I’m off now, thanks for reading. See you next time!
Burnley v Liverpool has just kicked off. You can follow that with Rob Smyth right here.
1-0 down at half-time, Barcelona are now 2-1 in front. 16-year-old Fati came on at the break and scored Barca’s first goal, making him the third youngest scorer ever in La Liga. Arthur got Barca’s second goal.
3 - Ansu Fati se ha convertido en el tercer jugador más joven en marcar en toda la historia de LaLiga (16 años y 304 días), tras Fabrice Olinga (16 y 98) e Iker Muniain (16 y 289). pic.twitter.com/JIW6QHC1ct
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 31, 2019
Louise Taylor on Newcastle 1-1 Watford.
Dominic Fifield on Crystal Palace’s controversial win over Aston Villa.
Paul MacInnes on West Ham 2-0 Norwich.
Jacob Steinberg on Chelsea 2-2 Sheffield United.
Stuart James on a crazy finish at Elland Road. Leeds 0-1 Swansea.
Peter McMurry, with an email: “FWIW I thought Grealish was fouled outside the box, powered through the fouls until he got into the box, and then did one of those drag-your-foot-while-going-to-ground-in-the-hope-you-can-draw-a-PK things. Not a dive but not a PK either, IMHO.”
I think it’s definitely a foul. My understanding is that the reason that they didn’t go to VAR is because the referee blew his whistle. The phase ended. If Kevin Friend has let the play continue, they could have gone back and reviewed it after Lansbury had put the ball into the net.
Paul Doyle on Leicester’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth
Here’s Nick Ames on Manchester City’s win over Brighton.
Full-time results in League One and League Two
Full-time results in the Championship and Scottish Premiership
Confirmation that Swansea did hold on for that precious 1-0 win at Leeds United. The Welsh side are now top of the Championship.
Gosh, I’m looking at that disallowed Aston Villa goal again. Grealish was fouled – twice! – as he drove to the top of the Crystal Palace, and legitimately hit the turf after a trip. The ball fell to Henri Lansbury, on as a late substitute, and the former Arsenal man slotted his finish across Guaita into the far corner. But Kevin Friend pulled the play back for a Grealish dive! Why on earth didn’t they go to VAR?!
This is now up to date from the 3pm fixtures. Sergio Aguero is now your new overlord.
Full-time: Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa
A hugely controversial win for Roy Hodgson’s side.
Full-time: Newcastle 1-1 Watford
Probably a fair result. Watford win their first point of the season, but they remain bottom of the Premier League.
Updated
Villa have had a 96th-minute goal disallowed!
Grealish is tripped on the edge of the area, the play goes on and Villa score but Kevin Friend blows his whistle! He says that Grealish dived (he clearly did not), and blows for a Palace free-kick! Villa will go mad! And they have every right to go mad! (Very Barry Davies voice).
95: Grealish has the ball in the net but it’s been pulled back for simulation.
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) August 31, 2019
HUGE let off.
🦅 1-0 🦁#CPFC | #CRYAVL
Updated
Full-time: West Ham 2-0 Norwich
A brilliant, dominant performance from the Hammers, who should have scored four.
Full-time: Manchester City 4-0 Brighton
Easy.
Full-time: Chelsea 2-2 Sheffield United
Kurt Zouma has his head in his hands.
Swansea have taken a 90th-minute lead at Leeds! Wayne Routledge has somehow squeezed his effort over the line, and the Welsh side will go top of the Championship table with a win here. Leeds will slip to third. Massive!
Updated
Half-time at Osasuna, and Barcelona are still trailing 1-0. These were the scenes before the match. Luis Enrique’s daughter, Xana died on Thursday after a five-month battle with bone cancer.
A minute of silence in memoriam to the passing away of Luis Enrique's daughter Xana, may she rest in peace. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/P60UFxd4dM
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 31, 2019
GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Sheffield United (Zouma og 89)
Sheffield United have pulled in back from two goals behind! They were dead-and-buried at half-time but fully deserve this second goal. Callum Robinson, who has been a real nuisance this second half, did well out wide, crossed for Mousset, and his glancing header flicked off Zouma and found the far corner!
Updated
Watford are finishing the stronger at St James’ Park: Dubravka making a good save to deny Pereyra.
Stoke were on course for their first win of the season but two Birmingham City goals in four minutes means that they are behind. What a story here: Jude Bellingham, who is JUST 16 YEARS OLD and only came on because of an injury, has scored Birmingham’s latest goal to make it 2-1. A heavily deflected effort.
GOOAALLL - Blues 2 (Bellingham 76) Stoke City 1
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) August 31, 2019
Bellingham puts Blues ahead!
What. A. Moment. 😎@SkyBetChamp | #BluesLIVE pic.twitter.com/26uBGAGy15
Updated
GOAL! Manchester City 4-0 Brighton (Bernardo Silva 78)
Twenty seconds after coming on as a substitute, Bernardo Silva latches onto a nice pass from Sergio Aguero and slots it calmly into the corner. Boring.
Updated
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa (Ayew 73)
Palace have finally broken 10-man Villa’s resistance. Villa have been defending for their lives but couldn’t stop Jordan Ayew as he cut in from the left unopposed and curled a shot around Tom Heaton, who maybe could have done a little better.
Updated
Sunderland: 3-0 down at Peterborough, and they are down to NINE men. I’d say that one is done.
GOAL! Leicester 3-1 Bournemouth (Vardy 73)
And Leicester take advantage of the fact that they still have 11 men! And it is Tielemans that is the provider for Vardy! I’m sure Eddie Howe will have something to say about that post-match. Vardy makes no mistake after some good work from James Maddison.
Updated
A shocking challenge from Tielemans on Callum Wilson. The Belgian completely misses the ball and ends up with his studs half-way up Wilson’s leg. The Bournemouth man’s ankle actually crumples with the challenge, but Tielemans doesn’t even get a yellow card! That’s outrageous!
Some stat, this.
💥 U N S T O P P A B L E 💥@aguerosergiokun's scored 7️⃣ #PL goals from his last 7️⃣ #PL shots#MCIBHA pic.twitter.com/FjY22D2m4g
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 31, 2019
Still 1-1 between Newcastle and Watford at St James’ Park. Newcastle are probably the better side, but Foster has made some good saves from Isaac Hayden. Atsu also had a chance to tap in at the back post, but just couldn’t reach it. Think Gazza against Germany in ‘96.
Two quick goals for QPR at Sheffield Wednesday, both scored by Jordan Hugill, who is on loan from West Ham. Five goals in four games for the former Preston striker. Hint of an offside there, but the linesman kept his flag down.
Updated
Bottom of the Championship, Stoke City are leading at Birmingham City. Liam Lindsay scores from a set piece to ease the pressure on manager Nathan Jones. Birmingham keeper Lee Camp – who arguably has the worst lid in the Football League - should really have done a lot better under a high ball.
Updated
GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Norwich (Yarmolenko 56)
I said pre-match that I was excited about West Ham’s attack, and they are proving a real hand-ful. Norwich have looked really shaky since Zimmermann went off with injury and they fail to deal with a ball into the box. The ball bounces to Yarmolenko’s lovely left foot and the Ukrainian volleys it past Tim Krul.
Updated
GOAL! Manchester City 3-0 Brighton (Agüero 55)
Agüero has his second! Dunk gave the Argentinian way too much room, and Aguero bent a beautiful shot into the top corner. Game over.
Updated
RED CARD! Trézéguet is sent off for Aston Villa at Crystal Palace!
It’s been a poor game at Selhurst Park, but advantage to Palace, after Villa’s Trézéguet is penalised for a second yellow, catching Zaha with a clumsy tackle.
Barcelona are losing at Osasuna! Brandon dances around Lenglet crosses to the back post and Roberto Torres is there to head the Pamplona side in front!
Fresh from battering Burnley in midweek, Sunderland are 2-0 down away at Peterborough. Josh Knight with the second goal for Posh, there.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Sheffield United (Robinson 46)
Sheffield United are back in it! That’s Callum Robinson’s first Premier League goal, who looks relieved to have found the net after his earlier miss.
Enda Stevens does some great work on the left, nutmegging Azpilicueta, and pulling the ball back to Robinson, who makes no mistake in passing the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Updated
Peeeeeeeeep! And we’re underway again.
Half-time scores in the Championship and Scottish Premiership.
With those two goals against Sheffield United, Tammy Abraham is now on four goals for the season, and you can check the top scorers in each of the top five European leagues right here.
On the continent, Bayern are now 3-1 up, courtesy of a goal from Ivan Perisic on his full debut. An absolutely towering header at the back post for the Croatian, who is so good in the air.
Barcelona, meanwhile, are just about to kick off away at Osasuna. Real Madrid play Villarreal tomorrow night, while Atlético face Eibar at home.
Premier League half-time scores
West Ham 1-0 Norwich
Manchester City 2-0 Brighton
Crystal Palace 0-0 Aston Villa
Newcastle 1-1 Watford
Leicester 2-1 Bournemouth
Chelsea 2-0 Sheffield United
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Sheffield United (Abraham 43)
Abraham gets his second! The England man capitalises on a horrible defensive mix-up and sticks it in the bottom left corner.
Updated
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Brighton (Agüero 42)
Good news for City: Agüero is still very good at shooting, and finds the corner with a clever finish.
Photograph: Matt West/BPI/Shutterstock
Bad news for City: Laporte has been replaced by Fernandinho. Laporte looked in a bad way, it looked like a knee injury. I would be very surprised to see him playing for France next week.
Updated
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Watford (Schär 41)
It’s not the prettiest goal, but Newcastle are level! Schär is first to a loose ball and he hooks a finish into the net with his left foot.
Updated
GOAL! Leicester 2-1 Bournemouth (Tielemans 41)
Leicester retake the lead. This time it’s Vardy that provides the assist, with Tielemans getting a faint touch to take the ball past Ramsdale.
Updated
Chance for Sheffield United! Chris Basham, one of the overlapping centre backs that Chris Wilder’s side are becoming famous for, sends a brilliant cross over for Callum Robinson, who nods wide when he should score! It remains 1-0 to Chelsea.
Updated
Brighton have had 51% possession at the Etihad.
Updated
Looks like a nasty injury for Man City’s Aymeric Laporte, who is being carried off the field. Eeeeesh, and just when he had got he call-up for France!
Updated
On the stroke of half-time at the Allianz Arena, David Alaba has bent a 25-yard free-kick over the wall and into the top corner. Muller didn’t move in the Mainz goal. Bayern were 1-0 down, but go into the break 2-1 up.
Textbook @David_Alaba 📖 pic.twitter.com/m8DXjI4b87
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) August 31, 2019
Updated
At the Etihad, David Silva has missed a sitter from three yards. Brighton have showed signs of life, though, since falling behind to an second minute Kevin De Bruyne strike.
Updated
North of the border, Sherwin Seedorf (a distant relative of Clarence), has given Motherwell the lead against Hibs. 1-0 there.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Norwich (Haller 24)
He’s done it again. The Frenchman’s third goal in two games. West Ham have been poor but they take the lead, with Masuaku ghosting past his man on the left, squaring to Haller, who has an easy finish. A tap-in, really. “They’re the best ones,” cries Tony Cottee. And he would know.
Updated
Elsewhere in the Championship, West Brom have equalised against Blackburn through Matt Phillips, while Sheffield Wednesday are 1-0 up against QPR. Steven Fletcher from the spot.
Updated
Meanwhile, Lampard’s old side Derby are sinking without trace at Brentford. Two-nil down, with Ollie Watkins scoring and new signing Bryan Mbeumo getting his first goal for the London club.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Sheffield United (Abraham 19)
Lampard’s young side lead! Pulisic cuts across his marker, Henderson can only parry the ball out, and Abraham is there to volley Chelsea into the lead. Not a bad quality that, to be in the right place. His third goal of the season.
Updated
GOAL! Leicester 1-1 Bournemouth (Wilson 15)
This is a lovely finish from Callum Wilson, who once again gets an assist from Ryan Fraser. The pair made Premier League history last season, combined for 12 goals in the top flight, surpassing Alan Shearer and Mike Newell’s 11 combined goals set in 1995/96 – that is the most ever in a 38-game season.
Wilson had a lot to do here, but dinked the ball over Schmeichel, and the ball just trickled in off the post.
Updated
Ipswich Town, top of League One, are flying against Shrewsbury. Two-nil up with James Norwood continuing his excellent form, scoring from the penalty spot.
GOAL! Leicester 1-0 Bournemouth (Vardy 11)
This is textbook Vardy. Bournemouth are playing a ridiculously high line. Vardy breaks the offside trip, races onto the ball and lobs the ball over Ramsdale into the empty net. You can make that 11 goals since March.
10 - Since the start of March, no player has scored more Premier League goals than Jamie Vardy (10). Form. pic.twitter.com/fZu9cb5ABK
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 31, 2019
Updated
In the Championship, Blackburn are 1-0 up at West Brom thanks to Bradley Dack, while Leeds are pushing hard for an early goal against Swansea.
Bayern are level. It’s 1-1 at home to Mainz. Pavard has a habit of these volleys …
PAVARD DOES IT AGAIN! 💥
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 31, 2019
A lovely right-footed volley pulls us level!#FCBM05 1-1 (35') pic.twitter.com/Mmqvm7pSIH
“Being more 90’s than a hosepipe ban, I’m enthused to see some early Premiership fixtures repeated today,” emails Benjamin Oates. “Palace v Villa, Chelsea v Sheff Utd, West Ham v Norwich. Proper fixtures”
I wonder what Mark Stein is up to these days.
GOAL! Newcastle 0-1 Watford (Hughes 2)
Will Hughes pounces on a rebound and calmly sidefoots Watford in front! What a start for the side bottom of the table!
Updated
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Brighton (De Bruyne 2)
Forget that part about City’s midfield having an off day. David Silva gets onto a through ball, drives to the byline, lays it back to De Bruyne, who smashes it into the net. Ominous for Brighton.
Updated
Peeeeeeeeeep! We’re underway!
A first Premier League start for Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori, who was player of the year at Derby under Frank Lampard. Very exciting for the 21-year-old, he comes in for Christensen, who drops to the bench.
24 - The average age of Chelsea's starting XI against Sheffield United today is 24 years and 158 days - their youngest ever in a Premier League match. Whippersnappers. pic.twitter.com/b4Zdii94jO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 31, 2019
Some strange absentees.
Jack Wilshere, fresh from his good performance in midweek, does not make the 18-man West Ham squad. Hope you’re reading, Jack!
For Watford, there is no José Holebas or Étienne Capoue for their trip to Newcastle.
Five minutes to go then. Don’t be shy in getting in touch, you can email me michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet @michaelbutler18. Predictions, thoughts, complaints all welcome.
Jenny Price chimes in with an email.
“You have to have sympathy for Brighton – or maybe respect for their canoes in turning up at all – when you look at the City team sheet and realise that every player on the bench would be a nailed-on starter in most of the top six clubs.”
It’s a daunting task today. And yep, if David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Raheem Sterling all have an off day, there’s Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden to come on, with Fernandinho - who has defined the role of DMC in this country for the past few years – to sure things up if they need to.
Bit of a weird one with Joao Cancelo. He had an excellent season with Juventus last season, but looks like he’s playing second fiddle to Kyle Walker. Not sure why he swapped playing in that Juventus side for the City bench. And why did Juventus let him go? They are probably weakest in that position now. Mattia De Sciglio is a steady player, but probably not going to win you the Champions League. Hmmm.
Bayern Munich, who have already dropped points this season, have just fallen 1-0 behind at home to Mainz. Jean-Paul Boëtius with the goal on what is a first Bayern start for both Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic. Ten minutes gone there, so plenty of time for a recovery.
Dortmund, by the way, have an early evening match against Union Berlin.
Two years ago today, we signed a 17-year-old English talent 🏴
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) August 31, 2019
He's done quite well since 🌟 pic.twitter.com/udOYy6cBFv
Updated
Some absolutely textbook pre-match snaps here.
Updated
A few things to take from those teams:
- That West Ham attack looks naughty.
- Interesting that Watford have not started record signing Ismaïla Sarr, particularly as he looked so good in midweek in the Carabao Cup. Watford, remember, are rock bottom of the Premier League with nil points.
- Pukkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiiii.
“Afternoon Michael,” emails Simon McMahon. “I think all football fans wherever they are and whichever team they support will have empathised with the points made in your preamble, and in particular the reference to Bury FC. But of course, as devastating as it must be for the Bury fans, the show must go on. Good luck to them, whatever happens next.
“To business now, and in Scotland, Dundee United maintained their 100% start to the league season as they thrashed Dundee 6-2 at Tannadice last night to go seven points clear of their city ‘rivals’ at the top of the Scottish Championship after just four games, and five ahead of second placed Inverness. A sell out crowd of over 14,000 were there to witness it. Today, Arbroath host Dunfermline and it’s Partick v Ayr and Queen of the South v Alloa. In the Scottish Premiership two Glasgow teams play tomorrow, whilst today sees Aberdeen welcome Ross County, Hibs travel to Motherwell and also Hearts v Hamilton, Livingston v St. Mirren and St. Johnstone v Kilmarnock. In Scottish League One, it’s Airdrie v Falkirk and East Fife v Raith, and in Scottish League Two, leaders Cove Rangers play third placed Queens Park, and Cowdenbeath face Brechin.”
A comprehensive fitba update there, and I’ll bring those scores to you later on.
Updated
Premier League team news
Man City v Brighton
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Rodri, Silva, Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling.
Subs: Bravo, Gundogan, Tasende, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, Joao Cancelo, Foden.
Brighton: Ryan, Webster, Dunk, Burn, Montoya, Stephens, Propper, March, Bernardo, Maupay, Trossard.
Subs: Connolly, Duffy, Gross, Jahanbakhsh, Murray, Mooy, Button.
Chelsea v Sheff Utd
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley, Pulisic, Abraham, Mount.
Subs: Alonso, Christensen, Willian, Caballero, Giroud,
Batshuayi, Gilmour.
Sheff Utd: Henderson, Basham, Egan, O’Connell, Baldock, Lundstram, Norwood, Luke Freeman, Stevens, Robinson, McBurnie.
Subs: Sharp, McGoldrick, Stearman, Mousset, Osborn, Moore, Besic.
Newcastle v Watford
Newcastle: Dubravka, Krafth, Schar, Lascelles, Dummett, Willems, Almiron, Hayden, Sean Longstaff, Atsu, Joelinton.
Subs: Clark, Ki, Shelvey, Muto, Fernandez, Manquillo, Darlow.
Watford: Foster, Dawson, Kabasele, Cathcart, Janmaat, Cleverley, Doucoure, Femenia, Hughes, Pereyra, Gray.
Subs: Gomes, Deulofeu, Welbeck, Masina, Chalobah, Success, Sarr.
Leicester v Bournemouth
Leicester: Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Ndidi, Albrighton, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
Subs: Justin, Gray, Ward, Perez, Choudhury, Praet, Fuchs.
Bournemouth: Ramsdale, Mepham, Steve Cook, Ake, Smith, Billing, Lerma, Fraser, Harry Wilson, King, Callum Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Surman, Solanke, Ibe, Stacey, Rico, Simpson.
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Kelly, Cahill, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Kouyate, Milivojevic, Schlupp, Ayew, Zaha.
Subs: Meyer, Townsend, Sakho, Hennessey, Benteke, McCarthy, Victor Camarasa.
Aston Villa: Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Taylor, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Grealish, Jota, Wesley, Trezeguet.
Subs: Lansbury, Steer, Hourihane, Konsa, El Ghazi, Elmohamady, Davis.
West Ham v Norwich
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Noble, Rice, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Felipe Anderson, Haller.
Subs: Balbuena, Zabaleta, Snodgrass, Roberto, Sanchez, Fornals, Ajeti.
Norwich: Krul, Aarons, Zimmermann, Godfrey, Lewis, Trybull, Leitner, Emi, Stiepermann, Cantwell, Pukki.
Subs: Byram, Vrancic, Drmic, Fahrmann, McLean, Amadou, Tettey.
Preamble
In these trying times, there are few things more reassuring in England than a Saturday 3pm kick-off. For fans going to the game, it’s often the walk to the stadium, the pre-match pint or meal, the waving and nodding to familiar faces, that makes the day. For those at home, the fact that these games aren’t on telly creates obsessive habits.
Perhaps you are refreshing this MBM, or checking on your accumulator, or huddling around the telly at 4.45pm for the classifieds. Football, in that sense, is reliable. For those abroad, lucky enough to beam these games into their living rooms or local bars, strange communities start to emerge. The Doncaster Rovers Supporters’ group – Hong Kong faction. The Coventry City Sky Blues in San Francisco. The same five old pensioners in Nairobi rocking Newcastle shirts. That’s what football does, it makes you feel part of something, even something at the other end of the country, or on the other side of the world.
Let’s celebrate that, but also remember the Bury fans today, who can’t cheer on their team this particular Saturday, as they have done for years.
Team news is coming right up, and while I’ll be mainly covering a busy Premier League slate, I’ll do my best to chip in with some goals from around the Football League and further afield.
