Everton

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Sean Dyche has the daunting task of trying to stop Treble winners Manchester City from picking up their sixth consecutive Premier League tomorrow.

His job will be slightly hindered, however, as the Everton boss will be serving a one-game touchline ban at the Etihad after receiving a third yellow card of the season against Tottenham last weekend.

He was booked by referee Michael Oliver after protesting against what he called "really bad decisions".

"I think there should be a bit more tolerance," Dyche said.

"The fourth official is there and if deep down they are thinking the referee might have that one wrong, I don't see why you are booked for it.

"That's the moment when they should use a bit of their game understanding and say 'OK, he maybe got that one wrong but we need you to stay in the technical area'.

"I think that can be a calming down moment."

Surprisingly, as it is now February, we have some transfer news to bring you.

Bournemouth have confirmed the signing of Luis Sinisterra on a "long-term" deal from Leeds, with the winger having previously been on loan at the Premier League club.

The 24-year-old has turned out 17 times for the club in all competitions, scoring three goals and providing three assists.

He makes the move for a £20 million fee, BBC Sport understands.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

We'll be hearing from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after 1pm and no doubt the first question will be: What's going on with Thiago Alcantara?

The 32-year-old midfielder is set for another spell on the sidelines after suffering an injury against Arsenal.

Thiago, who had been out since April with a hip issue, returned to action as an 85th-minute substitute in Sunday's 3-1 defeat in north London.

However, he experienced a muscle problem during his brief appearance.

Will Manchester City be leading the way by the time Liverpool kick-off at 3pm? Only Merseyside neighbours Everton can stop that from happening.

However, if both City and Liverpool suffer shock home defeats on Saturday, then the door is left open for third-placed Arsenal to go one point clear of the pair if they beat West Ham away on Sunday.

Down at the bottom, a win for Sean Dyche's side at the Etihad would be extremely welcome, especially if Sheffield United get the better of Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

Saturday, 10 February

Manchester City v Everton (12:30)

Fulham v Bournemouth (15:00)

Liverpool v Burnley (15:00)

Luton v Sheffield United (15:00)

Tottenham v Brighton (15:00)

Wolves v Brentford (15:00)

Nottingham Forest v Newcastle (17:30)

Sunday, 11 February

West Ham v Arsenal (14:00)

Aston Villa v Manchester United (16:30)

Monday, 12 February

Crystal Palace v Chelsea (20:00)

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

After attending the UEFA Congress in Paris, I got the Eurostar back to London and am now at a plush city centre hotel where the Premier League clubs are meeting.

Amongst the most significant topics under discussion is expected to be the 'New Deal', which is the increased funding package the Premier League is under pressure to deliver.

The figure of around £900m has already been agreed.

There has been no agreement over who chips in what amongst the 20 top flight clubs and also what strings will be attached in terms of EFL spending.

It is not likely to be voted on today, which will cause EFL frustration.

Former Premier League players Michael Brown and Clinton Morrison discuss if sin bins and blue cards will improve football on The Football News Show.

"I think more players are going to button their mouths and respect the referees" said former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison.

"It's another thing to confuse the situation" added former Fulham midfielder Michael Brown.

Image source, BBC Sport

Brentford striker Ivan Toney is the main headline on the gossip page this morning. According to the Star,, external Manchester United are monitoring the 27-year-old, but value him at £70m and will not get drawn into a bidding contest.

Meanwhile, in the Express, , externalUnited manager Erik ten Hag says no decision has been made on the futures of Jonny Evans or Raphael Varane, 30.

Read Friday's gossip column here

BBC Radio 5 Live

Connor from Leicester tells BBC Radio 5 Live that he is pro blue cards: "I mean, I can understand from a fan perspective that they don't want the idea to come in because VAR, we can all see it's annoying. No one really likes it.

"But I've seen as a grassroots ref that sin bins work at that level. And I believe, because I see a lot of dissent towards myself and other match officials, I see players saying stuff, especially younger players.

"And I think that comes from watching the elites, the Premier League, Champions League, stuff like that. It comes from that fully because they can see, for example, in the City v Tottenham game, where Simon Hopper, granted, made a mistake, but the Man City players then surrounded him.

"The younger players see that and because these elites are their idols, they just take after that and they feel that it's all right to do the same at their level of football, which it's not. Which is why I think sin bins work perfectly at grassroots. And, yeah, it might not work at elite level."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Paul in Thame tells BBC Radio 5 Live that he is against blue cards: "I've been watching football, coaching football for donkeys years, and now I just don't know what I'm watching anymore. The referees don't know, the crowds don't know, nobody knows what's a yellow, what's a red?

"I don't know what a blue is going to be and how long it's going to take for VAR to decide if it's a blue or a yellow or a red, because they'll have to look at it. They won't be able to let the referees just make a decision. The referees, to be honest, they may as well take the referee off the pitch now and just do it from a studio.

Meanwhile, grassroots referee Andrew says he is pro blue cards: "It definitely helps. It's not the panacea, but it definitely helps you manage your game. And it's more, for me, the threat of using it than actually using it. I mean, I've done probably over 100 games this season, 80 as a referee, and I think I've used two or three sin bins, but I probably threatened to use them every other game.

"So you can see from that the threat works. And usually it's the players from their own team who help to manage it by telling the player to shut up. So in the end, it works. You don't have to use the sin bin. The players manage it and it definitely helps. No doubt about it."

Gumbo74: I'm all for the introduction of blue cards but only if accompanied by the Eiffel 65 classic. Can you imagine "Oh, the referee is reaching for his pocket.." "I'm blue da ba de da be da..." No, but seriously, awful idea.

Neven: What happens if the goalkeeper is shown a blue card? You wouldn't want to bring another keeper on for only 10 minutes and basically waste a sub, but playing without a keeper, even for a short period, will inevitably see the opposition score. Half-baked nonsense.

BBC Radio 5 Live

More from former Premier League and Fifa referee, Keith Hackett, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "I think that it's an interesting point, that it acts as a deterrent and I think we've got to look at the current game and the disappointment that fans have in the behaviour of players towards the referee. It damages and tarnishes the image of our game. And we've talked about this before about how things that happen at the elite level cascade down and make the game much more difficult for grassroots level.

"So for me, I think this is the lawmaker saying, how can we prevent players from disputing decisions in such a difficult manner for the referee when we've got to some degree, the current law not being applied? And therefore what we're going to do is we're going to make this more effective on the day by sending the person to the sin bin for ten minutes, for him to calm down and for the team to take a penalty in the hope that they will behave better going forward.

"So it's an experiment that they intend applying and I applaud them on that because I think we've got to actually try to reduce the amount of dissent that's within the game, that's tarnishing the image."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Former Premier League and FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live about the potential introduction of blue cards: "Yeah, I think it's a very good point [that sin bins encourage time wasting] and it's one that we do see when a sin bin is applied.

"So the principle is that it should have an effect on the whole team and the manager as well, or the coach at the side of the pitch, to instil a better environment at which the referee can perform. Introducing it into the professional game begins to be, for me, a bit of a worry.

"The reason behind that is that we appear to be changing the laws to accommodate weak and indecisive referee. Referees in the current laws at the elite level have the ability to caution someone for dissent and further dissent to issue a red card. They've also got a yellow card for stopping a promising attack. They put this under the banner of a cynical challenge, which is going to be introduced under the remit of a blue card and a ten minute delay."

Reuben Clarke: It's a stupid idea. It gives players slightly more freedom to make cynical challenges. The whole idea of two blues equals a red also makes no sense. Personally, I would rework the yellow card if the FA are desperate for change, rather than add a blue card.

Michael Ryan: We don't need a blue card, we need decent referees, how many times do they give out yellow cards needlessly, or fouls that are clearly not.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Quite aside from the merits or otherwise of sin-bins and blue cards, the thing I found interesting about the reporting around the whole story yesterday was that I - and others - were told IFAB would be making an announcement today.

For the media, that is fine.

But it ignored the fact IFAB are holding its annual general meeting at Loch Lomond on 2 March, when FIFA president Gianni Infantino is expecting to be attendance and fronting a post meeting press conference.

The introduction of blue cards might seem the kind of thing that Infantino would like to announce himself given FIFA have four seats on IFAB, with the Home Nations having the other four.

So, will we get an announcement today or not?

Image source, Getty Images

Over in the Northern Ireland camp, boss Michael O'Neill feels their League C group is an "open and competitive type of group".

He added: "We've got a very young squad at the minute and I think this will give them an opportunity to win games, give them more experience and help us develop the team further, particularly with World Cup qualification the next big tournament to deal with."

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, Wales were in the top tier last time but finished bottom of Group A4 with one point from six games.

They played Turkey in November when the two teams drew 1-1 in a Euro 2024 qualifying group game.

Turkey finished top of the group, while Wales were third and will face Finland in the play-off semi-finals in March as they try to qualify for that tournament in Germany.

"It's a positive group, we are quite pleased with it," said Wales manager Rob Page of his team's Nations League draw.

"We know about Turkey after playing them recently. With regards to the other teams we will have to do a bit more digging.

"We are pretty confident."

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland won Group B1 last time to earn promotion to League A for the first time.

"It's a tough one," said Scotland manager Steve Clarke about his side's group.

"We expected difficult opponents. That's what we've got but that's what we wanted.

"I'm always a great believer that if you want to improve you have to play against the best teams. We've got good opponents and I look forward to the matches."

The draw for the Nations League was sorted yesterday, so when will the fixtures begin?

England will start their League B campaign away to the Republic of Ireland, while Scotland will host Poland in their League A opener.

The match in Dublin will take place on Saturday, 7 September at 17:00 BST.

Scotland's opener at Hampden Park is scheduled for Thursday, 5 September at 19:45, the same time Northern Ireland will play Luxembourg at home in their first League C fixture.

Wales host Turkey in their League B opener on Friday, September 6 at 19:45.

Take a look at the full schedule here