The Sky Blues v The Tractor Boys, Leicester against The Rams, and Additional Football League Previews
Hello to a busy night of Football League as well as international soccer action. The spotlight falls on important second-tier matches and those pivotal final pool matches in the Afcon competition.
Preamble
Greetings to all. Welcome to what is checks writing desk rota this second-to-last football live blog of the year. We have an extensive EFL schedule, kicking off with Coventry v Ipswich at 18:00, and we’ll also be keeping a close watch on the two evening fixtures from the first group at this Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia against the hosts Morocco as well as Comoros v Mali.
We'll be focussing on these matches, with 19:45 kick-offs except where noted.
Africa Cup of Nations Fixtures
- The Coelacanths versus Mali (19:00)
- The Copper Bullets versus Morocco (19:00)
Championship
- The Sky Blues v The Tractor Boys (18:00)
- The Foxes versus Derby
- Middlesbrough v The Tigers
- The Lions v The Robins
- The Red Dragons versus Preston
League One
- Cardiff versus Boro
Recent Team News
Ipswich at Coventry Team News
The evening's opener, featuring the sides sitting first and third in the second tier, looks like a cracker. Here are the starting elevens.
Coventry (4-2-3-1) Rushworth; the right-back, Woolfenden, the defender, the left-back; the midfielder, the captain; Sakamoto, Rudoni, the forward; Wright.
Substitutes: The backup keeper, the midfielder, the forward, Kesler-Hayden, the full-back, the defender, the midfielder, the youngster, Andrews.
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1) Walton; Furlong, the centre-half, Kipre, Greaves; the midfielder, the midfielder; Walle, Nunez, the winger; Azon.
Subs: Palmer, the defender, Johnson, Humphreys, the midfielder, Burns, the forward, the attacker, Akpom.
Referee Backhouse (Cumbria).
Afcon 2025: Group A Permutations
Look, it’s complicated. It always is where only some third-place sides qualify. Here’s how things look ahead of this evening's final set of matches.
- The Atlas Lions 4pts, GD+2
- The Eagles 2pts, 0 goal difference (with 2 goals for)
- The Copper Bullets 2 points, GD0 (goals scored 1)
- Comoros 1pt, GD-2
In short, Morocco are probably fine though they will aim to beat Zambia to top the group. Zambia probably need a draw or better versus Morocco. The island nation probably must to beat Mali, who will probably be okay if they get a draw.
Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous.
Angola v Egypt Update
The final act of the second group at this Africa Cup of Nations has coverage elsewhere. To avoid spoilers, avoid following that coverage.
Championship 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 |
