Paullow

Haaland has not got his shooting boots with him today. I'm kind of torn whether to want another goal to pretty much put it to bed, or to keep the actual match as a contest going a little, given it's in the prime 4.30pm slot, but then more chance of an unwanted result.

Yeah, totally agree with that, although Man City taking the lead early would have been the worst thing from a televised fixture POV.

From a Newcastle perspective?

A surprise, but the best thing to happen to this game from a competitive POV. Hoping Man City come back mind.

I know what you mean in general, but Chelsea just the other week.

Happy enough with those 2pm. Wasn't sure what I wanted in the Chelsea match (home or draw), but a Brighton away win would have been by far the worst, so that's fine. Shame Villa got a late draw, but at least it's not another win for them, especially given how strong they are at home. Not massively concerned with West Ham, but if they won it would have been 3 wins in a row and back to within 3 points of us, so them dropping points at home to an obvious non threat is never a bad thing - it also means we can more hope they get something against Spurs in midweek (if that makes sense). Shame Liverpool won, but as I say, I don't think they're a massive direct rival to us this season - it's more Villa, Spurs, Man Utd, Brighton, maybe Chelsea, and to a lesser extent West Ham. Finish above at least 5 of those teams and we'll have more than met our objectives for this season. Hopefully a routine win for City here, and 4 defeats in a row for Spurs.

Important win, 1-0. Not at their best, but could have easily petered to a 0-0. Top of the league.

Aye, especially when against someone who shouldn't be a threat to us.

I'm not that fussed with Liverpool, I'm sure they, Arsenal and Man City will be in the top 3, but hope Villa don't get a winner. That would be most annoying.

Fergie! 86th minute.

Derby vs Burnley was postponed so Newcastle will go top if they avoid defeat, and both will have played the same amount of games, but obviously it's a game Newcastle ill want to win.

Without wanting to sound pedantic, he would have only been 9 and a couple months off his 10th birthday. Mad.

That would be incredible. They were in the 5th tier in 1999, and had barely even played second tier football until 2008. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Girona_FC_seasons#Seasons

Was it Minteh who tried that turn and got dispossessed? Almost 0-2, and would have been a cracker. Edit - it is 0-2 now from the resulting corner.

Minteh certainly has been involved in his 10 mins, just drawn a yellow card. Forgot he'll be up against Van Aarnholt - thought PVA would have been retired by now, but just 33.

Give the ball a way one minute, but then create a good chance for himself, putting it just wide.

Minteh has just come on (vs PSV), 53 mins, still 0-0. https://mola.tv/

Minteh starts on the bench. Perhaps it's me reading it wrong and some double names or something, but looks like Feyenoord have 12 subs. I know they're an hour ahead, but not used to seeing live football before midday.

Tomorrow looks a cracking day of football on TV. A shame Chelsea vs Brighton wasn't the 2pm Sky match, as West Ham vs Crystal Palace, especially with the better side being at home, doesn't look too appealing, although I will probably stream the NUFC women's match at that time, and have it more in the foreground than background. 11.15am - Feyenoord vs PSV on Mola TV (free app). PSV have won all 13 league matches and are 7 points clear of their 2nd placed opponents, so it kind of feels pretty much must win for Feyenoord with them being at home. Might get a Minteh sighting as well. 4.30pm - Man City vs Spurs, Sky Sports 7.45pm Napoli vs Inter, TNT Sports 2, 4th vs 2nd. Napoli will probably be OK for top 4, but they really do need to win to put themselves in the title picture. 9 points behind Juve, and would go 11 behind Inter if they lost 8pm - Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid, ITV4. 4th vs 3rd, both sides will want the win to put the pressure on the mighty Girona, who currently sit joint top, and 7 clear of these two. I might leave the sofa at some stage...

Cantona 95/96 vibes to this.

Preston vs QPR on Sky later doesn't look amazing, but St Pauli vs Hamburg in the derby, top vs second (second tier) could be quite interesting at 5.30pm on Sky Sports YouTube page.

5-1 to big Nordsjaelland against Fenerbache. Obviously there'll be 8 Europa dropouts, but at the moment Fenerbache were meant to be the 4th favourites to win the competition.

Nordsjaelland Just gone 2-0 up on Fenerbahce. Fantastic team goal for the 2nd.

Oh, will keep tabs on Brighton's match in Athens at 5.45pm as well.

The hipster in me will have TNT Sports 9 channel on for two Conference League clashes in Nordic countries later on: 5.45pm - KI vs Sl Bratislava 8pm - Nordsjaelland vs Fenerbache Keeping half an eye on the Villa score as while they will very likely win, it would be nice if they finished second and had an extra couple of needless matches in February.