Bournemouth’s bench includes Kilkenny and Saydee. I’ve genuinely never heard of them. If anyone has some insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
Shelvey has just scored a stunner to equalise for Newcastle as City have little to no understanding of what defending is.
Kevin De Bruyne has absolutely smashed one in off the bar to give City the lead against Newcastle. You will never see a ball hit harder.
You will probably have noticed that Unai Emery has been binned. Jonathan Wilson gives his view.
Picking the bones out of the various team news: West Ham have indeed dropped Roberto for David Martin who has made it to the Premier League via Liverpool reserves, MK Dons and Millwall.
Dier keeps his place in the Spurs team despite his very early substitution in midweek.
Giroud is the man given the job of replacing the injured Abraham for Chelsea.
Teams: Burnley v Crystal Palace
Burnley: Pope, Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Hendrick, Cork, Hendrick, Brady, Wood, Barnes.
Subs: Hart, Lowton, Drinkwater, Gibson, Rodriguez, Pieters, Lennon.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Kelly, Dann, Tomkins, Van Aanholt,Townsend, Kouyate, Milivojevic, McArthur, Zaha, Ayew.
Subs: Hennessey, Sakho, Schlupp, Benteke, McCarthy, Camarasa, Riedewald.
Teams: Chelsea v West Ham
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Zouma, Tomori, Emerson, Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount, Pedro, Pulisic, Giroud.
Subs: Caballero, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Kante, Willian, Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi.
West Ham: Martin, Fredericks, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Fornals, Snodgrass, Anderson, Antonio.
Subs: Roberto, Zabaleta, Masuaku, Ajeti, Sanchez, Yarmolenko, Haller.
Teams: Liverpool v Brighton
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Lovren, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mane, Salah, Firmino
Subs: Adrian, Milner, Keita, Gomez, Lallana, Shaqiri, Origi
Brighton: Ryan, Montoya, Dunk, Webster, Burn, Gross, Stephens, Propper, Bissouma, Mooy, Connolly
Subs: Button, Duffy, Maupay, Trossard, Murray, Schelotto, Alzate
Teams: Spurs v Bournemouth
Spurs: Gazzaniga, Vertonghen, Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Dier, Ndombele, Sissoko, Alli, Son, Kane.
Subs: Whiteman, Rose, Winks, Walker-Peters, Lo Celso, Eriksen, Lucas.
Bournemouth: Ramsdale, Rico, S. Cook, Ake, Stacey, Lerma, L. Cook, Groeneveld, Fraser, Solanke, C. Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Gosling, H. Wilson, Simpson, Mepham, Kilkenny, Saydee.
Newcastle v Manchester City is a pretty bad advert for walking football. The tempo has been incredibly slow and City have lacked ideas for the majority.
Will Klopp need to change formation today with the news that Fabinho is set to miss the next two months through injury?
Our man at Stamford Bridge thinks David Martin could replace Roberto today …
Jacob Steinberg
(@JacobSteinberg)Don’t see how Pellegrini can stick with Roberto over David Martin against Chelsea today. Sounds like there’s a chance that Martin comes in #whufc
Preamble
Good afternoon!
For a Saturday at 3pm, there’s actually plenty happening. Three of the now traditional ‘Big Six’ are playing. Chelsea could finish the West Ham careers of Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto at Stamford Bridge. The Hammers have looked awful since Lukasz Fabianski succumbed to injury and his replacement looks to have the yips. Roberto is so bad they might need to drop him today, which would be the kindest thing to do.
Liverpool have not been at their best in recent times but the prospect of Brighton at home will bring little fear to their squad who will be keen on boosting their own confidence with a few goals. Klopp is without a few players after recent injuries and considering how critical the next month or so will be, there could be plenty of changes.
There is a first Premier League outing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Jose Mourinho, with Bournemouth in town. It’s a battle of 10th v 11th, which is the one we’ve all been waiting for. Both teams will be on the front foot and looking to make an impact.
We can also hope that there is some sort of FA Cup shock at Kingstonian v Fylde or Portsmouth v Altrincham. If we do not get one, then we should scrap the competition.