One for luck: the Football League review:
That’s about it. It’s currently 0-0 in West Ham v Crystal Palace, which you can follow with Rob Smyth.
Thanks for your company.
Reaction arrives from the south coast after Tottenham’s dire 3-0 defeat at Brighton:
Mauricio Pochettino said his team struggled to recover from the early blow of a serious injury to Hugo Lloris: “Of course. We cannot lie,” the manager said. “To concede after two minutes then lose our captain was massive for the team. It was an emotional game. The team was affected, we started to play but never showed our real performance. I don’t want to take credit from Brighton but of course the team suffered a massive impact.”
Hope for Nathan Jones? Either way, this was big for Stoke, winning 2-1 in dramatic scenes at Swansea:
Sid Lowe was at the Bernabéu to see Real Madrid 4-2 Granada:
It was a bad day for Norwich. A good one for Aston Villa:
Here’s Paul Doyle’s Watford 0-0 Sheffield United report:
A point is a point is a point, so this match was not a complete waste of time, except perhaps for the spectators. Having said that, those who turned up at Vicarage Road can at least say they witnessed one of the misses of the season thanks to Andre Gray. Danny Welbeck and Craig Dawson also had good opportunities but were denied by Dean Henderson, but do not let those facts kid you into thinking Watford were unlucky not to claim their first win of the season. This dreadful game at least ended with a fair result.
Nerves of steel ...
34 - James Milner’s penalty was the 34th time Liverpool have scored a 90th-minute winning goal in a Premier League match – at least nine more than any other side. Resilience. pic.twitter.com/xzFWpJQuz7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 5, 2019
The big game of the day ...
Some very interesting results in the Bundesliga today ...
Here is Andy Hunter’s report from Burnley v Everton ...
League Two ...
Late drama in #SkyBetLeagueTwo!
— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) October 5, 2019
Here are the full-time scores!#EFL pic.twitter.com/VqS4TAVy2R
League One ...
The full-time scores!
— Sky Bet League One (@SkyBetLeagueOne) October 5, 2019
Another test passed for @IpswichTown!#EFL | #SkyBetLeagueOne pic.twitter.com/i9TSoozTnM
Championship results ...
FULL-TIME SCORES!
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) October 5, 2019
What a win for @stokecity!#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/wSiAETgNdb
Morgan Dodd gives his view: “Such a cheap penalty in Liverpool. Not befitting this game. Awful. Mane wanted to fall more than he wanted the ball, and that will always be a weak point in the English game. English and PL players want to mimic the continent, and mimicry will not get them to a cup. This is a Senegalese player but it’s symptomatic of the English game. As long as the reward for soft fouls is scored at a much higher percentage than when players actually have the ball in the box, they’ll always go down easily. It is the biggest problem with the game. Can you imagine a rugby or American football coach exhorting his player to induce the opposition into making a penalty rather than actually making a play? It would be laughable.”
Jolly knows ...
First time in 600 days Huddersfield have scored 2+ goals in a game against a team that doesn't begin with a W.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) October 5, 2019
Robertson seems to be ushering Perez down the tunnel where they can sorted things out, one way or another.
Perez was actually wanting to kill Robertson. Hopefully they’ll settle their differences.
Premier League full-time scores
Burnley 1-0 Everton
Liverpool 2-1 Leicester
Norwich 1-5 Aston Villa
Watford 0-0 Sheffield United
Full-time: Watford 0-0 Sheffield United
The less said the better.
Full-time: Burnley 1-0 Everton
Coleman’s dismissal and Everton’s zonal marking costs them at Turf Moor.
Full-time: Liverpool 2-1 Leicester
Perez wants to kill someone in a Liverpool shirt. I think it was Milner ...
Full-time: Norwich 1-5 Aston Villa
An emphatic victory for Aston Villa for Norwich.
Well ... it looked like Liverpool would be dropping their first points of the season but instead a late penalty means they are now going to be eight points clear at the top.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Leicester (Milner, pen, 90+5)
Milner keeps his cool. Liverpool’s winning run continues.
PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL IN THE 93RD MINUTE!! Mane was felled in the box.
Goal! Swansea 1-2 Stoke (Hogan, 90)
Jones thought he was done for as Stoke manager but Hogan has popped up in the last minute to almost certainly earn them a win.
Mary Waltz thinks the Maddison goal was not just big this afternoon, she says: “The Foxes have just changed this title race from a two team battle to a three way challenge. This is no one off fluke. Rodgers has a fine squad that will challenge the two giants the rest of the way.”
Kevin Harrington asks: “Anyone out there that can score a goal for Everton?”
No.
GOAL! Norwich 1-5 Aston Villa (Drmic, 87)
Mings sends a poor header back to Heaton but it doesn’t have enough on it, allowing Drmic to nip in to score. A nice consolation, I guess.
Watford versus Sheffield United sounds utterly dreadful. Last on Match of the Day, one thinks.
Van Dijk heads over the bar from a corner despite being unmarked just 10 yards out. He looks pretty gutted to miss from that position.
GOAL! Norwich 0-5 Aston Villa (Douglas Luiz, 83)
Sub Douglas Luiz bends the ball into the top corner to make the win officially emphatic.
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GOAL! Crewe 1-1 Exeter (Anene, 76)
The battle at the top of League Two is level after Anene nets for Crewe. He used to play with Arshavin in Kazakhstan, so he’s certainly well travelled.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Leicester (Maddison, 80)
Perez does the work on the edge of the box for Leicester before slipping the ball to Maddison who makes sufficient space before nestling his shot into the corner.
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QPR 4-1 Blackburn (Hugill, 77), Preston 5-1 Barnsley (Harrop, 77)
GOALS GOAL GOALS.
Huddersfield 2-0 Hull (Bacuna, 74)
The Cowley revolution is in full flow as Bacuna doubles the Terriers’ lead.
Goal! West Brom 3-0 Cardiff (Austin, 71)
Game over at The Hawthorns where Austin has got the wrong side of the defence and whacked one beyond Smithies.
Rod Wooden points out: “Will, it’s maybe worth mentioning that Norwich are playing with the equivalent of a whole team of players out injured, the third string goalkeeper, no holding midfielders and two academy players on the bench to make up the numbers.”
GOAL! Burnley 1-0 Everton (Hendrick, 72)
A deep corner to the back post finds its way to Hendrick who volleys the ball home while unmarked. That was far too easy for the Clarets against 10 men.
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Goal! Derby 2-0 Luton (Lawrence, 70)
For legal reasons, all I can say is that Tom Lawrence has scored today.
Prince George is at Norwich supporting his father’s beloved Aston Villa. He must think it’s always like this as a Villa fan.
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Cambridge 1-2 Macclesfield (Gnahoua, 68)
Down in League Two Macclesfield have turned things around at the Abbey Stadium through Archibald and now Gnahoua. Can someone please check on Max Rushden?
Liverpool almost double their lead as Robertson is played through but the defender’s shot is repelled by Schmeichel to keep Leicester in the match.
Stop getting sent off, lads
6 - Since the start of last season, Everton have picked up more red cards than any other side in the Premier League. Dismissed. pic.twitter.com/D5NgEQ3S8o
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 5, 2019
Fleetwood 0-1 Ipswich (Jackson, 59)
League One leaders Ipswich are ahead in Lancashire thanks to Kayden Jackson’s strike. They could start to pull away at the top in the third tier.
GOAL! Norwich 0-4 Aston Villa (Hourihane, 61)
Buendia is caught in possession just outside his own box and Hourihane is the one who makes the most of the situation by whacking one into the corner. A pretty desperate day for Norwich.
Goal! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Brentford (Watson, 56)
In-form Forest are ahead after Watson half volleys a Lolley corner into the net. Could this be Forest’s year?
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RED CARD! Burnley 0-0 Everton (Coleman, 56)
Seamus Coleman collects his second yellow card for a clash with Dwight McNeil. Advantage Burnley.
Leicester’s centre-back were always in for a tough day and Soyuncu goes into the book at Liverpool after pulling back Salah. He can enjoy walking a tight rope for the remainder of the fixture.
Charlie Mentern has a challenge for you: “Whilst checking the Swindon Town vs Bradford City score on Saturday, I noticed three Bradford players named began with the O’, one being O’Donnell and the other two O’Connor. Has a team had more than three? Surely an Irish team can beat this?”
Peter Oh asks: “Did anyone record Brendan Rodgers’ halftime talk in the Anfield visitors’ dressing room? I imagine him - in an effort to outdo the RB Salzburg manager midweek - switching seamlessly from plain English to managementspeak to Spanish and back.”
Would be worthwhile viewing. We’ll have to see if such methods worked ...
GOAL! Norwich 0-3 Aston Villa (Grealish, 49)
Norwich give the ball away in the middle of the park, allow El Ghazi to capitalise before Grealish finishes off the move and, ultimately, the game.
Whistles have blown across the country, so goals will almost certainly be flying in soon.
In this marathon relay that Clockwatch has become today, Luke has departed to be replace by yours truly for all the second half action up and down the country (plus some other places).
Championship scores ...
The half-time scores!#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/94WhOOCsMY
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) October 5, 2019
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Barnsley grabbed an equaliser at Preston just before half-time, their first away goal of the league campaign. It’s 1-1 there:
THEY'VE FINALLY SCORED AWAY FROM HOME!@BarnsleyFC equalise against @pnefc #EFL | #COYR pic.twitter.com/dSsTcRiwFJ
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) October 5, 2019
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The scores on the Premier League doors:
#PL HALF-TIME
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 5, 2019
Burnley 0-0 Everton
Liverpool 1-0 Leicester
Norwich 0-2 Aston Villa
Watford 0-0 Sheff Utd#BUREVE #LIVLEI #NORAVL #WATSHU pic.twitter.com/jA9wQq4eQd
Goal! Real Madrid 2-0 Granada (Eden Hazard 45). A charming little dink when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and the ex-Chelsea man has his first Real Madrid goal, in first-half stoppage time at the Bernabéu.
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Goal! Millwall 2-0 Leeds (Tom Bradshaw 45). Leeds rallied impressively after going a man and a goal down early on, and had the best of it for a while, but now they’re losing 2-0.
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Here’s Louise Taylor’s report after England Lionesses’ 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brazil at Riverside Stadium:
Goal! West Brom 2-0 Cardiff City (Grady Diangana 42)
Goal! Liverpool 1-0 Leicester (Sadio Mané 40)
Klopp’s men take the lead! The move starts with Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool’s penalty area. The ball is worked out to the left, and James Milner curls a delightful long pass into the path of Mané, who tucks the ball away when one-on-one with Kasper Schmeichel.
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Over in Spain, Real Madrid lead Granada 1-0, scored by Karim Benzema after just two minutes. In Germany it’s 0-0 between Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim with 55 minutes played.
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Penalty saved! Norwich 0-2 Aston Villa (Michael McGovern)
Wesley misses out on his hat-trick! Norwich’s third-choice gloveman keeps out Wesley’s penalty and then the striker blasts the rebound over.
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Goal! MK Dons 0-1 Burton (Liam Boyce 32)
Goal! Preston 1-0 Barnsley (Daniel Johnson 31). After some good work by the wily veteran forward David Nugent, Johnson loops a header into the far corner, and Preston are ahead at Deepdale.
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Goal! AFC Wimbledon 3-0 Rochdale (Mitch Pinnock 28). Wimbledon have flown out of the blocks at Kingsmeadow, AKA The Cherry Red Records Stadium.
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Goal! Norwich 0-2 Aston Villa (Wesley 30)
It’s a double for the Villa striker! They are all over Norwich City like a rash, or a cheap suit, or something. Grealish starts a move down the left, Targett finds Hourihane charging to the by-line, and his excellent cutback finds Wesley who directs the ball in from six yards out. The Canaries are in big trouble.
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In the Scottish Premiership, Ross County lead St. Johnstone 1-0, the goal coming from Joseph Chalmers after 10 minutes. The other three Scottish top-flight games are currently goalless.
Goal! Swansea 1-1 Stoke (Sam Clucas 22). Stoke back level! Clucas pounces after a Joe Allen shot is saved by Freddie Woodman, and it’s all square at the Liberty Stadium.
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Goal! West Brom 1-0 Cardiff (Matheus Pereira 20)
Goal! Plymouth 1-1 Scunthorpe (Will Ainson 20). The goals are quite literally flying in around the leagues. And there’s the latest one from League Two.
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Goal! Rotherham 2-0 Coventry City (Michael Smith pen 19)
Goal! Millwall 1-0 Leeds (Jed Wallace pen 16). Gaetano Berardi gets a straight red, and 10-man Leeds immediately find themselves a goal down in south London.
Updated
Goal! Norwich 0-1 Aston Villa (Wesley 14)
A slightly scuffed finish on the turn by the Villa striker, right footed, after he controls El Ghazi’s cross from the right. Goalkeeper Michael McGovern rushed off his line but was helpless to stop the shot. It was a nice move by Villa and they open their account at Carrow Road!
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Goal! Derby 1-0 Luton (Matthew Pearson OG 11) This is a real howler for the Hatters, goalie Simon Sluga missing a back pass from the right entirely. It goes down as a Pearson OG, but it’s entirely the fault of the goalkeeper.
Updated
Andre Gray has just missed an early sitter for Watford against Sheffield United, and at Anfield, Liverpool are having very much the best of it against Leicester City. All the 3pms in the Premier League still goalless.
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Goal! AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Rochdale (Marcus Forss 2) In League One, AFC Wimbledon take the lead against Rochdale, while League Two leaders Exeter have gone in front at Crewe, Dean Moxey getting the goal.
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Goal! Swansea 1-0 Stoke (Andre Ayew 1). Appalling start to the day for Stoke City - Ayew follows up like all good strikers do, and scores on the rebound for the Swans, after an initial shot by Yan Dhanda.
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The four 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League are getting under way as I type.
Meanwhile, here is Barney Ronay’s report from Brighton’s 3-0 home win against Spurs:
Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp talks: “If you want to be in top spot in this league, you have to deliver week-in, week-out, or in fact, every three days. That’s our job.”
“I don’t see Lovren catching Vardy,” says Paul Merson on Sky Sports, assessing Liverpool’s chances of containing a very potent Leicester City attack, with creative lynchpin James Maddison back in the Foxes side. “That’s an easy out-ball for them [Leicester] down that channel.”
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England 1-2 Brazil
Women’s international friendly: Bethany England came off the bench to score and keep things interesting for the final 10 minutes at the Riverside Stadium, but Brazil prevailed in the end.
Full time: Brighton 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: Things go from bad to worse for Tottenham, as they have their collective backside handed to them by a Brighton team who could have won by more.
Aaron Connolly stole the headlines, the teenager from Galway scoring two goals in his first Premier League start. Tottenham were as inept as Brighton were outstanding - they are a shambles, lurching from one bad result to the next. They have also lost their goalkeeper and captain, Hugo Lloris, to what looks like a very serious arm injury.
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Back at the Amex Stadium: Brighton have been quite outstanding in all departments and lead Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 as the game moves into added time. Without wanting to take anything away from Graham Potter and his men, Tottenham have stunk the place out. AS if it were not already painfully obvious to Spurs fans, theirs is not a happy camp.
Meanwhile in Middlesbrough
England’s Lionesses are entertaining Brazil in a friendly before a packed house at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium, where things are not going very well for Phil Neville’s side. They’re 2-0 down with about 20 minutes to go. Follow the action with Will Unwin ...
Norwich City v Aston Villa line-ups
Norwich: McGovern, Aarons, Amadou, Godfrey, Lewis, Leitner, McLean, Emi, Stiepermann, Cantwell, Pukki.
Subs: Byram, Roberts, Drmic, Srbeny, Idah, Famewo, Mair.
Aston Villa: Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Nakamba, Hourihane, El Ghazi, Wesley, Grealish.
Subs: Taylor, Douglas Luiz, Steer, Konsa, Trezeguet, Jota, Davis.
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)
Watford v Sheffield United line-ups
Watford: Foster, Kabasele, Prodl, Cathcart, Janmaat, Doucoure, Cleverley, Holebas, Pereyra, Welbeck, Gray.
Subs: Gomes, Dawson, Deulofeu, Chalobah, Hughes, Femenia, Sarr.
Sheff Utd: Henderson, Basham, Egan, O’Connell, Baldock, Lundstram, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens, McBurnie, Robinson.
Subs: Luke Freeman, Sharp, Jagielka, Mousset, Osborn, Moore, Besic.
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
Burnley v Everton line-ups
Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson, Hendrick, Westwood, McNeil, Wood, Barnes.
Subs: Taylor, Brady, Rodriguez, Hart, Lennon, Vydra, Long.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Schneiderlin, Delph, Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Iwobi, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Holgate, Sidibe, Bernard, Andre Gomes, Davies, Kean, Lossl.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Liverpool v Leicester City line-ups
Liverpool: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Keita, Gomez, Henderson, Lallana, Origi, Kelleher, Elliott.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Ndidi, Praet, Maddison, Tielemans, Barnes, Vardy.
Subs: Justin, Morgan, Gray, Albrighton, Ward, Perez, Choudhury.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
GOAL! Brighton 3-0 Tottenham (Connolly 65)
Aaron Connelly latches on to a long ball from deep, takes on Toby Alderweireld on the inside left, cuts inside and curls a shot around Gazzaniga and inside the far upright. Brighton have been outstanding and are piling the pain on Tottenham Hotspur. “We want seven!!!” chant the home fans, riffing on the pain inflicted on Spurs by Bayern Munich earlier this week. Follow the final 25 minutes with Rob Smyth ...
This just in ...
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed he is considering a job offer from Fifa, but says it would not prevent him from returning to management.
The Frenchman has been out of work since May 2018, when he left Arsenal after 22 years in charge.
Speaking to beIN Sports, Wenger, 69, confirmed he is considering accepting a role at Fifa after admitting the international governing body must continue to “improve the rules of the game”.
“I just want to share what I’ve learnt and give it back to the game in a different way,” he said. “I am not sure if I would stop coaching as well because the devil is still in there. But I have to see, ‘do I like it?’ And can I be efficient?
“What would I be dealing with? Coaching efficiency, after career potential for players and to educate them so they have potential jobs after the career of a football player.
“We forget the drama of a football player is they get to the top and then at 34 years, a young man, and it is then, ‘bye bye it’s over’. I think there is enough to do there to help the players come back and help to develop football.”
Today in the Championship
Odin Bailey scored a late winner for Birmingham City as they put Middlesbrough to the sword in last night’s opening game of the weekend. This afternoon, top take on bottom as Swansea City entertain Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium.
One of the most expensively assembled squads in the Championship, Stoke are rock bottom of the table and still looking for their first win of the campaign.
Meanwhile at the Amex Stadium ...
Brighton are entertaining Tottenham Hotspur on the south coast in today’s early fixture and look on course to register only their second Premier League win of the season. They lead 2-0 in the early stages of the second half, having comprehensively outplayed a lethargic Tottenham completely lacking in anything approaching urgency in the opening 45 minutes.
Hugo Lloris was at fault for the first goal inside three minutes, misjudging his position as he came to grab a high ball he was subsequently forced to drop upon realising he was about to carry it into his own net. As Neil Maupay headed the bouncing ball home from inches out, Lloris fell awkwardly and sustained a serious arm injury. Screaming with pain between gulps of oxygen, he was given morphine, stretchered off and brought to hospital.
Brighton doubled their lead courtesy of young Galway man Aaron Connolly, who fired past Tottenham’s replacement goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga after finding himself unmarked and on the end of a cross from Dan Burn to score on his PRemier League debut. Follow the second half with Rob Smyth ...
Welcome one and all ...
On paper at least, Liverpool’s match against Leicester is the pick of today’s games, with Brendan Rodgers taking an exciting team that has given every indication they might break into the top four to his old stomping ground of Anfield. It’s one of just four three o’clock kick-offs this afternoon, but we’ll keep you posted on all the main talking points from the Championship and beyond. Stay tuned for team news and build-up.
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