Key events
67 min: Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa
65 min: West Ham 2-0 Wolves Matheus Cunha shoots just over for Wolves, who have been much better in the second half. That said, West Ham know their way around a low block and seem pretty comfortable shuffling back and across.
64 min: Arsenal 1-0 Brighton Roberto De Zerbi make a triple change on the hour, with Joao Pedro, Facundo Buonanotte and Igor Julio on for Evan Ferguson, Adam Lallana and James Milner. But they still haven’t had a shot at goal, and it looks like their run of victories at the Emirates is coming to an end.
DISALLOWED GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Wolves
Gary O’Neil’s hate-hate relationship with VAR continues. Pablo Sarabia has had a goal – a lovely team goal at that – ruled out for a Spandex-tight offside. It took a couple of minutes before the goal was disallowed.
Premier League latest scores
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Arsenal 1-0 Brighton (Jesus)
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Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa (Lewis-Potter)
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West Ham 2-0 Wolves (Kudus 2)
58 min: Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa At least this mob can legally watch the game.
Wissa working away 💪
We’ve been asked to do a lot of defending since the break but we’re keeping our shape well
🐝 1-0 🟣#BREAVL | #BrentfordFC
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 17, 2023
Tom Lockyer latest
Luton have posted an update on their captain Tom Lockyer, who suffered cardiac arrest during yesterday’s game at Bournemouth. In short, there is no fresh news as they are waiting on the results of various tests and scans.
While our captain Tom Lockyer remains in hospital following the cardiac arrest he suffered on the pitch at Bournemouth yesterday, we understand that supporters are concerned for him and that there is widespread media interest in his condition.
Tom is still undergoing tests and… pic.twitter.com/yDTRzmEIVk
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) December 17, 2023
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Brighton (Jesus 53)
Gabriel Jesus finally makes Arsenal’s dominance count! Saka’s inswinging corner was inadvertently headed on by Steve Bould a Brighton defender at the near post, and Jesus, unmarked beyond the farp ost, stooped to nod into the empty net.
53 min: Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa There are some decent attacking options on the bench for Villa, including Leon Bailey, Jhon Duran and Nicolo Zaniolo. It looks increasingly as if they’ll need them.
48 min: Arsenal 0-0 Brighton Or, if you prefer attempts at goal, the score is Arsenal 15-0 Brighton. Arsenal’s xG is still less than 1, though, so it doesn’t sound like a complete 0-0 shellacking.
Liverpool v Man Utd kicks off at 4.30pm. It’s such a big game that we’re giving it a full 90-minute build-up. Join Will Unwin for the latest.
Peep peep! The second halves are under way.
As it jolly well stands
Half-time reading
Nothing to do with football, apart from the phrase “daft as a brush”, but this is brilliant.
Half-time: West Ham 2-0 Wolves
West Ham are in control thanks to two goals from Mohammad Kudus, both made by the highbrow left foot of Lucas Paqueta. Both came on the counter-attack; both will irritate Gary O’Neil. Dan Bentley probably should have saved the first goal and Toti, the left-sided centre-back, was caught out of position for the second.
Half-time: Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa
Yoane Wissa had a goal disallowed for offside just before half-time. Even so, that’s a fine first half for Brentford, who have more than held their own against a team that has recently beaten Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Legia Warsaw.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-0 Brighton
Arsenal should be ahead. They’re not.
45 min: West Ham 2-0 Wolves Seconds after having a big penalty appeal turned down, Jarrod Bowen clips a shot against the inside of the post, with the ball rolling across the line to safety.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa (Lewis-Potter 45)
They might be without four or five or their best players, but Brentford are ahead against Aston Villa! Keane Lewis-Potter has scored his first Premier League goal on the stroke of half-time. A left-wing corner was headed away at the near post, but Lewis-Potter was first to the loose ball and raked a shot past Emi Martinez from 12 yards.
38 min: Arsenal 0-0 Brighton Ben White is booked for a cynical foul on Kaoru Mitoma. Brighton still haven’t had a shot on or off target.
35 min: Arsenal 0-0 Brighton Gabriel Martinelli has missed a very good chance for Arsenal, it says here.
GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Wolves (Kudus 32)
Mohammed Kudus gets his second! It was another ruthless transition from West Ham. Zouma cut out a forward pass and gave the ball to Paqueta in the inside-left channel. He swept a wonderful long pass across the field to release Kudus, who controlled the ball deftly on the run and slid a calm shot across Bentley with his right foot.
32 min: West Ham 1-0 Wolves
Brentford 0-0 Aston Villa Jacob Ramsey has missed an excellent chance for Villa. I’ve no idea what actually happened because it’s not on TV, but it sounds like he shot off target from Watkins’ header.
A let off 😅
Ramsey arrives at the back post to connect with Watkins’s knock down but fortunately he fails to hit the target from eight yards
Cash has also gone close for the away side
🐝 0-0 🟣#BREAVL | #BrentfordFC
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 17, 2023
28 min: West Ham 1-0 Wolves Cunha curls a decent effort from distance that is pushed round the post by Fabianski, diving to his right.
27 min: Arsenal 0-0 Brighton Possession is 50/50 at the Emirates, though Arsenal have had all seven attempts at goal. Brighton have brought on Jack Hinshelwood at right-back for the injured Joel Veltman. They’ve had rotten luck with injuries at full-back this season.
⏰ 20 minutes gone here in north London..
⬛️ Low Saka shot smothered by Verbruggen
⬛️ Odegaard sees an effort fly just wide
⬛️ Jesus’ drive from distance on targetLet’s keep going, Gunners ✊
🔴 0-0 🔵 (20) pic.twitter.com/wuynZfUr9f
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 17, 2023
Premier League latest
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Wolves (Kudus 22)
Mohammed Kudus rifles West Ham in front! They may be the home side but the goal came on the break, when West Ham are at their most dangerous. A Wolves corner was half cleared to Paqueta, who calmly dribbled his way out of trouble and found Kudus on the right with a long pass. He ran infield and belted a low drive from 25 yards that flew past the unsighted Bentley. It wasn’t right in the corner, so Bentley may feel he could have done better.
Still no goals in any of the 2pm games. West Ham v Wolves is the kind of subdued contest that tempts brain-dead hacks to pull out the old cliche about a game needing a goal.
Brentford 0-0 Aston Villa Brentford have had a big penalty appeal turned down after a tussle between Ben Mee and John McGinn. We can’t see the game, but some folk on Twitter are reporting that McGinn got Mee in a headlock at a corner, then DDTd him sickeningly to the turf.
Premier League latest scores
11 min: West Ham 0-0 Wolves Having survived an early flurry of corners and crosses, Wolves are starting to pass their way into the game at the London Stadium.
8 min: Brentford 0-0 Aston Villa Emi Martinez has just made a superb save to deny Mikkel Damsgaard, who is starting a game for the first time this season.
We’ve been under the cosh for much of the opening 10 minutes but have created the best chance so far!
Janelt’s cutback from the left is swept goalwards by Damsgaard from 10 yards but Martinez dives to his left and keeps it out
🐝 0-0 🟣#BREAVL | #BrentfordFC
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 17, 2023
6 min: West Ham 0-0 Wolves West Ham have started well, and a Ward-Prowse corner leads to a desperate game of head tennis in the Wolves penalty area. Eventually they get the ball away.
Peep peep (x3)!
The three 2pm games are about to kick off. West Ham v Wolves is the only one being televised in the UK, so don’t be surprised if we report on more throw-ins in that game than the other two.
Some more pre-match reading
Pre-match reading
You know it’ll be a good piece when you see the word ‘paradigm’ in the headline.
West Ham v Wolves team news
Two changes for West Ham from their last Premier League game, that 5-0 defeat at Craven Cottage. Emerson Palmieri and Edson Alvarez replace Aaron Cresswell and Pablo Fornals.
Gary O’Neil also makes two changes to his Wolves side. The injured Jose Sa is replaced in goal by Dan Bentley, and Jean-Ricner comes in for Hugo Bueno. That might mean a switch to a back four.
West Ham (possible 4-3-3) Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Bowen, Lucas Paqueta.
Substitutes: Areola, Cresswell, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Fornals, Ings, Benrahma, Mubama.
Wolves (possible 4-3-3) Bentley; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Tote; Joao Gomes, Lemina, Joao Gomes, Bellegarde; Sarabia, Hwang, Cunha.
Substitutes: King, Doherty, Ait-Nouri, S Bueno, H Bueno, Traore, Doyle, Fabio Silva, Kalajdzic.
Brentford v Aston Villa team news
Thomas Frank likes to play a back five against the best teams, and Villa fit that description right now. There are three changes from last weekend’s defeat at Bramall Lane: Zanka, Mads Roerslev and Mikkel Damsgaard come in for Frank Onyeka, Shandon Baptiste and Neal Maupay.
Villa are without the suspended pair of Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz. Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey replace them, and Matty Cash and Moussa Diaby come in for Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans. Bailey is fit enough to be on the bench; Tielemans is not.
Brentford (possible 5-3-2) Flekken; Roerslev, Zanka, Jorgensen, Pinnock, Mee, Ghoddos; Damsgaard, Norgaard, Janelt; Lewis-Potter, Wissa.
Substitutes: Strakosha, Goode, Collins, Onyeka, Peart-Harris, Baptiste, Yarmoliuk, Maupay, Olakigbe.
Aston Villa (possible 4-4-2) Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Moreno; Cash, Kamara, McGinn, Ramsey; Diaby, Watkins.
Substitutes: Marschall, Proctor, Chambers, Lenglet, Zaniolo, Bailey, Dendoncker, Iroegbunam, Duran.
Arsenal v Brighton team news
After resting a load of players in midweek, Mikel Arteta returns to the XI that started last weekend’s defeat at Aston Villa. Roberto De Zerbi couldn’t name an unchanged team if he tried, and I say that with love. There are five changes from the stirring win over Marseille on Thurusday. Bart Verbruggen, Joel Veltman, James Milner, Adam Lallana and Evan Ferguson replace Jason Steele, Jack Hinshelwood, Igor Julio, Facundo Buonanotte and Joao Pedro.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3) Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice; Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Ramsdale, Kiwior, Cedric, Walters, Smith Rowe, Lewis-Skelly, Nketiah, Trossard, Nelson.
Brighton (possible 4-2-1-3) Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Milner; Gilmour, Gross; Lallana; Adingra, Ferguson, Mitoma.
Substitutes: Steele, Igor Julio, Dahour, Moder, Baleba, Buonanotte, Hinshelwood, Joao Pedro, Welbeck.
Preamble
Hello, hello and welcome to another busy day of Premier League action. There are four games, with six of the top nine clubs in action. Liverpool v Manchester United comes later; our business is the three 2pm games. Arsenal host Brighton, who have won their last three games at the Emirates. Injury-ravaged Brentford face Aston Villa, who could go top of the league for the first time since in 22 years. And West Ham, who lost 5-0 at Fulham last weekend, hope to get back on the Premier League horse against Wolves.
We’ll have team news shortly. And just in case you prefer the above in list form, these are the games we’ll be following.
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Arsenal v Brighton
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Brentford v Aston Villa
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West Ham v Wolves