Arsenal v Brighton, Liverpool v Wolves, Senegal v DR Congo, and more – football live

December 27, 2025
10:29 pm

Key events

This is what the Premier League looks like going into the 3pms. Manchester City’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest sends them into first place; Arsenal can only reclaim their position atop the Christmas tree with victory over Brighton this afternoon. West Ham meanwhile will be looking to cut into Forest’s cushion between themselves and the relegation spots; victory over Fulham will take them within striking distance.

FULL TIME: Benin 1-0 Botswana

Meanwhile it’s all over at the Stade Olympique de Rabat, where Yohan Roche’s 29th-minute goal was enough to give the Cheetahs the win. That puts them third in Group D; over to the Tangier Grand Stadium where section leaders Senegal take on second-placed DR Congo. An eye will be kept on.

FULL TIME: Hibernian 3-2 Heart of Midlothian

Hibs nearly let that slip, but it was all about their keeper Raphael Sallinger in the end. A mistake that let Hearts back in at 3-2, before two stunning stops from Lawrence Shankland and Beni Benigime in added time to keep hold of the three points, and put a huge dent in their city rivals’ title hopes. Celtic will close the gap at the top to three points later this afternoon if they win at Livingston.

90 min +6: Hibs 3-2 Hearts. Beni Benigime cuts in from the left and smacks a pearler towards the top right. Raphael Sallinger makes his second huge stop of additional time, and has surely secured the points for the Hibees! No wonder they call it stoppage time.

90 min +4: Hibs 3-2 Hearts. It looks as though Hearts have run out of ideas. A huge couple of minutes in the Scottish title race coming up!

FULL TIME: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City

City hold on for the victory that takes them top of the Premier League for a couple of hours at least.

90 min +1: Hibs 3-2 Hearts. Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger made an awful mess of the Devlin goal, failing to deal with an Alexandros Kyziridis in the build-up, but he might have made up for his rick here. Lawrence Shankland meets a cutback from the left and appears to have slotted into the bottom left, but Sallinger sticks out a leg to block. What a finish to this game!

In Scotland, Hearts are making a go of things in the derby at Easter Road. Lawrence Shankland pulled one back on 75 minutes. That seemed no more than a consolation, but Cammy Devlin has made it 3-2 on 89 minutes, and there will be six additional minutes. Is an absurd comeback on?

Afcon team news

Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhate, Jakobs, Idrissa Gueye, Pape Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Mane, Jackson.
Subs: Diaw, Lamine Camara, Ciss, Dia, Diallo, Diarra, El Hadji Diouf, Yehvann Diouf, Mbaye, Antoine Mendy, Cherif Ndiaye, Sabaly, Pape Sarr, Mamadou Sarr, Seck.

Congo DR: M’Pasi-Nzau, Wan-Bissaka, Mbemba, Tuanzebe, Masuaku, Moutoussamy, Bongonda, Mukau, Sadiki, Elia, Bakambu.
Subs: Fayulu, Balikwisha, Batubinsika, Bushiri, Cipenga, Essende, Kakuta, Kalulu, Kapuadi, Joris Kayembe, Edo Kayembe, Mayele, Mbuku, Pickel, Epolo.

Plenty of players known to fans of the Premier League in that Senegal starting XI. Sadio Mané, once of Liverpool. The erstwhile Chelsea trio of Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Nicolas Jackson. The impressive Everton pair of Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye. Crystal Palace’s dangerous Ismaïla Sarr. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, who beat Benin 1-0 in their first match, have it all to do. Senegal beat Botswana 3-0 in their opener.

GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City (Cherki 83)

Rayan Cherki with another pearler. Barry Glendenning talks you through it.

Arsenal v Brighton: Jurrien Timber is missing for Arsenal, but Gabriel returns from injury to take a spot on the bench. Diego Gomez replaces Yankuba Minteh in the Brighton attack.

Brentford v Bournemouth: Kristoffer Ajer replaces Sepp van den Berg for the hosts, while Antoine Semenyo starts for the Cherries, despite all the talk surrounding a possible move to Manchester City.

Burnley v Everton: Armando Broja is rewarded for his goal against Bournemouth last weekend with a start. Tyler Dibling is on creative duty for Everton with Jack Grealish missing.

Liverpool v Wolves: Arne Slot hands Federico Chiesa a rare Premier League start, while Jeremie Frimpong also begins a match for the first time since Internazionale. Dominik Szoboszlai isn’t in the squad. Wolves hand Mateus Mane his first Premier League start.

West Ham v Fulham: Both sides are unchanged: Fulham after their narrow win over Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage on Monday night, West Ham having not won in six.

Premier League teamsheets

Arsenal: Raya, Rice, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori, Merino, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Gabriel, Gabriel Jesus, Eze, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, Coppola, Dunk, van Hecke, Kadioglu, Ayari, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper, Gomez, Gruda, Rutter.
Subs: Steele, Minteh, Watson, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Wieffer, Veltman.

Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Henry, Janelt, Yarmolyuk, Lewis-Potter, Jensen, Schade, Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Pinnock, Henderson, Nelson, Damsgaard, Konak, Nunes Gomes, Donovan.
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert, Scott, Cook, Jimenez, Tavernier, Semenyo, Junior Kroupi.
Subs: Dennis, Soler, Brooks, Evanilson, Christie, Kluivert, Adli, Hill, Unal.

Burnley: Dubravka, Laurent, Humphreys, Ekdal, Walker, Ugochukwu, Cullen, Lucas Pires, Edwards, Broja, Bruun Larsen.
Subs: Weiss, Hartman, Anthony, Florentino, Tchaouna, Flemming, Sonne, Ndayishimiye, Barnes.
Everton: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Iroegbunam, Garner, Dibling, Alcaraz, McNeil, Beto.
Subs: Travers, King, Patterson, Barry, Rohl, Aznou, Welch, Campbell.

Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Jones, Chiesa, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Bradley, Gakpo, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha, Lucky, Ramsay.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Jose Sa, Doherty, Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Arokodare, Joao Gomes, Andre Trindade, Krejci, Hugo Bueno, Mane, Hwang.
Subs: Johnstone, Wolfe, Larsen, Arias, Hoever, Lopez, Gonzalez, Tchatchoua, Rawlings.

West Ham United: Areola, Walker-Peters, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles, Magassa, Potts, Bowen, Fernandes, Summerville, Lucas Paqueta.
Subs: Hermansen, Wilson, Mavropanos, Rodriguez, Soucek, Earthy, Kante, Golambeckis, Mayers.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson, Lukic, Berge, Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Jimenez.
Subs: Lecomte, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Kusi-Asare, Castagne, King, Diop, Ridgeon.

There’s also a big story developing in Scotland. It’s the Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, and Hibernian are in the process of putting a huge dent in their arch-rivals Heart of Midlothian’s title hopes. They’re 3-0 up on the league leaders on the hour, thanks to goals from Jamie McGrath, Josh Campbell and Kieron Bowie. Heroes just for one day, from Celtic’s point of view as well.

GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City (Hutchinson 54)

… but that lead didn’t last long! Barry etc.

GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Manchester City (Reijnders 48)

In other In The Meantime news, Manchester City haven’t taken long to hit the front in the second half at the City Ground. Tijjani Reijnders the nearly festivally-themed scorer. Barry Glendenning has the details.

While we wait for the Premier League team news to drop, a reminder that today’s Clocko™®© will also carry the latest from Group D at Afcon. Sadio Mané’s star-studded Senegal take on Botswana at 3pm; in the meantime, Benin are playing Botswana, and the former led at half-time through Yohan Roche’s 29th-minute goal. The second half of that match at the Stade Olympique de Rabat has just started.