1 day ago
12
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Leeds have started brightly at Newcastle, in what I reckon might be the biggest game in England between one-club cities. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong, of course.
Premier League half-times
Bournemouth 2-1 Tottenham
Brentford 1-0 Sunderland
Crystal Palace 0-0 Aston Villa
Everton 1-0 Wolves
Fulham 1-0 Chelsea 🟥
Manchester City 1-0 Brighton
No goal! Harry Wilson slots home from 12 yards out – but Jimenez was just offside as he ran back to hold the ball up. Lucky for Chelsea’s ragged back line, who almost played Fulham onside twice in that move.
8.15pm games under way
Two more games, sure, why not? Burnley v Manchester United, and Newcastle v Leeds, are both up and running. You can follow events at Turf Moor with Daniel Harris:
Antoine Semenyo is booked on what looks likely to be his final Bournemouth appearance. At Selhurst Park, Villa are having marginally the better of a scrappy game, but it remains goalless.
Back at Craven Cottage, Cole Palmer stings Leno’s palms with a shot from distance, before Smith Rowe goes close with his own effort from the edge of the area.
Pep Guardiola was booked before the penalty was taken, and our man on the ground, Will Unwin, reports he had a heated exchange of words with Fabian Hurzeler.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Brighton (Haaland pen 40')
Normal service resumed as Haaland slots the penalty home. There’s a sense of relief around the Etihad, where City had really been struggling for inspiration.
Penalty for Manchester City? VAR are checking Diego Gomez’s challenge on Doku – it looks a pretty clear penalty, and Thomas Bramall points to the spot. A chance for Haaland to end his mini-drought …
GOAL! Bournemouth 2-1 Tottenham (Kroupi 32')
A quick turnaround at the Vitality, with Senesi cutting back for Eli Junior Kroupi to score, after Semenyo air-kicked his shot.
No joy for Manchester City so far, with Brighton happy to soak up pressure. “Are you going to mention all the empty seats at the Etihad?” demands Alexis Panton. I’d say you’ve done it for me.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Sunderland (Thiago 26')
What’s happening at the Gtech then? Well, the hosts have taken the lead through red-hot striker Igor Thiago, who runs onto a through ball, rounds Robin Roefs and slots home. That’s his 15th league goal of the season – and Brentford are fifth as it stands.
Newcastle v Leeds teams (8.15pm KO)
Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Barnes, Woltemade, Gordon.
Subs: Trippier, Ramsdale, Botman, Wissa, Livramento, Jacob Murphy, Willock, Alex Murphy, Ramsey.
Leeds (3-5-1-1): Lucas Perri; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Justin, Gruev, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Aaronson; Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Darlow, Piroe, Nmecha, Okafor, Harrison, Tanaka, Bornauw, Byram, Gnonto.
Wilson’s free kick, and Jimenez’s shot on the rebound, are both blocked, with Santos taking the latter squarely in the bread basket. Chelsea are set to make a change, bringing on Jorrel Hato for the ailing Santos.
Chelsea’s players will not stop complaining – I’m not really sure on what grounds – and both Fernandez and Tosin are booked for dissent. Marco Silva joins them, presumably complaining Fulham have a free kick on the edge of the area, rather than a penalty.
Red card! Cucurella sent off for Chelsea
Chelsea had been dominating but Fulham break away, and Harry Wilson gets beyond Cucurella, who stops him with a tug on the arm. Peter Bankes shows a straight red card, and it’s upheld by the VAR!
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-1 Tottenham (Evanilson 21')
Bournemouth are back on terms, through a terrific Evanilson header. Tavernier curled in a perfect cross, and the Brazilian got up to head emphatically past Vicario!
Brennan Johnson looks poised to score his first Palace goal – but Emi Martínez makes a fine save to deny him. Back at Craven Cottage, another corner causes problems, with Leno saving from Caicedo at close range.
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Wolves (Keane 17')
The Wolves revival stalls as Michael Keane gets a toe to the ball in a crowded area, and fires Everton in front!
An Aston Villa handball shout is waved away at Selhurst Park, while back at the Etihad, debutant Max Alleyne heads wide from a corner. Did you know: he’s the son of former England cricketer Mark Alleyne? You do now.
Cole Palmer goes down on the edge of the area, but the decision goes against him for handball as he fell. The Craven Cottage faithful liked that one.
While we wait for some more goals, here’s what Liam Rosenior had to say on Sky before kick-off.
“For this opportunity to come up at this stage of my career is great but my biggest focus is not about being Chelsea manager, it’s about being a winning Chelsea manager, and that is the message that I gave the players yesterday. We need to hit the ground running for the rest of the season.
Every manager has an idea of the way that they want to play, [but] it has to suit the players. I think that is one of the reasons I have been brought to the club, it suits the players perfectly, but you have to be able to adapt in terms of tactics, systems, formations. That’s why I was brought into the project to begin with.
“To be honest I never thought it would end up with me stood here in January as Chelsea manager, but in life you never know what’s going to happen.”
Erling Haaland hasn’t scored in three league games – quite the drought by his standards. He looks to get in behind Brighton’s back five on the break, but Phil Foden can’t find the through ball.
Cucurella’s cross is cleared away by Diop, but Chelsea have a corner. Enzo Fernandez whips it in and Leno has to punch off the goal line, under pressure from Delap.
In the Spanish Super Cup, Barcelona have raced into a 3-0 lead over Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid take on Atlético in the second semi-final tomorrow night.
GOAL! Bournemouth 0-1 Tottenham (Tel 5')
Mathys Tel with a very welcome goal for Spurs! He cuts in from the left wing and drills a low shot into the far corner. Petrovic might have done better, although Tel’s shot may have taken a slight deflection.
An early half-chance for Fulham, with Harry Wilson denied by Sánchez at the near post. He had time and space to test the Chelsea keeper further.
Here we go!
Six Premier League games up and running. We’ll focus on the action at Craven Cottage to start with, but will endeavour to cover every game, everywhere, all at once.
Full time in Serie A, and it’s ended Napoli 2-2 Verona. Giovanni di Lorenzo pulled a late goal back for the hosts, after Rasmus Højlund’s strike was ruled out by VAR.
Get well soon, King Kev.
Manchester United begin their post-Amorim era at Turf Moor tonight. You can follow that one with Daniel Harris.
“Very disappointed Liam Rosenior has joined Chelsea,” writes Richard Hirst. “I was hoping they would take Marco Silva so that Liam could come to his and his father’s homeland. Cut his Premiership teeth in a more supportive environment at Craven Cottage, moving to SW6’s second team later on if absolutely necessary.”
There are also five Serie A games tonight, and in one of two earlier kick-offs, Napoli are in a spot of bother at home to struggling Verona. The visitors took a shock 2-0 lead but Scott McTominay has pulled one back. Elsewhere, Atalanta lead 2-0 at Bologna, while Inter face Parma later on.
Brentford v Sunderland teams
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Henry, Yarmolyuk, Janelt; Jensen, Lewis-Potter, Schade; Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, van den Berg, Pinnock, Henderson, Nelson, Damsgaard, Peart-Harris, Donovan.
Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Roefs; Hume, Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete; Geertruida, Xhaka; Rigg, Le Fée, Adingra; Brobbey.
Subs: Tutierov, Harrison Jones, Hjelde, Mundle, O’Nien, Mayenda, Neil, Cirkin, Patterson.
Everton v Wolves teams
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Iroegbunam; McNeil, Armstrong, Grealish; Barry.
Subs: Travers, King, Patterson, Beto, Dibling, Rohl, Aznou, Welch, Campbell.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-5-2): Jose Sá, Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Krejci; Tchatchoua, Arias, Joáo Gomes, Mané, Hugo Bueno; Arokodare, Hwang.
Subs: Johnstone, Doherty, Wolfe, Andre Trindade, Larsen, Pedro Lima, Chirewa, Lopez, Ojinnaka.
Bournemouth v Tottenham teams
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Jiménez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Scott, Cook; Semenyo, Tavernier, Junior Kroupi; Evanilson.
Subs: Forster, Soler, Brooks, Smith, Diakité, Adli, Unal, Milosavljevic, Rees-Dottin.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Spence; João Palhinha, Bentancur, Bergvall; Kolo Muani, Tel, Simons.
Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Danso, Richarlison, Gray, Odobert, Davies, Scarlett, Williams-Barnet.
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa teams
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Canvot, Lacroix, Guéhi; Devenny, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Johnson, Pino; Mateta.
Subs: Benitez, Uche, Sosa, Richards, Rodney, King, Benamar, Casey, Drakes-Thomas.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Lindelöf, Digne; Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn; Rogers, Sancho, Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Buendía, Torres, García, Malen, Jimoh, Maatsen, Bogarde, Hemmings.
So, some interesting changes in the Chelsea line-up, with Reece James and João Pedro dropping to the bench, replaced by Andrey Santos – who was impressive off the bench against City on Sunday – and Liam Delap.
As for City, they’ve handed a first-team debut to Max Alleyne after recalling the young centre-back from his loan at Watford. Rodri and Rayan Cherki start on the bench.
Man City v Brighton teams
Manchester City (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Matheus Nunes, Khusanov, Alleyne, Ake; González, Bernardo Silva, Reijnders; Foden, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Trafford, Cherki, Rodri, O’Reilly, McAidoo, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni, Reigan Heskey.
Brighton (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Ayari, Gross; Mitoma, Gómez, De Cuyper; Rutter.
Subs: Steele, Gruda, Watson, Welbeck, Milner, Boscagli, Coppola, Tasker, Howell.
Fulham v Chelsea team news
Fulham (3-4-2-1): Leno; Diop, Andersen, Cuenca; Castagne, Berge, Cairney, Robinson; Wilson, Smith Rowe; Jiménez.
Subs: Lecomte, Reed, Traore, Kusi-Asare, Lukic, Kevin, Sessegnon, Amissah, Ridgeon.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; Gusto, Adarabioyo, Chalobah, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernández, Pedro Neto; Delap.
Subs: Jorgensen, Bynoe-Gittens, João Pedro, Hato, James, Fofana, Acheampong, Estevao, Garnacho.
Some sad news to bring you – Spurs legend Martin Chivers has died aged 80. The team’s players will wear black armbands at Bournemouth tonight as a tribute.
Today’s Football Daily takes a peek into the West Ham doom vortex …
Wednesday's Premier League games
Kick-offs 7.30pm GMT unless stated …
Bournemouth v Tottenham
Brentford v Sunderland
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Everton v Wolves
Fulham v Chelsea
Manchester City v Brighton
Burnley v Manchester United (8.15pm)
Newcastle v Leeds (8.15pm)
Preamble
A new era technically begins for Chelsea tonight, with Liam Rosenior appointed on Tuesday. No manager/head coach/performance coordinator wants to start with a derby, though, so Calum McFarlane stays in charge tonight. While their rivalry with Fulham hasn’t always been the fiercest, Craven Cottage under the lights has been a problem for Liverpool and Manchester City already this season.
With Arsenal hosting Liverpool on Thursday, City and Aston Villa must seize the chance to apply pressure and cut back that six-point gap at the top. Pep Guardiola’s stumblers host Brighton, who recently ended a long winless run, while Villa go to Crystal Palace, who are still stuck in their barren patch.
The same goes for Bournemouth, who will aim to end an 11-game stretch without a victory at home to Tottenham. In another surprising stat, Thomas Frank’s shiftless side still have the second-best away record in the league. Frank’s former team, Brentford, host Sunderland in a battle of surprise chasers of continental football.
Everton are struggling at their new stadium, so Wolves are either the best or worst visitors they could have tonight. In another glass-half-full/empty contest, Leeds (unbeaten in seven, with five draws) go to Newcastle. Eddie Howe’s side are improving, but they are also the last team to ever lose to Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United.
