Welcome for a packed evening of EFL and continental football action. Our focus includes key Championship encounters plus the crucial last group matches in the Africa Cup of Nations competition.
Hello everyone. You are welcome to what is arguably the second-to-last soccer live blog of 2025. There’s a full Football League schedule, kicking off with Coventry v Ipswich at 18:00, and we will also monitor a close watch on both evening games from Group A at this Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia against the hosts Morocco and Mali facing Comoros.
We'll be focussing on these games, with 19:45 kick-offs unless stated.
The evening's opener, between the teams who are first and third in the second tier, could be a thriller. These are the two XIs.
Coventry City (4-2-3-1) The goalkeeper; van Ewijk, Woolfenden, Kitching, the left-back; the midfielder, Grimes; the winger, the attacking midfielder, Mason-Clark; Wright.
Substitutes: The backup keeper, the midfielder, Simms, Kesler-Hayden, Bidwell, Latibeaudiere, the midfielder, the youngster, Andrews.
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1) Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, the defender, Greaves; the midfielder, Taylor; Walle, Nunez, the winger; the centre-forward.
Subs: Palmer, Young, Johnson, the defender, Cajuste, Burns, the forward, the attacker, Akpom.
Referee Anthony Backhouse (from Cumbria).
It's a tricky picture. It always is where only some third-place teams qualify. Here’s how things look ahead of this evening's final round of games.
Briefly, Morocco is likely safe though they will aim to beat Zambia to top the group. Zambia likely requires at least a point versus the hosts. Comoros likely need to overcome Mali, who should advance with a point.
Many possibilities, various outcomes, plenty of scenarios.
The conclusion to Group B at this Africa Cup of Nations has coverage elsewhere. If you don’t want to know the score, avoid following that coverage.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coventry | 23 | 31 | 51 |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | 23 | 9 | 43 |
| 3 | Ipswich | 23 | 15 | 38 |
| 4 | Hull | 23 | 2 | 38 |
| 5 | Preston North End | 23 | 7 | 37 |
| 6 | Bristol City | 23 | 7 | 36 |
| 7 | Millwall | 23 | -6 | 36 |
| 8 | Watford | 23 | 4 | 35 |
| 9 | QPR | 23 | -2 | 35 |
| 10 | Stoke | 23 | 7 | 34 |
| 11 | Derby | 23 | 1 | 32 |
| 12 | Southampton | 23 | 4 | 31 |
| 13 | Wrexham | 23 | 2 | 31 |
| 14 | Leicester | 23 | -1 | 31 |
| 15 | Birmingham | 23 | 1 | 30 |
| 16 | West Brom | 23 | -5 | 28 |
| 17 | Charlton | 22 | -6 | 27 |
| 18 | Blackburn | 22 | -4 | 26 |
| 19 | Sheff Utd | 23 | -5 | 26 |
| 20 | Swansea | 23 | -7 | 26 |
| 21 | Oxford Utd | 23 | -8 | 22 |
| 22 | Portsmouth | 22 | -10 | 22 |
| 23 | Norwich | 23 | -9 | 21 |
| 24 | Sheff Wed | 22 | -27 | -8 |
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