Nottingham Forest v Manchester City, Everton v Leeds and more: clockwatch – live | Premier League
Key events
It will take one hell of a game to shift the @Arsenal match from first on the @BBCMOTD running order tonight.
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) February 18, 2023
With all six three o’clock kick-offs currently scoreless, Aston Villa v Arsenal’s status as Match of the Day headline act doesn’t look under much threat.
Championship: A couple of early goals in the second tier’s three o’clock kick-offs. BLackpool lead Stoke courtesy of a goal from Ian Poveda, while Birmingham City lead at Huddersfield in Neil Warnock’s first match in charge of the hosts in what is his second reign at the club.
Chelsea 0-0 Southampton: Southampton have had a shot cleared off the line early doors at Stamford Bridge and having saved his team from going a goal down, Kalidou Koulibaly has got away with a very nasty challenge on Paul Onuachu. Referee David Coote has booked him but it probably should have been a red card.
Match report: Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal
Premier League: Don’t be fooled by the scoreline! Arsenal had to come from behind twice and score two goals in added time to secure the win and move three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table. Jonathan Liew was at Villa Park to see a bona fide thriller …
Championship: Villa Park didn’t have an early-afternoon monopoly on late drama. Tom Bradshaw sealed his hat-trick in the 88th minute to steal all three points for Millwall in a 3-2 win over Sheffield United, who have now lost two in a row.
Full time: Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal
Premier League: The scoreline suggests this was an easy win for Arsenal but it was anything but. They came from behind twice and needed two goals in added time to take all three points from Villa and move clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal (Martinelli 90+7)
Premier League: With Martinez marooned upfield, having gone up for a late Villa corner, Arsenal break upfield and Gabriel Martinelli taps into an empty net from 12 yards out, celebrating the goal before he’d even scored it. What a finale we’ve had at Villa Park …
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-3 Arsenal (Martinez 90+2og)
Premier League: The many Arsenal fans who were turning their noses up at the signing of Jorginho from Chelsea will be feasting on humble pie this evening. In the second minute of added time, the Italian international fired a long-range effort off the cross-bar, only to see it bounce down and ricochet over the line off the beaten Emi Martinez’s head. It could prove a priceless winner in terms of the title race.
Championship: Sheffield United have equalised through James McAtee at the Den, where it’s 2-2 between themselves and Millwall with less than five minutes of normal time remaining.
Everton v Leeds United line-ups
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Iwobi, Doucoure, Gueye, Onana, McNeil, Maupay.
Subs: Holgate, Keane, Gray, Mina, Begovic, Godfrey, Davies, Vinagre, Simms.
Leeds United: Meslier, Ayling, Koch, Wober, Firpo, McKennie, Adams, Summerville, Harrison, Gnonto, Bamford.
Subs: Cooper, Aaronson, Gyabi, Robles, Rutter, Kristensen, Monteiro, Fernandez.
Wolves v Bournemouth line-ups
Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Bueno, Neves, Nunes, Sarabia, Moutinho, Traore, Cunha.
Subs: Bentley, Aït-Nouri, Collins, Jiménez, Podence, Jonny, Costa, Gomes, Hodge.
Bournemouth: Neto, A Smith, Stephens, Senesi, Zemura, Outtara, Lerma, Billing, Tavernier, Traore, Solanke.
Subs: Travers, Fredericks, Mepham, Christie, Rothwell, Vina, Moore, Semenyo, Anthony.
Brentford v Crystal Palace line-ups
Brentford: Raya, Hickey, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Norgaards, Jensen, Dasilva, Wissa, Toney, Mbeumo.
Subs: Cox, Schade, Zanka, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Baptiste, Janelt, Roerslev.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Mitchell, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Doucoure, Lokonga, Ayew, Olise, Schlupp, Mateta.
Subs: Whitworth, Milivojevic, Eze, McArthur, Hughes, Édouard, Richards, Ahamada, Riedewald.
Brighton v Fulham line-ups
Brighton: Sanchez; Veltman, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan; Gross, Caicedo; March, Mac Allister, Mitoma; Ferguson.
Subs: Lamptey, Sarmiento, Enciso, Steele, Ayari, Undav, Van Hecke, Buonanotte, Hinshelwood.
Fulham: Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Reed, Palhinha; Wilson, Pereira, Willian, Reid.
Subs: Rodak, Kurzawa, Adarbioyo, Duffy, Solomon, Soares, James, Lukic, Vinicius.
Nottingham Forest v Manchester City line-ups
Nottingham Forest: Navas, Worrall, Shelvey, Colback, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Freuler, Aurier, Danilo, Felipe, lodi
Subs: Hennessey, Managala, Williams, Toffolo, Surridge, Dennis, Scarpa, Ayew, Wood
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Silva, Rodri, Foden, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Ake, Alvarez, Gomez, Akanji, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis
Chelsea v Southampton line-ups
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Badiashile, Koulibaly, Chilwell, Kovacic, Fernandez, Madueke, Mount, Joao Felix, D Fofana.
Subs: Bettinelli, Chalobah, Mudryk, Sterling, Zakaria, Gallagher, Havertz, W Fofana, Hall.
Southampton: Bazunu, Maitland-Niles, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, S Armstrong, Sulemana, Elyounoussi, Onuachu.
Subs: Caballero, Walker-Peters, Lyanco, A Armstrong, Mara, Djenepo, Alcaraz, Diallo, Walcott.
Championship: Meanwhile at the Den, Sheffield United’s charge towards automatic promotion is looking in a little danger of being derailed. Having lost against Middlesbrough during the week, they currently trail Millwall by the odd goal of three.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-2 Arsenal (Zinchenko 61)
Premier League: Oleksandr Zinchenko has equalised for Arsenal with his first goal for the club, a sweetly struck shot beyond Emiliano Martinez from the edge of the penalty area. Scott Murray has the latest …
Arsenal: Mikel Arteta has called for the Premier League to afford top-flight fixtures the same privilege as Champions League away games and avoid scheduling Wednesday-to-Saturday-lunchtime turnarounds in future. Nick Ames reports …
Manchester United: The club were the subject of an official bid of a minimum £4bn on Friday from Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, the chairman of QIB, a Qatari bank. The offer comes with a promise to load no debt on the club and to redevelop the club’s infrastructure. The British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his petrochemicals firm Ineos have also confirmed a bid for “majority ownership” of the club. Jamie Jackson reports …
Today’s Championship fixtures
Romaine Sawyers scored the only goal of the game in added time as Cardiff City beat Reading in the weekend’s Championship opener in Wales last night. It was a big result for Sabri Lamouchi’s side, who move five points clear of the relegation zone, albeit having played two games more than each of the only four teams below them in the table. Millwall host Sheffield United in today’s early kick-off at the Den, where the sides are level at half-time with one goal apiece.
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Millwall 1-1 Sheffield United (L)
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Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City
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Blackpool v Stoke City
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Huddersfield Town v Birmingham City
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Hull City v Preston
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Luton Town v Burnley
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Middlesbrough v QPR
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Rotherham United v Coventry City
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Sunderland v Bristol City
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Wigan Athletic v Norwich City
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View the Championship table
Today’s Premier League fixtures
Christian Atsu (1992-2023)
The Ghanaian and former Premier League footballer Christian Atsu has been found dead under the earthquake rubble in Turkey, his agent has said. Atsu, 31, who played for Newcastle United and Everton, was falsely reported as having been taken to hospital last week.
He had been missing since the earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria on 6 February, killing tens of thousands of people. Newcastle have released a statement describing their former player as “a talented player and a special person”.
Premier League Clockwatch
Aston Villa and Arsenal got the weekend’s top flight action under way with this afternoon’s early game at Villa Park. It is a tricky test of nerve for Arsenal and one they are currently flunking. Villa lead 2-1 at half-time, with Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho scoring their goals either side of Bukayo Saka’s splendid equaliser.
We have no fewer than six three o’clock kick-offs ahead of this evening’s eye-catching fixture between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James’ Park, with Manchester City travelling to Nottingham Forest as they attempt to maintain the pressure on Arsenal after beating them on Wednesday night. Elsewhere, Brentford host out-of-sorts Crystal Palace, strugglers Bournemouth travel to Wolves looking for their first win in eight league excursions and two of this season’s surprise packages meet at the Amex Stadium, where Brighton take on Fulham.
Still looking for a new manager and bottom of the table, four points from safety, Southampton have a daunting assignment away to Chelsea, while Everton host Leeds, who also have a caretaker in charge, in a game of huge importance for two clubs sitting either side of that thick black line nobody wants to finish underneath.
We’ll bring you team news, updates on all the goals as they go in around the grounds and flag up any other major talking points on what promises to be another fascinating afternoon of top flight action.