Right, that’s all we’ve got time for on today’s Friday football buildup/countdown/preview live blog. It’s been fun. And there’s a whole heap of frantic festive football to enjoy this weekend and beyond. It starts with Swansea v Wrexham and finishes – for this weekend at least – when Fulham meet Nottingham Forest on Monday night.
Enjoy the last weekend before Christmas, whether you’re footballing or not. Thanks again for joining us!
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A look ahead to the weekend on this fine website, and a Friday night quiz to boot. Enjoy. I got a healthy 12 on the quiz.
In more Championship news, Bristol City and Millwall have been both charged by the FA for a mass brawl that took place during their Championship clash earlier this month. Players and coaching staff clashed at the end of Millwall’s 1-0 win at Ashton Gate, with the FA individually charging Joe Williams, Harry Cornick, Ross McCrorie, Joel Coleman and Dave Livermore.
An FA spokesperson said: “Both clubs allegedly failed to ensure that their players and/or technical area staff did not behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way after the match finished.”
There is some concerning news emerging out of Leicester City this evening.
The Telegraph are reporting that Leicester have informed staff they will not be paid their December wages before Christmas. The club have insisted there is no financial issue at play here, rather an “unfortunate alignment of payroll dates” apparently.
The situation risks a backlash from supporters, many of whom are unhappy with the current ownership. The Foxes are currently eighth in the Championship having endured a mixed season after relegation from the top flight in May.
Here’s your Premier League team news – vital if you’re planning some FPL changes/transfers/clever strategies this weekend. I shall try… I usually fail.
The WSL side Everton are set for a financial injection after a north American-based group, GED Investments, invested in a minority stake in the women’s team.
It is understood it does not amount to a controlling stake but the investment from GED Investments has been described by sources as significant in value. A club statement on Friday said it will “enable the club to continue to invest in the squad, enhance the fan experience at Goodison Park and drive commercial growth to support the expansion of women’s football” as a result.
The move will also see Everton’s CEO, Angus Kinnear, join the women’s team’s board of directors, and he said: “I am delighted to welcome GED to the Everton family. This investment is a testament to the vision we have for Everton Women, and a reflection of our aligned sporting ambition. I look forward to working with them as we embark on this journey.”
GED Investments is a private investment corporation based in Ontario, Canada, and this is their first venture into women’s football.
Ah, Fergie.
For the uninitiated few:
I resisted the urge to listen to Mike Skinner rapping while reading those Scott Parker quotes, by the way …
Is Scott Parker the latest Premier League manager to find himself under pressure? His Burnley team have lost their last seven games on the spin, and now sit 19th – above only winless Wolves.
The Clarets need to find something soon – they travel to Bournemouth tomorrow, with Parker eager for his men to bounce back.
This is what he said in his latest press conference:
I feel the pressure every time I’m sat in this position, I’ve felt the pressure every time I’ve walked out on the football pitch for 20 years of my career.
There’s no-one will ever, no owner, no fan, yourself asking me the question or the guy who’s asked you to ask the question to me, that will put more pressure on me than I put on myself. I’m a winner, I’m a fighter and throughout my career and throughout my life, that’s exactly what I’ve been, and there’s always been pressure. That’s just the way it is.
Pressure is something you learn to deal with, and also it’s that pressure and that fear at times - because no doubt at times there’s fear – that drives.
TV games for Women's FA Cup fourth round
The third-tier club West Bromwich Albion’s meeting with top-flight Everton and an all-WSL tie between Arsenal and Aston Villa have been included in the four live television broadcast picks for the Women’s FA Cup fourth round in January.
The new rights deal with TNT Sports will also see a Thursday night tie for the first time, as the fourth round now stretches over four separate days of live action. More of the cup’s games than ever before will be shown live this season, after TNT agreed a three-year deal with the FA in May. Channel 4 will also broadcast, simultaneously to TNT, the Arsenal-Villa tie.
All 12 WSL clubs enter the cup at this stage of the competition. There are four teams from tier four who are still in the cup – London Bees, who are at home to Liverpool, Swindon Town, who are away to Charlton, plus Chatham Town and York City, who meet each other but all have been overlooked by the broadcasters. The four chosen fourth-round ties are:
West Bromwich Albion v Everton – Thursday 15 January, 19:30 KO, Live on TNT Sports 1
Newcastle United v West Ham United – Friday 16 January, 19:30 KO, Live on TNT Sports 1
Sunderland v London City Lionesses – Saturday 17 January, 12:15 KO, Live on TNT Sports 1
Arsenal v Aston Villa – Sunday 18 January, 14:00 KO, Live on Channel 4 & TNT Sports 1
Moyes also revealed the in-form Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is unavailable against Arsenal. “A big miss,” he said. Indeed – Dewsbury-Hall has scored three goals in his past five games.
In better news for Everton, Jack Grealish is fit enough to play.
Can Everton qualify for Europe? They’ve certainly been impressive this season so far, despite a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea last time out. Before that the Toffees had lost just one of their previous six, a run which included that 1-0 win at Manchester United with 10 men. They sit ninth, two points off fifth.
Everton’s home form has been a tad patchy though, suffering 4-1 and 3-0 reverses at home to Newcastle and Tottenham respectively.
“Every win makes you think you have got a chance of competing for Europe, but every defeat makes you think ‘we have to behave ourselves a bit’ and think clearer,” said David Moyes today.
Table-topping Arsenal are the visitors to Hill Dickinson Stadium on the Saturday night …
Frank confident he has Tottenham players' buy-in
Thomas Frank is steadfast in his belief that he can fix Tottenham if given time and has no doubts about the buy-in of his current squad.
Spurs host Premier League leaders Liverpool tomorrow night in another big fixture for Frank, who has come under fire following defeats to Chelsea, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
The buildup to Liverpool’s visit has been dominated by a revealing interview from centre-back Micky van de Ven, who expressed his shock at the dismissal of Frank’s predecessor, Ange Postecoglou, and claimed to “still believe” in the system of the Australian.
Asked if buy-in had been difficult, Frank said: “No, I think it has been a good buy-in. You could say that from the beginning of the season we started quite well without being sensational.
“I thought we were very good in some games and good in other games. And then, like in every season, you have some setbacks and spells where it is maybe not going the right way, but I don’t see anything that [the players] are not with me.
Tottenham took baby steps with much-needed home wins over Brentford and Slavia Prague earlier this month, but a 3-0 collapse at Forest last weekend has prompted further scrutiny on Frank.
“I feel supported. I’ve done that the whole time,” he said. “This is not a quick fix. This will take time. That’s not to say that we’re not going to do everything we can to beat Liverpool. I believe we have a good chance of doing that, but this is something where we are building.
“I’m very comfortable and confident that I will, how can I say, fix it, but just to make sure it’s not me. When this club comes out on top, there will be a lot of good people working together, aligned at the same time through the years.
“I just know one thing I’m pretty good at is analysing things. I know what good looks like and I know where we should get, and one thing is I’m 1000 per cent sure, we haven’t seen any club be successful unless they had key people in the right decisions for a long time. And I’ll back myself to be one of those key people.” PA Media
The Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers says they are “not desperate” to sign new players in January, but has hinted they are hoping to add a right-back as well as a goalkeeper to their ranks this winter.
The north London club have two keepers currently injured with Manuela Zinsberger (ACL) out for the long-term, while Daphne van Domselaar (quad) also sidelined.
Asked on Friday if she expects the upcoming transfer window to see Arsenal sign a keeper and a right-back, and whether it was likely to be just two incomings, Slegers said: “It will be around something like [that] you are mentioning, as it stands. I’m really happy with the squad, where we are at.
“We’ve definitely found some stability and consistency, in what we’re doing, with the players we have at the moment. So that’s really positive. So we’re definitely not desperate. We’re really happy, but always looking to strengthen when we can.”
Arsenal travel to second-tier Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarter-finals on Sunday and then will be out of action until 10 January, because of the Women’s Super League’s winter break. The WSL transfer window opens on 2 January.
I’m now seeing Manchester United being linked with Ruben Neves. Apparently Al-Hilal are prepared to let him leave for around £20m … he’s somehow still 28 and could feasibly do a job in that United midfield. Couldn’t he?
Emi Martínez was linked with a move to Old Trafford in the summer, before United swooped for Senne Lammens instead, but the Argentine keeper could return to fitness in time to face Ruben Amorim’s side, Emery revealed.
“He is progressing well,” said the Villa boss on Martínez. “He is training individually and feeling better, much better and tomorrow [Saturday] we will decide if he is available or not for Sunday.”
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Unai Emery and Aston Villa are flying right now, but the manager is wary of the threat posed by an improving Manchester United at Villa Park on Sunday.
Villa are the polar opposite of Bristol Rovers – they’ve won nine on the bounce in all competitions.
But Emery said in his presser today of Sunday’s game: “Yes, very difficult – of course, it’s United. United not only for their history but how they are trying to be a team. They are trying to get a top position. They are performing very, very well away.
“At home they are having some more problems than away. If you study how they are performing with the new coach last year and this year, I think they are getting better. With the players they have, they have very good players. We are ready but we are respecting them and we are being humble. Especially in this moment we are being humble to understand why we are performing like we are.”
Seriously, watch Evans’ unveiling at Bristol Rovers below and you’ll see a man clearly reinvigorated not just by his weight-loss but by taking on an almighty challenge with the League Two strugglers.
What’s going on in the football world tonight?
Well, there’s an all-Welsh Championship clash (we’re not calling it a derby) between Swansea and Wrexham that catches the eye, while in League Two the new slimline Steve Evans takes charge of Bristol Rovers – they of a 10-game losing league streak – at Crewe.
League One AFC Wimbledon and Northampton also lock horns, while Altrincham v Rochdale in the National League is a pretty tasty greater Manchester derby.
A battle between the Borussias, Dortmund v Mönchengladbach, is the pick of the games from Europe tonight.
When the Women’s League Cup quarter-finals are played on Sunday it will probably be the last time they look this way: West Ham v Manchester City, Liverpool v Chelsea, Manchester United v Tottenham and Crystal Palace v Arsenal means the top four in the WSL are involved. With clubs having voted to remove teams competing in the Champions League from next season, major changes are afoot.
Here’s Suzanne Wrack.
Wilfried Nancy has presided over Celtic’s longest losing streak since 1978 and adding a fifth consecutive defeat, against Aberdeen this Sunday, would make it the club’s worst run since the 1952-53 season – when the Bhoys finished eighth in the league, below the likes of East Fife and Clyde.
But Nancy has vowed to continue experimenting with system and selection in a bid to find a winning formula.
When asked if he was considering more changes this weekend, Frenchman said: “I get the question, but if you watch all the games that we play, all the time I adjusted something.
“And on Wednesday [when Celtic lost 2-1 to Dundee United] I think that what we did was interesting, with the way we attacked. And we had many opportunities. So the idea is not to stay still, we add improvements all the time.
“I have to change certain things to see players, but also see how I can adjust a few players, how I can mix players together. And I think that every game, I did that.
“My job is to still do it for the next game, and again, and again, and again. So that doesn’t change.”
Well, well … we could have a left-sided forward merry-go-round on our hands this January. Brennan Johnson to Palace, Antoine Semenyo to a Manchester club, with Spurs and Bournemouth no doubt targeting replacements.
Palace register interest in Brennan Johnson
Crystal Palace have registered interest in signing Brennan Johnson from Tottenham, with the FA Cup winners keen to strengthen Oliver Glasner’s squad in January after they reached the Conference League playoffs.
The Austrian manager has made clear he needs reinforcements if Palace are to sustain their strong start in the Premier League and their European ambitions, with Palace fielding an entirely different XI containing four teenagers in Thursday’s draw against KuPS from the side that will face Leeds on Saturday night.
With Ismaïla Sarr having departed for the Africa Nations Cup, it is understood Palace want another forward in January and have held initial discussions with Spurs over Johnson. The Wales forward, who was Tottenham’s top scorer last season and scored the winning goal in the Europa League final against Manchester United, has been used sparingly by Thomas Frank, starting only six Premier League games.
Spurs are believed to be open to allowing him to depart, although they are likely to demand a similar fee to the £47.5m they paid to sign him from Nottingham Forest in September 2023. There are likely to be other suitors for Johnson and that could prove too expensive for Palace, whose transfer record is the £32m they paid Liverpool to sign Christian Benteke in 2016. However, they made a significant profit in the summer after selling Eberechi Eze to Arsenal for a fee that could reach £67.5m and are under pressure to back Glasner, whose deal expires at the end of the season.
Palace signed Yeremy Pino and Christantus Uche to help replace Eze but Uche has yet to start a Premier League game despite scoring in successive Conference League matches. There were reports in Spain this week that Palace are unlikely to take up an option to make the Nigerian’s loan move permanent – although Glasner was full of praise for Uche after his brilliant strike against KuPS.
Palace are also hoping to bring in cover for Daniel Muñoz, with the Colombia defender sidelined with a knee injury. There is interest in Sacha Boey, who is expected to be allowed to leave Bayern Munich and is also on Newcastle’s radar. Palace could face competition from Everton for Zakaria El Ouahdi, who plays for Muñoz’s former club Genk.
Rob Edwards, here.
We have to concentrate on ourselves and try take some of things we did very well against Arsenal. It doesn’t matter if we’re home or away. Our two best performances have been away from home, so come on lads, now we have to show it at home. It’s on us.
Edwards also paid tribute to former Wolves academy player Ethan McLeod, most recently of Macclesfield, who died at the age of 21 this week.
It is desperately sad news. My heart goes out to his family, obviously to his brother who is in our U21s. It is such a huge loss. Words fail me in these situations. It’s just really sad, he was here from seven years old. This club would have been a big part of his life. Terribly sad news, I can’t imagine what his family are going through. We are all thinking of them.
How bad are Wolves?
It’s a pertinent question given Rob Edwards has just conducted his latest press conference, ahead of a home game against Brentford tomorrow that offers a very real chance of that elusive first league win of the season.
WhoScored’s Harry Paterson dives down into the depths of the worst ever Premier League teams. And we’ll bring some quotes from Edwards next.
Manchester United will still be without centre-backs Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire for the trip to Villa Park on Sunday, with Benjamim Sesko and Patrick Dorgu – along with Mainoo – contenders to come into their side.
Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo have joined Noussair Mazraoui on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Amorim says Mainoo t-shirt won't affect United selection
Ruben Amorim has been asked whether Kobbie Mainoo’s brother wearing a t-shirt that bore the words “free Kobbie Mainoo” would affect the midfielder’s chances of featuring more for Manchester United.
Jordan Mainoo-Hames was seen attending United’s 4-4 draw with Bournemouth wearing the t-shirt, a riposte to Mainoo’s lack of game time under Amorim this season.
Mainoo was substituted on around the hour mark to rapturous applause at Old Trafford and is a contender to start for United at Aston Villa this weekend with Casemiro suspended.
Amorim was asked whether the issue would impact his selection and said: “He isn’t going to start because of the t-shirt and he isn’t going to be on the bench because of the t-shirt. If he is the right guy to play, he is going to play. It was not Kobbie who wore the t-shirt.
“That is not an issue. I am not going to do something to Kobbie because of someone in his family.”
Thanks Tom.
Uh oh, Ruben Amorim has been talking about Kobbie Mainoo again… we’ll shortly get stuck into the weeds of his latest press conference.
Right, that ends my exciting stint. Dominic Booth is now here to take on the baton.
Danny Welbeck’s hot streak has dried up in recent weeks with the talk of the Brighton striker earning an England recall dialling down as he manages a back issue. He is 35-years-old, it would be a surprise if he didn’t have a back issue.
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler, who is also without suspended duo Diego Gomez and Lewis Dunk for the visit of Sunderland, said Welbeck has some “minor issues” with his back. The strikes featured from the bench in last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, coming on in the 82nd minute.
It’s still restricted but Danny is doing sometimes incredible things so let’s see if he’s an option to start. The issue has not healed yet and he’s still restricted during training this week.
Ferguson: 'It could be ten years before United win another title'
Sir Alex Ferguson has lobbed a hand grenade into the lap of Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim by saying it could be anther decade before the Premier League title returns to Old Trafford.
Ferguson’s final campaign in 2012/13 remains the last time United won the league title and the club have gone backwards under a series of sucessors to the great Scot. Amorim is the latest of those to try and end the drought at Old Trafford but has struggled to get his team to play with enough consistency and last season oversaw an embarassing 15th place finish.
Asked if he was optimistic for the future at United with Amorim, Ferguson said: “He [Amorim] is a good personality. It is not easy. I remember looking back on my own time there, starting off when Liverpool were the bee’s knees. They were a fantastic club winning the European Cup four times and all that, but then it took them 31 years to win the league again.
“We are now in the same situation. It could be ten years, could be 11 years, because of that cycle. It has to be thought out carefully and we have to make sure the recruitment is going to be better than what it was.”
Ferguson was speaking to Press Box PR while in Bahrain attending to his horse racing interests.
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In some of the least surprising news of December, Sean Dyche is enjoying being “the Grinch” as he works his Nottingham Forest squad hard on the training ground. Forest travel to Fulham on Monday and Dyche is revelling in being the manager who stole Christmas.
I’m renowned for being the Grinch at this time of year! Christmas comes and goes pretty quickly in my life, as you can imagine with being in football since I was 16.
It is one of the downsides of the job. It is a working period, as it always has been for me.
It has been a pretty hard day of work today, then they will be recovering tomorrow and we will build into the game. I think it’s been a good break for the players, just because of the travelling and the game schedule they have had. It has fallen good for us this time.
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Hello! There are a few bits of Premier League team news coming in that I shall et you across shortly.
That’s my stint on this blog done. I will hand over to Tom Bassam, who will guide you through the next hour. Enjoy!
Guardiola: 'no discussions' about exit from Manchester City
Pep Guardiola has insisted there have been no talks over his departure from Manchester City. The 54-year-old has 18 months remaining on his contract but reports on Thursday suggested the Premier League club are making plans in case he departs in the summer.
“There are no discussions – end of the subject,” Guardiola said. “I will not be eternal here, none of us will be forever in this world but there are no discussions. What is going to happen will happen and the club has to be prepared for everything. The club has to be prepared but that subject is not on the table right now.
“The last three or four years every time someone asks me that question. Sooner or later, when I’m 75 or 76, I will quit City. I understand the question but I have 18 months left and I am so delighted. That question happens every single season and I’m OK.”
A victory over West Ham on Saturday would lift City to top spot for a few hours, with Arsenal playing in the evening.
“What’s going to happen, who knows?” Guardiola said. “But if I have 10 years on my contract or six months, football changes a lot. Now I’m focused on West Ham and go for a few days with my dad and that’s all, come back for Nottingham and Sunderland and Brighton and Chelsea.”
Nuno Espírito Santo seems in rather despondent mood for his West Ham press conference, before his side’s daunting trip to in-form Manchester City. West Ham have surrendered leads in their last two matches, including Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at home to Aston Villa and sit 17th in the table.
We’ve been doing really nice, good things throughout the games, but missing some aspects of closing the games down. In terms of performance, I think we are performing well. I think the boys did a really good match against Villa.
We were punished by details and mistakes and it’s up to us to correct those. We’re in a difficult position and have to sustain our performance throughout all the game. We need to work on removing these oscillations from the games and Saturday is another opportunity to do that.
In case you missed it earlier this week: The Football Daily Christmas Awards 2025.
Forty-one of the Guardian’s 100 male players on this year’s list came from the Premier League, which is bad news for the competitiveness of the European competitions. Here’s Marcus Christenson on whether any of the other leagues can close the gap on England’s top flight.
It’s a big game in Scotland this weekend as leaders Hearts host Rangers on Sunday. For all their struggles this season, Rangers are not out of the title race, especially if they win at Tynecastle.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hearts | 17 | 21 | 38 |
| 2 | Celtic | 16 | 13 | 32 |
| 3 | Rangers | 16 | 10 | 29 |
| 4 | Motherwell | 17 | 10 | 27 |
| 5 | Hibernian | 17 | 8 | 24 |
When Danny Röhl took over from Russell Martin in October, the Rangers were in turmoil, eighth in the league with one win in seven. Although the Europa League has proved too high a level for the Ibrox side under Röhl, Gers have moved into third place in the domestic league with six wins and two draws in eight game. Here’s what Röhl has said in his pre-match press conference.
“With a win on Sunday, we will be just six points behind them, one more game in hand. If you take this then it could be three and then the situation will change from when I arrived to now. But we know there’s still a long way to go, still a lot of games to play.
“I think my team feel it now, you feel the confidence. I think the win on Monday was a big one for us, it was a good start in a busy schedule. The next six games are crucial until the (Scottish) cup game and then we’ll know exactly where we are. We have made the first steps so far and now it’s about making the next step.”
Röhl is working with the club’s new football consultant and advisor, Stig Inge Bjørnebye, to bolster his options in January. “The wishes are to get a lot of players in on the first of January. But I think in this window will be about timing, that’s the first part, and the second thing is preparation. We’re trying to prepare some things now.
“We have talks with agents, with maybe potential players, ongoing conversations, but I think this is normal,” added Röhl. “This is a normal process. But the most important key is that I have a good conversation with my recruitment team and with my guys around me. Then we’ll make sure that we find the right players.”
Rotten news for former wonderkid Houssem Aouar – the French-born Algeria international has been injured on the eve of Afcon. He was injured in training on Thursday, an Algerian football federation statement said, and will be replaced for the tournament in Morocco by Angers’ Himad Abdelli. No details of the injury were given.
Some transfer news, courtesy of Jamie Jackson. Semenyo is a brilliant footballer and is certainly worth £65m in today’s market. Premier League ready, etc.
However, selling Garnacho to Chelsea for £40m, being very short handed on the left for half of this season and then signing a replacement (who is four years older) for £25m more is VERY Manchester United.
Luis Diáz was ranked No 31 in our top 100 male footballers list. Is that fair? Seems a little low to me, but you can find out how our 219-strong voting panel – which included Didi Hamann, Romário and Dunga – came to their decisions right here.
Here is a fresh Q&A with the former Liverpool winger, courtesy of Luis Miguel Echegaray. I enjoyed his description of Bayern teammate Harry Kane.
He does things in training where I say to myself, “this can’t be.” He’s so good. So good. It’s the truth! He plays so much and does everything well. Hunts for the ball, passes, defends – you watch him defend, he dedicates himself so much, someone so calm … and yet he scores goals. This guy lives for them. Each one that comes to him – once, twice, three times – he scores all of them. He’s also a great person. Very down-to-earth, family-orientated … just a spectacular person.
Leeds’ Daniel Farke 'picky' about January signings
Daniel Farke has revealed the club are “open and ready” to try and improve their squad but stressed the pitfalls of a difficult market in January.
Farke said: “If you sign (players) in the summer you have pre-season to prepare and integrate them and so they can adapt to your style and processes. It’s a bit more difficult in January. You either get a player where they’re quite often a problem because he’s coming back from injury. Or you have to spend lots to get a player in his rhythm and they can be over-priced. I’m very picky in January.
“You need many things to come together to find a solution, but we’re working on a professional level. If we find an addition who is affordable and makes us better, you have to be open and ready for it. We can speak about January when January has arrived. My whole focus is just on this group.”
Leeds face Crystal Palace at Elland Road on Saturday having lifted their fans by taking five points from their last three games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Brentford. Farke has been rewarded for switching to a flexible 3-5-2 formation, with striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin - four goals in his last four matches - proving the main beneficiary. PA Media
Guardian back at the Amex: After constructive discussions between the Guardian and Brighton & Hove Albion, the club has agreed Guardian reporters can return for this weekend’s game against Sunderland.
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Forest's Sean Dyche: 'I'm renowned for being the Grinch'
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche is enjoying being “the Grinch” as he works his squad hard on the field. Forest are enjoying a rare clear week in the fixture list, with no midweek game before Monday night’s visit to Fulham. It is Forest’s last game before Christmas, but Dyche is not letting up.
“I’m renowned for being the Grinch at this time of year! Christmas comes and goes pretty quickly in my life, as you can imagine with being in football since I was 16,” he said. “It is one of the downsides of the job. It is a working period, as it always has been for me.
“It has been a pretty hard day of work today, then they will be recovering tomorrow and we will build into the game. I think it’s been a good break for the players, just because of the travelling and the game schedule they have had. It has fallen good for us this time. I think it’s a good change for the players to have a few extra days this week to recover. And for players coming out of injuries, they have had more training days.”
Here is a bit more of Mikel Arteta from his Arsenal press conference. The game against Everton on Saturday will mark six years to the day since his appointment with the Gunners. Arteta also played for Everton manager David Moyes for six years before moving to the Emirates as a player in 2011.
“I think [Moyes] taught me the love that he’s got for the game and then the integrity that the game requires at any cost. I think he’s a remarkable man ... I’m very grateful for everything that he did *for me and for Everton as well.”
Arteta also provided some injury updates: Arsenal will not see any of their injured players return this week, with defender Ben White *out for the next few games, but forward Kai Havertz and centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes close close to recovery.
Our Afcon quiz is live!
Michael Owen blind ranks his Christmas dinner, with predictable results. The absolute state of gravy at No 9, sprouts at No 5 and turkey at No 1.
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Arsenal's Arteta backs Gyökeres to improve in 2026
Mikel Arteta has backed Viktor Gyökeres to improve in the second half of the season but admitted Arsenal need to build on their understanding with the £64m striker.
Gyökeres hasn’t scored since returning from injury against Chelsea last month and has six goals in 18 appearances. Arteta is optimistic Kai Havertz will be back from a long-term knee injury in the new year, and Gabriel Jesus has returned after 11 months and should feature against Everton on Saturday.
Gyökeres is expected to retain his place having started ahead of the Brazilian and Mikel Merino in the last-gasp win over Wolves and Arteta believes the best is yet to come from the 27-year-old.
“We bought a player with an incredible goalscoring record that had to adapt to the league,” Arsenal’s manager said. “He had no pre-season. The first few weeks were difficult because physically he wasn’t in his best state. And he’s a player that needs that, like any other player in this league almost, to perform at that level.
“Then he kicked on. I think he had a really good period and got injured. And now he’s back. But I saw a lot of positive things in the last two games that he’s done. We need to continue to tweak and understand him a little bit better in certain situations. And he needs to do the same. But that’s about time. And we have full support for him.”
Asked whether expected Gyökeres to go to another level in the second half of the season, Arteta said: “I think so, yes.”
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Slot: Liverpool have 'moved on' from Salah controversy
Arne Slot feels Liverpool have “moved on” from the Mohamed Salah controversy and hopes the player’s Africa Cup of Nations involvement takes further heat out of the situation.
Salah sparked crisis at the club with an explosive interview a fortnight ago in which he, among other things, claimed he had been made a scapegoat for a poor run of form.
He was consequently dropped for a Champions League game at Internazionale but, after talks with manager Slot, returned as a substitute in last week’s Premier League victory over Brighton. The 33-year-old is now on international duty, for potentially up to another month, with Egypt.
Slot said: “As I said last week, actions speak louder than words and we moved on. He was in the squad and he was the first substitution I made. But now he is at the Afcon, playing big games for himself and the country, so I think it is fair to them, and also to us because we are going to play some important games, that all the focus is for him over there and there should not be any distraction from me saying things about his time at Liverpool.
“We have moved on after the Leeds interview and he played against Brighton. Now he is there, so it is fair for his country, and for him and us, to talk about Tottenham and other games.”
Liverpool will give a fitness test to Dominik Szoboszlai ahead of Saturday’s trip to Spurs after the Hungarian suffered an ankle injury late in the Brighton game. PA Media
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I’m not sure what sort of discussions were had between Newcastle United and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but Yoane Wissa has not joined his compatriots at Afcon following his recent injury lay-off. I can’t really imagine the same situation happening at the Euros or Copa América, where a fit player would choose not to (or be prevented from) playing for his country and a major international tournament.
Eddie Howe is obviously delighted that his striker is fit again and scored for the first time in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Fulham. These are fresh quotes from the Newcastle press conference:
“Yoane is probably more closely linked to Alex [Isak]’s style without being Alex himself. Yoane has got his own strengths, and his running in behind in particular on Wednesday night, I thought, was excellent. His movement for slip passes and for stretching their backline, I thought, was right out of the top drawer. It was a great lesson for any young striker to watch his movement in that game.
He’s his own man and he will bring his own strengths. It’s great to have him available and I think having that player there will benefit Nick as well, so he definitely makes us stronger.
That’s not to say that Nick can’t be hugely successful here and the team can’t be successful with him in it, but we just need to find ways to play better and feel those rhythms and partnerships that we pride ourselves on.”
Newcastle will welcome Chelsea to St James’ Park desperate to erase the better memories of last weekend’s derby defeat at Sunderland, but with full-back Tino Livramento having joined a lengthy injury list with a knee problem which will sideline him into the new year.
“I don’t think it’s a serious injury,” Howe added. “The complication we have is Tino has injured that knee before in a very similar area, so that always makes the potential recovery time a little bit longer, so I don’t think we’ll see him possibly before 2026.”
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The Guardian's top 100 male footballers: No 10-1 revealed
The winner has been revealed …
Re the players that have made it to Afcon, this is a handy explainer of the extent to which Premier League teams will be affected.
Some of the names not featuring at Afcon are remarkable, and feature some of the most talented footballers from the continent. The main reason for this is that their nation has not qualified (for example, Ghana), but there have also been omissions from squads that have made it (unexpectedly Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra, who was voted the best young player at Afcon 2023, providing a fine assist for the winner in the final) and there has even been an unexpected retirement on the eve of the tournament (Nigeria’s William Troost-Ekong, who was voted the player of the tournament at the last Afcon).
Here is a non-exhaustive list of players that are also not at the tournament.
Serhou Guirassy (Guinea/Borussia Dortmund)
André Onana (Trabzonspor/Cameroon)
Yoane Wissa (DRC/Newcastle United)
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana/Tottenham)
Antoine Semenyo (Ghana/Bournemouth)
Ola Aina (Nigeria/Fulham),
Yankuba Minteh (Gambia/Brighton)
Hakim Ziyech (Morocco/Wydad AC)
Nicolas Pépé (Cote d’Ivoire/Villarreal)
Mohammed Salisu (Ghana/Monaco)
Cheick Doucoure (Mali/Crystal Palace)
Amine Adli (Morocco/Bournemouth)
André-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon/Napoli)
Victor Boniface (Nigeria/Werder Bremen)
Afcon kicks on Sunday, which is rather exciting. Morocco v Comoros is the first game and Osasu Obayiuwana has penned this preview for your eyes only.
An email from Dave Estherby.
“I have to disagree with Neville, Carragher et al that everything should be handled “in-house”; doing pressers before and after games is something I imagine most managers wouldn’t do were it not a contract stipulation. I don’t think a bit of honesty here and there is a reason to start throwing mud/starting rumours/whatever it may be. Maresca is clearly pissed off about something, he a big boy so I would guess he’s already aired these grievances in private, if that’s fallen on deaf ears I think he has every right to speak his mind publicly. Don’t the fans have a right to know that’s going on?”
Absolutely, Maresca has a right to air the dirty laundry in public, but it rarely ends well for managers when they do this, particularly at clubs like Chelsea. If Maresca does survive, it will be interesting to see if Chelsea back their manager in January. There are rumours that Maresca is demanding an(other) elite midfielder, perhaps because Roméo Lavia can’t stay fit for longer than five minutes. Whatever happened to ‘making do’?!
A reminder that the top 10 of our 100 best male footballers in the world 2025 will be revealed in the next few minutes.
Here is the list 100-11.
The most interesting line from that Maresca press conference was: “It’s important to understand the reason why this [Manchester City] news was there.”
Since we are still in the dark about Maresca’s comments last weekend, that is a clear message to the Chelsea hierarchy. A veiled threat of sorts. The Italian is playing a dangerous game, even if he spent 90% of the press conference saying all the right things as Chelsea manager: ignoring the reports, playing down the speculation, focusing on the next game, etc.
A bit more Maresca for you:
I have a lot to achieve here [at Chelsea]. We achieved the third semi-final in 18 months the other day. Last year was good for trophies, we finish fourth in the Champions League, now we want to improve on that this year.
He also provides some injury news, for all you FPL freaks.
Liam Delap and Dario Essugo are probably available for Aston Villa and Roméo [Lavia] is still out, Levi [Colwill] is still out.
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Maresca: Manchester City links are '100% speculation'
Chelsea’s press conference has started.
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea manager, is asked about the stories linking him to the Manchester City job.
It doesn’t affect me. It’s 100% speculation. In this moment, there is not time for these type of things. I have a contract [at Chelsea] until 2029. I’m very proud to be here. I don’t pay attention to that. One week ago, it was the same with Juventus so I don’t pay attention.
It’s important to understand the reason why this [Manchester City] news was there. I’m focused on the Newcastle game. It is going to be a difficult game.
Maresca is asked if he has spoken with the club hierarchy about the Everton comments. A reminder that the Chelsea manager claimed last weekend that “the last 48 hours had been the hardest since I joined the club because so many people didn’t support me and the team.”
About the Everton press conference? No. About other things? Yes.
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Ashton Gate to stage the Women’s League Cup final
Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City, will stage the Women’s League Cup final on Sunday 15 March 2026, it has been announced.
It is the first time the venue has staged this final, although Ashton Gate hosted a Women’s FA Cup final in 2012.
The match will be a 2:15pm (all times GMT) kick-off, broadcast live on BBC One and Sky Sports. Only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have lifted the trophy since the cup was founded in 2011.
The quarter-finals are taking place on Sunday, with Liverpool hosting the holders, Chelsea. Crystal Palace, the only remaining side from below the top flight, are at home to Arsenal.
Last season’s beaten finalists, Manchester City, are away against managerless West Ham, while in another all-WSL tie, Manchester United host Tottenham. All four quarter-finals get under way at 1pm.
Preamble
Hello world! We are well and truly into the festive fixtures now. The games come thick and fast, and staying on top of one’s form and fitness is paramount. Given their Club World Cup efforts, Chelsea are worse off than most when it comes to injuries.
It’s results that matter, though, and the heat is on Enzo Maresca after his comments last weekend.
Failure to explain them has only increased the scrutiny on the Italian, who is due to give his pre-weekend press conference imminently before Chelsea’s trip to Newcastle tomorrow. There are various reports flying around that Maresca is fighting with the Chelsea board over signings and is also being linked with replacing Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, should the Spaniard leave. Remember, Maresca was one of Guardiola’s assistants 2022-2023.
So we’ll have the latest from that, plus all the rest of the Premier League news and analysis going into this weekend.
Do email me on michael.butler@theguardian.com with any thoughts. Let’s do this.
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