First chance of the game goes Linfield's way as Matthew Fitzpatrick bursts forward and has a go from near the byeline.

Billy Crellin blocks the shot and the Blues now have a corner.

Almost immediately, Dungannon are straight through on goal, but Sean McAllister's low effort is well saved by Aaron Carey in the Portadown goal.

We are under way at the Limavady Showgrounds as Carrick Rangers get the ball rolling.

Coleraine captain Joel Cooper gets us under way at a packed Showgrounds for what promises to be one of the games of the day.

We are under way at Shamrock Park as Dungannon get the ball rolling.

Can home manager David Jeffrey get his first point of the season in his first home game? Let's find out.

Off we go at Windsor Park!

Can Linfield produce the response required after last weekend's disappointing result or will the Glens win the opening 'Big Two' derby of the season?

We're under way at Clandeboye Park as Bangor welcome Cliftonville.

How will this one play out?

Crusaders boss Declan Caddell makes two changes from the side which lost 2-1 to Cliftonville in the season-opening north Belfast 'derby'.

Elliot Dunlop's late goal as a substitute in that game earns him a start to day along with Jack Doherty. Kieran McKechnie drops to the bench while Finley Thordike isn't in the matchday squad.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ballymena boss Oran Kearney opts for the same 11 players who started in last week's impressive league win at Linfield.

Crusaders: Callister, Forsythe, Kelly, Blaney, McKay, Weir, Doherty, Jewitt-White, Wardell, Dunlop, Brooks.

Subs: Brown, Rough, McKechnie, Bond, Maguire, Anderson, Barr.

Ballymena United: Walsh, Toure, Whiteside, McCallion, Clarke, Sule, Archer, Allen, McKee, Edogun, Rutkowski.

Subs: Breen, Rocks, Leetch, Murray, McEleney, Hood, McConnell.

Image source, BBC Sport

Irish Premiership football is back at the Limavady Showgrounds after a wait of 18 years with the Roesiders aiming to get their season off and running against Carrick Rangers.

Paul Owens' side kicked off the new campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Glentoran, but they showed glimpses of what they are capable of at The Oval.

United's boss makes two changes as he looks to get some points on the board at the revamped Rathmore Road venue, which has undergone a number of changes for life in the Premiership.

Out go Tiarnan Boorman and Oisin Duffy with Alfie Gaston and Adam Mullan coming into the starting XI.

Carrick already have three points to their name following their 1-0 win over Portadown in a feisty clash at Taylors Avenue on the opening day.

Paul Heatley's strike secured the points over the Ports and boss Stephen Baxter makes only one change with Nathan Gartside replacing Dylan Agnew in goal.

Limavady United: Gallagher, Farren, P Lowry, S Lowry, O'Donnell, Butcher, Brown, Gaston, Mullan, Carlin, Boyd.

Subs: Doherty, T Boorman, Jarvis, Duffy, Tosh, R Boorman, Wilson.

Carrick Rangers: Gartside, Place, Forsythe, Callacher, Gibson, Lecky, McCullough, Steele, Buchanan-Rolleston, Heatley, Snoddy.

Subs: Agnew, Burns, O'Connor, Maciulaitis, Crowe, Cherry, Hastings.

Image source, BBC Sport

Both Portadown and Dungannon will be aiming for their first points of the season after each suffered defeats on the opening day of the season.

Following defeat to Carrick Rangers, David Jeffrey makes three changes to his starting XI for today's game. In come Matthew Carson, Baris Altintop and Finn Flanaghan, while captain Gary Thompson misses out through injury.

New signing Ben Kennedy is in line for his debut off the bench after his midweek move from Ballymena.

Rodney McAree makes just the two changes from his starting lineup after defeat to Coleraine last time out.

Andrew Mitchell is brought in to provide some firepower and Jamie Glackin makes his first start after joining from Coleraine in the summer.

Junior returns to the club after a previous spell and is on the bench.

Portadown: McCarey (c), Hewitt, MacKinnon, Breen, Martins, Scott, Teelan, Falls, Carson, Altintop, Flanagan.

Subs: Barry, Isamala, Tabu,Towe, O'Mahoney, Wells, Kennedy.

Dungannon Swifts: Dunne, McKeown, Mitchell, Glackin, Glenny, Lowe, Gordon, Doyle, Wallace, Bigirimana (c), McAllister.

Subs: Henderson, McGinty, Kelly, Dillon, Smith, Alves, Junior.

Image source, BBC Sport

There was some big transfer news yesterday with midfielder Ben Kennedy the latest to join David Jeffrey's rebuild at Shamrock Park.

The 29-year-old, who scored 17 goals in 42 appearances during his two seasons with Ballymena, is the eighth signing since the former Linfield boss joined the Ports.

"Ben Kennedy is a unique player who will add to experience, creativity, guile and goalscoring threat to our team. He is a confident player who brings personality to any team," Portadown's head of recruitment David Douglas said after the announcement.

"Obviously I know Ben from my time at Ballymena and know how positive an influence he is around a changing room and the leadership he shows on the pitch.

"We are delighted to have Ben on board to add to the new recruits we have brought in this window and would like to thank Ballymena United for their professionalism and cooperation."

Image source, Portadown FC

Bangor welcome Cliftonville to Clandeboye Park for their first game of the campaign, with the visitors having won their first outing last Friday night.

The Seasiders won this fixture 3-1 last season on the opening day and will be hoping for a positive start once again this season.

Lee Feeney gives two debuts to Steven McCullough and Jeremi Rodriguez with Ben Arthurs back in to lead the line.

Jim Magilton names the same starting XI that defeated Crusaders last Friday night at Solitude in the opening game of the 2026/27 Irish Premiership season.

Bangor: Deane, Neale, Harrison (c), Lynch, Hassin, Arthurs, Cushnie, McCullough, Francis, Rodriguez, Hughes.

Subs: McMahon, Mulvenna, Devlin, McRoberts, Strachan, McGuinness, Mitchell.

Cliftonville: Morrison, Wightman, Samuels, Wilson, Campbell, Hale (c), Healy, McClelland, McMaster, Quinn, Bannon.

Subs: Belshaw, O'Connor, Conlan, Thompson, Gormley, McStravick, Sheridan.

Image source, BBC Sport

Last season's top two meet at the Showgrounds just 43 days after today's visitors Larne defeated Coleraine on penalties to win the Charity Shield.

If that game was little more than a glorified friendly, there's a lot more riding on today's encounter between two of the bookies' favourites to lift the Gibson Cup next spring.

Bannsiders' boss Ruaidhri Higgins makes two changes to the team which started last Saturday's 3-1 win at Dungannon Swifts.

Defender Cameron Stewart has failed to recover from an injury picked up at Stangmore Park and is replaced by Levi Ives while Ben Wylie returns from suspension at the expense of Senan Devine who drops to the bench.

Larne head coach Gary Haveron makes just one alteration to the side which began Tuesday's Europa League third qualifying round extra-time defeat to Georgian side Iberia 1999 as Paul O'Neill replaces Montel Gibson in attack.

Coleraine: Webb, Kane, Boyle, Patching, Shevlin, Cooper (c), Ives, Slevin, McDonald, Wylie, Doherty.

Subs: Robinson, Jarvis, McGregor, Wilson, Henderson, Devine, McMenamin.

Larne: Ferguson, Ridley, Donnelly, Gallagher, O'Neill, Graham, Doherty, Cosgrove (c), Sloan, Bent, Lusty.

Subs: Carney, McKendry, Randall, Magee, O'Hara, McEneff, Gibson.

Referee: Ian McNabb.

Image source, BBC Sport

And because of that European involvement, two more of Larne's Irish Premiership fixtures have been postponed.

Larne's home game with Limavady United on 22 August has been postponed, as has a trip to Ballymena United the following Saturday.

The away leg of that play-off with Lincoln Red Imps will take place on Thursday, 20 August before the return leg at Inver Park on 27 August.

Larne will therefore have three games to make up with the club's season opener last Saturday against Bangor also postponed.

The Northern Ireland Football League says that new dates for the games will be issued in due course.

Image source, Inpho

Larne's defeat by Iberia 1999 in Europa League qualifying was not just bad news for the Irish Premiership champions, but for the league as a whole.

While the club's European hopes are still alive with the Uefa Conference League, the loss in Georgia has wider implications.

It meant that, as an association member, Northern Ireland dropped to 51st in Uefa's coefficient, out of a possible 55.

As things stand, the Irish Premiership would lose one of its four European places for the 2028-29 season.

But what is the Uefa coefficient, and how have Irish League clubs struggled? BBC Sport NI takes a look.

Image source, Inpho

Larne start their defence of the Gibson Park away to Coleraine this afternoon but it's already been a busy start to the season for the Inver Reds.

Gary Haveron's side suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 extra-time defeat to FC Iberia 1999 in Georgia on Tuesday night as they bowed out of the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage.

The defeat sees them drop into the Conference League where they face a play-off against Lincoln Red Imps with the aim of reaching the league stage of that competition for the second time in three years.

Read the full report here.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Speaking of Glentoran and goalkeepers...how's this for a story?

Milo Beimers is sitting in the back of a van in Alicante, taking shelter from the afternoon Spanish heat.

The adapted vehicle is his home on wheels for the foreseeable future, as the 18-year-old takes a unique approach to finding a new club.

With his A-levels out of the way, Beimers took the decision to leave Glentoran in the Irish Premiership, where he had been since 13 years of age, to embark on a new chapter in continental Europe.

After heading from Belfast to Dublin to catch the ferry to France, with dad Kevin at the wheel, a drive down to Spain followed, where Beimers started the first of several trials.

Father and son headed down the Spanish coast and will eventually head inland and across the Portuguese border to Lisbon and Porto.

It is set to be roughly a 2,000-mile road journey - all with the goal of trying to find Milo a new club.

While Beimers knows the rough outline of his journey over the coming weeks, his ultimate destination is still very much unknown.

"I just thought it's a perfect opportunity. Nothing's weighing me down," Beimers told BBC Sport NI.

Read the full story here.

Image source, Milo Beimers

There's an interesting name on the Glentoran bench...45-year-old club legend Elliott Morris is providing the cover for starting keeper Billy Crellin.

Or, as the club's X account has referred to him, a "former West Brom prospect". Tongue firmly in cheek there, we think!

The other big news in the Glens' squad is that striker Pat Hoban is not involved in today's line-up. Jordan Stewart replaces last year's top goalscorer as both sides battle it out for the first 'Big Two' bragging rights of the season.

David Healy makes one alteration to the starting XI who were defeated 3-0 by Ballymena United in the opening weekend of the season with Dane McCullough replacing Ryan Nolan in defence.

Linfield: Johns, McCullough, Shields, Millar, McClean, Offord, Hall, Frizzell, McGee, Fitzpatrick, Leahy.

Subs: Glavin, Wells, Brown, Baird, Moore, Annett, Chapman.

Glentoran: Crellin, Cooney, Kane, Rossi, Thomson, Clarke, McEneff, Singleton, Stewart, Malone, Jenkins.

Subs: Morris, Kelly, Gallagher, Larmour, Weatherup, Faloona, Douglas.

Image source, BBC Sport

No matter how it may feel, there's no silverware for winning a 'Big Two' derby.

Regardless of today's result at Windsor Park though, Glentoran boss Declan Devine feels he will need a trophy this season after his side came up short last year.

"We licked our wounds and spoke openly and honestly about where we came up short [last season] and this year. I am not shying away from it, I need to put silverware in the cabinet this year," Devine told BBC Sport NI.

"No one has told me that, but I am in the game long enough to understand that the game moves on very quickly and the expectation at this football club is to be competing on a regular basis for silverware and I am happy with that.

"I want the club to have those expectations, and I believe that we have the squad when everyone is fit and available, to compete with everyone."

Read more

Image source, Inpho

League tables after one round of games? Why not, Ballymena fans?

Image source, BBC Sport