Into added time we go…

Amid all the chaos, Fran Kirby got a brilliant reception from both sets of fans after coming off the bench for Brighton in the 59th minute.

The goals are coming thick and fast this afternoon! I think we’re up to date now!

Right, I think I’ve just about covered everything from that 10 minutes of madness…

We’ve just had a flurry of goals. Please bear with me as I try to bring you all the updates!

Leicester have the ball in the net… but it won’t count! Shannon O’Brien brilliantly loops her shot over Elene Lete from distance, but she is flagged offside.

A great goal, just unfortunate that she started her run a fraction too early.

Liverpool have a huge task in this second half. Now down to 10 players, perhaps wrongfully so, they need to avoid defeat against West Ham. Otherwise, they will go into the winter break five points adrift at the bottom of the table. It would be a huge mountain to climb from there.

Half-time scores:

• Brighton 0-1 Chelsea

• Manchester City 2-0 Aston Villa

• Leicester City 0-0 London City Lionesses

• West Ham 0-0 Liverpool

Chance for Manchester City in added time as Lauren Hemp loops a cross to Khadija Shaw, who looks to go for goal. However, Lucy Parker cuts it out and sends the ball behind for a corner.

Over at the King Power Stadium, the match between Leicester City and London City Lionesses has been fairly equal so far. The hosts have had two shots on target, while London City have had one.

Livia Peng has barely had anything to do in the Chelsea goal so far. Brighton are yet to have a shot.

We’re almost 30 minutes into these games and still yet to see any goals, which feels a bit unusual. Nevertheless, hopefully we’ll get a few before the break.

Chance for Chelsea as Sandy Baltimore forces a brilliant fingertip save from Sophie Baggaley.

That red card is a huge blow for Liverpool, who are already 12th in the league without a win. This is going to be a long 70 minutes for Gareth Taylor’s side.

Another chance for Chelsea as Sandy Baltimore plays Lauren James through on the overlap. The winger goes for goal but narrowly misses the target.

Chelsea go on the attack again as Erin Cuthbert drills a cross into the box, which isn’t quite cleared by Brighton at first. The midfielder then looks to hunt down the ball but the hosts can finally get out of danger.

We’ve reached the 15-minute mark in all four games.

Aston Villa have a corner at the Joie Stadium, but the cross in runs straight through the middle of the box and out of danger.

Chance for Chelsea in the sixth minute as a cross is palmed away by Sophie Baggaley. Lauren James goes for the follow-up but can’t get enough contact on her shot.

Both Manchester City and Chelsea are already pressing high in their respective games. Chelsea need a win today to keep up with their title rivals.

Natalia Arroyo, the Aston Villa manager, feels their trip to face Manchester City is the ideal litmus test for her side as they conclude their calendar year.

Villa, who beat Liverpool 3-0 on Thursday on a night when Rachel Daly scored twice, will travel to the leaders in confident form and Arroyo said: “It’s a good way of seeing where we are. Let’s see if we can make them suffer a little bit and let’s see if they can see again that Villa is a team that is hard to beat.”

Arroyo, full of praise for Manchester City, added: “They look good this year. They were always strong because they had a lot of good individuals. But you can see, they are working more as a team, they are super aggressive when they lose the ball and they have this quality to keep the ball, to force you to defend lower and lower and lower. They are really strong.

“It will be a massive challenge for us. Let’s see how consistent and solid we can be out of possession, and how brave we can be in possession to make them run as well. It’s a good way of finishing the year, probably.”

Speaking after his team’s 3-0 loss to Aston Villa on Thursday, Liverpool head coach Gareth Taylor said: “We have to go and show a reaction. Because if we don’t, we know that West Ham have players that can capitalise on that - and they will.”

Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor hopes that her team can learn from last week’s loss to Everton, which ended their historic 34-game unbeaten streak.

She said: “We see it as a new opportunity for us to have a good performance. We know it will be crucial for us to get the three points and the win. I’m hoping we can show we have taken the learnings from the Everton game and we can get the three points. We know it will be a tough game. It is never easy to travel to Brighton, they have a good team, they have momentum and they are confident after winning the game at the weekend so we are expecting a tough game. But we are confident and we always have honest feedback when we review games and I am sure the players know what they need to do better going into the next game.”

Thanks Tom! Right, we’re around 20 minutes away from kick-off. Let’s see what some of the managers have to say…

OK, this is where I leave you and let Emillia Hawkins takeover in time to guide you through the WSL action when it kicks off in about 30 minutes time. Thanks for all you comments and emails, keep them coming in.

It’s less than an hour until kick-off in the WSL slate. Team news coming right up…

It’s an odd quirk of the Scottish game that a new manager of one of Scotland’s giants can often find themselves competing for a first trophy just a few games into their tenure. The traditional sacking season of November is often succeeded by an appearance in the League Cup final. Such is the fate of the new man at Celtic Park, Wilfried Nancy. The Frenchman arrives with a decent reputation earned in MLS but with two defeats in his opening pair of matches Nancy is already under scrutiny. A win against St Mirren will go some way to easing those doubts, but it will not be easy at Hampden Park.

More on Nancy’s predicament from Ewan Murray here:

AC Milan v Sassuolo: team news

The teams are in for the day’s first big game and it’s the 11.30am GMT kick-off in Serie A.

AC Milan: Maignan, Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi, Pulisic, Nkunku.
Subs: Athekame, De Winter, Estupinan, Jashari, Odogu, Pittarella, Ricci, Terracciano.

Sassuolo: Muric, Walukiewicz, Idzes, Muharemovic, Cande, Thorstvedt, Matic, Kone, Volpato, Pinamonti, Fadera.
Subs: Cheddira, Coulibaly, Doig, Iannoni, Lauriente, Lipani, Moro, Odenthal, Pierini.

One intriguing plotline going into this afternoon’s fixtures is Adam Wharton’s latest chance to impress against one of the Premier League’s top midfields. Wharton’s position in the Palace team is an interesting one. Oliver Glasner’s side are comfortable surrendering possession to their opponents and picking their spots, so rather than dictate play Wharton shines with his clever passing and ability to put his teammates in positions to get on the front foot. Taking on Manchester City today should perfectly suit this approach, given how much Pep Guardiola’s side like to dominate the ball. Wharton masterclass incoming?

The big Tyne-Wear/Wear-Tyne (delete as appropriate) talk continues in the comments:

Lesoleilnebrillepas

14 December 2025 9:29am

If Eddie drops Joelinton, which I think he will, and if he picks Wissa instead, which he might, we will thrash Sunderland.

I think a bit of the perception about the lack of non-local interest in this game comes from the fact that the last time these two teams were playing each other at the top level they were on downward swings. Clearly things are a bit different now, even if Newcastle are yet to find their form of the last season.

maysha

14 December 2025 9:48am

I think it’s a bit sad that the rest of UK is not interested in this fascinating and historic local derby. You will not hear a crowd noise louder or fiercer in any other fixture this season.

TheRedGoblin

14 December 2025 9:49am

I wouldn’t say I have a lot of interest but I’d certainly love to see a Sunderland win, as I think most neutrals would!

On thing is for certain, should Newcastle take the lead at the Stadium of Light it does not mean the game is over. Eddie Howe’s side have dropped 11 points from winning positions, the joint most of any team alongside Brentford. Factor in a similar pattern in the Champions League, including Alejandro Grimaldo’s late equaliser in midweek for Bayer Leverkusen, and it appears Newcastle have a bit of a fragility problem. Is that unfair?

A few questions off the back of this comment from NorthernCurmudgeon, does the rest of the UK have limited interest in Sunderland v Newcastle? Is nervousness the prevailing feeling among both sets of fans? And what is the result going to be? Get after it via email or in the comments below the line.

NorthernCurmudgeon

14 December 2025 9:39am

Huge game in the north east today, albeit I appreciate the rest of the Uk has limited interest in it. As a Newcastle fan, I’m nervous. Given modern form in the fixture, respective league positions and our current away form I’d say we go in as narrow underdogs (regardless of what the bookies say).

Hoping there’s no trouble at the ground but depending on the result there is always a chance of it, I toyed with bring my eldest to the match with me but opted against it.

Prediction? A scrappy 1-1 with Sunderland’s equaliser coming after the 85th minute

Have you played On the Ball yet?

That “dudes can just sit around and name old sports players” is a time-honoured social media meme. In football, this is especially true. Such wistful recollections can bring together all types of people.

A couple of seasons ago, on a Saturday night train back to London from reporting for the Guardian a match between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, I thought I had landed in the sanctuary of an abandoned carriage on the train home.

I thought wrong. Just as the station guard’s whistle sounded for the train to depart, the carriage was suddenly filled with loud, boisterous and visibly refreshed young Palace fans. Occasionally, these situations can turn nasty but after a couple of songs dedicated to their beloved Eagles, the leader of this cheerful group started up a guessing game.

Reading off Wikipedia on his phone, he bellowed out a series of clubs, challenging his pals to guess the player who had played for them. Within a few turns, most of the carriage was involved. Surrounded, I’d kept my cap down over my eyes, hoping to go unnoticed, but couldn’t resist when the Palace fans started to struggle with “Millwall, Blackburn, West Ham, Galatasaray, Al Jazira …”

“Lucas Neill,” I said out loud, greeted by approval. The rest of the journey passed quickly in a blizzard of football trivia and chat. As we disembarked at London’s St Pancras, the young Eagles even invited me to a rave in Croydon. I politely declined.

And that’s the essence of the Guardian’s first daily football game, On the ball. The rules are simple: guess the Premier League player, past or present, with the fewest clues possible, and impress your pals – and yourself – by doing so.

It’s up to you whether you choose to start with a player’s country, the three clubs they have played for the most, when they made their Premier League debut, their age, the number of Premier League appearances or titles they have to their name, or how many different countries they have been based. The aim is to guess the player with the fewest clues, with points deducted for every clue used up, and to land a score as close to 100 points as possible.

Each day will see a new player to guess. Can you remember who else Mohamed Salah played for? Which midfielder has played for Tottenham, Leicester and Norwich? Go on: test yourself. And your friends.

Get On the Ball from the Puzzles tab of the Guardian app.

Across Europe there are some tasty fixtures. Marseille v Monaco in Ligue 1 is certainly one Roberto De Zerbi’s side need to win if they want to maintain any hopes of challenging PSG for the title. A win for OM would cut the gap to four points after the Parisiens won 3-2 at Metz yesterday, but second-place Lens could return to the top of Ligue 1 if they beat Nice at home this afternoon.

In Germany both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are in action. Third-placed Dortmund travel to Freiburg and Bayern, who have an eight-point lead over RB Leipzig in second, welcome Mainz to the Allianz Arena.

In Italy, the top three in Serie A are all playing today. AC Milan take on Sassuolo at San Siro, Napoli travel to Udinese and Inter Milan are the visitors at Genoa. Milan are currently top, but have the same number of points at Napoli, while Inter are just a point back.

In La Liga, Raphinha scored twice last night as Barcelona beat Osasuna to extend their lead at the top of the table. Real Madrid travel to Alaves today as they bid to turn around their flat run of form.

Sticking with the WSL, we will be covering the five 11.55am GMT kick-offs in this blog when Emillia Hawkins takes over. Some cracking fixtures, probably topped by Brighton v Chelsea, where Sonia Bompastor’s side will be looking to get quickly back to winning ways after losing their long unbeatn run last week. Here’s what is in-store:

Brighton v Chelsea
Leicester City v London City Lionesses
Manchester City v Aston Villa
West Ham v Liverpool

There was just one fixture in the WSL yesterday as Arsenal travelled to Goodison Park to take on Everton. Tom Garry was at one…

Smith erases any doubts for Arsenal to seal victory at Everton

The Women’s Super League’s December goal-of-the-month compilation will probably include three contributions from this match. Arsenal scored two of them and climbed to second in the table as half-volleys from Katie McCabe and Olivia Smith helped them on their way to a valuable victory.

It will have felt all the more satisfying for Arsenal after Chelsea dropped points against Everton last Sunday. They were momentarily given a scare when Honoka Hayashi levelled the scores in a frenetic first-half spell, but that proved to be a rare Everton attack in a contest that was otherwise managed well by Arsenal’s midfield.

Full report here:

Foden’s rocky road is proof that a prodigy’s promise is no guarantee of glory

By the time the World Cup comes around, nine years will have passed since Phil Foden won the Golden Ball as England lifted the Under-17 World Cup. That tournament can be seen in hindsight as a watershed for the English game, the first indication that the elite player performance plan (EPPP) and the England DNA project – taking youth football seriously – might be beginning to pay off.

Youth football is notoriously unpredictable and England’s record in the Under-17 World Cup since shows a failure to qualify and a pair of last-16 exits, but following that 2017 success, England’s senior side have reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final, while the under-21s have won two European titles.

Two previous Golden Ball winners from Under-17 World Cups – Cesc Fàbregas and Toni Kroos – have gone on to win the senior World Cup. Some, such as Landon Donovan, Anderson and Kelechi Iheanacho have had perfectly decent careers. And others have vanished almost entirely: Sani Emmanuel of Nigeria, for instance, won in 2009 then made just 16 senior appearances, 10 of them in the Swiss second tier with Biel-Bienne; while another Nigerian, Kelechi Nwakali, winner in 2015, joined Arsenal but, after a series of loan moves and stints in the lower reaches of the Spanish and Portuguese systems, was kicked out of Barnsley this past summer after returning late for pre-season.

The road from prodigy to glory is a rocky one. Foden has been an England regular since 2020, but there was a point earlier this year when it seemed he might not even make the squad for next summer’s World Cup.

Read Jonathan Wilson’s ‘Inside football’ column in full:

For more on the first Premier League Tyne-Wear clash since March 2016, give Louise Taylor’s preview a read:

There are five matches in the Premier League today, the pick of which has to the north east derby between Sunderland and Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. That is at 2pm GMT, as are: Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Nottingham Forest v Tottenham, West Ham v Aston Villa. Then, at 4.30pm GMT, is Brentford v Leeds.

A few more bits of football news before we start looking ahead to today’s action…

Arsenal extend lead at the top but struggle in win over Wolves.

Arsenal secured a dramatic stoppage-time 2-1 victory against Wolves to extend their lead over Manchester City to five points at the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners were off the pace for much of Saturday’s encounter under the lights at the Emirates Stadium - but they lucked-in after 70 minutes when Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone diverted Bukayo Saka’s corner into his own net.

Wolves struck back in the 90th minute through substitute Tolu Arokodare to leave the home side stunned.

But a fortuitous Arsenal regained the lead in the fourth minute of added time when Yerson Mosquera, under pressure from substitute Gabriel Jesus, headed Saka’s cross into his own net.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta expected more from his team: “We knew it would not be an easy game, but we made it even harder and more difficult with what we did, and the manner that we conceded the goal, and that is unacceptable.”

Chelsea win on Palmer’s return but something is bothering Maresca

A routine win for Chelsea became something a lot more mysterious thanks to a cryptic comment from Enzo Maresca in the post-match press conference. “The last 48 hours,” he said, “have been the hardest since I joined the club because so many people didn’t support me and the team.” He clarified that he was not referring to the fans, or even the media, but to an internal issue at the club ut would not elaborate further. Whether a 2-0 win over Everton will quieten down the noise, remains to to be seen.

Sunderland great Rowell dies after leukaemia battle

The former Sunderland striker Gary Rowell has died at the age of 68, the Black Cats have confirmed, saying the club was “truly devastated” to announce his passing after a long battle with leukaemia.

The Seaham-born Rowell, who scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 Division Two win over Newcastle at St James’ Park in February 1979, died on Saturday. His death comes 50 years to the day since he made his Sunderland debut and just a day before the Black Cats host the Magpies in the first Premier League derby between the clubs since March 2016, at which the hosts will mark Rowell’s death.

Rowell made 297 appearances for Sunderland of which he was a lifelong supporter and scored 103 goals during a 12-year stay at Roker Park. He was spotted playing for Seaham Juniors and signed as an apprentice in 1972 before being handed a first professional contract two years later.

Turf Moor boos upset Parker after Burnley fall to Fulham

Scott Parker admitted the sound of Burnley fans booing at the final whistle of Saturday’s 3-2 home loss to Fulham “breaks my heart” after his relegation-battling side fell to a seventh straight Premier League loss.

Emile Smith Rowe gave Fulham the lead and then, after Lesley Ugochukwu levelled, Burnley allowed Calvin Bassey to put the Cottagers back in front. Harry Wilson added a decisive third before the hour with Oliver Sonne’s consolation too late for the hosts.

“It was only four months ago that I was standing on the balcony in the town centre and all of us were celebrating and the fans were right with us, and within four months that quickly changes,” Parker said.

“It breaks my heart at the end of the game because we came here today wanting to please our fans and wanting them to support us.”

Anyone who was, or still is, planning to travel to the World Cup this summer, please get in touch via email or in the comments. Understandably there is a lot of anger over the ticket prices and Fifa’s general approach to this tournament and I would be very interested in getting your perspective.

Football Association to pass on fan anger over World Cup ticket prices

The Football Association will pass on England supporters’ concerns about high 2026 World Cup ticket prices to Fifa. However, despite the growing outrage, it is understood none of the international federations expect world football’s governing body to change its policy.

Anger among supporter groups continued on Friday after it emerged that the cheapest tickets will cost 10 times the price promised in the original bid for the United States, Canada and Mexico to host the tournament. For England fans it will mean having to pay at least $220 (£165) for group games – when the bid document’s ticket model stated the cheapest seats should be $21 (£15.70).

The cheapest tickets for the World Cup final will cost $4,185 (£3,120), more than 30 times higher than originally planned. And that is before travel costs and accommodation are factored in.

The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) described the prices being proposed to the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) as “scandalous” and said they were “a step too far for many supporters who passionately and loyally follow their national sides at home and abroad”. “Everything we feared about the direction in which Fifa wants to take the game was confirmed – Gianni Infantino only sees supporter loyalty as something to be exploited for profit,” the FSA added.

More on this story from Sean Ingle:

Was Salah’s return the beginning of the end at Liverpool or start of an apology?

Mohamed Salah and Liverpool have put politics to shame by showing what a long week truly looks like. It ended with the Egyptian doing a one-man lap of honour at Anfield, an attempt to rebuild trust with the supporters after creating a ceasefire, if not a complete truce, with Arne Slot.

Over the past seven days a lot has changed, but one thing remained the same, Salah started a Premier League game on the bench, not that he needed to wait long for a chance to do his talking on the pitch. He would finish with an assist after playing 75 minutes against Brighton in a game in which he desperately wanted to score. Maybe his parade was the beginning of the end, but it felt more like the start of the apology that should continue after the Africa Cup of Nations, giving both parties space to breathe.

Will Unwin was also Anfield (where in addition to the latest episode of the Salah drama there was a football match), here are his thoughts in full on the saga of the Egyptian star:

Andy Hunter was at Anfield to see Liverpool beat Brighton 2-0 as Mohamed Salah made a potential farewell appearance. Here is his report from the post-match press conference with Reds manager Arne Slot:

Arne Slot claimed he had no outstanding issues with Mohamed Salah and would see the Egypt international after the Africa Cup of Nations following the forward’s positive return for Liverpool against Brighton.

Salah was reintroduced to the Liverpool side as a 26th-minute substitute having been omitted from the Champions League win at Inter over the incendiary interview he gave at Elland Road last Saturday. Slot refused to divulge details of the conversation that led to Salah being restored to the squad on Friday but insisted that, as far as he was concerned, the matter was resolved. Talks are expected, however, between the Liverpool hierarchy and Salah’s representative while the forward is away on Afcon duty.

“For me there’s no issues to resolve,” said the Liverpool head coach. “He is the same as any other player. You talk to your players if you are happy or unhappy with things. There is nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds after the game.”

Read the full report here: