Key events
Championship: An early goal for Blackburn against fellow playoff hopefuls Watford. Adam Wharton has scored inside three minutes at Ewood Park.
Leeds were rampant in the early kick-off at Elland Road:
Erik ten Hag offers some answers to Manchester United’s current malaise, speaking to BBC Sport:
I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn’t take our chances. We should’ve gone in [at half time] in the lead but we didn’t and then it was one moment of switching off.
In this moment, we are underperforming. There are reasons for it, we have many injuries, so the team will be better if the injured ones return. We have to be calm, stick together, stick to the plan, we have to do it together.
2 mins: The man in the mask, Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski, is also one of the form men in the Premier League at the moment. He’s on the ball early doors at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, playing in a central attacking role with some license to roam.
KICK OFF
The whistles are sounded around the grounds. Let’s do this.
Nuno is facing a whole heap of questions as he takes charge of Nottingham Forest for the first time today, including this one from Joe Pearson on email …
“Has Nuno never watched Origi at Liverpool? Divock is most effective as a last minute substitute. Just ask Everton.”
Lovely touch from Newcastle fans at Luton, here.
“We want to win for Locks,” said Luton’s Rob Edwards before today’s game against Newcastle. Expect Kenilworth Road to show its appreciation for Hatters’ captain Tom Lockyer this afternoon.
Sachin Nakrani reports here on a club still reeling from last week’s harrowing events at Bournemouth.
Breaking news: Manchester United still aren’t very good.
Jacob Steinberg reports from the London Stadium:
Let’s get excited and interested in these upcoming games, then, shall we? What are the key talking points?
It will be fascinating to see Sean Dyche’s solid, sitting-in Everton playing away against free-flowing, Ange-ball Spurs – even if Tottenham’s injuries could make them a little vulnerable in defence. Left-back Ben Davies is playing centre-back, while right-back Emerson Royal lines up at left-back. Something for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to exploit, methinks.
At Kenilworth Road, will we see more signs of fatigue in the legs of Eddie Howe’s hard-running Newcastle? It appeared the case at Chelsea in midweek, but the Magpies tend to rouse themselves for a big win every now and then. Luton will be inspired.
It’s absolutely no surprise to anyone that Nuno has gone straight to a back three in his first Forest game. Willy Boly was always going to play. Aside from the formation, though, the new manager has picked an attacking side including messrs Wood, Elanga, Gibbs-White and Origi.
Meanwhile, you’d make Fulham big favourites to topple Burnley at Craven Cottage, with all eyes on Rebecca Welch as the female referee makes a slice of history.
The early full-time scores are in:
A good day (so far) for raucous home crowds.
Time for a pre-match/end of year quiz before the 3pm action starts? Why not!
Fulham v Burnley teams
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Tosin, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney, Pereira; Wilson, Iwobi, Muniz. Subs: Rodak, Tete, Reed, Ballo-Toure, Decordova-Reid, Lukic, Vinicius, Diop, Harris.
Burnley: Trafford; Vitinho, O’Shea, Beyer, Taylor; Larsen, Berge, Brownhill, Odobert; Foster, Amdouni. Subs: Muric, Rodriguez, Roberts, Redmond, Zaroury, Cullen, Tresor, Delcroix, Obafemi.
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth teams
Nottm Forest: Turner; Boly, Murillo, Mangala; Williams, Yates, Gibbs-White, Toffolo; Origi, Wood, Elanga. Subs: Vlachodimos, Tavares, Kouyate, Hudson-Odoi, Dominguez, Niakhate, Oliveira, Montiel, Aina.
Bournemouth: Neto; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Billing; Cook, Christie; Tavernier, Semenyo, Ouattara; Solanke. Subs: Travers, Mepham, Brooks, Rothwell, Scott, Sinisterra, Kluivert, Moore, Greenwood.
Luton v Newcastle teams
Luton: Kaminski; Mengi, Osho, Bell; Kabore, Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty; Townsend, Brown, Adebayo. Subs: Krul, Andersen, Ogbene, Morris, Woodrow, Chong, Pelly, Clark, Giles.
Newcastle: Dubravka; Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Burn; Miley, Guimaraes, Longstaff; Almiron, Gordon, Wilson. Subs: Karius, Dummett, Botman, Ritchie, Isak, Krafth, Hall, Livramento, A.Murphy.
Tottenham v Everton teams
Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Royal; Sarr, Skipp; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Richarlison. Subs: Forster, Dorrington, Dier, Phillips, Hojbjerg, Lo Celso, Bryan, Donley, Veliz.
Everton: Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Onana, Gueye, Garner; McNeil, Harrison, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Virginia, Lonergan, Keane, Danjuma, Beto, Gomes, Godfrey, Chermiti, Hunt.
That all important team news is dropping in five minutes. Five, four, three …
Leeds raced into a 3-0 half-time lead over high-flying Ipswich in the early Championship kick-off. Who saw that coming? The second half at Elland Road is here:
West Ham v Manchester United hasn’t quite ignited yet, although Alejandro Garnacho will be ruing a big first half miss for the visitors. The second half is under way now and Scott Murray has you covered.
As for me, I’ll bring you team news at 2pm before building towards the big 3pm kick-offs.
Preamble
Merry Christmas Eve Eve and welcome along to this festive feast of a football blog. It should be a cracker of a Saturday afternoon, but who will emerge top of the tree and who could be facing the sack?
Ok, enough of the Christmas puns … there’s no doubt Tottenham versus Everton is the pick of the 3pm games in the Premier League; a really tough one to call given the stupendous form of Sean Dyche’s side and the injuries affecting Big Ange and co in north London. Elsewhere, can Luton Town rally together after the harrowing Tom Lockyer incident and shock Newcastle? Can Nuno Espírito Santo get off to a winning start at Nottingham Forest against Bournemouth? And can Fulham win a home game 5-0 for a third successive time? They host beleaguered Burnley.
If that’s not enough for you, there’s four games in the Scottish top flight today and nine Championship matches kicking off at 3pm, as well as a full schedule of fixtures in League One and League Two, plus a few in Serie A and La Liga. Stay for the feast!
