Football news live: Liverpool vs Sheffield United reaction plus injury updates

Another game ticked off for Liverpool.

This may not have been a vintage performance from Jurgen Klopp’s side but three points is all that really matters at this stage of a season and this was another step closer to the Premier League title.

Sheffield United made this a night to endure for the most part and when Conor Bradley turned into his own net in the 58th minute, this looked like being the game when Klopp’s title tilt could be derailed.

Instead, a brilliant goal from Alexis Mac Allister and a late third from Cody Gakpo completed another late turnaround win and re-established Liverpool’s two-point cushion at the top of the table ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.

Here are the major talking points from Anfield.

Juventus have condemned "discriminatory chants" from Lazio supporters aimed towards Weston McKennie during the Coppa Italia semi-final on Tuesday.

The USMNT midfielder, 25, was the subject of chanting from visiting fans as he was substituted late on in the 2-0 win at Allianz Stadium.

Following circulation of video of the incident and subsequent corroboration from McKennie, Juventus are now working to identify those responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken.

A club statement read: "Juventus Football Club takes note of the video circulated on social networks and reported by some media from which it would emerge the intonation of discriminatory chants coming from the visiting sector and directed at Weston McKennie during his substitution in the Juventus-Lazio semi-final first leg of the Italian Cup, played on 2 April.

"Following confirmation of the incident by the player, the club communicates that it has activated all procedures aimed at verifying what happened and will fully cooperate in order to identify the persons responsible and, consequently, take all necessary measures in this regard."

Chelsea host Manchester United in tonight's 8.15pm kick-off in the Premier League.

Both teams need the points after disappointing seasons of differing degrees.

It's also a return to Stamford Bridge for Mason Mount so there will be plenty at stake.

Follow all of it with our experts in our rolling live blog.

A reminder of what we have on the slate for our final night of midweek Premier League football this week.

• Liverpool vs Sheffield United (7.30pm)
• Chelsea vs Manchester United (8.15pm)

Hull City have strongly condemned racist abuse aimed at head coach Liam Rosenior.

Rosenior revealed earlier on Thursday that he has been targeted on social media following his nomination as Championship manager of the year earlier this week.

A club statement read: "Hull City strongly condemns racist abuse aimed at head coach Liam Rosenior.

"We are disgusted by the social media posts and the matter has been reported to Humberside Police. We will continue to work with the relevant authorities to identify those responsible.

"Hull City has zero tolerance of any form of discrimination and our stance is clear:

"Racism has no place in football or society."

Hull, 10th in the Championship table, are next in action against Cardiff City on Saturday.

Erik ten Hag has described Mason Mount as a "fantastic football player" as the midfielder prepares to make his first return to Chelsea since joining Manchester United.

Chelsea academy graduate Mount, 25, joined United last summer in a deal worth up to £60m, but has had his start to life at Old Trafford hampered by injuries.

The midfielder made his return from a calf injury in United's 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday, scoring his side's only goal in his first appearance for the club since November.

Mount has only made seven starts for United across all competitions and Ten Hag says he is wary of risking a recurrence of the midfielder's issue amid a spate of other muscle injuries at the club.

Speaking ahead of United's trip to west London, Ten Hag said of Mount: "He's a fantastic football player but it's important first that he is getting and keeping fit because he has had three injuries.

"Like with Licha (Martinez), another injury, you want to avoid and we have to do this carefully. The first objective is to keep him fit, then he can benefit and contribute to the team like he did on Saturday when he had a big impact."

Once a week for an hour, The Athletic’s subscribers can ask me for my views on anything from the world of football.

Today saw questions on Ruben Amorim to Liverpool, sales at Newcastle and the concerns clubs have about PSR ahead of the summer.

Check out some of them in the Q&A below.

Manchester United want to recruit a chief business officer to report into their incoming chief executive Omar Berrada.

United are scouring the market for someone to come in and lead business operations, which would see them oversee the club’s revenue-generating departments.

This means their remit would include all commercial-related activity, such as sponsorships and e-commerce.

The Athletic revealed in January that United were appointing Berrada, who was then serving as City Football Group’s — the multi-club model that includes Manchester City — chief operations officer, to become their new chief executive, replacing Richard Arnold, who left in December.

Although Berrada won’t officially start until the summer, he will ultimately be responsible for overseeing the football and commercial activities.

In line with The Athletic’s previous reporting that Berrada has already started to meet a series of the club’s senior figures, it is reasonable to expect him to have an input on who becomes United’s chief business officer.

Berrada will be responsible for delivering success, both on the pitch and off it, and to achieve that there is an acceptance that United need to appoint best-in-class leaders.

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke is hopeful of a return for central midfielder Ilia Gruev ahead of this weekend's Championship match against Coventry City, although he is yet to re-join first-team training.

Bulgaria international Gruev, 23, picked up an ankle injury on international duty and has missed two games since returning to Leeds.

Farke confirmed that of all the current players out with injury, Gruev is "the closest, he’s limited by some pain and swelling. He has yet to train with the team yet but perhaps there’s a little chance he’s available for the game. We still have 48 hours until the game."

In Gruev's absence, 18-year-old Archie Gray started in central midfield alongside Glen Kamara for the 3-1 win over Hull City on Easter Monday.

Kamara, Joe Rodon, Crysencio Summerville and Sam Byram who all played with illness or injury on Monday have recovered ahead of the trip to Coventry.

Meanwhile, Jamie Shackleton is expected to miss two weeks due to an adductor injury sustained in the win over Hull. Connor Roberts (thigh) and Willy Gnonto (hamstring), who have both been absent since the international break, continue their recovery with Farke expressing his hopes that they will return in time for the trip to Middlesbrough on April 22.

Frida Maanum has had a heart function monitoring device fitted following her collapse during the Continental Cup final.

The Arsenal midfielder, 24, went down off the ball during play at Molineux before being treated by medical staff and taken from the field on a stretcher.

She travelled home with team-mates and has subsequently undergone further testing.

The club said she was "stable and doing well" on Wednesday and have now confirmed the results of those tests have been reviewed by two leading cardiologists and that there are "no obvious cardiac causes found" so far.

She has now been fitted with a monitoring device that will record her heart function over the coming days as she embarks on "a progressive return to train protocol".

Sean Dyche says Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin was "brave" to step up and take the penalty that ended his 23-match goal drought.

Calvert-Lewin scored from the spot in the 88th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw at Newcastle United on Tuesday night — a result that took Everton four points clear of the relegation zone.

The goal was Calvert-Lewin's fifth of the season in all competitions and his first in the league since Everton's 1-0 win at West Ham back in October.

Toffees boss Dyche hopes the landmark goal will give Calvert-Lewin the confidence to go from strength to strength with relegation-threatened Everton looking to end a club-record run of 13 matches without a win at home to Burnley this weekend.

"We all spoke about it: what kind of goal gets you going again? On this occasion it was a penalty so we hope it is the catalyst for him to take the noise away and change the storyline," said Dyche.

"Is there a perfect goal? Strikers just want to score goals

"Beto has (had) a couple of them lately and now Dom has one. I'm very pleased for Dom. I thought he put a real good shift in when he came on and I thought he was brave to take it as well.

"It's not easy when you've not been scoring and there's a bit of noise about you like there has been for him since I've been here."

Everton's last league win came against Burnley back in December and the Toffees will be hoping to do the double over their relegation rivals when the two sides meet again on Saturday.

Cole Palmer has thrived since swapping Manchester for west London on deadline day last summer.

Not for the first time this season, Palmer, 21, was the only Chelsea player to emerge with serious credit from Saturday’s 2-2 draw with 10-man Burnley.

As well as converting the most memorable of his six successful penalties with an exquisite Panenka, the Manchester City academy graduate then took Raheem Sterling’s sublime flick into his stride in the 78th minute before side-footing effortlessly into the bottom corner of Arijanet Muric’s net.

That impressive double took Palmer’s season tally to 16 goals across all competitions (13 in the league), a figure which remarkably makes him the most prolific goalscorer at Chelsea since Tammy Abraham netted 18 times in 2019-20.

It is an impressive record in any context, but how does it measure against modern Chelsea history? The answer is: very well.

Ahead of the visit of Manchester United on Thursday evening, Liam Twomey has analysed how Palmer's numbers compare to some of Chelsea's most prolific modern-day attackers...

The USMNT have climbed up to 11th in the latest FIFA men’s world rankings, while England have dropped to fourth.

Following their CONCACAF Nations League victories over Jamaica and Mexico in March, Gregg Berhalter’s U.S. side have moved up two places to 11th, just behind Croatia who complete the top 10.

Gareth Southgate’s England, though, have failed to secure a victory in their last three games, drawing with Belgium and losing to Brazil during the March international break, having drawn with North Macedonia in their final European Championship qualifier in November.

Read more below

Leah Williamson is “ready” to feature for England during their European Championship qualifiers — if she comes through Thursday’s training session unscathed.

Williamson, 27, had been a doubt for this month’s matches after she was replaced at half-time during Arsenal’s Continental Cup final victory over Chelsea on Sunday, with manager Jonas Eidevall explaining this was due to a “medical situation”.

"We needed to manage her a little bit," Wiegman said just now. "She had a full training session yesterday. She'll be on the pitch today so that looks really good.

"Where she has come from, she's still building (fitness) but she's in a good place and ready if she comes through today.

Read more from Wiegman below