It's been a good week for Liverpool and a good season so far but a win to send them 11 points clear of the defending champions would make it a great week and a great campaign, and that's what I am going for.

They might not just beat Man City, they could take them apart like Spurs did.

Because City have been so dominant in the Premier League, there will be a lot of people out there who would be happy to see Liverpool win the title this season.

I would be one of them, I think. I said last season that I would have been happy to see Arsenal finish top, because - other than Celtic in Scotland - no-one wants to see the same team win every year. That is nothing against City or their fans, it is only because they have had it their own way for so long.

Sutton's prediction: 4-1

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Republic of Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson expects an "evenly matched tie" against Wales in the Euro 2025 play-off first leg on Friday night.

The Cardiff City Stadium encounter comes eight months after Wales defeated her side 2-0 in a friendly.

"What we learned was about ourselves in that game - it was a friendly game, both teams using other players, different squads," said Gleeson. "I don't think we learned anything that we didn’t know.

"What I do know is wer'e a different team to what we were in February. Wales are also a different. You're never the same team twice. And for us, it highlights to us the quality Wales have. I do think it will be an evenly matched tie and we're looking forward to that."

Read the full story.

The teams in the Euros play-offs are ones that did not secure automatic qualification in the group stage to the 2025 tournament.

They have already been through one round of two-leg play-offs and the second round is the final one.

That means whoever wins these two-leg play-offs will book their spot.

Nine teams have already qualified after banking automatic qualification at the group stage. Switzerland qualified as they are the hosts. Those teams are:

• England
• France
• Denmark
• Spain
• Iceland
• Germany
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Switzerland

There has been so much hype, or even over-hype, about Manchester United, and I feel a bit sorry for their new manager Ruben Amorim because he needs time, and two or three transfer windows, to put things right.

There was a lot of excitement over the way they started his first game in charge, against Ipswich, but blimey you have got a problem if the Tractor Boys are out-playing you, which is what happened in the end.

As for Everton, well a fair few of their fans still seem to be on Sean Dyche's back, and they could not find a way past Brentford's 10 men last week.

This time, they will be the team looking to hold out and I believe they can do it because this United team is going to take a while to click.

Once the initial buzz of Amorim’s first home game dies down, things could go flat at Old Trafford, the way it has done quite a lot recently.

I hope it happens for them under Amorim because he seems like a decent guy, but he is in the Manchester United madhouse now and he is about to find out what it is like to be under the microscope every single week.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Everton

Everton manager Sean Dyche on coming up against a Manchester United side under recently-appointed boss Ruben Amorim: "Everyone talks of a 'new manager bounce' and the rest of it, so it's more difficult in that way of thinking, but they've still got good players.

"A new manager to the Premier League will maybe give a different feel to it, I'm sure he's been working with the players and trying to get his thoughts across."

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"I just want to go, make it happen and get the job done."

Erin Cuthbert is done with talking.

She and her Scotland team-mates have spoken at length about qualifying for next summer's European Championships but now the midfielder is desperate to deliver on those words.

Pedro Martinez Losa's side are two games away from making their return to a major tournament after six years - a prospect that has the Chelsea player giddy.

Read the full piece.

One match took place last night, the first leg between Serbia and Sweden. Hanna Bennison and Rosa Kafaji scored for Sweden to put them in 2-0 control heading into the second leg on 3 December.

Tonight's fixtures are:

• Portugal v Czech Republic, 19:45 GMT
• Scotland v Finland, 19:35 GMT
• Ukraine v Belgium, 20:00 GMT
• Wales v Republic of Ireland, 19:15 GMT
• Poland v Austria, 17:00 GMT
• Northern Ireland v Norway, 19:00 GMT

Brentford

Brentford boss Thomas Frank was asked about his opponents Leicester, who are playing their first match since Steve Cooper was dismissed: "It's terrible timing for us but we will deal with it, no doubt.

"I'm always sad to hear when a fellow coach gets sacked. I know Steve quite well from the Championship and the Premier League and I think he's a brilliant coach. Looking from the outside, I don't really understand why [he was sacked].

"In terms of preparation, we don't know exactly what they will come with. I have watched zero minutes of Leicester this week because I think it's a waste of time."

Get the latest news and analysis on our dedicated Brentford page

Everton

Everton manager Sean Dyche gave an update on his injured players: "Armando Broja and Youssef Chermiti will get some minutes today [for the Under-21 side].

"Seamus Coleman is getting back on the grass and it probably won't be enough for this weekend, but he's showing signs of getting truly fit after niggly injuries.

"Other players are just getting back to full Premier League fitness and it's coming. But we don't want to say too much because every time I do, we lose players again."

Find more news and analysis on our dedicated Everton page

Southampton

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Southampton's Adam Lallana limped off against Liverpool last Saturday and will be out for a couple of weeks.

However, Paul Onuachu, who also came off in that game, could be fit to play.

Aaron Ramsdale, Jan Bednarek, Will Smallbone, Ross Stewart and Juan Larios remain sidelined.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton defenders Lewis Dunk and Tariq Lamptey, neither of whom have played since October due to injury, are back in the matchday squad.

Midfielder Carlos Baleba is suspended because of his red card last weekend.

Brentford

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Brentford boss Thomas Frank on the club winning their appeal for Christian Norgaard's red card: "It's more happiness that we have him available for the next three games. It would have been a very harsh decision. I'm very happy that it was correctly overturned.

"This [VAR mistakes] will be an ongoing thing. We are luckily still dealing with people and not AI. Human beings can make mistakes. I think it is progressing in the right way."

Get the latest news and analysis on our dedicated Brentford page

Brentford

Brentford boss Thomas Frank provided a squad fitness update ahead of Saturday's match against Leicester: "In general, it's good. We have no more injuries and we are progressing with the players who are out.

"Kristoffer [Ajer] and [Gustavo] Nunes will not be available for this game."

Get the latest news and analysis on our dedicated Brentford page

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Leicester caretaker Ben Dawson has said the Foxes players acknowledge their behaviour in Copenhagen was unacceptable.

The squad travelled to Denmark for their Christmas party on Saturday, following the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, and boss Steve Cooper was sacked 24 hours later.

Video, which has not been verified by BBC Sport, emerged of the squad partying in a Copenhagen club with a sign reading 'Enzo I miss you' - referencing former manager Enzo Maresca - nearby.

Dawson, who will be in caretaker charge for Saturday's trip to Brentford with Ruud Van Nistelrooy's appointment expected soon, confirmed the squad had been spoken to.

"They’ve had the key message from the club that what’s gone on was not acceptable and we need to move on," he said.

"That was it. All eyes have then been focused on putting in a performance and training well to get a result.

"Every player needs some time off. The time off at that time was scheduled, the players were entitled to do what they want. The particular issue has been dealt with quickly internally and we've moved on from it."

Manchester United

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was also asked about Diogo Dalot: He is very powerful. We have to rotate him sometimes because he always looks fresh but it is not like that, he is not a machine.

"He plays better on the right and we will manage to put him on the right. He is a very good player, very powerful, who can play both sides.

"Nowadays, a player who can play both sides is perfect because you can put him in different positions. I expect the same as you saw last year, a great player who can help the team. He is a team player. I can feel it in every play the way he lives the game. He is very important for us."

Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery on Boubacar Kamara's fitness and midfield options: "Of course Kamara is getting better and he was not available one match before but after he played on Wednesday, he played feeling comfortable. I decided to reduce the last 20 minutes maybe because he needs minutes but we need to be careful. There is four days difference between one match and another but if he comes in tomorrow well - in my head I want to use my better players on Sunday and one of them is Kamara of course.

"The midfield I have now with Kamara, Onana, Barkley and Tielemans - I am happy, very happy. I want the players competing with each other in every position but just in the middle we have players that we can be happy with."

Aston Villa

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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery on being able to take confidence from recent results at Stamford Bridge: "We are Aston Villa, we are in our process. We are more or less getting our high demands but to be consistent is the next challenge. We've won two times and we've drawn in the cup but now it is a different match. A different match, different players and different coach of them. They are feeling comfortable, they are performing consistently and getting better and the challenge is this Sunday.

"We want to fight to be competing that are contending for the top 7. At the moment, we were better one month ago but still the possibility is to be there."

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner on balancing managing his squad with getting results during the busy festive period: "It is pretty clear and I told everyone that every player who starts must be able to perform at his top level, otherwise he doesn't start.

"Then it is a question of how long he can do this. We tell every player not to manage their game - we don't want them to play with 80% so they can play longer. We want everybody to play from the first second, for as long as they possibly can, with highest intensity.

"It [substitutes] depends on the performance. If we think a player from the bench can help the team, more than the player on the pitch, we will substitute him."