Key events
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Brighton (Little 28)
It’s there. Foord does well to get to the byline and cut the ball back. Little controls, takes her time, and belts the ball unerringly past Walsh in the Brighton goal.
But hang on! Brighton counter and Terland, on debut, clips a shot just wide of an upright.
At Villa Park, there was a minute’s silence, and now the crowd is applauding … and now we’ve got a rendition of God Save the King.
Arsenal, as you might expect, are all over 10-woman Brighton. It’s all hands on deck for the Seagulls defence.
Red card! Kullberg (Brighton)
A terrible start for Brighton. Emma Kullberg is shown a straight red card after challenging Stina Blackstenius of Arsenal, who was going through on goal.
Gerrard is asked about Philippe Coutinho who was dropped for the match against Manchester City: “He’s trained with a little bit of hurt … I’ve seen a different performer, a really driven one.”
So, the new WSL season is a couple of minutes away. It’s not on telly, but is available to watch via the FA Player on governing body’s website. Arsenal will kick off against Brighton very shortly.
The Premier League matches, Forest v Fulham (also not on telly) and Villa v Southampton (on telly!) will kick off at 8pm.
“Becks” queued up to see the Queen lying in state. Here is the video:
Aston Villa v Southampton teams
The Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez has recovered from illness to face Southampton. Ashley Young and Philippe Coutinho return for the injured Matty Cash and Douglas Luiz, who is on the bench.
Joe Aribo drops to the bench in the only change from Southampton’s 1-0 defeat at Wolves, replaced by Moussa Djenepo.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Young, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Ramsey, Kamara, McGinn, Bailey, Coutinho, Watkins. Substitutes: Douglas Luiz, Sanson, Ings, Buendia, Chambers, Augustinsson, Nakamba, Olsen, Dendoncker.
Southampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Kotchap, Salisu, Perraud, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Elyounoussi, Djenepo, Adam Armstrong, Adams. Substitutes: McCarthy, Lyanco, Caleta-Car, Aribo, Stuart Armstrong, Mara, Edozie, Larios, Walcott.
Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland)
Nottingham Forest v Fulham teams
Steve Cooper makes three changes to his Forest team, with Wily Boly making his Forest bow in central defence this evening, while club captain Joe Worrall notably drops to the bench. Boly is joined in the team by Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler and Taiwo Awoniyi. Jesse Lingard and Cheikhou Kouyate are the other players who move to the bench.
Fulham bring in Issa Diop and Willian with Neeskens Kebano among the substitutes, with Antonee Robinson ruled out because of an ankle injury.
Nottingham Forest: Henderson, Boly, Cook, McKenna, Williams, Yates, Freuler, Renan Lodi, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Awoniyi. Substitutes: Biancone, Worrall, Lingard, Hennessey, O’Brien, Toffolo, Surridge, Kouyate, Dennis.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Diop, Reed, Joao Palhinha, Reid, Andreas Pereira, Willian, Mitrovic. Substitutes: Rodak, Duffy, Kebano, Cairney, Chalobah, James, Mbabu, Vinicius, Harris.
Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)
Suzanne Wrack
Gareth Taylor says he understands the concern of Manchester City fans after a summer of change and has urged them to be patient as his new players get to grips with the league and setup.
Arsenal v Brighton teams
Arsenal: Zinsberger, Wienroither, Williamson, Rafaelle, McCabe, Walti, Little (capt), Miedema, Mead, Blackstenius, Foord. Substitutes: Marckese, Wubben-Moy, Beattie, Catley, Maritz, Maanum, Nobbs, Iwabuchi, Hurtig.
Brighton: Walsh, Fox, Pattinson, Sarri, Lee, Zigiotti, Terland, Bance, Green, Kullberg, Williams. Substitutes: Startup, Park, Robinson, Jarvis, Ferguson.
Keen to get the lowdown on this season’s WSL?
Suzanne Wrack explains all in this video:
Preamble
Good evening. Following last weekend’s postponements, the Premier League and the Women’s Super League return tonight: Aston Villa v Southampton and Nottingham Forest v Fulham are on the menu in the Premier League, while at Meadow Park, the WSL season kicks off with Arsenal v Brighton.
The weekend’s action will of course be characterised by tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II before her funeral on Monday: and as rugby union and plenty of other sports demonstrated last weekend, it’s perfectly possible to stage top-level sport and allow those who wish to a chance to pay their respects, all at the same time.
The WSL kicks off at 7.30pm, the two PL matches at 8pm, and I shall also bring you freestyle updates from matches across Europe, along with any appropriate breaking news and weekend preview stuff. Let’s go.