Saturday clockwatch: Manchester City v Ipswich, Spurs v Everton and more

Key events

FULL TIME: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Manchester United. Jonathan Wilson was at the Amex this lunchtime to witness Brighton, who have now won five of their last six league meetings with United, get yet another slice of revenge for the 1983 FA Cup final. Here’s his verdict.

Let us repair to Scotland, where Simon McMahon awaits. “Hello Scott! Hello Clockwatchers! Dundee United v St Johnstone at Tannadice today. United, with draws in their opening two league games, are unchanged after their victory over St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup last week, meaning another start in midfield for Kevin ~~De Bruyne~~ Holt. A win would see Jim Goodwin’s men leapfrog their visitors into the top six, and dreaming of Europe. Hey, it’s still August, so dreams are allowed, right? Today’s other SPL fixtures include Rangers v Ross County and Hibs v Dundee.”

It’s not the last we’ll hear of Simon today, I’ll be bound.

There’s also an early batch of results in from the Championship …

… and League One …

… and finally League Two.

Crewe 0-0 Swindon
Tranmere 1-0 Walsall

That’s a decent draw for Plymouth, partly because they lost their last away fixture 4-0, at Sheffield Wednesday, but mainly because they ended today’s game at Loftus Road with just nine men on the pitch.

FULL TIME: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Manchester United. The first Premier League result of the day is in. Joao Pedro’s injury-time winner makes it two out of two for Fabian Hürzeler. Brighton keep pulling managerial geniuses out of the hat.

Team news: Spurs v Everton

Wilson Odobert, box fresh from Burnley, makes his Tottenham debut. Everton also have a debutant in their ranks, Roman Dixon (19) replacing the suspended Ashley Young (39) at the back.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Kulusevski, Bissouma, Maddison, Johnson, Son, Odobert.
Subs: Forster, Dragusin, Richarlison, Gray, Bergvall, Werner, Spence, Sarr, Davies.

Everton: Pickford, Dixon, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Iroegbunam, Gueye, Harrison, Doucoure, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Virginia, Holgate, Ndiaye, Beto, O’Brien, Maupay, Lindstrom, Metcalfe, Armstrong.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).

Team news: Saints v Forest

Southampton are unchanged. Nikola Milenkovic and Elliot Anderson make their full debuts for Forest.

Southampton: McCarthy, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens, Sugawara, Smallbone, Downes, Aribo, Walker-Peters, Armstrong, Brereton Diaz.
Subs: Lumley, Bree, Fernandes, Archer, Taylor, Edozie, Ugochukwu, Amo-Ameyaw, Dibling.

Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina, Sangare, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Subs: Carlos Miguel, Awoniyi, Omobamidele, Toffolo, Moreira, Jota Silva, Yates, Boly, Dominguez.

Referee: Sam Barrott (West Yorkshire).

Team news: Man City v Ipswich

Ilkay Gundogan is back, and he’s on the City bench. Sammie Szmodics, who came on late against Liverpool last weekend, makes his full Ipswich debut.

Manchester City: Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Kovacic, Savio, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Walker, Stones, Ake, Grealish, Gundogan, Matheus Luiz, Kabore, McAtee.

Ipswich Town: Muric, Johnson, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Hutchinson, Morsy, Luongo, Szmodics, Delap.
Subs: Walton, Edmundson, Chaplin, Harness, Cajuste, Taylor, Burgess, Al Hamadi, Townsend.

Referee: Michael Salisbury (Lancashire).

Your City line-up for #MCIIPS 🩵

XI | Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho, Doku, Haaland

SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Stones, Ake, Grealish, Gundogan, Nunes, Kabore, McAtee#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/kg6tCntRKF

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 24, 2024

Team news: Fulham v Leicester

Both teams are unchanged. New-signing news: Fulham set aside Sander Berge and Joachim Andersen for another day, but Leicester name Jordan Ayew on the bench.

Fulham: Leno, Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Andreas Pereira, Lukic, Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz.
Subs: Benda, Reed, Jimenez, Wilson, Cairney, Cuenca, Castagne, Stansfield, Sessegnon.

Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin, Vestergaard, Faes, Kristiansen, Winks, Ndidi, Fatawu, Buonanotte, De Cordova-Reid, Vardy.
Subs: Ward, Okoli, Mavididi, Choudhury, Ayew, Ricardo Pereira, Skipp, Soumare, McAteer.

Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire).

Team news: Crystal Palace v West Ham

Chadi Riad makes his debut for Crystal Palace. West Ham start with the same XI that began the home defeat to Aston Villa.

Crystal Palace: Henderson, Richards, Guehi, Riad, Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell, Edouard, Eze, Mateta.
Subs: Johnstone, Ward, Holding, Sarr, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Doucoure, Ahamada.

West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson Palmieri, Rodriguez, Bowen, Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio.
Subs: Fabianski, Cresswell, Summerville, Ward-Prowse, Fullkrug, Ings, Alvarez, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka.

Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).

Preamble

Welcome to our hopefully goal-littered coverage of today’s 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League. Four delicately poised games – Ipswich Town are 18s this afternoon – for your pleasure.