Key events
Football Weekly live! On Thursday 11 September, Max Rushden will be hosting the first live “performance” of the Football Weekly podcast to take to the stage for two years. The show is taking place at London’s Troxy and we’d really love to see as many of our listeners as possible there on the night.
If you can’t make it, the show is also being live streamed around the planet and possibly beyond so you’ve no excuse to miss what promises to be a Big Night O’Fun. Jonathan Wilson, Nicky Bandini, Jonathan Liew and I will be on the panel, while we’ll have fleeting cameos from various special guests and our usual half-time spectacular. Book your tickets below and come along!!!
Spain and France: The Premier League isn’t the only major top flight kicking off this weekend, as the ball has got rolling in both La Liga and Ligue 1 too. In Spain, Barcelona get their title defence under way with a trip to Mallorca, which is nice at this time of year, while their bitter rivals Real Madrid will host Osasuna on Tuesday.
Last night, Real Oviedo marked their return to the Spanish top flight with a 2-0 defeat at Villarreal, a game in which Salomon Rondon missed a penalty for Oviedo before the deadlock was broken. The promoted side also had to play for over an hour with 10 men after losing midfielder Alberto Reina to a red card. In last night’s other La Liga encounter, Rayo Vallecano won 3-1 at Girona.
In France, Rennes beat Marseille in last night’s Ligue 1 curtain-raiser, while Paris Saint-Germain will get their title defence under way with a trip to Nantes tomorrow.
Meanwhile in the EFL: Hillsborough stages its first match of the season when Sheffield Wednesday welcome Stoke City this afternoon and more fan protests are expected from the locals as they implore their owner Dejphon Chansiri to sell his beleaguered club for a reasonable asking price before it goes out of business.
Ipswich Town will host Southampton at Portman Road, with Kieran McKenna’s side hoping to get their first win of the season on the board after securing an extremely fortuitous draw agasinst Birmingham City on the opening day of the season, before losing to lowly Bromley on penalties in the League Cup. Southampton, by contrast, are looking for their third consecutive win under Will Still, having already beaten Wrexham in the Championship and seeing off Northampton in the League Cup.
Wrexham hope to secure their first second tier win since 1982 when they host West Brom at the Racecourse Ground. Ryan Mason’s Baggies beat Blackburn Rovers on the opening weekend of the season before going out of the Carabao Cup in midweek on penalties against Derby County.
Off to flier in League One, big-spenders Huddersfield Town are hoping to maintain their perfect record with a win over a Blackpool side that were fancied to do well under Steve Bruce this season but have lost each of the three games they have played in the league and Carabao Cup.
And League Two side Barrow will be hoping to break an unenviable duck by scoring their first goal of the season at their fourth attempt when they host Notts County at Holker Street this afternoon.
Today’s Premier League action
Overnight headlines: Liverpool’s win was marred by an incident in which a home fan is alleged to have racially abused the Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo and Merseyside police have launched an investigation. A man in a wheelchair was seen being escorted from the ground at half-time by three policemen.
Elsewhere, Thomas Frank has said he has no concerns over Cristian Romero’s commitment to Tottenham Hotspur. His new skipper, who has replaced Son Heung-min as captain of Spurs following the South Korean’s departure to Los Angeles, has been accused of caring more about playing for Argentina in the past and has been the subject of interest from Atletico Madrid in this transfer window. Personally, I’d have thought it completely normal to be more emotionally invested in playing for one’s country than one’s club but maybe that’s just me. Thoughts?
Graham Potter has said a weight was lifted off Lucas Paquetá’s shoulders when the West Ham midfielder was cleared of spot-fixing after a two-year Football Association process and as a result, he is expecting great things from the Brazilian this season.
And Brendan Rodgers is growing impatient with Celtic’s’s lack of activity in the current transfer window. Asked once again when he expects to bring in some new players after his side’s routine 4-1 over Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup last night, the Scottish champions’ head coach answered with a terse “I don’t know”. Given the reservoir of cash Celtic have in reserve and the apparent reluctance of the club board to spend any of it, his frustation, which is shared by Celtic’s fanbase, seems completely understandable.
Matchday live
The Premier League is up and running, as are Liverpool, the reigning champions, following their not-entirely-convincing victory over Bournemouth last night. Arne Slot’s side left it late before securing all three points after surrendering a two-goal lead but eventually ran out comfortable winners on an emotionally charged night at Anfield.
There’s plenty more top flight action today and here on matchday live we’ll be brining you all the build-up ahead of kick-off in today’s early match between Aston Villa and Newcastle. Later this morning our reporter Ed Aarons will be here to answer your questions on today’s game between Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley or any queries pertaining to London clubs you may have.
His particular field of expertise is his beloved Crystal Palace so feel free to send any questions you have to this address. We’d also love to hear what your matchday plans are for the first big afternoon of top flight action.
