Key events
59 min: Fulham 0-0 Leeds
A quiet game is enlivened at Craven Cottage when Karl Darlow makes a terrific save to keep out Harry Wilson’s deflected free-kick.
Half time: Real Sociedad 0-2 Real Madrid (Guler 44)
Arda Guler doubled Real’s lead just before half-time. That could be an important cushion as they have been down to ten men since the 32nd minute, when Dean Huijsen was given a dose of dogso for pulling back a Sociedad forward. It looked a harsh decision – the ball was only just past the halfway line and there was a defender coming across – but Huijsen had to walk.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-1 Brighton (Mitoma 48)
Brighton’s wide forwards combine for the equaliser: Yankuba Minteh’s cross, Kaoru Mitoma’s excellent header.
Sam Dalling
46 min: Everton 0-0 Aston Villa
Quelle surprise: Emery has changed it at the break. He had to really – Villa served up tepid gruel in the first half. Midfielder off (Tielemans), striker on (Guessand – the ’next Drogba’ apparently) and McGinn drops back next to Bogarde. It’s a start.
Half-time reading
Championship half-times
40 min: Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid
Before the game in San Sebastian, Sociedad presented John Toshack – who managed both teams – with a Gold and Diamond insignia, the highest honour bestowed by the club.
Premier League half-times
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Bournemouth 1-0 Brighton
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Crystal Palace 0-0 Sunderland
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Everton 0-0 Aston Villa
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Fulham 0-0 Leeds
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Newcastle 1-0 Wolves
Woltemade
45+4 min: Newcastle 1-0 Wolves
Sandro Tonali has hit the inside of the post for Newcastle, who are all over Wolves like a cheap one.
“Against all my expectations Woltemade has looked completely at ease on debut,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “He is central to most of our best moves, even instigating one very good counter attack with a harry, press and tackle (PES style). The header was textbook and all of his hold-up play has been intelligent.
“I have no complaints.
“Actually we look very sloppy in defence, flat-footed and Schar in particular is turning like a creaking battleship. And I don’t like our home strip this year.”
44 min: Rangers 0-1 Hearts “This place is toxic,” says the Sky Sports News reporter. “The Rangers fans are booing random passages of play.”
44 min: Newcastle 1-0 Wolves
Jacob Murphy has a goal disallowed after a fine Newcastle move.
Premier League latest
Sam Dalling
30 min: Everton 0-0 Aston Villa
The cameras here just panned to Unai Emery, and he wore a pained expression. Rightly so. Villa arrived aiming to be the last of the 162 teams in the top seven divisions of English football to score in 2025/26. They’ve not even come close…
Oddly, they have bucket loads of attacking flair on the bench, with the starting XI looking like it’s ‘stick in it for an hour’ style set-up. The way this is going, they will be very lucky not to concede before then.
La Liga: Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid (Mbappe 12)
Real Madrid lead at Sociedad in the 3.15pm game. Sociedad were keeping the ball and minding their own business in the Madrid half. Then a dodgy pass back towards the halfway line was read by Kylian Mbappe, who barreled past the last defender and finished emphatically.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Wolves (Woltemade 30)
Newcastle’s new No9 No27 has arrived. Nick Woltemade, making his debut after joining from VfB Stuttgart, has given Newcastle with an emphatic header from Jacob Murphy’s floated cross. I wouldn’t want to headbutt him by accident.
GOAL! Rangers 0-1 Hearts (Shankland 21)
Russell Martin’s desperate start as Rangers manager continues. Lawrence Shankland has put high-flying Hearts in front at Ibrox with a superb shot on the turn; there was a suggestion of a handball by Shankland in the build-up but the goal was given and VAR upheld the on-field decision.
There are loud boos at Ibrox, though it’s not clear whether they are for the manager, the referee or the concept of VAR. Probably all three.
Championship: Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Bristol City
Sheffield Wednesday are fighting back in the ongoing game of onedownmanship with their rivals United. Last night United were thumped 5-0 at Ipswich; today Wednesday at 2-0 down to Bristol City after 20 minutes.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Brighton (Scott 18)
Alex Scott has put Bournemouth in front at the Vitality Stadium, lashing a shot into the net from 20 yards after a lay-off from Antoine Semenyo.
The latest Premier League scores
An orgy of goals it ain’t. Yet.
Sam Dalling
10 min: Everton 0-0 Aston Villa
Beto’s opening ten here at the Hill Dickinson.
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Great chance eight yards out. Meets Ndiaye’ s low cross with his right foot. Blocks with his left.
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Somehow needlessly offside when Jack Grealish floats a lovely chipped cross to the back post.
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Route one ball over the top catches Tyrone Mings out. A good touch and Beto is in. His touch was awful.
Hmmm…
4 min: Bournemouth 0-0 Brighton An early injury problem for Brighton, who have brought on Asari to replace Jack Hinshelwood.
1 min: Newcastle 0-0 Wolves Nick Pope has apparently made two outstanding saves in the first minute at St James’ Park, denying first Rodrigo Gomes and then Hwang Hee-chan.
Not sure how to follow that introduction so I’ll settle for an awkward hello. Look, the 3pm games have started!
You lucky people are about to get a big dose of Rob Smyth, he’s taking over just in time for kick-off. Enjoy!
Jeremy Boyce has successfully managed to spell my name:
Should be fun this afternoon, no less than six teams have a chance to go top of the Premier League tonight depending on their results and goal-scoring ambitions, and possibly stay there all week if Buurrrnleh can pull off a shock tomorrow.
As a Leeds fan I’d be happy to see us nick a point at the Cottage and sneak above troubled Forest into mid-table.
And it’s all set for the Baggies to do one on the struggling Rams and grab the lead from ‘Boro in the Championship on their 125th birthday.
David Hytner
David Hytner was at the Emirates to see Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Forest. Here is his on-the-whistle report:
When Ange Postecoglou dreamed it beforehand, he imagined a result to kickstart his Nottingham Forest tenure, silencing a group of opposition supporters that have long been against him in the process. The former Tottenham manager could scarcely have hand-picked a spicer debut assignment. Then reality intervened.
A reminder to those of you emailing in, you massively increase your chances of getting a mention if you get my name right. ‘Hi Tim’ is unlikely to work. The good news is that Rob Smyth will be here shortly and he is way less precious than me. Get in touch via the link in the top of the blog.
From Sam Dalling in the press box at the Hill Dickinson Stadium:
David Moyes has named Premier League player of the month Jack Grealish on the bench against his former…nah, not really, of course he bloomin’ hasn’t.
There is a lovely vibe to Everton at the moment, some Moyes-ian solidity with a frisson of flair provided by Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye. James Garner is once again a makeshift left-back after Vitaliy Mykolenko pulled out of Ukraine duty with an injury. Garner played there against Brighton during this ground’s christening and scored a peach, remember.
The first decision a weekend set to be dominated by goalkeeping narrative has gone the way of Emi Martinez. It was always likely too, mind – you don’t label someone the “best goalkeeper in the world”, as Unai Emery did on Friday, and then leave them on the bench.
Lacking in goals – well, in fact lacking a goal – Emery has plumped for Emi Buendia in the triptych behind Oli Watkins. Morgan Rogers, outstanding for England earlier in the week, and John McGinn are the other two.
Harvey Elliot and Jadon Sancho will have to wait for their Villa debuts. They are on the bench along with Donyell Malen and Evann Guessand. Surely there is a goal somewhere between that octet?!
Full-time scores from the early kick-offs in the EFL
Championship
Charlton Athletic 1-1 Millwall
Oxford 2-2 Leicester
Preston 2-2 Middlesbrough
League One
Bradford 3-1 Huddersfield
Northampton 1-0 Blackpool
League Two
Accrington Stanley 1-0 Colchester
Crawley 2-0 Cheltenham
More pre-match reading for you, here are our pick of the key storylines in the Premier League this weekend:
It’s full-time at the Emirates, Arsenal have dispatched Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest 3-0. Murillo going off in the first half will be a concern for the visitors but the Gunners were excellent. Mikel Arteta was missing a few starters but the players coming off the bench showed the depth now running through his team.
Philipp Lahm
Nick Woltemade immediately comes into the Newcastle starting XI after his £73.5m move, but World Cup winner and Guardian columnist Philipp Lahm is less than convinced with the big man:
He has not yet developed any consistency or patterns – not in his first touch, not in his combination play, not in his timing on headers, not in his shooting. His goals are not the logical consequence of excellent actions and skills. His excellence is not repeatable. And he still has to prove that he can last 50 games in a season, because he is tall but not robust.
Marc Guehi was excellent for England in midweek and it was easy to see why Oliver Glasner was so keen to keep the central defender at Selhurst Park. He spoke ahead of the Eagles clash with Sunderland about the importance of Guehi:
A few interesting notes from that batch of teams…
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Emi Martinez is back in goal for Villa, Marco Bizot was less than convincing in the Argentinian’s absence
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Iliman Ndiaye starts for Everton despite being a pre-match doubt
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An unfamiliar look for Crystal Palace, with Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr missing. Yeremy Pino gets his full debut
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Simon Adingra comes into the Sunderland starting XI for Eliezer Mayenda, while Enzo Le Fee is not named in the squad
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Ethan Ampadu returns for Leeds, while Karl Darlow and Dominic Calvert-Lewin also both start
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Deadline day Bournemouth arrival Valjko Milosavljevic comes into the team as one of two changes
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Carlos Baleba is dropped to the bench for Brighton, James Milner starts in his place. Diego Gomez drops out of the squad, as Giorginio Rutter starts
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Nick Woltemade makes his debut from the start for Newcastle and Joelinton is back. Yoanne Wissa is injured
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Tolu Arokodare starts for Wolves as one of five changes
Team news: Everton v Aston Villa
Everton XI: Pickford, Keane, Tarkowski, O’Brien, Iroegbunam, Gueye, Garner, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Ndiaye, Beto
Subs: Travers, Patterson, McNeil, Barry, Dibling, Coleman, Alcaraz, Rohl, Aznou.
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne McGinn, Tielemans, Buendia, Watkins, Bogarde, Rogers
Subs: Bizot, Maatsen Proctor, Lindelof, Elliott, Torres, Malen, Sancho, Maatsen, Guessand.
Team news: Crystal Palace v Sunderland
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Munoz, Lacroix, Richards, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Pino, Hughes, Kamada, Mateta
Subs: Benitez, Clyne, Esse, Sosa, Rodney, Devenny, Cardines, Canvot, Uche.
Sunderland XI: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Mandava, Diarra, Xhaka, Sadiki, Talbi, Adingra, Isidor
Subs: Patterson, Neil, Geertruida, Rigg, Maydena, Traore, Masuaku, Jones, Brobbey.
Team news: Fulham v Leeds
Fulham XI: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon, Lukic, Berge, Wilson, King, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz
Subs: Lecomte, Jimenez, Cairney, Adama, Castagne, Kevin, Diop, Smith Rowe, Robinson.
Leeds XI: Darlow, Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson, Longstaff, Ampadu, Stach, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor
Subs: Meslier, James, Nmecha, Bijol, Harrison, Tanaka, Justin, Gnonto, Gruev.
Team news: Newcastle v Wolves
Newcastle XI: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento, Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes
Subs: Ramsdale, Hall, Botman, Thiaw, Krafth, Osula, Elanga, Willock, Miley.
Wolves XI: Johnstone, R.Gomes, Mosquera, Agbadou, Toti, H. Bueno, Andre, Krejci, J.Gomes, Hwang, Arokodare
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, S. Bueno, Munetsi, Wolfe, Arias, Bellegarde, Lopez, Tchatchoua.
Team news: Bournemouth v Brighton
Bournemouth XI: Petrovic, Hill, Milosavljevic, Senesi, Truffert, Adams, Scott, Brooks, Tavernier, Semenyo, Evanilson
Subs: Dannis, Araujo, Cook, Soler, Gannon-Doak, Kluivert, Jimenez, Adli, Kroupi.
Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper, Milner, Hinshelwood, Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma, Welbeck
Subs: Steele, Gruda, Tzimas, Watson, Baleba, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Ayari, Coppola.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to a bumper* Saturday clockwatch, a festival of post-international-break football that includes five Premier League games. Six if you count the lunchtime game between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, and why wouldn’t you.
A full fixture list is available on our live scores page. We’ll have updates from the EFL, Scotland and beyond, but our main focus is on the aforementioned Premier League matches. We’ll have team news around 2pm, whistles at 3pm and goalflashes thereafter.
Premier League
* Tautology
