Premier League: Live scores, team news and updates from Saturday afternoon’s opening matches with Burnley, Newcastle, Brentford and Nottingham Forest all in action

There’s no doubting his caliber (the guy scored for England if a justification was needed), but Toney has been going through a rough patch.

The Bees talisman has gone nine league games without scoring.

He has not been out longer since missing 10 games in a row for Peterborough United between February and April 2019.

This one smells like someone finding the slow motion feature on their camera and being a little happy with it…

Brentford is a beautiful ground, you have to admit.

And in that sense, it is very impressive that in a season where it seems like they have always had at least half of their starting XI injured, Newcastle have already equaled their goal-scoring record from 38 Premier League games.

The Magpies have 74 this season, which puts them level with the 2001-02 team.

Alexander Isak has been a big part of that, and is now one away from becoming the fifth Newcastle striker to score 20 in a single top-flight season.

Newcastle have become synonymous with injuries this season, but they have Pope, Joelinton and Almirón ALL returning to the bench!

That injured XI became very weak.

So we have two changes each from Brentford and Fulham, with Lewis-Potter and Damsgaard replacing Jensen and Wissa for the hosts, while Lukic replaces Reed and Willian replaces De Cordova-Reid for Silva’s team.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United make just one change with Robinson replacing Holgate, with Montiel and Yates getting the nod ahead of Williams and Niakhate.

And finally, at Turf Moor, Brownhill replaces Fofana, and Howe brings in Krafth and Wilson in place of Schar and Anderson.

Many changes in all areas.

And last but not least…

At that point, who’s ready to get some news from the team?

Well, for those looking at the numbers before kick-off at Bramall Lane: Sheffield United are three goals away from equaling the record for most goals conceded.

Swindon Town allowed 100 in 1993-94, when we had 42-game seasons, and the Blades currently have 97.

After this miserable campaign for Sheffield United, that’s a record they could really do with not breaking.

As for Forest, how many weeks have they been at the City Ground.

There was THAT tweet after the Everton game that seemed to set the football world on fire, and while that has largely died down, there was the news that Mark Clattenburg has left his position as a board consultant.

The former Premier League referee’s departure comes after the FA charged manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Neco Williams over comments made about the integrity of referees following the defeat to Everton.

Oh, how they could use a nice, quiet 2-0 win with no frills.

Newcastle are not the only ones enjoying a trip back in time before KO.

It hasn’t been the most pleasant season for the Blades, who have already been relegated, but there was a magical moment in their last clash against Forest.

Some way to open your account, huh?

And speaking of that rivalry, Brentford has been something of a horror ride for Fulham in recent seasons.

Fulham have lost six of their last seven trips to the Bees in all competitions, with that victory coming seven and a half years ago in November 2016.

Not the best read for Fulham fans, I’m really sorry, but at least the Craven Cottage team have taken a club-record 15 points in London derbies this season (W4 D3 L4), so there’s that. ..

This is the point in the season where we look at games like Brentford vs Fulham and say things like “they’re already on the beach” and “they’ll have taken their foot off the accelerator by now”.

Brentford are out of the relegation battle, Fulham can’t get Europe, what else is there to fight for!

It’s rubbish if you ask me – there’s still plenty of incentive to finish as high up the table as possible, and that’s before you get any local bragging rights in this west London derby.

Wondering what goes on behind the scenes at St James’ Park? Are you eager to find stories beyond the headlines? Do you really like reading about Dougie Freedman?

Well, for any of the above, you can check out Craig Hope’s Newcastle Notebook at the link below…

Before the chaos of six different starting XIs falls in about 25 minutes, let’s take a look at the terrain…

The first is Newcastle and how’s this one for a hit?

Good memories for the Magpies from their last clash against Vincent Kompany’s team

So as we know now, we have three games across the country and the stakes are high.

For Newcastle it is a chance to solidify their European bid, while Burnley can get closer to surely the escape of all escapes with a victory that would actually take them out of the bottom three with results in their favour.

Sheffield United may already be down, but Forest are also looking to overcome the drop and would love to be able to capitalize on Luton’s 1-1 draw last night with some points of their own to put some much-needed light between themselves and the Hatters. .

And then there’s the West London derby match three between local rivals Brentford and Fulham – what’s not to love?!

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Mail Sport’s LIVE coverage of today’s 3pm three KOs.

We’ve got action all over the country: Brentford host Fulham, Newcastle travel to Burnley and Sheffield United host Nottingham Forest at Bramall Lane.

Stay with us for the next 90 minutes or so as we head into those three games with the latest news and what’s happening around the venue!