Key events
GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Aston Villa (Watkins, 23)
Finally a goal in this game that actually counts. And of course, itâs Ollie Watkins.
Swansea might be trailing, but the other two Welsh professional sides have just taken the lead in their games, against the run of play. Cardiff are 1-0 in front at Norwich through Jamilu Collins, while Steven Fletcher (yes, that one) has netted for Wrexham against Notts County.
Goal? For the second time this afternoon, one has been chalked off in the Fulham v Aston Villa game. Or has it � Tom Cairney and the home fans wait, as VAR does its thing.
Offside! Still 0-0.
Scottish Premiership: Neil Warnock once said âthereâs never a dull moment with me in chargeâ and thatâs proving to be the case during his Aberdeen stint already. The Dandies have fallen behind to Hibs and then levelled through Nicky Devlin all in the space of the opening quarter of an hour today.
Martin Dubravka is being made to work hard by Bournemouth, with both Tavernier and Solanke testing the Newcastle goalkeeper in the past few minutes. At the other end, Harvey Barnes curls one wide after a lungbusting dash forward.
Championship: Wales international Nathan Broadhead has opened the scoring down in South Wales against Swansea. A good start for Kieran McKennaâs automatic promotion hopefuls. Meanwhile, managerless Huddersfield trail 1-0 at home to Hull.
Dan Ashworth is in attendance at St James’ Park, as was planned, despite the speculation linking him with the #MUFC job.
On the field, #NUFC aren’t having it all their own way early on. #AFCB are stretching the home sides at times & using Semenyo’s pace.#NEWBOU
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) February 17, 2024
Home discomforts? Of the six games to feature a goal so far in the top four leagues in England, five of those have been scored by the away side. Thatâs after comfortable away wins for Liverpool and Leeds earlier on. Whoâd be a home fan, eh?
League Two: Both MK Dons and Doncaster have earned early away leads at Swindon and Grimsby respectively.
Championship: And itâs Blackburn who strike first in the Lancs derby at Deepdale. Sammie Szmodics has been lethal up front for Rovers this season and heâs found the net once again â 18 for the campaign now!
You wonder whether Newcastle will lament the absence of a true No 9 against Bournemouth today, with Anthony Gordon playing as an auxilliary striker at St Jamesâ Park. Itâs not a surprise to me to hear the visitors are threatening early on.
GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Arsenal (Ãdegaard, 4)
Itâs a perfect start for Arsenal, allaying any early nerves, and of course itâs Martin Ãdegaard who drills home a trademark left-footed strike after a good run from Declan Rice.
Burnley really didnât want that â¦
Villa think theyâve got an early opener at Fulham, but Ollie Watkins â as is his wont â has strayed marginally offside.
No shortage of early intent from Unai Emeryâs side at Craven Cottage.
It finished Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United in the WSL earlier this afternoon, as Sophie Downey reports from a packed-out Emirates Stadium:
KICK OFF
Various whistles are sounded at various football grounds around the country. At exactly the same time, of course.
Liverpool have laid down a marker with that performance at Brentford, as confident and trouble-free as youâre likely to see for a Premier League away game.
Their title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City will need to respond today. The gap at the top currently lies at five points, albeit City will still have a game in hand after facing Chelsea this evening.
Hereâs John Brewinâs report from the Gtech:
Some emails on the prospect of seeing Mr Mbappé in an Arsenal shirt, and specifically that Arsenal shirt:
Nick Smith: âI can imagine him visiting Turf Moor as much as any other club, just not with Arsenal.â
Kári Tulinius: âItâs such a shame that Arsenalâs kit manufacturer has started to mess with their away kit. The yellow and dark blue jersey is one of the few well-known and identifiable away shirts, and it would be a shame if we never saw Mbappé in those colours. Itâs probably never going to happen, but Iâm going to allow myself that reverie for a little while.â
Charles Antaki simply describes the yellow shirt as âunspeakableâ, which is fair enough.
Heâs recovered from his ping pong injury and heâs back, people.
Thoughts on the Arsenal away kit? My wife cannot stand it and Iâm inclined to agree. Migraine-inducing.
Can you imagine Kylian Mbappé rocking up at Turf Moor, presumably after parking in the nearby cricket club? Arsenal want to be in the mix to sign him, so presumably Mikel Arteta can.
The early kick-offs are winding down and not one of the results is in jeapordy:
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Premier League â Brentford 1-4 Liverpool
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Championship â Plymouth 0-2 Leeds
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WSL â Arsenal 3-0 Manchester United
Team news â Nottingham Forest v West Ham
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Murillo, Felipe, Tavarez, DomÃnguez, Danilo, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga, Awoniyi
Subs: Turner, Omobamidele, Ribeiro, Kouyaté, Toffolo, Yates, Niakhaté, Reyna, Origi
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Ãlvarez, Phillips, Ward-Prowse, Bowen, Kudus, Antonio
Subs: Fabianski, Mavropanos, Johnson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Cornet, Soucek, Mubama, Ings
Team news â Fulham v Aston Villa
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Palhinha, Pereira, Cairney, Decordova-Reid, Willian, Muniz
Subs: Rodak, Tosin, Bassey, Ballo-Touré, Reed, Lukic, Wilson, Iwobi, Traoré
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Lenglet, Torres, Moreno, McGinn, Tielemans, Luiz, Ramsey, Bailey, Watkins
Subs: Olsen, Gauci, Digne, Chambers, Kelser-Hayden, Iroegbunam, Rogers, Diaby, Zaniolo
Team news – Newcastle v Bournemouth
Newcastle: Dubravka, Trippier, Schär, Botman, Burn, Guimarães, Longstaff, Miley, Almirón, Barnes, Gordon
Subs: Karius, Dummett, Lascelles, Krafth, Hall, Ritchie, Livramento, Murphy, White
Bournemouth: Neto, Smith, Cook, Kelly, Senesi, Tavernier, Zabarnyi, Christie, Kluivert, Semenyo, Solanke
Subs: Travers, Randolph, Mepham, Kinsey, Kerkez, Scott, Dango, Sinisterra, Ãnal
Team news â Tottenham v Wolves
Tottenham: Vicario, Royal, Romero, Van de Ven, Davies, Sarr, Bissouma, Maddison, Kulusevski, Son, Richarlison
Subs: Austin, Dragusin, Skipp, Bentancur, Højbjerg, Gil, Lo Celso, Werner, Johnson
Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Toti, Aït-Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Neto, Hwang, Sarabia
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, S.Bueno, H.Bueno, Traoré, Doyle, Bellegarde, Chirewa, Fraser
Team news â Burnley v Arsenal
Burnley: Trafford, Assignon, OâShea, Esteve, Delcroix, Amdouni, Brownhill, Fofana, Ramsey, Berge, Odobert
Subs: Muric, Vitinho, Taylor, Cork, Gudmundsson, Benson, Cullen, Bruun Larsen, Rodriguez
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice, Ãdegaard, Havertz, Saka, Trossard, Martinelli
Subs: Ramsdale, Cedric, Sweet, Bandeira, Elneny, Jorginho, Nelson, Smith Rowe, Nketiah
Thereâs still a healthy chunk of Brentford v Liverpool left â although Alexis Mac Allisterâs goal to make it 2-0 may have taken the edge off the second half â if thatâs your thing. Mo Salah is back and looking ominous, like a friendly, fuzzy-haired Voldemort.
Preamble
Welcome aboard, people, to another big Saturday afternoon in the world of soccerball. And with no less than FIVE Premier League games kicking off at the correct time of the week, weâre being treated to a feast by the fixture gods today.
Of course, thereâs the usual Championship, League One and League Two schedules, plus games in the Spanish, German and Italian top flights, but itâs probably Arsenalâs visit to Burnley and the clash between Tottenham and Wolves in north London that most catch the eye. Weâve also got Fulham v Aston Villa, Newcastle v Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest v West Ham, all of which are pretty tough to call given the fluctuating form of the teams involved.
In the Championship, Leicester will look to continue their relentless form at home to Michael Carrickâs Middlesbrough, while Leeds are currently trying to edge out Plymouth down at Home Park. And Preston v Blackburn should be a fairly spicy Lancashire derby. In the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen go to Heidenheim seeking to extend their advantage over Harry Kaneâs boys.
What thrills and spills await us? Stick with me throughout the afternoon to find out. Team news will drop at 2pm, as usual, then itâs onto business. Letâs go!