Key events
More from Scotland. “One match that is being played today is East Fife v Forfar in Scottish League Two,” reports Simon McMahon. “And you’ll never believe it, but the current score is East Fife 4 Forfar 5 East Fife 1 Forfar 0.”
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea (Mateta 82)
Just as Chelsea close in on their first Premier League victory in four, Jean-Philippe Mateta meets Eberechi Eze’s cross to level for Palace!
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Everton (Brooks 77)
Milos Kerkez volleys a cross … then David Brooks volleys home. One hell of a goal, and after those staunch draws with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, Everton are getting pulled back into the relegation fight.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester (Bailey 76)
Leon Bailey finds the corner to put Villa back in front. A fifth defeat in a row for Ruud van Nistelrooy coming up.
Bournemouth 0-0 Everton. No shots on target for Everton yet. Jordan Pickford with a couple more big saves. Sean Dyche not a wholly popular figure with the away fans.
Brighton v Arsenal (5.30pm). The teams are in, and Martin Odegaard is surprisingly allowed to put his feet up on the bench. Barry Glendenning has all the details.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-1 West Ham (Fullkrug 71)
Is the comeback on? No. But West Ham have scored, Niclas Fullkrug with his second goal for his new club into the bottom-left corner.
GOAL! Southampton 0-3 Brentford (Mbeumo 69 pen)
Sepp van den Berg is yanked to the ground in the box. The referee points to the spot. VAR has a good check but the decision stands. Bryan Mbeumo slots past Aaron Ramsdale, and it’s more St Mary’s misery for the Saints. A sixth defeat in a row there coming up.
GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Brentford (Mbeumo 62)
There’s no chalking this one off, as Yoane Wissa slips a pass to Bryan Mbeumo, who drives into the corner. It’s hardly breaking news, but Saints are doomed.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester (Mavididi 63)
Jamie Vardy attempts to convert a Jordan Ayew cross. The shot’s blocked, but drops to Stephy Mavididi who equalises with aplomb.
Dundee United v Heart of Midlothian (3pm tomorrow). We again turn to a game that’s not being played until tomorrow, because here’s Simon McMahon. “Happy New Year Dr Scotty! That medicinal Islay you prescribed a few weeks ago after a 4-3 defeat at Motherwell did the trick, and then some, because this member of Jim Goodwin’s Tangerine Army has had quite the festive season. An unexpected point at home to Celtic before Christmas, followed by a 2-1 win at St. Johnstone on Boxing Day, a 94th-minute winner at home to Aberdeen last Sunday, and then, to top it all, a come from behind win at Dens on January 2nd, Sam Dalby’s glorious last-minute winner featuring three of the finest touches you will see all season. But apart from all that, pretty quiet really. Hope you, and all Clockwatchers, had a good one. Long live Clockwatch, long live football! Cheers!”
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Leicester (Barkley 58)
Second time lucky for Ross Barkley, who pearls one home from the edge of the area.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-0 West Ham (Foden 58)
This is no way to follow up a five-goal reverse at home. West Ham gave it a good go in the first half but they’re falling to bits now. The Julen Lopetegui experiment looks kaput.
NO GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Brentford
Yoane Wissa is penalised for holding onto Jan Bednarek, who was trying to compete with Sepp van den Berg. VAR chalks the goal off.
GOAL! Manchester City 3-0 West Ham (Haaland 55)
Erling Haaland clinically dinks his second of the afternoon into the net, and Julen Lopetegui’s coat is hanging on a shoogly peg.
GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Brentford (van den Berg 53)
A corner. Sepp van den Berg crashes a header home. Saints abject.
Aston Villa 0-0 Leicester. Ross Barkley barges his way through the middle of the park, only for James Justin to block his shot. It’s not been a classic at Villa Park.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea. Palace were very much second best in the first half, but they’ve started the second vigorously. Eberechi Eze is presented with a half-chance but sends it wide from 12 yards.
Second halves ahoy! “Thank God for Pickford,” writes Clockwatch’s official Everton correspondent Mary Waltz. “Since we can’t seem to score (one goal from open play in the last 16 hours), the only thing keeping us from the bottom of the table is England’s number one.”
Championship half-times.
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Bristol City 1-0 Derby County
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Hull City 1-0 Leeds United
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Middlesbrough 1-1 Cardiff City
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Norwich City 0-1 Coventry City
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Preston North End 0-1 Oxford United
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Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Millwall
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Watford 1-1 Sheffield United
Premier League half-times
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AFC Bournemouth 0-0 Everton
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Aston Villa 0-0 Leicester City
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Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea
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Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
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Southampton 0-1 Brentford
Southampton 0-1 Brentford. Some neat wingplay by Joe Aribo. He finds Tyler Dibling, who whips a shot into the side netting. Better from Saints, though the bar hasn’t been set high.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 West Ham (Haaland 42)
Savinho sets up another, making it easy for Erling Haaland. West Ham have taken seven pots at goal, but missed the target with each and every one. And now look at the scoreline!
Dundee United v Heart of Midlothian (3pm tomorrow). “Peter Oh’s New Year resolutions may be tested further by tomorrow’s Tangerines v Jam Tarts clash,” notes Robin Lynch.
Manchester City 1-0 West Ham. Crysencio Summerville, having already troubled Mateo Kovacic, now steals the ball off Manuel Akanji. He prepares to scuttle goalwards, but the referee blows for a very generous foul. Julen Lopetegui goes full fume.
Bournemouth 0-0 Everton. More injury news, as Armando Broja is forced off. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is his replacement.
Manchester City 1-0 West Ham. The visitors haven’t been disheartened by conceding early. Mateo Kovacic is forced to take a booking for the team with Crysencio Summerville threatening to wriggle free. Then Lucas Paqueta shoots wide. The Hammers have had their chances.
Ayr United 3-0 Raith Rovers. Going a bit off-piste here, but there’s good reason for it. George Oakley has just completed a hat-trick in 23 minutes in the Scottish Championship for the Honest Men. Not exactly an ideal start to life as Raith manager for Barry Robson.
Southampton 0-1 Brentford. Another gang of Londoners on the road come close to doubling their lead. Christan Norgaard hits the bar. It’s all Brentford.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea. Title-chasing Chelsea look in the mood this afternoon. A huge chance for Nicolas Jackson to double their lead at Selhurst, but he misplaces his volley from close range.
Aston Villa 0-0 Leicester. Yep, John McGinn is unable to continue. Jacob Ramsey comes on in his place.
Bournemouth 0-0 Everton. “Morning greetings from Free State California,” begins Mary Waltz. “I am settling into my recliner as Everton settles into their defensive stance, praying for a chance to counter. We are actually starting off with a few chances but our lack of quality in finishing is evident as well. Sigh.”
Peter Oh adds: “Cherries v Toffees is hands down the sweetest, most decadent fixture of the day. A real test of New Year’s resolutions.”
God bless you both, because bugger all else is happening.
Aston Villa 0-0 Leicester. Bad news for Villa, as their captain John McGinn goes down clutching his hamstring. No sub yet, but the early signs aren’t great.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea (Palmer 14)
It’s Cole Palmer. Who else? But hats off also to Jadon Sancho, who started the move with an outrageous dummy on the halfway line.
Bournemouth 0-0 Everton. Antoine Semenyo meets Ryan Christie’s cross and converts, but he’s clearly offside and the flag goes up.
Manchester City 1-0 West Ham. The Hammers had been looking good to take a shock lead, as well, Mohammed Kudus missing two big chances just before the opener. The margins are small in this here Premier League.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 West Ham (Coufal og 10)
Savinho crosses. A big deflection off Vladimir Coufal, and City are back, baby!
GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Brentford (Schade 6)
Kevin Schade celebrates his recall by springing the offside trap and opening the scoring at St Mary’s. Brentford have only picked up two points on the road so far this season, but already they’re on track to double that tally and then some.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Chelsea. It’s all Chelsea in the early exchanges at Selhurst Park. Oliver Glasner is sporting the sort of chunky white sweater that wouldn’t look out of place in Whisky Galore or I Know Where I’m Going.
Bournemouth 0-0 Everton. No super-early goals in the Premier League, but there’s been a super-early booking at Dean Court, where Jarrad Branthwaite clatters into Evanilson and is dealt with accordingly. Could be a long afternoon for the big defender against the in-form Cherries, who are seven unbeaten.
It’s 3pm. Whistles sound all across the land. Here we go!
There were three early kick-offs in the Championship. Here are your classified results.
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Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Burnley
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Stoke City 0-0 Plymouth Argyle
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Swansea City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Burnley won the East Lancs derby at Ewood Park thanks to Zian Flemming’s diving header. That consolidates second spot for Scott Parker’s team. There was a small post-match brouhaha between Parker and his opposite number John Eustace, something about a perceived handshake snub by Parker, but it was apparently an innocent mistake and apologies were offered and accepted. Everyone stand down!
At the other end of the table, Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth earned a point at Stoke to keep within swiping distance of their relegation rivals. And somewhere in the middle of the table, Joe Allen notched an injury-time equaliser for Swansea against managerless West Brom.
That win for Newcastle ensures they’ll stay in fifth spot this weekend. Manchester City, Bournemouth and Aston Villa will try to whittle away at the four-point gap that’s been established. It’s possible that the Toon could rise to fourth, but that’d require Crystal Palace to give Chelsea a good thrashing. Spurs meanwhile can’t escape the bottom half, and could end the weekend as low as 14th should Brentford, West Ham and Manchester United all win away, though you’d get good odds on that particular perm.
FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Newcastle United. It’s a fifth Premier League win in a row for the in-form Toon. By contrast, it’s now just one win in eight for Spurs, and that against bottom club Southampton. A few boos on the whistle. Oh Ange. Barry Glendenning tells the story in the popular minute-by-minute idiom.
Southampton v Brentford teams
Southampton: Ramsdale, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Wood-Gordon, Bree, Ugochukwu, Aribo, Walker-Peters, Dibling, Onuachu, Sulemana.
Subs: McCarthy, Manning, Armstrong, Lallana, Sugawara, Brereton, Archer, Taylor, Bella-Kotchap.
Brentford: Flekken, Roerslev, Collins, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter, Jensen, Norgaard, Damsgaard, Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade.
Subs: Arthur, Yogane, Kim, Maghoma, Janelt, Konak, Meghoma, Yarmolyuk, Valdimarsson.
Saints make two changes to the team that started the 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace. Lesley Ugochukwu and Kamaldeen Sulemana replace Adam Armstrong, who drops to the bench, and the suspended Mateus Fernandes. Brentford also make two changes, after their 3-1 loss to Arsenal. Kevin Schade and Mathias Jensen replace benched duo Vitaly Janelt and Yehor Yarmoliuk.
Man City v West Ham teams
Man City: Ortega, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Foden, De Bruyne, Silva, Savio, Haaland.
Subs: Carson, Walker, Grealish, Doku, Gundogan, Matheus Luiz, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee.
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soucek, Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, Summerville, Fullkrug.
Subs: Scarles, Irving, Rodriguez, Ings, Luis Guilherme, Mavropanos, Soler, Cresswell, Foderingham.
Manchester City are unchanged following their back-on-the-horse win at Leicester. If it ain’t broke, right? West Ham give Niclas Fullkrug a rare start up front, with Jarrod Bowen out injured. Tomas Soucek takes over from Bowen as captain.
Crystal Palace v Chelsea teams
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Munoz, Doucoure, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Eze, Mateta.
Subs: Turner, Nketiah, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Riad, Devenny, Kporha, Agbinone.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Acheampong, Colwill, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Sancho, Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Madueke, Joao Felix, Nkunku, James, Guiu, Veiga.
Crystal Palace welcome back Marc Guehi from suspension. Trevoh Chalobah is ineligible to play against his parent club. Chelsea make five changes after the loss at Ipswich. Robert Sanchez, Josh Acheampong, Nicolas Jackson, Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto replace Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku, all of whom drop to the bench.
Aston Villa v Leicester City teams
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Kamara, Barkley, Bailey, Tielemans, McGinn, Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Buendia, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Onana, Bogarde, Ramsey, Swinkels, Jimoh.
Leicester: Stolarczyk, Justin, Coady, Vestergaard, Thomas, Winks, Soumare, Ayew, El Khannous, Mavididi, Vardy.
Subs: Iversen, Faes, Okoli, De Cordova-Reid, Choudhury, Daka, Skipp, Alves, Buonanotte.
Villa make three changes after the 2-2 draw with Brighton. Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash and Ross Barkley are in; Pau Torres is injured, Morgan Rogers is suspended, and Diego Carlos is also absent. Leicester make two changes in the wake of their 2-0 defeat by Manchester City. Jordan Ayew and Luke Thomas replace Facundo Buonanotte and Victor Kristiansen.
AFC Bournemouth v Everton teams
AFC Bournemouth: Travers, Hill, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Christie, Cook, Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara, Evanilson.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Brooks, Adams, Unal, Billing, Aarons, Winterburn, Kinsey-Wellings, Rees-Dottin.
Everton: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Mangala, Gueye, Doucoure, Lindstrom, Broja, Ndiaye.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Keane, Calvert-Lewin, Harrison, Beto, O’Brien, Armstrong.
Bournemouth make three changes after their draw at Fulham. Mark Travers, Justin Kluivert and Dango Ouattara are in; Kepa, Philip Billing and David Brooks drop to the bench. Everton make one change after their home loss to Nottingham Forest. Jesper Lindstrom replaces Jack Harrison.
Preamble
It’s the first Clocko™®© of 2025, and what a line-up of Premier League-infused 3pm fun we have in store. Look!
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AFC Bournemouth v Everton
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Aston Villa v Leicester City
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Crystal Palace v Chelsea
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Manchester City v West Ham United
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Southampton v Brentford
Other matches are also available, and we’ll discuss those on an ad-hoc basis if you don’t mind. Team news ahoy!