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Half-time scores

How things stand in the lunch-time kick-offs.

Premier League

Championship

  • Coventry 0-0 Sheffield Wed

  • Norwich 0-2 Ipswich

  • QPR 0-0 Bristol City

League One

  • Cardiff 0-0 Bolton

  • Lincoln 2-0 Leyton Orient

  • Plymouth 0-0 Exeter

League Two

  • Bristol Rovers 2-0 Crawley

  • MK Dons 2-0 Bromley latest

Updated

Championship: George Hirst doubles Ipswich’s lead at Carrow Road in first-half stoppage time. Firmly in control of the East Anglia derby, they have two more games in hand over promotion rivals Middlesbrough and Millwall. They will be favourites to go up to the Premier League – if they can hang on.

Updated

On the ball – guess the footballer

The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?

GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth (Gyökeres 35 pen)

Arsenal are level: Viktor Gyökeres scores his 18th goal of the season, lashing the ball beyond Petrovic. He went the right way, but there was too much pace and precision on it.

However, the decision to award the penalty will be dissected at half-time and beyond. The ball was hit against Ryan Christie’s out-stretched hand at point-blank range and Michael Oliver awarded it. Many referees would not have given that one.

Updated

Premier League: Arsenal are playing like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Their opponents are more fluid and pressing them back into their own half.

At Coventry, the Championship leaders nearly fashion a messy opening from a corner but the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper falls on the ball.

League Two: MK Dons have made it 2-0 against leaders Bromley with a Ben Wiles goal. The south Londoners may have to wait another match or two to confirm their promotion.

GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Bournemouth (Kroupi Jr 17)

The leaders are behind at the Emirates. Arsenal’s defence was caught asleep and failed to play Truffert offside as he surged down the left, his cross pinged off Saliba’s boot and sat up perfectly for Eli Junior Kroupi to put away at the back post.

Updated

Championship: Ipswich go ahead at Norwich, thanks to a Jaden Philogene penalty, sending the goalie the wrong way.

Pretty stonewall, as Ben Slimane nearly inadvertently takes off Taylor’s head with a wild swing at the ball, going for a clearance from a free kick.

The table as things stand:

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Coventry 42 42 85
2 Ipswich 40 30 75
3 Millwall 42 9 73
4 Middlesbrough 41 21 72
5 Hull 41 5 68

Updated

Championship: Dear me, bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday (one league win all season) nearly take a shock lead at Coventry through an absolute howler.

Goalkeeper Carl Rushworth slipped as he kicked the ball and got the ball caught under his feet. Jerry Yates nearly picked his pocket for the most straightforward goal, but somehow Rushworth recovered and got away with it.

Updated

League Two: Second-placed MK Dons are a goal up inside 34 seconds. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing charges through and slips the ball low into the net. No time wasted, just what Paul Warne would have wanted.

Their opponents, league leaders Bromley have a slim chance of securing promotion if results go their ways, but they are already on the back foot here.

Updated

Lunchtime games kick off

The whistle blows for the lunchtime games. Plenty of important matches, we’ll keep the focus on Arsenal, Coventry, the East Anglian and Devon derbies and the League Two table-top clash.

Whether at the match or watching on the telly, feel free to send me your thoughts, hopes or fears here.

Updated

How De Zerbi is aiming to keep Spurs up

After West Ham’s thumping of Wolves last night, the heat has been turned up even higher on Spurs, in the relegation zone for the first time since August 2015. How will they stay in the Premier League, then? The new manager has a cunning plan.

“I want to keep the ball,” De Zerbi said. “I want to see again the Tottenham I watched with Postecoglou because, in my second season in Brighton, there was Postecoglou here with a lot of these players and it was one of the best teams in terms of quality of play. With Pedro Porro, with [Destiny] Udogie, with [Micky] van de Ven, with [Cristian] Romero, and I would like to see it again.”

Some Spurs fans may have their heads in their hands reading that, but they and you can read more about his masterplan here:

Expat Coventry fan Dan from Perth (Australia, not Scotland) writes in: “Have just been reflecting on the 2016/17 Checkatrade final when, all alone at a casino’s sports bar, with a moon-bound spaceship’s range of screens showing all manner of local footy varietals to no one in particular, I still had to beg the bemused manager (who knew not of this competition or my team) to allocate the tiniest box in the corner so I could experience Wembley and the first real bright spot in my Cov supporting adult life (being 19 when we were relegated to the championship and then on down that slippery slide).

“Fast forward and I’ll be in front of another small screen in my study streaming the match with a significant plus one – my eight-year-old who, while not actually yet a fan (and who may, in fact, not be paying attention at all while making loom bracelets) has been here for the entire journey back.

“Can’t believe we’re finally maybe going back up; fingers crossed today is the day.”

Today's key fixtures

My pick of the matches this fine Saturday afternoon (3pm BST unless stated). Plenty of lunchtime action and some matches pitting promotion and relegation rivals against one another in League Two:

Premier League

  • Arsenal (1st) v Bournemouth (13th) – 12.30pm

  • Brentford (6th) v Everton (7th)

Championship

  • Coventry City (1st) v Sheffield Wednesday (24th) – 12.30pm

  • Norwich City (9th) v Ipswich Town (3rd) – 12.30pm

  • Middlesbrough (4th) v Portsmouth (21st)

  • Southampton (6th) v Derby (8th)

League One

  • Plymouth Argyle (7th) v Exeter City (21st) – 12.30pm

  • Cardiff City (2nd) v Bolton Wanderers (4th) – 12.30pm

  • Bradford City (3rd) v Stevenage (6th)

League Two

  • MK Dons (2nd) v Bromley (1st) – 12.30pm

  • Cambridge United (3rd) v Notts County (4th)

  • Newport County (22nd) v Harrogate Town (24th)

Scottish Premiership

  • Celtic (3rd) v St Mirren (10th)

  • Hearts (1st) v Motherwell (4th)

Updated

Arsenal v Bournemouth team news

Seven games left for Arsenal, who are nine points up on Manchester City with a game in hand.

Piece of cake, right? Ha ha ha. More like seven chances to slip up, especially if their recent domestic form is anything to go by. After Carabao Cup final defeat and a surprise loss to Southampton in the FA Cup, Mikel Arteta will be keen to canter away to their first title in 22 years with minimal fuss and put the lid on talk of bottling it.

Three changes from the XI which beat Sporting, with Lewis-Skelly, Havertz and Martinelli coming in. Barry Glendenning has all the latest updates for us here.

Taking three points against Bournemouth will be no easy feat. They are unbeaten in 11 matches and only the top three Premier League sides have lost fewer matches than Andoni Iraola’s team. However, hampered by being draw specialists – fifteen in the Prem this year! – they are only 13th in the table.

Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Havertz, Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, Hincapie, Jesus, Eze, Norgaard, Trossard, Dowman, Salmon

Bournemouth XI: Petrovic, Jimenez, Hill, Truffert, Senesi, Scott, Christie, Rayan, Tavernier, Kroupi Jr, Evanilson
Subs: Mandas, Adams, Brooks, Gannon-Doak, Smith, Diakite, Adli, Unal, Toth

Updated

Preamble

To paraphrase the Titanic old lady, it feels like it’s been 84 years but after a 19-day intermission, the Premier League was back with a bang last night.

We’ll have all the reaction to West Ham’s 4-0 win over Wolves, lifting themselves out of the relegation zone and putting Tottenham Hotspur into the bottom three. Your move, Roberto De Zerbi.

At the other end of the table, Arsenal are at home to Bournemouth in today’s first kick-off (12.30pm BST), while Liverpool host Fulham this evening, last season’s winners seeking to get over their Champions League stinker and qualify for the continent’s premier club competition again.

In the Championship, leaders Coventry City could effectively ensure promotion today if they beat abject Sheffield Wednesday, in a lunchtime kick-off, and rivals Middlesbrough drop points at home to Portsmouth. After 25 years away from the top division, it is surely only a matter of time for Frank Lampard’s side, given their vastly superior goal difference.

The other choice fixture is the East Anglian derby, as Norwich City could dent Ipswich’s promotion push. Spicy.

In League One, second-placed Cardiff City could take a big step towards promotion if they can see off Bolton Wanderers. And in League Two, first plays second, with Bromley v MK Dons. The south Londoners (just about, even if it feels like Kent) could secure promotion today, and just need a win.

At the top of the Scottish Premiership, it’s all to play for. Hearts face Motherwell and if they lose, Celtic would be on the same number of points if they beat St Mirren.

As ever, please do get in touch with comments, tangents and matchday musings.