Summary
There were a lot of goals, we have new leaders in the Premier League in Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs dazzled, Man City didn’t, Daniel Sturridge returned in style, Bournemouth and Barça suffered injury blows to key players – and there’s more to come, with Newcastle facing Chelsea at 5.30pm BST. Thanks for your company and emails. I’ll leave you with all today’s results and reports:
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Some more selected full-times: Barcelona have beaten Las Palmas 2-1, having had Lionel Messi carried off early on. Championship leaders Brighton have been held 2-2 at Bolton after a late goal for Gary Madine. Sheffield Wednesday snatched a 2-1 win at Brentford, Reading won by the same score at Burnley while Hull were held 1-1 by Blackburn and Ipswich 2-2 by Bristol City. League One leaders Burton won 2-1 at Chesterfield, Bury beat Coventry by the same score (today’s most popular one), and Sheffield United saw off Doncaster 3-1. In League Two Portsmouth are the new leaders after winning at Bristol Rovers, and Wycombe move up to second after winning 2-0 at Exeter. In Scotland, Celtic drew 0-0 with Hearts, Aberdeen lost their perfect record in a 2-1 defeat at Inverness, Dundee came back to draw 3-3 with Ross County, and luckless Simon McMahon saw his team Dundee United go down 1-2 at St Johnstone.
Got your breath back yet? I haven’t, and it’ll soon be time for Newcastle v Chelsea, which Niall McVeigh will be describing here:
Goal! An even later goal at the top of League Two: Dean Cox has equalised for Leyton Orient at Northampton. And it’s finished 1-1.
Premier League full-times
What a lot of goals, in the top tier at least. Here they are: Leicester 2-5 Arsenal, Manchester United 3-0 Sunderland, Stoke 2-1 Bournemouth, West Ham 2-2 Norwich, Liverpool 3-2 Aston Villa, Southampton 3-1 Swansea
Full-time: Manchester United 3-0 Sunderland
An easy win for United is confirmed, meanwhile in League One Burton have gone 2-1 up at Chesterfield with Jerome Williams striking in the fourth minute of injury-time. Wolves have struck to equalise against nine-man Preston. That’s ended 1-1.
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Goals! Bolton 2-2 Brighton – Gary Madine denies Brighton at the last and Leyton Orient are set to lose top spot in League Two after Dominic Calvert-Lewin strikes in the last minute for Northampton. Cambridge take the lead against Stevenage
Assorted other results: Hibs 1-1 St Mirren, Inverness 2-1 Aberdeen (their 100% record goes)
Full-time: Southampton 3-1 Swansea
A comfortable win for Saints.
Full-time: Liverpool 3-2 Aston Villa
Sturridge’s return proves decisive
Full-time: Leicester 2-5 Arsenal
An emphatic and impressive win for Arsenal ends Leicester’s unbeaten record
Full-time: West Ham 2-2 Norwich
The home fans, and the pigeon, go home reasonably relieved.
Goal! Leicester 2-5 Arsenal (Giroud, 90)
The Frenchman gets in on the act
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Goal! Manchester United 3-0 Sunderland (Mata, 90)
United’s top spot confirmed, Sunderland to stay firmly bottom
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Goal! West Ham 2-2 Norwich (Kouyaté, 90)
West Ham’s pressure pays off at the last
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Goal! Stoke 2-1 Bournemouth (Diouf, 83)
This already feels typical of Bournemouth’s season. Having taken control of the match, Eddie Howe’s side are caught by a sucker punch, Diouf’s header putting Stoke back in front. In the Championship, Blackburn have equalised for 1-1 at Hull in stoppage time.
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Goal! Leicester 2-4 Arsenal (Vardy, 89)
Another goal at the King Power, though too late for Leicester. Vardy curls in from the edge of the area after a sustained attack. Ipswich have equalised against Bristol City, Ryan Fraser bringing them level at 2-2.
Pigeon latest:
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Phew, it’s all happening. Elsewhere, Simon McMahon’s Dundee United have fallen behind 1-2 at St Johnstone – curse completed? “Knew it Tom. The only jinx is supporting United,” he chips in, quick as a flash. Sheffield United have gone 3-1 up against Doncaster, with Billy Sharp scoring against his former club.
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Goal! Southampton 3-1 Swansea (Sigurdsson, 83 pen)
Only a consolation for Swansea surely.
Goal! Stoke 1-1 Bournemouth (Gosling, 76)
Some cheer for the Cherries. Stunned by the Wilson injury, they’ve worked their way back into it at Stoke and Dan Gosling has levelled.
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Goal! West Ham 1-2 Norwich (Redmond, 83)
Nathan Redmond fires Norwich ahead with a smart shot into the bottom corner.
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Goal! Leicester 1-4 Arsenal (Sanchez, 81 hat-trick)
This feels like Arsenal’s most satisfying league result of the season so far. Sánchez catches Schmeichel unawares with a shot that the keeper can’t keep out and the Chilean has his first Arsenal hat-trick. In the Championship it’s one goal each and one sending off each at Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday with Jeremy Helan dismissed for the visitors.
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Here’s some Bundesliga full-times: Augsburg 1-3 Hoffenheim; Mainz 0-3 Bayern; Stuttgart 1-3 Monchengladbach; Werder Bremen 0-3 Leverkusen; Wolfsburg 1-1 Hanover.
Cardiff are back in front against Charlton with a bullet header from Sean Morrison, while Brighton - 2-1 up at Bolton - are down to 10 men with Murphy’s dismissal.
Goal! Matt Loten’s bravado pays off, as Portsmouth take the lead at Bristol Rovers, Jayden Stockley making it 2-1. Pompey heading for top spot. Shrewsbury look like getting those first home points – they lead Blackpool 2-0 with a double inside four minutes from the headline-writer’s favourite Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro.
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Goal! Hull lead Blackburn 1-0 through Abel Hernandez. and Newport have a first win of the season in sight in League Two, taking the lead at Carlisle. And there’s a bit of a shock looming at St Andrews, where the Championship’s bottom club Rotherham lead Birmingham 2-0
I wouldn’t write with this much confidence halfway through a second half, but Portsmouth fan Matt Loten does: “With Arsenal currently ahead at Leicester, Brighton and Portsmouth are on course to bring some glory to the south coast tonight by becoming the last two teams in the country to remain unbeaten. As a Portsmouth fan this is especially pleasing, given the hard times the club has been through over the last few years. After a couple of false dawns, it looks like we may finally be on the way back up, and playing some cracking football to boot! Play up Pompey!” It’s 1-1 at Bristol Rovers.
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Goal! Liverpool 3-2 Aston Villa (Gestede, 71)
The nerves are back at Anfield, Gestede has scored his second of the afternoon, heading emphatically past Mignolet. An interesting last 20 minutes in store at Anfield. Pitch invasion latest: The Upton Park pigeon was apparently carried off by Norwich’s Howson. Burnley have pulled a goal back against Reading – 1-2 there now.
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Goals! Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa (Sturridge 67; Gestede 66)
Two goals in a minute at Anfield. Gestede pulls a goal back for Villa, exploiting iffy defending, and Liverpool go straight up the other end and restore their two-goal lead, Sturridge being given time and space to steer another shot into the corner
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Goal! Barcelona 2-0 Las Palmas (Suárez, 54)
Suárez has thumped the champions into a 2-0 lead after a clever dummy from Sergio Busquets.
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Scotland latest: Hamilton have come from behind to lead 2-1 at Kilmarnock. And to Simon McMahon’s consternation, St Johnstone have indeed equalised against Dundee United, through Graham Cummins. Need a reverse-jinx now?
Goal! Southampton 3-0 Swansea (Mané, 61)
A crisp clinical finish from Mané puts this one out of reach, surely, for Swansea now. Down in League Two, Wycombe could be heading for the top spot after doubling their lead at Exeter through Garry Thompson. Adrian’s just denied Norwich a goal by saving with his face.
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In Scotland, Ross County are down to 10 men after Andrew Davies’s dismissal and their lead at Dundee has been cut to 3-2 by Rory Loy’s penalty.
Goal! Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa (Sturridge, 59)
Daniel Sturridge is back! The England striker has doubled Liverpool’s lead with a fine drive into the corner – the mood at Anfield palpably lifts. What crisis?
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Goal! Leicester 1-3 Arsenal (Sanchez, 57)
That could be the win for Arsenal now in what sounds a wonderful match, Alexis Sanchez getting his second of the match.
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There’s more on that Messi injury here:
Goal! Southampton 2-0 Swansea (Tadic, 54)
Dusan Tadic has double Saints’ lead against an out of sorts Swansea, though it might not be attributed to him in the final analysis, according to our man on the spot.
Oh, and Bristol City have equalised at Ipswich through Luke Freeman.
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Charlton’s lead at Cardiff didn’t last long – Joe Mason has made it 1-1. League Two promotion-chasers Wycombe lead Exeter 2-0 and Bury have doubled their advantage against Coventry a division higher.
And there’s a pigeon on the pitch at Upton Park, which is deemed sufficiently disruptive to halt play for a bit.
Goal! Bristol Rovers 1-1 Portsmouth – Pompey’s hopes of taking over at the top of League Two take a knock with Jermaine Easter being credited with a strike that was reportedly a keeper’s own goal.
Goal! Burton, the League One leaders this morning, have equalised at Chesterfield, Stuart Beavon bundling home his third goal in as many matches. While Charlton have taken the lead at Cardiff to lead 1-0 through Karlan Ahearne-Grant’s first league goal.
Goal! Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland (Rooney, 46)
The England captain ends his much-discussed league drought, Anthony Martial again at the heart of things setting him up. It looks in the bag for United now. And in the Championship there’s an early second-half goal for Ipswich against Bristol City, Luke Chambers scoring in the first minute after the restart.
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Peep! Into the second halves we go, Claudio Ranieri having brought on Andy King for Shinji Okazaki up front, while at St Mary’s Swansea have made changes – Jefferson Montero and Eder replace Bafetimbi Gomis and Jack Cork.
German Goals! Bayern Munich are now 3-0 up at Mainz and cruising, Robert Lewandowski grabbing his second after 62 minutes and Kingsley Coman swiftly adding a third. Leverkusen are now 3-0 up at Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim lead 2-1 at Augsburg.
Some other half-time thoughts:
And on Bournemouth’s misfortune:
So, that felt like a lively old 45 minutes at grounds up and down the country. How’s it been for you at your match?
Premier League half-times
Are as follows: Leicester 1-2 Arsenal; Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa; Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland; Southampton 1-0 Swansea; Stoke 1-0 Bournemouth; West Ham 1-1 Norwich
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Goal! Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland (Depay, 45)
Daley Blind finds Juan Mata with a 40-yard ball, the Spaniard then sets up Memphis Depay to convert and put United ahead and on course for top spot.
Barnsley are now 2-0 up against Gillingham in League One.
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There will be nine minutes injury time at Stoke due to the time taken to treat Callum Wilson. Still 1-0 to Stoke there. It’s half-time at Anfield – Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa – and at Upton Park, where it’s 1-1. Celtic and Hearts are also level, 0-0 at half-time at Parkhead.
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Goal! Mainz 0-1 Bayern – it’s that man Lewandowski again, he’s nabbed his first of the day after 51 minutes. And another goal at Bolton – Neil Danns has pulled one back to make it Bolton 1-2 Brighton. Ross County are 2-1 up at Dundee and it’s Hibs 1-1 St Mirren after Martin Boyle’s equaliser.
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I do love a fan perpetually plagued by gloomy superstition, like Simon McMahon: “Cheers for not jinxing it by saying that United are a goal and a man up at St Johnstone, Tom. Allow me to do it instead.” Billy McKay the scorer from the spot, the Saints goalkeeper Alan Mannus the man sent off. Talking of dismissals, Doncaster’s Gary Mackenzie has also gone for violent conduct.
Goal! Brentford 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday – Atdhe Nuhiu has scored from the penalty spot for Newcastle’s midweek conquerors. Meanwhile at Upton Park West Ham are suddenly all over Norwich. Still 1-1 there.
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Goal! Bolton 0-2 Brighton – a lovely slick move sets up Jamie Murphy for an easy tap-in to double the leaders’ advantage. Kilmarnock lead Hamilton 1-0 in the Scottish Premiership, Wigan’s improvement continues as they take the lead at Oldham through Max Power, while Sheffield United go 2-1 up against Doncaster.
Goal! West Ham 1-1 Norwich (Sakho, 33)
Having been second-best for most of the game West Ham level with, a bit of magic, again, from Payet sets up Sakho who converts from close range.
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Goal! Leicester 1-2 Arsenal (Sánchez,
And Arsenal are in front, Alexis Sánchez proving his class.
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Goal! Stoke 1-0 Bournemouth (Walters, 32)
It’s not going Bournemouth’s way this afternoon. Having lost Callum Wilson, the Ireland striker gives Stoke the lead. In the Championship, leaders Brighton are 1-0 up at Bolton through Dale Stephens.
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Goal! It’s now Inverness 2-0 Aberdeen, Ryan Christie doubling the Highlanders’ lead and putting the league leaders’ 100% record in grave peril. In League Two, Portsmouth have gone 1-0 up at Bristol Rovers through Gareth Evan’s 29th-minute goal.
Goal! Barcelona 1-0 Las Palmas (Suárez, 26)
Messi-less Barça have taken the lead through Luis Suárez’s header.
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Chris Kamara reckons Norwich are giving West Ham a footballing lesson, Cameron Jerome the latest to pass up a scoring opportunity for Alex Neil’s side.
Manchester United pressure latest:
Some Bundesliga half-times: Augsburg 1-1 Hoffenheim; Mainz 0-0 Bayern Munich; Stuttgart 1-2 Borussia Monchengladbach; Werder Bremen 0-1 Leverkusen; Wolfsburg 1-0 Hanover.
In Scotland, Dundee have equalised against Ross County, Greg Stewart’s 20th-minute goal making it 1-1. Motherwell lead Partick 1-0 through Frederic Frans’ own goal.
And in League One Doncaster have equalised at Sheffield United, Cameron Stewart’s free-kick sneaking in.
It’s been an afternoon for early injuries: Mathieu Flamini’s gone off for Arsenal, to be replaced by Mikel Arteta. While Preston are down to 10 men, their handy striker Joe Garner being sent off for serious foul play. They still lead 1-0 though. Sixth-placed Bury are beating fourth-placed Coventry 1-0 in League One.
In League One’s south Yorkshire derby, Sheffield United have taken the lead against Doncaster, Chris Basham making it 1-0 after 17 minutes. Third-placed Gillingham have fallen behind to Ben Pearson’s goal for Barnsley. Crewe have equalised at Walsall with Ben Nugent making it 1-1.
Goal! Leicester 1-1 Arsenal (Walcott, 18)
Within seconds of Vardy hitting the bar for Leicester, Arsenal break, Walcott is set free and fires in with his left-foot, off a post. Sounds like a cracker there.
In Germany, Wolfsburg are 1-0 up against Hanover, Bas Dost the scorer in the 40th minute.
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Lionel Messi has gone off injured, 10 minutes into Barcelona’s match against Las Palmas. Still 0-0 there. And grim injury news for Bournemouth too, Callum Wilson’s had to go off at Stoke after his right knee gives way following a collision with Wollscheid.
Goal! Leicester City 1-0 Arsenal (Vardy, 13)
Leicester – rampant Leicester – catch Arsenal on the counterattack, Vardy drilling past Cech to crown a swift and purposeful breakaway. In the Championship, Preston lead Wolves through Daniel Johnson.
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Goal! Southampton 1-0 Swansea (Van Dijk, 11)
New signing Virgil van Dijk heads in Saints in front, the former Celtic defender nodding in at the near post. Elsewhere, Manchester United are dominating against Sunderland but not yet in front. In the Scottish Premiership, leaders Aberdeen have fallen behind to Inverness, Miles Storey scoring. And Reading are 2-0 up at Burnley, Lucas Piazon doubling the visitors’ lead.
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Goal! West Ham 0-1 Norwich (Brady, 9)
A howler from Mark Noble lets in Robbie Brady, who finishes brilliantly. Slaven Bilic’s side continue to stutter at home. His first goal for two years, no less.
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Goal! Burnley have fallen 1-0 behind at home to Reading, Nick Blackman firing into the bottom corner from 20 yards. At Leicester, Cazorla goes close for Arsenal, Ritchie De Laet clearing off the line. Sadio Mane misses a good chance for Southampton against Swansea, dragging his shot just wide.
Villa have not started at all yet, wails Charlie Nicholas, that ropey rope-a-dope first half tactic kicking in again, it would seem. In League One high-fliers Walsall lead Crewe 1-0 through Tom Bradshaw but Burton have fallen behind at Chesterfield to Sam Hird’s second-minute goal.
“If Man City fans think they have it bad,” writes Charles Antaki, “sympathy for the embattled Barcelona supporters - lose today and they could even be overtaken by, gasp, city rivals and poor relations, Espanyol. Now that would be a crisis.” Well, four minutes in and Barça haven’t scored yet.
Goal! Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
James Milner has struck early on for Liverpool, exploiting shoddy defending to fire into the corner to put the home side in front.
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And here’s Daniel Taylor’s report of Tottenham’s hammering of Manchester City:
While we’re waiting for our first goal, here’s Nick Ames’s report of MK Dons’ 1-3 home defeat by Derby:
Thomas Müller is fallible! He’s missed a penalty for Bayern at Mainz. It’s still 0-0 there. while Monchengladbach are 2-0 up, a Christian Gentner own goal doubling their lead. Back in England, the teams are ambling out of tunnels the length and breadth of the land.
“Afternoon Tom,” chirps Simon McMahon, on cue, “Busy day in Scotland too, with Dundee United looking to build on their midweek cup win when they visit St. Johnstone in Perth for the game of the day. Leaders Aberdeen go up the road to face Inverness and Celtic are at home to Hearts. Managerless Motherwell take on Partick and it’s Kilmarnock v. Hamilton. In the Scottish Championship it’s Hibs v St Mirren and in the lower leagues it’s Brechin v The Blue Brazil (aka Cowdenbeath) and Montrose v East Fife.”
A couple of goals in the Bundesliga: Borussia Monchengladbach, Manchester City’s midweek opponents, lead 1-0 at Stuttgart through Granit Xhaka; and Hoffenheim are 1-0 up at Augsburg thanks to Kevin Volland’s goal
La Liga team news – Las Palmas line up thus:
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Full-time: Tottenham 4-1 Manchester City
Extraordinary stuff at White Hart Lane. Spurs kickstart their season while City suffer a third defeat in four. CRISIS? Maybe, while we’re on the subject …
There’s been another goal at stadium:mk – Tom Ince wrapping it up for Derby in injury time. And the whistle’s just gone; full-time MK Dons 1-3 Derby. Paul Clement’s side remain unbeaten away and winless at home.
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Goal! And another! Spurs are now 4-1 up against Manchester City, a deliciously cool finish from Érik Lamela sparking delirium at White Hart Lane. Where has this Tottenham performance come from? Follow it all here.
Goal! Derby have regained the lead at MK Dons, Darren Bent stabbing home with a minute to go.
Some team news from the Camp Nou – Jordi Alba out after failing to recover from neck knack in time, so Barça line up like this:
While you’re knocking back your last pre-match refreshment, or something, why not enjoy some trickery and magic in this week’s Gifs that keep on Giving?
West Ham v Norwich line-ups
West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell, Noble, Kouyate, Lanzini, Payet, Moses, Sakho. Subs: Randolph, Carroll, Zarate, Obiang, Collins, Jelavic, Antonio.
Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsson, Howson, Tettey, Dorrans, Hoolahan, Brady, Jerome. Subs: Wisdom, Grabban, Mbokani, Rudd, Redmond, Ryan Bennett, O’Neil.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Southampton v Swansea line-ups
Southampton: Stekelenburg, Cedric Soares, Fonte, van Dijk, Bertrand, Steven Davis, Wanyama, Mane, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Pelle. Subs: Kelvin Davis, Yoshida, Long, Rodriguez, Romeu, Martina, Juanmi.
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Ki, Shelvey, Cork, Ayew, Sigurdsson, Gomis. Subs: Britton, Nordfeldt, Routledge, Eder, Montero, Rangel, Bartley.
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Liverpool v Aston Villa line-ups
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Clyne, Lucas, Milner, Moreno, Coutinho, Ings, Sturridge. Subs: Touré, Gomez, Lallana, Allen, Origi, Ibe, Bogdan.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Amavi, Sanchez, Westwood, Gueye, Grealish, Gestede, Sinclair. Subs: Clark, Bacuna, Veretout, Ayew, Traore, Gil, Bunn.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).
Manchester United v Sunderland line-ups
Man Utd: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Darmian, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Mata, Rooney, Depay, Martial. Subs: Jones, Young, Romero, Ander Herrera, Fellaini, Schweinsteiger, Andreas Pereira.
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Jones, Kaboul, O’Shea, Van Aanholt, M’Vila, Cattermole, Johnson, Toivonen, Lens, Borini. Subs: Larsson, Gomez, Defoe, Coates, Yedlin, Mannone, Fletcher.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Stoke v Bournemouth line-ups
Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Wollscheid, Pieters, Whelan, Adam, Shaqiri, Krkic, Arnautovic, Walters. Subs: Muniesa, Joselu, Afellay, van Ginkel, Diouf, Given, Crouch.
Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Cook, Distin, Daniels, Pugh, Gosling, Surman, Ritchie, Tomlin, Wilson. Subs: Smith, MacDonald, King, Federici, Murray, Bennett, Cargill.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
Leicester v Arsenal line-ups
Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Huth, Morgan, Schlupp, Mahrez, Kante, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy. Subs: King, Simpson, Kramaric, Ulloa, Schwarzer, Inler, Dodoo.
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott. Subs: Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Giroud, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Scores on the doors: Spurs have come from behind to lead Manchester City 3-1! Harry Kane has just nodded them further in front – Barry Glendenning is describing it all in detail here. In the Championship, it’s MK Dons 1-1 Derby.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone, wherever you may be, be it milling around near a ground enjoying a pre-match pint and glancing at your phone because your pre-match chatter’s got boring, or sitting in a darkened room hunched over a computer seeking to digest every single piece of football information coming your way. Whatever, we’ve all been there. Anyway, this feels almost like a retro-Saturday, with a whole SIX of the Premier League’s 10 matches kicking off at 3pm today, a throwback to the days when fans of top flight clubs could actually plan their weekends in advance.
And there are some sparky fixtures in prospect, with the CRISIS vultures hovering over a good few clubs. Liverpool’s CRISIS is such that they can’t pay their electricity bill look as if they may well finish outside the top four yet again. Today beleaguered Brendan Rodgers’s side host an Aston Villa team who haven’t won since the opening day and who, Tim Sherwood seemed to be implying the other night, deploy a deliberate tactic of being rubbish in the first half to lull their opponents into a false sense of security. Worked against Birmingham, may not work here, but on current form you never know.
Poor first-half performances don’t seem to be derailing Leicester too much – they’ve simply roared back in second halves of late to preserve their unbeaten record. Their match against Arsenal today looks one of the hardest to call, not least because of the uneven current form of Arsène Wenger’s side, whose most potent goal threat at present appears to be a reserve defensive midfielder. Sunderland starting a season as they have, winless and bottom, seems less a CRISIS than the sort of turn of events you could set your watch, or calendar, by, and they’ll do well to get something at Manchester United today. Will Wayne Rooney score in the league at last? Or is that just the kids’ job now, with Anthony Martial in such eye-catching form?
Swansea’s wobble over recent weeks might also be deemed a CRISIS were they a bigger club, but they have a chance to return to winning ways against a Southampton side who are scoring plenty but look fragile at the back, while Bournemouth have the kind of fixture, at Stoke, that they will want to take at least a point from if they are to survive. Stoke’s surprisingly bad start has slipped somewhat under the radar but three points from six matches is a pretty dismal return, particularly given Mark Hughes’s summer signings.
West Ham have been so good away, and so bad at home that it has prompted quips that they’ve already, mentally, left Upton Park. You’d probably back them to beat Norwich at home, while wary that the frailties that Bournemouth and Leicester exposed haven’t gone away.
In Europe’s other big leagues, Barcelona host newly promoted Las Palmas at 3pm BST. Can they bounce back from their unexpected midweek shellacking at the hands of Celta Vigo, who now sit above them in the league and host Eibar later this evening? In Germany, Bayern Munich will be looking to extend their wearily predictable 100% record when they visit Mainz, while third-placed Schalke travel to Hamburg and Wolfsburg, in fourth, are at home to Hanover. Of all the European top flights, the much-feted Bundesliga after six matches looks the most similar to how it is likely to look at the end of the season.
In England’s Championship, Burnley v Reading looks the pick of Saturday’s matches, while the leaders Brighton will fancy their chances of toppling struggling Bolton. Hull, in fourth place, are favourites to beat Blackburn while fifth-placed Ipswich host Bristol City, who really haven’t got going at all after their impressive swagger to the League One title last season.
A midlands derby is perhaps game of the day in League One – can Jimmy Hasselbaink’s newly promoted side continue a sensational start that has taken them to the top of the table when they face Chesterfield? Walsall, in second, should find Crewe less challenging opponents than their previous ones, Chelsea, while Shrewsbury – the only side in the top four divisions without a home point – may not get an easier chance to get some on the board than against actual real-life genuine CRISIS club Blackpool.
In League Two, Leyton Orient have hit the wall a bit in the past few weeks and haven’t won for almost a month, but are still top, such is the fourth tier’s quirkiness. Northampton will prove tough opponents at Sixfields this afternoon. Should the O’s slip up, Portsmouth, who visit Bristol Rovers, Plymouth, who go to Mansfield, and Wycombe, who are away at Exeter, stand poised to overtake them.
So the scenes are set then. Team news when we have it.
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