Key events
Not for the first time today, Leicester should have scored against Blackburn. Stephy Mavididi spurns a great opportunity, the ball rolling across to him, some six yards out and unmarked, but Balazs Toth spreads himself well and makes a great stop. Rovers lead 1-0 with 56 minutes gone.
Per the entry at 12.43pm:
“Re: 8pm vs 12.30pm kick-offs, are the early games really far better for fans?” writes boli BTL. “I hate watching games at lunchtime, evening games under lights definitely have more atmosphere, if you’re at home it’s a much better time to watch a game rather than when you’re just starting the day. Of course, if you’re an away fan it makes getting home a lot easier but then again you have to get up stupidly early to be there at all.”
Goal! Norwich 0-1 Hull (Joe Gelhardt). It’s looking grim for under-pressure Canaries manager Liam Manning. Gelhardt surges clear to run on to a header and calmly converts to open the scoring at Carrow Road.
There’s action at Everton’s ground and Liverpool’s ground today: the Reds host Aston Villa later at 8pm, but it’s also the second Ashes Test in the rugby league between England and Australia at the Hill Dickinson Stadium . That kicks off at 2.30pm and Stuart Goodwin is in the hot seat.
It would be remiss of me not to steer you in the direction of the new Guardian sport Bluesky account, so consider that done.
John Brewin
A healthy and loud Leeds contingent on the way down to Brighton, where their team have a horrible record. The weather is changeable, though sunshine has broken out. This should represent a severe test of Leeds’ credentials? Why only “should”? Brighton can be wildly inconsistent from almost one minute to the next, for all the talent within their team. Defensively, they can be very lax, young players can go off the boil. Can Leeds take advantage? They have not scored against Brighton in their last seven visits, and are finding goals hard to come by this season. Last week’s win at West Ham was valuable but there were still wobbles against opposition who were, frankly, an absolute mess. Brighton should be a lot better than that.
WSL latest: it’s still Chelsea 1-0 London City with Aggie Beever-Jones firing just wide for the champions. And it’s also Manchester City 1-0 West Ham.
Braintree, 4-1 behind against local rivals and underdogs Chelmsford, are now a man down too in the FA Cup. Blatant shirt-pulling on Aidan Francis-Clarke, who responds with a huge swing of the boot at his opponent off the ball, failing to make contact there too.
Championship half-times: Norwich 0-0 Hull, West Brom 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester 0-1 Blackburn.
Lyle Taylor strikes again and Chelmsford lead Braintree 4-1. Pretty shambolic defending from Braintree inside their own half, the ball robbed and running through where Taylor opens his body up and inevitably curls home with his right foot.
Around the Premier League grounds …
Fallows joins Chelsea leadership team
Jacob Steinberg
Chelsea have expanded their sporting leadership structure by adding Liverpool’s former director of recruitment and scouting Dave Fallows to their recruitment team.
Fallows has been appointed as the club’s sporting director focused on football development and joins a team led by the co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
Chelsea’s vision is to have a deep pool of individuals working collaboratively and with specific remits. They also have Joe Shields as sporting director of scouting and talent and Sam Jewell as sporting director of global recruiting. The team of five will have distinct responsibilities under one leadership group, directed by Winstanley and Stewart. Rather than a single focal point Chelsea’s philosophy is to promote shared judgement and accountability.
Fallows has followed his new colleagues in joining on a contract until 2031, underlining Chelsea’s determination to build for the long term. David Weir, Brighton’s former director of football, has also been confirmed as the new sporting director of Strasbourg, Chelsea’s partner club.
Blackburn lead at Leicester. The Foxes should have been ahead earlier, Stephy Mavididi deflecting in a seemingly goalbound header from Jannik Vestergaard when in an offside position. But now the deadlock is broken, Andri Gudjohnsen touching home from close range after an attempted clearance fell kindly to him.
It’s also half-time in the FA Cup: Chelmsford 3-1 Braintree.
Half-times in the WSL: Chelsea 1-0 London City; Manchester City 1-0 West Ham.
Chelmsford 3-1 Braintree. Quite the cup tie as Jesurun Uchegbulam finds himself on the spot at the far post, tucking home from close range.
“Bit strange that Liverpool’s game has been picked by TNT two weeks in a row and both have been moved to 8pm,” posts Deangriff2 below the line. “Understandable last week as they played away in Europe on Wednesday night, but this week they played at Palace on Wednesday. Surely it would have made more sense for this one to go ahead in the normal 12.30pm slot (no pun intended) as the later 8pm kick-off is going to eat into the preparation time for the game against Madrid on Tuesday. I can already hear Slot moaning about the schedule.”
The 12.30pm v 8pm TV slot debate is an interesting one. For years people have complained that the early time produces more sluggish encounters – I’m providing no evidence here – but it’s definitely a friendlier match time for fans and families.
Braintree are back in the game against Chelmsford in the FA Cup. John Akinde, another journeyman of the lower leagues, steps up to slot home from the spot. It’s 2-1.
We interrupt this liveblog to bring you an important update: yes, Toby Alderweireld has been unmasked on the Masked Singer.
More goals! Aoba Fujino has given Manchester City a 1-0 lead against West Ham in the WSL. And there’s a second in the FA Cup, where the much-travelled Lyle Taylor’s shot has corkscrewed in after a brutal deflection; it’s 2-0 to Chelmsford of the National League South against Braintree from the tier above.
Time for the Championship. There are three 12.30pm GMT kick-offs: Leicester City v Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City v Hull City, and West Bromwich Albion v Sheffield Wednesday. And Jeremy Boyce has been in touch again:
In today’s early kick-offs, three of the bottom four are in early nerve-jangling action, all playing fancied opposition who should be doing better than chasing a playoff spot, so it’s difficult to see where any of the strugglers will get any desperately needed points. Wednesday are clearly the worst placed but might find inspiration in their new-found ownership freedom against a mediocre Baggies team. Norwich could hit a barn door with another barn door for now so it looks good for Hull to scurry off back up the east coast with the points. As for former Premier League title winners Leicester and Blackburn, well, ‘nuff said.”
On the ball! The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
Chelmsford go 1-0 up on Braintree in the FA Cup. The hosts take the lead in the Essex derby, smart pressing forcing a weak clearance from goalkeeper Jack Thompson. It’s suddenly three on one, the ball worked left to Jason Adigun, who coolly sidefoots home from inside the penalty area.
Dropping down below the line, thanks for your correspondence, pearcesleftfoot. Nottingham and the City Ground, as ever, is looking good.
At the pub early so having a quick one before everyone else arrives. A fair few Manchester United fans on the train down who seemed far more confident of a result today than any Forest fan I know.
We’ve not scored in the league for 7 matches now so a couple today would be very much welcome. Dyche has had a full week of training now so hopefully we’ll start to see a bit more structure and cohesion from the team but at the moment it’s hard to see where a result is coming from, especially against a somewhat resurgent United. Next weekends fixture against Leeds is shaping up to be a proverbial 6 pointer.
The suns shining at least and the beers cold so that’s a couple of things to be glad about. Good luck to all today, Derby County aside.
Chelsea lead London City 1-0 in the WSL already. Ellie Carpenter opens her account for the champions, tapping home at the back post after a flowing move and smart footwork inside the box from Sandy Baltimore.
Some West Ham reading for you. They host Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday but languish 19th in the table. Here’s Jacob Steinberg:
It speaks volumes that West Ham had a better record at this stage when they went down under Avram Grant in 2010-11. Who knew it was possible to be worse than that team?
Peep!
We have live football. Good day, wherever you are. Thanks for joining us on matchday live today, with games kicking off in the WSL (Chelsea v London City, Manchester City v West Ham) and the FA Cup first round (Chelmsford v Braintree). You can follow all of the latest scores right here, but we’ll keep you abreast of all the goals and news, plus more buildup to a busy afternoon of action in the Premier League.
That’ll do from me. James Dart will keep this rolling with updates from the WSL (kick-off is five minutes away). I’ll be back later on for the afternoon’s clockwatch.
“My lot, NotAsNastyAsTheyUsedToBe Leeds, are on a day out at the Brighton seaside,” writes Jeremy. “They have a terrible record at the Amex, you have to go back to 2009 for the last occasion we left town with the points. Can’t see them getting much joy on the pitch, they might as well try their luck on the slots on the pier. Home win.”
Of course, that game in 2009 was at Withdean Stadium, and ended in a 3-0 Leeds win – Robert Snodgrass, Jermaine Beckford and Neil Kilkenny on the scoresheet.
Brighton v Leeds: Daniel Farke has been lauding his compatriot Fabian Hürzeler this week ahead of their meeting today:
You could tell a few years ago that he was a big talent and full of potential. He’s doing a fantastic job, so credit to him at his young age.
Farke and Leeds come up against their former player Georginio Rutter, who signed for Brighton for a club record fee last year. The Frenchman is yet to find the net this season, with Hürzeler pointing to the departure of João Pedro as a possible factor:
It’s natural when you lose one of your best players that other players have to step up. When João left, Georgi is the next one in this position, so for sure there might be a little bit more attention on him, more focus, more responsibility, but that is also the next step he has to take as a character, as a player.
Crystal Palace v Brentford: The first London derby in the Premier League today is at Selhurst Park. Both teams had big wins in the Carabao Cup in midweek – Palace at Anfield and Brentford at Blundell Park.
There are questions over when Palace will be able to play their quarter-final against Arsenal. The original date of 16 December comes two days after they are scheduled to play Manchester City in the Premier League and two days before they face KuPS in the Conference League. That would be three games in five days and, understandably, Palace have asked to shift the dates:
WSL team news
There are two midday kick-offs in the Women’s Super League:
Chelsea v London City Lionesses
Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Bright, Björn, Bronze, Baltimore, Walsh, Cuthbert, Nüsken, Reiten, Beever-Jones.
Subs: Peng, Macario, Thompson, Girma, Jean-François, Kaptein, Rytting Kaneryd, Kerr, Charles.
London City: Lete, Fernández, Kumagai, Asllani, Linari, Godfrey, Parris, Goodwin, Imuran, Sangaré, Geyoro.
Subs: Poor, Pattinson, Pérez, Franssi, Roddar, Lindström, Zelem, Brown, Kennedy.
Manchester City v West Ham
Man City: Yamashita, Casparij, Prior, Rose, Beney, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Ouahabi, Miedema, Fujino, Shaw.
Subs: Keating, Clinton, Coombs, Wienroither, Knaak, Thomas, Oldroyd, Burdon, Shikhshabekova.
West Ham: Szemik, Endo, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Denton, Siren, Gorry, Morgan, Asseyi, Ueki, Martinez.
Subs: Walsh, Belloumou, Paví, Nyström, Csiki, Brasero, Wandeler, Hanshaw, Houssein.
Salford host Lincoln in the first round of the FA Cup today. Fabio Borini is the latest attraction at the Peninsula Stadium – the former Liverpool and Sunderland striker has signed a short-term deal with the League Two club after training with them.
The 34-year-old, who was part of the Chelsea squad that won the FA Cup in 2010, has been speaking to Will Unwin this week:
An opportunity came along (to sign) and I said I want to play football. It doesn’t really matter the league or context, it’s about football. Salford is being built to be a proper football club. It’s not like they’re throwing money around for no reason … it’s football people doing a football club.”
Fulham v Wolves: One Portuguese manager finding the going tough is Vítor Pereira. Wolves visit Craven Cottage today still searching for their first win of the league season.
Wednesday’s rollercoaster Carabao Cup tie against Chelsea offered supporters a bit of hope, even if it ended in a 4-3 defeat. Last weekend’s 3-2 loss at home to Burnley saw Pereira confront angry fans at the full-time whistle. Ben Fisher has been looking into the situation at Molineux:
Wolves have been stuck in a negative cycle and after another slow start fans are worried this will be the season they fail to escape and spiral into the Championship. Pereira rescued them after arriving last Christmas but much of his credit has evaporated. With every game comes increased pressure.
Nottingham Forest v Manchester United: It’s all going swimmingly for Ruben Amorim at the moment. He has persisted with his 3-4-3 formation and it has yielded three wins in a row – victory at the City Ground today will take them up to second in the league.
The current run of form marks a sharp contrast to the gloom of May’s Europa League final defeat to Spurs, which Amorim revealed this week made him fear for his job:
To lose so many games, that was so hard for me because this is Manchester United. Putting all the attention on the Europa League and not winning, that was massive. So I had some moments where I struggled a lot, and I was thinking: ‘Maybe it’s not meant to be.’ Today is the opposite … Today I feel that it was the best decision in my life (to join), and I want to be here.
Genoa sack Patrick Vieira
After plenty of talk about Arsène Wenger’s former players going well as managers – Arteta, Van Persie, Wilshere, Cesc Fàbregas at Como – one of them has lost his job this morning.
Patrick Vieira has been dismissed by Genoa, who sit bottom of Serie A after failing to win any of their first nine games of the season. The former midfielder was appointed by the Italian side last November and kept them in the top flight with a 13th-place finish.
Earps: I was navigating a dark time during lockdown
In an interview with Donald McRae in the Guardian today, Mary Earps has revealed how her mental health suffered during the pandemic, fuelled by how she thought she was “annihilating” her fitness during lockdown by binge-drinking vodka and “shovelling down biscuits instead of meals”.
I don’t think I had enough energy to be concerned for myself. That probably sounds really ugly but I was navigating a very difficult and dark time. I don’t look back and recognise that person, who didn’t have any zest for life. I’m just grateful I found my way out because not everybody does.
She also describes how casual comments about her weight from coaches knocked her self-esteem..
The world has changed. It just wouldn’t happen now. But it’s a part of who I am and with me struggling at school, and never feeling liked or accepted, (the remarks about her weight) really compounded that. It definitely amplified a thing in my head of never being good enough. That (knocks) your self-esteem as a young person.
Earps, whose autobiography All In is being serialised exclusively by the Guardian, also discussed winning Euro 2022 with the Lionesses, launching a campaign against Nike over goalkeeper shirts and how she handled being replaced by Hannah Hampton with England.
WSL buildup: Stamford Bridge and the Joie Stadium are the settings for the two early kick-offs in the Women’s Super League.
Leaders Chelsea take on London City Lionesses, whose results have improved after a difficult start to life in the top flight. Chelsea’s Sonia Bompastor faced her opposite number, Jocelyn Prêcheur, when she managed Lyon and he PSG:
I know their coach, and he likes to play football. I think he’ll keep the same philosophy as he did against Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. If you reflect on their results, they had a good start to the season because their first games were tough against strong opponents, and they got really good results against direct competitors.
If Chelsea drop points, Manchester City can go top of the WSL with a win at home to West Ham. Last season, Rehanne Skinner’s side put an end to City’s winning streak of 14 in this fixture in the WSL when Manuela Pavi’s late equaliser earned a 1-1 draw.
We worked really hard to get a point out of them last time at home. There were parts of that game where we felt like we could have had more, and that provides the team with confidence. When we’re functioning at our best, we’re in a position to compete with those teams and make life hard for them.
Liverpool v Aston Villa: It’s a massive week for Arne Slot’s defending champions – after today’s game they face Real Madrid in the Champions League before a visit to Manchester City next weekend.
Speaking yesterday, Slot identified Liverpool’s difficulties in converting chances as being more concerning than their leaky defence. They’ve lost six of their last seven games in all competitions and tonight face a Villa side who have won their last four league games.
Against United, how many chances did we concede? Against Frankfurt when we were 3-1 up, we hardly conceded a shot on target. In all the games we played until now we haven’t conceded a lot of chances. Not at all. We do give away a bit more than last season but that has to do with us being 1-0 down so you take a bit more risk. But in general I don’t think that our issue is that we concede too many chances. Our issue is we don’t score the chances we create.
Robin van Persie’s Feyenoord could go back to the top of the Eredivisie if they beat Volendam today. The former Arsenal and Manchester United striker has been speaking to Rob Draper about his coaching career, including how a visit to shadow Pep Guardiola at Manchester City helped inspire him to become a manager:
I had lunch with him, there were a couple of water bottles on the table and he was shuffling them, saying: ‘He moves in here and he moves right. He should go, he should commit, he should come out.’ And he was talking about connections on the pitch. I arrived quite tired after a long day but I was buzzing. Watching the coaching, he was on Kevin De Bruyne, sharp as a knife. It gave me energy.
Burnley v Arsenal: The leaders are at Turf Moor this afternoon looking to go seven points clear at the top of the table.
Mikel Arteta has a decent record away at Burnley as Arsenal manager: played four, won two, drawn two – including a 5-0 rout of Vincent Kompany’s side on their last visit.
Liverpool are the only team to win at Turf Moor in the league this season, with Scott Parker appearing to make a better fist of staying in the top flight than Kompany did.
Our writers (including Jonathan Wilson below) have been assessing the state of the title race this week and asking the question: is it over already?
It’s not just that Arsenal look very good; it’s that it’s very hard to see who could put together a consistent enough run to overhaul them. Liverpool, as Arne Slot keeps admitting, have been worked out; City are also trying to accommodate a number of new players and seem overreliant on Erling Haaland; and Chelsea are blunt without Cole Palmer and look short at the back. Under pressure, there’s a chance any leader can crumble; but nobody looks capable of applying that pressure.
Tottenham v Chelsea: The headline act in the Premier League today comes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the teatime kick-off.
Chelsea have made Spurs’ new stadium a happy hunting ground since their move from White Hart Lane, especially in the last couple of seasons. Ange Postecoglou lost both league games at home to Chelsea, including last season’s 4-3 thriller that saw the visitors recover from conceding two goals in the first 11 minutes.
Thomas Frank is unlikely to throw caution to the wind today. The Dane’s pragmatic approach is in contrast to Enzo Maresca’s possession-based system. Frank’s Brentford held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at home last season.
Jacob Steinberg has been looking at the tactical battle between the two managers:
Will Frank grant them freedom? Chelsea punished Postecoglou’s gung-ho tactics on their past two trips to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Frank will surely be smarter. Is a switch to a back five on the cards? Chelsea have conceded from three long throws this season. Spurs could have Kevin Danso chucking balls into the box. They will note that Chelsea have improved at offensive set pieces but are conceding too many chances.
Predicted lineups: our writers bring you all the latest injury news and put forward their probable XIs for all 10 Premier League fixtures, all drawn up with some handy teamsheet graphics.
Earps: I told Wiegman she was rewarding Hampton’s bad behaviour
Mary Earps has been detailing the story behind her international retirement with England. In her new autobiography All In, serialised exclusively in the Guardian, the PSG goalkeeper reveals the moment she was told by Sarina Wiegman that Hannah Hampton was going to play ahead of her.
After Hampton was initially dropped by England in 2022 because of her behaviour, she was recalled in 2023. In April 2024, Wiegman told Earps she planned to play the Chelsea keeper ahead of her in a Euros qualifier.
“I don’t get it,” Earps says she told Wiegman. “It’s a qualifier match. And bad behaviour is being rewarded.”
In an interview in the Guardian today, Earps says of Hampton: “I think we had different ideas of what being a teammate should be. I think there was a mismatch, a misalignment, of values.”
Asked to elaborate on what the disruptive behaviour was, Earps said: “I don’t want to go into the specifics because it’s not my place … She is a very good goalkeeper and I’ve tried to draw a line under all that. I have messaged her privately to say: ‘Look, no bad blood.’”
Jack Wilshere’s Luton fended off a fightback from Robbie Savage’s Forest Green as the FA Cup first round got under way last night.
Luton took a 3-0 lead, thanks in part to a double from Nakhi Wells, before their National League opponents surged back to 3-3 with 10 minutes to go at Kenilworth Road.
However, Gideon Kodua’s stoppage-time winner spared Luton’s blushes. “Credit to them,” Wilshere said. “We expected them to be like that, a Robbie Savage team. In the first half we did well with killing their spirit. We kept the ball well and it is difficult when they get a bit of momentum. We found a way and sometimes you have to find a way.”
Coventry’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end in the Championship last night. Kieffer Moore’s second-half perfect hat-trick saw Wrexham come from behind to eventually win 3-2 at the Racecourse Ground.
Frank Lampard’s team remain top of the table but Middlesbrough can move level on goal difference with a win at Watford later today. Wrexham climbed into the top half.
“It’s definitely a statement performance and win for us,” said Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson. “We’ve had some terrific performances, but I’m very pleased because this was against an excellent side. If you look at Coventry’s stats, not just the wins, they’re at the top of everything.”
Fixture list
First, a look at today’s timing from across the UK and Europe. All kick-offs 3pm (GMT) unless stated:
Premier League
Brighton v Leeds
Burnley v Arsenal
Crystal Palace v Brentford
Fulham v Wolves
Nottingham Forest v Manchester United
Tottenham v Chelsea (5.30pm)
Liverpool v Aston Villa (8pm)
WSL
Chelsea v London City Lionesses (12pm)
Manchester City v West Ham (12pm)
Championship highlights
Leicester v Blackburn (12.30pm)
Oxford Utd v Millwall
Sheffield Utd v Derby
Stoke v Bristol City
Watford v Middlesbrough
FA Cup highlights
Chelmsford v Braintree (12pm)
Bolton v Huddersfield
Burton v St Albans
Buxton v Chatham
Wigan v Hemel Hempstead
Wycombe v Plymouth
Brackley v Notts County (5.30pm)
Scotland highlights
League Cup semi-final: Motherwell v St Mirren (5.30pm)
Premiership: Hearts v Dundee
Europe highlights
Atlético Madrid v Sevilla (3.15pm)
PSG v Nice (4pm)
Napoli v Como (5pm)
Real Sociedad v Athletic Club (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Cremonese v Juventus (7.45pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (8pm)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to matchday live. The Premier League title race could take another significant twist today with Arsenal and Liverpool both in action. There’s also the London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea, which so often produces storylines, and Manchester United’s quest for a fourth successive win at Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest.
Over the next few hours we’ll be building up to all that, plus the early kick-offs in the WSL and Football League, not to mention the box of tricks that is the FA Cup first round.
Please do get in touch via the designated [email protected] email or comment below the line with your plans, predictions and opinions ahead of the day’s football.
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