That’ll be all from me. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the weekend’s football!

This should help while you sort your FPL team out. You’re a maverick if you’ve not signed Salah.

Bournemouth have signed the 18-year-old centre-back Matai Akinmboni from MLS side DC United on a long-term contract. Akinmboni, who is the nephew of former Bayern Munich defender Samuel Kuffour, made his MLS debut at the age of just 15. “[Matai] is a player we believe has a very bright future, and we are looking forward to seeing him develop with us,” said the club’s first-team technical director, Simon Francis.

Akinmboni cost a reported $2.5m (£2.1m) and is likely to join up with the Cherries’ development squad at first, but could provide first-team defensive cover as Andoni Iraola’s side chase a European place.

Aston Villa forward Lewis Dobbin has ended his loan spell at West Brom in order to start a new spell at fellow Championship side Norwich until the end of the season. Villa also recently recalled 21-year-old forward Louie Barry from a successful loan at Stockport, with a number of second-tier clubs interested.

Keep track of January’s transfers here.

Fulham: Marco Silva has been speaking about Antonee Robinson, the man of the moment, his left-back who has seven assists in the league this season and is bound to attract plenty of transfer gossip this month.

“This season he’s been on another level,” Silva was quoted saying by PA. “I’ve known him for a long time, he was at Everton when I was there and I get to work with him. Compared to a couple seasons ago he’s a lot more mature and less emotional.”

Ipswich: Kieran McKenna has been talking out January business, something he wants to get out of the way quickly.

“We are going to try and do our business early in the window if possible,” said McKenna, as quoted by PA. He’d like to add to the forward line, noting the striker George Hirst’s absence for much of this season due to his knee troubles.

Any Town fans want to weigh in on who they should target?

Sid Lowe has written about the bizarre Dani Olmo saga and Barcelona’s enduring off-field chaos.

Manchester United: Here’s Jamie Jackson’s story on Harry Maguire’s contract extension. It’s quite the turnaround from a defender who seemed very much on the outer when he lost his spot and the captaincy under Erik ten Hag.

Barry’s been busy today, helming the blog and reeling off this Football Daily.

Women’s Super League: Tottenham have signed Denmark’s Olivia Holdt from FC Rosengård on a contract until June 2027. The midfielder has seven international caps and joins a club currently sixth in the WSL.

You score the goal of your life to win the game, you run wild with your teammates … you get sent off. Tough beat.

The Women’s Super League sides Liverpool, Leicester City and Crystal Palace are understood to be interested in signing the Canada forward Clarissa Larisey in this transfer window, according to sources.

The former Celtic player is playing for the Swedish side BK Häcken, where she has six months remaining on the contract signed when she joined in 2023.

Larisey has represented Canada 10 times, making her international debut in September 2022 and scoring in a 4-0 win over Morocco that year.

Crystal Palace: Afternoon all, let’s get straight into it. Oliver Glasner doesn’t expect to see Marc Guéhi depart in January, the England centre-half having been linked with Newcastle in the summer. He also reckons Will Hughes is staying put.

“No player from our squad came to me right now and said I want to leave,” said Glasner, as quoted by PA. “No one. I’m really not concerned that Marc will leave, but again, the 31st of January is a long time, and I know I’ll have to answer these questions several times.

“I don’t want to talk about details, but I’m very confident and convinced that Will will play at least next year for Crystal Palace.”

Next off the rank: Taha Hashim is here to take up the cudgels, so I will leave you in his more than capable hands.

Liverpool v Manchester United: Rubin Amorim has been mulling over the magnitude of the task facing his side when they travel to Anfield on Sunday.

“We know that it is going to be a tough moment, really different context from both teams,” he said. “They had that strong base for long years, but we work this week to win the game, we will try to do that.

“I have not focused on losing or what could happen, we had some losses, we prepared this game to win and we know what we are going to face. My focus is to prepare the team to not suffer that difficult moment you saw in the first 15 minutes against Newcastle [when United conceded], I want to improve that. I think that is clear, that [slow starts] are a massive problem for us and it was not just this game.”

Southampton: This just in from the club media department. “Southampton Football Club is pleased to formally complete the signing of Brazilian defender Welington, who had previously signed a pre-contract agreement with the club,” it reads.

“The 23-year-old left-back agreed personal terms with Saints in the summer, staying with São Paulo until the expiry of his contract at the end of the Brazilian season. Welington made 48 appearances in all competitions during the campaign, as São Paulo finished sixth, taking his career total to 164 games for the club.”

Aston Villa v Leicester: Villa host Leicester tomorrow and will be without Morgan Rogers and Jhon Duran, who are suspended. Spanish defender Pau Torres is expected to be out for at least two months with a broken bone in his foot, while Diego Carlos is also sidelined for tmorrow’s game.

“We are in the transfer window and the club is moving forward to try to increase our level in the squad, in case we can sign a new player and in case someone has to leave, we are open to do it,” said Unai Emery, upon being asked about his plans for the window. “The most important to me is the match tomorrow. I am not going to speak a lot about the transfer window, because of my priorities are as a coach.”

Wolves v Nottingham Forest: “That’s the most important and the only thing that is really basic for us, that we don’t get distracted by the transfer window,” said Nuno Espirito Santo, when it was his turn to answer questions about any players Forest may or may not sign before the end of the month.

“Players that are here stay focussed, commit themselves and work hard and let things happen naturally. People that have to deal with [transfers] will deal with the work. But in terms of the group and work ethic, it has to stay the same.”

Nuno added that he hopes to have defender Murilo and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who have both been outstanding for Forest this season, back from injury and available for selection on Monday night.

Wolves: “We are working in the market, like the other teams,” said Vítor Pereira of the transfer window. “I am trying to understand what my players can give to me for the way of play I want to see. It means this is a time to look for targets but I speak about my players. I cannot speak about players in the other teams.

“Until now our squad is a short squad. I think but I prefer to have a short squad because I like to see the players from the academy. We are looking for talents. I like to work with talents with young players. It is important to bring someone but I am happy with my team.”

Wolves v Nottingham Forest: Wolves welcome high-flying Forest to Molineux on Monday night and will be without their star player, Matheus Cunha, who has been handed a two-match ban for his part in the post-match shenanigans that followed Wolves’ defeat at Ipswich Town on 14 December.

“We need to be ready to play with or without Cunha,” said their manager, Vitor Pereira. “We play as a team. I think we have players with different skills, qualities but we will be ready.

“He knows that it was not a good reaction but I look for a player not only as a player, but as a human being. Sometimes even me, I make mistakes. He knows that he made a mistake. Now is to not do it again, try to keep the emotional balance and move forwards.”

Bournemouth v Everton: Sitting pretty in seventh place in the table, Bournemouth host Everton tomorrow and their impressive young coach Andoni Iraola has been fielding queries from the members of the Fourth Estate.

“My biggest worry is to recover players we already have,” he said, upon being asked the obligatory question about any transfer dealings he may be hoping to conduct. “That will be the main focus. It is true that the market is open and you don’t know what is going to happen. We will see. [January is] not normally an easy market but the club is working on it.”

Bournemouth go into tomorrow’s game without Marcos Senesi, Justin Kluivert, Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra, Marcus Tavernier and Adam Smith but Iraloa told reporters that he expects Tyler Adams to be available.

Women’s Super League: Arsenal have announced that Laila Harbert has put pen to paper on her first professional contract with the club.

“The 18-year-old defensive midfielder and England Under 17s captain joined our academy at the age of nine in 2016 and has since gone on to win several trophies with our Under 16 and Under 21 teams,” said a club statement.

“Laila made her debut appearance for the first team in May 2024, coming off the bench in our exhibition game against A-League All-Stars Women in Melbourne. Laila also took part in our pre-season tour in Washington D.C this summer, where she came on in the 78^th minute to help secure a 2-1 win against Washington Spirit.”

Good luck to Laila on this, the beginning of what could be a very exciting journey at a time when women’s football has never been more popular. Or lucrative.

Crystal Palace v Chelsea: Asked if he is concerned by Chelsea’s current mini-slump in form, Enzo Maresca said that he is not. “No, we don’t like to lose games or drop points, but it’s not going to affect our journey as we all are aware during the season you are going to lose games,” he said.

“This is a journey that started five or six months ago, not five or six years. Other teams started five or six years ago and now fighting to win the Premier League - we just started five or six months ago.

“You don’t need only good players. The challenge is not enough just [being good] going forward, you need to add more things. Things we are adding like togetherness and becoming a team in difficult moments. That is the difference between us and Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool. They are more ready as a team than us, we are going to be there hopefully soon.”

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United: Spurs host bang in-form Newcastle in tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off in North London and Ange Postecoglou has been giving updates on his side’s injury problems ahead of the game.

“Destiny [Udogie] with his hamstring looks around six weeks out,” he said. “We lose Rodrigo Bentancur through suspension. None of the injured lads are back yet and we’ve had a bit of an illness bug running through the camp too so a few have missed training but we’ll be alright.”

On Tottenham’s transfer plans in January: “It’s not a matter of pushing but the club are working hard to try and get some help for the playing group,” he said. “The club is working hard on that. January is not an easy month, it’s not an easy time to bring people in particularly quickly. At the same time, we want to do what is the best thing for us rather than panic and bring in people that are going to be a suitable fit.”

Interview: Brighton’s chief executive on his mission to help youngsters and why the club is stronger after Chelsea’s raids. Words: Ed Aarons.

Manchester City v West Ham: Hot on the heels of their unconvincing but potentially rot-stopping win against Leicester, Manchester City host West Ham tomorrow, hoping to put back-to-back wins together for the first time since late October, when the rot started. Pep Guardiola has been flapping his gums …

“It was a game where we didn’t play at our best level,” he said of Sunday’s victory. “We won but games are like that in football. It is good for the mood to get results. We are away from being consistent with results but we have another chance to get a victory against West Ham which will help in the future.”

Pep said that he did not expect to have any of City’s lame and halt back from the treatment room this weekend and upon being asked about a possible contract extension for Kevin De Bruyne, answered by saying “it’s not my business”.

Southampton v Brentford: With his side already 10 points adrift of Premier Leaghue safety and hosting Everton tomorrow, Ivan Juric has addressed the size of the task facing him if he is to keep Southampton in the Premier League. The 59-year-old Croatian has been in charge for two games so far, back-to-back defeats at the hands of West Ham and Crystal Palace.

“I thought it would be extremely difficult but it was my desire to come here,” he said. “I see lots of good players [in the Premier League] and the level is really high,” Juric said the Croatian. “We have already seen something [in our team]. Against West Ham, we have seen moments that I really liked.

“I was delighted with how they played, how they took the ball, playing forward immediately and even when we kept the ball to create situations. It was one game that I liked. Against Crystal Palace it was another situation and there were moments that we were not ready for this kind of game. We have to work a lot to live with the situation. Against Palace, they suffered against their aggressiveness and in this thing, we can take a little bit of time and it is getting better.”

Southampton are reported to be open to offers for striker Ben Brereton Diaz during the current window and will be without Mateus Fernandes, who serves a one-match ban after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season during the defeat at Selhurst Park. Midfielder Flynn Downes is a doubt as he recovers from a dead leg.

Bournemouth v Everton: The Toffees travel to the Vitality Stadium having won one, drawn three and lost one of their previous five games and Sean Dyche has called on his team to turn more of those draws into wins.

“We need results and we know that,” he said. “We’ve had a good run of not losing games but turning it into wins is massive. We’ve done enough to build that inner confidence, it’s about moving that forwards and breaking the cycle of events: good spell, bad spell, good spell. Can we win a game, which makes all those draws look even better?”

Southampton v Brentford. Good afternoon everybody and nd what better way to get my stint on the Friday hamster-wheel rolling than by eavesdropping on Thomas Frank, who has been addressing his team’s quite atrocious form on the road … against admittedly more superior teams than they’ve hosted at Fortress Gtech. Thomas expects an upturn in that form imminently and not just because they travel to Southampton this weekend.

“Of course, we can get more away from home, which is the aim but we need to look more at the performances,” he said. “In the 19 games we have played, we’ve had one bad performance over 90 minutes - that was against Fulham [a 2-1 defeat in early November] and we were very close to winning that anyway.

“Then there have been spells in games when we haven’t been at our best but have generally performed well. If we keep those performances away from home, then we’ll win games.”

Speaking specifically about Southampton, Frank had this to say: “They are a good team and I know they’re bottom of the league. Southampton will win games before the end of the season so we need to make sure we have done our part to avoid that happening against us.

“They’ll be looking at our away form and see it as a must-win game to get out of the relegation battle, we’re very aware of that. But it’s about us, our approach and how we’ve prepared.”

And this seems an appropriate time to hand over the blog to Barry Glendenning. Baton being exchanged right now.

Here’s a nice lunchtime read from Max Rushden. Words: 2025. Photo: 2010. As Max points out: “Ethan Nwaneri was three when that picture was taken.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe can’t rule out in-form goalkeeper Martin Dubravka leaving the club during the transfer window. The Slovakia international, who turns 36 later this month, has kept four clean sheets in the five games he has played since replacing the injured Nick Pope, but has been linked with a move to Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab.

Asked if he could leave Tyneside this month, Howe said: “The situation with Martin is we would not want him to leave, but of course you have to respect and understand the player’s wishes as well in this. It’s not as clear-cut as everyone would necessarily have you think.

“Martin is out of contract as well in the summer, so that’s a different dynamic to add into the mix. But it’s all hypothetical. Martin is, and has been, fully committed. He’s been outstanding, he’s been a brilliant professional to work with. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and I think he’s done really well when you consider he didn’t have a lot of football when coming into the team, so fair play to him and how he’s handled that situation.”

(PA Media)

Some of these characters will be very familar. Great article here by Harry Pearson for When Saturday Comes where I once did a six-week work placement as a student when it was based across the road from the old Guardian Towers in Farringdon. Happy days.

On email krishnamoorthy v writes: “Morning David and a Happy New Year. When was the last time the league was wrapped up by Christmas? As my friend aptly pointed out - the league is usually won by who tops at Christmas unless it’s Arsenal.”

And HNY to you too! Well, it’s not as clearcut as you may think. In fact the strike-rate is a mere 50%.

• In 16 of the Premier League’s 32 full seasons so far, the team sitting top on 25 December went on to lift the trophy, but in the other 16 campaigns they missed out.

Your friend is right about Arsenal as the Gunners have failed to convert on all four occasions when they were top at Christmas. But in 1997/98 they came from 13 points behind Manchester United to snatch the title.

Liverpool are very dodgy Christmas converters too having been top six times in the Premier League and gone on to win it just once. However, that was the year (2019/20) they had a big lead (10 points). They went into this Christmas with a four-point lead and a game in hand over nearest rivals Chelsea.

Some Liverpool team news from boss Arne Slot ahead of that Manchester United clash at Anfield on Sunday and it’s all about the defence.

The bad news surrounds Joe Gomez, who pulled up with a hamstring problem during the 5-0 rout of West Ham. “Joe is, of course, not in a good place when it comes to his injury. He is out for a few weeks, that’s for sure,” said Slot.

But there’s more optimism surrounding central defender Ibrahima Konate (knee) and right-back Conor Bradley (hamstring), who have been sidelined recently.

“Conor and Ibou will train with us today for the first time so I’m interested to see where they exactly are. They have worked hard to come back to the team but the next step is always ‘how do you handle team sessions?’.”

The Football Association remains committed to diversity in the England men’s senior team coaching staff, with fresh appointments to Thomas Tuchel’s group due to be made in the coming weeks, sources at the governing body have told the PA news agency.

None of the coaching group appointed by new head coach Tuchel so far are from ethnically diverse backgrounds, but sources close to the governing body insist diversity remains a top priority.

Ashley Cole has reverted to his role with the under-21s, having served as an interim assistant for the senior team alongside Lee Carsley in the autumn. While Anthony Barry has effectively filled Cole’s role, there remain vacancies within the senior coaching group and it is expected Tuchel will assess suitable candidates in the coming days, having officially started work on January 1.

The FA has operated an elite coaching placement programme with the support of the Professional Footballers’ Association to boost diversity since 2018, but it is understood any new appointments to the senior coaching group would not be part of that programme.

Cole’s appointment was not linked to the programme and nor was that of Paul Nevin, who worked in the England coaching group at different levels over two spells before leaving to join Stoke earlier this week.

Three further appointments to Tuchel’s backroom team were confirmed on Thursday. Former Chelsea goalkeeping coach Henrique Hilario will occupy the same role with England, Nicolas Mayer has been confirmed as a performance coach and James Melbourne joins as an analyst.

The FA confirmed the first match Tuchel would attend as England head coach would be the Tottenham v Newcastle Premier League match on Saturday lunchtime, before taking in other top-flight matches across the weekend.

Brighton’s current form is definitely open to interpretation. They’re winless in seven but have also suffered just four defeats in their 19 Premier League matches this season as they prepare to host Arsenal on Saturday evening.

Boss Fabian Hurzeler has had this to say about his team that have turned into draw specialists (five of the last seven and nine in all) this term.

“You can say we are not able to win games against these teams, or on the other perspective you can say we are really difficult to beat, because in the end I think there are only one or two teams in the league with fewer losses than we have.

“So I think you always can see it from that or that perspective, and in the end I’m a very positive guy, so I see that the glass is half full, and I see more the positive things than the negative things in general in my life. I try to stay positive and I try to give the trust and the belief to the club and to the players. Then I’m sure the glass will be also really, really full one day.”

Here’s an interesting body language take on Pep Guardiola from Simon Hattenstone, who says it’s in the Manchester City manager’s spit that we can begin to understand his quest for perfection and its recent unravelling.

Mikel Arteta has said that signing a new striker in January is no guarantee that they will win the Premier League but still left the door open for reinforcements this month.

Arsenal face Brighton on Saturday evening and will welcome back Kai Havertz after the Germany forward missed the win over Brentford due to illness. But with Gabriel Jesus having scored six goals in his last four games in a timely return to form, Arteta rejected suggestions that he needs to bolster his forward line.

“Signing somebody is not enough, that’s for sure,” he said. “Because that signing has to score then how many goals? It has to be a lot of things, sign and then score 20 goals from here to the end and you have a better chance? Maybe yes, I don’t know, but I’m very happy with the players that we have and the amount of goals we’ve scored as well, it’s more than enough to win a Premier League, our numbers as well but the reality is someone is doing more so we have to be better, that’s life.”

Yet asked whether supporters have to be realistic about who they can sign in the midseason transfer window, Arteta added: “That market obviously it’s much more limited than the one in the summer but, I don’t know, people’s expectations and dreams are something good.”

Arteta also admitted that Arsenal must maintain their consistency if they are to overhaul Liverpool in the title race.

“In the last year we have been the best team in the league, broken various records and still haven’t won a major trophy so something is missing. It can be very tiny, small details, you can pick up certain games, certain situations, but at the end we are so close and we just need to flip that coin to the other side to make that happen. It’s only going to happen if we do what we have to do and what we can control, the rest is out of control.”

News from our WSL writer, Tom Garry, on Arsenal.

As the Arsenal squad return to training today after the winter break, Renée Slegers remains in interim charge of the side and is in charge today, just as she was before Christmas. The WSL club’s process to appoint a long-term head coach remains ongoing.

Arsenal are currently third in the WSL, already seven points behind leaders Chelsea after just 10 games.

To give those top-flight fixtures even extra meaning, our writers have picked out some angles.

These are the 10 fixtures in the Premier League this weekend/Monday. Fun facts: Bournemouth could go fifth if everything went their way; Manchester United could end it four points off the drop zone.

Saturday
12.30pm Spurs v Newcastle
3pm Bournemouth v Everton
3pm Aston Villa v Leicester
3pm Crystal Palace v Chelsea
3pm Man City v West Ham
3pm Southampton v Brentford
5.30pm Brighton v Arsenal

Sunday
2pm Fulham v Ipswich
4.30pm Liverpool v Man Utd

Monday
8pm Wolves v Nottingham Forest

The strange case of Dani Olmo rumbles on. If you’ve been following, Barcelona lost a second appeal to register the player for the remainder of the season on Monday, with the club unable to meet La Liga’s wage cap. They remain hopeful of finding a solution for the rest of the campaign - Olmo isn’t able to kick a ball for them until something changes - but Manchester City and Manchester United have their ears pressed up against the wall if an outcome can’t be found.

But what does the Spanish international himself think as he twiddles his thumbs on the sidelines? Well, we know a little more now after his agent, Andy Bara, gave these quotes to Givemesport.

“It’s a stressful situation for Dani as it would be for any other player. But he’s a great player and person, he’s trying to be calm. Of course, Dani is a winner and he loves to play the games, not to watch them! We are not negotiating with any club. Dani is a Barcelona player and he wants to be a Barcelona player. He has made a big effort in his life to be at Barcelona. It was his desire for a long time. Barcelona is the first and last option! Dani, his father, family, me, we’re not thinking about other options.”

And specifically replying to the stories surrounding City and United, Bara replied: “To be honest, I feel calm. It could feel strange but I believe in president Laporta, Deco and I feel they will find a solution for Dani. It’s a massive club. I believe that Barcelona will finalise everything and make it happen. La Liga should help them, instead of these reports of Dani not being available for the national team, but I’m sure he will be at Barca for many years. He’s happy at the club and Dani has a desire to be there.”

This might have been fun in a car crash kind of way but the Wayne Rooney Plymouth doc won’t be seeing the light of day.

With Bukayo Saka sidelined, the obvious solution for Arsenal is to get busy in the transfer market. Today’s Rumour Mill points to two potential targets for the Gunners and just what has Darwin Núñez been up to on social media?

One other problem for Arsenal in their pursuit of Liverpool: injury concerns. And that’s not what you want when facing a January schedule peppered with no less than nine fixtures. Here’s Ed Aarons.