sale of club after two yearsFirst, the breaking news coming out of Merseyside this morning is that The Friedkin Group are exploring the sale of their controlling interest in Everton. The group completed its takeover from Farhad Moshiri in December 2024 and have overseen the men’s team’s move from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium.“The time is right to consider the next chapter for Everton,” said a club statement. “We will only entertain interest from parties who we strongly believe will be the right stewards to take the club forward and build on the momentum that has been established.”Everton are up for sale. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty ImagesPreambleHello and welcome to the weekend football countdown as the Premier League returns after an international break overshadowed by the guilty verdict handed to Manchester City on over 100 financial rules breaches. City, who are appealing the verdict, have sought to put on a united front, with Erling Haaland saying yesterday that the club “have to stick together” as they return to action on Sunday at Anfield. All eyes will be on Enzo Maresca at 10.30am (BST) as he faces the media for the first time since news of the verdict.Other press conferences to look out for today are Andoni Iraola, whose Liverpool side host City this weekend, and Mikel Arteta, the former City assistant coach who has signed a new contract as manager of champions Arsenal this week. We’ll also build up to the weekend’s other Premier League games, including Manchester United’s clash with winless Tottenham at Old Trafford, and an EFL fixture list that includes Sunday’s south-coast derby between Southampton and Portsmouth. Tonda Eckert has this week been handed a six-week suspended ban for his part in the Spygate scandal.England Women are in action at 5.30pm today as the European playoffs for next summer’s World Cup get under way. The Lionesses must progress past Greece and Slovakia/Ukraine to secure their place at the finals in Brazil. Ella Toone has returned to the squad as a late call-up for today’s first leg in Greece. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are also in the hunt.Don’t forget you can get in touch throughout the day with your thoughts via email.