The Guardian

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Preamble

The third round draw of the FA Cup is upon us, when all the big names are thrown into a big hat with some right minnows. Most notable of the those lower down the pyramid are Weston-super-Mare and Macclesfield, who will be hoping to face Premier League sides.

The will be played around the weekend of 10/11 January but we can safely assume Friday and Monday nights will host a fixture.

The all-important ball numbers are below:

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Spurs 0-0 Aston Villa: It doesn’t look great for Jess Naz, who has been a livewire for Tottenham this afternoon but has just been stretchered off the pitch after a worrying knock. Martha Thomas replaces her.

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GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 West Ham (Martinez, 53)

There is the sucker punch United would have feared! It’s Shekiera Martinez who has levelled with a superb effort.

Silence befalls Leigh Sports Village.

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RED CARD! Océane Deslandes (Aston Villa)

This may make things easier for Spurs. Deslandes has flown into a tackle on Tottenham’s Olivia Holdt and the referee, Abigail Byrne, has shown her a second yellow card.

Villa will have to survive the final 20 minutes or so with 10 players.

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The pattern of this game hasn’t changed from minute one: City possession, City probing, Leicester defending… but no City goals.

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“There’s more goals coming,” says Sue Smith on Sky Sports’ WSL multi-view – a great tool to follow all the action. I really hope she’s right.

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United v West Ham is back under way too, by the way.

Marc Skinner will be eager to see his side bag a second goal to curb any nervousness.

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London City Lionesses v Brighton resumes. We’re getting some seriously staggered games this lunchtime. The visitors are 1-0 up at Bromley, don’t forget, via that early Seike strike.

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Tottenham v Aston Villa is back under way at Brisbane Road and Spurs have resumed with a real spring in their step, having had the better of a tepid first half without truly challenging Sabrina D’Angelo in the Villa goal.

Spurs can pressurise Arsenal with a win today.

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HT: Manchester United 1-0 West Ham.

It’s been far from an ideal afternoon for West Ham so far. They arrived late at Leigh Sports Village due to traffic and they now trail having barely had a kick in that first half – bar the odd counter-attack.

The only silver lining amid the Greater Manchester cloud is that it’s only 1-0 and the situation is still retrievable. They’ll have to play better, mind you.

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Three added minutes. Can West Ham produce an equaliser from out of the ether?

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Toone’s cross is then squirrelled clear as the visitors look to avoid any further damage to the deficit before half-time.

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More on that United opener: It came via a good low cross from Anna Sandberg who had charged down the left flank to feed Terland. The Norwegian striker then provided an emphatic finish to make it 1-0.

Five minutes plus added time remaining at LSV.

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Half time scores

Leicester 0-0 Manchester City

London City 0-1 Brighton

Tottenham 0-0 Aston Villa

It’s Manchester United 1-0 West Ham after around 40 minutes. We can only hope for more entertainment and action in the second halves.

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GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 West Ham (Terland, 38)

United finally find the goal their dominance has warranted! Elisabeth Terland had previously squandered a good few chances but makes no mistake on this occasion.

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Updated at 14.00 CET

The half-time whistle has gone at Brisbane Road and it’s Tottenham 0-0 Aston Villa.

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Some EIGHT minutes have been added on at the King Power. A result of those numerous injury stoppages.

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Heading towards first-half added time. Can City find a way through this stubborn Leicester defence? Can we have a goal anywhere else?

Only half an hour has surpassed at United, of course.

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It’s been a bit stop-start in the past few minutes due to various knocks. Miedema seems to be struggling with something.

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Come on teams, give us another goal …

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In other news… Bunny Shaw has put yet ANOTHER chance off target, this time heading over from six or seven yards.

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Fully triple-screening now with the games involving the Manchester clubs and Spurs v Villa… although I realise that means I’m focussing on the three games that haven’t actually had a goal.

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Manchester United should be 1-0 up through Terland but somehow Kinga Szemik has made a superb save in the West Ham goal to keep it goalless. Dominique Janssen also fired the rebound wide for United when it looked easier to score. Good grief.

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The visitors continue to probe. How long can Leicester continue this laudable level of resistance?

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Spurs have created the better openings against Aston Villa but have been unable to break through. The same can definitely be said for City at Leicester. They would have expected to score by now.

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United have started strongly against West Ham with Hinata Miyazawa whizzing the first chance of the game just past the post, possibly via a deflection. The Japanese midfield metronome is enjoying a really impressive season.

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Penalty saved by London City’s Spanish goalkeeper, Elene Lete!

It was a sloppy tackle by Wassa Sangaré to concede the spot-kick, but Brighton’s Madison Haley – who was fouled to earn the penalty – could not find a way beyond a sprawling Lete. Still just 1-0 to the visitors.

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City have to be a bit slicker to break them down.

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United v West Ham is now under way.

Marc Skinner’s side cannot afford to lose any more points after a rocky run of recent form.

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It’s pinball in the box after that corner and Bunny Shaw really should have made it 1-0 after the ball fell kindly to her. Goodness me, how has she put that wide?

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Updated at 13.15 CET

City still well on top at the King Power, with Leicester seeking to keep bodies behind the ball.

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Rick Passmoor demanded determined defending from his Leicester troops before kick-off but we’ve not seen anything of the kind in these early stages. It seems like a matter of ‘when’ Manchester City score, rather than ‘if’.

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GOAL! London City 0-1 Brighton (Seike, 6)

After a quiet start in Bromley in that game between the two middle-ranks, Kiko Seike breaks the deadlock for Brighton! It came from a rapid counter-attack.

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Updated at 13.17 CET

City are wearing their change strip, which is mostly grey with fluorescent socks. It’s a novel look.

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Updated at 13.05 CET

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KICK OFF

Leicester v Man City, Spurs v Villa and London City v Brighton all get off and running. Let’s do this thing.

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“We’ve made this a fortress over the past few years,” Leicester boss Rick Passmoor tells Sky Sports before kick-off. “We know the fans here will back us and make a noise.

“It’s important that we’re resilient off the ball and deliver our game-plan from the first whistle. I want to show the true identity of Leicester City, so the minimum is the work rate and the togetherness, and to be ruthless in the final third when we get the opportunity.”

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We’re going to start our coverage by focussing on Manchester City, the league leaders, and their clash at Leicester.

Remember United v West Ham will not kick off until 12.15. We’ll have updates and goal flashes from all the games, of course.

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Sky Sports have asked a good few WSL stars what their favourite Christmas film is and it seems Home Alone is the majority pick. A film made in 1990 – before many of the players were born! That shows how the standard of Christmas films has dropped in the past 30 years.

Not much love for Love Actually, which is disappointing.

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Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has gone strong with his team today. Whenever he has rotated this season it hasn’t really worked – and depth remains a big issue for this United squad, who have dropped off after a stunning start to the season.

The prospect of Jess Park, Melvine Malard, Ella Toone and Elisabeth Terland playing together in a fluid front four should be a really exciting one for United fans. It’s also a big boon for them to have Phallon Tullis-Joyce back in goal, as she returns from a fractured eye socket – she’ll play in a protective mask.

West Ham are without recently-capped England defender Anouk Denton, which could be a big loss. They’ve won just once in nine WSL outings this season.

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Kerstin Casparij takes the captain’s armband for Manchester City at the King Power Stadium today. City can put a healthy six-point buffer between themselves and title rivals Chelsea at the WSL summit by beating Leicester today. Chelsea, of course, will be hoping to cut that lead – praying for a slip-up from Andrée Jeglertz’s team.

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Manchester United v West Ham team news

Belatedly, here’s how United will line up at the Progress with Unity Stadium, AKA Leigh Sports Village, at that slightly later kick-off time.

Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Sandberg, Le Tissier, Toone, Park, Malard, Terland, Riviere, Janssen, Zigiotti, Miyazawa.

The West Ham team has not yet been announced. It’ll be revealed here when it is.

And here it is …

West Ham: Szemik, Endo, Siren, Tysiak, Ueki, Nystrom, Martinez, Asseyi, Gorry, Morgan, Hanshaw.

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Updated at 12.35 CET

Manchester United have announced that their game against West Ham will kick off at 12.15pm (GMT) – 15 minutes later than originally scheduled, because of “logistical issues affecting the arrival time of the visiting team”.

The clubs have apologised for any inconvenience caused to supporters by the late change in timings. Team news for that contest will follow.

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Team news for matches at Leicester, London City and Spurs

Leicester v Manchester City

Leicester: Leitzig, Tierney, Boureille, Cayman, Ale, Eiríksdóttir, Thibaud, Cain, McLoughlin, O’Brien, Swaby.

Man City: Yamashita, Rose, Shaw, Miedema, Hemp, Ouahabi, Casparij, Blinkilde Brown, Fujino, Hasegawa, Knaak.

London City Lionesses v Brighton

London City: Lete, Fernández, Kumagai, Asllani, Linari, Godfrey, Parris, Goodwin, Imuran, Sangaré, Geyoro.

Brighton: Nnadozie, Vanegas, Minami, Kafaji, Symonds, Seike, Noordam, Hayes, Olislagers, Haley, McLauchlan.

Tottenham v Aston Villa

Tottenham: Kop, Bartrip, Nildén, Naz, England, Holdt, Vinberg, Hunt, Spence, Summanen, Neville.

Aston Villa: D’Angelo, Maritz, Patten, Deslandes, Grant, Kendall, Taylor, Maltby, Daly, Salmon, Hanson.

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Updated at 12.40 CET

Preamble

Welcome along to another packed Women’s Super League Sunday. These smorgasbords of midday starts are becoming quite the fixture in the WSL calendar nowadays and they’re usually lots of fun.

Today, Manchester United host West Ham at Leigh Sports Village, with Marc Skinner’s side looking to jump back into the top three with three points, while there are mid-table clashes between Spurs and Aston Villa, and London City and Brighton. Manchester City can (and very much should) extend their lead at the summit with victory at Leicester. Chelsea face Everton a little later, potentially looking to capitalise on any dropped points from City.

Let’s get right into it. Team news will follow.

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The major team news for the Premier League 3pms: Xavi Simons gets his first start for a month for Spurs, Cole Palmer is back for Chelsea, Andoni Iraola makes four changes to the Bournemouth team that lost meekly to Everton, Yoane Wissa is on the Newcastle bench and may make his debut today, Pep Guardiola plumps for Rayan Cherki over Tijani Reijnders and Michael Keane is back for Everton.

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Charlton v Portsmouth game called off

In the Championship, Charlton v Portsmouth has been abandoned:

“Due to a medical emergency in the crowd, today’s match has been abandoned. We thank you for your patience and understanding. Everyone at the club sends their best wishes to the supporter affected and thank our medical team and first responders. Information on when the match will be rescheduled will be announced in due course.”

It was 0-0, the game was just 15 minutes in.

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Preamble

Good afternoon. A full deck of 3pm Premier League kick-offs awaits, with several big hitters in play, though not all of them in form. The midweek round really shook stuff up. Join us for news of the following, and the latest from the EFL.

Bournemouth v. Chelsea

Everton v. Nottm Forest

Man City v. Sunderland

Newcastle v. Burnley

Tottenham Hotspur v. Brentford

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Premier League  The Guardian

Premier League  The Guardian

Thomas Frank speaks to Sky Sports. “Micky [van de Ven] is a super-important player … but this is the fourth game in ten days … we make sure to keep the freshness … the players have never been fitter in the last three years than they are now … we are positive … we believe we can get something from the game and win up here … it demands a top performance against a super-good team … we need to bring the energy … bravery … composure on the ball … I expect a super-tight game … it will be at times quite open but I expect a super, super-tight game.”

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Newcastle make two changes to their starting XI after the 4-1 win at Everton. Sandro Tonali and Jacob Murphy come in for Anthony Elanga and captain Bruno Guimarães, who both drop to the bench.

Spurs make four changes to their starting line-up following the Fulham fiasco. Brennan Johnson, Pape Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur and captain Cristian Romero return; Archie Gray, Richarlison, Micky van de Ven and João Palhinha are benched.

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Preamble

After that debacle against Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and their insta-beleaguered boss Thomas Frank are in desperate need of a spirit-replenishing result. We wish them all the best with that tonight, as they’re about to face a Newcastle United side high on life after walloping Everton, in a fixture they’ve recently lost 2-1, 4-0 and 6-1. Throw in the fact that Newcastle have won five of their last six in the league against Spurs, and that they’ve not lost a midweek league match at home since 2021, a run that stretches back ten games, and Spurs are up against it all right.

Rhythmically, and in search of balance, this would be the point at which we trot out some stats to offer Spurs hope. But they’re in short supply. While Newcastle tend to enjoy midweek league fixtures, Spurs most signally do not: they’ve won just one of their last 13, losing the last seven on the bounce. And then there’s Eddie Howe’s personal record against Frank: he’s won six of eight. But hey, personal hoodoos are there to be broken – Howe did exactly that himself against Pep Guardiola the other week – so rule nothing out. And despite all the negative mood music accompanying Spurs, when it all comes down they’re still ahead of the Toon in the Premier League standings. All to play for, then. Kick-off at St James’ Park is 8.15pm GMT. It’s on!

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Newcastle have just won 4-1 at Everton; Rob Smyth has the details of that rout. Everton’s failure to take at least a point means Spurs remain in the top half of the table going into tonight’s match, though they’ve been nudged down into 10th by Brentford’s earlier 3-1 victory over Burnley. Fulham remain where they started the day, in 15th position. That’s where they’ll stay whatever happens tonight, but Spurs can go fifth with a win, seventh with a draw.

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To Be Fair dept. While the preamble suggests both teams will go into battle tonight more in hope than expectation, there are scraps of comfort to be had. Fulham are coming off the back of that aforementioned win over Sunderland, and that was their second Premier League victory in three games. They’ve also won two of their last three Premier League games against Spurs, drawing the other. Spurs meanwhile can take succour from a far better performance against PSG than the no-show at Arsenal, and the fact they’ve outperformed their xG (11.2) by nearly nine goals (20) this season. Admittedly that stat isn’t quite as impressive when you take into account some of their absurdly low xG totals – 0.1 against Chelsea and 0.07 against Arsenal are the two lowest totals of any club so far this season – but when things aren’t clicking, you take whichever positives are on offer, no matter how small.

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Tottenham make four changes to the side that started the 5-3 Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain. Kevin Danso, João Palhinha, Destiny Udogie and Mohammed Kudus come in for Djed Spence, Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, who drop to the bench, and captain Cristian Romero, who misses out altogether through suspension.

Fulham make one change to their starting XI following their 1-0 home win over Sunderland. Samuel Chukwueze replaces Kevin in attack.

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Updated at 20.29 CET

Preamble

Good evening and welcome to another evening of living high on the Champions League hog. We have nine games for you, all of which kick off at 8pm GMT unless stated. We’ll concentrate on the bleeding obvious but keep an eye on the cognoscenti’s choice as well. It’s on!

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Internazionale

Copenhagen v Kairat (5.45pm)

Eintracht Frankfurt v Atalanta

Liverpool v PSV

Olympiacos v Real Madrid

Pafos v Monaco (5.45pm)

PSG v Tottenham Hotspur

Sporting v Club Brugge

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Is North London Forever the worst song in football? It’s in the bottom one.

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Email! “It’s the first time in ages that I’ve seen Glenn Hoddle on TV – now looking like an elder country and western star, though with a pleasingly thrown-together wardrobe look, begins Charles Antaki. “Analysis as penetrative as one might expect. He’s partnered up on TV with Ian Wright, who talks sense as ever, but rather effortlessly wins on the threads. Not sure what that augurs for the game; classy but tight?”

Not sure I can see it being classy if it’s tight – Spurs aren’t at that level yet. I’m hoping for lots of things that no one wants to see.

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Out come the teams! There’s a massive tifo behind one goal, Arsenal’s tracky tops evoking this classic kit – modelled by a young Chris Whyte.

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At Elland Road, Villa came from behind to beat Leeds 2-1, with Morgan Rogers scoring a deft flick and lovely free-kick. He is a player.

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Talking of Kevin Danso, I saw him out recently; I say I, but it was actually my wife, who has no interest in football, but recognised him from seeing him interview Black Sherif – whose concert we were at. Well, in similar vein – Blacko’s Iron Boy album is the best I’ve heard this year – I’m currently enjoying Party for Ghana, the latest from my guy Ekow Saxx.

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Updated at 17.22 CET

Frank says his team can be more aggressive in 3-5-2 and gives them greater set-piece threat – Danso has the long throw but is also helpful defending the box. He thinks the team that is better at restarts has a good chance of winning the game.

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Captaining Arsenal today is Bukayo Saka. I mentioned earlier that maybe Arteta would consider three wingers when Madueke is match fit, if Gyokeres is out for much longer, but what I really wonder is if Saka might get a go as an attacking midfielder when that happens. Remember the summer before last, Arsenal tried to sign Raphinha, which presumably would’ve sent their talisman inside; I’d still love to see it.

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Back to the tactical battle and as for Spurs, I’m sure Frank will want his strikers to gang up on Hincapie, with Kudus and Spence looking to get after Calafiori who, though he has many virtues, isn’t a left-back. Sky think, though he’s not playing a 3-5-2 but a 3-4-2-1; if so, that suggests he’s almost ceding midfield control and looking top penetrate on the counter with free runners from midfield.

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Arteta speaks, explaining that he went for Hincapie because he thinks this is the best partnership available to him in the absence of Gabriel. Odegaard and Gyokeres aren’t far off he says, and he expected to face a back three as Frank has done it against Arsenal before and they’ve planned for it.

“It’s a massive and a beautiful day,” he concludes. “So many people you can make happy.”

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Where is the game? For Arsenal, now it’s obvious. They’ll hope to dominate midfield, but the space will be behind the Spurs wing-backs and down the sides of the outside centre-backs. That’s exactly the areas in which Saka and Timber on the right, along with Calafiori and Trossard on the left, look to play in – and I’d also expect Rice and Eze to make the third point of the triangles. The question is whether Merino will give them a near-post and cut-back option.

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I didn’t expect Spurs to go with a back three, but it makes sense that they have. Against the better teams, Frank’s Brentford often switched from 4-4-3- to 3-5-2 and they’ll want the safety in numbers in defence. But more than that, two central strikers gives Arsenal’s centre-halves a problem they don’t often have and, with Kudus breaking from deep, they might be able to create the overloads so painfully absent from their play last time out.

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Arteta didn’t have too many decisions to make. Mosquera has been impressive so far, but in a game of this magnitude, it’s no surprise to see the more experienced Hincapie preferred. And given Merino’s scoring record when deployed as a striker, it makes sense that he continue in the role – though I wonder whether there was a temptation to try a winger through the middle. We don’t see it often, but Palace did it quite successfully in the middle of the last decade with Wilfried Zaha, Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie, and when Mark Hughes was suspended for a crucial game at Norwich in 1992-93, Alex Ferguson resisted the temptation to play an extra midfielder, instead going with Lee Sharpe, Ryan Giggs and Andrei Kanchelskis – with devastating results.

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Frank, meanwhile, changes his formation from 4-2-3-1 to, I think, 3-5-2. Coming in are Kevin Danso, the third centre-back andMohammed Kudus, back from injury, while Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Wilson Odobert are also selected; Pedro Porro, Pape Sarr, Brennan Johnson, Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani are all benched.

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Updated at 17.00 CET

Arteta opts to replace Gabriel with Piero Hincapie, rather than Christhian Mosquera, while up front, Mikel Merino continues deputising for Victor Gyokeres. Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke are both on the bench having been out injured.

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I’ll write these down, then we can discuss what they mean.

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Teams!

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, Eze; Saka, Merino, Trossard. Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, White, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman.

Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2): Vicario; Danso, Romero, Van de Ven; Spence, Palhinha, Bentancur, Kudus, Udogie; Richarlison, Odobert. Subs: Kinsky, Gray, Porro, Sarr, Bergvall, Simons, Johnson, Tel, Kolo Muani.

Referee: Michael Oliver (Ashingtom)

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Updated at 16.46 CET

Also going on:

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Preamble

Mikel Arteta would make a good assassin. Reserved and meticulous, bellicose and monomaniacal, his remorseless relentlessness is exactly what you’d not want on your case if someone put out a contract on your life.

Yet, paradoxically, Arteta’s Arsenal lack killer instinct, unable to find in themselves the unbridled cruelty that wins league titles. Where champions find a way, so far they have faltered.

There are various reasons for this, insufficient verve and depth most obviously culpable. But there’a also a sense that Arteta’s intensity – the very thing that would make him such an effective contract killer – saps his team of the freedom they need to merrily mass-murder the Premier League.

And they will be feeling the pressure this afternoon, top of the table and leading Chelsea and Manchester City by three and four points respectively, with today’s game in hand. If they can win it, they will take a huge step towards claiming a first title in 22 years; if they cannot, all the old doubts will resurface.

But there is also pressure on Tottenham who, last time out, were devoid of attacking imagination, needing two deflections for their two goals before conceding a late equaliser in typically spursy fashion. There is no sense that Thomas Frank is on the cusp of something.

On the other hand, though, Tottenham have the best away record in the league and a burgeoning set-piece prowess that, especially in the absence of the injured Gabriel, makes them a threat in this match. Moreover, the North London derby is the country’s most reliably wild fixture and, just as Arteta is a precise and focused danger, so Frank is a windmilling dervish able to inspire in his players focused aggression previously considered beyond them. This is going to be good.

Kick-off: 4.30pm BST

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Above all, for most there was a kind of comfort, familiarity, the sense that this could be both a way back to where they were and a new beginning. The Camp Nou rebuild is not done: only three sides of the lower two tiers are open, allowing for a maximum 45,401 of the 105,000 it will eventually hold, and at times, in truth, the day of fiesta was a little flat, quiet and underwhelming, but Flick said “it’s a really good feeling to be back here”, and back is the word.