Key events
While we wait for the first meaningful action of the Premier League, let us repair to Scotland, where Simon McMahon awaits. “Scotland’s game of the day is, eh, tomorrow as Celtic face bitter rivals Rangers Dundee United travel to face a struggling Hearts side at Tynecastle. Struggling until they play us, no doubt. Today, Dundee are at home to St Mirren but will be without star man Luke McCowan, who joined Celtic yesterday. Shame. Today’s other games are Ross County v Aberdeen and St Johnstone, who were spanked 2-0 last week at Tannadice, v Motherwell.”
It’s Saturday 3pm! Whistles ring out all across the land. Here we go, then.
FULL TIME: Arsenal 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion. Ed Aarons was at the Emirates to see Declan Rice pick up two daft yellows and Mikel Arteta give referee Chris Kavanagh his views on the matter in the full-disclosure style. Here’s his verdict.
… so here’s what the Premier League looks like going into today’s 3pms. Should Forest stick four past Wolves without reply, they’ll go top, top, top … for a couple of hours at least. It’s almost as if none of this really means anything until November or so, but hey, you try filling up the internet at 2.43pm on a Saturday in August.
There’s also an early batch of results in from the Championship …
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Burnley 1-1 Blackburn Rovers
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Cardiff City 0-2 Middlesbrough
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Coventry City 0-1 Norwich City
… and League One …
… and finally League Two.
A street-fighting draw for Blackburn in the Cotton Mills derby. Rovers lost Makhtar Gueye to two yellow cards, the second picked up by miming a request for the referee to book Burnley’s Maxime Esteve. And there’s Declan Rice thinking his sending off was needless enough.
FULL TIME: Arsenal 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion. The first Premier League result of the day is in. The Gunners were leading at half-time, but Declan Rice daftly/controversially (delete according to taste) picked up a second yellow card and Brighton took advantage to level up. That’s seven points from nine for both Mikel Arteta and Fabian Hürzeler, and it’s fairly obvious who’ll be the happier. Barry Glendenning has the minute-by-minute details.
KEVIN CAMPBELL (1970-2024). “It will be an emotional day at Goodison paying tribute to a Blue gone far too soon, Super Kevin Campbell,” writes Gary Naylor. “A couple of years ago, I called a phone-in on Talksport when he was the guest pundit. I told him that my father, quite frail by this time, had seen him in his bow tie on television, stretched out an unexpectedly bony finger, and said: ‘We owe him everything.’ He was moved I think – I know I was. If someone, anyone, is important to you, tell them – the chance may not come again. RIP Super Kev.”
Team news: Forest v Wolves
Nottingham Forest are unchanged from the XI that started the win at Southampton last Saturday. Wolves, battered 6-2 at home by Chelsea, give a debut to goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, while new midfielder Andre is one of the subs.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina, Sangare, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Subs: Carlos Miguel, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Moreira, Alex Moreno, Jota Silva, Yates, Sosa, Boly.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Mosquera, Dawson, Gomes, Nelson Semedo, Joao Gomes, Lemina, Ait Nouri, Matheus Cunha, Bellegarde, Larsen.
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, Bueno, Andre Trindade, Hwang, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Sarabia, Goncalo Guedes.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).
Team news: Leicester v Villa
Oliver Skipp, Jordan Ayew and Caleb Okoli make their full Premier League debuts for Leicester. Odsonne Edouard, a deadline-day arrival from Crystal Palace, was registered too late to feature today. Aston Villa also feature a debutant: Lamare Bogarde replaces the hamstrung Matty Cash.
Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin, Okoli, Faes, Kristiansen, Skipp, Ndidi, Winks, Fatawu, Vardy, Ayew.
Subs: Iversen, Mavididi, El Khannous, De Cordova-Reid, Ricardo Pereira, Vestergaard, Soumare, McAteer, Buonanotte.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Konsa, Bogarde, Torres, Digne, Bailey, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Watkins.
Subs: Gauci, Barkley, Duran, Buendia, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Ramsey, Swinkels, Zych.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).
Team news: Ipswich v Fulham
Ipswich hand Kalvin Phillips and Chiedozie Ogbene their first Premier League starts for the club. They’re the only two changes from the XI that started the brave but futile display at Manchester City, with Massimo Luongo and Ben Johnson dropping to the bench. Fulham are unchanged from the team that started last weekend’s victory over Leicester.
Ipswich Town: Muric, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Morsy, Phillips, Ogbene, Szmodics, Giraud-Hutchinson, Delap.
Subs: Walton, Chaplin, Cajuste, Al Hamadi, Johnson, Townsend, Luongo, O’Shea, Jack Clarke.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Andreas Pereira, Lukic, Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz.
Subs: Benda, Andersen, Reed, Jimenez, Wilson, Cairney, Cuenca, Berge, Castagne.
Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancashire).
Team news: Everton v Bournemouth
Everton respond to their 4-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur by replacing Abdoulaye Doucoure and Roman Dixon with Iliman Ndiaye and captain Seamus Coleman. Bournemouth give a debut to their new keeper Kepa.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Iroegbunam, Gueye, Harrison, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Virginia, Beto, O’Brien, Doucoure, Young, Lindstrom, Garner, Armstrong, Dixon.
Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga, Araujo, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier, Evanilson.
Subs: Travers, Huijsen, Brooks, Ouattara, Smith, Sinisterra, Hill, Aarons, Scott.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
Team news: Brentford v Southampton
Brentford make two changes after the 2-0 defeat at Liverpool. Mads Roerslev and Keane Lewis-Potter make way for Mikkel Damsgaard and Kevin Schade. Saints give a debut to their new goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who replaces Alex McCarthy between the sticks.
Brentford: Flekken, Damsgaard, Collins, Pinnock, Ajer, Norgaard, Janelt, Jensen, Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade.
Subs: Valdimarsson, van den Berg, Carvalho, Mee, Yarmolyuk, Lewis-Potter, Konak, Trevitt, Roerslev.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens, Sugawara, Smallbone, Downes, Aribo, Walker-Peters, Armstrong, Brereton.
Subs: McCarthy, Lallana, Bree, Fernandes, Archer, Taylor, Ugochukwu, Amo-Ameyaw, Dibling.
Referee: Josh Smith (Lincolnshire).
Preamble
Welcome to our hopefully goal-littered coverage of today’s 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League. Five games on the card today.
You could make a case for four of those being potential relegation six-pointers, with the other one having a bearing on the dogfight. Too soon? Team news coming right up!