Key events
Ahead of the huge fixture at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, Sophie Downey sat down with Chelsea forward Alyssa Thompson to discuss her move to London and how she has adapted to English football.
In the WSL today, the two most successful women’s teams in England go head-to-head in a London derby as Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. A win today would see the Blues move within three points of league leaders Manchester City, while victory for Arsenal could prove huge in the race for Champions League qualification and potentially – though unlikely at this stage – the title race.
Jacob Steinberg
West Ham, who host Sunderland later, have agreed to terminate Guido Rodriguez’s contract by mutual consent. The Argentina midfielder is heading to Valencia. West Ham are also pushing to complete a deal for the Fulham winger Adama Traore.
This weekend’s fixtures are the reverse of the first weekend of the Premier League season way back in August. Given that was five months ago, Sachin Nakrani and David Hills have looked back at those results and how each team has changed since them…
The last Premier League game of the day sees Liverpool travel to Bournemouth as Arne Slot and Co look to close the gap to the top three. The Reds go into the clash following a 1-1 draw with Burnley and a 3-0 win over Marseille in the Champions League, while Bournemouth were most recently held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton following a 91st-minute equaliser from Charalampos Kostoulas on Monday.
We have three Premier League fixtures kicking off at 3pm GMT this afternoon – all of which will be covered as part of our clockwatch later on.
Fulham and Brighton are separated by just one place and one point in the Premier League table, with the London-based side 11th and the Seagulls just behind. A win for either could put them into the Europa League places.
Elsewhere, Burnley host Tottenham at Turf Moor, with both in desperate need of the points. Burnley trail 18th-placed West Ham by three points and currently face relegation, while Spurs have dropped to 14th in the table amid a run of poor form in the league. Anything less than a win today for the Lilywhites could put head coach Thomas Frank in serious danger of being dismissed.
And over in Manchester, City host Wolves at the Etihad Stadium as they look to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal. Pep Guardiola’s side need a win today following their 2-0 derby loss to Manchester United last weekend and their shock 3-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt on Tuesday, which saw the Norwegian side win their first-ever Champions League match. Meanwhile, any points picked up for last-placed Wolves are huge.
In the lunchtime Premier League clash today West Ham take on Sunderland at the London Stadium. The Hammers go into the game off the back of a huge 2-1 win away at Tottenham. However, they still remain five points from safety in the table following Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal last weekend.
Meanwhile, Sunderland sit fairly comfortable in ninth, having won their last match against Crystal Palace last Saturday. A win over the Hammers would see them move up to fifth – at least temporarily/.
As always, feel free to email in at matchday.live@theguardian.com with any thoughts, feelings or predictions ahead of today’s fixtures. You can also leave a comment below the line.
If you need a short and snappy update on all the team news across the Premier League for this weekend, look no further! You can see all of our predicted lune-ups right here…
Today’s Premier League fixtures (3pm GMT unless stated otherwise)
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! We’ve got five Premier League fixtures to look forward to this afternoon, along with a huge WSL derby as Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
We’ll also be looking at some of the ongoing transfer dealings ahead of the final week of the window and recapping some of this week’s big talking points.
Stick with us as we count down to the lunchtime kick-offs!
