Premier League news LIVE: Arsenal and Man City injury updates, Liverpool latest after Xabi Alonso blow

Leicester have sacked manager Willie Kirk following an investigation into an alleged relationship with a player.

The Women’s Super League club said Kirk, 45, had “breached the team’s code of conduct to a degree that makes his position untenable”.

Kirk was suspended by Leicester earlier this month, with the club announcing that he was “assisting with an internal process”.

The Scot who was appointed manager in 2022, has not been on the touchline for the past three games while the club investigated a complaint about the alleged relationship between Kirk and a player, first reported by the Guardian.

Everton boss Sean Dyche is hoping for a quick resolution to the club’s latest profit and sustainability charge and that the case “comes to nothing”.

The Merseysiders, who have already been deducted six points this season, are facing further punishment over a second alleged breach of the Premier League’s regulations.

A hearing took place earlier this week and the club are now awaiting a verdict, which should be delivered before April 8.

Speaking yesterday, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted he was surprised Ben Chilwell started two games for England during the international break, having only recently returned from a knee injury.

The defender last started for Chelsea on March 2 against Brentford and since then has played just a few minutes for the club, as a late substitute in the FA Cup against Leicester.

Yet he played the entirety of England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium on Tuesday, three days after completing 67 minutes against Brazil.

“He didn’t play after Brentford, then he played only a few minutes against Leicester,” said Pochettino. “(Then) he started two games (for England).

“It’s a surprise for us. It’s bad luck because he got a dead leg in the last moment against Belgium. Now we need to assess if he can be available.”

On Newcastle, Sandro Tonali faces the prospect of a second gambling ban after being charged by the FA for allegedly putting 50 bets on football games in just two months.

The Newcastle midfielder is already suspended for 10 months and ineligible to play until 27 August after being banned by the Italian Football Federation for bets he placed while an AC Milan player.

The £55m signing, who admitted those charges and whose ban was extended by Fifa to cover all football, has now been charged by the English FA which suspects him of betting on further matches after joining Newcastle.

Newcastle do not expect the latest charge to delay Tonali’s return to first-team football or his ability to train with Eddie Howe’s side with the hope that any suspension, if he is found guilty, could be served concurrently with his existing ban.

Premier League press conference times today:

To be the best, you have to beat the best. It is a familiar theory. It appears to be underpinning Arsenal’s planning, their strategy for the season. Or, even when the best are unbeatable, at least draw 1-1 with them.

The fact Arsenal topped the table for 248 days has been relegated to a subplot in last season’s tale of Manchester City’s treble. It did not have the inevitability sometimes attributed, but City retained the status of title favourites for virtually all of those 248 days. The two most significant came against Arsenal: 3-1 and 4-1 victories were emphatic, a brilliantly brutal illustration of the destructive gifts of Erling Haaland and, still more so, Kevin de Bruyne, whose 167 minutes against the Gunners produced three goals and two assists.

And take those two results away and Arsenal got 84 points and City 83. It isn’t as simple as that, Pep Guardiola’s team dropping five points after the title was won, three of them with a second-string side. The eventual standings could nevertheless be used to argue that Arsenal were better at beating the rest.

Bayer Leverkusen have pronounced themselves confident of keeping the former Liverpool midfielder, who has taken them to the brink of a first Bundesliga title, and though Alonso is also a target for Bayern Munich, the belief at Anfield is that he will not be on the market this year.

Alonso, a 2005 Champions League winner during his five years as a Liverpool player, had been seen as the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp, who is standing down at the end of the season, but not by the Merseyside club.

It means Liverpool are likely to look elsewhere with Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim of interest and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi a manager the incoming sporting director, Richard Hughes, had wanted previously during his time at Bournemouth.

The latest from Richard Jolly

Arsenal have not won at the Etihad in nine years, as both teams await crucial injury updates ahead of the match. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli missed the international break, while John Stones and Kyle Walker both picked up injuries while on England duty.

Follow all the latest Premier League team news and injury updates from today’s press conferences as the top-flight returns this weekend