Key events
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brentford. Spurs keeper Vicario fumbles a cross, then handles outside his area. The referee however waves play on, then books both Kristoffer Ajer and Thomas Frank for making an understandable fuss about it.
Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth. Antoine Semenyo, denied an opener by VAR, gets another effort on target, but Caoimhin Kelleher saves without fuss. “Glad to see Darwin and Diaz getting time,” begins Richard McGahey, “but up 3-0 why not rest Salah and Sobo or Mac, give Chiesa and Jones some time, Quansah as well for the often-injured Konate? I like Slot, but he is going to run these guys into the ground before the season ends.”
Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross flicks off the arm of Julian Araujo, but the defender’s arm was in a natural position and so the referee waves play on.
Fulham 2-1 Newcastle. Fulham have responded well to conceding. Alex Iwobi and Raúl Jiménez both test Nick Pope.
Leicester 0-1 Everton. A 21-minute half-time break comes to an end. The groundstaff have done what they can to the pitch, but stopping the rain is above and beyond their remit.
Fulham 2-1 Newcastle. That goal came about thanks to Eddie Howe’s half-time change. He took off Joe Willock and sent on Jacob Murphy, who set up Harvey Barnes with pretty much his first touch. An assist for the manager, sort of.
GOAL! Fulham 2-1 Newcastle (Barnes 46)
An instant lifeline for Newcastle at Craven Cottage. Harvey Barnes halves their deficit just after the restart.
Leicester 0-1 Everton. The Toffees leading as we go into the second half. But is Gary Naylor happy? Not exactly. “Young, Keane and Tarkowski? Has a Premier League team ever sent out a slower back line? Forces Everton into the lowest of low blocks and isolates DCL up front whose confidence plummets further. How has it come to this?”
Half-time postbag. “I see it’s going great guns for last season’s promoted trio,” observes Jeremy Boyce wryly. “Play-off climbers Saints leading against fellow cannon-fodder Tractor Boys, Leicester falling behind to the giants of Everton. I’m a NastyLeeds man til I die, and I’m beginning to wonder if losing to Saints at Wembley wasn’t a bad plan. Better off challenging for the Holy Land than suffering week-in week-out in the purgatory of the relegation battle.”
The Championship half-times …
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Bristol City 0-1 Oxford United
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Burnley 0-1 Portsmouth
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Cardiff City 0-1 Leeds United
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Coventry City 1-2 Swansea City
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Luton Town 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday
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Sheffield United 0-0 Derby County
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West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Plymouth Argyle
… and in the Scottish Premiership …
Simon McMahon reports: “Hearts, bottom of the table at start of play, remain there as they trail 2-1 at St Mirren after the first 45, while Ross County, who took an early lead against St Johnstone, have been pegged back to 1-1 at the break. The Perth side haven’t won in the league after conceding first for 37 games, the last time it happened being against County in December 2022. So something for both sides to cling to in the second half.”
Does this picture do justice to the torrential nonsense at the King Power? Not really, no, but it’ll have to do. Rain coming down in stair-rods at the moment. Hail also.
Premier League half-times
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Aston Villa 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
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Fulham 2-0 Newcastle United
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Leicester City 0-1 Everton
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Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
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Southampton 1-0 Ipswich Town
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Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brentford
Leicester 0-1 Everton. Dominic Calvert-Lewin goes over in the box under pressure from Victor Kristiansen, but the referee’s not interested. No penalty. Then Jesper Lindstrøm shoots over. Everton coming dangerously close to another of those two-goal leads they so enjoy.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth (Nunez 37)
Darwin Nunez ends his 14-game goalscoring drought for Liverpool … with a pearler from distance, cutting in from the right and sticking the ball in the far corner.
Leicester 0-1 Everton. … so having said that, Jamie Vardy lands awkwardly and hammers the turf in a mixture of pain and frustration. On come the medics. Happily, he’s soon back in the thick of the action. Lightning along with the torrential rain now. Memories of this Filbert Street classic …
Leicester 0-1 Everton. It’s raining quite a lot in the midlands. Otherwise, nothing much to report.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth (Diaz 28)
Two in as many minutes for Luis Diaz, who now has five Premier League goals in as many games this season.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brentford (Johnson 28)
Brennan Johnson shot wide moments earlier; he hits the target this time.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Bournemouth (Diaz 26)
Luis Diaz is sent scampering clear by Ibrahima Konaté. He rounds Kepa to give the Reds the lead.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Wolves (Cunha 25)
Wolves have been on top for the most part, and they get their reward through Matheus Cunha.
GOAL! Fulham 2-0 Newcastle (Smith Rowe 22)
Emile Smith Rowe has already hit the woodwork; he’s now squeezed the ball past Nick Pope to double Fulham’s lead down by the Thames.
Leicester 0-1 Everton. “Delighted Everton have taken the lead,” writes Caelan Hagan. “Just praying we don’t score a second.” You’ll be pleased to hear Jesper Lindstrøm has just shot wide, then.
Liverpool 0-0 Bournemouth. Alexis Mac Allister half-volleys a peach of a pass down the middle of the park to release Mohamed Salah, whose shot from the edge of the box is turned around the post by Kepa.
Aston Villa 0-0 Wolves. Another tribute to Gary Shaw, as the Villa Park faithful applaud in the eighth minute to remember the local lad who wore the No8 shirt for the club he loved.
Fulham 1-0 Newcastle. The hosts are very much on top at the Cottage. Emile Smith Rowe rattles the frame of the goal. Newcastle, who have made their best start in the Premier League since the glory days of Kevin Keegan in 1995, need to get their gamefaces on and quick.
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Everton (Ndiaye 12)
Iliman Ndiaye exchanges passes with Ashley Young before opening the scoring for rock-bottom Everton. A big relegation six-pointer this.
Scotland, then. “Only two games in the SPL today due to it being Scottish League Cup quarter final weekend, but let’s not go there,” begins Simon McMahon. “Who wants to win that anyway? Certainly not Dundee United, who will have to content themselves with a league and Scottish Cup double this season. Ross County v managerless St Johnstone and St Mirren v possibly soon to be managerless Hearts are the games. Think I’ll watch the cricket.”
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Brentford (Solanke 8)
Dominic Solanke follows up James Maddison’s shot to notch his first goal for his new club. In other news, Bryan Mbeumo’s opener has been officially timed by Opta as 23 seconds, so there goes that symmetry. Killjoys.
GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Newcastle (Jimenez 5)
Raul Jimenez swivels and puts the hosts ahead at the Cottage.
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Ipswich (Dibling 5)
Tyler Dibling, full of promise at 18, scores his first Premier League goal. “He’s one of our own!” trill the St Mary’s faithful.
NO GOAL. Liverpool 0-0 Bournemouth
Ah no, an offside in the build-up. As you were.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Bournemouth (Semenyo 4)
A dismal start for Alisson’s replacement Caoimhín Kelleher, as Antoine Semenyo opens the scoring at Anfield!
Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Brentford. Brentford have now scored after exactly 22 seconds in consecutive Premier League matches. A funny old game, as a former Spurs striker once noted.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Brentford (Mbeumo 22 secs)
A goal straight from kick-off in N17! Keane Lewis-Potter crosses, Bryan Mbeumo volleys, Ange Postecoglou’s woes increase!
It’s Saturday 3pm! Whistles all across the land. Here we go, then.
FULL TIME: West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea. John Brewin was at the London Stadium to witness Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer give the hosts a good going-over. Here’s his report.
There’s also an early batch of results in from the Championship …
… and League One …
… and finally League Two.
That result means Chelsea go second, for a couple of hours at least. West Ham have lost their first three home matches of the season for the first time in their 129-year history.
FULL TIME: West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea. Julen Lopetegui hasn’t had much of a honeymoon period in his new job as Hammers coach, if at all. His team have been thoroughly outclassed by in-form Chelsea, who are in no way flattered by this scoreline. It could have been more. David Tindall lays out the details in minute-by-minute style as the hosts are booed off.
GARY SHAW (1961-2024). Aston Villa have already dedicated their win at Young Boys to the beloved star of the team that won the 1981 title, the 1982 European Cup and the 1982 Super Cup. Shaw has also been honoured at Villa Park today by another club legend.
Team news: Tottenham v Brentford
Spurs are unchanged despite defeat in last weekend’s north London derby. Fabio Carvalho makes his first Premier League start for the Bees, who are without Yoanne Wissa and Christian Norgaard.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Subs: Forster, Dragusin, Bissouma, Gray, Bergvall, Werner, Spence, Sarr, Moore.
Brentford: Flekken, Ajer, van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins, Lewis-Potter, Janelt, Yarmolyuk, Damsgaard, Carvalho, Mbeumo.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Schade, Mee, Meghoma, Konak, Trevitt, Roerslev, Kim, Yogane.
Team news: Southampton v Ipswich
Saints respond to their thumping at the hands of Manchester United by calling up Charlie Taylor, Ryan Fraser and Adam Lallana. Ipswich follow up their draw at Brighton by naming Jens Cajuste in place of the absent Kalvin Phillips.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Taylor, Downes, Lallana, Dibling, Fernandes, Fraser, Archer.
Subs: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Aribo, Armstrong, Stewart, Wood-Gordon, Brereton, Cornet, Ugochukwu.
Ipswich Town: Muric, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy, Cajuste, Szmodics, Giraud-Hutchinson, Burns, Delap.
Subs: Walton, Chaplin, Taylor, Johnson, Ogbene, Townsend, Luongo, Hirst, Jack Clarke.
Team news: Liverpool v Bournemouth
Liverpool are without the injured Alisson so Caoimhin Kelleher makes his first start of the season … as does Darwin Nunez. Federico Chiesa is on the bench. Bournemouth make three changes after their unlucky loss to Chelsea, Dean Huijsen, Julian Araujo and Kepa Arrizabalaga replacing Mark Travers, Adam Smith and Marcos Senesi.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Nunez.
Subs: Jaros, Gomez, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Jota, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.
AFC Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga, Araujo, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier, Evanilson.
Subs: Travers, Senesi, Brooks, Scott, Ouattara, Smith, Sinisterra, Hill, Unal.
Team news: Leicester v Everton
Bilal El Khannous replaces Oliver Skipp as the only change for Leicester from the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. Everton welcome back Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski.
Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen, Winks, Ndidi, Ayew, El Khannous, Mavididi, Vardy.
Subs: Ward, Coady, Fatawu, De Cordova-Reid, Choudhury, Ricardo Pereira, Skipp, Edouard, Buonanotte.
Everton: Pickford, Garner, Keane, Tarkowski, Young, Mangala, Doucoure, Lindstrom, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Harrison, Beto, O’Brien, Iroegbunam, Armstrong, Dixon.
Team news: Fulham v Newcastle
Fulham name the same XI after the draw with West Ham. Newcastle line up with Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes in attack.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson, Andreas Pereira, Lukic, Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Jimenez.
Subs: Benda, Reed, Rodrigo Muniz, Cairney, Berge, Nelson, Castagne, Sessegnon, Diop.
Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Kelly, Willock, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Gordon, Isak, Barnes.
Subs: Dubravka, Tonali, Krafth, Osula, Hall, Livramento, Jacob Murphy, Almiron, Longstaff.
Team news: Aston Villa v Wolves
Villa make one change to the side that won 3-0 at Young Boys during the week. Diego Carlos comes in for Lamare Bogarde. Wolves name the same XI that started the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Gauci, Barkley, Duran, Buendia, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey, Young.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Nelson Semedo, Mosquera, Dawson, Ait Nouri, Lemina, Andre Trindade, Joao Gomes, Bellegarde, Matheus Cunha, Larsen.
Subs: Jose Sa, Doherty, Bueno, Hwang, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Sarabia, Borges, Goncalo Guedes.
Preamble
Six BIG games on the 3pm card today; football just won’t stop happening! (Join a union, kids, the management classes are not your friends.)
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Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers
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Fulham v Newcastle United
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Leicester City v Everton
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Liverpool v Bournemouth
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Southampton v Ipswich Town
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Tottenham Hotspur v Brentford
Team news coming right up.
