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Former top-flight referee David Elleray is now technical director for Ifab and was involved in the creation of the new eight-second rule for goalkeepers.

“We were stunned by the results [of the trials] and that’s why we brought it in as an immediate law change," said Elleray. "The deterrent effect is so strong. For those who are worried that it’s going to lead to a whole load of corners during the game, it’s not because the goalkeepers are getting rid of it.”

Elleray, who made his debut as a Football League referee in 1986 and officiated in the Premier League between 1992 and his retirement in 2003, highlighted Manchester United's game against Brighton at Old Trafford last season as an example of how the six-second rule was not implemented.

"The United goalkeeper held the ball was 4.8 seconds, and the average time the Brighton goalkeeper held the ball was 14.8 seconds.

“So we have to do something, and we’re going to give goalkeepers two more seconds but we’re now going to police that strongly.”

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter in Eindhoven

The build up to Arsenal's Champions League round of 16 game against PSV Eindhoven starts today.

The team trained earlier at the Arsenal training ground and then we will hear from Mikel Arteta and a player at the stadium this evening ahead of tomorrow's game.

The city is sunny and already very busy. There's a carnival going on and the city of Eindhoven changes it name to Lampegat during this time.

There's a good atmosphere about with people in fancy dress for the occasion too.

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Brazil head coach Dorival Junior has named a 52-man provisional squad for upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina.

Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar has been recalled, as has Neymar following his move to Santos.

Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli, who is currently injured, is also in the provisional squad list.

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Bento (Al Nassr), Ederson (Manchester City), Hugo Souza (Corinthians Lucas Perri (Lyon), Weverton (Palmeiras)

Defenders: Dodô (Fiorentina), Abner (Lyon), Alex Sandro (Flamengo), Alex Telles (Botafogo), Douglas Santos (Zenit), Arana (Atlético-MG), Vanderson (Monaco), Wesley (Flamengo), Alexsandro (Lille), Beraldo (PSG), Danilo (Flamengo), Fabrício Bruno (Cruzeiro), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Leo Ortiz (Flamengo), Marquinhos (PSG), Murillo (Nottingham Forest)

Midfielders: Alisson (São Paulo), André (Wolverhampton), Andreas Pereira (Fulham), Andrey Santos (Strasbourg), Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Éderson (Atalanta), Gerson (Flamengo), João Gomes (Wolverhampton), Joelinton (Newcastle), Lucas São (Paulo), Paquetá (West Ham), Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton), Neymar (Santos), Oscar (São Paulo)

Forwards: Antony (Real Betis), Bruno Henrique (Flamengo), Endrick (Real Madrid), Estêvão (Palmeiras), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Galeno (Al Ahli), Igor Jesus (Botafogo), Igor Paixão (Feyenoord), João Pedro (Brighton), Luiz Henrique (Zenit), Raphinha (Barcelona), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Samuel Lino (Atlético de Madrid), Savinho (Manchester City), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Yuri Alberto (Corinthians)

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels will be on red alert with the new eight second rule.

The goalkeeper has been booked twice for time wasting this season, in Forest’s 1-0 win at Liverpool in September and in their 1-1 draw at Chelsea a few weeks later while Jose Sa at Wolves has also been known to slow the game down to his side’s advantage.

The Premier League is already played at a frantic pace and this will only help maintain that speed but the focus could be better served improving VAR and avoiding prolonged VAR delays – including the eight-minute wait to rule out Milos Kerkez’s goal for Bournemouth against Wolves on Saturday – which only frustrate fans and slow the game down further.

Conor McNamara
BBC Radio 5 Live commentator

I have quite a bit of sympathy for the referees who are going to have to implement this.

The old six-second rule was difficult to implement, with good reason. In essence the spirit of the law was to be a deterrent. To stop excessive holding on to the ball – ie 20 seconds and more. But in this highly analytical world we now live in, any new “measurable initiatives” will be given the full “offside by a toe-nail” treatment.

We can all easily anticipate the scenario: Team A’s goalkeeper gets penalised for holding the ball too long and Team A concede a goal from the resultant corner. That same weekend Team B’s goalkeeper is recorded on TV coverage holding the ball for a few seconds longer than Team A’s Goalkeeper did.

Team A’s fans will scour the TV footage to find evidence that Team C’s goalkeeper held the ball for 8.1seconds last week. The conspiracy theorists will love it all.

Also, to implement this to the letter of the law, the poor referees will have to start shouting "five-second countdowns" each and every time a goalkeeper has had the ball in their hands for three seconds. You can already imagine the withering looks from the ‘keepers towards the officials: “Yeah… I know… calm down Ref…”

Semi-automated offsides may take divert some of the personal insults away from the from the officials, as fans can vent their ire at the machine rather than the human.... but implementing this new law will see the individual referees catch plenty of slack again.

John Murray
BBC Radio 5 Live chief football correspondent

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An interesting move but how often we will see it implemented, I wonder?

I suspect it is simply another tool to try and increase the amount of playing time, which the authorities have been working on for some while. And the likelihood is it will be used only very much as a last resort and more as a warning to make it clear to goalkeepers that they need to get on with it.

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Newcastle will consider lodging an appeal against the red card which will cost Anthony Gordon the chance to play in the Carabao Cup final.

The Magpies forward was dismissed for shoving Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke's head in Sunday's 2-1 FA Cup fifth-round defeat.

That would mean a three-game ban for violent conduct, that will include the EFL Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday, 16 March.

Newcastle also missed a key player, goalkeeper Nick Pope, through a red-card suspension for the 2023 final which they lost to Manchester United

"Of course. If we analyse the incident and feel there's grounds for that [an appeal], we will do without hesitation," said Magpies boss Eddie Howe.

"I'd need to see it, I can't sit here and give an honest opinion to that until I've done the work that you've done and looked at it.

"But knowing the player, I know there's no malice intended there."

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Lots of you are bringing up the lack of enforcement when it comes to the six-second, which Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the Irish Football Association and an Ifab director, said had "been a bane of many people's lives for quite some time".

"Some action has been taken on that," Nelson told a news conference in Belfast. "The results of (the trials) have been very, very positive, and so we are going to move forward to try and put that into the laws of the game as soon as possible."

Get it all off your chest, Anon. But stick your name on it next time, please.

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Now, you mention Jordan Pickford, Stevie...

The Merseyside derby at Anfield in 2022 gave us a memorable moment when the Everton goalkeeper was mocked by Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker for wasting time.

At the end of the game, and with the Reds leading by two goals, Brazilian Alisson dropped to the ground and lay on the ball to mimic a tactic Pickford had been using throughout the 90 minutes.

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Fulham have released a statement after Calvin Bassey was the subject of racist and homopohobic abuse following his side's FA Cup win over Manchester United on Sunday.

Bassey scored Fulham's opening goal in the game which finished 1-1 after extra-time before Fulham won 4-3 on penalties.

A statement for Fulham reads: "Fulham Football Club is utterly appalled at the racist and homophobic abuse received and subsequently shared by Calvin Bassey on social media after yesterday’s FA Cup tie against Manchester United.

"We strongly condemn this abhorrent behaviour which has no place in football or society. Such actions are entirely unacceptable, and we stand in full support of Calvin Bassey, who will continue to receive our full backing.

"We will do everything in our power to work with the relevant authorities in identifying the perpetrators of these vile messages and taking the strongest form of action against them.

"Fulham Football Club is committed to maintaining a firm stance against all forms of discrimination and remains dedicated to fostering an environment of respect and inclusion."

Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport football news reporter

First they restricted the number of steps a goalkeeper could take with ball in his hand, then that was changed to holding it for six seconds before releasing.

Now two extra seconds have been added on, but it feels like a rule that may be strictly enforced when first implemented, before it gets forgotten about.

Just think back to how much injury-time was being played when they decided to clamp down on time wasting and how much is added on now.

It also feels like there could be a pantomime scenario during matches, with players and crowd counting the seconds when the keeper has ball in hand.

Burnley striker Ashley Barnes was doing as such in the FA Cup game against Preston at the weekend, how many other players will we see attempting to pressure the referee into enforcing the new rule?

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Let's jump in the time machine and travel back to November 2015 when Liverpool faced Bordeaux in a Europa League group match at Anfield.

Reds keeper Simon Mignolet was punished by referee Alon Yefet for holding on to the ball for 20 seconds, resulting in an indirect free-kick that was scored by midfielder Henri Saivet to put Bordeaux ahead.

Former manager Jurgen Klopp could still smile at the end of the game, though, despite Mignolet conceding a needless free-kick, as his side won 2-1 to reach the last 32 of the competition.