The Sky Blues versus Ipswich, Leicester against The Rams, and Additional Football Action Updates
Greetings to the busy night of EFL as well as continental football fixtures. The spotlight falls on key Championship encounters and those crucial final group games in the Afcon tournament.
Preamble
Greetings to all. You are welcome to the reportedly the second-to-last football live blog of the year. There’s an extensive Football League programme, starting with Coventry v Ipswich at 6pm, while we’ll also be keeping at least a third of an eye on both evening games from the first group at this Afcon: Zambia against the hosts Morocco as well as Mali facing Comoros.
Our primary attention will be on these fixtures, all 19:45 start times except where noted.
Afcon 2025
- Comoros versus Mali (7pm)
- Zambia versus The Atlas Lions (19:00)
Second Division Matches
- The Sky Blues v Ipswich (18:00)
- The Foxes v Derby
- Middlesbrough v Hull
- Millwall v Bristol City
- Wrexham versus North End
League One
- Cardiff v Stevenage
Latest Team News
Coventry v Ipswich Confirmed Lineups
The evening's opener, between the teams who are top and third in the second tier, looks like an exciting match. Here are the confirmed lineups.
Coventry (a 4-2-3-1 formation) The goalkeeper; the right-back, Woolfenden, the defender, the left-back; the midfielder, Grimes; Sakamoto, Rudoni, the forward; the striker.
Substitutes: Wilson, the midfielder, Simms, Kesler-Hayden, the full-back, Latibeaudiere, the midfielder, Perry, the player.
Ipswich (4-2-3-1) Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, the defender, Greaves; Matusiwa, the midfielder; Walle, the playmaker, Jack Clarke; the centre-forward.
Substitutes: Palmer, Young, the midfielder, Humphreys, the midfielder, the winger, McAteer, Philogene-Bidace, the striker.
The official Backhouse (from Cumbria).
Afcon 2025: First Group Permutations
The situation is complex. It always is when some but not all third-place sides progress. Here’s how things look ahead of tonight’s last set of games.
- Morocco 4 points, +2 goal difference
- Mali 2 points, 0 goal difference (goals scored 2)
- The Copper Bullets 2pts, 0 goal difference (goals scored 1)
- Comoros 1 point, GD-2
To summarize, Morocco is likely safe though they will aim to beat their opponents to win the group. Zambia probably need at least a point against Morocco. Comoros probably must to overcome Mali, who should advance if they get a point.
A host of potential results and permutations.
Angola v Egypt Update
The final act of Group B at the continental championship is being covered. If you don’t want to know the score, it's best not to seek out that information.
Second Tier Standings Overview
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coventry | 23 | 31 | 51 |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | 23 | 9 | 43 |
| 3 | Ipswich | 23 | 15 | 38 |
| 4 | Hull | 23 | 2 | 38 |
| 5 | Preston North End | 23 | 7 | 37 |
| 6 | Bristol City | 23 | 7 | 36 |
| 7 | Millwall | 23 | -6 | 36 |
| 8 | Watford | 23 | 4 | 35 |
| 9 | QPR | 23 | -2 | 35 |
| 10 | Stoke | 23 | 7 | 34 |
| 11 | Derby | 23 | 1 | 32 |
| 12 | Southampton | 23 | 4 | 31 |
| 13 | Wrexham | 23 | 2 | 31 |
| 14 | Leicester | 23 | -1 | 31 |
| 15 | Birmingham | 23 | 1 | 30 |
| 16 | West Brom | 23 | -5 | 28 |
| 17 | Charlton | 22 | -6 | 27 |
| 18 | Blackburn | 22 | -4 | 26 |
| 19 | Sheff Utd | 23 | -5 | 26 |
| 20 | Swansea | 23 | -7 | 26 |
| 21 | Oxford Utd | 23 | -8 | 22 |
| 22 | Portsmouth | 22 | -10 | 22 |
| 23 | Norwich | 23 | -9 | 21 |
| 24 | Sheff Wed | 22 | -27 | -8 |
