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Welcome for the packed evening of EFL and continental football fixtures. The spotlight falls on important Championship encounters and those crucial final pool games in this Afcon competition.

Preamble

Hello everyone. You are welcome to the arguably the penultimate football live blog of 2025. There’s a full Football League schedule, starting with Ipswich's trip to Coventry at 18:00, and we’ll also be keeping a close watch on both evening games from Group A at this Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia against the hosts Morocco as well as Mali facing Comoros.

Our primary attention will be on these matches, all 19:45 start times except where noted.

Africa Cup of Nations Fixtures

• The Coelacanths versus The Eagles (19:00)
• The Copper Bullets versus The Atlas Lions (7pm)

Second Division Matches

• Coventry versus The Tractor Boys (18:00)
• The Foxes v Derby
• Middlesbrough v Hull
• The Lions versus Bristol City
• The Red Dragons versus Preston

League One

• The Bluebirds v Stevenage

Recent Lineup Updates

Ipswich at Coventry Team News

The early game, featuring the sides sitting first and third in the second tier, looks like an exciting match. These are the starting elevens.

Coventry City (4-2-3-1) Rushworth; the right-back, the centre-back, the defender, Brau; Torp, Grimes; Sakamoto, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; Wright.

Substitutes: The backup keeper, the midfielder, the forward, the defender, Bidwell, the defender, Eccles, the youngster, the player.

Ipswich Town (a 4-2-3-1 setup) The shot-stopper; the defender, the centre-half, Kipre, the left-back; the midfielder, the midfielder; the attacker, the playmaker, the winger; the centre-forward.

Substitutes: Palmer, the defender, the midfielder, the defender, the midfielder, the winger, McAteer, the attacker, the striker.

The official Backhouse (Cumbria).

Africa Cup of Nations: First Group Scenarios

The situation is complex. That's often the case when some but not all third-place sides progress. Here’s how things look ahead of tonight’s last round of matches.

• Morocco 4pts, +2 goal difference
• Mali 2 points, GD0 (goals scored 2)
• The Copper Bullets 2pts, 0 goal difference (with 1 goal for)
• Comoros 1 point, GD-2

To summarize, Morocco is likely safe but will want to beat their opponents and win the group. Zambia probably need at least a point versus the hosts. Comoros likely must to beat their rivals, who should advance if they get a point.

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous.

Egypt's Match with Angola Update

The final act of the second group at this continental championship is being covered. To avoid spoilers, don’t click the link.

Championship Standings 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