Chelsea v Brentford, West Ham v Liverpool, and more: clockwatch – live | Premier League

It sounds like Lamps is going to unleash Aubameyang and Mudryk at Stamford Bridge.

Forest go close at the other end! Neco Williams batters a low shot wide of the post for Steve Cooper’s men.

Brighton stroke the ball around confidently at the City ground. They look every inch the kind of team that are going to deepen Forest’s relegation fears in this second half. A shot by Caicedo flies just wide after a positive passing move, Enciso involved again. De Zerbi applauds enthusiastically from near the dugout.

Haaland misses sitter for City. It should be 2-0.

That match is live with Scott Murray on Channel 1, of course:

Forest 1-1 Brighton has kicked off for the second half at the City Ground.

Half-times:

Chelsea 0-1 Brentford
West Ham 1-1 Liverpool

“As maybe the only person watching the game at Bramall Lane I can report that sadly the Baggies have been hosed by the referee who failed to award a penalty in the 13th minute,” emails J.R. in Illinois. “If they had VAR in the Championship you’d like to think it would have been used to make the correct call but given the state of VAR I would be hesitant to jump to such a conclusion.”

Latest score: Sheffield United 0-0 West Brom

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Brighton is a half-time score.

West Ham so nearly have another in London! Bowen releases Benrahma on the left, who squares for Antonio at the far post … But Van Dijk is there with a brilliant bit of defending for Liverpool, nicking the ball off Antonio’s toe and out for a corner.

Rice flicks on the corner for Antonio, and West Ham nearly have a goal again! But Liverpool hold firm.

Oh my days! A corner is swung in across the six-yard box by Brentford … two or three players jump at the near post. No one touches it … but the ball then flicks off the Chelsea captain, César Azpilicueta, and into the far corner! Lampard is pictured, ashen-faced, on the bench.

At Stamford Bridge, it appears that Chelsea still aren’t very good.

“Perhaps Chelsea should play Sam Kerr upfront and Lamps himself just in behind,” emails Trev, with regard to the Blues’ chronic lack of goals.

Renan Lodi crosses low from the left. The ball takes a massive deflection and squirts in at the near post off Pascal Groß, despite Steele’s valiant attempts to keep it out.

Good to know some of you are paying attention anyway.

Right, what’s going on in Nottingham … GOAL!

“It was De Bruyne, not Haaland Luke,” chips in Charlie Timms. “Or is that the joke? Is there a joke? Good joke Luke.”

Yes, thanks, that was it. It was a joke … because Haaland has actually scored, like, loads of goals this season. Pretty funny you have to admit.

“The surprise might be that it was not Haaland who scored [for City], but rather De Bruyne,” emails Alan Steenstrup. Whoops! Thanks.

In the Championship: Sheffield United 0-0 West Brom, as it stands, a stone’s throw from the Crucible Theatre.

Have City scored too early?

A bit of a calamity for Navas, who gets down to parry a Solly March shot, but can only divert it into the path of the 18-year-old Facundo Buonanotte, who gobbles up the chance by clipping the ball into the unguarded net from close range.

Thank you, and good night?

In news that will surprise few of you, Kevin de Bruyne has put City a goal up against The Arsenal:

“Gakpo with the opposite of a screamer,” emails Niall Mullen. “A mumbler maybe.”

Certainly it paled in comparison with the Hammers goal. Still, you don’t shoot, you don’t score. (Paul Pooley, that one really should have been included in my ready-made football cliches sheet.)

“I said it last week and I’ll say it again,” emails Justin Madson. “There is no “correct” 11 for Frank [Lampard] to start, there will always be critics. Not sure what formation or personnel he can play that will magically drum up goals from a team that feels allergic to scoring them (Auba’s 1 goal in 461 PL minutes does not inspire a start). I, for one, am simply happy to see some semblance of a consistent team selection.”

It’s there for Liverpool who equalise almost straight away! Another good goal … not as sweet a strike as Paqueta’s, but from outside the area again, low and to Fabianski’s right. The much maligned Trent Alexander-Arnold provided the assist from midfield.

“Luke, greetings from California!” writes Mary Waltz. “To all these lovely MBM’ers inquiring on my thoughts, I am fine, I dread that my beloved Everton will be closer to Wrexham in next years FA Cup matchups. On the sunny side of life Tucker Carlson and his MAGA minions are caught like rats in bag in a fight with Rupert Murdoch and I have to admit to my petty delight in this soap opera. Succession has nothing on real life.”

Good to hear from you Mary, sorry about Everton and all that.

SCREAMER! Paquetá exchanges passes with Antonio, charging infield from the left wing, and belts a stunning shot from about 20 yards that flies into the net past Alisson. Moyes is delighted! Klopp is furious!

I think the shot takes a slight deflection, but it flies into a central area of the net, and Alisson would have hoped to do better there. It was a stunning hit though in fairness to the young man, Paquetá.

In Nottingham, Niakhate has been forced off with injury, Worrall comes on.

In London, Diogo Jota is down injured …

At the City Ground, that very handy young Paraguayan lad, Enciso, has had a shot tipped over the crossbar by Navas. Brennan Johnson has already missed a penalty there. I have this theory that right-footed players generally put particularly high-pressure penalties to the keeper’s right. Is there anything in it?

West Ham v Liverpool is also under way. Big chance for Jarrod Bowen after a mistake by Virgil van Dijk … but it remains 0-0.

Chelsea kick off against Brentford. In fact, it’s the other way around. Brentford kick off. What you need to know, essentially, is that Chelsea v Brentford has begun.

“Greetings,” emails Paul Pooley.

“With so many games on your radar I trust you have some pre-loaded likely-to-be-used updates, such as:

“_______’s shot goes out for a throw in.”

“That card is soft/we’ve seen them given for less.

“We need to make the VAR offside line bigger so less goals get chalked off and reviews are faster.

“Lampard about to become the third Chelsea manager to be put on gardening leave this season.

“______ Everton ______________________, says Mary Waltz.

“Good luck.”

Lol.

Are you out there, Mary? Hope you’re well.

Estupinan gets in a mess in the penalty area. Neco Williams nabs the ball off him and is fouled by the same man … a penalty is the result. The Brighton players make a fuss. There is a long time for Brennan Johnson to wait … he hits the penalty to the Jason Steele’s right, the goalie guesses right, and makes a good save.

Forest have started at 100mph against Brighton. They’ve forced an early corner, and before that also launched a long throw into the danger zone. There is a lot of noise at the City Ground.

Thomas Frank has a chat with BT Sport and is asked about his side’s win at Stamford Bridge last season: “The good thing is we showed it’s not a one-off,” Frank says. “We have showed we can win at any stadium, against top clubs … when we went to the Etihad, for example. We know it’s going to be a very difficult game tonight … Chelsea have basically changed the whole team [since the Bees won here last season] so it will be very different game [to last season].”

They’ve changed manager a couple of times too, of course. Thomas Tuchel is currently residing at Bayern Munich, rather than the “Where are they now?” file.

Forest v Brighton has begun. Chelsea v Brentford and West Ham v Liverpool will kick off in under 15 minutes’ time, all being well.

Forest’s last win was against Leeds on 5 February. In truth they were pretty fortunate to take three points in that one, too. It’s relegation form and no mistake.

Nick Mullins, traditionally seen commentating on rugby or tennis, is on the mic for Forest v Brighton on BT Sport 4.

The prolific Scott Murray wrote Football Daily today, all about the gigantic encounter in Manchester:

Gerry is not enjoying the Chelsea team news, which does look a bit light on forwards:

Steve Cooper, Forest manager, speaks to BT Sport: “We’ve had our best days here at home and there is no hiding from that. We’ve got to try and create another one today … it’s the time of the season you’ve got to stand up and be counted. We are on a bad run but we are desperate to turn it around … hopefully tonight we can deliver what is needed.”

Seagulls gaffer Roberto De Zerbi: “To qualify in Europe you have to win with every team at the bottom … but in the Premier League every game is tough … if you want to win, you have to give your best, and to play a good game.”

On BT Glenn Murray says the job Roberto de Zerbi has done since coming in at Brighton is ‘stupendous’.

Should you wish to do so, you can email me or tweet with any thoughts on tonight’s footie.

Some newsy football bits from today, if you missed any:

BT Sport have kicked off their build-up to City v Arsenal, chatting to Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and with Patrick Vieira on the analysis team. For the purposes of this clockwatch, I will be focusing on Chelsea v Brentford, with updates from Forest v Brighton and West Ham v Liverpool to boot.

Scott Murray is live-blogging the bejesus out of the seismic clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, right here:

Brennan Johnson returns to the Nottingham Forest side for the huge clash with Brighton. Johnson dropped to the bench for the 3-2 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday but started at the City Ground as Forest try to climb out of the bottom three, with Serge Aurier also returning from injury to captain the side. Danny Welbeck was only fit enough for the bench for Brighton.

West Ham are unchanged from their 4-0 win at Bournemouth for the visit of Liverpool. Michail Antonio started in attack again with Danny Ings on the bench. Joel Matip replaced Ibrahima Konate in Liverpool’s only change. (PA)

West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Lucas Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma. Substitutes: Fornals, Lanzini, Downes, Areola, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Jones, Salah, Gakpo, Jota. Substitutes: Gomez, Thiago, Milner, Elliott, Tsimikas, Diaz, Nunez, Carvalho, Kelleher.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Wesley Fofana, Thiago Silva, Chalobah, Azpilicueta, Fernandez, Kovacic, Chilwell, Kante, Gallagher, Sterling. Substitutes: Badiashile, Aubameyang, Pulisic, Joao Felix, Loftus-Cheek, Mudryk, Mendy, Ziyech, Madueke.

Brentford: Raya, Roerslev, Jorgensen, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Jensen, Onyeka, Janelt, Toney, Wissa. Substitutes: Hickey, Schade, Dasilva, Ghoddos, Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Baptiste, Stevens, Cox.

Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)

Sachin Nakrani

Frank Lampard believes a love-hate mentality, fuelled by social media and akin to politics, is behind the whirlwind nature of managerial changes in the Premier League and that the situation will calm down only if expectations of those in the dugout become more “reasonable”.

Nottingham Forest: Navas, Aurier, Niakhate, Felipe, Williams, Mangala, Danilo, Renan Lodi, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Awoniyi. Substitutes: Worrall, Lingard, Hennessey, Toffolo, Surridge, Kouyate, Freuler, Dennis, Ayew.

Brighton: Steele, Gross, Colwill, Dunk, Estupinan, Caicedo, Mac Allister, March, Buonanotte, Mitoma, Enciso. Substitutes: Sanchez, Webster, Welbeck, Undav, Ayari, Gilmour, van Hecke, Veltman, Offiah.

Referee: Jarred Gillett.

The main event may be happening in Manchester but this being the Premier League, there is plenty to play for elsewhere. Nottingham Forest desperately need a win as they seek to stave off the threat of relegation: they will have their work cut out in hosting an impressive Brighton side harbouring dreams of European football.

West Ham, who welcome Liverpool to east London, are in slightly less dire straits than Forest when it comes to the relegation trapdoor but would dearly love a result against Jürgen Klopp’s side, another outfit with designs on European qualification.

The most intriguing of tonight’s fixtures that are not Manchester City v Arsenal, though, is surely 11th v 10th, otherwise known as Chelsea v Brentford. The Blues have played four, lost four under Frank Lampard since the dismissal of Graham Potter. Any more of this and a dismal bottom-half finish beckons. Thomas Frank’s smart Brentford side will be living proof that there are truly no easy games in His Majesty’s Premier League.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one night, Sheffield United have a chance to clinch promotion from the Championship if they win against West Bromwich Albion.

Kick-off times: Nottingham Forest v Brighton 7.30pm, Chelsea v Brentford and West Ham v Liverpool: 7.45pm, Sheffield United v West Brom: 8pm