15:12
GOAL! RB Leipzig 2-0 Werder Bremen (Olmo 41)
Leipzig are having another good day at the office. Dani Olmo has put them 2-0 ahead, and as things stand they are top of the table.
15:11
GOAL! Dortmund 1-1 Stuttgart (Reyna 39)
Dortmund veteran Gio Reyna, 18, has brought them level from Marco Reus’s cross.
15:10
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Huddersfield (Solanke 8)
An early goal for promotion-chasing Bournemouth. David Brooks slides in Dominic Solanke, who draws the keeper and dinks the ball confidently into the net. It was a really nice pass from Brooks, who is far too good for that division.
15:09
“Hi Rob,” says Niall Mullen. “Hope you’re well this fine, fine December day. I see he’s starting for Millwall but is there any chance that Troy Parrott will be good? Since Robbie Keane’s debut for Ireland I’ve forlornly pinned my ‘new Robbie Keane’ hopes on (deep breath): Clinton Morrison, Kevin Doyle, Stephen Elliott, Shane Long, Leon Best, Anthony Stokes, Michael Obafemi, Adam Idah, Aaron Connolly and many more. Sadly, it feels like the Troy hype may have outstripped his ability. Which, apart from everything else, massively the chances of anyone using the headline ‘C’est Troy bien’.”
He’s going to score the winning penalty for Jose in the Champions League final. You heard it here last.
15:07
These are the latest scores in our featured games
Premier League
Wolves 0-1 Aston Villa (FT)
Newcastle 1-0 West Brom
Championship
Cardiff 0-2 Swansea (FT)
Blackburn 0-0 Norwich
Bournemouth 0-0 Huddersfield
Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund 0-1 VfB Stuttgart (2.30pm)
RB Leipzig 1-0 Werder Bremen (2.30pm)
15:06
“Hello Rob,” says Kári Tulinius. “I may be biased as a Stuttgart fan, but VfB have much better than Dortmund. This season is the best Stuttgart have been in probably at least a decade. Pellegrino Matarazzo, Stuttgart’s American coach, has done an excellent job with this team. Even by the high standards of the Bundesliga, their pressing is top-notch.”
I’m now trying to follow the Newcastle game but I agree that Stuttgart were the better team in the first 20 minutes. They could have scored two or three times before they went ahead.
15:05
“Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Today’s big game in Scotland is, eh, tomorrow when Dundee United welcome runaway league leaders and future Kings of Europe Rangers to Tannadice hoping to derail the champions-elect bandwagon. I’m not holding my breath, mind, given that, after 16 games, United have scored 12 and conceded 20, while Rangers have scored 45 and conceded just 3.
“Hibs can go above crisis club Celtic with a win at Hamilton, and Aberdeen would draw level with Neil Lennon’s beleaguered Hoops should they beat Ross County. The other SPFL games are Motherwell v St. Mirren and St. Johnstone v Livingston. In the Scottish Championship, leaders Hearts are at home to Queen of the South, while struggling Dundee are at Inverness.”
15:04
Newcastle 1-0 West Brom Branislav Ivanovic thought he was fouled by Callum Wilson in the build up to that goal. I’d like to see that again. I don’t think the shoulder charge was a foul, but he may have accidentally scraped his studs down Ivanovic’s calf.
15:01
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 West Brom (Almiron 1)
Miguel Almiron scores after 22 seconds! Callum Wilson bumped Ivanovic off the ball on the left and found Joelinton. He poked the ball through to Miguel Almiron, who opened his body to sweep the ball past Sam Johnstone. That was a really confident finish.
Updated
14:58
GOAL! RB Leipzig 1-0 Werder Bremen (Sabitzer 26 pen)
A penalty at Leipzig as well. Marcel Sabitzer has scored it to put the home side in front. A win would put them top of the table, if only for a few hours.
14:57
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 0-1 VfB Stuttgart (Wamangituka 26 pen)
Dortmund are behind at home again. Silas Wamangituka scored confidently from the spot after Emre Can was penalised for a desperate tackle on Mateo Klimowicz.
14:47
Dortmund 0-0 Stuttgart Jude Bellingham has had a goal disallowed for offside against Marco Reus in the build-up.
14:28
Bournemouth v Huddersfield team news
Bournemouth (4-3-3) Begovic; Smith, Simpson, S Cook, Kelly; L Cook, Lerma, Billing; Brooks, Solanke, Stanislas.
Huddersfield (4-2-3-1) Hamer; Rowe, Edmonds-Green, Sarr, Toffolo; Pritchard, O’Brien, Bacuna; Diakhaby, Ward, Brown.
14:27
Full time: Wolves 0-1 Aston Villa
Villa leapfrog Wolves with another fine away win. It all went wrong in injury-time for Wolves: Nelson Semedo gave away a stupid penalty, scored by Anwar El-Ghazi, and then Joao Moutinho was sent off.
14:25
Full time: Cardiff 0-2 Swansea
A fine win for Swansea in the South Wales derby. Jamal Lowe scored both goals, the second a swaggering masterpiece, to see off ten-man Cardiff.
14:24
GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Aston Villa (El Ghazi 90+4 pen)
Anwar El Ghazi scores emphatically from the spot to give ten-man Villa a superb victory at Wolves.
Updated
14:23
There’s an injury-time penalty at Molineux!
14:22
Blackburn v Norwich team news
Blackburn (4-3-3) Kaminski; Nyambe, Lenihan, Williams, Douglas; Holtby, Johnson, Rothwell; Gallagher, Armstrong, Elliott.
Norwich (4-2-3-1) McGovern; Aarons, Hanley, Zimmermann, Sorensen; Tettey, Skipp; Buendia, Vrancic, Martin; Pukki.
14:15
Wolves 0-0 Aston Villa No goals but there has been a red card at Molineux. Barry Glendenning will reveal all.
14:13
RB Leipzig v Werder Bremen team news
Leipzig (3-4-2-1) Gulacsi; Mukiele, Upamecano, Orban; Haidara, Sabitzer, Kampl, Halstenberg; Olmo, Kluivert; Poulsen.
Bremen (4-2-3-1) Pavlenka; Gebre Selassie, Toprak, Friedl, Augustinsson; Eggestein, Gross; Bittencourt, Mohwald, Schmid; Sargent.
14:11
Borussia Dortmund v VfB Stuttgart team news
Dortmund (3-4-3) Burki; Can, Hummels, Akanji; Morey Bauza, Bellingham, Witsel, Guerreiro; Sancho, Reus, Reyna.
Stuttgart (3-5-2) Koble; Mavropanos, Anton, Kempf; Wamangituka, Forster, Endo, Mangal, Sosa; Klimowicz, Coulibaly.
14:09
Newcastle are without a number of defenders, including Federico Fernandez, Fabian Schar and Javier Manquillo. It looks like Isaac Hayden will play as a makeshift centre-half. That aside, it’s close to a full-strength team.
14:06
Newcastle v West Brom team news
Newcastle (4-4-2) Darlow; Krafth, Hayden, Clark, Lewis; Almiron, Shelvey, S Longstaff, Ritchie; Wilson, Joelinton.
Substitutes: Langley, Yedlin, Hendrick, Murphy, M Longstaff, Carroll, Gayle.
West Brom (3-5-2) Johnstone; Ajayi, Ivanovic, O’Shea; Furlong, Gallagher, Krovinovic, Sawyers, Phillips; Grant, Robinson.
Substitutes: Button, Gibbs, Kipre, Livermore, Diangana, Grosicki, Austin.
14:03
GOAL! Cardiff 0-2 Swansea (Lowe 72)
Jamal Lowe’s second goal, a spectacular individual effort, has surely sealed victory for Swansea in the South Wales derby. That was some goal: he swaggered past three defenders, reached the edge of the area and flicked the ball nonchalantly into the net with the outside of his right foot.
14:00
It’s Wolves 0-0 Aston Villa in the early Premier League game. Barry Glendenning is trying to stay awake for the last 20 minutes.
12:37
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another busy Saturday afternoon clockwatch. Our lead game is Newcastle’s return to action after a Covid outbreak at St James’ Park. They are at home to West Brom, and we’ll find out shortly what kind of team Steve Bruce is able to put out.
There’s also plenty going on in the Championship, including the South Wales derby at the Cardiff City Stadium. With 20 minutes remaining, Swansea are a goal and a man up: Jamal Lowe scored early on, Joe Ralls has just been sent off.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the Bundesliga as well, with RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund in action. These are our featured games, all 3pm kick-offs unless stated.
Premier League
Wolves 0-0 Aston Villa (12.30pm)
Newcastle v West Brom
Championship
Cardiff 0-0 Swansea (12.30pm)
Blackburn v Norwich
Bournemouth v Huddersfield
Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund v VfB Stuttgart (2.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Werder Bremen (2.30pm)
Updated