Well after the scintillating international break which introduced us to the much heralded UEFA Nations League it's back to the bread and butter football of The Premier League and to a lesser extent The Championship whilst for some poor souls it is the cut and thrust of League 1.
14 SEPTEMBER 2018
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
19:45 Birmingham City 1-1, West Bromwich Albion Sky
15 SEPTEMBER 2018
THE PREMIER LEAGUE
12:30 Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool Sky
15:00 AFC Bournemouth 4-2 Leicester City
15:00 Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff City
15:00 Huddersfield Town 0-1 Crystal Palace
15:00 Manchester City 3-0 Fulham
15:00 Newcastle United 1-2 Arsenal
17:30 Watford 1-2 Manchester United BT
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
15:00 Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Queens Park Rangers
15:00 Brentford 2-0 Wigan Athletic
15:00 Bristol City 1-0 Sheffield United
15:00 Hull City 2-0 Ipswich Town
15:00 Millwall 1-1 Leeds United
15:00 Norwich City 1-0 Middlesbrough
15:00 Preston North End 2-3 Reading
15:00 Rotherham United 1-0 Derby County
15:00 Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Stoke City
15:00 Swansea City 0-0 Nottingham Forest
17:30 Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Aston Villa Sky
LEAGUE 1
15:00 Burton Albion 2-1 mackems
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP
15:00 Ayr United 3-2 Falkirk
16 SEPTEMBER 2018
THE PREMIER LEAGUE
13:30 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Burnley Sky
16:00 Everton 1-3 West Ham United Sky
17 SEPTEMBER 2018
20:00 Southampton 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Sky
The lunchtime kick-off sees table topping Liverpool, now one of only 3 teams still with a 100% winning start to the season, travel to London to face Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium as even more problems delay the opening of the re-developed White Hart Lane which now doesn't look as it will be ready until November. There are five games kicking-off at the traditional 3 o'clock slot and, apparently, VAR will be tested in all of these games although there will be no communication with anyone at the grounds at which the games are taking place the trial limits the use of VAR to goals, penalty calls, direct red cards and cases of potential mistaken identity. In the first game, alphabetically that is, AFC Bournemouth host Leicester City with both sides looking to bounce back from defeats against title contenders last time out. Chelsea will be looking to extend their own winning start to the season at Stamford Bridge where Cardiff City are the visitors with the Welshmen finally finding their scoring boots last weekend but still to register their first win since their promotion. Huddersfield Town, also winless, host Crystal Palace who are on a 3 game losing streak since their opening day victory over Fulham, who this weekend, face the daunting task of a trip to the Etihad Stadium when the reigning champions will be looking to make up ground on the early season pace setters. Our own black and white clad heroes, in their first non-televised game of the season, take on the hit and miss Gunners from North London and, perhaps, without the pressure of a live TV audience of millions The Magpies can chalk up their first win of the season to catapult them up the table. The teatime game pits Watford, the surprise package of the season so far, against Manchester United as they too will be hoping to extend their winning start to 5 games - the sad news ahead of this game is that the man behind Harry the Hornet, the high-octane Watford mascot strongly criticised by Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson, has resigned from the role.
Super Sunday sees Burnley play on a Sunday for the fifth successive time this season when they visit Molineux where the hosts will be looking to build on their solid start whilst the late kick-off has the pointless and irrelevant West Ham United on Merseyside hoping to end The Toffees unbeaten start to the season. Monday night sees Chris Hughtons' Brighton travel the short distance along the south coast to St Mary's Stadium and will be looking for revenge for their defeat to The Saints in the EFL Cup a couple of weeks ago.
That's your lot and as always thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend.
