Thanks for joining me. Have a fine evening.
Start it with Aston Villa v Manchester United.
Louise Taylor on Newcastle v Watford.
Ben Fisher reports from Molineux.
Paul MacInnes witnessed Norwich beat Everton.
Newcastle had one shot on target today. Not the best.
The great Scott Murray is on top of all events at Aston Villa v Manchester United.
Ronay on De Bruyne.
The narrative from today will be the added pressure on Rafa Benitez. Will he have the desire to carry on with the fans against him?
Full-time: Wolves 3-1 Southampton
Another fine win for Bruno Lage.
Full-time: Norwich 2-1 Everton
The Canaries hold on.
Full-time: Newcastle 1-1 Watford
Boos from the home crowd at the final whistle.
GOAL! Wolves 3-1 Southampton (Traore, 90+1)
The sub settles it.
Updated
Newcastle 1-1 Watford: The Hornets are very much on top ...
Wolves 2-1 Southampton: Bednarek whips in a cross from the right which misses everyone, eventually reaching Perraud on the other side of the pitch who sends it over the bar.
Newcastle 1-1 Watford: Femenia was the man to put in the inch-perfect cross for the Brazilian to head home.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Watford (Joao Pedro, 88)
A brilliant header levels things up.
Updated
GOAL! Wolves 2-1 Southampton (Ward-Prowse, 84)
A stunning free-kick from about 35 yards gets Saints back into the game. What a strike from the midfielder.
Newcastle 1-0 Watford: Dennis is off for Watford and Hernandez on. Interesting decision from Ranieri.
Wolves 2-0 Southampton: The final roll of the dice for Saints as Adam Armstrong replaces Broja.
Norwich 2-1 Everton: Gordon connects beautifully with a Godfrey cross but his shot is blocked on the line.
Flynn Downes equalises for Swansea at Huddersfield. I assume Elis James is currently tops off.
Norwich 2-1 Everton: Richarlison gets up after whacking into the advertising hoardings.
Six for Fulham!
Matt Hobbs on Everton: “A player overhaul is undoubtedly needed but you could also argue Benitez has been dealt with patiently by an owner who sacked Sam Allardyce for finishing 8th.
“Everton finished three points off European football last season and the only only significant departures from that squad - James, Digne - were at the behest of Benitez.
“His insistence on playing Rondon means young talents like Lewis Dobbin could leave the club and although the club is a mess at boardroom level, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Rafa is part of the problem, not the solution.”
Ronaldo and Rashford are not in the Manchester United squad to face Aston Villa. Anthony Elanga starts.
Tom Lawrence puts Derby ahead against Sheffield United. At the same time, Sky Sports are reporting the EFL have given the Rams until 1 February to prove they have a viable plan to move forward.
ANDY CARROLL SCORES LEGAL GOAL TO GIVE READING THE LEAD AT MIDDLESBROUGH!
Newcastle 1-0 Watford: The Hornets counter after Lascelles loses the ball. The move concludes with Dennis teeing up Sissoko who sends the ball well over. He should do better.
Striker!
37 - Since joining Everton ahead of the 2018-19 season, Richarlison has scored 37 Premier League goals, a haul only Joao Pedro (50) and Neymar (40) can better among Brazilians in Europe's big five leagues. Lifeline. #NOREVE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 15, 2022
Norwich 2-1 Everton: Aarons goes into the book for cleaning out Calvert-Lewin. It is the Norwich defender, however, who comes out of it worse as he stays on the ground holding his back.
GOAL! Wolves 2-0 Southampton (Coady, 58)
The Wolves skipper taps in after the ball comes back off the post.
Updated
Michael Keane has already scored an own goal for Norwich today but at least his twin brother Will has netted for his own side to double Wigan’s lead at Doncaster.
Wolves 1-0 Southampton: The hosts have a goal disallowed after Gomes crosses for Coady to tap in, only to see the flag go up.
GOAL! Norwich 2-1 Everton (Richarlison, 60)
The Brazilian makes a swift impact to bring Everton back into the game.
Updated
Newcastle 1-0 Watford: Back to the goal ... Saint-Maximin really is a great talent; he jinked his way past a couple of Watford defenders before whacking a shot that hit the back of the net before Foster could move.
Norwich 2-0 Everton Speaking of Rondon, he is off and Richarlison is on.
Mary Waltz says: “I see you are under attack from some of my fellow Everton faithful. The squad is bang average at best. Throw in the injuries and the lack of depth is exposed. The only problem I have with Rafa is playing Rondon. He has been useless in my view.”
Rondon is ruddy awful, to be fair.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Watford (Saint-Maximin, 49)
The wideman picks up the ball and drives for goal and fires the ball home to cause delirium in the stands.
Updated
Trialist A has been sent off for Albion Rovers for a second bookable offence. I do not hold out hope of him getting a permanent deal.
Mitrovic has a hat-trick! 5-2 to Fulham.
Second half
Here we go again!
Fulham are now 4-2 up against Bristol City. The joys of a late kick-off keeping us amused during half-time.
I just think the team is pretty poor and that is why Everton are not doing well. I place the blame on things other than the manager.
@Will_Unwin not having a go at you or your profession here but why do so many journalists give Benitez the benefit of the doubt? His record at Everton is much worse than any recent manager, and any manager with a similar record would face calls for the sack at any other club
— kawatabake (@kawatabake) January 15, 2022
Manchester City won earlier. Here is the report.
Half-time Premier League scores
Newcastle 0-0 Watford
Norwich 2-0 Everton
Wolves 1-0 Southampton
And Neeskans Kebano has levelled things up for Fulham against Bristol City.
A counter offer ...
@Will_Unwin Re: Everton. Surely the last half dozen games under Mike Walker were worse than this?
— The Stellarossa (Separatist)🏴🇺🇸 (@TheStellaRossa) January 15, 2022
A second from Semenyo puts Bristol City back in front at Fulham after pinging the ball off both posts before it rests in the net.
Wolves 1-0 Southampton: Romeo gets a cross into the box which Salisu attacks but Jose Sa is equal to it. Another cross is sent into the box but Tella misses from four yards out. Southampton should be level.
A new low!
@Will_Unwin 1954-present day. Surely the worst outcome in Top Flight Football beckons.
— TheFlyingPasty (@ToffeeDan) January 15, 2022
52 years following Everton and this is the nadir.
Mitrovic equalises for Fulham against Bristol City.
GOAL! Wolves 1-0 Southampton (Jimenez, pen, 37)
The Mexican sends the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Updated
Wolves 0-0 Southampton: A very long VAR review for a penalty after a Bednarek challenge on Ait-Nouri. The officials spend time trying to ascertain if Bednarek gets a touch on the ball before cleaning out the Wolves man. The referee is sent over to the pitchside screen and the penalty is inevitably given.
Yash Gupta emails: “Just found out Sunday’s game is off, typical Arsenal. Actually I wasn’t very confident as there were two more games in same week. Glad they got so scared they got the game cancelled. I would like to ask you what is keeping Rafa at Everton? Is it the name alone or the owners are Liverpool fans in disguise?”
As he knows how to keep am average team in the league. No guarantees any replacement would improve this mediocre squad.
Norwich 2-0 Everton: A visiting supporter has just run onto the pitch and tried to get to Benitez. Overall, I would say things are not going well for the Spaniard. I should say the issues at Everton are not down to Benitez and more those above him but hey ho.
Wolves 0-0 Southampton: Podence takes the ball down on the right, he cuts in and let’s fly but Forster saves well.
“Everton is sleepwalking so far,” emails Mary Waltz, “Norwich outworking the Toffees completely. Sigh.”
Updated
Fulham are losing at home to Bristol City. They would have been hoping for a better start after thrashing Reading 7-0 in midweek.
Newcastle 0-0 Watford: Wood finds himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper but Cathcart gets back to stop the debutant from opening his account for Newcastle.
Norwich 2-0 Everton: Losing this game would put further pressure on Benitez. How long can he survive at Goodison?
GOAL! Norwich 2-0 Everton (Idah, 18)
What a dreadful day for Everton this is already. Rondon loses the ball and Norwich quickly counter. The ball finds its way through to Idah who pokes the under Pickford.
Updated
GOAL! Norwich 1-0 Everton (Keane og, 15)
Aarons finds Sargent who sends in a cross which Keane awkwardly turns into his own net. The defender does not cover himself in glory.
Updated
Max Power opens the scoring for Wigan at Doncaster. He got his name from a hairdryer.
Newcastle 0-0 Watford: The reinvented Joelinton whacks a dropping ball at goal and it comes off the crossbar.
Wolves 0-0 Southampton: The Saints are on top at Molineux. Ward-Prowse has put in a few dangerous set-pieces. The latest sees Bednarek get an effort on goal but Jose Sa does well to keep it out.
Newcastle 0-0 Watford: The Hornets break on Newcastle; the attack ends following a Shelvey foul on the edge of the box. Dennis takes the free-kick but he hits the top of the wall.
Updated
Newcastle 0-0 Watford: Saint-Maximin, Newcastle’s talisman, puts a cross into the box but it finds no one and dribbles out of play.
Wolves 0-0 Southampton: Podence spends some time on the deck after an arm across the face from Broja. Not much in it, as the referee confirms.
Fulham v Bristol City is delayed by 15 minutes due to a power outage at Craven Cottage. Millwall v Forest will start at 3.10pm due to a medical emergency in the crowd.
Kick-off
Peep! Peep! Peep! There go the whistles across the country.
THERE ARE A LOT OF FLAGS BEING FLOWN AT ST JAMES’ PARK. Will the Watford players be intimated by flags?
Everton have gone with a front three of Gray, Rondon and Calvert-Lewin. It will be interesting to see how they set up. Will Calvert-Lewin be forced to play out wide to accommodate Rondon?
And confirmation of Tottenham v Arsenal being off.
Manchester United thrashed Birmingham in the WSL earlier.
Wolves are giving a debut to Tote Gomes. He is a 22-year-old defender from Guinea Bissau who has represented Portugal at youth level. He has first team experience from two loan spells at Grasshoppers Zurich.
Phil Coutinho is back in the Premier League. Why did it all go so wrong in Spain?
Full-time: Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
Kevin De Bruyne’s goal has put City 13 points clear at the top of the table. Is the title race over?
On the upside we have football today and Nick Ames will get tomorrow off, so everyone wins. Apart from the supporters of both clubs.
It looks like tomorrow’s north London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal is off.
Watford have made six changes for their trip to Newcastle which is a sign of a manager who is unsure of his strongest team. I am currently researching who Kamara, Gomes and Kayembe are.
Look out for these things.
Starting lineups: Wolves v Southampton
Wolves: Sa, Gomes, Ait-Nouri, Kilman, Coady, Semedo, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Trincao, Jimenez, Podence
Subs: Moulden, Ruddy, Jordao, Silva, Giles, Sanderson, Traore, Cundle, Campbell
Southampton: Forster, Bednarek, Perraud, Lyanco, Salisu, Tella, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Diallo, Redmond, Broja
Subs: Caballero, Walker-Peters, Stephens, Long, Armstrong, Adams, Small, Armstrong, Valery
Starting lineups: Newcastle v Watford
Newcastle: Dubravka, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Dummett, Shelvey, Joelinton, Longstaff, Fraser, Saint-Maximin, Wood.
Subs: Darlow, Gillespie, Ritchie, Lewis, Krafth, Murphy, Almiron, Willock, Anderson.
Watford: Foster, Ngakia, Samir, Cathcart, Kamara, Sissoko, Dennis, Kucka, Kayembe, King, Pedro,
Subs: Bachmann, Cleverley, Sema, Tufan, Femenia, Kabasele, Hernandez, Sierralta, Morris.
Starting lineups: Norwich v Everton
Norwich: Krul, Aarons, Gibson, Hanley, Williams, Sorensen, Lees-Melou, Rashica, Pukki, Sargent, Idah.
Subs: Gunn, Byram, Dowell, Placheta, Cantwell, Kabak, Tzolis, Giannoulis, Rowe.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Godfrey, Mykolenko, Gomes, Doucoure, Gordon, Gray, Rondon, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Begovic, Kenny, Patterson, Holgate, Mina, Richarlison, Townsend, Gbamin, El Ghazi.
The main game is Newcastle v Watford. Louise Taylor talks you through it.
Preamble
Another Saturday has arrived and there is still three matches on in the Premier League. Only Burnley v Leicester has fallen foul of Covid, which is good news for the Clarets as they are missing any semblance of an attacking threat following Chris Wood’s departure.
Speaking of the New Zealand striker, he is set to make his debut for Newcastle against Watford in a key relegation clash. Kieran Tripper could also make his first Premier League appearance for the club following his return to England from Spain. A win for the hosts at St James’ Park could kickstart their season after spending a few quid already this month.
Everton travel to Norwich in the hope of increasing the points gap between them and the bottom three. They have lost Lucas Digne this week and signed Anwar El Ghazi which is not an obvious swap but an indication of what Rafa Benitez wants to do at Goodison Park. Now he just needs some points to alleviate the pressure he is feeling from fans.
The other 3pm kick-off sees Wolves host Southampton in what looks like a glorious mid-table clash for the ages. I am not saying we shouldn’t get excited about this fixture but there have only been five goals in Wolves’ past five games - five have finished 1-0 and the other three goalless. We but live in hope, though.
Let’s get excited!
