And that’s that. Catch up on all the reports below. Thanks for your company. And Happy New Year!
Match report: Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City
Match report: Watford 1-2 Swansea City
Match report: Huddersfield 0-0 Burnley
Match report: Newcastle 0-0 Brighton
Updated
Match report: Bournemouth 2-1 Everton
Match report: Chelsea 5-0 Stoke
Manchester United take on Southampton in 15 minutes and you can catch all the action with the man who gives me cultural-reference-envy, Rob Smyth:
Team news
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Young, Lindelof, Jones, Shaw; Pogba, Matic; Mata, Mkhitaryan, Lingard; Lukaku.
Substitutes: Romero, Blind, Tuanzebe, Rojo, Herrera, Martial, Rashford.
Southampton (4-1-4-1) McCarthy; Stephens, Yoshida, Hoedt, McQueen; Romeu; Tadic, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Boufal; Long.
Substitutes: Forster, Bednarek, Pied, Lemina, Redmond, Davis, Gabbiadini.
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I’ll post the match reports here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Swansea’s match-winner Luciano Narsingh. He’s a humble fella: “I thought I wasn’t playing very well but I was told to keep going and I got the winner,” he smiles.
Premier League table at 5pm
Get your peepers on to this Swansea fans:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 20 | 49 | 58 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 21 | 25 | 45 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 20 | 27 | 43 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 21 | 24 | 41 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 20 | 19 | 37 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 20 | 12 | 37 |
| 7 | Burnley | 21 | 1 | 34 |
| 8 | Leicester | 21 | -1 | 27 |
| 9 | Everton | 21 | -7 | 27 |
| 10 | Watford | 21 | -7 | 25 |
| 11 | Huddersfield | 21 | -14 | 24 |
| 12 | Brighton | 21 | -10 | 22 |
| 13 | AFC Bournemouth | 21 | -12 | 20 |
| 14 | Stoke | 21 | -23 | 20 |
| 15 | Southampton | 20 | -10 | 19 |
| 16 | Newcastle | 21 | -11 | 19 |
| 17 | Crystal Palace | 20 | -14 | 18 |
| 18 | West Ham | 20 | -16 | 18 |
| 19 | Swansea | 21 | -19 | 16 |
| 20 | West Brom | 20 | -13 | 15 |
Championship full-time scores
What a result for Bolton at Sheffield United and a late goal for Birmingham against Leeds did their plight no harm either. Derby make up ground on the top two with a win at Ipswich too.
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Full-time: Bournemouth 2-1 Everton
Sam Allardyce tastes defeat for the first time as the Toffees manager. And what a much-needed result for the Cherries, which lifts them up to 13th.
Full-time: Chelsea 5-0 Stoke
Chelsea are second but Manchester United play Southampton shortly so they might not stay there.
Full-time: Watford 1-2 Swansea
What a result for Carlos Carvalhal but boos ring out around Vicarage Road as Marco Silva’s team let another lead slip. Swansea move above West Brom into the heady environs of 19th.
Full-time: Mo Salah 2-1 Leicester
Liverpool come from behind to earn three vital points in the battle to finish somewhere behind Manchester City.
Full-time: Huddersfield 0-0 Burnley
Ditto. Move along now, nothing to see here.
Full-time: Newcastle 0-0 Brighton
Nothing happened.
Leicester are throwing everything at Liverpool. And let’s be honest, Liverpool aren’t great at defending deep or defending much of anything.
Goal! Chelsea 5-0 Stoke (Zappacosta 89)
Another nail in Mark Hughes’s coffin (possibly, maybe).
Goal! Watford 1-2 Swansea (Narsingh 90)
Well, would you believe it? The miracle is on. Carvalhal’s substitute may have lifted them off the bottom of the table.
Goal! Bournemouth 2-1 Everton (Fraser 87)
He’s done it again. Is this the first defeat for Big Sam era Everton?
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Fulham have fought back from 2-0 down against Hull and are now drawing 2-2 and what’s this?
Goal! Watford 1-1 Swansea (Ayew 87)
Watford love conceding late goals and they’ve done it again. It’s Swansea’s first shot in the second half and it came as they broke after Gray almost put Watford 2-0 up, with Ayew sliding home. All hail Carlos Carvalhal!
Chelsea, who are 4-0 up, are knocking the ball around for fun at Stamford Bridge and toying with sorry Stoke.
I intensely disliked Mark Hughes as a player (in his brief spell at Everton, he was - shall we say - creative off the ball) but is it right, all these years later, to enjoy the lights going out on Sparky's time at Stoke @GreggBakowski? Yes, is my small-minded answer.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) December 30, 2017
Jordon Ibe has gone ever so close to giving Bournemouth a 2-1 lead and ending his goalless streak that began in the Cretaceous period.
Incidentally, I’ve received numerous pictures of footballers eating kebabs. I won’t name them but I will say there’s no shame in eating a kebab after a training session. And they could be healthy couldn’t they? Chicken or falafel. There’s was also a manager in among them – and his team have just gone 1-0 up against Middlesbrough.
Goal! Liverpool 2-1 Leicester (Salah 76)
He might have a future in football this fella. That’s No23 for the season and it came after turning the human wardrobe that is Harry Maguire before racing in towards Schmeichel and drilling into the near corner with his left foot from 12 yards. He showed great strength there but should Maguire be getting rolled by someone of Salah’s size?
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Goal! Chelsea 4-0 Stoke (Willian 74 pen)
Willian is clipped in the box. He dusts himself off and fires home the penalty – straight down the middle with a little stutter first.
“I can help with the Vardy ‘elbow’,” writes Daniel Schulwolf, before helping with a whole lot more. “There was no swinging movement and it looked a genuine challenge for the ball so I feel a card of any colour would have been harsh. More importantly, it appears that Claude Puel is wearing a medium-weight puffy jacket under his suit jacket. Not only is this a revolutionary fashion decision, but leads me to wonder whether he has his suit jackets fitted for two sizes – one for normal weather and one to be worn over outerwear when the temperatures are colder.”
“Hi Gregg, in the current market, Salah is looking incredibly cheap at £35m. As a Chelsea fan the number of top quality forwards we’ve let go makes me all kinds of sad. Imagine a front line of Salah, Hazard, De Bruyne and Morata ahead. Oh what could’ve been,” sobs Lee Madden. Salah might not have developed at Chelsea, though, Lee. Maybe he needed his time in Rome to reach his current level. Cheer up.
In the Championship, Ipswich have got one back against Derby, who lead 2-1. But in the Premier League, we haven’t had a goal in a bit. Ndidi went close to putting Leicester 2-1 up with a fizzing effort from 18 yards but it’s still 1-1 at Anfield. It’s 0-0 at Newcastle v Brighton and Huddersfield v Burnley. Everton are drawing 1-1 with Bournemouth, Chelsea still lead Stoke 3-0 and Watford lead Swansea 1-0.
An email from John Power, who may or may not be that John Power from Cast. “How is Vardy still on the pitch after that elbow on Matip? Not to mention two clear penalties in the first half for fouls on Salah and Robertson? Both times the Leicester defender tackled the players but not the ball. Please Mrs Swarbrick, buy him a rule book next Xmas.” In the interests of balance, I didn’t see those incidents.
Carlos Carvalhal could be heard shouting at his new players down the tunnel at half-time. I’d like to report that his verbal pelters have had an affect on his Swansea players against Watford. But nope. Nothing going on.
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It’s a ding-dong battle at Ewood Park. Scunthorpe have equalised again thanks to Townsend nipping in to tap home after Blackburn fail to clear. It’s 2-2.
The Everton goal came about after Sigurdsson pounced on some poor defending and the substitute Niasse fed Guete with a short pass. So an influential Big Sam sub.
The Leicester Wikipedia page littered with Vardys reminded many of you of this bit of cinematic brilliance.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-1 Everton (Gueye 57)
What was that about an impending downturn Gary? You tweeted in knowing this would happen didn’t you?
Everton are struggling to create anything of note against the Cherries and Gary Naylor is worried …
So can Big Sam conjure another late, slightly dubious, penalty to rescue a point and preserve the run @GreggBakowski? I'm a big fan of the old pragmatist, but I feel there's a downturn coming.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) December 30, 2017
Not playing is fine … until you have to play but have forgotten how to.
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Goal! Liverpool 1-1 Leicester (Salah 52)
Well that was coming. Salah cuts in on his left foot and fires home from the penalty spot. He’s been on a barren run, what with him not having scored against Swansea. That’s his 22nd of the season and it was made by a clever backheel by Mane.
@GreggBakowski That goal from Liverpool wasn't just coming, I think it was already enjoying a post-coital cigarette.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) December 30, 2017
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In the Championship, Derby have taken a 2-0 lead over Ipswich and in League One and Blackburn are 2-1 up against Scunthorpe.
Stoke haven’t had a shot on goal at Chelsea. And Stoke fan Alec McAulay is not happy. “Not a fan of Mark Hughes, with good reason. We have one fit centre-back; meanwhile, we see our loaned-out guy, Marc Muniesa, get the better of Ronaldo in La Liga.”
Liverpool have started the second half on the front foot but still trail to Vardy’s third-minute goal. Meanwhile on Wikipedia:
Strolled over to Wikipedia to answer a few queries about Leicester's squad only to discover some mischief being made. Now I have even more questions! pic.twitter.com/BFJKwPyKJZ
— John Norcross (@jnorcr) December 30, 2017
Peep!
The second halves are under way.
Serie A corner
“It’s all happening in the Serie A,” shrieks Kelvin. “Roma have just had an 86th-minute winner chalked off by the video ref for offside. It would have taken them third, above Inter and three points behind Juventus (it ended 1-1). In other news, Benevento are winning a football match. Not just drawing, but winning an actual football match!” they’ve actually won it! They’ve won 1- against Chievo!!! Their record this season reads: LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLDLLLW. What a ‘W’ that is!
Full-time scores: Fiorentina 1-1 Milan, Atalanta 1-2 Cagliari, BENEVENTO 1-0 Chievo, Bologna 1-2 Udiness, Roma 1-1 Sassuolo, Sampdoria 2-0 SPAL, Torino 0-0 Genoa. Inter v Lazio, Verona v Juve are late kick-offs.
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Championship half-time scores
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Premier League half-time scores
Liverpool 0-1 Leicester, Chelsea 3-0 Stoke, Huddersfield 0-0 Burnley, Newcastle 0-0 Brighton, Watford 1-0 Swansea, Bournemouth 1-0 Everton.
It’s still 1-0 to Watford against Swansea. Here’s a Sheffield Wednesday fan with an appraisal of the away side’s new manager. “As much as Carlos seemed like a nice bloke during his tenure at Hillsborough and we enjoyed some success throughout his reign, one of the things he always seemed to lack was putting a rocket up the team when they needed it. He had a habit of playing lots of similar players and his teams seemed to lack a cutting edge to break down defences, lots of passing it around at the back and no incision. I fear for Swansea.” Thanks Peter. He seems like the kind of manager who would have suited Swansea when they still played a bit of football a couple of years ago. But an odd choice given the plight they’re in.
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Liverpool have a penalty claim turned down after Amartey slides in to poke the ball away from Coutinho near the byline. No real complaints from Liverpool – he seems to get the slightest of touches to send it out for a corner. It followed some lovely link-up play in attack. They’re still knocking on the Leicester door.
Nigel Adkins has a wide grin on his face. Why? Because Hull are 2-0 up against Fulham thanks to Bowen and Dicko scoring two in the past six minutes.
How is it going between Newcastle and Brighton you ask? Here’s JR in Illinois with the answer. “Having the choice from all the games I usually watch two of the 3pm kickoffs. Today I’ve gone with the game at Liverpool as the main one on the TV. For the second game I considered watching Berahino not score at Chelsea but decided against it. (I did tell the missus that Chelsea were going to run up a cricket score though). I would have gone with the Everton game but Big Sam has ruined that as a possibility so I settled on Newcastle-Brighton. Not much happening in that one I’m afraid.”
Another response to Kevin Porter’s question (see 15.28): “One possible answer: it’s the attacker’s job to get as far away from the defenders as possible, while it’s the defender’s job to get as close to the attacker as possible. So, as perverse as it sounds, the better an attacker does his job, the more likely it becomes that a defender could get a free header?” Thanks to deep-thinking’s Paul Holmes for that.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-0 Everton (Fraser 33)
James McCarthy under-hits a back pass and causes mayhem in the Everton defence. Josh King pounces and clips the ball across the box for Fraser to fire home.
Our correspondent at Anfield, Andy Hunter, sums up events so that I don’t have to.
Liverpool have created 8 good openings in 20 minutes since Vardy's goal. Schmeichel saved a few, Salah missed a few and Mane rightly flagged offside when converting Robertson's cross.
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) December 30, 2017
What they need is a huge Dutchman to get his head on to a set-piece … but Erik Meijer is a long time retired.
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“Why, when a free-kick or corner, is delivered into the box is it not a dreadful failure by the attackers when a defender manages to clear with an ‘unopposed’ header?” asks Kevin Porter. I’d argue because there are usually more defenders than attackers in the box.
Goal! Chelsea 3-0 Stoke (Pedro 23)
This scoreline could end up needing to be spelt out in full, given how high it could climb. Stoke are a shambles at the back. They have got a makeshift defence, mind. Willian cuts inside on the edge of the box and feeds the ball into Pedro. He turns away smartly and opens his body up before firing into the bottom corner from 18 yards.
Goal! Sheffield United 0-1 Bolton (Madine 21)
Well, that’s a surprise. Wanderers are second bottom.
Liverpool are all over Leicester now. Mane is ruled offside after a smart break from Liverpool resulted in a cross and finish from the Senegalese forward – and then a moment later Salah misses a great chance to equalise as he tries to curl around Schmeichel into the far corner. Forward they come again
In League One, the battle between third-placed Blackburn and fourth-placed Scunthorpe has got off to a flyer. It’s 1-1 after Kevin van Veen’s 12th minute equaliser for Scunthorpe.
Goal! Ipswich 0-1 Derby (Winnall 13)
Winnall heads the Championship promotion hopefuls in front.
Goal! Watford 1-0 Swansea (Carillo 9)
Fabianksi can’t hold on to a Richarlison shot and the the Peruvian pounces to head home.
Goal! Chelsea 2-0 Stoke (Drinkwater 8)
Did I say Stoke were battling for Hughes earlier? Ah. They’re 2-0 down and Drinkwater’s first Chelsea goal is a belter. The ball bounces in front of him 25 yards from goal and he guides it into the far right corner with his right foot expertly. It was such a precise finish from range.
5 min: The Carlos Carvalhal era at Swansea almost gets off to a flying start. Jordan Ayew thumps the ball against the bar at Vicarage Road.
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Goal! Chelsea 1-0 Stoke (Rudiger 3)
Willian curls in a free-kick from the right and the Chelsea defender leaps highest to head home. he was under no pressure in a packed box. That’s a dreadful start for Stoke.
Goal! Liverpool 0-1 Leicester (Vardy 3)
Liverpool could do with Van Dijk being available right now. Leicester press high up and win the ball and work it out to Mahrez on the right. He squares to Vardy, who taps in from close range. What a start for the visitors.
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Peep!
We’re under way. There haven’t been any goals yet. Disappointing.
The teams are trotting out around the grounds which means it’s almost time for some football. In days of yore there were often absolute goal-fests at this time of year as players stumbled around having enjoyed a little too much festive food and drink. Now Ross Barkley eating a baked-bean pasty is as good as it gets – and he’s not even travelled with the Everton squad. Oh modern football!
“A baked been pasty is one of Rooney’s 5-a-day,” honks Nick Smith. It’s one of mine.
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“Feyenoord striker Michiel Kramer has recently been fined and suspended for eating a kroket,” writes Patrick in Amsterdam. It couldn’t be that Patrick could it?
Do you get an annual salary for being a footballer’s fast food-buying minion?
@GreggBakowski Footballers buying their own fast food? Surely Gregg, you cannot be serious. They all have minions to do that for them.
— Andrew Benton (@thangnangman) December 30, 2017
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And now a word from Simon McMahon: “Afternoon Gregg, and an early Happy New Year to you and all clock watchers! Today’s Scottish fixtures have been affected by the weather, but there’s still a few games that go ahead, including St Johnstone v struggling Dundee. My own team Dundee United got pumped by St Mirren last night, so I can simply sit back and enjoy today’s clock watch for what it is- Soccer Saturday for hipsters, with your good self as the thinking mans Jeff Stelling, of course. Cheers!”
Footballers buying fast food alert:
@GreggBakowski Cesc Fabregas bought a KFC off a friend of a friend in a hotel lobby for a tenner
— Felix Krull (@FelixSoKrull) December 30, 2017
I’m guessing that tenner meant your mate made a profit? Fancy making money off a lukewarm KFC. Sounds murky Felix.
In case you’re wondering – and come on, you have been wondering haven’t you? – Fiorentina drew 1-1 with Milan in the early kick-off in Serie A. And the Old Firm derby ended 0-0 despite being a lot of fun to keep half an eye on. That’s a fine result for Rangers boss Graeme Murty. Here’s Ewan Murray’s report from Celtic Park:
I’ve just had a message off a mate in Liverpool saying he’s just spotted Ross Barkley buying a baked bean pasty in Greggs the bakers. I’m guessing that’s not a strict part of his recovery plan. Anyone seen any footballers buying fast food? And yes, a baked bean pasty is fast food.
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Huddersfield United v Burnley team news
Huddersfield: Lossl, Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Malone, Mooy, Hogg, Quaner, Ince, van La Parra, Depoitre. Subs: Smith, Coleman, Cranie, Lolley, Williams, Mounie, Hefele.
Burnley: Pope, Bardsley, Long, Mee, Taylor, Gudmundsson, Cork, Defour, Arfield, Hendrick, Barnes. Subs: Lowton, Marney, Vokes, Westwood, Walters, Wells, Lindegaard.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
Burnley start with an unchanged team. In your face rotation!
Watford v Swansea team news
Watford: Gomes, Janmaat, Wague, Kabasele, Zeegelaar, Doucoure, Cleverley, Watson, Carrillo, Okaka, Richarlison. Subs: Prodl, Sinclair, Gray, Holebas, Capoue, Karnezis, Pereyra.
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Carroll, Roque, Clucas, Sanches, Ayew, Abraham. Subs: Van der Hoorn, Fer, Narsingh, Dyer, Nordfeldt, Rangel, McBurnie.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
Carvalhal brings in Abraham and Sanches in his first match in charge of Swansea.
Newcastle v Brighton team news
Newcastle: Darlow, Yedlin, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett, Ritchie, Merino, Hayden, Atsu, Gayle, Joselu. Subs: Murphy, Shelvey, Diame, Perez, Mbemba, Manquillo, Woodman.
Brighton: Ryan, Saltor, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, March, Stephens, Propper, Knockaert, Gross, Murray. Subs: Kayal, Baldock, Hemed, Goldson, Izquierdo, Schelotto, Krul.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Shelvey drops to the bench for Newcastle and Darlow replaces the injured Elliott in goal. There are five other changes. Rafa loves rotation. Loads of changes for Brighton too.
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Bournemouth v Everton team news
Bournemouth: Begovic, Francis, Steve Cook, Ake, Adam Smith, Ibe, Lewis Cook, Gosling, Fraser, King, Callum Wilson. Subs: Boruc, Pugh, Arter, Afobe, Daniels, Mousset, Simpson.
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Keane, Jagielka, Martina, Gueye, Schneiderlin, McCarthy, Lennon, Calvert-Lewin, Sigurdsson. Subs: Williams, Bolasie, Rooney, Niasse, Davies, Holgate, Robles.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
James McCarthy is back in midfield for Everton. Some extra insurance for Big Sam there.
Jonjoe Kenny starting again for Everton @GreggBakowski. If he were at Liverpool or Tottenham, he'd have one foot in the squad for Russia already.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) December 30, 2017
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Chelsea v Stoke team news
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger, Moses, Drinkwater, Kante, Alonso, Willian, Morata, Pedro. Subs: Caballero, Fabregas, Hazard, Bakayoko, Zappacosta, Batshuayi, Christensen.
Stoke: Butland, Edwards, Cameron, Wimmer, Tymon, Fletcher, Adam, Diouf, Afellay, Sobhi, Berahino. Subs: Allen, Choupo-Moting, Shaqiri, Crouch, Ngoy, Grant, Soutar.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)
Hazard is on the bench for Chelsea and Stoke have made a fair few enforced changes. And guess what? Berahino starts. He hasn’t scored since 1912.
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Liverpool v Leicester team news
Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, Matip, Lovren, Robertson, Milner, Can, Coutinho, Salah, Firmino, Mané. Subs: Wijnaldum, Klavan, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mignolet, Solanke, Alexander-Arnold.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Amartey, Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs, Gray, Ndidi, Iborra, Albrighton, Mahrez, Vardy. Subs: Hamer, Musa, Dragovic, Slimani, Okazaki, James, Thomas.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Worth keeping an eye on the returning Matip. If he’s at all rusty, Vardy may fancy his chances against him. Of the five changes Liverpool have made, another notable one is Mignolet being replaced by Karius in goal.
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This is the last round of fixtures in England in 2017 – what’s been your footballing highlight this year? That Renato Sanches pass to the hoarding board was a cracker. And there have been some great goals too. Look, here are some of them here.
On a personal level, finding some Puma King astro trainers in an 8.5 so that I could renew my Monday night football career was my highlight.
But in terms of full-throttle thrilling action, forget Manchester City and Barcelona, this was scintillating stuff:
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Premier League
Afternoon. How are we all doing? Splendid news. And are we ready for some football? You’d better be, because we have six Premier League matches kicking off at 3pm – and a full schedule in the Football League too. We also have some Serie A action, so if anything of interest happens in Italy I’ll be sure to let you know.
With Manchester United kicking off at 5.30pm against Southampton, Chelsea can move up into second place if they beat Stoke at Stamford Bridge. You’d imagine that was a banker but Mark Hughes has managed to arrest an alarming run of defeats by securing a win and a draw in Stoke’s last couple of games. The players have rediscovered their battle-fever and Hughes has got the fans off his back and kept himself in a job … for now.
Liverpool have the chance to move to within two points of Manchester United if they beat Leicester at Anfield. Leicester haven’t won in four, and lost to Watford last time out, but there are usually plenty of goals when these two sides meet so I expect them to keep my fingers busy. Burnley still look a good bet to finish the season as best of the rest –that’s seventh in old money. They have Leicester and Everton not far behind them and, if they can perform as they did when they drew 2-2 at Old Trafford in their last game, then they should fancy taking three points away from Huddersfield.
As for Big Sam’s rock solid Toffees, there’s really no excuse if they don’t show at least a smidgin of attacking intent on the road today. They’re at 18th-placed Bournemouth, who won’t sit back and will give Everton plenty of opportunities to get in behind them. I’d say the chances of this ending 0-0 (as Everton’s last two games have) are slim. Another team who have the chance to get on the front foot this afternoon are Newcastle. They were roundly criticised for being so negative against Manchester City. It was ludicrous carping given that Newcastle came mighty close to earning a point three minutes from time. If they play the same way at home against Brighton today then yes, sure, send your opprobrium c/o Rafael Benítez, St James’ Park, NE1 4ST.
Rounding off the action in the English top flight is Watford v Rock-Bottom Swansea. The Swans’ new manager, Carlos Carvalhal, says he’s a football romantic – “People will say that Swansea need a miracle to stay up, but I don’t agree” – who can save the sinking club but he’s inheriting a sorry mess, and he’s no Big Sam. Mind you, Watford haven’t been great of late despite their defeat of Leicester.
Championship
In the second tier the top two, Bristol City and Wolves, meet at Ashton Gate at 5.30pm so there is an opportunity for the clubs below them to apply a bit of pressure. Cardiff don’t play today but Derby – in fourth – are away at Ipswich while fifth-placed Leeds visit bottom-of-the-table Birmingham and sixth-placed Sheffield United are at home against second-bottom Bolton.
League One
Third-placed Blackburn v fourth-placed Scunthorpe at Ewood Park is worth keeping an eye on!
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