Key events
Championship: Morgan Whittaker levels proceedings at the Cardiff City Stadium, scoring his own and Plymouth’s second goal of the afternoon on the follow-up after his initial shot from distance was saved by Jak Alnwick.
GOAL! Bournemouth 2-0 Fulham (Solanke 62pen)
Premier League: Dominic Solanke doubles Bournemouth’s lead from the penalty spot after Antoine Semenya was bundled over in the penalty area.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-1 Luton Town (McBurnie 61)
Premier League: Sitting on his backside after appearing to be fouled in the Luton penalty area, James McAtee manages to hook the ball wide to Oli McBurnie, who fires across the face of goal and home.
Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town: Andros Townsend bears down on the Sheffield United penalty area, taking on the backpedalling Jack Robinson. He shoots over the bar.
Scottish Premiership: Paulo Bernardo puts Celtic one up against Dundee at Dens Park in the only Scottish top flight game being played today. It wasn’t pretty and he had to bundle the ball home but they all count.
Championship: Brandon Thomas-Asante gives West Brom a 1-0 lead against 10-man Norwich City at the Hawthorns.
Championship: Karlan Grant fires Cardiff City ahead against Plymouth with a fine strike. The ball broke his way following a short corner routine that had gone awry and he rifled the ball into the roof of the net from about 20 yards out. It’s 2-1 to the hosts in the Welsh capital.
Championship: Sam Edozie takes advantage of an awful mistake by Swansea goalkeeper Carl Rushworth to backheel the ball over the line from a tight angle and give Southampton a 2-0 lead. Rushworth completely miskicked the ball as he went to hoof a backpass into the stands and the ball rolled across the face of his own goal. Edozie managed to get it over the line with a nice piece of improvisation from a tight angle.
Elsewhere, Bristol City lead Watford 3-1 after quickfire goals from both sides at Vicarage Road, whil. Giorgi Chakvetadze pulled a goal back for Watford, only for his side to concede a Mark Sykers goal within a minute.
Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town: Jack Robinson has taken a few long throws into the Luton penalty area during this game and he “Delaps” his longest one yet moments after ther restart. The ball sails straight into the raised gloves of Kaminsky. Max Lowe is on for the Blades in this second half, having replaced Andre Brooks.
18 – Justin Kluivert has scored for Bournemouth against Fulham, 18 years and 236 days after his father Patrick scored his final Premier League goal against the Cottagers in May 2005. Generation. pic.twitter.com/uQyXdN17RT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 26, 2023
Championship half-times
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Preston 2-1 Leeds United (R)
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Millwall 2-0 QPR (R)
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Cardiff City 1-1 Plymouth Argyle
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Coventry City 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
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Huddersfield Town 1-0 Blackburn Rovers
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Hull City 0-0 Sunderland
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Rotherham United 0-0 Middlesbrough
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Southampton 1-0 Swansea City
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Watford 0-2 Bristol City
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West Brom 0-0 Norwich City
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Birmingham City v Stoke City (5.15pm)
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Ipswich Town v Leicester City (7.45pm)
Premier League half-times
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Newcastle United 1-3 Nottingham Forest (R)
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Bournemouth 1-0 Fulham
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Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town
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Burnley v Liverpool (5.30pm GMT)
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Manchester United v Aston Villa (8pm GMT)
Championship: Bristol City double their lead against Watford courtesy of an own goal from Wesley Hoedt.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Fulham (Kluivert 44)
Premier League: I may have spoken too soon. Alex Scott canters through the middle, beating three players before playing the ball wide to Justin Kluivert. He sends a right-footed effort goalwards and the ball somehow finds its way through or under Bernd Leno, who should have done better. Bournemouth lead as they seek their sixth win in seven games.
Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town: Luton’s star summer signings have shots in quick succession. Andros Townsend fires a free-kick into the Sheffield United defensive wall and the ball breaks to Ross Barkley, who shoots over the bar.
Bournemouth 0-0 Fulham: Dango Ouattara gets a rare striking opportunity for Bournemouth but barely gets any power behind his effort. If you backed this game to be last in Match of the Day running order, they might be paying out early.
Championship: Norwich go down to 10 men after 33 minutes of their game against West Brom. Borja Sainz gets his second yellow card of the game for urging the referee to book an opponent by brandishing an imaginary card. It’s followed by the obligatory red, which is anything but imaginary and off he trots, shaking his head at the injustice of it all.
Championship: Having gone ahead against Cardiff through Morgan Whittaker , Plymouth Argyle gift their hosts an equaliser with a farcical own goal. From out on the left touchline, Matt Butcher sends a backpass past his goalkeeper Conor Hazard, who is unable to scramble back and prevent the ball crossing the line despite a frantic effort. Both ball and goalkeeper end up in the back of the net, while Butcher waits for the ground to open up and swallow him.
Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town: Gustavo Hamer brings a smart save out of Thomas Kaminski with a free-kick as Sheffield United continue their search for an equaliser.
Championship: Darren Moore’s Huddersfield Town have gone ahead against Blackburn Rovers, with Jaheim Headley breaking the deadlock with a low diagonal drive from the left.
Meanwhile at Vicarage Road, Cameron Pring has put Bristol City ahead after pouncing on a poor headed clearance to shoot into the bottom corner from distance.
Bournemouth 0-0 Fulham: A reminder that this game is actually in progress but there have been no chances of note for either side so far.
Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town: Luton continue to dominate proceedings at Bramall Lane, where Andros Townsend picks out Elijah Adebayo with a cross from the right to the far post. The Luton striker steers his header goalwards but is unable to get any power behind his effort.
Championship: In slightly better news for Blades fans, Coventry have taken the lead against Sheffield Wednesday, with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto putting the home side ahead at the Building Society Arena.
GOAL! Sheffield United 0-1 Luton Town (Doughty 17)
Premier League: It’s a shocker from Sheffield United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham, who allows a shot from Alfie Doughty to trickle through his legs at his near post. The ball took a little nick off Auston Trusty but Foderingham should have done much, much better.
Championship: Having spent the opening stages of this game on the back foot, Southampton take the lead against Swansea City. Joe Aribo shot from distance and his low daisy-cutter somehow crept in through a thicket of legs.
Bournemouth 0-0 Fulham: There’s an early(ish) half-chance for Fulham, but Bernd Leno plucks a cross from the air with Justin Kluivert lurking with intent behind him.
Sheffield United 0-0 Luton Town: Luton are looking far more confident than their hosts in the early stages of this six-pointer. This time it’s Ryan Giles who gives Sheffield United plenty to think about. He plays the ball in behind for Elijah Adebayo to chase but a poor first touch from the striker ruins any chance he has of turning the ball goalwards.
Sheffield United 0-0 Luton Town: Alfie Doughty is causing Sheffield United problems with his forays down the right flank. Having slung one cross towards the far post without finding a teammate, he has just won a corner for his team with another marauding run. Nothing comes of it.
League Two: Table-toppers Stockport County have gone a goal behind against Barrow, with Ben Whitfield putting the home side ahead after just two minutes.
Peeeeeeeeeep! Whistles have been blown the length and breradth of the UK and our three o’clock kick-offs are under way.
Full time: Millwall 2-0 QPR
Championship: Tom Bradshaw and Murray Wallace got the goals as Joe Edwards and his side moved themselves up to 19th in the table courtesy of a victory over QPR at the Den.
Match report: Newcastle United 1-3 Nottingham Forest
Premier League: “Talk about being haunted by a ghost of Christmas past,” writes Louise Taylor from St James’ Park. “As Chris Wood’s accomplished hat-trick reminded Eddie Howe why, not so long ago, he persuaded Newcastle’s owners to invest £25m in his attacking talent, Nuno Espírito Santo inspired confidence he can keep Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.”
Full time: Preston 2-1 Leeds United
Championship: Alan Browne and Liam Millar got the goals as Preston saw off a Leeds team that lost goalkeeper Ilan Meslier to a red card eight minutes into the second half.
Full time: Newcastle United 1-3 Nottingham Forest
Premier League: The final whistle has gone at St James’ Park, where Newcastle have lost their sixth game out of the last seven they’ve played in all competitions. A Chris Wood hat-trick did for them, the Kiwi frontman enjoying one of the best days of his career against his former club as Forest came from a goal down to take all three points.
Sheffield United v Luton Town line-ups
Sheffield Utd: Foderingham, Baldock, Ahmedhodzic, Trusty, Robinson, Vinicius Souza, McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Archer, McBurnie.
Subs: Adam Davies, Lowe, Brewster, Norwood, Osborn, Ben Slimane, Osula, Norrington-Davies, Seriki.
Luton Town: Kaminski, Mengi, Osho, Bell, Giles, Sambi Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty, Townsend, Brown, Adebayo.
Subs: Shea, Andersen, Ogbene, Berry, Morris, Woodrow, Chong, Mpanzu, Krul.
Referee: Sam Allison (Somerset)
Bournemouth v Fulham line-ups
Bournemouth: Neto, Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Ouattara, Scott, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier, Solanke.
Subs: Mepham, Brooks, Rothwell, Sinisterra, Moore, Billing, Aarons, Travers, Greenwood.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson, Joao Palhinha, Cairney, De Cordova-Reid, Andreas Pereira, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz.
Subs: Rodak, Reed, Wilson, Ballo-Toure, Castagne, Lukic, Vinicius, Diop, Harris.
Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex)
Newcastle United 1-3 Nottingham Forest (latest score): Nottingham Forest are putting on a masterclass of counter-attacking football at St James’ Park, where Chris Wood has scored a hat-trick on his return to his old stomping ground.
Forest went a goal behind to an Alexander Isak penalty but Wood scored a tap-in just before half-time to restore parity for the visitors. Forest have had their hosts on the ropes since the break and could conceivably be leading by a lot more. Wood’s second was an absolute beauty, while his third wasn’t too shabby either. He’s bagged three in one game and none of them have been headers. Newcastle’s miserable run of form looks set to continue and Rob Smyth has the latest …
Today’s Championship fixtures
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Preston 2-1 Leeds United (R)
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Millwall 2-0 QPR (R)
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Cardiff City v Plymouth Argyle (3pm)
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Coventry City v Sheffield Wednesday
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Huddersfield Town v Blackburn Rovers
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Hull City v Sunderland
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Rotherham United v Middlesbrough
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Southampton v Swansea City
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Watford v Bristol City
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West Brom v Norwich City
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Birmingham City v Stoke City (5.15pm)
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Ipswich Town v Leicester City (7.45pm)
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View the Championship table
Today’s Premier League fixtures
Boxing Day clockwatch
Season’s greetings one and all, on one of the mosty eagerly anticipated afternoons in the football calendar. On a Boxing Day when two out-of-sorts sides, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, got the ball Premier League ball rolling, we have just two top flight three o’clock kick-offs to keep tabs on, a state of affairs that will hopefully allow us to monitor the action of note as it unfolds further down the divisions.
Our main focus, however, will be on the goings-on at the Vitality Stadium and Bramall Lane. Having hit a rich vein of form under Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth are hoping to continue their surge up the table courtesy of a win over Fulham, while up the road but further down the table,. Sheffield United host Luton in a massive six-pointer. We’ll bring you team news, all the major talking points and post-match reaction, so don’t touch that dial.
