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Greetings to a busy night of Football League as well as continental soccer action. The spotlight falls on major Championship matches plus the pivotal final pool matches in this Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Preamble

Hello everyone. You are welcome to the reportedly this second-to-last soccer live blog of the year. There’s an extensive Football League slate, kicking off with Coventry v Ipswich at 6pm, and we will also monitor a close watch on the two evening games from Group A at the Africa Cup of Nations: Morocco hosting Zambia as well as Mali facing Comoros.

We'll be focussing on these fixtures, all 19:45 kick-offs except where noted.

Afcon 2025

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

Second Division Matches

• Coventry v The Tractor Boys (6pm)
• The Foxes versus Derby
• Middlesbrough v The Tigers
• The Lions v Bristol City
• Wrexham v North End

Third Tier Fixture

• The Bluebirds versus Stevenage

Recent Team News

Ipswich at Coventry Team News

The early game, featuring the sides sitting top and third in the second tier, promises to be an exciting match. Here are the confirmed lineups.

Coventry (4-2-3-1) Rushworth; van Ewijk, Woolfenden, the defender, Brau; Torp, the captain; the winger, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; the striker.

Subs: The backup keeper, the midfielder, the forward, Kesler-Hayden, the full-back, the defender, Eccles, Perry, the player.

Ipswich (a 4-2-3-1 setup) Walton; Furlong, the centre-half, the defender, the left-back; the midfielder, Taylor; Walle, Nunez, Jack Clarke; the centre-forward.

Substitutes: The goalkeeper, the defender, Johnson, Humphreys, the midfielder, Burns, McAteer, Philogene-Bidace, the striker.

Referee Anthony Backhouse (Cumbria).

Africa Cup of Nations: First Group Permutations

It's a tricky picture. That's often the case when some but not all third-placed teams progress. Here’s how things look before tonight’s final set of games.

• The Atlas Lions 4 points, GD+2
• The Eagles 2 points, GD0 (with 2 goals for)
• Zambia 2pts, GD0 (with 1 goal for)
• Comoros 1pt, -2 goal difference

In short, Morocco are probably fine though they will aim to defeat their opponents to win the group. Zambia likely requires at least a point versus the hosts. Comoros likely must to overcome Mali, who will probably be okay with a point.

A host of potential results and permutations.

Angola v Egypt Update

The conclusion to Group B at the continental championship is being covered. To avoid spoilers, it's best not to seek out that information.

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