Premier League Buildup and Fresh Football Updates

This comment strikes a familiar chord for my liking. The festive period is always prioritizing the beautiful game, fir trees second.

It's often a challenging period for soccer fans. Can we manage to maintain the required focus on our club while displaying suitable excitement for presents, holiday meals, and family events...? We'll certainly do our best! Apologies, could you repeat that...?

Manchester United Target Neves and Gallagher

Erik ten Hag's side is looking for a midfielder. This likely isn't positive for Kobbie Mainoo… as a pair of former Premier League stars are targeted by Ruben Amorim’s side.

Chelsea's Trip to Newcastle Pre-Match Preview

Newcastle v Chelsea in the early Saturday slot is a great way to start the day’s action. Eddie Howe’s side are down in 12th and Enzo Maresca’s men are in fourth. A mere six-point gap separate them, with the Magpies’ formidable home record set to provide a stern test for Chelsea.

The home side could be hindered, however, due to a lengthy list of unavailable defenders. The full-back has added to a host of sidelined players in the medical room, with Lewis Hall also a doubt.

Despite this, and even with the manager stating he was “falling more in love with [his players” recently, it's unwise to predict Chelsea strolling to victory at St James’ Park. Will the coach decide on a consistent attacking trio? The wingers were substitutes in the Carabao Cup against Cardiff to score appearing as candidates for a starting spot.

Forecasting results like Newcastle v Chelsea in the current campaign has been very, very difficult.

Top 100 Players Discussion

Observations show considerable debate among fans regarding rankings of the world's best… such lists are inherently opinion-based, naturally. One thing you cannot argue with is the positioning of Ousmane Dembélé at the very summit.

10 Things to Look Out For

Major plotlines this weekend include: The scrutiny on Burnley's manager, to Wolves’ long search for a win, appeals for the striker's inclusion in the national team setup, it’s all here.

Friday Night Round-Up

In case you missed it there was drama in the all-Welsh Friday night Championship clash. Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo presented Swansea with the win in the 90th minute when he dropped Ben Cabango’s header right into the path of Adam Idah. Idah had the simplest of task to score to make it 2-1.

A gift from Okonkwo – who is one of Bukayo Saka’s best friends in football, incidentally, and local supremacy go to the Swans.

The manager guided his team to a draw ending a poor run, although he said the result was “frustrating” as they faced ten men for the majority. In the fourth tier, Cambridge United jumped into the playoff spots thanks to a victory against Accrington Stanley while Cheltenham won at struggling Barrow.

Northampton cruised beyond AFC Wimbledon 3-1 in League One.

And in the Bundesliga, the battle of the Borussias was won 2-0 by Dortmund, with a late Beier goal to see off Mönchengladbach after Julian Brandt struck early on.

Introduction

Hello everyone to our latest matchday live blog. It’s Saturday morning so that can only mean one thing – buildup! It's truly a bumper day of action featuring eight Premier League games, kicking off with the early kick-off, heading into the four 3pm kick-offs, the evening fixture, and then two 8pm games: Everton v Arsenal and Leeds v Crystal Palace (all times GMT).

There is also a full schedule across the UK leagues, and further down the divisions along with European action. It's a feast.

As always with matchday lives, we welcome your interaction, so let me know your forecasts, reflections on the year now that it’s coming to an end, or just how you’ll be spending a football-filled day. Should be fun!