Key events
Senegal 0-0 Congo DR. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has the ball in the net for Congo DR, a fine diagonal lash into the bottom left. But he’s clearly offside.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Brighton (Odegaard 14)
The captain opens the scoring for the Christmas leaders at the Emirates. It had been coming, Arsenal starting strongly in response to Manchester City’s win at Forest.
Livingston 2-2 Celtic. The last three goals were scored in a three-minute-and-34-seconds burst.
GOAL! Livingston 2-2 Celtic (Yang 10)
Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic, though! A scramble in the Livi six-yard box, and Hyun-jun Yang bundles home. This is preposterous. A whiff of Boxing Day 1963 in the air.
Livingston 2-1 Celtic. Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic, though.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Bournemouth (Schade 7)
Kevin Schade slots calmly into the corner and the Bees take the lead in the battle of the, erm, Bs.
GOAL! Livingston 2-1 Celtic (Montano 8)
A second for Cristian Montano, who pearls a shot from the edge of the box into the top left! This is absurd.
GOAL! Livingston 1-1 Celtic (Nygren 6)
A corner comes in from the right. It’s flicked on to Benjamin Nygren, who can’t miss from a couple of yards.
GOAL! Livingston 1-0 Celtic (Montano 3)
Cristian Montano is allowed to barge his way down the inside-left channel, all the way into the box. No challenges. He blasts into the bottom-left corner of the goal, and Wilfried Nancy’s side are already threatening to look the horse gifted to them by Hibs in the mouth.
Arsenal 0-0 Brighton. Viktor Gyökeres scuffs an early one-on-one chance. So much for the confidence given by that winning penalty at Everton.
Senegal 0-0 Congo DR. Ismaïla Sarr nearly scores the quickest goal in Afcon history, dribbling straight down the middle and sending a curler towards the top-right corner just over the bar. Barely ten seconds on the clock, there was.
Here we go, then. The 3pms kick off in the Premier League, and in Scotland, and in Morocco. Godspeed one and all.
Liverpool v Wolves. A poignant moment at Anfield as Diogo Jota’s sons Dinis and Duarte lead Virgil van Dijk and his men out onto the pitch. Jota also played for Wolves, and all four corners of the ground let the love pour down. Forever 20.
FULL TIME: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City. Ben Fisher was at the City Ground to see Rayan Cherki put the visitors back on top of the Premier League, for a couple of hours at least. Here’s his report.
Arsenal v Brighton. A setback for the hosts during the warm-up, as Riccardo Calafiori tweaks something. He’ll be replaced in the starting XI by Myles Lewis-Skelly. The amended teamsheet, for completists everywhere…
Arsenal: Raya, Rice, Saliba, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Gabriel, Gabriel Jesus, Eze, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Salmon.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, van Hecke, Dunk, Coppola, Kadioglu, Ayari, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper, Gruda, Gomez, Rutter.
Subs: Steele, Minteh, Watson, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Wieffer, Veltman.
Burnley v Everton. A bonus bumper preview present from our man at the scene, Will Unwin.
It feels like a crucial spell of the season for Burnley and Everton. For the hosts, these next two home games could be critical for Scott Parker’s future. Their Turf Moor victories have come against Sunderland and Leeds but it feels like they will soon need to add to them if Scott Parker is to have a long-term future with the club. Additionally, the gap to safety is now eight points and with Newcastle the next opponent in Lancashire, they will want it to be smaller going into the January transfer window. The Clarets will need to do some business and if they are judged to be a lost cause, it will be difficult to attract players.
For Everton, sitting 10th, they will think they have a chance of European football. Seventh is only three points away and they are heading into a spell of facing teams in the bottom half of the table, giving themselves to rack up some points. That could also encourage some January investment to aid David Moyes over the coming months.
This is what the Premier League looks like going into the 3pms. Manchester City’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest sends them into first place; Arsenal can only reclaim their position atop the Christmas tree with victory over Brighton this afternoon. West Ham meanwhile will be looking to cut into Forest’s cushion between themselves and the relegation spots; victory over Fulham will take them within striking distance.
FULL TIME: Benin 1-0 Botswana
Meanwhile it’s all over at the Stade Olympique de Rabat, where Yohan Roche’s 29th-minute goal was enough to give the Cheetahs the win. That puts them third in Group D; over to the Tangier Grand Stadium where section leaders Senegal take on second-placed DR Congo. An eye will be kept on.
FULL TIME: Hibernian 3-2 Heart of Midlothian
Hibs nearly let that slip, but it was all about their keeper Raphael Sallinger in the end. A mistake that let Hearts back in at 3-2, before two stunning stops from Lawrence Shankland and Beni Benigime in added time to keep hold of the three points, and put a huge dent in their city rivals’ title hopes. Celtic will close the gap at the top to three points later this afternoon if they win at Livingston.
90 min +6: Hibs 3-2 Hearts. Beni Benigime cuts in from the left and smacks a pearler towards the top right. Raphael Sallinger makes his second huge stop of additional time, and has surely secured the points for the Hibees! No wonder they call it stoppage time.
90 min +4: Hibs 3-2 Hearts. It looks as though Hearts have run out of ideas. A huge couple of minutes in the Scottish title race coming up!
FULL TIME: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City
City hold on for the victory that takes them top of the Premier League for a couple of hours at least.
90 min +1: Hibs 3-2 Hearts. Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger made an awful mess of the Devlin goal, failing to deal with an Alexandros Kyziridis in the build-up, but he might have made up for his rick here. Lawrence Shankland meets a cutback from the left and appears to have slotted into the bottom left, but Sallinger sticks out a leg to block. What a finish to this game!
In Scotland, Hearts are making a go of things in the derby at Easter Road. Lawrence Shankland pulled one back on 75 minutes. That seemed no more than a consolation, but Cammy Devlin has made it 3-2 on 89 minutes, and there will be six additional minutes. Is an absurd comeback on?
Afcon team news
Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhate, Jakobs, Idrissa Gueye, Pape Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Mane, Jackson.
Subs: Diaw, Lamine Camara, Ciss, Dia, Diallo, Diarra, El Hadji Diouf, Yehvann Diouf, Mbaye, Antoine Mendy, Cherif Ndiaye, Sabaly, Pape Sarr, Mamadou Sarr, Seck.
Congo DR: M’Pasi-Nzau, Wan-Bissaka, Mbemba, Tuanzebe, Masuaku, Moutoussamy, Bongonda, Mukau, Sadiki, Elia, Bakambu.
Subs: Fayulu, Balikwisha, Batubinsika, Bushiri, Cipenga, Essende, Kakuta, Kalulu, Kapuadi, Joris Kayembe, Edo Kayembe, Mayele, Mbuku, Pickel, Epolo.
Plenty of players known to fans of the Premier League in that Senegal starting XI. Sadio Mané, once of Liverpool. The erstwhile Chelsea trio of Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Nicolas Jackson. The impressive Everton pair of Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye. Crystal Palace’s dangerous Ismaïla Sarr. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, who beat Benin 1-0 in their first match, have it all to do. Senegal beat Botswana 3-0 in their opener.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City (Cherki 83)
Rayan Cherki with another pearler. Barry Glendenning talks you through it.
Arsenal v Brighton: Jurrien Timber is missing for Arsenal, but Gabriel returns from injury to take a spot on the bench. Diego Gomez replaces Yankuba Minteh in the Brighton attack.
Brentford v Bournemouth: Kristoffer Ajer replaces Sepp van den Berg for the hosts, while Antoine Semenyo starts for the Cherries, despite all the talk surrounding a possible move to Manchester City.
Burnley v Everton: Armando Broja is rewarded for his goal against Bournemouth last weekend with a start. Tyler Dibling is on creative duty for Everton with Jack Grealish missing.
Liverpool v Wolves: Arne Slot hands Federico Chiesa a rare Premier League start, while Jeremie Frimpong also begins a match for the first time since Internazionale. Dominik Szoboszlai isn’t in the squad. Wolves hand Mateus Mane his first Premier League start.
West Ham v Fulham: Both sides are unchanged: Fulham after their narrow win over Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage on Monday night, West Ham having not won in six.
Premier League teamsheets
Arsenal: Raya, Rice, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori, Merino, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Gabriel, Gabriel Jesus, Eze, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, Coppola, Dunk, van Hecke, Kadioglu, Ayari, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper, Gomez, Gruda, Rutter.
Subs: Steele, Minteh, Watson, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Wieffer, Veltman.
Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Henry, Janelt, Yarmolyuk, Lewis-Potter, Jensen, Schade, Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Pinnock, Henderson, Nelson, Damsgaard, Konak, Nunes Gomes, Donovan.
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert, Scott, Cook, Jimenez, Tavernier, Semenyo, Junior Kroupi.
Subs: Dennis, Soler, Brooks, Evanilson, Christie, Kluivert, Adli, Hill, Unal.
Burnley: Dubravka, Laurent, Humphreys, Ekdal, Walker, Ugochukwu, Cullen, Lucas Pires, Edwards, Broja, Bruun Larsen.
Subs: Weiss, Hartman, Anthony, Florentino, Tchaouna, Flemming, Sonne, Ndayishimiye, Barnes.
Everton: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Iroegbunam, Garner, Dibling, Alcaraz, McNeil, Beto.
Subs: Travers, King, Patterson, Barry, Rohl, Aznou, Welch, Campbell.
Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Jones, Chiesa, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Bradley, Gakpo, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha, Lucky, Ramsay.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Jose Sa, Doherty, Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Arokodare, Joao Gomes, Andre Trindade, Krejci, Hugo Bueno, Mane, Hwang.
Subs: Johnstone, Wolfe, Larsen, Arias, Hoever, Lopez, Gonzalez, Tchatchoua, Rawlings.
West Ham United: Areola, Walker-Peters, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles, Magassa, Potts, Bowen, Fernandes, Summerville, Lucas Paqueta.
Subs: Hermansen, Wilson, Mavropanos, Rodriguez, Soucek, Earthy, Kante, Golambeckis, Mayers.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson, Lukic, Berge, Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Jimenez.
Subs: Lecomte, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Kusi-Asare, Castagne, King, Diop, Ridgeon.
There’s also a big story developing in Scotland. It’s the Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, and Hibernian are in the process of putting a huge dent in their arch-rivals Heart of Midlothian’s title hopes. They’re 3-0 up on the league leaders on the hour, thanks to goals from Jamie McGrath, Josh Campbell and Kieron Bowie. Heroes just for one day, from Celtic’s point of view as well.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City (Hutchinson 54)
… but that lead didn’t last long! Barry etc.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Manchester City (Reijnders 48)
In other In The Meantime news, Manchester City haven’t taken long to hit the front in the second half at the City Ground. Tijjani Reijnders the nearly festivally-themed scorer. Barry Glendenning has the details.
While we wait for the Premier League team news to drop, a reminder that today’s Clocko™®© will also carry the latest from Group D at Afcon. Sadio Mané’s star-studded Senegal take on Botswana at 3pm; in the meantime, Benin are playing Botswana, and the former led at half-time through Yohan Roche’s 29th-minute goal. The second half of that match at the Stade Olympique de Rabat has just started.
Preamble
This all really should have happened on Boxing Day …
… but then again, a cock having been snooked to tradition, at least this way we’ve still got it all to look forward to. So there is that. Bright side, half-full glass, etc. And it’s a big day in the Premier League, because Manchester City are currently playing at Nottingham Forest …
… so it’ll be incumbent on Christmas Day leaders Arsenal to respond immediately afterwards. There are also crucial home fixtures for relegation-threatened pair of Burnley and West Ham, while Liverpool and Wolves meet for the first time since the passing of Diogo Jota, beloved of and very much missed by fans of both clubs. All of the 3pms will hopefully be exciting; the one at Anfield will definitely be emotional.
