Premier League, Celtic v Rangers, third T20 and NFL: live coverage for September 18, 2026
Michael Butler will provide live updates from around the grounds on Saturday, September 18, 2026, covering five Premier League matches, beginning with the lunchtime meeting between Tottenham and Aston Villa. The weekend live coverage also includes the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers, James Wallace’s over-by-over account of the third T20, and NFL fixtures from the week two schedule.
After a summer spend in excess of £300m, Tottenham remain in familiar trouble following successive 17th-placed finishes, sitting 17th after four league games with no wins and not a single goal so far; Roberto De Zerbi remained confident after Tuesday’s League Cup loss at Liverpool that his side would “click” soon. The build-up will also touch on the Championship, where leaders West Ham travel to the Den on Saturday to face Millwall for the first time in 14 years. Daniel Gallan will helm the liveblog with Paul MacInnes reporting, and readers can join the conversation by emailing matchday.live@theguardian.com.
James Wallace will provide over-by-over coverage of the third T20 after England secured a six-wicket win in Cardiff on Thursday, achieved with 7.5 overs to spare, which put them 2-0 up in the three-match series. That series win follows England’s 4-0 success over India earlier in the summer; England have won 22 of their past 25 matches in the short format. Harry Brook scored 114 not out from 49 balls in the opening win at Southampton, Tom Banton finished the Cardiff game with an unbeaten 52 off 24, and Jos Buttler became the first player to reach 15,000 runs in T20 cricket.
Celtic arrive at the Old Firm clash having a 100% league record but recent setbacks in cup and European competition: they were thumped 3-0 by Rangers at Ibrox in the League Cup on Sunday and beaten 3-1 by Ferencvaros at Parkhead in the Europa League on Thursday. Rangers will seek a sixth successive win across all competitions when they visit Celtic Park. Martin O’Neill described the latest loss as “a huge frustration” and “psychologically damning”, adding: “It’s not the start we wanted. Really need to concentrate now on Sunday [against Rangers] … Sunday’s a big game.” John Brewin will helm the blog with Jonathan Liew reporting.
Arsenal, the pacesetters and reigning champions, travel to the south coast after taking four wins from four; they face Brighton, whose tally of 13 goals from four games is the highest in the division. Liverpool remain unbeaten under Andoni Iraola in all competitions but have recorded three draws from four Premier League matches and head to Bournemouth, where Iraola will be back in familiar surroundings; Bournemouth are yet to win in the league under Marco Rose but have three draws and a narrow loss at Manchester City in recent results. Scott Murray will provide regular updates from the mid-afternoon kick-offs, with reporters including Daniel Harris and Ben Fisher.
Manchester United have registered only one win in four league matches, that sole victory coming at home to promoted Ipswich, and their league form has been compounded by Wednesday’s League Cup exit at home to Brighton after leading 2-0. The situation has increased scrutiny on manager Michael Carrick, and another setback at Craven Cottage against Fulham would add to that pressure; United have not lost at Fulham since 2009. Taha Hashim will oversee minute-by-minute coverage, supported by David Hytner and Jacob Steinberg at Craven Cottage.
In the WSL, Eva Olid’s Manchester United tenure began with defeats in both opening games and seven goals conceded so far; Olid said: “My main message is about being themselves,” she said. “I am not sure they are showing in the first two matches who they are and what they can do. For me it is so important that they show that to perform. We had a day to reflect and analyse the game, to see what we can do better and we know what we have to do.” Will Magee will carry minute-by-minute coverage, with Tom Garry reporting.
NFL coverage will focus on Vikings v Bears and Steelers v Patriots among the eight 6pm fixtures, with Graham Searles concentrating on those games. Minnesota opened their season with a comeback win over Green Bay, rallying from a 12-point deficit late in the third quarter, and will look to stop Caleb Williams after the Chicago quarterback threw two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 59-37 win over Carolina in what was described as the highest-scoring opener in NFL history. Pittsburgh celebrated the successful debut of coach Mike McCarthy following Mike Tomlin’s departure and a strong performance from Aaron Rodgers in their opening win over Atlanta; the Patriots enter their second home opener under Mike Vrabel after Drake Maye’s poor outing in last week’s 13-10 loss to Seattle.
Sunday’s schedule features four Premier League matches, an Old Firm derby at Celtic Park and a Molineux clash as Wolves host West Brom, with Emillia Hawkins leading the early live coverage of the week’s fixtures.
