• United United Day a first formal linking of clubs’ fans
• Chelsea would have to pay £5m to send Sancho back

FC United of Manchester and The 1958, a Manchester United fan group, are staging a joint action on Saturday to “unite” against 20 years of Glazer ownership of Manchester United.

The protest, called United United Day, marks a first formal attempt by FC United and a Manchester United supporter group to link forces since the non-league club’s foundation in 2005, which caused some division between fans.

A £2bn new arena for Britain’s biggest football club will bring regeneration to the surrounding area. But matchgoing supporters are right to be circumspect

Visitors to Salford’s Lowry art gallery this summer will be able to enjoy a new take on one of the greatest paintings about sport. Depicting thousands of supporters bent purposefully towards a 1950s football stadium, LS Lowry’s Going to the Match has become part of the iconography of the national game. As part of its silver jubilee celebrations, the gallery is staging an immersive experience of the painting, including a nostalgic soundtrack evoking the sounds of a lost world.

So much for the past. Barely a mile away from the Lowry, at Manchester United’s Old Trafford base, it is the ghosts of football’s future that are being summoned up. To great fanfare, this month the club unveiled computer-generated images of Lowryesque hordes approaching the new £2bn stadium it hopes to build by 2030.

Could Norman Foster’s £2bn design for the club, which will be seen 25 miles away, turn out to be a case of hubris before ruin?

There’s a phenomenon in architectural history whereby great empires build their grandest monuments just before they fall. The Parthenon was completed just before Athens embarked on the devastating Peloponnesian War. Manhattan’s most celebrated skyscrapers went up on the brink of the Great Depression. The British inaugurated the imposing government buildings of New Delhi 16 years before the end of the Raj. I won’t say that this will definitely be the case with the £2bn stadium designed by the Mancunian Norman Foster for Manchester United Football Club, but it’s striking that it’s proposed at a time when the club has closed its staff canteen and made redundant hundreds of workers to cut costs.

Every good thing is promised. It is to be “the world’s greatest football stadium”, iconic AND sustainable, with both rainwater harvesting and a “trident” of 200m-high masts visible from 25 miles away. There is to be a “public space” twice the size of Trafalgar Square and a “mixed use mini-city” around it. There are things to like about the plans, including an attempt to avoid the fortress-like exteriors presented by most stadiums in favour of something more open and lively. But they’d probably do well to concentrate on doing fewer things as well as possible. Otherwise, the building might be like one of those football teams made up of extravagant signings who somehow don’t gel.

Club co-owner’s request for hundreds of millions of pounds to help regenerate local area labelled ‘outrageous’ by critics

Jim Ratcliffe, the co-owner of Manchester United, has been challenged over the proposed use of hundreds of millions of pounds of public funds to deliver his vision of building the “world’s greatest stadium”.

Ratcliffe, who has an estimated fortune of about £12bn, quit the UK for tax-free Monaco in 2020. He is now urging ministers to help support the club’s vision of the stadium with public funds to regenerate the surrounding area.

We select a starting team that features players from seven clubs and the manager most worthy of being in the dugout

Perhaps the most difficult decision in the XI. David Raya has been excellent at Arsenal and Mark Flekken quietly impressive behind a loose Brentford defence. But that Sels has been the third-busiest keeper in the league (89 saves) behind Flekken and Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale, yet has conceded the fourth-fewest goals (35) shows his importance, particularly when nine of Forest’s 16 league wins have been by one goal (even if his best stop, a remarkable fingertip save on to the bar against Brighton, came rather unnecessarily in a 7-0 win).

Former Manchester United player felt ‘bitter’ about long-term injury but is excited to launch his coaching career

After Phil Jones sent his final message to the Manchester United players’ WhatApp group after the announcement of his retirement last summer, he “gave it a minute”. There was no response and so he departed.

Phil Jones has left the group.

If ‘New Trafford’ is such a nailed-on wealth generator, then why aren’t Ratcliffe and the Glazers funding it themselves?

The roof of the proposed new Manchester United stadium has three points, which is more than can often be said for the team who will play underneath it. According to Nigel Dancey of the architectural firm Foster + Partners, the three giant masts will “create a distinctive presence on the skyline”, presumably in the same way that Roy Keane created a distinctive presence on Alf‑Inge Haaland’s knee.

But of course aesthetic quibbles are the least of our concerns here. If Manchester United want to erect a giant plastic canopy over their new 100,000-seat stadium in a way that evokes a chicken being wrapped before roasting, then frankly who are we to demur? Beauty is in the eye of the freeholder, and all that. The more pressing question – as someone who, unlike part-owner Jim Ratcliffe, still pays income tax in this country – is what exactly the rest of us are getting out of this.

• Cost of visiting Old Trafford to go up by 5%
• Chief executive says measures are necessary

Manchester United have defended their decision to raise season-ticket prices despite the club’s faltering on-field performance.

Tickets at Old Trafford will go up by 5% next season, with under-16s the only group to have their prices frozen. United’s chief executive, Omar Berrada, said the increase in cost was “fair and reasonable”, arguing it was necessary while the club faces “financial issues”.

Crystal Palace’s fighting spirit boosts their survival chances while Amber Whiteley’s revolution continues at Liverpool

Chelsea’s unbeaten manager Sonia Bompastor felt there was “room for improvement” in their display despite winning the League Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday. Asked about her winning mentality the Frenchwoman said: “I know this team has more than what we showed. But my first experience as a coach was as head of the academy in Lyon, and sometimes it was difficult for me because the main thing there with the young players was to prioritise the performance. But when you play with these big first teams, your job as a manager is to make sure you win, that’s the most important thing. I would love to have both [performance and result] but when it’s not possible, the one I would pick is winning.” Tom Garry

Højlund finally finds the net, top-four battle hots up while Willian proves class once again

He finally scored. Rasmus Højlund broke his 21-match goal drought – dating back to 12 December – with a composed strike to put Manchester United 1-0 up against Leicester at the King Power Stadium. Having received the ball from Bruno Fernandes around 40 yards out from goal, he carried it into the penalty area before unleashing a powerful low shot into the bottom-left corner. You could just sense the relief on the striker’s face as he walked back to the halfway line for the restart. It was also a positive evening for Alejandro Garnacho, who ended his 25-game stretch without a goal, dating back to 28 November. It should give both players a much-needed confidence boost heading into the final stretch of the season. “The most important thing for me is the work they are putting in, especially defending,” Ruben Amorim said. “They live for assists and scoring goals. Rasmus, really good control right foot and then Garnacho is always trying to score a goal and he deserved that feeling.” Emillia Hawkins

Match report: Leicester 0-3 Manchester United

Match report: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea

Match report: Manchester City 2-2 Brighton

Match report: Everton 1-1 West Ham United

Match report: Ipswich Town 2-4 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Fulham 2-0 Tottenham

Match report: Bournemouth 1-2 Brentford

Match report: Southampton 1-2 Wolves

• Minute-by-minute coverage from the 7pm (GMT) kick-off
• Email Tim with your views on the action

1 min We’re off! And United have a chance to put a long throw into the box.

As both teams go into their huddles, Bruno Fernandes is making a point quite forcefully. “Guys! I can’t score all the goals!”

Jamie Vardy rolled the ball into the Manchester United net to huge cheers and about 10 minutes later, amid swirling rain, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s name echoed around this stadium. The only problem for Leicester was Vardy sent the ball over the line during a break in play while Ayden Heaven, forced off early in the second half, received treatment, and it was the United supporters singing about Van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman took charge of United in the reverse fixture in November, signing off from his spell in interim charge with a 3-0 victory, but this time he was on the receiving end of the same scoreline.

That four-match unbeaten run with United must feel halcyonic for Van Nistelrooy, who has now lost 13 of his past 14 league matches. The numbers make grisly reading: Leicester have not scored here since early December and after firing blanks in this defeat they recorded unwanted history, becoming the first Premier League team to lose seven home matches in a row without scoring. Leicester are nine points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves and have a vastly inferior goal difference.

Like their rivals, the problem is not the rise in revenue that a new home offers but that so little of it ends up being spent on players

Build it and they will come – but you should be aware that you will be left with significant debt repayments, an element of the story to which Kevin Costner took a characteristically cavalier attitude. Which may be why Field of Dreams was about building a baseball stadium in Iowa for Shoeless Joe Jackson and the ghosts of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox rather than, say, Daniel Levy constructing a football stadium in Haringey for Vincent Janssen and the remnants of the 2019 Tottenham Hotspur team.

In the past week, Manchester United have revealed plans for a new £2bn stadium, capacity 100,000, next to Old Trafford, while Newcastle are reported to be looking to move from St James’ Park to a 65,000-capacity stadium on Leazes Park. Everton will move into a new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock next season. Wrexham are building a 5,500-capacity Kop. New stadiums suddenly are fashionable again after a period in which they came to seem almost an afterthought. That, perhaps, is an unintended consequence of profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

• Co-owner would draw line if treated like Glazers
• ‘I’m no different to the average person. It’s not nice’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he “doesn’t mind being unpopular” at Manchester United but would draw the line at the toxic level of abuse aimed at the Glazer family and walk away from the club in which he bought a 28.94% stake for £1.3bn.

The co-owner has embarked on a wide-ranging raft of staff and spending cuts since the Ineos billionaire took control of football operations last year. His attempts to boost revenue have included a mid-season hike in some ticket prices, affecting under-16s and pensioners.

Sextortion criminals | Manchester United v Peterborough | Worst jobs | Goods from Canada, Greenland and Mexico

I was once told by a parent that she shouldn’t have to check her child’s phone because she trusted him. As a police officer, I advise in my presentations on county lines that this is a very dangerous line to take. This is exactly why you should take control of your child’s phone – criminals also believe that children can be trusted (Children in UK as young as 11 targeted by sextortion criminals, data reveals, 9 March).
Carmen Lambert Singer
Oxted, Surrey

• Manchester Utd’s new stadium could be delivered in five years (Report, 11 March). By then my beloved Peterborough Utd will be promoted to the Championship, where we will meet the Red Devils following their demotion from the Premier League due to them having no money to buy decent players. A great away day for Posh fans.
Toby Wood
Peterborough

• ‘It’s not nice to hear certain things,’ says United captain
• Fernandes responds after co-owner’s critical interviews

Bruno Fernandes has aimed a barb at Sir Jim Ratcliffe by stating no player wants to be told they are “not good enough or overpaid”, as Manchester United’s co-owner said this week regarding some of Ruben Amorim’s squad.

The captain was speaking after his hat-trick in Thursday’s Europa League last-16 second leg 4-1 win over Real Sociedad that sealed United’s passage to a quarter-final against Lyon.

Myles Lewis-Skelly could return to an old role, Wolves are still in danger and United’s strikers are running out of time

Premier League safety is all that matters to David Moyes and an eight-game unbeaten run – Everton’s best sequence since going nine matches without defeat under Ronald Koeman in 2016-17 – has almost accomplished a task that looked much more onerous when he returned in January. Publicly, the Everton manager maintains the job is not done and that no contract issues will be resolved until the club’s top-flight status is mathematically confirmed. Privately, and beneath the more relaxed demeanour that he has brought back with him to Goodison Park, there may also be a fierce ambition to finish above two clubs who deemed him surplus to requirements. Everton can go three points clear of one, West Ham, and leapfrog another, Manchester United, with victory over Graham Potter’s visitors on Saturday. With Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Chelsea to come after an impending two-week break, Moyes could do with a more clinical display from Everton to step closer to his aims. Andy Hunter

Everton v West Ham, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Ipswich v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Southampton v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Bournemouth v Brentford, Saturday 5.3pm

Arsenal v Chelsea, Sunday 1.30pm

Fulham v Tottenham, Sunday 1.30pm

Leicester v Manchester United, Sunday 7pm

• United in Europa League last eight after beating Sociedad
• ‘We need to help him win titles because he deserves this’

Ruben Amorim praised Bruno Fernandes’s hat-trick performance that swept Real Sociedad aside and took Manchester United into the Europa League quarter-finals, saying his side “needs to win titles” for the captain.

After Mikel Oyarzabal struck first via an early penalty, United dominated, Fernandes scoring two from the spot on 16 and 50 minutes, before a superb late strike to complete the hat-trick. Diogo Dalot’s added-time fourth sealed progress.

Manchester United kept their trophy hopes alive with a swaggering display that battered Real Sociedad and must be the Ruben Amorim blueprint.

From the moment they fell behind early on, his side were electrified, as if finally locating the high-voltage socket under him and gleefully plugging themselves in. United came at Real Sociedad relentlessly, a whir of energy and creativity that is the best advertisement yet for where their head coach might take them.

• Updates from a finely-poised last-16 tie (agg 1-1, 8pm KO)
• Get in touch! Email Daniel | Live scores

It’s big night tonight for Højlund. He’s improved a bit in the last couple of games – he’s getting chances and missing them, rather than disappearing – and has done well in Europe since joining United. I think Amorim has him pegged, as it goes:

“We have to look at Rasmus as a player – he has the pace, he has the technique, he’s scored some goals that are really hard to score. Sometimes he doesn’t choose the better run, sometimes he’s so anxious to touch the ball and he moves away from the goal. We address that in training but sometimes it is the confidence of the player.”