Premier League Buildup and Latest Soccer News

This observation strikes a familiar chord for my liking. Christmas time is always about football first, fir trees second.

Supporters face a tricky balance for soccer fans. Can we manage to maintain the required focus on our team while showing appropriate enthusiasm for presents, holiday meals, and family events...? We'll give it a damned good try! Sorry, what was that you were saying...?

Man Utd Eye Rúben Neves and Conor Gallagher

The Red Devils are searching for a midfielder. This can’t be good news for Kobbie Mainoo… with two ex-English top-flight players are on the radar of the Old Trafford club.

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 occupy 12th place while Chelsea are in fourth. Only six points separate them, given Newcastle's strong home form likely to make it tough for Chelsea.

Newcastle may be hamstrung, though, due to a lengthy list of unavailable defenders. Tino Livramento has joined Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles, Kieran Trippier and goalkeeper Nick Pope on the treatment table, with Lewis Hall also a doubt.

Despite this, and even with the manager stating his growing admiration for the squad recently, it's unwise to predict Chelsea strolling to victory at St James’ Park. Can Maresca settle on a consistent attacking trio? The wingers were substitutes during the midweek cup tie and found the net and look like contenders for a starting spot.

Predicting games in such fixtures in the current campaign has been very, very difficult.

Debate Over Elite Footballers

I notice there’s lots of discussion in the comments about the Guardian’s Top 100 players… these things are always subjective, naturally. An indisputable fact is Ousmane Dembélé’s place at the top.

10 Things to Look Out For

10 things to look out for: 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 late drama unfolded during the Welsh derby. The shot-stopper presented Swansea with the win with a last-minute error fumbling a cross straight to the substitute. The Swans substitute was left with a tap-in to score for the decisive goal.

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

The manager guided Bristol Rovers to their first point in 10 league matches, but stated the 1-1 draw at Crewe was disappointing given the home side had 10 men for the majority. In the fourth tier, Cambridge moved into the top seven with a 2-0 win against Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham picked up a 2-1 win at struggling Barrow.

Northampton cruised to a comfortable victory in League One.

And in the Bundesliga, the derby went Dortmund's way, with a late Beier goal to defeat Gladbach following an early Brandt strike.

Preamble

Hello everyone and welcome to another matchday live blog. It’s Saturday morning meaning pre-match excitement! And we can safely call it a bumper day of action featuring eight Premier League games, starting with Newcastle v Chelsea at 12.30pm, heading into the four 3pm kick-offs, Tottenham v Liverpool at 5.30pm, and concluding with two late matches: Everton v Arsenal and Leeds v Crystal Palace (UK time).

Additionally, there's a full schedule across the UK leagues, and further down the divisions and in Spain, Germany and beyond too. See – bumper.

Following our usual format, we welcome your interaction, so share your forecasts, thoughts on 2025 in general as it concludes, or your plans for a day of festive footy-ball. Enjoy!