Aston Villa v Leeds, Chelsea v Burnley, Championship and more: Saturday clockwatch – live

Chelsea: Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Gusto; Caicedo, Santos; Palmer, Fernández, Neto; Pedro.

Subs: Slonina, Tosin, Delap, Sarr, Hato, Acheampong, Guiu, Lavia, Garnacho.

Burnley: Dubravka; Walker, Esteve, Worrall, Humphreys; Ugochukwu, Laurent, Hannibal; Edwards, Flemming, Anthony.

Subs: Weiss, Hartman, Bruun Larsen, Luis, Tchaouna, Ekdal, Ward-Prowse, Pires, Barnes.

Brentford: Kelleher; Hickey, Ajer, Van den Berg, Henry; Janelt, Henderson, Jensen; Ouattara, Lewis-Potter, Thiago.

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Schade, Nelson, Yamoliuk, Collins, Damsgaard, Donovan, Furo.

Brighton: Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Milner, Wieffer, Gross; Gomes, Mitoma, Welbeck.

Subs: Steele, Rutter, Minteh, Baleba, Kostoulas, Boscagli, De Cuyper, Veltman, Howell.

Aston Villa: Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; Onana, Luiz; Bailey, Rogers, Buendía; Watkins.

Subs: Wright, Lindelof, Barkley, Digne, Torres, Garcia, Abraham, Sancho, Bogarde.

Leeds: Darlow; Justin, Rodon, Struijk; Bogle, Gruev, Stach, Ampadu, Gudmundsson; Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin.

Subs: Perri, James, Longstaff, Piroe, Nmecha, Bijol, Tanaka, Bornauw, Gnonto.

Hold onto your hats, here comes the Premier League team news …

There are swathes of empty seats at The Hawthorns today. Clearly the West Brom faithful are voting with their feet as the club slides into the relegation mire. It hasn’t gone to plan under Eric Ramsay since the former Manchester United coach arrived from MLS … Coventry look comfortable at the moment.

Let’s have a look ahead to the Premier League weekend. Team news for the 3pm games will be dropping in 15 minutes or so.

Championship

• Hull 1-1 QPR

• Stoke 1-0 Leicester

• Swansea 1-0 Bristol City

• West Brom 0-2 Coventry

League One

• Plymouth 3-2 Cardiff

• Rotherham 1-0 Doncaster

• Wycombe 1-0 Stevenage

League Two

• Fleetwood 0-2 Barrow

• Swindon 0-1 Crewe

Plymouth v Cardiff in League One was goalless the last time I checked, just before the half hour mark. Then the following happened:

• 28 mins – Lorent Tolaj makes it 1-0 Plymouth

• 31 mins – Aribim Pepple doubles the hosts’ lead

• 33 mins – 2-1 as Omari Kellyman reduces the deficit

• 34 mins – Pepple scores again for 3-1

• 43 mins – Kellyman scores again, 3-2

Football!

Blackburn’s win over Preston last night means they’ve now gone on a spurt of three wins in four games, a much-needed new manager bounce under Michael O’Neill. It also means, with Portsmouth in decent form themselves – they’ve only lost two of their past seven – that one of Leicester or West Brom looks likely to drop into League One.

Oxford are second bottom but not completely out of the hunt for survival, though they have a tough task today away at Middlesbrough. Pompey also have their work cut away, away at Millwall.

As for Sheffield Wednesday, their fate could be sealed as early as tomorrow against their bitter city rivals. It’s been an annus horribilis for the Owls.

Current scores in the Championship:

• Hull 0-1 QPR

• Stoke 1-0 Leicester

• Swansea 1-0 Bristol City

• West Brom 0-2 Coventry

Around 40 minutes or so have gone in these games – a dream start for Frank Lampard’s table-topping Cov! Goals from Ephron Mason-Clark and Jack Rudoni will be putting the Sky Blues four points clear as it stands.

Right, we’re starting a bit early on today’s clockwatch to cover the intriguing EFL lunchtime games, which include leaders Coventry away at midlands rivals West Brom. It’s hard to believe the Baggies and Leicester are now among this season’s relegation contenders; the Foxes are currently away at Stoke, by the way.

The Premier League stuff begins later on with a trio of matches – Aston Villa v Leeds is surely the standout. Can Villa keep their feint title hopes alive, or at least keep the chasing top four/five pack at bay with a win? Or will Daniel Farke’s side continue their march away from trouble? There’s also Chelsea v Burnley and Brentford v Brighton. There’s also a full schedule of fixtures in League One, League Two and the National League. And in Scotland, Hearts must see off Falkirk to keep their noses in front in the title race, with Rangers and Celtic lurking.

Let’s get cracking, shall we? It should be a brilliant day of football – remember to drop me an email or a message on Bluesky to keep the chat going through the day.