Weekend Soccer Roundup: The Reds v Brighton, Chelsea v The Toffees along with Further Action

Current Fixture Updates

Good day from the capital, a place where the sun is indeed shining, although by the moment we're at the interval, dusk will be descending. Speaking of which, can there be a happy farewell for Mohamed Salah? And, that doesn't have to be a departure forever, of course. He, like many players will be heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, whatever happens. We await the team news from the Merseyside club's encounter with Brighton.

Here are this afternoon's 3pm UK time matches.

  • Chelsea vs Everton
  • Liverpool v Brighton

There's a full schedule of English Football League matches, as well.

Confirmed Starting Elevens

Stamford Bridge vs The Merseyside Blues

Chelsea Lineup: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, James, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Joao Pedro.

Chelsea Bench: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Hato, Acheampong, Guiu, Estevao.

Everton Starting XI: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Garner, Gueye, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Barry.

Everton Substitutes: Travers, Patterson, McNeil, Beto, Dibling, Alcaraz, Aznou, Iroegbunam, Campbell.

Match Referee: Thomas Bramall.

Anfield v The Albion

Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Ekitike.

Liverpool Substitutes: Mamardashvili, Isak, Salah, Chiesa, Robertson, Ramsay, Ngumoha, Lucky.

Brighton Lineup: Verbruggen, Wieffer, van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Minteh, Gruda, Gomez, Rutter.

Brighton Substitutes: Steele, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Mitoma, Ayari, De Cuyper, Veltman.

Match Official: Craig Pawson.

The Egyptian forward on the bench for the Reds. So is Alexander Isak. More selection details to follow but it looks like Florian Wirtz supporting Ekitike in attack.

Early EFL Roundup

Significant scoreline in League Two, where it's a local derby of Bristol Rovers v Swindon; relatively local. Swindon are ahead 3-0.

In the Championship, three early kick-offs at the break:

  • Norwich 0-0 Southampton
  • Oxford 0-1 Preston
  • Stoke 1-0 Swansea

League One Updates:

  • Huddersfield 1-0 Wigan
  • Wimbledon 0-0 Mansfield

League Two Scores:

  • Bristol Rovers 0-3 Swindon
  • Salford 1-1 Colchester

Later Scores have come through, and it's currently Huddersfield 1-1 Wigan, Oxford 1-2 Preston, Salford 1-2 Colchester, Norwich 1-1 Southampton. At Norwich, whose equaliser came from Jovon Makama, Southampton missed a first-half penalty and have now drawn level through Ryan Manning.

Norwich are back in front, the decisive strike coming from Jovon Makama, his second.

Other Football Updates

News from Spain, where Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said Kylian Mbappe is available to play on Sunday against Alaves. Mbappe was absent for the European defeat by Manchester City. Alonso stated, "We've got Kylian back, he's ready to play, and tomorrow we'll see and decide on his involvement." Real Madrid are without several injured players including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal and Eduardo Camavinga.

On that local derby, one fan commented: "Hi. Bristol Rovers 0 Swindon 3 doesn't tell the half of it. Ten League defeats in a row incoming, which is one club record. Five home losses in a row is another club record... It's not much fun being a Gashead these days." For Swindon, Aaron Drinan has followed Rovers' Kacper Lopata in being shown a red card.

Full Afternoon Match List

English Football League Championship 3pm kick-offs

  • Birmingham v. Charlton
  • Coventry v. Bristol City
  • Leicester v. Ipswich
  • Middlesbrough v. QPR
  • Millwall v. Hull
  • Portsmouth v. Blackburn
  • Wrexham v. Watford

Third Division 3pm fixtures

  • Barnsley v. Leyton Orient
  • Blackpool v. Lincoln City
  • Bolton v. Exeter
  • Bradford v. Reading
  • Burton Albion v. Wycombe
  • Cardiff v. Doncaster
  • Luton v. Port Vale
  • Peterborough v. Northampton
  • Plymouth v. Rotherham
  • Stockport County v. Stevenage

League Two 15:00 kick-offs

  • Accrington Stanley v. Bromley
  • Cheltenham v. Harrogate Town
  • Chesterfield v. Barnet
  • Crawley Town v. Oldham
  • Gillingham v. Barrow
  • Grimsby v. Notts County
  • Milton Keynes Dons v. Cambridge Utd
  • Newport County v. Fleetwood Town
  • Tranmere v. Crewe
  • Walsall v. Shrewsbury

Just two matches in the Scottish Premiership, too.

  • Dundee Utd v. Motherwell
  • Livingston v. Dundee
John Sutton
John Sutton

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