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Greetings for the busy night of Football League and international football action. We'll be covering major second-tier clashes plus those crucial last pool games in the Afcon tournament.

Preamble

Hello everyone. You are welcome to the reportedly this penultimate football live blog of 2025. There’s an extensive Football League programme, starting with Coventry v Ipswich at 18:00, and we’ll also be keeping a close watch on the two night games from the first group at this Afcon: Zambia against the hosts Morocco as well as Mali facing Comoros.

We'll be focussing on the following games, all 19:45 kick-offs except where noted.

Africa Cup of Nations Fixtures

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

Second Division Matches

• The Sky Blues v The Tractor Boys (18:00)
• Leicester v The Rams
• Boro versus The Tigers
• The Lions v The Robins
• Wrexham v Preston

Third Tier Fixture

• The Bluebirds v Stevenage

Recent Lineup Updates

Ipswich at Coventry Confirmed Lineups

The evening's opener, between the teams who are first and third in the second tier, promises to be an exciting match. Here are the starting elevens.

Coventry (a 4-2-3-1 formation) Rushworth; the right-back, Woolfenden, Kitching, the left-back; Torp, Grimes; Sakamoto, Rudoni, the forward; the striker.

Subs: Wilson, the midfielder, Simms, the defender, the full-back, the defender, the midfielder, Perry, Andrews.

Ipswich Town (a 4-2-3-1 setup) Walton; the defender, O’Shea, Kipre, the left-back; the midfielder, the midfielder; the attacker, Nunez, Jack Clarke; Azon.

Substitutes: Palmer, Young, Johnson, Humphreys, the midfielder, Burns, McAteer, the attacker, the striker.

The official Anthony Backhouse (Cumbria).

Africa Cup of Nations: First Group Permutations

The situation is complex. That's often the case when some but not all third-place teams progress. This is the current state ahead of tonight’s last set of games.

• Morocco 4 points, +2 goal difference
• The Eagles 2pts, GD0 (with 2 goals for)
• The Copper Bullets 2 points, GD0 (goals scored 1)
• Comoros 1pt, -2 goal difference

Briefly, Morocco is likely safe though they will aim to beat their opponents and win their pool. Zambia probably need at least a point versus Morocco. Comoros likely need to beat Mali, who should advance if they get a point.

A host of potential results and permutations.

Angola v Egypt Update

The denouement to Group B at this Africa Cup of Nations is being covered. If you don’t want to know the score, avoid following that coverage.

Second Tier Standings Snapshot

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