Southampton v Portsmouth, Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest, Hull v Everton: football

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Southampton 0-0 Portsmouth

It’s been Portsmouth who have played some of the better football, only for Saints to lift the pressure, with Flynn Downes and James Ward-Prowse to the fore. They’re looking for Cyle Larin at all times. Jayden Meghoma lashes a shot wide for Pompey when he had better options in the middle.

In Sergej Jakirovic and David Moyes, Hull City and Everton boast two of the more “pragmatic” managers in the Premier League. Renowned for their safety-first defensive styles, both teams are happy to surrender possession, rank among the top flight’s lowest sides in pass completion rates, and rely on rapid transitions and set pieces for a major share of their total expected goals. A game featuring two defences that pride themselves on their obduracy may well be settled by a well-delivered dead ball into a packed penalty area. While it may not be aesthetically pleasing, expect to see the massed ranks of defenders on both sides spending much of Sunday afternoon bracing themselves for rearguard action while peering towards the sky. The last time these sides met in the Premier League, Everton ran out easy 4-0 winners. A decade on, the aerial traffic is unlikely to be quite so one-way.

All eyes will be on Oliver Glasner as he returns to Selhurst Park with Nottingham Forest on an afternoon that will be emotionally charged for both sets of supporters and in the boardroom. The Crystal Palace chair, Steve Parish, sought to defuse tensions last week when he urged fans to “buck the trend” by welcoming the manager who led the south London club to the first three major trophies in their history in the space of 12 months. “I would be mortified if he gets anything other than the roof blown off,” said Parish. But given the strength of feeling towards Forest and their owner, Evangelos Marinakis – who is still blamed by some for Palace’s demotion to the Conference League at the expense of Forest last season – many have still not forgiven Glasner for joining their rivals and could still make their feelings known when the Austrian takes his seat in the dugout before kick-off.