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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Dominic Booth

Everton 1-0 Burnley, Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford and more: clockwatch – as it happened

Burnley Everton Aston Villa Brentford the Premier League Phil Foden
Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (centre) celebrates scoring the only goal of the game against Burnley.
Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (centre) celebrates scoring the only goal of the game against Burnley. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Bonus Championship roundup for you:

And here’s your final Premier League report for the 3pm games, after West Ham edged out Wolves with a dollop of late VAR controversy for good measure.

There was no shortage of drama on today’s clockwatch, as usually seems to be the case. Thanks to all who sent in their correspondence, it was good fun to be back in the chair. Bye for now!

Are Luton staying up? The Hatters are certainly happy today. Here’s the report from the Kenny.

Leicester were the big winners in the Championship automatic promotion race today, with Ipswich and Leeds both losing. It’s still a really tough one to call with two points separating the top three.

To Goodison. Where Everton got a slice of fortune and a gift from their visitors to enhance their chances of survival this season.

Meanwhile, Jacob Steinberg watched Newcastle give their Europa League hopes a boost in the west London sunshine.

Kudos to Ben Fisher for being our first on-site correspondent to file his match report this afternoon, especially amid the madness at Villa Park.

There sure were some ugly scenes on the pitch after full-time at Molineux.

Gary O’Neil will feel aggrieved – his Wolves side have seen numerous VAR decisions go against them this time – but he struggled to contain his anger and that of his players towards referee Tony Harrington at the end.

Newcastle fans were also angry at the officials for chalking that Fabian Schär goal off, with Jarred Gillett taking the brunt of criticism. Before Bruno Guimarães had the last laugh.

Updated

And breathe, everyone.

Or don’t breathe if you prefer. There’s more live football coming up very soon in the shape of Brighton v Arsenal.

League One: Portsmouth’s promotion is now pending after a 3-1 win over Shrewsbury. Bolton kept their hopes alive by winning 2-0 at Bristol Rovers. Cheltenham lost 3-1 at Leyton Orient to slide closer to relegation.

League Two: Mansfield are the big losers after a 4-1 reverse at home to Crawley, while Stockport won 3-1 at Sutton and Wrexham 2-1 at Colchester. MK Dons also did their bit away from home, 2-0 winners at Forest Green.

Well, once again we find ourselves here in the Premier League, with top pundits and managers alike seeing steam coming out of their ears with regards to VAR.

(It did actually feel like VAR and the referees were staying out of the headlines, for a time, but that was never going to last).

FT scores – Premier League

  • Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford

  • Everton 1-0 Burnley

  • Fulham 0-1 Newcastle

  • Luton 2-1 Bournemouth

  • Wolves 1-2 West Ham

FT scores – Championship

  • Blackburn 0-0 Southampton

  • Cardiff 1-3 Hull

  • Coventry 2-1 Leeds

  • Huddersfield 1-0 Millwall

  • Leicester 2-1 Birmingham

  • Middlesbrough 2-0 Swansea

  • QPR 0-2 Sheff Weds

  • Stoke 2-2 West Brom

  • Sunderland 0-0 Bristol City

  • Watford 0-0 Preston

NO GOAL! Wolves 1-2 West Ham

Kilman’s goal has been chalked off due to offside, so maybe Moyes won’t be so seething after all. The home bench is up in arms at that decision.

Updated

GOAL! Wolves 2-2 West Ham (Kilman, 90 + 9)

West Ham have let another lead slip and David Moyes will be seething.

Wolves level deeeep into added time from a corner, captain Max Kilman heading home for the goal.

Updated

Full time at Everton. 1-0 to the Toffees. Their run of 13 matches without a win is over, thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal.

Pretty much every game in the Premie League and Championship is live as we go deeper and deeper into added time.

Everton clinging on against Burnley, Villa and Brentford trying to land punches, Luton looking to hold onto what they have amid a Bournemouth siege …

Championship: Talking of big goals in big survival fights … Rhys Healey nods Huddersfield in front late on against Millwall! The Terriers are scrapping for their lives and would jump out of the drop zone if it stays 1-0 today.

GOAL! Luton 2-1 Bournemouth (Morris, 90)

Have the Hatters stolen this? What a moment this could be the their survival bid and it was always going to be the big man, Carlton Morris. It sends Rob Edwards sprinting down the touchline in celebration.

Updated

Championship: Leicester have scored in the 87th minute! Stephy Mavididi meets a sensational cross with his head to cue pandemonium at the King Power. With the Foxes 2-1 up, could that be the goal that seals promotion?

Bundesliga: Bayern lost 3-2 to Heidenheim after leading 2-0. Ridiculous.

Leverkusen, though, are ready for their coronation after a 1-0 victory at Union Berlin, while RB Leipzig gave their top four hopes a shot in the arm by winning 4-1 at Freiburg.

In all the chaos, I didn’t quite see that JWP’s goal for West Ham came DIRECTLY FROM A CORNER. That deserves an MBM entry all of its own, so consider this that.

If anyone was going to perform such a feat, it was going to be Ward-Prowse.

Tell us what you really think, Alan.

So many goals. So little time. My fingers are hurting.

GOAL! Wolves 1-2 West Ham (Ward-Prowse , 84)

Oh that’s a horrid mistake from José Sá in the Wolves’ goal. He misjudges a cross and allows James Ward-Prowse to claim the goal that puts West Ham 2-1 up. The Hammers have been superb in the second half.

Updated

GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Newcastle (Guimarães, 81)

THIS ONE WILL STAND. Bruno Guimarães scores after brilliant stuff from Harvey Barnes.

Updated

Championship: Stoke are now back on level terms, 2-2 at home to West Brom, while Joël Piroe has injected some life into Leeds’ afternoon at Coventry. They’re 2-1 down but are going all guns blazing for another goal. Middlesbrough have doubled their lead at home to Swansea.

Updated

Brentford are having some say in the race for Champions League qualification, aren’t they? They dominated Manchester United the other day and they’re now involved in a ding-dong contest against Aston Villa. Spurs will be delighted that they’ve already played the Bees twice this term.

NO GOAL! Fulham 0-0 Newcastle

Chalk that effort off, VAR does indeed say there’s a foul and the goal will not stand. Back to 0-0!

GOAL! Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford (Watkins, 80)

More drama at Villa Park! Brentford had been pushing for a fourth, but Watkins jumps highest to achieve parity for the hosts. Breathless stuff in this second half.

Updated

VAR are checking that Newcastle goal. There was a possible foul by Dan Burn in the buildup …

GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Newcastle (Schär, 75)

Fabian Schär arrives at the back post to steer the Magpies ahead at the Cottage after good work from Anthony Gordon. It’s taken a while but Newcastle have been the more deserving …

Another Scottish Championship update via Simon McMahon:

Talking of a sensational couple of minutes, Dundee United are 5-0 up at Queens Park, though Raith have retaken the lead after former United man Logan Chalmers briefly brought Ayr level.

In Scottish League Two Stenhousemuir are 0-0 at home to East Fife needing a win to guarantee the title, though with Peterhead also level a draw would be enough if both results stay that way …

GOAL! Luton 1-1 Bournemouth (Clark, 73)

Jordan Clark with the daisy-cutter that beats Neto from the edge of the box. A fine goal and it’s another game perfectly set up for an exciting finish today.

This afternoon has burst into life!

Updated

Who is Brentford’s true talisman?

Kevin Wilson has some thoughts, as he emails in. “Any thoughts on the idea that Mbeumo is more important to Brentford than Toney? When the latter was suspended at the end of the previous season the Bees held their own partly because of Mbeumo’s terrific form. Hopefully the Bees stay up and then Toney’s inevitable departure may not be as bad as you’d think.”

Hmm, I’d still plump for Toney, Kevin, but it’s a worthy debate.

GOAL! Wolves 1-1 West Ham (Paquetá, 72)

Lucas Paquetá stutters, slows down and then slots home from 12 yards. All square between the Ws, it looks like nobody will get the W.

Updated

Penalty! West Ham have a chance to get one back against Wolves, in the exact same fashion that the hosts’ went ahead. Max Kilman with one of the more clear handballs we’ll see this season.

Updated

Everton 1-0 Burnley: Dara O’Shea’s sending off is upheld by VAR after Michael Oliver has little hesitation in brandishing the red card following a dangerous tackle on Dwight McNeil. The Clarets like making it difficult for themselves, don’t they?

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-3 Brentford (Wissa, 68)

Brentford. BRENTFORD. BREEEEEENTFORRRRD!

Sergio Reguilon sweeps in the cross from left wing-back and Yoane Wissa has a simple tap-in from close range. The comeback is complete with three goals in less than 10 minutes!

Updated

RED CARD! Dara O'Shea (Burnley)

Dara O’Shea has been shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge.

This will be reviewed, mind you …

Updated

League Two: Colchester lead 1-0 but Paul Mullin has since scored for Wrexham. And water is wet.

An email. Justin Kavanagh reacts to a sensational couple of minutes for Brentford:

Two weird, weird goals by Brentford! Especially the first by Zanka, who might now be called Zanka the Shanker. I’m sure he’s been called worse, with that name!

The Bees are buzzing.

Championship: Cardiff’s hopes of a comeback were short-lived against Hull … it’s now 3-1 after Jaden Philogene’s strike. Meanwhile, Djeidi Gassama has scored for Sheffield Wednesday at QPR. What a vital goal that could be for the Owls in their search for survival.

Mbeumo’s goal is well worth watching on your highlights show of choice tonight. Torres gets wrong-footed by a cross from the left, but take nothing away from the volleyed finish from the Brentford forward. It was immaculately timed.

OK, now we’ve got goals galore. It’s Mansfield 0-4 Crawley now in League Two, Karlan Grant has pulled one back for Cardiff against Hull and Jed Wallace doubles West Brom’s lead at Stoke. Gooooaaaaals.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford (Mbeumo, 61)

Oh my word, where has this come from?!

Bang, bang, Bryan Mbeumo has squared things up! What a game this has become.

Updated

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Brentford (Zanka, 59)

Zanka, AKA Mathias Jørgensen, has given Brentford a lifeline at Villa Park! That sets up a fascinating final half hour or so there …

Put the Bier on eis.

Updated

League One: Another big goal is scored in a crucial promotion tie. Aaron Collins dinks home for Bolton at Bristol Rovers, to keep Wanderers’ automatic promotion hopes on course. Second-placed Derby play tomorrow.

Championship: Coventry have two! American striker Haji Wright with the goal that came from a counterattack following a Leeds’ set piece. Farke in hell.

GOAL! Luton 0-1 Bournemouth (Tavernier, 52)

After missed chances at both ends at Kenilworth Road, Bournemouth finally take the lead. Tavernier had hit the woodwork earlier in the game but he lashes home this time.

Updated

Bowen is made of stern stuff. He’s soldiering on for the Hammers as they look to respond to Pablo Sarabia’s penalty at Molineux. Ben Johnson and Michail Antonio were introduced by David Moyes at the break, by the way.

49 mins: A possible problem here for Jarrod Bowen, and concern for West Ham with a big European tie against Leverkusen around the corner. Bowen has stayed down for a while after taking a blow to the ribs. Ouch.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Brentford (Rogers, 46)

What a way to start the second half at Villa Park. It’s Morgan Rogers’ first goal in the Premier League. A lovely move and a classy strike.

Brentford = work to do.

Updated

More FFP/points deductions chat from our readers:

Jim Driskell: “It seems awfully unfair to be docking some of the smaller teams points when it seems quite likely that the rules will changed by next year and penalties will be imposed financially (which the wealthier teams can handle). Quite the farce.”

Justin Kavanagh: “Points deductions are to the 2020s what ‘early reducers’ were to the 1970s and 80s: totally misdirected destroyers of everything fans love about football (skill, fair play, a good relegation battle, etc). Well done, administrators. Bring hooliganism back, while you’re at it.”

The only first-half goals in the Scottish Premiership have been scored by Dundee (Jordan McGhee making it 1-0 against Motherwell), and Jorge Grant’s penalty for Hearts at St Mirren. Goalless elsewhere.

HT – League One and Two

The standout scorelines in the third tier are Portsmouth 2-1 Shrewsbury and Charlton 2-1 Barnsley. Pompey’s promotion party looks to be close.

In the fourth tier, meanwhile, Mansfield 0-2 Crawley is the big surprise, while Stockport are now 3-1 up at Sutton. Playoff hopefuls Barrow are 2-0 down at home to Swindon.

HT scores – Championship

  • Blackburn 0-0 Southampton

  • Cardiff 0-2 Hull

  • Coventry 1-0 Leeds

  • Huddersfield 0-0 Millwall

  • Leicester 1-1 Birmingham

  • Middlesbrough 1-0 Swansea

  • QPR 0-0 Sheff Weds

  • Stoke 0-1 West Brom

  • Sunderland 0-0 Bristol City

  • Watford 0-0 Preston

HT scores – Premier League

  • Aston Villa 1-0 Brentford

  • Everton 1-0 Burnley

  • Fulham 0-0 Newcastle

  • Luton 0-0 Bournemouth

  • Wolves 1-0 West Ham

The half-time whistles are starting to sound around the country. Summaries incoming.

GOAL! Everton 1-0 Burnley (Calvert-Lewin, 45)

On the brink of half-time, DCL has put Everton ahead. The Toffees haven’t played well, Calvert-Lewin’s not had a sniff. But nobody will care now.

Updated

Championship: Drama! Birmingham have hit back at Leicester. Jay Stansfield’s goal will be celebrated as much in Ipswich and Leeds as it is in the second city.

Meanwhile, Hull have doubled their lead at Cardiff. Bluebirds 0-2 Tigers there.

What on earth is going on at Bayern Munich?

2-0 up at German minnows Heidenheim, they were cruising towards a much-needed win, with Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry – they ex of north London – on target. Then something odd happened. Heidenheim scored twice in the space of a minute early in the second half. It’s 2-2 and game on, while Bayer Leverkusen are 1-0 up at Union Berlin.

Updated

League One: It’s been an entertaining first half at Fratton Park. Portsmouth were pegged back by Shrewsbury, but have just retaken the lead via a Colby Bishop penalty. A Pompey win today would put them in the box seat for promotion.

League Two: MK Dons and Stockport are both in front, while Mansfield trail 2-0. The battle for the automatic spots in the fourth tier is very much on.

Oh. There is some debate over whether this is Watkins’ goal or not. He headed it goalwards, Mark Flekken made a half-save, the post was involved, but Leon Bailey followed it in to make sure. One for the dubious goals panel.

Updated

GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Brentford (Watkins, 39)

WHO ELSE BUT …

Yes, Ollie Watkins has opened the scoring at Villa Park. Check your FPL teams.

38 mins: Newcastle have finally woken from their slumber at Craven Cottage. Maybe they’d been using the spa facilities in the new Riverside Stand pre-match? Anyhow, Anthony Gordon has twice gone close on the counterattack, but it remains goalless.

Updated

35 mins: I’m not watching Everton 0-0 Burnley, but Michael Dawson has just described the fare on offer at Goodison as “pretty boring”. The stats tell me that very little has happened so far.

Anyone fancy staying up? No?

Championship: You suspect Cardiff and Hull are both Citys that have left it a little too late to launch a playoff push this season. On-loan Liverpool starlet Fábio Carvalho has broken the deadlock for the Tigers in the Welsh capital, however, to lift the visitors’ spirits. That’s some journey from Humberside to Cardiff, let me tell you.

Updated

GOAL! Wolves 1-0 West Ham (Sarabia, 33)

The penalty is drilled in off the post by Pablo Sarabia. It only just wriggled in!

Wanderers lead this mid-table battle.

Updated

31 mins: Wolves have a penalty at Molineux. Emerson Palmieri is penalised for a sloppy tackle and the home side will get a chance to capitalise on their early dominance, VAR pending.

Updated

Championship: A huge goal for Leicester, as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall nets at the King Power! Three points would take the Foxes back to the top of the Championship.

*Wind stopped play*

Championship: Mercy me, another goal! Mikey Johnston has put West Brom 1-0 in front at Stoke, who are one of the many sides in the second tier at risk of plunging into the drop zone, and potentially joining Rotherham in League One for 24/25.

Manchester United might not beat Liverpool tomorrow (they definitely won’t) but their Under-18s are conquering all and sundry right now. They beat their Merseyside counterparts 9-1 (NINE) earlier today.

Any chance of a goal in the Premier League or Championship?

We’re 22 minutes into most games and we’ve had only one so far …

Two more readers wade into the debate about Everton’s further impending points deduction and the general discombobulation caused by PSR, FFP and other annoying and hard-to-understand acronyms …

Spurs fan Nicholas Bentley says: “I just wanted to give a little shout out to all the long suffering Everton fans out there, my thoughts are with you (massive soft spot for your club, no idea why, but mostly because you aren’t Liverpool) and I believe the day of reckoning will be coming for Manchester City. Despite their smugness.

”No club is too big to go down (Leeds, Leicester, Aston Villa) but I will be desperately sad if [Everton] do. I have no problem with clubs being penalised for breaking the rules but this process must be fair and transparent. One cannot describe the current situation as that. Best league in the world TM etc …”

Colin Young adds: “Regarding Gary Naylor’s spot-on comments about points deductions, I literally overheard the following the other day. It was heartbreaking:

(Young lad with Dad walking through park)

Lad: Dad, so like, how do points deductions work, then?

Dad: Umm... well... yeah... (fade into mumbling distance)...

Lad: But I don’t understaaaaand!!

Not great for the game, is it?”

Updated

Fulham are on top against Newcastle; Brentford are pushing hard for the opener at Villa Park and Luton have nearly gone a whole 20 minutes without conceding a goal.

The pure unpredictability of the Premier League, eh?

An update from Scotland from our (unofficial) correspondent Simon McMahon:

Hi Dominic. The big game in Glasgow – today, at least – is at Hampden, where Dundee United face Queens Park, looking to build on their best performance of the season last week against Raith Rovers and maintain their lead over the Fifers at the top of the Scottish Championship. Five more wins and United will be champions. Easier said than done – especially when you hit the bar and miss a penalty in the first 10 minutes as United have just done.

A mention also for Stenhousemuir in Scottish League Two who will secure the first league title in their history if they beat East Fife today.

Updated

It’s been a quiet start in the Premier League in terms of goals. I’d suggest Luton, Burnley and Brentford should be making the running in their respective games. None of them can particularly afford to lose today.

Marcus Tavernier has struck the woodwork for Bournemouth at Kenilworth Road.

Coventry 1-0 Leeds: Ellis Simms. Maybe Everton shouldn’t have let him go? He could have bagged them a goal or two you’d think. He’s scored again for Cov and it’s an early hammer blow for promotion-chasing Leeds United. Work to do for them.

Updated

Andy Flintoff emails a response to Gary Naylor:

Man City are facing 100+ charges regarding financial shenanigans, and the Premier League is no nearer to resolving those.

League Two: A couple of early goals have gone in that may prove crucial in the promotion race. Mansfield are trailing 1-0 at home to Crawley, while Stockport have gone a goal up at Sutton.

Meanwhile, in issues that really matter …

Before the early goals inevitably start flooding in, we’ll start with an email from Gary Naylor:

A win for either Everton or Burnley will be greeted with optimistic ecstasy, but if you think VAR kills the spontaneity, it’s positively benign compared to the mysterious panel with their mysterious points docking. If this farce of uncertainty was affecting the other end of the table, it would have been sorted months ago. Except, of course, it is and it isn’t.

Quite, Gary. Quite.

KICK OFF

Peeeeeeeepp!! Whistles go around the country. In complete unison, of course.

David Moyes says it was a “hard choice” leaving Michail Antonio on the bench for today’s game at Wolves – despite two goals in his past three games – while Gary O’Neil has no qualms in keeping Matheus Cunha among the substitutes despite his comeback from injury.

It looks to be a tale of no strikers in that mid-table clash, with Pablo Sarabia and Jarrod Bowen acting as false nines for their respective sides.

And John Brewin was at Selhurst Park to watch Kevin de Bruyne inspire Manchester City to a vital, and entertaining, victory in the context of the title race.

Arsenal will be the next of the championship-chasing trio to have their say; they’re in action at 5.30pm (BST) today at Brighton.

Nick Ames’ report from Carrow Road has landed. And the Canary has landed … something something.

Norwich 1-0 Ipswich is a full-time score. Huge result for the Canaries, who will now believe a playoff spot can be theirs. It’s also a boost to Leeds, Leicester and Southampton in the race for the Championship autos.

All three of those clubs are in action in the 3pm games, which in the Championship are:

  • Blackburn v Southampton

  • Cardiff v Hull

  • Huddersfield v Millwall

  • Leicester v Birmingham

  • Middlesbrough v Swansea

  • QPR v Sheff Weds

  • Stoke v West Brom

  • Sunderland v Bristol City

  • Watford v Preston

Updated

Thomas Frank has explained why Ivan Toney is only fit enough for a spot on the Brentford bench today …

Wolves v West Ham – team news

Wolves: Sá, S.Bueno, Kilman, Toti, Semedo, J.Gomes, Doyle, Doherty, Aït-Nouri, M.Lemina, Sarabia

Subs: Bentley, Traoré, Dawson, H.Bueno, N.Lemina, Chirewa, Chiwome, Fraser, Cunha

West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Mavrapanos, Zouma, Emerson, Alvarez, Soucek, Kudus, Paquetá, Ward-Prowse, Bowen

Subs: Anang, Johnson, Cresswell, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Phillips, Cornet, Ings, Antonio

Updated

Luton v Bournemouth – team news

Luton: Kaminski, Hashioka, Mengi, Burke, Kaboré, Clark, Chong, Barkley, Doughty, Townsend, Morris

Subs: Shea, Krul, Berry, Woodrow, Mpanzu, Onyedinma, Johnson, Nelson, Piesold

Bournemouth: Neto, Smith, Zabarnyi, Kelly, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo, Solanke

Subs: Travers, Aarons, Favre, Dango, Scott, Senesi, Hill, Ünal, Billing

Updated

Fulham v Newcastle – team news

Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Tosin, Bassey, Robinson, Palhinha, Cairney, Willian, Iwobi, Pereira, Muniz

Subs: Rodak, Ream, Lukic, Decordova-Reid, Traoré, Wilson, Broja, R.Jiménez

Newcastle: Dubravka, Krafth, Schär, Burn, Hall, Longstaff, Guimarães, Willock, J.Murphy, Gordon, Isak

Subs: Karius, Gillespie, Dummett, Ritchie, A.Murphy, White, Diallo, Anderson, Barnes

Updated

Everton v Burnley – team news

Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Young, Gomes, Garner, McNeil, Doucouré, Calvert-Lewin

Subs: Virginia, Lonergan, Patterson, Keane, Godfrey, Warrington, Harrison, Chermiti, Beto

Burnley: Muric, Assignon, Estève, O’Shea, Taylor, Cullen, Berge, Bruun Larsen, Odobert, Fofana, Foster

Subs: Vigouroux, Cork, Gudmunsson, Brownhill, Rodriguez, Benson, Vitinho, Amdouni, Delcroix

Updated

Aston Villa v Brentford – team news

Aston Villa: Martínez, Konsa, D.Carlos, Torres, Digne, McGinn, Luiz, Tielemans, Rogers, Bailey, Watkins

Subs: Olsen, Moreno, Chambers, Kesler-Hayden, Kellyman, Iroegbunam, Zaniolo, Diaby, Durán.

Brentford: Flekken, Roerslev, Ajer, Zanka, Collins, Reguilon, Janelt, Jensen, Damsgaard, Mbeumo, Wissa

Subs: Strakosha, Ji-Soo, Yarmoliuk, Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, Ghoddos, Baptiste, Maupay, Toney

Updated

Prepare for team news. The 3pm-ers are about to drop their official teamsheets in five …

Whether you’re a fan or not of the term ‘Old Farm Derby’, what’s unarguable is that today’s meeting of Norwich and Ipswich is a biggie.

A 39th minute free-kick from Chilean midfield sensation Marcelino Núñez is currently the difference between the two rivals at Carrow Road. A Norwich win would certainly throw a spanner in the works of the Tractor Boys’ promotion wheels, so to speak.

Speaking of Phil Foden … eyebrows were raised when he was left on the bench for Manchester City’s lunchtime clash with Crystal Palace today – and even more surprising was the Eagles flying into a 1-0 lead early on. But order has since been restored courtesy of Kevin de Bruyne and Rico Lewis, with City now odds-on to keep the title pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool.

Preamble

Hello, hello and welcome to the show. We’ve got a whopping five 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League, with the main focus on what’s happening near the bottom of the table. Everton – who don’t seem to have won a game since the discovery of penicillin – face Burnley, who are still 19th despite going on an unbeaten run of four games.

After getting diced up by Phil Foden on Wednesday, Aston Villa face Brentford, who must still be a touch nervy about being 15th, while Luton really, really, really need three points against Bournemouth – a hard-earned point simply won’t do as we get closer to the end. Newcastle head to Fulham, while Wolves are at West Ham, but there’s more … don’t forget the Championship.

An exhilarating title race continues, with second-placed Leeds taking on Coventry and third-placed Leicester entertaining Birmingham. We’ll keep a bit of an eye on Europe, too, with Bayern and Leverkusen in action at the top of the typically, ahem, uncompetitive Bundesliga.

My inbox is always free for your thoughts, fears, dreams and whatever else you feel like sending me (within reason).

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