Top Flight Buildup and Fresh Football Updates

That remark hits a little too close to home personally. The holiday season is consistently prioritizing the beautiful game, fir trees second.

It's often a challenging period for soccer fans. Can we manage to maintain the required focus on our club while displaying suitable excitement for presents, holiday meals, and family events...? We'll certainly do our best! Apologies, could you repeat that...?

Manchester United Eye Rúben Neves and Conor Gallagher

Manchester United are on the hunt for a midfielder. This can’t be good news for Kobbie Mainoo… with two former Premier League stars are on the radar of the Old Trafford club.

Chelsea's Trip to Newcastle Fixture Analysis

The clash at St. James' Park at 12.30pm is a great way to kick off the football. Eddie Howe’s side are down in 12th while Chelsea are in fourth. Only six points separate them, given Newcastle's strong home form likely to make it tough for the Blues.

The home side could be hindered, though, by their sheer number of current defensive absentees. Tino Livramento has joined Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles, Kieran Trippier and goalkeeper Nick Pope on the treatment table, with Lewis Hall also a doubt.

Even so, and despite Maresca claiming his growing admiration for the squad earlier this week, it's unwise to predict an easy Chelsea win on Tyneside. Can Maresca settle on a regular forward line? Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench in the Carabao Cup against Cardiff to score and look like contenders to start this one.

Predicting games like Newcastle v Chelsea this season has been very, very difficult.

Top 100 Players Discussion

I notice there’s lots of discussion among fans about the Guardian’s Top 100 players… such lists are inherently opinion-based, naturally. One thing you cannot argue with is the positioning of Ousmane Dembélé at the top.

Key Weekend Storylines

10 things to look out for: From pressure on Scott Parker at Burnley, Wolverhampton's hunt for three points, appeals for the striker's inclusion to feature in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup plans, it’s all here.

Friday Night Round-Up

For those who didn't see there was drama in the all-Welsh Friday night Championship clash. The shot-stopper presented Swansea with the win in the 90th minute fumbling a cross straight to the substitute. Idah had the simplest of task to tap home for the decisive goal.

A gift from the Arsenal academy graduate, by the way, and local supremacy for Swansea.

The manager guided Bristol Rovers to their first point in 10 league matches, although he said the 1-1 draw at Crewe was disappointing as they faced ten men for most of the game. In the fourth tier, Cambridge moved into the top seven with a 2-0 win over Accrington and Cheltenham picked up a 2-1 win away at Barrow.

Northampton cruised beyond AFC Wimbledon 3-1 in League One.

And in the Bundesliga, the battle of the Borussias went Dortmund's way, with a late Beier goal to defeat Gladbach after Julian Brandt struck early on.

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to another matchday live blog. Saturday is here meaning pre-match excitement! It's truly a packed schedule featuring eight top-flight matches, kicking off with Newcastle v Chelsea at 12.30pm, followed by four afternoon games, Tottenham v Liverpool at 5.30pm, and concluding with two late matches: Everton v Arsenal and Leeds v Crystal Palace (all times GMT).

Additionally, there's a complete card of games in the Scottish Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two, plus lower down the pyramids and in Spain, Germany and beyond too. It's a feast.

Following our usual format, we encourage your comments and emails, so share your forecasts, reflections on the year as it concludes, or your plans for a football-filled day. Enjoy!