Friday briefing: Pressure increases on Ruud van Nistelrooy | OneFootball

West Ham increased the pressure on Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy with a 2-0 win at the London Stadium.

The second-bottom Foxes have now lost 11 of their last 12 matches, have not scored in four league outings – and are five points adrift of safety.

At the other end of the table, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insists he will not let the dressing room get carried away with talk of the Premier League title – while striker Erling Haaland is convinced Manchester City can still “do things” this season.

Friday night sees the FA Cup fifth round action get under way when Aston Villa take on Cardiff, while in the Sky Bet Championship, promotion chasers Sunderland head to Sheffield Wednesday.

Foxes dealt another Hammer blow

Leicester all but waved a white flag in their battle against relegation from the Premier League after a feeble surrender against West Ham at the London Stadium. Tomas Soucek was gifted a goal on his 30th birthday and Jannik Vestergaard scored an own goal as the Foxes slipped to a meek 2-0 defeat.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s hapless side have now lost 11 of their last 12 matches – the last four by an aggregate score of 12-0.

Leicester could have been just two points from safety with a win, but never looked remotely like taking advantage of all the other protagonists in the relegation scrap losing this week.

Nothing is decided yet – van DijK

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk will reinforce to the dressing room there is no room for complacency after rejecting suggestions their title quest was “almost there”.A 2-0 win over Newcastle on Wednesday night, coupled with Arsenal’s draw at Nottingham Forest, opened up a 13-point lead at the top.

While Liverpool supporters may already be singing about a first Premier League title in five years, Dutch defender van Dijk is keen to maintain a level head.

“There is no ‘almost there’. There are 10 more games to go for us and nothing is decided yet,” van Dijk said.

“Until it gets decided we don’t get carried away whatsoever. I’m going to be the boring guy in that sense because I’m going to say ‘onto the next, keep calm’.

“We have put ourselves in a very good position, but it doesn’t mean that anything is done.”

Plenty left to play for – Haaland

Erling Haaland made an instant impact on his return to action, scoring the only goal as Manchester City won 1-0 at Tottenham on Wednesday night.

The prolific Norwegian, who has been carrying a knee injury, was forced to watch on as City crashed out of the Champions League at Real Madrid last week and also as they were beaten by Liverpool on Sunday.

The lay-off compounded his frustration with what has been a difficult campaign for City, but the 24-year-old remains hopeful of a strong finish as they target the top four as well as hopes in the FA Cup and Club World Cup.

“I feel good – it’s good to be back,” said Haaland, whose strike at Spurs was his 28th goal of the season.

“It’s been a horrible week but that’s life. You have to look forward, you have to keep going and you have to stay positive because we can still manage to do things.”

WSL struggles see Reds cut Beard

Liverpool sacked manager Matt Beard on Thursday following a poor run of form in the Women’s Super League.

The Reds finished fourth last season, but sit seventh this term after just four wins in 14 games.

Beard won back-to-back WSL titles with the Reds in 2013 and 2014 and returned for a second spell in charge in May 2021.

In his first season back at the helm, he oversaw promotion back into the WSL, but his second tenure ended with a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in Liverpool’s last outing before the international break.

A club statement read: “Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for future success on the pitch.”

Assistant manager Amber Whiteley will take interim charge during the search for a new manager.

What’s on today?

Aston Villa host Cardiff on Friday night when a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup will be up for grabs.

The promotion battle in the Championship continues as top-six hopefuls Sunderland head to Sheffield Wednesday, who will be out to kickstart their own bid to gatecrash the play-offs.

There will also be several Premier League managers holding press conferences ahead of the weekend’s FA Cup action. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is first up, while both Pep Guardiola and Ruben Amorim are set to speak during another busy afternoon schedule.