Today’s back pages: Morgan hits out at Hales and smart Alex stars for Arsenal

Arsenal and Chelsea were in Europa League semi-final action last night but many newspapers this morning are leading on England dropping Alex Hales from their Cricket World Cup squad.

Hales was expected to play in the World Cup but it was reported earlier this week that the 30-year-old was serving a 21-day suspension for testing positive for recreational drugs.

England one-day captain Eoin Morgan faced the press yesterday and was asked about Hales. Metro reports that England’s senior players “called for Hales axe” while the back-page headlines in i Sport and The Guardian focus on Morgan accusing Hales of showing a “complete disregard” for England’s team values.

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Pride of London

Capital rivals Arsenal and Chelsea will be confident of reaching the Uefa Europa League final. In the semi-final first legs the Gunners beat Valencia 3-1 at the Emirates while the Blues secured a vital away goal with a 1-1 draw in Germany against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Daily Mail and Daily Express say that Arsenal have the advantage thanks to “Smart Alex”. After scoring twice in the 3-1 win striker Alexandre Lacazette was also hailed as “Alexandre the great” by The Daily Telegraph.

The Gunners are “Auba the moon” the Daily Star reports while The Times says “London restores pride” in Europe following poor results for Liverpool and Tottenham in the Champions League semi-finals.

Hangover for Liverpool?

After their 3-0 loss against Barcelona Liverpool return to the Premier League title race this weekend with a trip to Newcastle United on Saturday.

Left-back Andy Robertson has urged the Reds to get their “chins up”, the Daily Mirror reports, while the Independent quotes the Scotland international who says there is “no time for a hangover” from the Camp Nou defeat.