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Key events
Full time: Wolves 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: Palhinha got the goal as Tottenham Hotspur secured their first league victory of the year against already relegated Wolves and their players are celebrating like they’ve just won the Champions League. They remain in the drop zone, two points behind West Ham.
Full time: West Ham 2-1 Everton
Premier League: Callum Wilson came off the bench to score the decisive goal for West Ham in the second minute of added time at the London Stadium. The gap between West Ham and Tottenham remains at two points
Full time: Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace
Premier League: Mo Salah limped out of what could be his last appearance in a Liverpool shirt with a hamstring injury, while Alexander Isak, Andy Robertson and Florian Wirtz scored the goals that did for Palace.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace (Wirtz 90+6)
Liverpool extend their lead: Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman didn’t have to make way despite suffering what looked a serious knee injury and is on the field to see Florian Wirtz put this match beyond Palace in the knockings with a half-volley that went in off the woodwork.
West Ham 2-1 Everton: That goal: El Hadji Malick Diouf sent a cross into the Everton penalty area and Jarrod Bowen headed the ball back across the face of goal to tee up WIlson, who made no mistake from close range.
GOAL! West Ham 2-1 Everton (Wilson 90+2)
West Ham restore their lead! On as a substitute, Callum Wilson plunges Spurs back into the relegation zone with a goal in the third minute of added time.
Championship: Jaydon Banel scores in the 88th minute to send Derby County 3-2 ahead against QPR in a ding-dong battle at Lofts Road. At Carrow Road, Kenny McLean has equalised for Norwich against Swansea City.
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Everton (Dewsbury-Hall 88)
Everton equalise! Not long after Everton had an excellent penalty shout turned down, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall restores parity for them at the London Stadium. As things stand, Tottenham Hotspur are out of the relegation zone, above West Ham on goal difference.
GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Palhinha 82)
Spurs take the lead! Pedro Porro takes another corner, Richarlison sends a shot goalwards and Palhinha sticks out a toe to steer the ball past Jose Sa. The goal stands despite a long VAR check for offside.
Championship: Portsmouth go 3-1 ahead against Stoke as Adrian Segecic completes his hat-trick on 82 minutes. Patrick Bamford makes it Sheffield 2-3 Preston at Bramall Lane and Tomi Horvat scores a penalty to halve Bristol City’s deficit against Birmingham at St Andrew’s, where it’s 2-1.
Championship: Lewis Dobbin sends Preston 3-1 up against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, while Sondre Langas equalises for Derby against QPR at Loftus Road, where it’s 2-2.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Crystal Palace (Munoz 71)
Premier League: Freddie Woodman saves from Ismaila Sarr and injures his knee in the process. He tries to return to his feet but can’t, allowing Daniel Munoz to score into the unguarded net from 20 yards. Liverpool’s third choice goalkeeper looks to have suffered a bad knee injury but hasn’t come off yet.
Championship: Oxford United are leading Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 at the Kassam Stadium. Wednesday pulled a goal back through Will Grainger, only for Myles Peart-Harris to score at the other end for Oxford a minute later.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs win a corner and Jose Sa gets down to save Rodrigo Bentancur’s strong header after the Uruguayan had got on the end of Pedro Porro’s inswinger.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: A mistake by Kevin Danso goes unpunished and he owes Antonin Kinski a couple of pints for sparing his blushes. The Tottenham goalkeeper rushed off his line to bravely deny Adam Armstrong after Danso made a dog’s breakfast of his effort to deal with a long ball from deep.
Xavi Simons forced off with a knee injury
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Simons can’t continue and looks very upset as he makes way for Lucas Bergvall. I suspect that may be the last we see of Simons this season and he may be a non-starter as far as the Netherlands’ World Cup campaign is concerned. This afternoon is turning into the stuff of Tottenham’s worst nightmares.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Already a Dominic Solanke down after their centre-forward was forced off in the first half with a hammy, the Spurs bench look on in despair as Xavi Simons goes down with a knee injury. He’s soldiering on for now but it doesn’t look great for the Dutchman. If it wasn’t for bad luck, Spurs wouldn’t have any luck at all.
Mo Salah pulls his hamstring
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace: Mo Salah pulls up lame and limps out of what looks like being his final appearance in a Liverpool shirt. It’s a sad way for his time at the club to end, presuming it is his last hurrah.
Championship: Richard Kone has given QPR a 2-1 lead over Derby County at Loftus Road.
Championship: It’s all square between Stoke and Portsmouth in the Potteries, where unbeknownst to me until a few moments ago, Lamine Cisse equalised for the hosts shortly after half-time.
Championship: Zan Vipotnik scores from the spot to give Swansea City a one-goal lead over Norwich.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Everton (Soucek 52)
Premier League: West Ham take the lead through Tomas Soucek, who steers a header past Jordan Pickford at a corner moments after his side had a penalty shout turned down.
West Ham 0-0 Everton: West Ham appeal for a penalty as Taty Castellanos is brought down by Jordan Pickford, whose momentum led to him catching the West Ham striker as he came out to dive at his feet. It’s no penalty but there’s a goal at the London Stadium and if you’re a Spurs fan, look away now …
Tottenham Hotspur: Those who celebrate expected goals might be interested to hear that Roberto de Zerbi’s side had an xG of 0.12 in the first half of their match against Wolves. Mathys Tel is on for Randal Kolo Muani at half-time in a bid to take the bare look off that dismal stat.
Premier League half-times
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Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa (R)
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West Ham 0-0 Everton
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Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
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Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace
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Arsenal v Newcastle (5.30pm)
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View the Premier League table
Championship half-times
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Charlton Athletic 2-1 Hull City (R)
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Middlesbrough 5-1 Watford (R)
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West Brom 0-0 Ipswich Town (R)
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Birmingham City 2-0 Bristol City
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Norwich City 0-0 Swansea City
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Oxford United 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
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QPR 1-1 Derby County
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Sheffield United 0-2 Preston
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Stoke City 0-1 Portsmouth
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View the Championship table
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace: Palace have a mountain to climb if they are to beat Liverpool for the fourth time this season. Alexander Isak and Andy Robertson got the goals, as Liverpool secured a 2-0 first-half lead.
West Ham 0-0 Everton: The deadlock remains resolutely unbroken between West Ham and Everton at the London Stadium in a state of affairs that will suit West Ham more than the hal stalemate at Molineux …
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Wolves midfielder Andre has been booked for a crunching tackle on Yves Bissouma that perhaps deserved a red card. Tottenham’s players certainly thought so and even Rob Edwards feared the worst as Anthony Taylor pondered his decision. It’s half-time at Molineux.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: We’re still waiting for a shot on target from either team at Molineux. Tottenham have just lost Dominic Solanke to injury and are offering little or nothing in attack.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace (Robertson 40)
Premier League: Freddie Woodman pulls off a superb save from JP Mateta at one end, before Liverpool break forward and score through Andy Robertson at the other. The Scot was played in behind by Curtis Jones before firing a low shot past Dean Henderson.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs striker Dominic Solanke has gone down with a hamstring injury and it looks like his afternoon, if not his season is over. Richarlison is ready to take his place.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace (Isak 35)
Premier League: Alexander Isak puts Liverpool ahead against their 2025-26 bogey team, intercepting an Alexis Mac Allister shot that was going wide and sending the ball past Dean Henderosn. It’s the Swede’s first goal since breaking his leg in December.
Championship: Adrien Segecic has given Portsmouth a one-goal lead at Stoke City in a match between two sides separated by just one point and playing for little more than pride.
Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa
Premier League match report: Ryan Sessegnon scored the only goal of the game as Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham missed chances for the visitors in front of the watching England head coach Thomas Tuchel. Ben Bloom reports from Craven Cottage …
Championship: Jhon Solis doubles Birmingham’s lead over Bristol City at St Andrew’s, as the hosts capitalise on a horrific error from Sam Morsy.
Championship: Relegated before they’d even got to kick a ball this afternoon because of early results elsewhere, Oxford United are 2-0 ahead against Sheffield Wednesday courtesy of Will Lankshear’s second goal of the game. Both sides will be playing League One football next season.
Championship: Oscar Fraulo has restored parity for Derby County against QPR at Loftus Road, where it’s all square at one goal apiece after 28 minutes.
No penalty for Liverpool
Premier League: As expected, the decision is overturned. There was no foul but it almost certainly wasn’t a dive either. Salah simply lost his balance and fell over as Johnson chased him down.
Penalty for Liverpool!
Premier League: Crystal Palace’s Brennan Johnson is penalised for a trip on Mo Salah, who goes to ground on the edge of the penalty area and gets straight back up without appealing for a spot-kick. There didn’t look to be any contact and this decision will probably be overturned on the advice of VAR.
Championship: Liam Lindsey scores his second goal of the afternoon, sending a glancing header at a corner past Adam Davies to put Preston two goals up.
League Two: Take a bow Callum Stead. The Barnet striker has scored a hat-trickinside 17 minutes against Gillingham to keep his side’s playoff hopes alive and kicking.
Premier League: We’re still waiting for a goal, or even a chance of note in any of the three top flight matches being played at the moment. West Ham are looking nervous against Everton, while Tottenham are dominating Wolves early doors but have yet to trouble Jose Sa.
Championship: Harvey Vale gives QPR a 1-0 lead over Derby County at Loftus Road, sending a low drive past Jacob Zetterström into the bottom corner after 13 minutes.
Championship: Birmingham City are one up against Bristol City at St Andrew’s, where Phil Neumann has put the home side’s noses in front.
Championship: In the relegation wake between Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday at the Kassam Stadium, Will Lankshear has given the home side the lead, firing through the legs of Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles. At Bramall Lane, Liam Lindsay has put Preston a goal up against Sheffield United.
Scottish Premiership: Aremu Afeez has given Aberdeen an early lead against Kilmarnock. Celtic host Falkirk at 5.30pm and will leapfrog Hearts and Rangers to take an overnight lead at the top of the table if they win.
Key events
38 min: Wales once again kick the ball away after showing some neat work in midfield. But they get it back soon after as England spill in contact. Wales are up inside England’s half. De Vera, who has had a good game, is heavily involved. Joyce does well out in the left tram to keep the ball alive until she spills it right at the last. Good ball retention from Wales, but they’re finding out that this England team is not easily breached. England will have the scrum between their 22 and halfway all the way on the right.
36 min: Three Welsh line-outs. Three Welsh penalties. It’s another trick play – a short throw to the front of the line, straight to the prop who wasn’t there to lift, but instead turned around and grabbed the bullet pass. That caught England off guard and they swarmed around the ball carrier illegally.
35 min: David, who was off for a HIA, has failed her test so Breach will remain out there. A harsh end for David on debut, but at least she bagged a try.
TRY! England 24-12 Wales (Jones, 33)
Oh so crafty! That is right off the training pitch. They go to the front of the line-out. But rather than maul, they pop a short pass for Tuipulotu who was on a blind run down the blindside. She then passed for Jones who was hanging in the tram after throwing to the line-out and she did well to wrestle the ball down under supervision from two English defenders. Lovely stuff. The conversion is missed but that’s a lovely bit of work from the Welsh.
32 min: Another maul, another penalty for Wales. This time it’s inside the England 22 so they can kick a little closer. Five out.
31 min: Wales win a penalty from a maul off a line-out shortly after the restart. George crossfield kicks and finds Singleton on the right wing. Wales keep the ball but fail to make any ground. Soon they spill it but will come back for the penalty, which is hoofed out of touch about 18 metres short of the England line on the left.
TRY! England 24-7 Wales (Jones, 28)
How cruel for Wales! Marlie Packer gets away with deliberately spoiling Wales’ ball. On her back, refusing to roll away. England play to the whistle and they’re away. They hammer the line with strong carries until the cracks emerge. Jones, who was born in Cardiff, gets a flat pass from Aitchison before standing up her defender and then putting the after burners on, ghosting upfield to finish from about 30 metres out.
TRY! England 19-7 Wales (M Packer, 25)
Ruthless! This time they get the maul sorted and Marlie Packer dots down off the back of a mighty shove from the pack. A mere minute ago Wales had a line-out inside England’s patch. But they overcooked the throw and now they’re a further seven points adrift after Rowland nudges the extras.
25 min: England nick a line-out in their own half and in a flash they’re screaming down field with Kildunne round a defender and charging in the left tram. She passes short to Moloney-MacDonald to her outside but the winger runs out of room. She flings a hopeful ball back infield that doesn’t find a mate, but there’s a Welsh infringement so England get a penalty.
23 min: Wales keep the ball after the scrum and hold onto the ball. Until Bevan hoofs a pretty ordinary box kick that is easily marked in the backfield by Kildunne.
22 min: A tearful Kabeya leaves the field. She really doesn’t want to go but she has to as her shoulder looks in real trouble.
22 min: Wales win a penalty in midfield. This came off England having a scrum all the way on the left wing and failing to find a hole anywhere in the line. Great defence from Wales who look up for this. They’re doubling up in the tackle and England just haven’t been able to get their off-loading game away. So the hosts lose patience and go searching for quicker ball, committing an infringement on the floor. Kudos to the Welsh.
20 min: Kildunne launches an attack from deep and spirals a pass for Rowland hovering on the lefft wing. But she’s tackled out of touch.
This much-changed England side is not quite delivering. Wales have come to play. Good game so far.
TRY! England 12-5 Wales (Bevan, 18)
Wales hit back! Bevan deserves that after making all that ground from the turnover ball. Rather than go for a driving maul, as everyone expected, they set up a big carry off first phase. Then Bevan picked and went and found a hole to score. The tough conversion is made from the left and Wales are back in this.
17 min: Off the scrum, England make a mess and get in a tangle in the midfield. The ball goes loose and Bevan grabs it and canters a full 40 metres. She looks destined for the line before she’s cut down. Jones tries to steal it but the Welsh support is up and they wrestle the ball back. Wales have the advantage. George goes for a cross-kick to the corner. David catches and makes the mark, but Wales will have the advantage to play with. Phew, hectic period that. They kick to the corner and will line-out from five out.
15 min: George overcooks the restart and hands possession straight back to England, who will have the scrum on halfway.
TRY! England 12-0 Wales (David, 13)
Fairytale! Millie David, on debut, in front of her home fans, scores a try! And what a try. England too slick after recycling from the line-out. Packer finds Aitchison who finds Rowland. Then a floated skip pass finds David who still had some finishing to do, but she made it look pretty easy. Great step off her right boot before bursting round the last defender on the right wing. Rowland can’t convert.
12 min: England win a kick battle. L Packer collects the ball at the breakdown and immediately rakes a box kick, knowing there is no one covering the Welsh backfield. George runs around and mops up before returning the kick. But she can’t find much ground. England with a promising line-out position.
10 min: England just win the small moments more often than not. Wales set the maul from the line-out but they couldn’t get the ball out the back. England’s maul defence swamped the ball carrier and stalled momentum. So they’re rewarded with a scrum feed on their 22.
9 min: Better from Wales. Off a line-out on the left, they go down the line and suck in two defenders with a clever dummy. Powell, up from fullback creating the overload, has time to send a grubber into the left corner. It’s a lovely touch finder that had her chasing winger interested for a second.
England, though, have no problem exiting from a line-out five out from their own line.
Wales will come again with a maul from a line-out of their own between the halfway and the 22m lines.
TRY! England 7-0 Wales (Feaunati, 7)
Brilliant from start to finish! England’s No. 8 got things going and she dots down. Off the line-out, England set up a midfield ruck and then went back to the right, down the blind where Feaunati brushed off two tacklers in the wide channel. Bern continued momentum with a strong carry and then it was a matter of time. L Packer played the right pass and Feaunati hit the line on an angle at pace. Rowland adds the extras. England up and running.
5 min: Wales win the line-out but M Packer, who has exploded into this game, charges down George’s exit kick. She can’t get there before it’s dotted down safely over the try line by a Welsh hand. But that was great work from the veteran Rose.
4 min: Wales win a scrum penalty. Excellent set and they get the chance to clear their lines. Well done to the Welsh pack.
If there’s one area that England aren’t head and shoulders above the rest it’s the scrum.
3 min: Off the line-out, M Packer charges through the guts and almost finds the line. L Packer recycles and finds Kabeya who spills in contact as Metcalfe and Aiono double up and force the knock-on five metres out. Wales will have the scrum feed.
2 min: Kildunne’s first touch is a beauty. On her tip-toes she holds onto a kick that looked destined to find touch on England’s right wing. She grabbed it and then went on a mazy run, making 10 metres. Soon after England sent it down the line and won a scrum as a Welsh hand caused a knock-on in contact. England will have the scrum inside Welsh territory.
Oh, hang on. It’s been upgraded to a penalty for a deliberate knock-on so England will get the line-out inside the Welsh 22.
Kick-off
Ella Goldsmith blows her whistle and we’re off in glorious sunshine!
It was remiss of me not to mention that Metcalfe is 19-years-old!
19! Nineteen! My goodness. What a moment.
Anthems now. A few tears. Love seeing that. Loads of passion.
The players are lining up in the tunnel.
Not long to go now.
Sean Lynn, Wales’ head coach, was speaking to the BBC:
We are playing the world champions and Grand Slam champions in front of a sold out Ashton Gate. It doesn’t get bigger than that.
England are the trailblazers in the women’s game. They have been professional longer than us and have their own domestic league – that is the reality of the challenge.
This is all about us building our performances and developing our identity as a team. We need to show the same intensity and resilience that we have shown in the opening two games and do it for longer. The grit and ability to dig deep is an attribute we will need against England.
Another yarn from Sarah.
In this one she hears from young Millie David who makes her Red Roses debut on the wing today.
Good to know I’m on the same page as Sarah Rendell.
Here she argues that the Red Roses are doing things few teams, if any, have ever done:
How about some stats, eh?
These have been pulled straight from the WRU website.
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England have won 22 out of 24 meetings against Wales, their only defeats coming in 2015 and 2009
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England have won each of their last 50 international matches on home soil, their last defeat in England coming in November 2016. They have never lost at home to Wales in Test rugby, winning all 20 meetings
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Wales’ Bethan Lewis has made the most tackles of any player in the Women’s Six Nations this year (37) with team-mate Kate Williams making the most dominant tackles (4), while Gwen Crabb has won the most breakdown turnovers
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England’s Sarah Bern is the top try scorer (4), crossing twice in each of the opening two rounds, while team-mate Zoe Harrison has scored the most points (24), not missing a single one of her 12 conversion attempts against Scotland
Wales team
As if the job wasn’t tough enough, Wales will have to do without two of their more senior players as ex-captain Hannah Dallavalle, as well as captain Kate Williams are out injured.
That means Jenna De Vera, who made her Test debut against France off the bench last week, starts at inside centre.
Flanker Alex Callender is still out so much will depend on Branwen Metcalfe who wears the number 6 jersey in her first appearance for her country.
Alongside her in the back row, Bethan Lewis takes over the captaincy.
Wales: Kayleigh Powell; Seren Singleton, Jenna De Vera, Courtney Keight, Jasmine Joyce; Lleucu George, Keira Bevan; Gwenllian Pyrs, Kelsey Jones, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Jorja Aiono; Gwen Crabb, Branwen Metcalfe, Bethan Lewis, Byronie King.
Repalcements: Molly Reardon, Maisie Davies, Donna Rose, Georgia Evans, Alisha Joyce, Seren Lockwood, Freya Bell, Catherine Richards.
England team
20-year-old Millie David, who plays her club rugby for Bristol, makes her Test debut in front of her home crowd.
She’ll start on the wing which means Ellie Kildunne slots back to her usual position at fullback. Emma Sing, who impressed last week, misses out of the match-day 23.
Holly Aitchinson starts at fly-half, replacing Zoe Harrison, while props Mackenzie Carson and Sarah Bern, lock Delaney Burns and back-row Marlie Packer enter the scene from the off.
England: Ellie Kildunne; Millie David, Meg Jones (c), Helena Rowland, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald; Holly Aitchison, Lucy Packer; Mackenzie Carson, Amy Cokayne, Sarah Bern, Abi Burton, Delaney Burns, Sadia Kabeya, Marlie Packer, Maddie Feaunati.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Kelsey Clifford, Maud Muir, Haineala Lutui, Demelza Short, Flo Robinson, Zoe Harrison, Jess Breach.
Preamble
Hi everyone! Welcome to the third round of a Women’s Six Nations that is pretty much going as expected.
England are top of the tree with having scored 17 tries (five more than France) and look unbeatable.
They weren’t at their best against Ireland but still had enough oomph from third gear. Then they revved their engines and pulverised Scotland by a hefty score.
Today they face Wales who were denied at the death by Scotland but got spanked on home soil by France. They’re a team on the rise, no question, but they’re rising from a long way down from where England currently reside. Expect plenty of support, though, for the visiting side as they’re playing just across the River Severn in Bristol.
Is there a more dominant sports team in the world than the Red Roses? Not for my money. If they fail to add to their unbeaten run of 35 Tests I’ll eat my hat. And my shoes. And my leather belt.
Kick-off at 2:15pm.
Teams and other updates, including some cracking reads from around the G, to come.
Laura Kuenssberg travels to Wales and Scotland to speak to candidates and voters ahead of May 7 polls.
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