And that’s your lot. Easy wins for Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton, narrow ones for Liverpool, Spurs, Swansea and surprise ones for Stoke and Hull. No draws. No nonsense. Thanks for your time and you can join Simon Burnton for a blow-by-blow account of Arsenal’s home clash against serial away losers QPR now by clicking here now. Until next time
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Final scores in the Championship
Brentford 2-4 Ipswich
Charlton 1-1 Cardiff
Birmingham 0-4 Derby
Bolton 2-1 Blackburn
Bournemouth 2-0 Fulham
Brighton 2-2 Reading
Leeds 0-2 Wigan
Middlesbrough 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Norwich 6-1 Millwall
Rotherham 2-2 Huddersfield
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Blackpool
Full time
Everton 0-1 Stoke
Updated
Still playing at Goodison where Everton are knocking on the door but so far to no avail.
Updated
Full time
Sunderland 1-3 Hull
GOAL! Sunderland 1-3 Hull (Jelavic 97)
What a result for Hull after an awful start. Nikica Jelavic wraps up the points with a classy finish in the dying seconds
More full times...
Leicester 1-2 Tottenham
West Brom 1-3 Man City
Swansea 1-0 Aston Villa
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Full time at three of the Premier League games
Burnley 0-1 Liverpool
Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle
Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton
Updated
Harry Arter’s late daisy-cutter makes it Bournemouth 2-0 Fulham and ensures the Cherries will top the Championship tonight.
Update from The Hawthorns where Snow has not stopped play. Manchester City fans can rest easy.
GOAL! Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle (Cisse 87pen)
As is his wont, Phil Jones makes a reckless sliding tackle and is punished with a penalty kick. Papiss Cisse scores with aplomb.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton (Dann 86)
Palace finally manage to make their mark on this game, Scott Dann pouncing from a free-kick to give his side the merest glimmer of hope of a comeback.
3 - Raheem Sterling has scored three goals in his last three appearances after going 17 games without one for Liverpool. Reinvented.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 26, 2014
Everton are still knocking on the door against Stoke, and Roberto Martinez has used all his substitutions in the hunt for an equaliser, just days after he shunned his bench completely in a 3-0 defeat at Southampton.
In the Championship Derby are now 3-0 up at Birmingham, Craig Forsyth getting the latest goal. Liverpool’s 19-year-old loanee Jordon Ibe has been sensational. The next Raheem Sterling? Just a thought
Update from the Hawthorns where snow is falling incredibly heavily now. Manchester City are currently 3-0 up but the ball is not rolling properly across the turf and there are fears the game may be in danger if the weather doesn’t ease. Where art thou winter break, we hear them cry.
Updated
GOAL! Leicester 1-2 Tottenham (Eriksen 71)
Christian Eriksen’s stunning run of form continues with a little help from the Leicester keeper Ben Hamer, who cannot stop the Dane’s clever free-kick flying in at the near post when maybe he should have.
Updated
How’s this for a blast from the past? Eidur Gudjohnsen sets up Emile Heskey to score at the far post. Well that has actually happened at Bolton, and what’s more Heskey almost immediately turned provider to set up Darren Pratley for another. Two goals in three minutes means Bolton are now 2-1 up at home to Blackburn.
GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Liverpool (Sterling 63)
It’s been a poor game and Raheem Sterling’s finishing with his left foot has been almost as bad in recent weeks but this time things are different, the England forward finding the back of the net with a fine finish from the edge of the box to give his side the crucial opening goal at Turf Moor.
Updated
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-3 Southampton (Aiderweireld 53)
James Ward-Prowse was really making a name for himself earlier in the season before injury struck but he’s back and created his second of the game. This time his corner picks out Toby Aiderweireld whose finish has too much oomph for Julian Speroni.
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GOAL! Sunderland 1-2 Hull (Chester 51)
This time Gaston Ramirez turns provider, the Uruguayan’s centre finding James Chester who heads in at the far post.
GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Newcastle (Van Persie 53)
Louis van Gaal may be a little happier than usual tonight. United break and Wayne Rooney’s lovely crossfield pass is headed back across the keeper by Robin van Persie. Too easy really.
GOAL! Leicester 1-1 Tottenham (Ulloa 48)
Could this be the turning point for Nigel Pearson’s team? Nabil Bentaleb is caught napping and Riyad Mahrez takes it off him and feeds Lenonardo Ulloa who makes no mistake from close range. Game on.
Updated
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton (Bertrand 48)
Another exceptional goal from Southampton, and this time it’s the left-back Ryan Bertrand. Sadio Mane gets away down the right and crosses, Graziano Pelle misses it but Betrand arrives at the far post and arrows it into the the top corner on the half-volley. Scorchio!!
A bit of late news from Goodison Park, where the first half seemed to go on for about 55 minutes. Anyway, the opening period ended with Stoke winning 1-0 thanks to Bojan’s penalty, and with Everton somehow having made no substitutions despite John Stones, Ross Barkley and Phil Jagielka all having received treatment on the pitch.
Half-time scores in the Championship
Birmingham 0-2 Derby
Bolton 0-1 Blackburn
Bournemouth 1-0 Fulham
Brighton 1-2 Reading
Leeds 0-1 Wigan
Middlesbrough 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Norwich 2-0 Millwall
Rotherham 0-1 Huddersfield
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Blackpool
Wow. Time to catch our breath. Every game in the Premier League has goals, apart from Burnley v Liverpool, where Simon Mignolet is off the bench so there is every reason to be hopeful. Matt Dony certainly thinks so, although the rest of his email is rather random:
I was in a supermarket in South West Wales earlier, and I’m almost 100% sure that Adam Lallana was stacking shelves in there. I’m not watching the game, but I assume he got a bit of wriggle on to get up to Burnley, ready to take part in the ultimately disappointing 1-1 draw (Gerrard penalty, before conceding at a late corner...)
Updated
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Stoke (Bojan 38pen)
What has happened to Roberto Martinez’s side? A fine run by Bojan Krkic is halted by James McCarthy and the referee wastes no time pointing to the spot. Bojan does the rest into the bottom left corner.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle (Rooney 36)
What City can do, United can do..... Well maybe not quite, but Wayne Rooney has capped a fine move with a nice finish for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Updated
GOAL! West Brom 0-3 Man City (Silva 32)
Fernando to Jesus Navas, Navas to David Silva and the little Spaniard rolls it into the corner with nonchalant brilliance. City are on fire.
Updated
GOAL! Sunderland 1-1 Hull (Ramirez 32)
Are the goalkeepers allowed to spend Chrismas Day boozing with their families while the rest of the players are confined to a hotel with club executives watching their every move? This time it’s Costel Pantilimon who errs, allowing a Gaston Ramirez strike from 25 yards into the net far too easily, fine though it was.
Updated
100% - Manchester City are the only Premier League team to have scored in every away game this season. Heavyweights.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 26, 2014
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Newcastle (Rooney 23)
Are Radamel Falcao and Wayne Rooney developing what could be a very dangerous understanding? The Colombian feeds the Liverpudlian and he taps in to an empty net to confirm United’s dominance.
Updated
At Burnley it is still 0-0 but Simon Mignolet is quite literally back in from the cold, having appeared off the bench to replace Brad Jones. The Australian has a thigh injury apparently.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton (Mane 17)
The Saints are well and truly over their dodgy spell. Sadio Mane, back in the team today, plays a clever long range one-two with James Ward-Prowse and shows fantastic technique to leave Julian Speroni stranded and open the scoring.
Updated
GOAL! Swansea 1-0 Aston Villa (Sigurdsson 13)
What a player this man is. A free-kick on the edge of the box is always dangerous when Gylfi Sigurdsson is about and sure enough, the former Spurs man steps up and curls it brilliantly into the far corner, leaving Brad Guzan clutching nothing.
Updated
GOAL! West Brom 0-2 Manchester City (Toure 13pen)
City are well and truly on the march now. Yaya Toure confidently powers home the penalty after Joleon Lescott was adjudged to have brought down David Silva, but there is more than a suspicion the former Etihad defender took the ball rather than the man.
Updated
GOAL! West Brom 0-1 Manchester City (Fernando 8)
The Boxing Day madness has well and truly begun. Ben Foster pulls out as Christmas clanger and Fernando, the archetypal defensive midfielder, capitalises to the full with a touch of Brazilian magic, producing a ruthless overhead kick to score on his return to the side.
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Tottenham (Kane 1)
He may not look like the deadliest of strikers, but that man Harry Kane is fast changing perceptions. Once again the youngster used his brain to come back from an offside position to get himself in play and touch home left-footed.
Updated
GOAL! Sunderland 1-0 Hull (Johnson 1)
What a terrible start for Steve Bruce on his return to his old club. A terrible back-pass from Hull captain Curtis Davies allowed Adam Johnson to nip in and give Sunderland the lead.
Updated
A late equaliser from Johann Berg Gumundsson has earned Charlton a 1-1 draw at home to Cardiff, while Ipswich survived a late Brentford onslaught to win 4-2 in west London and go top of the Championship. Bournemouth could return to the summit with victory at home to Fulham.
Angel di Maria is injured again, having picked up a knock in United’s last training session. Find out more here.
Southampton are still in a festive mood it seems, the club’s suits having decided to give every supporter in the away end at Crystal Palace a free Santa hat. Judging from Twitter, the gesture seems to have gone down well. What a smile Matthew...
@SouthamptonFC saints fc selfie with the free hat on! pic.twitter.com/VkKIyv2XTF
— matthew waite (@waite_matthew) December 26, 2014
A very interesting latest score in the Championship, where Ipswich are 3-0 up at Brentford with 15 minutes to go. The Tractor Boys will go top of the table with victory, for a couple of hours at least, and three goals in the opening half-hour seem to have guaranteed a crooked Mick McCarthy smile tonight. Cardiff are also leading 1-0 at Charlton.
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So let’s pick over the bones of all of those teams. At Burnley the major interest is on the substitute’s bench, where Liverpool have named Mario Balotelli and the home side welcome back Sam Vokes, who has been out since March with a serious injury. West Brom have brought Saido Berahino back into the starting 11 in a bid to unsettle a Manchester City backline which features the old Arsenal full-back combination of Gael Clichy and Bacary Saga as Manuel Pellegrini shuffles his back. John Stones, Kevin Mirallas and James McCarthy are all fit to start for Everton against a Stoke side missing Peter Crouch through injury. Leicester bring in Leonardo Ulloa and David Nugent in a bid to halt their alarming slump. Southampton welcome back the fit-again Morgan Schneiderlin at Palace while Swansea bring back the big guns against Villa, namely Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jefferson Montero and top scorer Wilfried Bony.
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Today's teams
Burnley v Liverpool
Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Keane, Shackell, Mee, Boyd, Marney,
Jones, Arfield, Ings, Barnes. Subs: Wallace, Vokes, Kightly,
Reid, Jutkiewicz, Gilks, Long.
Liverpool: Brad Jones, Toure, Skrtel, Sakho, Henderson,
Gerrard, Lucas, Markovic, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana. Subs:
Lambert, Moreno, Manquillo, Mignolet, Can, Balotelli, Ojo.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
West Brom v Man City
West Brom: Foster, Wisdom, McAuley, Lescott, Pocognoli,
Morrison, Mulumbu, Sessegnon, Gardner, Varela, Berahino. Subs:
Baird, Yacob, Ideye, Brunt, Myhill, Gamboa, Dawson.
Man City: Hart, Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Clichy, Fernando,
Toure, Jesus Navas, Silva, Nasri, Milner. Subs: Zabaleta,
Kolarov, Caballero, Lampard, Fernandinho, Jovetic, Boyata.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Crystal Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward,
McArthur, Jedinak, Ledley, Puncheon, Campbell, Bolasie. Subs:
Hangeland, Zaha, Hennessey, Thomas, Gayle, Bannan, Kelly.
Southampton: Forster, Clyne, Yoshida, Gardos, Bertrand,
Steven Davis, Alderweireld, Schneiderlin, Ward-Prowse, Pelle,
Mane. Subs: Kelvin Davis, Long, Tadic, Wanyama, Reed, McCarthy,
Targett.
Referee: Mike Dean
Leicester v Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester: Hamer, Simpson, Wasilewski, Morgan, Konchesky,
Mahrez, Drinkwater, Ulloa, Schlupp, King, Nugent. Subs: De Laet,
Hammond, James, Vardy, Cambiasso, Knockaert, Smith.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose,
Stambouli, Bentaleb, Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli, Kane. Subs:
Chiriches, Paulinho, Soldado, Vorm, Townsend, Davies, Mason.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Sunderland v Hull
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Vergini, O’Shea, Coates, Jones,
Larsson, Cattermole, Gomez, Johnson, Fletcher, Alvarez. Subs:
Bridcutt, Brown, Rodwell, Altidore, Giaccherini, Mannone,
Buckley.
Hull: McGregor, Chester, Bruce, Davies, Elmohamady, Meyler,
Quinn, Brady, Rosenior, Ramirez, Aluko. Subs: Hernandez,
Maguire, Jakupovic, Jelavic, Sagbo, Ince, Figueroa.
Referee: Andre Marriner
Everton v Stoke
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines, McCarthy,
Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, Barkley, Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Eto’o,
McGeady, Kone, Distin, Garbutt, Alcaraz.
Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Muniesa, Pieters, Whelan,
Nzonzi, Walters, Bojan, Arnautovic, Diouf. Subs: Huth, Palacios,
Wilson, Adam, Butland, Assaidi, Crouch.
Referee: Lee Mason
Swansea v Aston Villa
Swansea: Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor,
Shelvey, Ki, Dyer, Sigurdsson, Montero, Bony. Subs: Emnes,
Carroll, Routledge, Gomis, Tremmel, Bartley, Richards.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Okore, Clark, Vlaar, Cissokho,
Sanchez, Cleverley, Delph, Agbonlahor, Benteke. Subs: Bacuna,
Weimann, Herd, N’Zogbia, Given, Lowton, Grealish.
Referee: Roger East
Afternoon all.
The turkey has been devoured and its carcass primed for stewing, the Brussels sprouts have been thrown out with the rubbish, the dry mince pies have been tucked back into the larder until next year, the heavy drinking antagonistic uncle has been safely packed off back to the Costa del Sol and annoying aunties have stopped pouring orange juice into your Prosecco.
Yes, you’ve made it through Christmas and can now sit back and enjoy the Boxing Day footy extravaganza. Chelsea are currently extending their lead at the top of the Premier League with another ruthless exhibition of attacking football against West Ham. You can follow that with Daniel Harris here. If Manchester United versus Newcastle is your tipple you can enjoy Simon Burnton’s minute-by-minute report from Old Trafford by clicking here now. And Simon will also be doing a live MBM of Arsenal v QPR at 5.30pm.
For the rest of the day’s action in the Premier League and beyond stick right here and I will keep you up to speed with every goal, sending off and refereeing howler from the following 3pm games:
Burnley V Liverpool
Crystal Palace V Southampton
Everton V Stoke
Leicester V Tottenham
Sunderland V Hull
Swansea V Aston Villa
West Brom V Man City
Team news to follow as it comes in.
Updated
Good afternoon. Rob will be here with team news and build-up from 2pm.
