Right, that’s yer lot from me, on another sizzling Saturday of action. I said it before and I’ll say it again – who needs the Premier League? The Championship rarely fails to deliver and that was no different today with big wins for Birmingham, Coventry, Norwich and Plymouth. Join me again soon. Here’s your Asian Cup latest, while we wait for the Championship roundup to drop. Loving the traditional graphic here. A quick European roundup where the headlines will belong to Jadon Sancho after winning a penalty and then grabbing an assist to help Borussia Dortmund rout FC Köln 4-0. Donyell Malen might want a share of those headlines after his two goals. Freiburg secured an impressive 3-2 win over Hoffenheim while Darmstadt got a late leveller to make it 2-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt. In Spain, Las Palmas won 2-0 at Rayo Vallecano in the only game to have completed so far. Villarreal and Mallorca look to be playing out a 1-1 draw. Roma v Hellas Verona is just getting under way now in Italy’s Serie A, while it’s Coup de France day with several fixtures having got started at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm GMT). A roundup of today’s action north of the border from Simon McMahon (again), featuring more Coldplay puns: Paradise for non-league Bonnyrigg Rose as they inflict defeat upon Scottish League One leaders Falkirk, and Airdrie, who dump SPL St. Johnstone out. And despite their team not playing, God has put a smile upon the face of Dundee United supporters as Kilmarnock ensure Dundee’s wait for a second Scottish Cup will stretch to at least 115 years … Football League FT scores Championship Blackburn 1-1 Huddersfield Bristol City 1-1 Watford Middlesbrough 1-1 Rotherham Norwich 2-0 West Brom QPR 2-0 Millwall Plymouth 3-1 Cardiff Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Coventry Stoke 1-2 Birmingham League One Bristol Rovers 1-2 Blackpool Burton 2-0 Charlton Exeter 0-0 Cambridge Fleetwood 0-1 Portsmouth Leyton Orient 1-0 Bolton Lincoln 0-0 Derby Peterborough 2-1 Shrewsbury Wigan 1-0 Reading League Two Barrow 1-3 Crewe Gillingham 1-1 Forest Green MK Dons 1-2 Morecambe Newport 1-0 Wrexham League Two: Morecambe looked to have nicked a late victory at MK Dons and it’s Charlie Brown who has scored! Didn’t think we’d get another Coldplay pun in, but there you go. Birmingham have won at Stoke and QPR see out an excellent 2-0 win in the all-London clash against Millwall. Some big results in the lower echelons of the Championship table, right there. The games at Plymouth and Watford are all over. We’ll sum it all up shortly. In League Two, Newport have clung on to beat Wrexham. More Scottish Cup full-time scores: Motherwell 3-1 Alloa Forfar 0-1 Hibernian Airdrieonians 1-0 St Johnstone St Mirren 1-0 Queen of the South Bonnyrigg Rose 2-1 Falkirk Kilmarnock 2-0 Dundee Plenty of the games are heading into added time. What price some late drama? Scottish Cup: Bonnyrigg Rose of the fourth tier in Scotland lead 2-1 against Falkirk, top of the third tier. There’s a full time score at Ross County. They’ve been beaten by lower league opposition, 3-o at home to Partick Thistle. Meanwhile Ayr have beaten Kelty Hearts 3-0. Another FT is Morton 2-0 Montrose. GOAL! Middlesbrough 1-1 Rotherham (Forss, 82) Oh, Rotherham. That away win eh … Marcus Forss may have broken a few Millers’ hearts. GOAL! QPR 2-0 Millwall (Chair, 85) Queens Park Rangers may well have the three points they needed! A big goal in their relegation scrap comes from Sinclair Armstrong, with Ilias Chair having a huge hand in it, after netting the opener. Lincoln v Derby hasn’t had much of a mention from me today. Mainly because very little of note (that I can see) has happened. The Rams have been strangely bereft of clearcut chances. It remains 0-0. GOAL! Plymouth 3-1 Cardiff (Whittaker, 81) You know how Cardiff were banging on the door … well not anymore. Former Swansea forward Morgan Whittaker has gone down the other end and scored for the home side, virtually killing any lingering Cardiff hopes. Cardiff are banging on the door, trying to equalise at Plymouth. The Bluebirds really need something; their past two results have ended in 3-0 and 4-0 defeats since this one. A draw would stop the rot. The same goes for Stoke at home to Birmingham, desperately trying to pull it back to 2-2 and coming close. Get Callum Jones a meat-free burger with vegan cheese. He’s levelled for Forest Green at Gillingham! Stoke fan Josh Reynolds isn’t optimistic about a potential equaliser against Birmingham: The Potters have had nothing BUT issues since that sad relegation year. The Championship is a rough place. Cheer up Josh, Jordan Thompson has given you some hope! GOAL! Norwich 2-0 West Brom (Rowe, 71) Jonny, Jonny Rowe. Jonny, Jonny Rowe. He scores once again. The Canaries have been good value for this lead and their improved form looks set to continue. Goals in the Scottish Cup: Iverness 3-0 Broomhill; St Mirren 1-0 Queen of the South; Ayr 2-0 Kelty Hearts. And may I also point you in the direction of this evening’s offering in the Premier League. The returning Ivan Toney is the main attraction at Brentford v Nottingham Forest and our very own Rob Smyth is all over the MBM. Here’s your WSL report as Mead reigns supreme for Arsenal today. GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Coventry (Windass, 69) Danny Rohl made a quadruple substitution after his side went 2-0 down and Josh Windass has given the Owls’ manager what he wanted, a goal which like the one at Stoke – gives us a grandstand finish. GOAL! Stoke 1-2 Birmingham (Thompson, 70) A lifeline for the Potters via Jordan Thompson! This should make for a very interesting final 20 minutes. Stoke have been better since going 2-0 down. League Two: Crewe have shot into a 2-1 lead through Lewis Billington, while Oli Hawkins has scored for Gillingham to pile more misery onto Forest Green. Bring Troy back, I say. GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-1 Rotherham (Cafu, 59) Could this be the away win Rotherham fans have been dreaming of for more than 14 months? Former Forest man Cafu will be a hero if they can hold on – he’s clinched them the lead on the hour mark. Finally the Coldplay puns arrive. “If Chris Martin scores again to bring Bristol Rovers level,” Simon McMahon says. “He will surely have A Head Full of Dreams about a potential match-turning hattrick. Unless he has A Rush of Blood to the Head and gets himself two Yellow cards, that is. In which case Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” Yes! An email drops from Ron Stack: In writing about Alfie Devine (great Spurs name, really should be playing alongside Destiny Udogie), you referred to him as a “Tottenham loanee”. What would he be called as a Plymouth player? Surely not also a loanee. Genuinely curious, partly because we don’t really do player loans here in the States. Also, in the financial world I’m familiar with, a “mortgagee” is the lender that holds the mortgage while the “mortgagor” is the borrower that gives the mortgage to the lender. In any case, I’ve never seen “loanor” or anything like it used for players. Is there a term for a player who is loaned in from another team? I’m a bit lost on this one, I’ll be honest. Think it was the mortgage references that confused me. Answers on a postcard please. GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Coventry (Sheaf, 57) Ben Sheaf has two. What a player he is … surely there will be Premier League suitors queuing up for him. Another cracking goal has the Coventry fans dancing and the rest of Hillsborough feeling rather flat. League One: Leyton Orient have just gone in front against away game specialists Bolton, with Daniel Agyei once again finding the net. Meanwhile, Peterborough haven’t taken long to level up against Shrewsbury, via Joel Randall. It was a big surprise to see Posh falling behind, to be honest. GOAL! Plymouth 2-1 Cardiff (Hardie, 52) Ryan Hardie at the double and Plymouth have turned the tables on the Bluebirds. His shot is too hot for Jak Alnwick to handle in the Cardiff goal and the hosts are ahead. Bundesliga: Let’s check in with today’s German Fussball offering. And – Manchester United fans look away now – Jadon Sancho has won a penalty for Borussia Dortmund against FC Köln, which Niclas Füllkrug converted. Donyell Malen has a brace, with Dortmund leading 3-0. Eintracht Frankfurt lead 2-1 at Darmstadt, while it’s 2-2 between Freiburg and Hoffenheim. GOAL! Stoke 0-2 Birmingham (Bacuna, 49) The Tony Mowbray effect! His half-time team talk at the Bet365 clearly worked, as Juninho Bacuna doubles the Blues’ lead within four minutes of the restart. Issues for Steven Schumacher and the Potters. League One: The first goal of the second half in the EFL comes from an unlikely source, as Burton veteran defender John Brayford nets his first of the season to double their lead against Charlton. Second half: We’re gradually getting restarted around the grounds. Let’s see what this next 45 minutes has in store. FT: Algeria 2-2 Burkina Faso It was a powerful header from a corner by Bounedjah – his third goal already in the tournament – that sealed a point for Algeria in the end. It leaves Group D finely poised, with Burkina Faso top on four points, Algeria now second after two points from two games, while Angola could go joint top if they beat Mauritania later. This Africa Cup of Nations has been an exciting one so far. By recent standards, there have been goals galore. FT: Arsenal 2-1 Everton in the WSL. Beth Mead’s goal proved to be the winner, after Caitlin Foord and Katja Snoeijs traded early efforts. GOAL! Algeria 2-2 Burkina Faso (Bounedjah, 90 + 5) Late, late drama at Afcon! Baghdad Bounedjah has netted deep into added time to surely snatch Algeria a point! Could that save their campaign? Here’s the match report from the early kickoff in the Championship, while I grab a quick half-time breather. Football League HT scores Championship Blackburn 1-1 Huddersfield Bristol City 1-1 Watford Middlesbrough 0-0 Rotherham Norwich 1-0 West Brom QPR 1-0 Millwall Plymouth 1-1 Cardiff Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Coventry Stoke 0-1 Birmingham League One Bristol Rovers 1-2 Blackpool Burton 1-0 Chalrton Exeter 0-0 Cambridge Fleetwood 0-1 Portsmouth Leyton Orient 0-0 Bolton Lincoln 0-0 Derby Peterborough 0-1 Shrewsbury Wigan 1-0 Reading League Two Barrow 1-1 Crewe Gillingham 0-0 Forest Green MK Dons 1-0 Morecambe Newport 1-0 Wrexham Scottish Cup: Partick Thistle of the second tier are leading Premiership outfit Ross County 2-0 away from home. Other than that, goals have been fairly few and far between. Bonnyrigg Rose are level against Falkirk in another upset of sorts, so far. Algeria 1-2 Burkina Faso: Into the final 10 minutes and Algeria simply must summon something here to avoid facing potential elimination at the group stage of Afcon. GOAL! Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Coventry (Sheaf, 40) Coventry are playing some brilliant football right now, and this goal from Ben Sheaf will be worth watching later, if EFL highlights are your bag. A cracking curler into the top corner and Cov’ had the lead most were expecting them to get soon, in all truth. Tottenham loanee Alfie Devine is catching the eye on his Plymouth debut, by all accounts. The Green Army sense a crucial second goal, appealing for a penalty but not getting one at the moment. GOAL! Algeria 1-2 Burkina Faso (Traoré, 71) Burkina Faso have restored their lead and it’s a penalty from the substitute Bertrand Traoré that’s done the trick. Algeria are staring down the barrel once more while the Stallions are trotting towards the last 16. Newport are getting the warmup they would have wanted before hosting Manchester United. Playing against the 10-men of Wrexham, they now have a 1-0 lead thanks to Seb Palmer-Houlden. Pack that temporary stand and make it awkward for Erik ten Hag’s men at good ol’ Rodney Parade! The Exiles are ready. League One: Portsmouth now have the lead at Fleetwood thanks to Abu Kamara, while the battle of the strugglers – Wigan versus Reading – has its first goal with Norwegian youngster Thelo Aasgaard rifling home from long range. More misery for the Royals fans. GOAL! Plymouth 1-1 Cardiff (Hardie, 31) Plymouth responded really well to Perry Ng’s opener for Cardiff and it’s a nice move from Argyle that gets them that deserved leveller. Ryan Hardie applied a delicious finish, opening himself up and guiding it home. Home Park erupts. GOAL! QPR 1-0 Millwall (Chair, 27) QPR really really need to win today, and now they have the lead their fans craved, with Ilias Chair leaping highest to head the Hoops in front. More Chris Martin/Coldplay puns welcome, please. Come on, it’s January, we all need cheering up. League One: Mark Helm has scored to give Burton the lead at home to Charlton, while Chris Martin has pulled one back for Bristol Rovers. They now trail Blackpool 2-1, so they’re not in so much Trouble. Martin has provided the Magic. GOAL! Bristol City 1-1 Watford (Twine,25) Scott Twine has his first Bristol City goal! A great header downwards to cue celebrations at Ashton Gate. He seemed like a good signing at the time. A good Twining at the Twine? No? Ok, sorry. GOAL! Blackburn 1-1 Huddersfield (Helik, 23) Huddersfield are level at Blackburn and it’s no surprise, given these are two of the more porous sides in the Championship! Michael Helik levels things up in the blue-and-white-either-side-of-the-Pennines derby. Speaking of Wrexham, their task today down in south Wales just got tougher, with Will Boyle shown a straight red card. In League Two, it’s a dream start for Blackpool at the Memorial Ground – they’re 2-0 up on Bristol Rovers. League Two: Only four games on in the fourth tier this afternoon, with Barrow 1-0 up against Crewe and MK Dons also leading at home by the same score versus Morecambe. Newport v Wrexham and Gillingham v Forest Green are the other two games. Which noughties Premier League striker is in charge of Forest Green today, people? GOAL! Algeria 1-1 Burkina Faso (Bounedjah, 51) It’s only taken six minutes for Algeria to find their leveller, with Baghdad Bounedjah bundling home from close range after a set-piece. GOAL! Norwich 1-0 West Brom (Sargent, 13) Josh Sargent is released into open space and finishes superbly on the counterattack – a goal completely against the run of play. The Baggies had been bossing it but somehow they’re behind. GOAL! Bristol City 0-1 Watford (Dele-Bashiru, 13) Watford are in front at Ashton Gate after a handball in the box gives Tom Dele-Bashiru to tuck home from the penalty spot. GOAL! Plymouth 0-1 Cardiff (Ng, 10) It’s right-back Perry Ng who reacts well after a good delivery into the Plymouth box, slotting home to give the Bluebirds the lead at Home Park. Middlesbrough v Rotherham: Forgive the self-indulgence, but I wrote this article at the start of the month about Rotherham’s miserable away record. It didn’t change with the next match, a 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Fulham. What price a Millers’ win at the Riverside? They’re facing a club record streak if they fail to get the three points today. GOAL! Stoke 0-1 Birmingham (Stansfield, 10) Where would Birmingham be without their Fulham loanee Jay Stansfield? He scores his ninth of the season on the counter to give Tony Mowbray’s side a great start at the Bet365. GOAL! Blackburn 1-0 Huddersfield (Wharton, 7) The first goal in the 3pm Championship kickoffs comes from a huge Huddersfield mistake, with Adam Wharton pouncing on a stray backpass to open the scoring at Ewood Park. It’s now Kilmarnock 2-0 Dundee inside three minutes as Marley Watkins doubles the hosts’ lead in the Scottish Cup fourth round clash. GOAL! Algeria 0-1 Burkina Faso (Konate, 45+3) Algeria are in trouble. Mohamed Konaté has clinched the lead for Burkina Faso in first half added time. And then the whistle goes for the break. Algeria need a big 45 minutes to potentially save their Afcon. Two early goals in the Scottish Cup: Motherwell and Kilmarnock have both taken home leads inside the first two minutes against Alloa and Dundee respectively. HT in the WSL: Beth Mead has made it Arsenal 2-1 Everon on the brink of half-time. Some Championship and managerial thoughts on this email from Jeremy Boyce: Hi Dom. You’re right, the Championship promotion race is as intense as ever, with some real quality up there. Leicester looking a class act (like Burnley last year, and where did THAT get them?), Saints flying, and Tractor Boys punching way above their weight. As you can tell, I’m as Leeds as you like, and obviously hoping that we can keep going while the Saints’ wings fall off and the Tractors run out of diesel. Anyway, speaking of Championship, just been following the Arsenal v Palace match. Sadly it’s looking like Hodgson is toast, isn’t he? How long will Parish leave it before he gets on the blower to Big Sam, all the other “keep-em-up” candidates being already otherwise employed elsewhere … Other thoughts are welcome on the Championship promotion race, Roy’s future and Big Sam’s next job. And anything else you like. KICK OFF *collectively* Peeeeeeeeeeeeepp!!! ICYMI: Arsenal put Crystal Palace to the sword at the Emirates with a five-star performance and Nick Ames was there to see it. Afcon: It’s goalless between Algeria and Burkina Faso as we approach half-time. As it stands, that’s not the best result for Riyad Mahrez and co given they also drew their opening game, but it would keep Burkina Faso top of the group unless Angola put a few goals past Mauritania this evening. Leeds are hanging on to the coat-tails of the Championship top three, but then it’s wide open for the playoff places, with West Brom, Coventry, Watford, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Cardiff all in action today; they’ll all hope to take a giant leap towards a top six spot. That’s now 20 league games unbeaten for Southampton – breaking a club record that had stood for more than 100 years. Here’s the goal that got it started this lunchtime: FT: Swansea 1-3 Southampton. A thoroughly professional job done by Russell Martin’s side on his old patch, despite some second half spirit from the Swans. All the goals were scored before the break, with Che Adams, Will Smallbone and ex Swansea player Flynn Downes sealing the three points for the promotion-chasing visitors. WSL: Arsenal had led through an early Caitlin Foord goal and looked to be in charge, but Everton have just equalised out of nothing via Katja Snoeijs. It’s 1-1 in the first game back after the winter break. Gavin Bazunu is down in his own goal-mouth after taking a bash while keeping out a header from Yannick Bolasie. The veteran winger, now 34, has added some impetus for Swansea since coming on. Saints have five minutes plus added time to see this out. Swansea have missed two more huge chances, somehow conspiring to hit both posts when it seemed easier to score – certainly in the first instance. Despite Southampton bossing this game from virtually start to finish, it should probably be closer. Paterson and Patino will be ruing the misses. In Scotland today … (via reader Simon McMahon on email): It’s Scottish Cup weekend in Scotland, Dom. Two-time winners Dundee United have bigger fish to fry this season, trying to win promotion from the Scottish Championship, so are giving the cup a miss and letting others dream of Hampden glory. At least that’s what I’m telling myself after we lost to Queen of the South on penalties in the last round. Potential cupsets today are at Airdrie, Forfar, Livingston and Ross County, who host St. Johnstone, Hibs, Raith and Partick respectively. Aberdeen beat Clyde last night, and Hearts needed a stoppage time winner to beat The Spartans in today’s early kick off. Asian Cup: It’s finished 2-2 between Jordan and South Korea, in a result that should aid both teams’ passage to the knockout stages from Group E (they both won their openers). Bahrain v Malaysia in the same group kicks off soon. Swansea 1-3 Southampton: Charlie Patino has just put a golden chance wide for the Swans, one which would have surely set up a grandstand finish. At the other end, Che Adams appears to be tripped in the box but Saints don’t get the penalty decision … and there’s no VAR to take a second look. Team news Here’s a selection of team news graphics from the Championship: from Bristol City v Watford, Norwich v West Brom and Plymouth v Cardiff. Algeria v Burkina Faso is about to get under way in the Africa Cup of Nations. Here are your teams: Algeria: Mandrea; Atal, Ait Nouri, Bensebani, Mandi; Bentaleb, Feghouli, Zerrouki; Mahrez, Belail, Bouedjah Burkina Faso: Koffi; Nagalo, Kabore, Taposoba, Konate; Dayo, Tapsoba, Sangae; Toure, Guira, Yago Swansea 1-3 Southampton: Russell Martin’s return to south Wales has gone swimmingly so far. Bar Jamie Paterson’s strike for the Swans, the visitors have been utterly dominant, scoring three times in the first and remaining dominant after the break too. With the likes of Ryan Fraser, Che Adams and the Armstrongs (Adam and Stuart), they’re a super-strong Championship side. Games postponed The following games will not be taking place today, all due a frozen pitch: League One Cheltenham v Carlisle Oxford v Northampton Port Vale v Wycombe Stevenage v Barnsley League Two AFC Wimbledon v Crawley Bradford v Doncaster Harrogate v Grimsby Notts County v Stockport Swindon v Tranmere Walsall v Accrington Preamble Premier League, what Premier League? Who needs the top flight, eh? Well, not when you have Africa Cup of Nations action, a full programme of Football League thrills and spills and plenty more besides. Well, a slight correction: there are some games in the third and fourth tier that have already fallen victim to frozen pitches, but with Swansea v Southampton already under way in the Championship, Bristol City taking on Watford and Tony Mowbray’s Birmingham going to Stoke and more there’s definitely enough to keep us footie addicts sated for a Saturday. In the WSL, Arsenal host Everton, there’s a boat-load of Scottish Cup games, the Bundesliga is on and it’s Group D all the way in Afcon this afternoon with Algeria v Burkina Faso and Mauritania v Angola a bit later. Stick with me and we can all agree that the winter break is a load of tosh; the more football = the better. Team news and details on those pesky postponements will follow in due course.