Philip Major
Sportsound summariser

All of David Jeffrey's new signings apart from Ben Kennedy are not involved today. I think DJ has realised he has tried to change things too quickly.

He has moved from a back three to a flat back four and what he is looking to do has changed.

I do not think there are alarm bells yet but there is concern.

Cliftonville Ladies beat Derry City 4-0 at the Brandywell on Friday night to maintain their eight-point lead over Glentoran Women at the top of the Women's Premiership table and strengthen their grip on the title race.

The Reds are firmly in pole position to win the league crown with their healthy advantage over the Glens, who themselves were also 4-0 winners over Lisburn Ladies.

Linfield's hopes suffered a major setback however as they went down 5-2 to Lisburn Rangers, while Crusaders Strikers were 3-0 victors over Larne.

Louise McDaniel grabbed a hat-trick for Cliftonville after a Shania McMonagle own goal had set the table toppers on their way to their success.

Nadene Caldwell opened the scoring for Glentoran in the first half at the Bluebell Stadium, with Demi Vance, Naomi McLaughlin and Emily Wilson also subsequently finding the net.

Abbie Smyth notched a double for Lisburn Rangers at Crewe Park as Maeve McConaghy, Caoimhe Gelston Mulholland and Tierna Bell were also on target.

Sophie McKnight and Mirjana Karrabecaj were the scorers for Linfield.

Jessica Rea, Darcie O'Neill and Mia Reilly got their names on the scoresheet for Crusaders in their win at Seaview.

Glentoran will host Linfield in a rearranged game on Monday 7 September (20:00 BST).

Image source, Inpho

Liam Beckett
Sportsound summariser

Conor McMenamin has to knuckle down now and remember he is in the Irish Premiership again.

I just got the feeling it was not a marriage made in heaven with Coleraine, all the things around it made it sound like it would be.

As long as both parties get out of it, no harm done.

Carrick Rangers may have won the last meeting between the two sides 2-0 at Taylors Avenue, but Linfield have never lost to today's visitors at Windsor Park in the league.

Both sides sit on nine points from a possible 12 after four games in the Irish Premiership, with both managers naming strong starting XI's this afternoon.

Blues boss David Healy makes 10 changes from Tuesday's County Antrim Shield defeat at the Oval. Isaac Baird retains his place with nine other starters from their last league game returning from the get-go.

Stephen Baxter also rings the changes with just captain Luke McCullough, Joe Crowe and Ben Buchanan-Rolleston retaining their starting spots from Tuesday's County Antrim Shield loss against Crusaders.

Linfield: Johns, Shields (c), Millar, McClean, Frizzell, Hall, Baird, McGee, Fitzpatrick, Moore, McCullough.

Subs: Glavin, Nelson, Wells, Brennan, Brown, Annett, Chapman.

Carrick Rangers: Gartside, Burns, Forsythe, Callacher, Gibson, McCullough (c), Stele, Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe, Heatley, Snoddy.

Subs: Agnew, Nelson, O'Connor, Clucas, Maciulaitis, Moore, Cherry.

Image source, BBC Sport

Who says it is too early to look at the Irish Premiership table?

It is, of course, too soon to be talking about title races, European places and relegation battles but there has been plenty to ponder after week four of the Irish Premiership which yielded a clean sweep of five away wins.

Currently, four teams sit on nine points after winning three games and losing one, the in-form quartet tucked in just one point behind early leaders Coleraine.

Dungannon Swifts, Carrick Rangers, Crusaders and Linfield all won their fixtures on Saturday to occupy second to fifth and have impressed so far.

But what have those four teams shown during the early weeks of this season? BBC Sport NI explores some of the talking points from within each club.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Colin Nixon
BBC Sport NI summariser

They are in a difficult place.

It is not ideal after five league games and it is not the week they anticipated with bringing in Conor McMenamin, they would have thought they would have got a boost last night, but it did not materialise.

Conor McMenamin says his short-lived move to Coleraine "was not meant to be" after his shock deadline day return to Glentoran.

The 31-year-old joined the Bannsiders in June on a long-term deal from St Mirren but has now made an unexpected return to the Glens for his second spell at the club.

McMenamin scored 39 goals in 80 appearances for the east Belfast side before he moved to the Buddies in 2023.

"Before I went to Coleraine, Glentoran wasn't an option and, as soon as I found out that they were this time around, I said to my agent to get it done quick," McMenamin told BBC Sport NI's Stephen Watson.

"I'm delighted and I want to play with that smile and that freedom that I did before I came here.

"It's been pretty challenging the last two months for me, and I probably didn't really enjoy any of the last two months. Now I've got that spark back, I'm happy to be here, and I can't wait to get going."

Read more here.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Glentoran were comfortable 3-1 victors over Linfield at the Oval in the first round of the ToalsBet Senior Shield, while holders Carrick Rangers exited after being defeated by Crusaders in a penalty shootout.

Jordan Jenkins struck twice inside the opening six minutes to hand the home side a dream start in east Belfast before Charlie Chapman's early second-half strike threatened a Linfield fightback.

The Blues could not find a way back level and Cal Weatherup restored the home side's two-goal advantage in the closing stages.

At Seaview, Jacob Blaney and Owen Wardell gave the Crues a comfortable lead before an impressive final five minutes from the holders forced the tie to be decided on penalties.

However, Declan Caddell's side were 5-4 victors in the penalty shootout to book their spot in the next round.

Catch-up on all the County Antrim Shield results here.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Watch all the goals as Glentoran beat Linfield 3-1 in the ToalsBet Senior Shield at the Oval.

BBC Sport NI pundit Colin Coates says there was no European hangover on show for Larne as they beat Glentoran 2-1 in the Irish Premiership.

Larne manager Gary Haveron and Glentoran assistant boss Pat McCourt give their post-match views on the game:

Haveron: "It should never have been a 2-1 game. It should have been a lot more comfortable. than the scoreline suggests. I felt we were the dominant team, on the front foot.

"We made it a little bit more nervy than it needed to be in the last few minutes of the game but it was an excellent display from us - everything you want to see from your team - hunger, desire to win the ball back, tempo, enthusiasm, how we played the game.

"People maybe thought we might be a soft touch given what happened in Europe but the boys showed why they have been champions in three of the past four years."

McCourt: "First half I thought there wasn't much in it. Larne had the bulk of possession without really hurting us too much.

"Second half we gave away two really sloppy goals and when you play against really good sides, especially away from home, you'll get punished.

"We gave it a wee bit of a go at the end and could maybe have nicked a point, but overall disappointed."

Image source, Pacemaker

Watch highlights as champions Larne defeat Glentoran 2-1 on Friday night to clinch their first league win of the season.

Read the match report from the game here.

Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of today's five-match Irish Premiership programme, which follows hot on the heels of Larne's 2-1 win over Glentoran at Inver Park on Friday night.

Among the four 15:00 BST kick-offs Linfield put their three-game winning streak in the league on the line at home to a Carrick RFangers side who, like the Blues, have won three of their first four.

Elsewhere Bangor, Portadown and Limavady United hope for their first points of the campaign as they face Ballymena United at Clandeboye, Cliftonville at Shamrock Park and Dungannon Swifts at the Limavady Showgrounds respectively.

And will the best be saved to last this Saturday as league leaders Coleraine entertain a Crusaders side in the day's later kick off at 18:00 at Ballycastle Road.

The Crues join Linfield, the Swifts and Carrick as one of the four teams who trail the Bannsiders by a single point in the table.

We will have our usual extensive offering of live text updates, live audio courtesy of Radio Ulster's Sportsound and in-play clips, plus reports, highlights and reaction throughout the day so be sure to stay with us.

You won't miss a thing!