Thank you for joining me! Enjoy your evenings.
Forest v Bournemouth was overshadowed by the injury to Danilo. Ben Fisher was there.
League Two scores
League One scores
Championship scores
Louise Taylor reports from Newcastle’s win over Southampton.
Andy Hunter saw the bad and ugly of Everton against Brighton.
Mikel Arteta reaction: “I am really happy. With the first game you have some uncertainty in how you will respond.
“We had our moment after 1-0 when we were not in control but after Saka’s goal we were much more comfortable. The way the boys go about their job is unbelievable, so very happy.
“We knew Wolves could change the game and they did in the second half but with our changes we became a bit stronger.
“We certainly are. We had a really good pre-season. There are things to improve for sure, but overall very happy.
“The lack of control in the second half [we can improve], we gave so many simple balls away. We also had to finish situations better but overall very happy.”
Ben Bloom witnessed Arsenal’s title challenge begin.
Enjoyed my drivel? If so, there is more live reporting courtesy of Rob Smyth who describe West Ham v Aston Villa.
Let’s plot our evening reading. We start with Paul Hayward of Ipswich’s Premier League return.
Full time: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Bournemouth
It is a point apiece. The first draw of the season.
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Bournemouth: The Danilo injury delay means there is still some time to play at the City Ground …
Simon McMahon reports from Scotland: “Couple of shocks in the Scottish League Cup, Will, with fourth tier Spartans beating Scottish Premiership Ross County, and Falkirk of the Scottish Championship knocking out not so glorious Hearts.”
Ooof!
Full time: Everton 0-3 Brighton
Things can only get better for the Toffees but it is a fantastic start to life for Hurzeler at Brighton.
Full time: Newcastle 1-0 Southampton
The 10 men of Newcastle hold on to win three points. A missed opportunity for the Saints.
Championship: This is bigger than life and death! Gudmundsson adds a fifth for Burnley against Cardiff.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Bournemouth (Semenyo, 86)
Toffolo hits the ball off Murillo and Semenyo pounces to level.
Updated
Championship: Bristol City beat Millwall 4-3. What a cracker!
Everton 0-3 Brighton: NO GOAL! Ayari has a fourth ruled out for offside.
Updated
Full time! Arsenal 2-0 Wolves
An ideal start for Arteta thanks to Havertz and Saka.
Championship: Colback gets himself sent off for QPR at Sheffield United but the west Londoners are back on level terms thanks to Dykes.
GOAL! Everton 0-3 Brighton (Adingra, 86)
Welbeck finds Adingra who pings the ball into the far corner as the Goodison exodus begins. A dreadful start to the season for the Toffees.
Updated
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth: The Cherries are having the better of it but are struggling to create chances.
Championship: Scott Twine joined from Burnley this week and he’s marked the occasion with a fourth for Bristol City. 4-3!
League One: Birmingham are enjoying life at Wycombe as the wonderfully named Willum Willumsson makes it 3-1.
Arsenal 2-0 Wolves: Rice is forced off injured for the Gunners.
Championship: Swansea are winning 3-0 against Preston, who sacked Ryan Lowe this week. Zan Vipotnik with the third.
Championship: Bristol City are back on level terms against Millwall through Fally Mayulu – 3-3.
Arsenal 2-0 Wolves: “How on earth does Saka look fresh after play 700 games in the last three years?” asks Sean Orlowicz.
Give it a few months, Sean.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Wolves (Saka, 70)
Saka gets the ball on the edge of the box and pings a shot into the corner. Game over?
Updated
League One: Stockport pulled off one of the signings of the summer and Louie Barry is doing the business. He’s given them the lead at Blackpool.
RED CARD! Everton 0-2 Brighton (Young, 66)
Young makes a mess of receiving a pass, Mitoma nips in and is away, causing the full-back to make amends by pulling him down but he knows the result.
Updated
Arsenal 1-0 Wolves: The visitors have picked it up in the second half and causing a lot of problems. Cunha has a good chance but cannot make the most of it.
League Two: The wonderful Albert Adomah has added a fourth for Walsall at Swindon.
Championship: Bristol City took an early two-goal lead but Millwall have fought back and are now 3-2 ahead, scoring three in 13 second-half minutes.
Updated
Everton 0-2 Brighton: Some people were suspicious that Hürzeler might be out of his depth in the Premier League but he seems to be producing the goods against the wily old fox that is Sean Dyche.
GOAL! Everton 0-2 Brighton (Welbeck, 56)
Gueye tries to play the ball out but fails and Welbeck receives a pass into a dangerous position from where he duly provides a fine finish.
Updated
Championship: Odobert might have left but Scott Parker’s Burnley are still having fun. Brownhill adds a third against Cardiff.
Newcastle 1-0 Southampton: Pope comes to the rescue for the hosts with a stunning save from an Armstrong strike.
League Two: Chesterfield are now 5-0 up at Crewe. Outlook bleak for The Alex.
Everton 0-1 Brighton. NO PENALTY! The referee overturns his decision after reviewing footage.
Updated
Everton 0-1 Brighton: PENALTY TO EVERTON? Dunk catches Calvert-Lewin in the box and Simon Hooper awards a penalty but he is told to review the decision at the pitchside screen …
Updated
League Two HT scores
League One HT scores
Championship HT scores
Half time: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth:
The whistle finally comes after an eventual 56 minutes.
Newcastle 1-0 Southampton: It’s kicking off in the tunnel. There is some argy bargy between Burn and Bednarek. Things are hotting up.
Half time: Newcastle 1-0 Southampton
The boos are ringing around the ground but they are aimed at the referee and Brereton Diaz rather than the home players. The 10 men have the lead.
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth: They are into 11 minutes added on caused by the injury to Danilo and VAR involvement on the ruled out Cherries equaliser.
Half time: Everton 0-1 Brighton
Fabian Hürzeler has got Brighton humming in his first game in charge and Mitoma has them ahead.
Half time: Arsenal 1-0 Wolves
Havertz’s opener means it is all going to plan for the Gunners.
There’s no shortage of pubs in the area around Tannadice Park, home of Dundee United,” says Simon McMahon. “Dundee was often said to have the highest number of pubs per head of population in the whole of the UK. There’s literally dozens in the square mile around the ground. Particular favourites are The Snug and The Athletic Bar, known locally as Hungry Bob’s, or actually Hungry Boab’s in the local vernacular. £3 a pint, don’t ask for cocktails. United are at home to St. Mirren in the Scottish League Cup last 16 tomorrow. Pints are on me.”
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Southampton (Joelinton, 44)
The Saints mess up playing out from the back and McCarthy plays the ball to Isak who lays it off to Joelinton who does the rest.
Updated
Newcastle 0-0 Southampton: Brereton-Diaz has a great chance to open the scoring but completely misses the target. Saints are on top here against 10 men. This could be a cracking return to the top flight for Russell Martin’s men.
Arsenal 1-0 Wolves: Saka is moving gingerly after a challenge, hopefully it is nothing serious.
NO GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth
VAR rules out the Ouattara equaliser. Who needs Mark Clattenburg as a referee consultant?
Newcastle 0-0 Southampton: The home fans are giving Brereton-Diaz are lot of stick for his part in the sending off. It is a hostile atmosphere.
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth: Ouattara smashes the ball into the roof of the net after Forest fail to clear.
Updated
Championship: After a fine opening night win over Luton, Burnley are 2-0 up against Luton. The first was a dreadful mistake from goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and Koleosho has doubled the lead.
Arsenal 1-0 Wolves: “Martin Ødegaard looks full of vim and vigour,” says Kári Tulinius. “Having the summer off has done him a world of good. I wonder if top players from countries who rarely get to big tournaments should trade at a premium, given how they’re fresher at the beginning of the season.”
Updated
League Two: Crewe 0-4 Chesterfield. They are yet to reach the half-hour mark.
RED CARD! Newcastle 0-0 Southampton (Schar, 28)
The centre-back puts his head to Brereton-Diaz’s, who drops to the deck and the referee produces the red card from his pocket. It looks like a soft one but you cannot push your head towards another player.
Updated
Premier League: Well, that was a fun few minutes to get the 3pms firing. All we need now is a goal at St James’ Park where Southampton and dominating possession against Southampton.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Brighton (Mitoma, 25)
A positive start to the new era for Brighton as Mitoma knocks in a Minteh cross at the back post.
Updated
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Wolves (Havertz, 25)
The German converts a Saka cross after beating the goalkeeper to the ball.
Updated
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth: Yates shoots and the goalkeeper can only parry the effort to Wood who does the business.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth (Wood, 23)
Nuno backed Wood over Awoniyi and he’s proved the gaffer right.
Updated
League Two: Crewe fans must be having an awful time.
“Has to be The Crabtree, just down the river from the Cottage,” Mark Dawson says. “Because it’s not in Crabtree Lane but Rainville Road, where my first girlfriend lived at number 9 so I passed it so many times to listen to her records and that before I took up drinking heavily. Great mixability of fans, never seen any rumpus. On a fine Spring or Autumn afternoon, often tempted to think ‘Aw sod it, let’s skip the match’: but tickets have been bought, and so on and so forth.”
Arsenal 0-0 Wolves: It’s relatively quiet at the Emirates but the hosts are dominating. Is it only a matter of time before they break the deadlock?
Championship: Sheffield United are leading 2-0 against QPR after Kieffer Moore added a second. The Blades supporters will be enjoying life back in the second tier after a dreadful Premier League campaign.
Updated
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Bournemouth: There are screens up on the pitch at the City Ground to cover Danilo. It looks like he suffered the injury when landing after jumping with Semenyo.
League Two: Chesterfield are 3-0 at Crewe after 12 minutes. Crewe lost in the playoff final but a number of key players left and they have struggled to replace them, it would seem.
Newcastle 0-0 Southampton: NO GOAL! Stephens taps in at the back post but the centre-back is offside and the flag goes up. We are still waiting a legitimate goal in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Bournemouth: Danilo is down in the middle of the pitch after going into a challenge with Semenyo. The general reaction seems to indicate a horrible injury for the Brazilian.
Everton 0-0 Brighton: The Toffees have another chance to score but McNeil hits the post. The energy is very much up at Goodison.
“The Coach and Horses round the corner from Leyton Orient is brilliant,” says Will Lane. “Good beer, but (more?) importantly there is enough of an *atmosphere* for there to be a pregame crackle.”
Updated
Everton 0-0 Brighton: NO GOAL! McNeil swings in a corner and Harrison gets the ball into the net but he is deemed to be offside.
Updated
Everton 0-0 Brighton: Harrison cuts in from the right and pings a shot at goal but Steele makes a decent save.
Arsenal 0-0 Wolves: The Gunners have started brightly and are looking to dominate possession. There was a pre-match tribute to former striker Kevin Campbell who sadly passed away over the summer.
“The Compton Arms near Highbury & Islington is a great pub with a rare mix of home (Arsenal) and away fans. I’ve never felt intimidated in there as a Liverpool fan,” says Stephen Cottrell.
I concur.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Updated
The players are out for the big matches. Try to contain your excitement people.
Johan Claesson on pubs: “The Dancing man brewery and pub is a cracking pre match venue, lovely setting, great outdoors with sea views, even great food in there. A bit of a of a walk to St Mary’s afterwards but a 15 minute stroll before kick off is never a bad idea.”
My general pre-match plan on the rare occasion I can attend a Man City match as a fan is to have a couple at Track Brewing.
Meanwhile Neil Squires witnessed a goalless draw at The Hawthorns.
John Brewin was at Portman Road for Arne Slot’s first game in charge of Liverpool.
He’s still going.
United were pretty unconvincing last night but a win is a win is a win.
Jonathan Wilson and I were there.
Tonight Matthew …
Liverpool go top of the Premier League
Goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah saw off Ipswich in the end. Arne Slot’s new charges found their feet in the second half and the top-flight newcomers were unable to match them.
Fair play, Jimmy.
“I’m not sure about the best pub near a ground, but the worst was the General Smuts near Loftus Road,” suggests Gary Naylor. “It was, shall we say, intimidating in there.
“Closed down for a few years now I believe - there’s West London gentrification for you!”
I fear a search for the worst pub near a ground would have more competition. My favourite away was always Crystal Palace because you could go to some cracking pubs at London Bridge and get the train. I am not sure that fits my own criteria.
A busy day for pubs near grounds after a quiet summer. What is the best pre-match pub near a football ground in the UK?
And a highly important interview by the great Tom Garry.
Some pre-match reading.
Louise Taylor and Lloyd Kelly.
Ben Fisher and Russell Martin.
Always something quirky happening at Forest.
Would you like 10 things to look out for this weekend? Of course you would.
In other news … Liverpool are 2-0 up at Ipswich thanks to goals from Jota and Salah.
Today is the start of the final season at Goodison Park, one of the few great old stadiums still around today. It will be sad when its gone but as a regular I can fully accept the reason to modernise.
This season’s predictions come with many asterisks, or often just with a big Asterix if you listen to the right people. Profitability and sustainability rules, points deductions, looming charges mean a lot of the biggest news will happen nowhere near a football pitch. At Manchester City it’s a big season for … Lord Pannick. It’s a tight call between him and Rodri for their key player. They can cope for a bit without Haaland using all manner of false 9s but without Pannick – have they got enough depth to fight off the Premier League?
Max Rushden on the perfect season for the neutral.
There are your teams from the four 3pms in the Premier League. Which debutant are you most looking forward to seeing?
Starting lineups: Forest v Bournemouth
Starting lineups: Everton v Brighton
Starting lineups: Newcastle v Southampton
Starting lineups: Arsenal v Wolves
Preamble
We are back baby! The Premier League started in style under the lights on Friday as one of the richest clubs in the world scraped three points against Fulham. The question is, dear reader, what will the traditional 3pm kick-offs on Saturday bring to us?
Last season’s runners-up Arsenal begin by welcoming Wolves to north London. Mikel Arteta has not changed much in terms of personnel but I am sure he will have a couple of cunning plans up his sleeve in order to take the Gunners to the next level. The players have had an extra season together and the difference between them and City is miniscule.
Everton take on Brighton as Sean Dyche comes up against Premier League debutant Fabian Hürzeler. Will the old master of keeping things simple and effective give a painful welcome to the 31-year-old new boy. Knowing that managers are so young nowadays is becoming somewhat painful for the ego.
Elsewhere Newcastle host Southampton who are back in the top flight and will be eager to prove they deserve to be here. Meanwhile Nottingham Forest host Bournemouth in what both teams hope becomes a mid-table fixture for years to come.
3pm BST kick-offs:
Arsenal v Wolves
Everton v Brighton
Newcastle v Southampton
Forest v Bournemouth