• Manager says it is important for players to learn from mistakes
• Chelsea face Tottenham aiming to boost their European chances

Mauricio Pochettino has said the volume of youngsters at Chelsea has made it harder to guide his players down the right path.

Pochettino, who is determined to build his inconsistent team’s mentality, wanted to talk before Thursday’s home game against Tottenham about the challenge of looking after a squad full of youthful players. The Argentinian explained that helping young players learn from their mistakes was more difficult when the dressing room is so short on experienced figures.

Mauricio Pochettino criticised Chelsea’s soft centre after a bruising defeat in midweek but they showed some mettle to bounce back from a two-goal deficit and earn a creditable draw at Aston Villa. Noni Madueke dragged Chelsea back into the contest soon after the hour before Conor Gallagher, seemingly inspired by the captain’s armband, located the top corner with a beautiful strike with nine minutes of normal time to play. Axel Disasi then thought he had scored a stoppage-time winner for Chelsea only for it to be disallowed after a push by Benoît Badiashile on Diego Carlos was referred by the VAR.

Unai Emery banged the pristine red turf in front of the home dugout after Morgan Rogers scored Villa’s second goal on 42 minutes but his evening ended in frustration. Ollie Watkins skied a rare second-half opening, blazing over close to the penalty spot with a couple of minutes left. Villa can only hope they do not look back on this draw as a costly slip in the race for the top four.

• Premier League updates, 8pm BST kick-off at Villa Park
• Live scoreboard | West Ham 2-2 Liverpool | And drop Tim a mail

We have an email. “What does it mean,” wonders Stephen Taylor, “‘if the FA gets its way’?” Sorry not to be clear – I was referring to this story.

Aston Villa (possible 4-4-1-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Tielemans, Douglas Luiz, Rogers; McGinn; Watkins.

Liverpool await a dead-ball salvo, Luton have to keep their chins up, and things could get spicy at the City Ground

David Moyes will surely have taken note of Liverpool’s struggle to defend set pieces against Everton. Jürgen Klopp, who must be delighted with a 12.30pm kick-off on Saturday, should prepare his team for another bruising test when they visit West Ham. For Moyes, this is a chance to repair the sizeable damage to his reputation caused by last weekend’s collapse at Selhurst Park . West Ham were 4-0 down to Palace after 31 minutes and are preparing to part company with Moyes at the end of the season, but they should take heart from how Everton unsettled Liverpool in the Merseyside derby. Everton scored twice from set pieces and West Ham pose a similar threat from dead balls. James Ward-Prowse’s deliveries towards Tomas Soucek, Kurt Zouma and Michail Antonio will have Klopp’s defenders sweating. Jacob Steinberg

West Ham v Liverpool, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Fulham v Crystal Palace, Saturday 3pm

Newcastle v Sheffield United, Saturday 3pm

Manchester United v Burnley, Saturday 3pm

• Saif Alrubie denies intimidation over transfer fee commission
• Alrubie alleges he was owed £300,000 from Kurt Zouma deal

A top football agent has accused a former Chelsea executive of repeatedly lying about a transfer fee in order for the Premier League club to avoid paying him a commission, Southwark crown court has heard.

During an at times irascible appearance as the defendant, the agent Saif Alrubie, said Chelsea ’s former director of football, Marina Granovskaia, misrepresented how much West Ham had paid the west London club for France defender Kurt Zouma in 2021 – effectively cutting him out of the deal and depriving him of fees.

• Inguinal hernia has hampered £106.8m Argentina midfielder
• Mauricio Pochettino under pressure after consecutive defeats

Mauricio Pochettino’s hopes of holding on to his job as Chelsea’s head coach have been complicated by Enzo Fernández needing to undergo surgery on a groin injury that will rule out the £106.8m midfielder for the rest of the season.

Fernández has an inguinal hernia and the operation is set to sideline the Argentinian for the final six games, beginning with Saturday night’s trip to Aston Villa. The former Benfica midfielder has clearly been hampered by the injury and having surgery now will keep him in contention to play at this summer’s Copa América.

• Manager says midfielder asked to leave City two seasons before
• Pochettino confirms Enzo Fernández is playing with a hernia

Pep Guardiola has described Cole Palmer as the “decisive player of the season” and said Manchester City must find a way of negating him in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea. Guardiola also revealed that Palmer asked to leave City for two seasons before making his £42m move to west London in September .

Palmer joined City at under-eight level and made 19 appearances for the club across three years before leaving for Chelsea, and having scored for City in their Community Shield defeat to Arsenal in August, as well as in their European Super Cup victory over Sevilla that followed 10 days later. He will line up against last season’s treble winners as the Premier League joint-top scorer with 20 goals, alongside Erling Haaland, who is a doubt for the semi-final.

• Club’s losses reduced by property deal with sister company
• Chelsea would have lost £166.4m without hotel sales

Premier League clubs reacted with exasperation after seeing that ­Chelsea eased their financial ­position with the £76.5m sale of two hotels to a ­sister company in a deal that appears to have helped the club avoid a breach of profitability and ­sustainability rules (PSR).

Chelsea’s accounts, published last weekend, revealed the club made a loss of £89.9m in the last financial year. That figure would have been £166.4m without the hotels sale from Chelsea FC Holdings Ltd to Blueco 22 Properties Ltd. Both companies are subsidiaries of Chelsea’s holding company, Blueco 22 Ltd.

Forward, who faces Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday, has managed a debut season goal tally up there with big names

The pure poacher’s instinct. The understanding of timing and angles, the striker’s sixth sense for exactly where the ball is going to be, and exactly what he’s going to do with it. The ball is loose in the penalty area, and as Nicolas Jackson swoops in with the late run his eyes are fixed firmly on the target. Which, alas, is wedged under the arm of his teammate Cole Palmer.

“Next time they’re all out,” Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino fumed after the penalty fracas on Monday night that somehow managed – in true Chelsea fashion – to snatch a PR disaster from the jaws of a thumping 6-0 victory . As for Jackson, the incident with Palmer and Noni Madueke hardened the views of many Chelsea fans against him, which is some considerable achievement in a game where you have also managed a goal and an assist.