Good day here in the capital, where the sunshine is actually shining, though by the time we're at half-time, dusk will be falling. Speaking of which, can there be a happy farewell for the Egyptian star? And, that does not have to be one forever, of course. He, like many players will be traveling to the Africa Cup of Nations, whatever happens. We await the team news from Liverpool's game with the south coast side.
Listed below are this afternoon's 3pm British time matches.
There's a complete round of English Football League matches, as well.
Chelsea Starting XI: 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 Official: Thomas Bramall.
Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Ekitike.
Liverpool Bench: Mamardashvili, Isak, Salah, Chiesa, Robertson, Ramsay, Ngumoha, Lucky.
Brighton Lineup: Verbruggen, Wieffer, van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Minteh, Gruda, Gomez, Rutter.
Brighton Bench: Steele, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Mitoma, Ayari, De Cuyper, Veltman.
Game Referee: Craig Pawson.
The Egyptian forward on the bench for Liverpool. So is Alexander Isak. Further team news to follow but it appears like Wirtz supporting Hugo Ekitike in the forward line.
Significant result in League Two, where it's a regional clash of Bristol Rovers v Swindon; relatively local. Swindon are leading 3-0.
In the second tier, three afternoon starts at the break:
League One Scores:
League Two Updates:
Subsequent Goals 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 of the game.
News from La Liga, where Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said Kylian Mbappe is fit to play on Sunday against Alaves. Mbappe was absent for the European defeat by Manchester City. Alonso confirmed, "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.
Regarding the 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.
Only two games in the Scottish top flight, too.
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