Join Michael Butler for Brighton v Arsenal, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang striking early to give Unai Emery’s side the lead:

For the first of two evening kick-offs, join Michael Butler:

Norwich are level at Carrow Road!!!! It’s 3-3. Daniel Farke’s side trailed Nottingham Forest by three goals with 13 minutes to play ... but they have a point. Onel Hernandez has scored twice in stoppage-time, his second goal coming eight minutes into added time, to earn the most unlikely of draws.

A brilliant Christmas for Liverpool, and Leicester – and Leeds! Kemar Roofe has scored a winner for Leeds at home to Blackburn. It’s stoppage-time stuff again for the league leaders, who have turned things around at the death. Staying in the Football League, Sunderland hold on against Bradford, winning 1-0 in front of 46,079, more than the number of fans inside Wembley.

Kemar Roofe at the death for Leeds – again! Marcelo Bielsa’s side are level at Elland Road against Blackburn. Roofe scrambles home.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Manchester City – with Fabian Delph sent off! A straight red card. A poor challenge by the England midfielder on Ricardo Pereira, who scored what Leicester hope and pray will be the winning goal. In the Championship, Charlie Mulgrew has scored his – and Blackburn’s – second of the afternoon, with a stunning free-kick from distance. Leeds trail 2-1 at home, though Norwich are still 3-1 down at Carrow Road themselves.

More than 46,000 fans are watching Sunderland take on Bradford – in League One! That’s the biggest third-tier crowd since 1979. That’s more than the number of supporters at Wembley, where Tottenham are breezing beyond Bournemouth. In the Championship, Notts Forest have doubled their lead to 2-0 at Norwich, while Jay Rodriguez has hammered his second goal past Wigan. And, thanks to Birbkamp for this dispatch. “Good news from south London, Dulwich Hamlet 1-0 up at Eastbourne Borough in their first game back at Champion Hill after an eight-month lockout by property developers. Ash Carew the scorer.”

Aston Villa lead at Swansea, courtesy of Conor Hourihane’s header, while Bolton have retaken the lead against Rotherham. In Italy:

Bournemouth have a goal ruled out for offside! Junior Stanislas puts the ball in the back of the net from Diego Rico’s cross, but the flag is up on the far side. At Old Trafford, a phenomenal save by David de Gea, to somehow deny Depoitre.

“Your previous emailer asked if Rafa Benítez gets an easy ride,” says Shaun Wilkinson. “As a Newcastle fan, let me just say this: this week, Benítez said about his own team who are in 14th – fourteenth – position at Christmas that it would be a miracle if they didn’t get relegated. I have not seen a single word of criticism about this. No defence of Mike Ashley of course, I want rid of him as much as everyone else does, but any other manager than Rafa would have been called out by fans and press alike for his incessant whining months ago.”

A sluggish start to the second half by Manchester United. Huddersfield have caught United napping a little, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side all over the place. The Norwegian has seen enough, with Ander Herrera and Ashley Young coming on for Fred and Diego Dalot just minutes after the restart.

We’re back under way around the grounds, and, to kick things off, Liverpool have a penalty at Anfield ...

Arsenal take on Brighton this evening, though Unai Emery is happy to risk Lucas Torreira, despite the Uruguayan treading a disciplinary tightrope:

We are going to play the next match in Brighton and we are going to play full – not with considered options or playing with more caution. The same three points are in Brighton that are in Liverpool and we are going to play first in Brighton. It’s a tough match and we will need every player with 100% focus to do everything on the pitch to win. I don’t know whether Torreira would even be able to play cautiously but I don’t want him to think about the possibility of a suspension for one yellow card.”

“The Spurs v Bournemouth game is clearly not over,” emails John Tumbridge. “Because, one: it’s a Boxing Day match and all sort of silly scores are almost guaranteed. Two: it is Spurs and all sorts of silly scores are possible if they go all Spursy. And, three: assuming Man City draw today, Spurs only need to accrue 14 more goals difference to climb into second place.”

And now Leicester have Manchester City on the ropes! Ederson is forced to pull off a string of stops, denying Jamie Vardy and then Hamza Choudhury in the next breath, before twice preventing James Maddison from striking. In the second-tier, Birmingham deservedly lead at home to Stoke through Jacques Maghoma. And a thriller north of the border, with Celtic now 4-3 up at Aberdeen, where they are into three minutes of second-half stoppage-time.

Two big chances go begging for the Manchester clubs! De Bruyne finds Leroy Sane down the left, and he picks out Sergio Aguero but the Argentine struck over the bar from point-blank range for City. At Old Trafford, Diego Dalot should have doubled United’s lead but after a neat nutmeg and cross by Marcus Rashford.

Leeds lead! Blackburn defender Derrick Williams has put the ball past his own goalkeeper at Elland Road. Staying in the Championship, Joel Lynch has doubled QPR’s advantage over bottom club Ipswich, while Bolton have poked themselves in front against Rotherham. In League One, Sunderland have gone ahead in front of 40,000+ against Bradford, thanks to Aiden McGeady.

“Does Benítez get too much of an easy ride at Newcastle?” asks David Wall, via email. “There’s no question he’s not well supported by Ashley but his squad this season is better than last, adding a striker better suited to the style he wants to play, and certainly better than at least three other teams in the division. It’s not Ashley’s fault that Benítez hasn’t been able to get forward players who performed well last season, like Kenedy, to do similar so far this year.” Thoughts? Away from Anfield, where Liverpool lead, a couple of goals in the Championship to get stuck into: Hull lead at Preston and QPR are 1-0 up at home to Ipswich. North of the border, Celtic have retaken the lead against Aberdeen, with Scott Sinclair scoring his second of the afternoon.

It was Herbie Kane, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, whom Steven Gerrard mentioned in his autobiography, tipping them for the top after the pair impressed while he was working in the academy. For Kane, who played with Alexander-Arnold through the age groups for club and country, the young full-back’s upward trajectory acts as inspiration. “Trent and myself are the same age [20], and we are quite close. He has shown that when you get a chance you have to take it with both hands. He is doing unbelievably well.”

Rafael Benítez is back at Anfield this afternoon, though how much longer will he be at Newcastle? Effectively at war with Mike Ashley, his contract runs out in May. “My focus now is trying to find the right team to play Liverpool,” was the Spaniard’s reply when asked whether he intends to stick around for the rest of the season:

A quick word on Sunderland. After a 650-mile round trip to Portsmouth the weekend before Christmas, Sunderland supporters will today make up the lion’s share of the biggest third-tier crowd since 1979. More than 41,000 tickets have been sold for Sunderland’s home match with Bradford, and the club have sold out their 7,759-ticket allocation at Blackpool on New Year’s Day, aptly in the same month Netflix released the documentary series Sunderland ‘Til I Die. The record crowd for a third-tier game was 49,309 at the Sheffield derby, 39 years ago.

No one is safe from the hi-vis brigade at Old Trafford – not even Wayne Rooney. He will doubtless be the only former Manchester United player in position to witness Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s home bow as manager. But the Norwegian is nonplussed by the noise around his squad, courtesy of former players. “Don’t worry, Gary [Neville] will be really hard on me,” the caretaker manager said. “I sat next to him in the dressing room for 11 years. You know Gary. He’s paid now to give his opinion and of course he should do. I’m no different to anyone else. I’m no different to any other manager when you lead that team out on to the pitch. It comes with a responsibility but my job is to get the players enjoying themselves.”

Jürgen Klopp has said Liverpool should enjoy pursuing the title:

I’ve heard how many times in the last 10 years that when you’re first at Christmas you win the title but only Liverpool don’t. It’s all bullshit. What is it? What does it mean? It’s a different team, a different time, everything was different. It’s not interesting. If it wasn’t the case and Liverpool [always] went on to become champions, would I think now halfway through the season that the job is done? Of course not. Nothing has happened so far; we don’t have to think about May. We have to think about 26 December against Newcastle. Let’s try everything we have to win that game. After that, Arsenal is coming.”

Fulham were denied a third league win, but a point is enough to move Claudio Ranieri’s men off the bottom – for now at least:

Team news news: three changes for Manchester United, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær bringing Fred, Juan Mata and Diego Dalot in from the cold, while Ashley Young and Ander Herrera drop to the bench but Anthony Martial misses out altogether. Pep Guardiola also makes three changes, with Danilo, Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero in for Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi and Gabriel Jesus. At Wembley, Dele Alli is absent for Spurs after being withdrawn at Everton with a hamstring injury. Leicester – unusually – are unchanged, while Cardiff manager Neil Warnock has made five changes to the team that was hammered by United. Elsewhere, Richarlison has been dropped for the first time under Marco Silva.