It’s back, your actual football. Pack up your tedious talk of Gareth Southgate and defensive midfielders in your old kitbag. We’re back into the final straight of the Premier League this weekend, and there’ll be all the talk from the ‘pressers’ to come. But before that, the Championship takes its if-not-quite-traditional-but-now-regular centre stage on Good Friday. Time was when the old First Division would play all over Easter – in the final 1991-92 season before football was invented, Manchester United played on Maundy Thursday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday and No More Chocolate Wednesday and completely blew the league title. This current lot, with their three matches a week and their Covid-19 protocols don’t know they’re born.
In the Championship, we have these matches to be played today, all kicking off at 3pm (BST) unless stated:
AFC Bournemouth v Middlesbrough
Barnsley v Reading (5.30pm)
Birmingham v Swansea (8pm)
Bristol City v Stoke
Cardiff v Nottingham Forest
Derby v Luton
Millwall v Rotherham
Preston North End v Norwich
QPR v Coventry
Watford v Sheff Wed
Wycombe v Blackburn
And in the Premier League, we’ll be looking ahead to following:
Arsenal v Liverpool (Saturday, 8pm)
Aston Villa v Fulham (Sunday, 4.30pm)
Chelsea v West Brom (Saturday, 12.30)
Everton v Crystal Palace (Monday, 6pm)
Leeds v Sheff Utd (Saturday, 3pm)
Leicester v Man City (Saturday, 5.30pm)
Man Utd v Brighton (Sunday, 7.15pm)
Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur (2.05pm)
Southampton v Burnley (Sunday, 12pm)
Wolverhampton v West Ham (Monday, 8.15pm)
