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“I’ve never been so tempted to skip watching the game and just wait for the highlights,” writes Everton fan Eric Peterson ahead of the Dyche reunion. That’s the spirit!
The teams are heading out for the 7.30pm kick-offs. I’ll have updates from all four games. It looks cold … everywhere.
Kai Havertz is back on the bench for Arsenal. Scott Murray has live updates from their crunch game against Aston Villa:
Team news: Zirkzee in for Mount
Starting lineups from Old Trafford:
Man Utd (4-4-2): Lammens; Dalot, Heaven, Martínez, Shaw; Dorgu, Casemiro, Ugarte, Cunha; Sesko, Zirkzee.
Subs: Bayindir, Fredericson, Malacia, Yoro, J Fletcher, L Fletcher, Lacey, Mantato, Obi.
Joshua Zirkzee replaces the injured Mason Mount in the only change from the win against Newcastle. The formation is anyone’s guess.
Wolves (3-4-2-1): Sá; Doherty, Mosquera, Krejci; Tchatchoua,
Arias, J Gomes, H Bueno; Mané, Hwang; Arokodare.
Subs: Johnstone, Møller Wolfe, Strand Larsen, Hoever, López, González, Olagunju, Ojinnaka, Sutherland.
Rob Edwards makes two changes from the defeat at Liverpool. Jørgen Strand Larsen remains on the bench – he was linked with a move to West Ham today.
“I can’t fathom why Semenyo is going to City,” writes Dean Kinsella. “My bet is he will become yet another attacking forward who will be encouraged to stay out wide and should he happen to beat his full back to turn around and pass the ball back to his midfield. All the dynamic flair having been sucked out of him, soon reduced to playing bit parts from the bench.”
Well, I’m not sure Pep Guardiola has coached the dynamic flair out of Jérémy Doku or Rayan Cherki yet.
Afcon: Nigeria have topped Group C, with Tunisia joining them in the last 16 as runners-up. Tanzania also progress as one of the best third-place teams. Uganda are out.
Full time results:
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Tanzania 1-1 Tunisia
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Uganda 1-3 Nigeria
Senegal, DR Congo and Benin can all finish top of their group in games that are just about to get under way.
Group D fixtures (tonight 7pm GMT):
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Benin (3pts) v Senegal (4)
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Botswana (0) v DR Congo (4)
Sean Dyche, up against his old team tonight, is speaking to TV pitchside ahead of kick-off. He says that David Moyes is doing a good job at Everton but reiterates that he doesn’t care about that tonight because he’s Nottingham Forest manager now and wants a result.
Dyche is still wearing his shorts. Having been at a motorway service station not far from Nottingham earlier today, I can confirm that this is some achievement. You can see his breath.
A few transfer lines to come out of the Premier League today involving (in descending speculated value) Antoine Semenyo, Jørgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson:
Team news: Wilson and Welbeck start
Starting lineups from the London Stadium:
West Ham (4-3-3): Areola; Walker-Peters, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles;
Magassa, Potts, Fernandes; Paquetá, Bowen, Wilson.
Subs: Hermansen, Summerville, Mavropanos, Rodríguez, Soucek, Earthy, Kanté, Golambeckis, Mayers.
Callum Wilson is the only addition to the XI that lost to Fulham at the weekend, replacing Crysencio Summerville.
Brighton (3-4-2-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk; Kadioglu, Ayari, Milner, De Cuyper; Minteh, Gómez; Welbeck.
Subs: Steele, Gruda, Rutter, Hinshelwood, Watson, Kostoulas, Boscagli, Mitoma, Coppola.
Fabian Hürzeler makes five changes to the team that lost to Arsenal, with Danny Welbeck leading the line and James Milner in midfield.
Team news: Grealish back on bench
Team news at the City Ground:
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): John Victor; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Zinchenko; Domínguez, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Igor Jesus.
Subs: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Douglas Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Savona, Abbott.
Oleksandr Zinchenko for Nicolò Savona is the only change from Forest’s loss to Manchester City.
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Patterson, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Iroegbunam, Garner; Dibling, Rohl, McNeil; Barry.
Subs: Travers, King, Beto, Grealish, Aznou, Welch, Campbell, Graham, Bates.
Merlin Röhl makes his full debut for Everton, replacing Carlos Alcaraz in one of three changes from the draw with Burnley. Jack Grealish makes the bench after missing the trip to Turf Moor with illness.
Team news: Wissa replaces Woltemade
Starting lineups at Turf Moor:
Burnley (3-4-3): Dubravka; Laurent, Ekdal, Estève; Walker, Luís,
Ugochukwu, Pires; Edwards, Broja, Tchaouna.
Subs: Weiss, Bruun Larsen, Anthony, Humphreys, Sonne, Ndayishimiye, Banel, Barnes, Pimlott.
Captain Josh Cullen is ruled out after suffering a knee injury against Everton. Scott Parker makes two other changes.
Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Miley, Thiaw, Schär, Hall; Tonali, Guimarães, Joelinton; Barnes, Wissa, Gordon.
Subs: Ramsdale, J Murphy, Woltemade, Willock, A Murphy, Ramsey, Shahar, Neave, Alabi.
Eddie Howe makes three changes to the team that lost at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, with Yoane Wissa picked to lead the line and Harvey Barnes joining him in the front three.
Team news: Semenyo starts
Starting lineups at Stamford Bridge:
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sánchez, Acheampong, Fofana, Chalobah, Gusto; Caicedo, Fernández; Estêvão, Palmer, Garnacho; Delap
Subs: Jörgensen, Badiashile, Adarabioyo, James, Santos, Buonanotte, Gittens, Neto, João Pedro.
Enzo Maresca keeps tinkering with five changes to the team that lost to Aston Villa, with Reece James among those to drop to the bench. Liam Delap leads the line.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Jiménez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Tavernier, Scott; Semenyo, Kluivert, Brooks; Evanilson.
Subs: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Smith, Diakité, Adli, Kroupi, Unal, Rees-Dottin.
Antoine Semenyo starts for Bournemouth despite him nearing a move to Manchester City. Andoni Iraola makes four changes to the team that was beaten 4-1 by Brentford.
Preamble
Greetings. The festive fixtures keep on coming in the Premier League, with six more games on the agenda tonight. We’ll be focusing on five of those, headlined by Chelsea v Bournemouth and Manchester United v Wolves. Newcastle are also in action at Burnley, while struggling West Ham host Brighton. Then there’s a Sean Dyche derby at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest face Everton.
Tonight’s Premier League fixtures
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Burnley v Newcastle (7.30pm)
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Chelsea v Bournemouth (7.30pm)
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Nottingham Forest v Everton (7.30pm)
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West Ham v Brighton (7.30pm)
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Arsenal v Aston Villa (8.15pm) Scott Murray has updates
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Manchester United v Wolves (8.15pm)
I’ll also be keeping you across the latest from Afcon, where Senegal are among those in action as Group D comes to a close. There are also five games in the Scottish Premiership, with Celtic and Rangers in action.
It should be a busy one. Join in – you can get in touch with me via email. Premier League team news is coming up.
