That concludes the clockwatch for this afternoon. Thanks for joining us. And, of course, catch Rob Smyth’s MBM of the Manchester derby.
Stuart James saw West Brom draw 1-1 with Swansea City.
Nick Ames saw Stoke City lose 2-1 at home to Tottenham.
Ben Fisher saw Bournemouth 2-2 Crystal Palace
Paul Macinnes saw Brighton 1-1 Huddersfield.
Paul Doyle saw Leicester 1-2 Newcastle, a huge result for the Toon Army.
Here’s a match report from Watford 1-2 Burnley.
In the Championship, the play-off contenders all winning save for Aston Villa, who lost earlier in the day at Norwich and Bristol City, who lost to Millwall. At the bottom, a vital point for Birmingham City grabbed late on against Burton, especially after Barnsley beat Sheffield United in the earlier game. Reading’s 1-0 defeat of Preston was similarly important. Sunderland were leading Leeds but were pegged back to a 1-1 draw. Hull City pumped QPR 4-0.
So, inconclusive stuff in the bottom half of the Premier League. Only Newcastle of the teams who began the day below tenth have won, and they are now tenth.
Full time: Stoke 1-2 Tottenham. Christian Eriksen with both goals, and Stoke are sliding down. That’s four defeats in a row.
Full-time: West Brom 1-1 Swansea. Not the expected result, though there was something of a Darren Moore bounce from the home team.
Full time: Watford 1-2 Burnley. A sweet victory for Sean Dyche. Burnley are two points behind Arsenal now.
Full-time: Leicester 1-2 Newcastle. A bitter blow for Leicester’s hopes of European football, while Newcastle have made it to 38 points.
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Full-time: Brighton 1-1 Huddersfield. Some Brighton players lying on the turf in disappointment. Looks like they think they threw that away.
Full-time: Bournemouth 2-2 Crystal Palace, a result that is not enough for Palace.
Harry Kane has his goal taken off him. It has instead been awarded to Eriksen. The returning striker did not get a touch to the ball.
Into the witching hour here - injury time on an afternoon that has so far done little to clear the waters of the relegation picture.
Birmingham City have equalised against Burton at the bottom of the Championship. Lukas Jutkiewicz got that.
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Goal! Bournemouth 2-2 Crystal Palace (King 89)
Bournemouth score late goals, and Palace concede them so this was almost inevitable. Josh King steal in to score for the home team. Roy Hodgson aghast at Dean Court.
Aleksandar Mitrović’s goaL has put Fulham 1-0 up at Sheffield Wednesday, an important goal if there is still to be a hope of automatic promotion.
Goal! Leicester 1-2 Newcastle (84)
Jamie Vardy runs back to the halfway line after scoring a goal that sets up a grandstand finish, if you can have one at the bowl that is the King Power Stadium.
Catch Rob Smyth’s preamble of the title decider here.
Team news from the Etihad
Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson; Danilo, Kompany, Otamendi, Delph; Gundogan, Fernandinho, D Silva; B Silva, Sterling, Sane.
Substitutes: Bravo, Walker, Laporte, De Bruyne Y Toure, Aguero, Jesus.
Manchester United (4-3-3) De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Young; Herrera, Matic, Pogba; Lingard, Lukaku, Sanchez.
Substitutes: Pereira, Lindelof, Rojo, Mata, McTominay, Martial, Rashford.
Referee Martin Atkinson.
While the Premier League has begun to rain goals, Will Grigg continues his one-man inferno, and has a hat-trick as League One promotion hunters Wigan lead MK Dons 5-1.
Goal! West Brom 1-1 Swansea (Abraham 75)
Big goal for Swansea and Tammy Abraham. Can they now get the win they need after their recent slump?
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Goal! Leicester 0-2 Newcastle (Perez 75)
Ayoze Perez has put Newcastle into a shock 2-0 lead with an excellent strike, lobbing coolly over Kasper Schmeichel.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-2 Crystal Palace (Zaha 75)
Who else but Zaha for Palace? His hold over Palace’s fortunes is simply remarkable.
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Davy Propper has been sent off for Brighton.
Goal! Watford 1-2 Burnley (Cork 73)
And Burnley have stormed into the lead, Jack Cork getting on the end of a free-kick.
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Goal! Watford 1-1 Burnley (Vokes 70)
Burnley are back in this after sub Sam Vokes scored with his first touch.
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Bad news all round in the relegation struggle except for West Brom, who lead 1-0 against Swansea after a Jay Rodriguez’s 53rd minute goal.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-1 Crystal Palace (Mousset 65)
Bournemouth, as so often, have roared back into this game as soon as they fell behind. Lys Mousset has drilled in from the edge of the area.
Goal! Stoke 1-2 Tottenham (Kane 63)
Stoke didn’t last long, and it’s Eriksen again, with a bending free-kick that evades everyone. Does that include Harry Kane? He has attempted to claim the goal.
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Goal! Watford 1-0 Burnley (Pereyra 61)
No clean sheet for Nick Pope as Roberto Pereyra scores after his initial free-kick was blocked.
Goal! Stoke 1-1 Tottenham (Diouf 57)
Lifeline for Stoke, as Mame Biram Diouf capitalises on a Hugo Lloris mistake. The Frenchman hoofed the ball straight at Stoke’s wing-back/forward.
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Millwall’s Lions continue to roar, and they now lead Bristol City 2-0, with Steve Morison on the mark. But Derby now lead 3-0 and with Middlesbrough leading Forest 2-0 then Millwall have to wait to storm into the top four.
In the Championship drop zone, Sunderland are attempting one of the greatest of escapes and Paddy McNair has put them into the lead with a goal at Leeds.
Goal! Stoke 0-1 Tottenham (Eriksen 52)
Stoke’s resistance is broken, as Christian Eriksen continues his great form with his fourth goal in four games.
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Those European giants are on course for glory. Juventus have beaten Benevento 4-2 with Douglas Costa scoring their fourth. And Bayern are 3-1 up at Augsburg with Arjen Robben getting their third. Twenty minutes to their sixth title.
Ewen Atkinson emails in to say:
“The Premiership could be clinched this day, but it’s open to speculation. I’d like to know what readers (and you) think about the force that Pep Guardiola is about to put on the field of war-cum-football.
“Myself, I think he’ll put out a first-strength outfit. If I were the City manager, I wouldn’t want to damage City’s confidence any more after last week’s horrorshow against the Pool.
“What do others think?”
Goal! Bournemouth 0-1 Crystal Palace (Milivojevic 46)
Palace have a vital lead after a Luka Milivojevic free-kick rattles in.
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Here’s a handy cut-out-and-keep-guide to the EFL half-time scores.
HALF-TIME: The scores from across the #EFL at the break.
— EFL (@EFL) April 7, 2018
How are your team getting on? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/xlKjFzHZth
So, not much excitement to report in the Premier League. Perhaps that is being saved for the Etihad, or at least the selection confidence trick that Jose Mourinho is probably about to pull.
More word from the Hawthorns.
Not saying West Brom v Swansea is bad, but the announcement of three minutes added time was booed from the home end.
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) April 7, 2018
To complete the Premier League half-times, it’s 0-0 between West Brom and Swansea, a scoreline that is little use to either team.
At half-time, it’s 0-0 between Watford and Burnley. Clarets goalkeeper Nick Pope, with Tom Heaton sat on the bench, has been the outstanding player so far.
Half-time at Leicester, where Newcastle lead 1-0 thanks to that Shelvey goal.
Half-time at Stoke, where it’s 0-0 with Tottenham.
Half-time at Brighton, where’s 1-1 with Huddersfield.
Half-time at Bournemouth, where’s it 0-0 with Crystal Palace.
Juventus lead 3-2 at Benevento and Paulo Dybala has got all three goals.
Andre Ayew should have scored for Swansea at West Brom, but missed a golden chance from 12 yards out.
Leicester have a penalty shout turned down when Riyad Mahrez was brought down by Paul Dummett, but nothing given by the referee.
Yeovil are already down to nine men against Luton in League Two and losing 2-0. Can they make it to seven and get the game called off? The third time they have been down to nine men.
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Middlesbrough have made it 2-0 against Nottingham Forest after a goal from Stewart Downing. And Derby are also 2-0 up on Bolton, with Matej Vydra on the mark. Good tidings for two teams at the bottom of the Championship play-off reckoning - Derby are fifth and Boro are sixth. Pulis in the play-offs could be fun.
Goal! Brighton 1-1 Huddersfield (Mounie 33)
Chaotic scenes, after a dreadful Shane Duffy back pass results in a Steve Mounie equaliser. A gift to the Terriers.
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Goal! Brighton 1-0 Huddersfield (Lössl 29 OG)
Solly March looked to have opened the scoring, though Jonas Lössl got the final touch. That spells bad news for Huddersfield, who have that horror run of fixtures coming up at the end of their season.
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Both Swansea and Crystal Palace, two teams needing vital away wins, have begun in sluggish style.
Stoke’s Jack Butland has made an excellent one-on-one block of a chance for Son Heung-min. Spurs had been quiet until then.
Juventus pegged back in Serie A. Benevento make it 2-2 with a second goal from Cheick Diabaté.
At the King Power, there are ructions as Leicester’s Harry Maguire has thrown a slap at Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle, and escaped with a yellow card. Lucky boy.
Goal! Leicester 0-1 Newcastle (Shelvey 18)
Jonjo Shelvey has broken the Premier League deadlock and his own drought, which goes back to November 2015.
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Word reaches us from the Hawthorns
10 minutes gone at West Brom v Swansea, hosts not even losing yet. This must be Darren Moore's new manager bounce.
— Rory Dollard (@thervd) April 7, 2018
Championship play-off chasers Millwall are one up on Bristol City after a goal from Jed Wallace.
Will Grigg continues to be ablaze, and has scored for Wigan against MK Dons.
James Rodriguez has put Bayern 2-1 up at Augsburg. It won’t be long until FC Hollywood will be spraying beer all over the joint in celebration.
Staying in the Championship, Middlesbrough lead Nottingham Forest 1-0, after a goal from Daniel Ayala.
But Derby break the duck with a goal from Alex Pearce against Bolton. 1-0 to the Rams.
Seven minutes in and no goals in the 3pm kick-offs in England.....
It’s revving up at the Etihad Campus ahead of the biggest Manchester derby ever.
Flags on seats at the Etihad. pic.twitter.com/LM0xAQW6rH
— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonESPN) April 7, 2018
Tributes across the country with minutes’ applause for Ray Wilkins, gentleman of the game, who died this week. A super player, and a super man, to use one of Ray’s favourite words.
👏 | A minute's applause at Meadow Lane and Field Mill in memory of former England captain Ray Wilkins. #BBCEFL pic.twitter.com/vmryoUIRoc
— BBC Nottingham Sport (@BBCRNS) April 7, 2018
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Email from Gareth Williams, presumably a Hornet.
“I know how the media love to trot out the same ‘Watford sack everyone’ narrative, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that Dyche left the club because he didn’t want to work under the Pozzo model. There. The world has again been set right.”
The word at the time was that the Pozzo crew had “terminated his contract” but that doesn’t mean Gareth has a case.
To quote the great Ron Pickering, and away we go...
It’s handshakes all round in the Premier League with the 3pm kick-offs now just moments away.
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Looks like Jurgen Klopp is getting antsy about Salah’s fitness for Tuesday.
Klopp: I don't know what the latest is about Mo Salah. I haven't got a ticker giving me updates. Everybody tells me he will be fit but we will see.
— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) April 7, 2018
Harry Kane’s return is very bad news for Stoke City. Kane being Kane, he won’t have given up going for the Golden Boot. He’s just five goals behind Mo Salah, and loves a late-season goal surge.
A note on that Merseyside derby: no yellow cards. The first card-less derby in 26 years. Anyone would think that neither team had much skin in that game. It was, frankly, dreadful.
Down in the National League, Macclesfield Town led 2-0, only to be pegged back to 2-2 by Ebbsfleet United. They are, though, ten points clear at the top of the table. A vital Tuesday night trip to Boreham Wood awaits for the Silkmen.
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Here’s the Bayern team that can crown themselves champions at Augbsurg.
STARTING XI and SUBS vs. @FCA_World! 💪#FCAFCB pic.twitter.com/LkniJie8P1
— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) April 7, 2018
Big Sam didn’t take those missed chances too well
think sam summed it up well at the end pic.twitter.com/fQR1AdI9fu
— Ken Early (@kenearlys) April 7, 2018
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Bad day for Aston Villa, whose dwindling hopes of landing automatic promotion have taken a bitter blow with a 3-1 defeat at Norwich. It’s the play-offs for Brucey’s boys.
0-0 at Goodison is the final result. Everton threw the kitchen sink at it towards the end but the derby drought extends to eight years. Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute commentary is here.
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At the bottom of the Championship a hugely important win for Barnsley in beating Sheffield United 3-2. The Tykes are within two points of Birmingham, Bolton and Reading.
Meanwhile at Goodison....Cenk Tosun has missed a golden chance to win the Merseyside derby. Dreadful header given the space he had.....and now Dominic Calvert-Lewin has blazed over the bar. Sam Allardyce has his head in his hands.
Liverpool will probably just be celebrating the fact that nobody has yet picked up an injury.
AFC Bournemouth v Crystal Palace
AFC Bournemouth: Begovic, Francis, Steve Cook, Ake, Daniels,
Fraser, Lewis Cook, Gosling, Pugh, Defoe, Callum Wilson. Subs:
Boruc, Surman, Brad Smith, King, Mousset, Simpson, Taylor.
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Wan Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Cabaye, Milivojevic, McArthur, Townsend, Zaha, Loftus-Cheek.
Subs: Lee, Cavalieri, Souare, Fosu-Mensah, Kelly, Riedewald, Daly.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
Watford v Burnley
Watford: Karnezis, Janmaat, Prodl, Mariappa, Holebas, Doucoure,
Capoue, Femenia, Hughes, Pereyra, Deeney.
Subs: Gomes, Britos, Richarlison, Cathcart, Gray, Carrillo, Okaka.
Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Long, Ward, Lennon, Westwood,
Cork, Nkoudou, Barnes, Wood.
Subs: Heaton, Taylor, Marney, Vokes, Hendrick, Wells, Bardsley.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
Leicester v Newcastle
Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell,
Mahrez, Adrien Silva, Iborra, Albrighton, Diabate, Vardy.
Subs: Gray, Iheanacho, Dragovic, Jakupovic, Okazaki, Fuchs, Choudhury.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Dummett, Ritchie, Diame, Shelvey, Kenedy, Perez, Gayle.
Subs: Clark, Hayden, Manquillo, Joselu, Merino, Darlow, Atsu.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
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Brighton v Huddersfield
Brighton: Ryan, Schelotto, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Propper, March, Gross, Stephens, Izquierdo, Murray.
Subs: Saltor, Kayal, Baldock, Ulloa, Goldson, Locadia, Krul.
Huddersfield: Lossl, Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo, Ince, Hogg, Mooy, van La Parra, Pritchard, Mounie.
Subs: Smith, Malone, Billing, Coleman, Lowe, Depoitre, Quaner.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Updated
Stoke v Tottenham Hotspur - Harry Kane starts for Spurs
Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters,
Bauer, Allen, Ndiaye, Sobhi, Shaqiri, Diouf.
Subs: Zouma, Ireland, Cameron, Fletcher, Crouch, Haugaard, Campbell.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Rose,
Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Alli, Son, Kane.
Subs: Lamela, Vorm, Dier, Sissoko, Llorente, Lucas Moura, Davies.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
The teams are rolling in now...
West Brom: Foster, Nyom, Dawson, Hegazi, Gibbs, Phillips,
Livermore, Brunt, McClean, Rodriguez, Rondon.
Subs: Yacob, Myhill, Burke, Krychowiak, McAuley, Harper, Leko.
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Mawson,
Olsson, Andre Ayew, King, Carroll, Clucas, Abraham.
Subs: Ki, Narsingh, Dyer, Routledge, Mulder, Bartley, Roberts.
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Updated
Hello, good afternoon and welcome.
You can keep your Merseyside and Manchester derbies because the 3pm kick-off are where it is at...whereas Everton and Liverpool are playing for bragging rights, that curious prize that only appears in football, and City and United are playing for the piffling matter of winning the Premier League/pooping a title rhapsody in blue, each game in the Premier League has something riding on it.
Well, apart from perhaps probably safe Watford v permanently seventh Burnley, unless Sean Dyche wants to put one over on the club that sacked him in 2012. Dychey doesn’t seem that sort of lad, mind. Well, not much.
Anyway, there’s a six-pointer between Brighton and Huddersfield, and a three-pointer for Swansea at a post-Pards West Brom, where the stadium DJ might have to be persuaded not to play “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead”. Stoke City have a similar deathly pallor to the pallor, and Paul Lambert has been cracking the whip, punishing Saido Berahino for turning up late. But the Potters need rather more than than that to beat strutting Spurs.
Bournemouth v Palace is must-win for the Eagles, while a home win takes Eddie Howe’s team to the 40-point mark. And then there’s Leicester v Newcastle, where a home win might even lift Claude Puel’s entertainers to seventh dependent on the big one at Vicarage Road>
Elsewhere, the Championship play-off and relegation picture might become clearer while in Germany, Bayern Munich can collect their sixth successive Bundesliga title by winning away at Augsburg. Juventus can take a step towards their seventh successive with a win at Benevento.
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John will be here shortly.
