Sports
The Briefing: Liverpool’s odd ending, a derby of nothingness and Southampton’s anti-survival blueprint
Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s Premier League football.
This was the weekend when Aston Villa closed in on the Champions League places, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace shared as many red cards as goals, Arsenal slipped up again and Chelsea played out a drab 0-0 draw with Brentford.
Here, we will ask about the odd final few weeks of the season for the champions elect, whether the awful Manchester derby was fitting for the Premier League as a whole, and if relegated Southampton have shown next season’s promoted sides exactly how not to do things.
Is the end of this Liverpool season becoming… a little weird?
Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk were irked with Michael Owen this week when the former striker suggested Liverpool’s season might end as merely brilliant, rather than historic, given at one stage they looked on for a cabinet full of trophies, but are now left with ‘only’ the league title.
Slot made the correct point that there’s no such thing as ‘only’ the Premier League title, particularly for a club who have won just one of the things in the last 35 years. This season cannot be regarded as anything other than a triumph if and when they are confirmed as champions. They have been the best team in the country by a fair distance and the fact it’s in Slot’s first season makes it even more impressive.
They will still win the title quite handily. They’re 11 points ahead with seven games remaining, and even if their form collapsed, would you trust Arsenal to take advantage?
That said, the season is ending quite weirdly, isn’t it?
Liverpool’s last four games in all competitions have seen them exit the Champions League, having been outplayed by Paris Saint-Germain twice, be convincingly beaten by Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final, narrowly win against Everton, and lose in fairly limp fashion to Fulham.
Liverpool suffered a rare league defeat at the weekend (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Maybe it’s because we’ve all had our brains rewired by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who have redefined what champions look like: relentless juggernauts who rarely dip as low as mid-80s when it comes to points totals. Maybe it’s better for all of us that the champions look fallible, fragile even.
But it still must be a bit odd for Liverpool and their supporters. If nothing else because, when they watch performances like Sunday, they may think: how many of this team are going to be there next season?
Trent Alexander-Arnold (absent from this game) looks to have one foot and four toes out of the door, the futures of Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are still uncertain, Andrew Robertson’s lesser-spotted triple error for Fulham’s second goal is emblematic of his decline, Diogo Jota’s fitness is unreliable, as are most things about Darwin Nunez. The midfield looks broadly fine, but there will probably be significant surgery elsewhere, to the point that half of the team next season might be different.
Which is not something you usually say about runaway champions.
When the time comes, they will celebrate a fantastic achievement enthusiastically and deservedly. But at the same time, there might be a strange nagging feeling at the back of their collective minds.
What did the Manchester derby say about both clubs – and the Premier League?
It felt fitting that the Manchester derby ended with Manchester United passing the ball along the edge of the penalty area, nobody willing or able to either shoot or provide a decent final ball, until the referee finally seemingly grew weary of it all and blew the final whistle.
To describe this game as dreary is probably giving it too much credit. The best you could say of it is that it happened. It was a football match that took place. Beyond that, what could anyone take from it? What will you remember, if you made it to the end?
There were virtually no moments of real quality, maybe aside from Omar Marmoush’s rocket shot in the closing stages that Andre Onana did pretty well to get behind, and Bruno Fernandes’s general performance.
You have to feel sorry for the United captain, the only player of any real class in his team who looks like he’s trying to do everything himself — not for reasons of misguided ego, but because he clearly knows he’s the only one who can.
Bruno Fernandes after United’s dreary draw with City (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
The rest of it wasn’t just boring or uneventful, but pretty sad.
There’s Ruben Amorim on the touchline, desperately hoping to see some signs of progress but having to squint pretty hard.
Then there’s his team, a collection of young players who currently look fairly clueless but might be much better in a different environment.
Take Patrick Dorgu, who was fairly dreadful but you have the sense could be a decent player: he was signed by United in January because they were desperate for a very specific player, of which there are very few in the world, so he had to go straight in and be good immediately, which is a lot of pressure for a 20-year-old. If, say, Brighton had signed him and eased him in sensibly, he’d be OK.
And then there’s Kevin De Bruyne, an approximation of a once-great player who is still trying the things that once made him so brilliant, but they just aren’t coming off anymore. He will leave City and the Premier League a legend in the summer but, watching him now, you’re left with the sense that it would have been a better end had he departed last year.
It was fitting for the weekend as a whole: the top five all dropped points, the big winners being Newcastle who don’t play until Monday and find themselves two points off the likely Champions League places with two games in hand on everyone around them.
The longest current winning streak in the division is three games, jointly held by Aston Villa and… Wolves.
Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, United and City were all, to one degree or another, very poor.
So yes, the Manchester derby was awful. But at the same time, it didn’t seem out of place.
Have Southampton provided the anti-blueprint for promoted teams?
It’s official then: Southampton are down, their defeat to Tottenham on Sunday meaning their return to the Championship is confirmed with seven fixtures remaining, making it the earliest in terms of games that a team has ever been officially relegated. Even Derby in 2007-08 kept it going for 32 games.
To be down with nearly a fifth of the season remaining is embarrassing, as is managing to stand out as awful among this historically bad bottom three.
Are they the worst team the Premier League has ever seen? Maybe. All they have left now is to collect the two points that will mean they don’t finish with the lowest points total ever, the sort of minuscule reclamation of dignity that won’t really matter to anyone but the people involved, and maybe that Derby side from 17 years ago.
What they might do, of broader significance, is provide a blueprint of how not to approach a Premier League season as a promoted side.
Their transfer business is one place to start, with basically all of their recruits having disappointed, with the possible exception of Matheus Fernandes. Of course, assembling a team to challenge in the Premier League is extremely difficult but there was a lack of imagination in their recruitment and some theoretically key arrivals (Aaron Ramsdale, for example) came in at the last minute.
Aaron Ramsdale couldn’t keep Southampton up (Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images)
Then there is how they played. There was no real point in suggesting to Russell Martin that he should play in a different way, because he was always going to be a stubborn fundamentalist and indeed, that’s why Southampton hired him. So, really, the blame for that doesn’t all lie with Martin, rather with the people that appointed him.
They should also be blamed for how long they waited to act: it was clear from very early on that it wasn’t working under Martin, but they kept him on until the 16th game, by which point it was basically all over anyway.
What this shambles of a season proves is that, as a promoted side, the way you play doesn’t really matter: the first season is about doing what you can to survive, by any means necessary, regardless of how ugly that is. That’s what Nottingham Forest and, to an extent, Bournemouth and Fulham did a couple of seasons ago and Brentford before that.
Then, when you are established and have the basis of a decent enough team, you start thinking about the football you actually want to play.
All of that is easier said than done, and even with the approach they chose, Southampton don’t have many excuses for just how bad they’ve been. But it’s something for the teams at the top of the Championship to think about.
Coming up
- One more game of a pretty weird Premier League round of games to go, and it’s Newcastle, who, after a rough weekend for most of those around them, suddenly look pretty good for a Champions League spot — even more so considering they will play Leicester City on Monday night.
- Tuesday sees some Women’s Nations League goodness: England are off to Belgium, while Spain vs Portugal could be lively and Germany face Scotland.
- Bored of an increasingly insipid Premier League season? Good news! The Champions League returns on Tuesday, and there are a couple of big-dog, heavyweight games to kick us off: it’s Bayern Munich vs Inter in Germany, while in London, it’s Arsenal vs Real Madrid. There’s no wrong answer when choosing which one of those to watch.
- And then on Wednesday, it’s Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund and arguably the favourites for the whole thing, PSG, against Aston Villa, who will be bringing a familiar face: Marco Asensio, who is, of course, technically a PSG player.
- A few seasons will hinge on Thursday night in the Europa League — Spurs host Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their quarter-final, while Manchester United are at Lyon and Rangers host Athletic Club, with Bodo/Glimt vs Lazio completing the line-up.
- Finally, your Euro line-up is completed with some piping-hot Conference League action: Chelsea are at Legia Warsaw for the first leg of their quarter-final, while elsewhere it’s Djurgarden vs Rapid Vienna, Real Betis vs Jagiellonia Bialystok and NK Celje vs Fiorentina.
- Manchester City. 115 (at least) charges. Verdict? Who knows.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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The WNBA season has been in session for about a week, so it is far too early to make assumptions about teams. That doesn’t mean we won’t make them; it’s just too early to really believe it. I lost my first WNBA bet this season, so I’m hoping to avenge that loss here as the Sky take on the Mercury.
The Chicago Sky are one of the most poorly run franchises in basketball. They have had some great names on their team and only one championship to show for it.
Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner shoots over Indiana Fever guard Aerial Powers in the first half at PHX Arena. (Rick Scuteri/Imagn Images)
There really isn’t a clear indication of what is wrong with the franchise, but they’ve never been able to retain their talent. Aside from Kamilla Cardoso, I can’t name a player on this team that they’ve actually drafted. They just seem to get good players and then show them the door.
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Even though they’ve had questionable front office decisions, they seem to have put together a solid team for this season – something I didn’t expect before the season started.
They are 2-0, which is too early to really say they are a good team. I also want to reserve judgment until they face a team with a longer history than last year. The Portland Tempo played their first-ever game against the Sky, and Golden State was good last year, but still is in just their second season of existence.
The Phoenix Mercury are actually considered one of the best franchises in the league. I’m sure there are issues that people have reported, but for the most part, they have good facilities, and people want to play for their team. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals last season before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. This year, they are looking to restart that journey and see if they can win the last game of the year.
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper dribbles the ball in the second half at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
It will need to come with some better play than they’ve shown through three games this year. They are just 1-2 for the year with a 0-1 home record. The lone win was a blowout victory over the Aces (a clear revenge game if we’ve ever seen one). Then they lost the next two games against Golden State and Minnesota. Losing to the Lynx wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t have Napheesa Collier, who still has an ankle injury.
I expect the Mercury to make some adjustments for this game. They haven’t looked very crisp to begin the year, but they’ve been strong on offense, averaging 87 points per game.
The Sky are going to keep relying on their offense to do just enough and their defense to lock in. The Sky do have an edge on the interior, so they can get buckets fairly easily down low. I like the over 166.5 in this game.
Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins chases the ball during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 13, 2026. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
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I also think it is worth betting on Kahleah Copper to go over her point total. Copper had two rough games before she broke out in the last game. Now she has the same sight lines and can attack the bigs from the Sky with her athleticism. Since going to Phoenix, she has scored 29, 7, 16, 25 and 28 points in five games against them.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
Tom Harp has been coaching volleyball at Granada Hills High for so long that few remember he won a City Section championship as a co-head football coach with Darryl Stroh in 1987.
In the 1990s, he turned exclusively to coaching boys’ and girls’ volleyball, winning a combined 15 City titles and making 28 finals appearances. The top-seeded Highlanders will try to deliver a seventh Open Division championship on Saturday when they face West Valley League rival Chatsworth in a 4 p.m. final at Birmingham.
The league rivals split their two West Valley matches, with each going five games. Chatsworth knocked off 17-time champion Palisades in the semifinals. MIT-bound Grant Chang is Chatsworth’s 6-foot-6 powerful outside hitter.
All-City volleyball player RJ Francisco of Granada Hills shows off his hitting skills against Chatsworth.
(Craig Weston)
Granada Hills has RJ Francisco, who had 19 kills in a win over Chatsworth.
The Southern Section Division 1 final is Friday night, with Mira Costa taking on Loyola in a 7:30 p.m. match at Cerritos College.
Regional and state playoffs begin next week.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Cedric Alexander becomes new TNA X Division champion, crushing Leon Slater’s history-making attempt
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All eyes were on the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) X Division Championship on Thursday night as Leon Slater looked to retain the title over Cedric Alexander and solidify himself as the longest-reigning X Division champion in the company’s history.
Slater knew a legacy was on the line as he looked to break a record set by Austin Aries. But he needed to pin Alexander twice in one match to retain the title. It was a steep mountain to climb as Alexander had been just as dangerous since he entered the company.
The match started off hot with Slater and Alexander trading blows to begin the match. But a quick-thinking Slater rolled up Alexander quickly for the first fall.
Cedric Alexander in the ring during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 23, 2025. (Bradlee Rutledge/WWE)
Alexander was able to go on offense from there. He hit a nasty German suplex on the outside of the ring. He continued to work on Slater’s tweaked neck. He later hit a Lumbar Check to tie the match at 1-1.
Slater went deep into his bag. He hit an avalanche Styles Clash, which could have kept anyone else down. However, Alexander kicked out. Alexander was able to counter Slater’s high-flying abilities just for a moment and knocked him back out of the ring.
Alexander sent Slater into the steel steps, leaving him busted open. Alexander declared that he would be the “greatest” X Division champion. One brainbuster later, Alexander tried to pin Slater, but couldn’t get him down.
Alexander hit a Lumbar Check again, but Slater kicked out. Slater mustered up the last ounce of energy. A tilt-a-whirl slam set Alexander up for a swanton 450. Slater missed and Alexander hit another Lumbar Check, and then again.
Leon Slater enters the arena during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 6, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
Alexander pinned Slater for the win, completely shocking the fans in Sacramento, California. It will be the first reign for Alexander and his first title of any kind in TNA.
Alexander is a reminder, at least for TNA, that “The System always wins.”
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Fabian Aichner appears
Fabian Aichner, formerly known as Giovanni Vinci, makes his way to the ring during WWE SmackDown at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
Moments before TNA went off the air, the lights went out in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Emerging from the darkness was Fabian Aichner.
Aichner stared down Alexander and appeared to name himself the next challenger for the X Division Championship. Aichner, known as Giovanni Vinci for much of his run in WWE, hadn’t really been seen or heard from in months since his departure from WWE.
Aichner wrestled under his real name for a stint in WWE before he came back as Vinci in June 22. He was with WWE until 2025. He was a two-time NXT tag team champion and an Evolve champion before it became a WWE brand.
Eric Young earns future shot at TNA World Championship
Eric Young outlasted nine other men in an over-the-top battle royal and earned a shot at Mike Santana’s TNA World Championship to start the show.
The match came down to him and Elijah after the latter was able to toss members of The System out of the ring while also avoiding Frankie Kazarian trying to get back into the match following his own elimination.
Young and Elijah came to blows on the apron, knowing that as soon as their feet touch the ground, they would be eliminated. Young grabbed onto Elijah’s hair to try to hang onto the moment. Elijah broke away with Young’s back turned to him. Elijah, however, didn’t account for his wide stance.
The TNA original kicked Elijah in the groin and pushed him down to the ground. Young won the match and received a shot to win the TNA World Championship in the future.
He also made clear that Santana was next on his list of people to wipe out as he did to Joe Hendry, EC3 and Ricky Sosa in weeks past.
“Mike Santana, you’re gone next,” he declared.
Mike Santana learns his next opponent
Mike Santana stands in the ring during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2025. (Kevin Sabitus/WWE)
Mike Santana came out to address the crowd and praised Young for his efforts to help build TNA from the ground up.
“You better be coming with something different because while you may be someone who helped build this place, when it comes to the new era of TNA on AMC, I’m the guy. I’m the man. I’m the one who holds down the fort week after week as your TNA world champion.”
While Young might have earned a title shot, Daria Rae came out and revealed to the crowd that Steve Maclin was cleared to return to action following an injury at the hands of Santana.
Maclin will get a shot at Santana’s TNA World Championship next week on “Impact.”
Santino Marella also came out during the segment after he was “suspended.” He revealed that Indi Harwell re-signed with TNA.
Lei Ying Lee, Xia Brookside rivalry heats up
Xia Brookside attends the “Freelance” screening at Regal Waterford Lakes in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 24, 2023. (Jose Devillegas/Getty Images)
Lei Ying Lee brought the TNA Knockouts Championship back home last week with a win over Arianna Grace. She addressed the crowd before being interrupted by her former best friend, Xia Brookside.
In all black, Brookside claimed she was already in Lei’s head.
“You’re such a fraud. I’ve destroyed you mentally, I’ve destroyed you emotionally, I’ve destroyed you physically, and that title will be around my waist.”
Both competitors tossed expletives at each other before the segment was over. But Brookside made clear that she had her eyes on the title.
AJ Francis prevails over KC Navarro
A.J. Francis told Fox News Digital before the SacTown Street Fight on “Impact” that he was going to bring the pain to Navarro.
While wearing “Show Stealer” across his back, Francis did just that. Francis took some punishment from Navarro – a few shots from a baseball bat and a drop kick with a trash can.
Francis was able to turn the tide for a few moments, using the baseball bat to his advantage. But Navarro dug deep. He aligned six chairs in the ring, hoping to splash Francis through it. Instead, Francis countered and attempted an avalanche Down Payment. Somehow, Navarro countered with a cutter as both men crashed through the sea of chairs.
It looked like it could’ve been it. Navarro went for the pin, but only got a two count.
Francis turned on the heat from there. He got ahold of Navarro and hit a Down Payment through tables lined up on the outside of the ring.
He rolled Navarro back into the ring and picked up the pinfall victory.
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“Impact” match results
- Eric Young wins the 10-man battle royal to earn a shot at the TNA World Championship.
- A.J. Francis def. KC Navarro in a SacTown Street Fight.
- Rosemary and Allie def. Veronica Crawford and Mila Moore
- Cedric Alexander def. Leon Slater to win the X Division Championship.
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