The Way This Unusual Season Redefined the Typical Coach of the Year Mold.
-
- By Brittany Stone
- 11 Aug 2026
A pleasant afternoon here in the capital, where the sunshine is indeed shining, though by the moment we're at half-time, dusk will be falling. Talking of which, can there be a happy farewell for the Egyptian star? And, that does not have to be a departure permanently, of course. He, like many others will be heading to the continental tournament, whatever happens. We await the starting lineups from Liverpool's encounter with Brighton.
Here are today's 3pm British kick-off matches.
There's a full round of EFL matches, as well.
Chelsea Starting XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, James, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Joao Pedro.
Chelsea Bench: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Hato, Acheampong, Guiu, Estevao.
Everton Lineup: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Garner, Gueye, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Barry.
Everton Substitutes: Travers, Patterson, McNeil, Beto, Dibling, Alcaraz, Aznou, Iroegbunam, Campbell.
Game Referee: Thomas Bramall.
Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Ekitike.
Liverpool Substitutes: Mamardashvili, Isak, Salah, Chiesa, Robertson, Ramsay, Ngumoha, Lucky.
Brighton Lineup: Verbruggen, Wieffer, van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Minteh, Gruda, Gomez, Rutter.
Brighton Bench: Steele, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Mitoma, Ayari, De Cuyper, Veltman.
Match Referee: Craig Pawson.
The Egyptian forward starting from the substitutes for Liverpool. Alexander Isak is also on Alexander Isak. More selection details to follow but it appears like Wirtz supporting Hugo Ekitike in the forward line.
Big scoreline in League Two, where it's a local derby of Bristol Rovers v Swindon; relatively local. Swindon are ahead 3-0.
In the second tier, three early kick-offs at the break:
League One Updates:
League Two Updates:
Later Goals have done in, and it's now Huddersfield 1-1 Wigan, Oxford 1-2 Preston, Salford 1-2 Colchester, Norwich 1-1 Southampton. At Norwich, whose goal came from Jovon Makama, Southampton failed to convert a first-half penalty and have now drawn level through Ryan Manning.
Norwich are back in front, the decisive strike coming from Jovon Makama, his second.
News from Spain, where Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said Kylian Mbappe is available to play on Sunday against Alaves. Mbappe missed the European defeat by Manchester City. Alonso stated, "We've got Kylian back, he's ready to play, and tomorrow we'll see and decide on his involvement." Real Madrid are without several sidelined players including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal and Eduardo Camavinga.
On that local derby, one fan reported: "Hi. Bristol Rovers 0 Swindon 3 doesn't tell the half of it. Ten League defeats in a row incoming, which is one club record. Five home losses in a row is another club record... It's not much fun being a Gashead these days." For Swindon, Aaron Drinan has followed Rovers' Kacper Lopata in being shown a red card.
Just two matches in the Scottish top flight, too.
A software engineer and tech writer passionate about open-source projects and AI advancements.