Key events
Brighton v Liverpool was a delayed early kick-off (if that makes sense) in the Premier League and there’s still 15 minutes to go there. England’s Danny Welbeck at the double.
Hearts v Dundee teams news
Hearts XI (4-4-2): Schwolow; Altena, Kent, Halkett, McCart; McEntee, Devlin, Leonard, Kyziridis; Braga, Kaboré
Subs: Fulton, Baningime, Shankland, Borchgrevink, Steinwender, Spittal, Kerjota, Mato, Chesnokov.
Dundee XI (4-2-3-1): McCracken; D Wright, Astley, Graham, Halliday; F Robertson, Hamilton; Congreve, Westley, Yogane; Hay
Subs: O’Hara, Koumetio, Samuels, Murray, Reilly, Cotterill, S Wright, Bevan, Jones
Key fixtures
Here are my picks for the afternoon (3pm unless stated):
Premier League
Scottish Premiership
Championship
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Bristol City (15th/24) v West Brom (21st)
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Sheffield Utd (16th) v Wrexham (7th)
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Southampton (6th) v Oxford Utd (22nd)
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Watford (9th) v Leicester (23rd)
League One
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Lincoln (1st/24) v Rotherham (22nd)
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Port Vale (24th) v Bolton (3rd)
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Wigan (20th) v Exeter (19th)
League Two
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Bromley (1st/24) v Colchester (13th)
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Notts County (4th) v Cheltenham (17th)
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Tranmere (20th) v Swindon (6th)
Bundesliga
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Bayern Munich (1st/18) v Union Berlin (9th) – 2.30pm
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Köln (14th) v Borussia Mönchengladbach (12th) – Rhine derby, 2.30pm
Fulham v Burnley team news
Yes, this is the only Premier League offering this afternoon but it’s an extremely important one for Burnley. They need points and they need them now – nine separate them and Nottingham Forest in 17th with only seven games to go after today.
Fulham are 12th but only four points behind Brentford in 7th and a European place. Oh, the memories of Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera putting Juventus to the sword. Marco Silva has made one change to last weekend’s team that drew 0-0 (uh oh) with Forest – Rodrigo Muniz in for Raúl Jiménez up top.
Fulham XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Sessegnon, Reed, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Jiménez
Burnley are unchanged from their 0-0 draw (oh dear) with Bournemouth last time out. Armando Broja, formerly of Fulham, has to make do with a place on the bench.
Burnley XI (4-2-3-1) Dubravka; Walker, Humphreys, Estève, Hartman; Ward-Prowse, Laurent; Foster, Hannibal, Anthony; Flemming
Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Ugochukwu, Edwards, Florentino, Tchaouna, Ekdal, Broja, Barnes
Preamble
There is only one 3pm kick-off in the Premier League (angrily shakes fist) but fear not because there is a raft of games up and down Britain that will shape seasons. The business end of 2025-26 is almost upon us and plenty of teams in the EFL and Scotland are jostling for position for the final straight.
In the Premier League, Scott Parker takes his Burnley side to Craven Cottage as they look to close the still sizeable gap to survival. Fulham are still in the hunt for a European place.
In Scotland, Premiership leaders Hearts aim to bounce back from defeat to Kilmarnock last weekend as they host Dundee. Their fellow title contenders don’t play until later (Rangers) or tomorrow (Celtic).
In the Championship, playoff hopefuls Southampton and Wrexham are in action while Leicester and West Brom are among those looking to boost their survival chances.
In League One, leaders Lincoln are at home to Rotherham and could take a giant leap towards automatic promotion with a win. Meanwhile there’s a pivotal game in the relegation battle as Gary Caldwell and Wigan host his old side Exeter. In League Two, Bromley are aiming to reach the third tier for the first time in their history. The league leaders host Barrow looking to respond to some early results involving the chasing pack.
And it’s worth mentioning that I’ll be keeping tabs on Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich at home to Union Berlin. Nine points is their lead at the top of the Bundesliga – Bayern that is, not Union.
