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Greetings for a packed evening of EFL as well as international soccer fixtures. The spotlight falls on key second-tier clashes plus those pivotal final pool games in the Afcon competition.

Preamble

Oh, hi folks. You are welcome to what is checks writing desk rota the penultimate soccer live blog of 2025. There’s a full Football League programme, kicking off with Ipswich's trip to Coventry at 6pm, and we will also monitor a close watch on both evening fixtures from the first group at this Africa Cup of Nations: Morocco hosting Zambia as well as Comoros v Mali.

We'll be focussing on these games, all 19:45 start times unless stated.

Afcon 2025

• Comoros versus Mali (19:00)
• The Copper Bullets v The Atlas Lions (7pm)

Championship

• The Sky Blues versus The Tractor Boys (18:00)
• The Foxes versus The Rams
• Boro versus Hull
• The Lions versus Bristol City
• Wrexham versus North End

Third Tier Fixture

• Cardiff v Stevenage

Recent Lineup Updates

Coventry v Ipswich Confirmed Lineups

The evening's opener, featuring the sides sitting top and third in the Championship, promises to be a cracker. Here are the two XIs.

Coventry City (4-2-3-1) Rushworth; the right-back, the centre-back, Kitching, the left-back; the midfielder, the captain; Sakamoto, the attacking midfielder, Mason-Clark; Wright.

Substitutes: The backup keeper, Allen, the forward, Kesler-Hayden, Bidwell, Latibeaudiere, the midfielder, the youngster, Andrews.

Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1) Walton; the defender, the centre-half, the defender, the left-back; the midfielder, Taylor; the attacker, the playmaker, the winger; Azon.

Substitutes: The goalkeeper, Young, Johnson, Humphreys, the midfielder, the winger, the forward, the attacker, the striker.

Referee Backhouse (from Cumbria).

Africa Cup of Nations: First Group Permutations

The situation is complex. It always is when some but not all third-place teams qualify. Here’s how things look before tonight’s final round of games.

• The Atlas Lions 4pts, +2 goal difference
• The Eagles 2 points, 0 goal difference (goals scored 2)
• The Copper Bullets 2 points, GD0 (goals scored 1)
• The Coelacanths 1pt, GD-2

Briefly, Morocco is likely safe but will want to defeat their opponents to top the group. Zambia likely requires at least a point against the hosts. Comoros probably must to beat Mali, who should advance with a point.

Many possibilities, various outcomes, plenty of scenarios.

Angola v Egypt Latest

The conclusion to the second group at the continental championship has coverage elsewhere. If you don’t want to know the score, avoid following that coverage.

Championship Table Overview

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