Key events
Manchester United and England legend Sir Bobby Charlton dies
Some really sad breaking news to bring you.
Sir Bobby Charlton CBE, 1937-2023.
Words will never be enough.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 21, 2023
Premier League half-time scores
It’s been the Jeremy Doku show at the Etihad, where Manchester City resemble Manchester City again and lead Brighton 2-0. Newcastle have raced into a 3-0 advantage against Crystal Palace with the goals shared around, while Bournemouth and Brentford both hold precarious 1-0 leads over Wolves and Burnley respectively – and both may believe they deserve more.
Oh, and Nottingham Forest 0-0 Luton. Back in five.
Championship half-time scores
Around the grounds after 45 minutes or so in the second tier:
GOAL! Newcastle 3-0 Crystal Palace (Longstaff ’45)
Bang, bang, the Eagles are felled. Sean Longstaff accepts a gift from Marc Guehi and this one looks signed, sealed and delivered.
GOAL! Newcastle 2-0 Crystal Palace (Gordon ’44)
That felt like a matter of time! Anthony Gordon at the far post doubles the Toon advantage, with Murphy nabbing the assist in what’s been a very productive half for him.
Live pictures of James Trafford in the Burnley goal against Brentford today:
Manchester City lead Brighton 2-0 but there’s a bit of tetchiness going on. Pep Guardiola is fuming at Josko Gvardiol for something or other, while Rodri has reacquainted himself with the referee’s pocket book after needlessly kicking the ball away. Cheer up lads, you’re beating a good side comfortably.
I’ve not mentioned Nottingham Forest v Luton yet – for good reason. There’s very little happening, although reports suggesting the visitors are more than holding their own. It’s 0-0 still.
Burnley scramble clear to somehow stop Brentford getting themselves a second. James Trafford superbly denied Maupay (oh dear) and then it’s cleared off the line. Vincent Kompany’s charges are on the ropes.
James Milner is having a fairly torrid time back at the Etihad. In fairness, most would struggle playing out of position against the rocket-heeled Jeremy Doku. (My apologies for wrongly saying he scored earlier – it was Alvarez, with Doku assisting, corrected).
Newcastle are getting closer to a deserved second – Anthony Gordon has hit the crossbar at St James’ Park.
Newcastle are bossing things against Crystal Palace, with Sam Johnstone on hand to smartly save to deny Jacob Murphy a second goal. Eddie Howe’s side are so so good at home these days.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Burnley (Wissa, ’25)
Both these teams are desperate for the points today, but it’s the Bees who have drawn first blood, as Yoane Wissa breaks the deadlock, to the Gtech Community Stadium’s delight.
Championship: Sunderland have levelled at Stoke, Swansea have taken a surprise lead against Leicester, while Huddersfield have doubled their advantage against QPR. Southampton take a 1-0 lead up at Hull.
I simply cannot relate to this. Kudos if you can.
Honestly one of the best decisions I made this year was to give up playing Fantasy Football. My weekend’s are now so much less fraught as I’m not constantly upset that Lucas Digne has been yellow-carded or something.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) October 21, 2023
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Brighton (Haaland ’19)
Some chap called Erling Haaland has scored. Not sure I’ve seen his name on a scoresheet lately.
(A brilliant rifled left-footer into the top corner; never ever doubt him please, people!)
We’re all about balance, so here’s a response from David Wood on email to Jeff Sax’s earlier missive on the Merseyside derby:
Let’s just hope the defending will be better than the disgrace at [the] Liverpool derby … Young and Keane handed Liverpool the win. They’re potentially good enough to be number one this year.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Wolves (Solanke ’17)
A big goal for Bournemouth! Marcus Tavernier with a delightful piece of skill to put it on a plate for Dominic Solanke and give Iraola something to smile about on the south coast.
There’s some concern for Brighton’s Danny Welbeck at the Etihad. The former Manchester United kid looks to have picked up a knock of some sort. Not the ideal start for the Seagulls, but Roberto De Zerbi has Evan Ferguson on the bench should he need him.
Stockport County have gone 2-0 up on Grimsby as the Mad Hatters start their afternoon tea party already. This gif tells the story.
Championship: Huddersfield and Stoke have joined Norwich in racing into an early lead. Leeds, Sunderland and QPR all trailing on the road.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Brighton (Álvarez ‘7)
And that didn’t take long either! Jeremy Doku is the creator and Julian Álvarez finds the net. He’s some player.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Crystal Palace (Murphy ‘4)
Jacob Murphy thought he’d been denied by an offside flag, but after a VAR check he’s adjudged to be onside after latching onto a Kieran Trippier ball. The Mags are up and that didn’t take long … it could be a struggle this afternoon for Roy Hodgson’s boys.
There’s an early chance for Brentford against Burnley and it drops for Neal Maupay – making his first start since his loan return to his old side. He’s put it wide.
The first goal of the afternoon is scored by Norwich against Leeds! Shane Duffy nods in from a corner at Carrow Road.
Andy Hunter’s report from Anfield is in, as the action gets under way round the grounds:
KICK OFF(S)
“Peep, peep, peep” go the whistles around the country.
Grounds have just held minutes’ silences for the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Some other games worth keeping an eye on this afternoon:
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Rangers v Hibernian – Philippe Clement’s first game in charge
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Stockport v Grimsby – Hosts can stretch lead at League Two summit
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Bradford v Wrexham – Two heavyweights of the fourth tier clash
No 3pm kick-offs in the WSL today – Martha Thomas blasted a hat-trick to help Tottenham beat Aston Villa 4-2 in the earlier kick off – while Manchester City travel to Leicester in the teatime game.
Today’s Championship fixtures are looking pretty tasty. There’s one confirmed result from lunchtime with managerless Millwall sticking it out for a 1-1 draw at high-flying Preston. Wayne Rooney makes his bow as Birmingham boss against former Manchester United pal Michael Carrick.
Here are those games in full:
One game into the Premier League’s return after international football and already refereeing decisions are dominating the discourse.
Jeff Sax emails in:
Let’s just hope the refereeing will be better than the disgrace at [the] Liverpool derby … The referee handed Liverpool the win. They’re not good enough to be number one this year.
What a footballer he is.
FT: Liverpool 2-0 Everton
Mo Salah x 2 and once again I’m berating myself for not putting him in my Fantasy Premier League team. That win puts Liverpool top of the table on goal difference – for the time being.
It’s of no surprise to anyone that Kalvin Phillips is on the Manchester City bench today. He’s pretty much taken up residence there for the past 14 to 15 months. What price a January move, then? Pep Guardiola hinted at one in his pre-match press conference.
While I grab a pre-match brew and we take in the final stages of Liverpool 1-0 Everton, here’s some afternoon reading for you:
Nottingham Forest v Luton team news
Your final set of teamsheets for today’s Premier League 3pm kick-offs, with Andros Townsend on the Luton bench after his free transfer …
Newcastle v Crystal Palace team news
Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Lascelles, Schär, Burn; Longstaff, Guimarães, Joelinton; Murphy, Wilson, Gordon
Subs: Dubravka, Dummett, Tonali, Targett, Isak, Hall, Livramento, Almirón, Anderson.
Crystal Palace: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell; Lerma, Doucouré, Hughes; Ayew, Mateta, Edouard
Subs: Matthews, Holding, Franca, Clyne, Richards, Ahamada, Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi, Ozoh.
Man City v Brighton team news
Ederson on the bench for Manchester City, but Rodri is straight back into Pep Guardiola’s starting lineup.
Manchester City: Ortega; Walker, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri, Bernardo, Foden; Doku, Alvarez, Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Dias, Phillips, Ake, Kovacic, Grealish, Gomez, Nunes, Lewis
Brighton: Steele; Milner, Dunk, Igor Julio, March; Baleba, Gross; Adingra, Welbeck, Mitoma; João Pedro
Subs: Verbruggen, Webster, Van Hecke, Veltman, Dahoud, Gilmour, Lallana, Fati, Ferguson
Brentford v Burnley team news
Brentford: Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Onyeka; Jensen, Nørgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa, Maupay
Subs: Strakosha, Zanka, Ghoddos, Mee, Roerslev, Yarmoliuk, Ji-soo, Olakigbe, Brierley.
Burnley: Trafford; Roberts, Al Dakhil, O’Shea, Taylor; Berge, Cullen; Trésor, Amdouni, Odobert; Foster
Subs: Muric, Cork, Brownhill, Delcroix, Redmond, Bruun Larsen, Rodriguez, Zaroury, Koleosho.
Bournemouth v Wolves team news
Former Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott starts for under-fire Andoni Iraola, as Gary O’Neil faces his former club at the Vitality Stadium. Mat Doherty is back in the Wolves lineup.
Let’s get straight into the team news. They’re about to drop …
Preamble
Good afternoon! Eesh, that was a long international break, wasn’t it? And with England stinking the place out in the Cricket World Cup and likely to be dumped from the Rugby World Cup tonight in a double Saffa-smashing, thank goodness for the Premier League. You can always rely on it.
It returned with the Merseyside derby this lunchtime of course, which is still ongoing. There’s a veritable feast on offer this Saturday – an incredible five 3pm kick-offs, with two evening games later on to boot. Can Manchester City get back to winning ways at home to Brighton? Probably. Can Newcastle flex their muscles against Crystal Palace? Probably. Can Bournemouth win a game? Probably not.
Let’s see how accurate, or wildly inaccurate those predictions prove to be. Stick with us for the latest.