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• Skinner lauds 'history-makers' after Man Utd lift Women's FA Cup

  Marc Skinner lauded his Manchester United Women side as "history-makers" after their first FA Cup triumph in history on Sunday.

  The Red Devils swept aside Tottenham Women with a 4-0 victory at Wembley Stadium as Ella Toone and Rachel Williams were on target before Lucia Garcia's second-half double.

  United missed out in the final of the Women's FA Cup last season, losing to Chelsea 1-0, but produced an emphatic response to secure the first major trophy in their history.

  Having lost in Champions League qualifying, suffered group-stage elimination in the League Cup and sitting fifth in the Women's Super League, Skinner was delighted with his side's response in the capital.

  The United boss told BBC One: "We are obviously not where we want in the league, right? But we are history-makers for Manchester United.

  "I didn't need to remind the owners of that, they know. There is a lot of support and love for our team and the growth.

  "We want to compete for titles but you all know how important adding that first piece of silverware is. We've got nothing but growth ahead."

  Toone provided the first moment of magic with a rocketed right-footed finish into the top corner from the edge of the area, setting the tone on the stroke of half-time after a dominant opening 45 minutes.

  "In all honesty, I felt that first half was just frustration because we didn't score, I thought we offered more of a threat, we controlled most of their threat," Skinner added.

  "As much as I am exhausted now, it is a magical feeling. Tooney scored one of those goals at Leicester but it is another thing to do it at Wembley.

  "I told her on the podium you have to feel it, remember it because it comes and goes too quick, and that is what she did. Congratulations to her and the team, we are FA Cup winners."

  Williams added the second with her headed finish after 54 minutes, though the United forward admitted this season has been far below usual standards.

  "We don't like to admit it but it does mask over the issues we've had," Williams told BBC One.

  "We have had some ups and downs this year. That's for Marc [Skinner] and the backroom staff to be like 'right this is what we have to do in the summer'.

  "We are going to have change things next year. We have had some injuries, three or four ACLs, at the start of the season. That's football, teams go through transition.

  "You have a good year, you have a dip. Next year we might just come back bigger, better and stronger and who knows we might just be lifting the league."

• Klopp in awe of 'incredible' Emery ahead of Villa Park showdown

  Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the "incredible job" Unai Emery has done during his time at Aston Villa ahead of Monday's contest between the sides.

  Emery guided Villa into the Europa Conference League in his first campaign in charge, where they made it to the semi-final stage.

  The Villans' Euro campaign was ended by Olympiacos on Thursday, but they are one win from securing a Champions League spot for next term.

  Emery's men, who lost 1-0 at Brighton last time out in the league, can get themselves over the line with a game to spare when Liverpool visit Villa Park next up.

  "He's done an incredible job," Klopp said. "Emery is one of the best we have in the business, 100 per cent. Wherever he was, he had success. 

  "Sometimes clubs were not ready to wait for it, maybe. If you look back probably these clubs would have made different decisions. 

  "The job he is doing is absolutely exceptional. We all know how important it is for a club to qualify for the Champions League, how difficult it is."

  Liverpool enter the contest third in the Premier League, 11 points better off than Villa, with their title hopes now officially over.

  While there may not be a great deal on the line for the Reds on the face of it, this will be Klopp's final away game as Liverpool manager.

  The German is departing after next week's home match with Wolves, and Villa skipper John McGinn says he will be missed.

  "The league has been very lucky to have Klopp," McGinn said. "He has obviously got an identity and a really strong team. He will be missed.

  "I think everyone knows what we think of our own manager. We are very lucky to have him and his staff. They work endlessly to make us better."

  
  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Aston Villa - Ollie Watkins

  Watkins has failed to score in back-to-back games in all competitions for Villa, with his blank against Brighton leaving him one short of the 20-goal mark in the Premier League this season.

  The last Villa player to reach that mark in a top-flight campaign was Peter Withe in 1980-81.

  The omens are certainly good, as only against Brighton (six) - ironically - has Watkins scored more goals in the competition than he has against Liverpool (five).

  Liverpool - Mohamed Salah

  Salah returned to the Liverpool starting line-up last weekend and both scored and assisted in the 4-2 win over Tottenham.

  The Egyptian has now both scored and assisted in four different Premier League games this season - only Chelsea's Cole Palmer (five) has done so more often.

  Across his entire Premier League career, Salah has done so 31 times in total, with that a tally only Wayne Rooney (36) and Thierry Henry (32) can better.

  MATCH PREDICTION - LIVERPOOL WIN

  Villa lost 1-0 to Brighton in their most recent league game, but they have not lost successive Premier League matches since May last year.

  Liverpool were 4-2 winners against Tottenham last time out, meanwhile, and have lost just one of their past 26 league games played in May.

  This is a fixture the Reds tend to do well in, however, as they have lost just once and won 10 times in their past 12 league games with Villa.

  Indeed, Liverpool have won more Premier League away games against Villa than they have any other opponents (16).

  Historically speaking, meanwhile, Liverpool have lost only one of their eight final away league games under Klopp, last doing so in 2018.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Aston Villa - 27.1%

  Draw - 27.7%

  Liverpool - 45.2%

• West Brom 0-0 Southampton: Hawthorns draw sets up intriguing second leg

  West Brom and Southampton played out a goalless draw at the Hawthorns on Sunday in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.

  Both teams had plenty of chances, but a combination of poor finishing and impressive goalkeeping from the Saints' Alex McCarthy and the Baggies' Alex Palmer ensured the tie remains finely poised for the return leg at St Mary's Stadium on Friday.

  Roared on by a loud Hawthorns, the hosts started well but were unable to capitalise, and it was Southampton who went closest in the first half as Kyle Walker-Peters smashed a deflected effort wide, while Palmer kept out Flynn Downes' shot.

  West Brom rallied, though, and had a golden opportunity to take the lead with 33 minutes on the clock as Grady Diangana nodded Tom Fellows' cross goalwards, only for McCarthy to get across and make a brilliant stop.

  The tempo slowed somewhat after the interval, but the game burst into life again with just over 10 minutes to play, as McCarthy denied Diangana before substitute Ross Stewart lashed goalwards up the other end, only to see his shot somehow kept out by the wrong-footed Palmer.

  Both sides pressed for a precious goal late on, but neither could break the deadlock and it remains all to play for at St Mary's to see who will face either Leeds United or Norwich City at Wembley on May 26.

  Data debrief

  There was certainly attacking endeavour on display at the Hawthorns, but neither side could find the back of the net despite the teams combining for 1.76 xG (expected goals), split 1.03 for Southampton and 0.73 for the hosts.

  With Norwich and Leeds drawing 0-0 in their first leg earlier on Sunday, it is the first time since 2011 that the first leg of both Championship play-off semi-finals have ended goalless.