Boxing Day Premier League clockwatch live!
Goals, news and, um, other stuff in a packed afternoon of fantastically festive footer!
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1.54pm: Comeback of the day (probably): Bottom of the table Plymouth, 2-0 down at half-time away at Bristol Rovers, appear to have scored a stoppage-time winner it's 2-3!
1.48pm: Luiz and Sturridge with useless long-range attempts in the last couple of minutes, and it's half-time.
1.45pm: The last 20 minutes at Stamford Bridge have been very poor. Chelsea have had a couple of shots from range Mereiles' was the best but otherwise have lacked width and wit.
1.41pm: My attempts to combine these occasional updates on Chelsea v Fulham with work on a forthcoming feature on the Blood in the Water match and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution have been incredibly frustrating. The feature can wait. I'm all yours.
1.39pm: Early kick-off home-side recently-earned one-goal advantage round-up: Watford 1 Cardiff 0, Lincoln 1 Grimsby 0, Southampton 1 Palace 0.
1.28pm: Oooooh! Dembele's low cross-shot slips across goal and just wide. "How I used to love standing on the terraces on Boxing Day, out of the house and away from the mixed blessings of a Family Christmas at last," writes Gary Naylor. "I wasn't alone, as the banter and bonhomie seemed warmer than at any other match in the season unfortunately, the farting was warmer too, with a ripeness that surely contravened the Geneva Convention." Crikey. The particularly warm atmosphere of which you speak is familiar from my own childhood days on the terraces, but I have to say the farting doesn't stick in my memory. Where I'm from fans fart equally badly throughout the year.
1.18pm: Great save by Stockdale! Mata crosses to! Torres, who chests the ball down brilliantly with two defenders around him and volleys it goalwards. Very nicely done, but too close to the advancing keeper, who blocks. A minute later Torres sets up Sturridge on the edge of the area, but the shot is sliced wide.
1.16pm: Terrible miss by Fulham! Kelly crosses from the right and Sa has a free header at the back post which he heads way over the bar. It looked an easy enough header, should have been a formality.
1.08pm: I'll keep you up to date with the latest from Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea are currently drawing 0-0 with Fulham after five minutes. Fernando Torres has started in place of Drogba (and just missed his first half-chance, from Sturridge's cross). It won't be a full minute-by-minute, more an occasional update, but I should hopefully bring you the key events pretty sharpish. Is Clint Dempsey getting booked a key event? Anyway, it's happened.
Midday update: Well, I hope everyone had a thoroughly merry Christmas, because it's over now, and a fair preportion of us will lose all sense of goodwill to all men if our teams turn out to be festive flops. It's an action-packed day, which could end with Manchester City being toppled from the top of the Premier League (but probably won't). Notable 3pm kicks-offs include:
Manchester United host Wigan knowing a win will take them top of the top flight if West Brom somehow beat Manchester City. United will surely win (their head-to-head record against the Latics: P13 W13 D0 L0 F41 A4), but perhaps the Baggies have half a chance?
Liverpool play Blackburn in a match which forces journalists to decide whether to talk about someone who may or may not be sacked in the morning, someone who may or may not be racist or actual football for a change.
Also in the top flight: Bolton v Newcastle, and Sunderland v Everton.
In the Championship, it's third against fourth as Middlesbrough host four-wins-on-the-spin form team Hull City. And it's! also th ird against fourth in League Two, as Cheltenham battle Shrewsbury.
In League One, high-flying Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield face low-flying Yeovil, Walsall and Chesterfield respectively. The Spireites are at least at home.
And if you're still at a loose end, you could peruse Paolo Bandini's transfer rumour update or watch this charming footballing review of 2011 featuring James Richardson and Barry Glendenning. I'll be here from 2pm.
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