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Greetings for the full evening of Football League and continental football fixtures. We'll be covering major second-tier clashes and those pivotal last pool matches in this Afcon tournament.

Preamble

Hello everyone. You are welcome to what is arguably this second-to-last football clockwatch of 2025. There’s a full Football League programme, kicking off with Coventry v Ipswich at 18:00, while we’ll also be keeping a close watch on both evening fixtures from Group A at this Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia against the hosts Morocco and Mali facing Comoros.

Our primary attention will be on these games, all 19:45 start times unless stated.

Africa Cup of Nations Fixtures

• Comoros v Mali (7pm)
• Zambia v The Atlas Lions (7pm)

Second Division Matches

• Coventry versus Ipswich (6pm)
• Leicester versus The Rams
• Boro v The Tigers
• The Lions versus The Robins
• Wrexham v Preston

League One

• Cardiff v Boro

Recent Lineup Updates

Ipswich at Coventry Team News

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

Coventry City (4-2-3-1) The goalkeeper; van Ewijk, the centre-back, Kitching, Brau; the midfielder, Grimes; the winger, Rudoni, the forward; Wright.

Substitutes: The backup keeper, Allen, the forward, the defender, the full-back, Latibeaudiere, Eccles, the youngster, the player.

Ipswich (a 4-2-3-1 setup) The shot-stopper; Furlong, O’Shea, the defender, the left-back; the midfielder, the midfielder; the attacker, Nunez, the winger; the centre-forward.

Substitutes: Palmer, the defender, the midfielder, the defender, the midfielder, the winger, McAteer, Philogene-Bidace, Akpom.

The official Backhouse (from Cumbria).

Afcon 2025: Group A Permutations

It's a tricky picture. That's often the case where only some third-placed sides progress. This is the current state ahead of this evening's final set of games.

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

In short, Morocco are probably fine but will want to defeat Zambia to win their pool. Zambia likely requires a draw or better against Morocco. The island nation likely need to beat their rivals, who will probably be okay if they get a draw.

Many possibilities, various outcomes, plenty of scenarios.

Egypt's Match with Angola Update

The denouement of the second group at this Africa Cup of Nations has coverage elsewhere. If you don’t want to know the score, don’t click the link.

Championship Table 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