Key events
GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City (Haaland 12)
Back from injury and immediately in form. Jérémy Doku drifts inside the area from the left and threads a ball along the carpet through several white shirts. Erling Haaland, with far too much space, is on hand for a calm first-time finish into the bottom corner. That’s his 20th league goal of the season.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Ipswich (Philogene 4)
Oh dear. It’s an absolute shocker from the hosts. A long ball over the top should be comfortably dealt with by Patrick Dorgu, running back. Andre Onana advances to the edge of the area to help clean up, but a mix-up sees Dorgu tap the ball away from the keeper. The on-rushing Jaden Philogene ends up with the gift, a simple slot into an empty net. Old Trafford is miserable once again.
Peeeeeep!
We’re underway in four games. That’s insane, Jeremy.
Charles Antaki writes in: “Nottingham Forest versus Arsenal – as an Arsenal fan, I’m looking forward to a thrilling night watching some fantastic Arsenal players play some brilliant football in front of a huge crowd. Yes, I’m going to be tuning into England V Spain.”
Emillia Hawkins is keeping track of the big one at Wembley.
Dean Kinsella is speaking my language.
Hello Taha. Looks like a fun-filled evening of footy ahead after a very entertaining day of cricket. Quite the rotation at Spurs with Son, Kulu and Spence moved to the bench. I suspect an equally large shake up is imminent in the white ball game
Yes, it’s not looking great for the 2019 world champs.
Tottenham v Manchester City team news
Erling Haaland is back, baby. The cheat-code striker returns after some knee bother. Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski find themselves on the bench for Spurs.
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Gray, Danso, Udogie, Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Tel, Odobert
Subs: Kinsky, Reguilón, Spence, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski, Werner, Son, Scarlett
Manchester City: Ederson, Matheus Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, González, Kovacic, Savinho, Marmoush, Doku, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Aké, Grealish, De Bruyne, Gündogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Lewis, McAtee
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal team news
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Domínguez, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood
Subs: Hennessey, Morato, Sangaré, Awoniyi, Moreno, Jota Silva, Yates, Sosa, Danilo
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Jorginho, Rice, Ødegaard, Nwaneri, Trossard, Merino
Subs: Neto, Kiwior, White, Zinchenko, Tierney, Partey, Sterling, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji
Manchester United v Ipswich team news
Alejandro Garnacho starts for Manchester United after a lively performance off the bench against Everton. He injected some life into what was initially a very sluggish display from Ruben Amorim’s side.
Manchester United: Onana, Yoro, Maguire, De Ligt, Dalot, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dorgu, Zirkzee, Garnacho, Højlund
Subs: Harrison, Graczyk, Heaven, Lindelöf, Mazraoui, Casemiro, Eriksen, Obi
Ipswich: Palmer, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy, Cajuste, Philogene, Hutchinson, Clarke, Delap
Subs: Muric, Woolfenden, Townsend, Johnson, Luongo, Taylor, Szmodics, Broadhead, Hirst
Brentford v Everton team news
There’s no Abdoulaye Doucouré for Everton tonight; his wife’s having a baby. Many congrats.
Brentford: Flekken, Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter, Janelt, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard, Schade, Mbeumo, Wissa
Subs: Valdimarsson, Carvalho, Mee, Konak, Maghoma, Kayode, Ji-soo, Morgan, Arthur
Everton: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Alcaraz, Lindstrøm, Harrison, Beto
Subs: Virgínia, Begovic, Patterson, Keane, Chermiti, Young, Iroegbunam, Sherif, Heath
“Red Djed Redemption. Return of the Djedi. The Walking Djed.” Ben McAleer’s had some fun taking in the resurgence of Djed Spence.
Here’s today Football Daily, on the misery of the Saints.
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to what is a bit of a viewing dream/nightmare. These are some juicy fixtures, so it’s a bit of a shame that they’re all kicking off at the same time. But it also makes for a fun clockwatch.
Here’s what we’ve got, all starting at 7.30pm GMT:
Brentford v Everton
Manchester United v Ipswich
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Tottenham v Manchester City
It’s Forest-Arsenal that has most of my attention, third v second, a real possibility there of Liverpool extending their lead to 14 points by the end of the night. Will David Moyes’ transformed Everton keep up their unbeaten streak? Is Kieran McKenna going to make things even worse at his old club? Can Spurs beat City for the third time this season? I’ll keep track of it all.
Drop me a line with your hopes, fears, dreams, whatever you fancy. Here’s to goals, goals, goals and goals.
