Paullow

I'd prefer Arsenal to win than Chelsea personally. Hopefully it at least ends in a draw. Could have been 2-0 there, just wide.

At home? They are almost 4/1 to win, and it's by far the easiest game on paper of the six. I'd take a draw in Germany, just mainly due to the crowd factor, but I'd be pretty disappointed if we didn't get the 3 points on Wednesday. It would definitely be an opportunity missed. https://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/newcastle-v-borussia-dortmund/winner

I've no idea, but would probably make sense. I guess 'BVB' is a somewhat similar idea, but just more known because of Dortmund's bigger reputation.

I doubt anyone in the UK would see 'SVW' and automatically think of Werder Bremen. Should have been 'WB', 'Wer' or 'Bre'.

Rotherham vs Ipswich postponed due to the weather, so probably just watch the rugby instead. There are a few foreign matches on, like Dortmund on Sky at 7.30pm.

The worst part about international breaks is the modest football league match on the initial Monday, then no matches on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and also the following Wednesday and Thursday. I definitely miss having a match on, even if it's just on in the background.

Yeah, I'd say there was a clear top 9 in terms of club size, the obvious 6, then Newcastle, Villa, and Everton in whatever order. These are the top 9 in terms of trophies, all time points, all time Premier League points, years in the PL etc. All 9 clubs are from 'core' UK cities as well. West Ham have entered the conversation more in recent years with their league finishes, only missing about 4 of the PL seasons (unlike the Mackems 16), I guess that trophy last year, but also mainly their recent impressive attendances, so they'd be clear 10th IMO. They are also 10th in the all time PL table. I'd personally put Leeds next mainly due to them doing well when i was growing up in the 90s, regular top 6 finishes, CL semi final, big media presence, from a huge city, and their must successful period was at least in living memory to some, but their 16, or now 17, years outside of the top flight definitely lowers their stock somewhat, especially with those years in the 3rd tier. As others say, after that there's not too much to separate the next batch of clubs. Sunderland are 10th in the all time top flight points league, obviously massively assisted by what they did 100 years ago, but no top 6 finishes since the early 1950s, only 3 top 12 finishes in those 70 years, and only 4 matches in Europe in their entire history absolutely lowers their stock. They are 18th in the all time PL table, so they could be anywhere from 12th to 18th really. I'd probably put Leicester ahead of them due to their recent title, other cups, European adventures etc. and probably Forest as well due to the Clough years and also being from a major UK city to add a bit more profile and stature to them, and I'd probably have Sunderland just after that around 14th or 15th. It obviously means very little in reality, and others will have their own variables to boost their sides stock, but that's how I see it FWIW.

Rowett has left Millwall https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67152176

It's obviously not great because it's a 55m investment and another option in the middle of park, one who you would like to think would come good, but the news hasn't bothered me as much as I thought. He hasn't been here long enough to get an emotional connection like say if it was Joelinton, and bar Villa, he hasn't really had that much of an impact and not as disastrous as if it was a Bruno, Botman, or maybe even Gordon. Not ideal of course, but I'm not as concerned as I thought I would be. Hopefully he can get the help needed, become the best English speaker of all time in his spare time, and repays the club for sticking by him when he finally does return.

Yeah, it's good news for them that Denmark play Slovenia first, so that Denmark hadn't potentially secured their spot before that match. You'd probably expect Denmark to beat this version of Northern Ireland on the final day, so as long as Slovenia don't win in Denmark, then qualification should at least be in Kazakhstan's hands going into the final round of fixtures, but it will still be asking a lot. It looks like Albania will possibly be the lowliest sounding side to make it, although they did qualify for Euro 2016 (I was at one of their matches), although I've just seen they were actually in Pot 3. Slovakia were in Pot 5, which sounds crazy, and they look set to make it, although I'd personally consider them to be a stronger nation than Albania - these Nations League standings have made for some all over the place groups. Even Turkey were in a lower pot than both Albania and Armenia. Finland in Pot 2 is crazy as well. You could have had a group of: Poland, Finland, Armenia, Faroes, Malta or Spain, France, Ukraine/Sweden, Turkey, Slovakia

Haha, completely dismissed the possibility of that ever happening.

I was going to watch the end of the Serbia vs Montenegro match (on the free Viaplay channel) with England looking comfortable, but Serbia have scored 2 in 3 mins to also lead 3-1, so not much point.

Great result for them, and like Luxembourg, good to see a lesser side in contention, but it will be tough for them to qualify. They'll have to win in Slovenia next month and still hope for favours. They could do with NI getting an unlikely equaliser tonight.

Jade and Perrie should go halfers and have the Ox as player manager.

Cracking goal by Gyokeres for Sweden against Belgium in the free Viaplay match. Top 2 already decided in this group (Belgium and Austria).

Huge match for Luxembourg tonight against Slovakia. They lost 9-0 and 6-0 to Portugal, but unbeaten in their other 5 matches and they will be favourites to qualify if they can beat their nearest rivals in the group. So used to Luxembourg being the whipping boys over the years, but they have gradually improved in recent times.

Sunderland women have started the season well in the division above. They were obviously good back in the day with many of the England team playing for them, but this is only their 3rd season following promotion from the 3rd tier and they finished 9th and 11th (of 12) in the last two years, but are currently level on points at the top and haven't lost any of their 7 league games so far.

Depends how you look at it. First season at this level, it's decent, but they are the only professional team in the league, and there's only 22 league games in the season, and many of the lesser teams are going to be outmatched, so promotion will likely come down to those 3, 4, 5 big matches, so they would likely have been hoping to win with it being at home. Away would have been a good point. They'll regret that missed penalty, but could have been far worse if Burnley scored either of their gilt edged chances.

Newcastle still creating a lot of chances and generally the better team, but Burnley have had 2 glorious chances this second half. It would feel 2 points dropped, but simultaneously, it wouldn't be a massive surprise if Burnley nicked a late winner. 12 mins to go.

Poor finishing generally. Creating a lot of chances.

Ah, finally got it on my TV now, didn't realise I didn't have the rotate button on my phone highlighted. It's been the same with the men's first team for friendlies, so not just the women, but they shouldn't advertise it being on YouTube if they aren't going to have it on that platform. Would be much more convenient if it was on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOu6HlEdf54 It's available on the club website, but doesn't look like it's going to be on YouTube, which is a shame. Can't get it full screen on my phone, so can't really mirror it to my TV.

Going to Carlisle vs Leyton Orient today. One of only 4 third tier matches not affected by international call ups.

Belgium were 3-0 up, Austria pulled one back, Belgium down to 10, and likely to be a VAR penno for Austria now, so could be an interesting 10 mins or so. Penalty given.

Matz Sels starts for Belgium