Coleraine moved three points clear at the top of the Irish Premiership standings after a deserved 3-2 win over a gutsy Bangor at Clandeboye Park.

League leaders Coleraine host ninth-placed Cliftonville as we complete the first round of league fixtures.

Bannsiders' boss Ruaidhri Higgins makes two changes to the team which started last Sunday's 3-2 win over Bangor at Clandeboye Park.

Levi Ives and Lewis McGregor drop to the bench and are replaced by Rob Slevin and Jay Henderson.

Cliftonville head coach Jim Magilton also elects to make two switches to the team which began last week's 1-0 home defeat to Ballymena United.

Paul Stanfield is suspended following his sending off against the Braidmen while Joel Thompson doesn't make the matchday squad.

In their place come defender Shaun Leppard and the fit-again Harry Wilson.

Coleraine: Webb, Boyle, Stewart, Patching, Shevlin, Cooper (c), Wilson, Henderson, Slevin, Doherty, Thomson.

Subs: Schofield, Kane, McGregor, Ives, Brooks, Devine, Wylie.

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

Subs: Cremen-Cowan, O'Connor, Conlan, Gormley, McStravick, Sheridan, Murray.

Image source, BBC Sport

Watch reaction from Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton after Ballymena United's 1-0 win at Solitude last Saturday.

Limavady United will be hoping to maintain their recent run of good form at home as they welcome Ballymena United to the Showgrounds.

The Roesiders have won their last two home games with on-loan striker Jamie McGonigle doing the business against Bangor and Cliftonville, scoring four times.

McGonigle was on target again last Saturday as Paul Owens' side went down 3-1 at Portadown.

To make matters worse for United, both Tiarnan Boorman and Leon Boyd were sent off at Shamrock Park and they miss out this afternoon.

The injured duo of Alfie Gaston and Kieran Farren also miss out, while Oisin Duffy drops to the bench.

Lewis Tosh, Stephen O'Donnell, Rodney Brown and Ruairi Boorman all start.

Ballymena United come into today's game on the back of a four-game unbeaten run with two victories in their last two games.

Boss Oran Kearney makes one change to the side which defeated Cliftonville 1-0 last Saturday, with Charlie Allen replacing Michael Glynn.

Limavady United: Gallagher, P Lowry, S Lowry, McGonigle, Tosh, O'Donnell, R Boorman, Lafferty, Brown, Wilson, Mullan.

Subs: Doherty, Riley, Duffy, Curran, Carlin, Fleming.

Ballymena United: Walsh, Toure, Sule, Archer, Rutkowski, Allen, Thorndike, McCallion, Hood, McConnell, Lyons-Foster.

Subs: Breen, Whiteside, Leetch, Murray, Fallon, Mahoney, Burns.

Image source, BBC Sport

Ballymena United made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season in the Irish Premiership after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Cliftonville at Solitude.

Both sides name unchanged starting XIs for this afternoon's Irish Premiership encounter at Stangmore Park.

Dungannon Swifts are looking to end a four-match winless league run, having suffered three defeats and a draw since their 2-0 victory over Limavady United more than a month ago.

Carrick Rangers arrive following an emphatic 4-0 victory over Crusaders last weekend, which ended a five-match winless run for Stephen Baxter's side.

Both teams begin the afternoon level on 13 points, with Carrick sixth and Dungannon seventh, although the Swifts have played one game fewer.

Dungannon Swifts: Henderson, McKeown, Dillon, Alves, Glenny, Gordon, Glackin, Wallace, Bigirimana (c), Junior Uzokwe, McAllister.

Subs: McCloskey, McGinty, Scott, Kelly, Smith, Mitchell, Doyle.

Carrick Rangers: Gartside, Nelson, Forsythe, Callacher, Gibson, Lecky, Steele, Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe (c), Heatley, Snoddy.

Subs: Agnew, O'Connor, Clucas, Maciulaitis, Moore, Hastings, Hawthorne.

Image source, BBC Sport

Goals at the end of either half saw Glentoran earn a third consecutive league win with a hard-earned 2-0 win over Dungannon Swifts last weekend.

Portadown and Glentoran shared the spoils as they drew 0-0 in an entertaining affair at Shamrock Park.

Read more here.

Few would have expected David Jeffrey's return to management to be quite as difficult but, after eight weeks, Portadown won their first game of the season last weekend.

Going into last weekend's Irish Premiership action, the Ports were the only team yet to register a win and sat four points adrift at the foot of the table.

However, a convincing 3-1 victory over Limavady United ended their winless run and offered Jeffrey and his players a much-needed lift.

But will this signal a turning point for the Ports? BBC Sport NI took a look.

The article was written last Saturday, before Friday night's goalless meeting between the Ports and Glentoran at Shamrock Park.

Image source, BBC Sport

Here is how the table looks ahead of today's Irish Premiership action.

Image source, BBC Sport

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of this afternoon's five-match programme in the Irish Premiership.

The weekend's action began with Portadown and Glentoran playing out a 0-0 draw at Shamrock Park on Friday night and there are some intriguing fixtures to follow today.

League leaders Coleraine will aim to consolidate their position at the summit of the table as they host a Cliftonville side eager to bounce back from a run of four consecutive defeats in the top flight.

Second-placed Linfield are back in action after sitting out last weekend as they entertain Bangor at Windsor Park, while Larne play in the top flight for the first time since 19 September with a trip to face Crusaders at Seaview.

In the day's other two encounters, Dungannon Swifts play Carrick Rangers at Stangmore Park and Ballymena United travel to Limavady United.

We'll provide you with our usual offering of audio commentary courtesy of Radio Ulster's Sportsound, text commentary from all five games and in-play clips of all the goals and any other key moments.

Thanks for your company this autumn Saturday afternoon and enjoy!