Key events
Peep peep! The three 7.30pm games are up and running. Forest v Liverpool is an 8pm kick-off.
Chelsea v Bournemouth Evanilson is absent with a metatarsal injury. Thatâs a big blow as youâd imagine heâll be out for at least a month. I blame Aldo Duscher.
âI wonder if readers, like me, struggle to remember much about Tony Book, the name as understated as his demeanour, playing and managing,â begins Gary Naylor. âIn that sense, he was the perfect choice to lead City on and off the field, operating with purpose and achieving a still surprisingly excellent set of outcomes, content in the shadow of The Behemothâs cabaret across town. Footballers often looked old to teenagers, but he really did look old, unlikely to feature in Insta screen grabs. Itâs how full-backs once were.â
Itâs how all men once were, no? They had tough paper rounds in those days. Says Clooney over here!
âDonât forget there are three FA Cup matches today too!â says Joe Pearson. âAnd ESPN+ is carrying them all. Let me know if you want updates. I wonât provide any, because Iâll be glued to Forest v Liverpool, but I just wanted to make the offer. Cheers!â
Iâll get back to you once Iâve hastily rewritten my preamble.
West Ham are playing without a recognised striker tonight. A false nine might be an upgrade on the false promises of the last 15 years.
It should not be about individuals. Too often, though, West Ham seem to buy a striker with little regard for whether they are the right style of player. There was the decision to spend a club record £45m on Sébastien Haller, who left after 18 months after scoring 14 goals in 54 appearances. Eighteen months later came the £30.5m Gianluca Scamacca: a talent who seemed unsuited to English football, unable to adjust to life away from Italy and unwilling to last more than a season after eight goals in 27 appearances. The 31-year-old Füllkrug, who cost £27.5m last summer, has two goals in 11 appearances and is probably out for the season.
The Manchester City players will wear black armbands tonight in tribute to the legendary Tony Book, their former captain and manager, who has died aged 90.
Thereâs no Kyle Walker in the Man City squad. Hereâs Jonathan Liew on why the career of one of Englandâs greatest right-backs is ripe for reappraisal.
Based on media footprint alone, Walker might well be one of the most chronicled English footballers of the past decade, and largely for issues unrelated to anything he did in a defensive transition. Search the internet for this player of 93 England caps and pretty much every medal at club level and you will be deluged with various keyword-rich morsels of celebrity gossip swimming in pound signs, house prices and gigantic photos ripped from Instagram.
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool team news
No surprises in either team for the top-of-the-table clash. Barry Glendenning has all the details.
West Ham v Fulham team news
Graham Potter makes three changes from the FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa. Emerson Palmieri, Carlos Soler and Guido Rodriguez in; Ollie Scarles and the injured pair of Niclas Fullkrug and Crysensio Summerville are out.
Iâve no idea who will start up front for West Ham, or even what formation theyâre playing. Potter has just been asked on TNT Sports whether he can give us a steer. âNot really.â
Fulhamâs last Premier League game was a 2-2 draw with Ipswich. Emile Smith Rowe and Andreas Pereira replace Tom Cairney and Issa Diop.
West Ham (possible 4-D-2) Fabianski; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Rodriguez; Soucek, Alvarez; Soler; Kudus, Paqueta.
Subs: Foderingham, Cresswell, Coufal, Luis Guilherme, Ings, Irving, Casey, Scarles, Orford.
Fulham (possible 4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Castagne, Robinson; Lukic, Andreas; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez.
Subs: King, Sessegnon, Diop, Benda, Reed, Rodrigo Muniz, Cairney, Traore, Cuenca.
Referee Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Chelsea v Bournemouth team news
Two changes for Chelsea from their 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park in the last Premier League game. Romeo Lavia and Noni Madueke come in for Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto. That probably means Moises Caicedo will move to right-back.
Bournemouth also make two changes. Theyâre without Evanilson, which is a blow, and Justin Kluivert is on the bench. David Brooks, who scored a beautiful winner from the bench against Everton, and Tyler Adams come into the side. Antoine Semenyo may play as a falseish nine.
Chelsea (possible 4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Caicedo, Acheampong, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Nkunku, James,
Gusto, Guiu, Veiga.
Bournemouth (possible 4-2-3-1) Travers; Hill, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Cook, Adams; Brooks, Christie, Ouattara; Semenyo.
Subs: Dennis, Kluivert, Jebbison, Adu-Adjei, Akinmboni, Winterburn, Kinsey-Wellings, Sadi, Rees-Dottin.
Referee Robert Jones (Merseyside)
Brentford v Man City team news
Brentfordâs last Premier League game was a 5-0 win at Southampton. Thomas Frank makes one change from the XI that started that match: Kevin Schade is replaced by Vitaly Janelt. That could mean a switch to a diamond midfield. If Thomas Frank ever answers my WhatsApps Iâll let mean you.
Pep Guardiola makes one change from the last league game, the 4-1 win over West Ham. Matheus Nunes, who played so well at right-back against Salford on Saturday, replaces Rico Lewis.
Brentford (possible 4-D-2) Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard; Jensen, Janelt; Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Schade, Carvalho, Mee, Yarmolyuk, Konak, Maghoma, Kim.
Man City (possible 4-3-3) Ortega, Nunes, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Bernardo, Kovacic, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Savinho.
Substitutes: Ederson, Grealish, Doku, Gundogan, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, OâReilly, Lewis, McAtee.
Referee Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Preamble
The hustle never ends. Less than 24 hours after the end of the FA Cup third round. The FA Cup third round is still ongoing but the Premier League returns tonight with four matches, all televised. Barry Glendenning is covering the big one â Nottingham Forest v Liverpool â while it is ours to focus on the three other games, all of which kick off at 7.30pm.
Graham Potter takes charge of his first home game as West Ham manager. Thereâs plenty at stake as always. Manchester City could jump to fourth, a phrase that hasnât been written too often in the last decade. They could also drop below Bournemouth, a phrase that hasnât etc. Itâs tight towards the top, with only nine points separating Chelsea in fourth and Brentford in 11th. There will be doubtless be more snakes and ladders tonight.