The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are CHELSEA versus NEWCASTLE and ARSENAL versus LIVERPOOL. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews these and all game week 9 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Game Week-9
Friday 25th
LEICESTER v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
A bit of East Midlands Friday Night Football to kickstart the Game Week-9 set of fixtures.
Leicester are now 2 from 2 in the Win Column following Saturday’s sensational victory over Southampton at St Mary’s by a 3-2 away day score.
One says ‘sensational’ as the Foxes were trailing by 2 goals to nil before Facundo Buonanotte, Jamie Vardy and Jordan Ayew scored to give Steve Cooper’s team back-to-back victories in the Premier League.
Jordan scored the winning goal in the 98th minute.
Southampton had a player sent off whilst in the lead at 2-1, so the extra man did eventually pay off for Leicester.
Leicester sit in 14th place with 9 points.
A single Chris Wood goal scored in the 2nd-half, gave Nottingham Forest the victory over Crystal Palace on Monday Night Football by a 1-0 scoreline.
The win leaves Nuno’s Forest in 8th place with the same 13 points as Tottenham from the opening 8 fixtures.
These two last met at the King Power back in October 2022, with Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes getting the home victory over Steve Cooper’s Tricky Trees by a 4-0 scoreline.
James Maddison scored a couple, with Harvey Barnes and Patson Daka getting the others to give Leicester the East Midlands bragging rights.
Forest did reverse the result back at the City Ground later on in the campaign with Brennan Johnson scoring twice to give the Tricky Trees the victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Leicester finished with 34 points and were relegated with Forest accruing 38 points to just about stay up.
Betfred offer Leicester at 13/8, the Draw at 23/10 and 6/4 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Jamie Vardy Scores First and 13/8 that Chris Wood Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Draw 2-2- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Saturday 26th
ASTON VILLA v BOURNEMOUTH
15.00 in England
Aston Villa gained a great away day victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
After conceding a Fulham goal early in the game, Morgan Rogers quickly equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Fulham did miss a 1st-half penalty, with Emiliano Martinez easily saving a poor Cottagers spot kick.
Ollie Watkins scored along with an Issa Diop own goal, to give Unai’s Claret and Blues the win from a 3-1 scoreline.
Both teams did have a player sent off during the game, with Fulham losing Joachim Andersen in the 64th minute through a straight Red Card and Villa having Jaden Philogene sent off due to 2 late Yellow Cards and the subsequent Red in the 93rd minute.
Obviously, the lad wanted to beat his mates into the showers and get all of the hot water before it went cold.
Villa sit in 4th place, with the same 17 points as Arsenal from the opening 8 fixtures.
Aston Villa face Bologna at Villa Park on Tuesday in Match Day-3 of the Champions League-League Phase.
It could be said that Bournemouth got the best result of the weekend, inflicting a defeat on Arsenal by a 2-0 score.
The Cherries were helped along the way when William Saliba was shown a straight Red Card in the 30th minute after hauling down Evanilson just inside the Arsenal half.
The on-field referee Rob Jones initially showed William a Yellow, so no complaints, however, the dreaded VAR asked Rob to consider his decision, which Rob did, assuming that Evanilson had been denied a goal-scoring opportunity.
Mr Jones then changed the Yellow to a straight Red and Arsenal were a man down for over an hour.
Two things regarding that, firstly, the foul happened just inside the half with Evanilson still having another 45 yards to travel and try and score.
The second thing is, has Rob Jones not seen Evanilson before, the Brazilian couldn’t score from 12 yards against Chelsea, never mind run another 40 or so and finish.
Bournemouth got away with that one and eventually took advantage of the extra man with goals from Ryan Christie and a converted Justin Kluivert penalty giving Andoni Iraola’s Cherries the victory over Mikel Arteta’s Misfiring Young Guns.
Andoni and Mikel go back a long way, both being childhood friends from the same Basque area of Spain.
Bournemouth sit in 11th place with the same 11 points as Manchester United and Fulham, sandwiched in between the two on goal difference, all having played 8 times.
In last season’s encounter between these two teams at Villa Park, Aston Villa gained the home victory over Bournemouth by a 3-1 scoreline.
Dominic Solanke opened the scoring for the away team which was equalised by Morgan Rogers to take both teams in level at the break.
Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey scored 2 and 3 in the 2nd-half to give Villa the points.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at slight Odds On 9/10, the Draw at 13/5 and 11/4 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and 6/4 that Aston Villa Score in Both Halves.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-1- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BRENTFORD v IPSWICH
15.00 in England
Brentford once again scored first in a game, this time against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Ethan Pinnock rose highest and headed home a corner to give the Bees a lead at the interval.
Unfortunately, for Thomas Frank’s boys, United came out stronger in the 2nd-half, scoring an equaliser straight away and then scoring the winner, to leave Brentford with an away day defeat by a 2-1 scoreline.
Brentford sit in 13th place with 10 points from the opening 8 fixtures.
Ipswich failed to score at Portman Rd against Everton on Saturday and with the Toffees scoring twice, it meant that the Tractor Boys suffered a home defeat by a 2-0 scoreline.
That leaves Kieran McKenna’s men in 17th place with 4 points from 4 draws and 4 defeats from the opening 8 games.
These two teams last met back in April 2019 in a Championship game at Brentford’s old ground Griffin Park.
The Bees gained the home victory over the Tractor Boys by a 2-0 scoreline, with Neal Maupay and Ollie Watkins scoring the goals in the 1st-half.
Brentford went on to finish 11th that season with Ipswich being relegated after finishing at the bottom of the table.
This will be Ipswich’s first visit to the GTech Stadium.
Betfred offer Brentford at Odds On 7/10, the Draw at 3/1 and 16/5 for Ipswich to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Bryan Mbeumo Scores First and 6/5 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-0- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BRIGHTON v WOLVES
15.00 in England
If Bournemouth’s result against Arsenal was the best of the weekend, Brighton’s victory over Newcastle at St James Park must be ranked 2nd.
A single Danny Welbeck goal gave Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls the brilliant away day victory over Eddie’s Magpies by a 1-0 score.
That was Danny’s 5th goal of the campaign, equalling Luis Diaz, Ollie Watkins, Nicolas Jackson and Mo Salah who all have 5 goals on the card, just 1 behind Cole Palmer and Bryan Mbeumo and 5 adrift of Erling Haaland at the summit of the Goalscorer charts.
What might be a concern was Danny then got injured and had to go off on a stretcher, which could mean the ex-Manchester United Striker misses today’s game.
Brighton sit in 5th place with 15 points from the 8 games completed.
Wolves did put in a great effort against Man City at Molineux on Sunday but ultimately suffered another defeat, this time by a 2-1 scoreline.
Despite everyone thinking it would be another Big Norwegian scoring first, it was Erling’s International Teammate Jorgen Strand Larsen who scored to give Wolves an early lead.
City equalised before the break to make the game level at the interval.
It was then 45 minutes of backs against the wall for Gary O’Neil’s Gold and Blacks and after 18 corners, with 11 of those in the 2nd-half Man City scored the winner in the final stages of the game.
The goal was subject to scrutiny with Bernardo Silva standing next to the Wolves ‘Keeper Jose Sa and when John Stones powered home the header it could be argued that Mr Silva was offside.
After a few discussions between the on-field referee Chris Kavanagh and the dreaded VAR, Chris was advised to look at the pitch side monitor.
Usually, in these instances, the referee will change his decision, however, on this occasion, Chris stuck with his instincts and confirmed that it was a goal.
With time up, that was that and Wolves suffered the loss, leaving them at the foot of the Premier League table with the same 1 point as Southampton from 8 games completed.
Whilst the goal was contentious, it falls within the rules and it really does depend on whether one is a Wolves fan or a Man City fan as to whether the right decision was made.
Whilst John Newsome hasn’t a horse in that particular race, there are a couple of points to make.
Bernardo Silva and Jose Sa are International Teammates and were basically doing the same thing for all of the 18 corners, with Bernardo standing next to Jose.
Jose is twice the size of Bernardo and on most occasions just pushed Mr Silva out of the way.
On one of the corners, Jose Sa pulled Bernardo’s ear, obviously, as a bit of fun and probably made a few ‘ear-related’ comments.
If one looks at Bernardo Silva, the lad is only little but does have ears like Micky Mouse.
When John Stones rose and powered his header home, Jose Sa was in no way impeded by Bernardo Silva and for that matter anyone and had a clear sight of the ball.
Unfortunately, the header was just too good and despite the timing of it and the circumstances of the goal, it was the right call made by Chris Kavanagh.
At the Amex last season, the fixture between Brighton and Wolves finished in a draw by a 0-0 score, there’s not much more to be said about that particular game.
The two did meet earlier in this season’s Carabao Cup, with Brighton progressing to the last-16 gaining a victory over Wolves by a 3-2 scoreline.
Betfred offer Brighton at Odds On 4/7, the Draw at 16/5 and 4/1 for Wolves to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 15/2 that Georginio Rutter Scores First and 15/8 that Brighton Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-0- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
MAN CITY v SOUTHAMPTON
15.00 in England
As mentioned in the above Preview, Man City gained a victory over Wolves at Molineux on Sunday.
After conceding an early goal, Josko Gvardiol scored a brilliant equaliser to take both teams in level at the break.
After having most of the possession, as City do in the majority of games, John Stones powered home a header in the 95th minute from Man City’s 18th corner of the game and the 4th in quick succession.
The goal was subject to scrutiny from the dreaded VAR but the on-field referee Chris Kavanagh stood firm and allowed the header to stand.
Read the above comments to understand why.
Whilst it could be assumed that Bernardo Silva was in an offside position, Bernardo can’t be ruled offside from the initial corner and as he was not in the sight of Jose Sa when John headed home, the goal was correctly given.
The rule regarding the incident is split into 4 points-
‘OFFSIDE RULE – INTERFERING WITH AN OPPONENT
Player penalised if they-
• Prevent the opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the line of vision.
• Challenge the opponent for the ball.
• Clearly attempt to play a ball which is close when this action impacts the opponent.
• Make obvious action which clearly impacts the ability of an opponent to play ball.’
None of those came into play, therefore the goal has to be allowed.
Man City are now unbeaten in 31 Premier League games.
One in 5 teams have come from a losing position to win in the Premier League this season, with 5 of the 9 games over the weekend having a team do just that.
Along with Man City, all of Leicester, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham, conceded the first goal then came back and won.
There is a stat that the ‘Premier League Comeback Wins’ has an 11.5% rate over all of the 32 seasons.
That percentage is 21.5 over the 8 Game Week’s this campaign.
That suggests that a team simply cannot switch off and assume they are going to win.
Man City remain in 2nd place in the Premier League Table with 20 points from the opening 8 fixtures.
That’s a point adrift of Liverpool at the summit and 3 points ahead of Arsenal and Aston Villa.
Arsenal entertain Liverpool this weekend, so one of those isn’t going to get 3 points, with Pep Guardiola more than likely hoping for a draw.
Over the Premier League era, there have been a few scorelines of 9-0, which coincidentally have included defeats by Southampton in a couple of games.
March 1995- Manchester United 9 Ipswich 0
(The Greatest Premier League Football Games of All Time
March 24, 2020, by Every Tip)
October 2019- Southampton 0 Leicester 9
February 2021- Manchester United 9 Southampton 0
August 2022- Liverpool 9 Bournemouth 0
The highest-scoring game is 11.
September 2007- Portsmouth 7 Reading 4
(The Greatest Premier League Football Games of All Time
March 24, 2020, by Every Tip)
There have been a few games that have seen 10 goals.
December 2007- Tottenham 6 Reading 4
November 2009- Tottenham 9 Wigan 1
August 2011- Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2
December 2012- Arsenal 7 Newcastle 3
May 2013- West Brom 5 Manchester United 5
Having watched the way Russell Martin has set his Saints team up this season and the fact that Russell doesn’t want to compromise his beliefs, it’s not beyond the possibility that Man City could break the record today and be the first team in the Premier League era to score 10 goals.
When Southampton took a 2-goal advantage with Cameron Archer and Joe Aribo scoring against Leicester on Saturday, maybe the above statements could be seen as farcical, however, after watching the Saints concede 3, 2nd-half goals, to ultimately suffer a home defeat by a 3-2 scoreline, Southampton might just be lucky if Man City only score 10.
Ryan Fraser was 1 of 5 players that were shown a Red Card over the weekend and 1 of 3 that were shown a straight Red for ‘denying a goal-scoring opportunity’.
The score was 2-1 in favour of the Saints when Ryan pulled back Jamie Vardy to concede a penalty and ultimately get the Red Card.
One could argue that maybe it would have been better to allow Jamie to ‘attempt to score’ and stay on the pitch rather than concede a penalty and reduce a team to 10-Men which eventually cost Southampton the game.
The sorry result of snatching a defeat from the jaws of victory, leaves Russell Martin’s Saints in 19th place, with the same 1 point as Wolves from the opening 8 games.
Man City host Sparta Prague at the Etihad on Tuesday in the Champions League-League Phase Match Day-3.
It was October 2022 when Wreck-It Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints came the long way North to the Etihad to face Pep’s High Flying Blues.
Joao Cancelo and Phil Foden scored for the home team in the 1st-half with Riyad Mahrez and Erling Haaland adding the 2nd-half goals to give City the victory by a 4-0 scoreline.
Man City gained the away day win over Southampton at St Mary’s later on in the 2022/23 campaign, however, if one remembers, the Saints, under Nathan Jones, somehow managed to knock Pep’s Blues out of that season’s Carabao Cup, gaining a victory by a 2-0 score at home.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 1/11, the Draw at 8/1 and 18/1 for Southampton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/4 that Erling Haaland Scores First and 13/2 that there are Over 6.5 Goals.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 10-0 – Get 150/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Matz Sels- Nottingham Forest
RIGHT-BACK- Ola Aina- Nottingham Forest
CENTRE-BACK- Michael Keane- Everton
CENTRE-BACK- John Stones- Man City
LEFT-BACK- Josko Gvardiol- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Yves Bissouma- Tottenham
MIDFIELDER- Bernardo Silva- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Dejan Kulusevski- Tottenham
FORWARD- Justin Kluivert- Bournemouth
FORWARD- Jamie Vardy- Leicester
FORWARD- Alejandro Garnacho- Manchester United
STAR MAN- John Stones- Man City
***Last Week’s Winning Tips-
Tottenham Win- 4/9
Everton Win- 15/8
Manchester United Win- 8/13
Leicester Win- 15/8
Man City Win- 1/4
Liverpool Win- 8/13
Nottingham Forest Win- 5/4
Correct Scores-
Manchester United v Brentford 2-1- 7/1
Correct Tips-
Ipswich v Everton Both Teams DON’T Score- 6/5
Danny Welbeck To Score Anytime- 12/5
Southampton v Leicester Over 3.5 Goals- 7/4
Wolves v Man City Both Teams To Score- 4/5
Mo Salah To Score Anytime- 11/10
Chris Wood To Score First- 6/1
EVERTON v FULHAM
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Don’t forget to put your clocks back an hour if living in the United Kingdom.
Illiman Ndiaye and Michael Keane scored for Everton in the 1st-half against Ipswich at Portman Rd on Saturday.
With no further goals after the break, the Toffees gained a victory over the Tractor Boys by a 2-0 away day score.
That leaves Sean Dyche’s Blues in 16th place with 8 points from 8 games completed.
Fulham suffered a home defeat against Aston Villa at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Despite Raul Jimenez scoring first, the Cottagers conceded 3 goals to ultimately suffer the loss by a 3-1 scoreline.
It could have been so different if Andreas Pereira had converted a 1st-half penalty, however, the ex-Manchester United Midfielder saw his very tame spot-kick saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Joachim Andersen was shown a straight Red Card for hauling down Ollie Watkins in the 64th minute.
The score was 2-1 in favour of Villa when Joachim was dismissed.
Issa Diop then scored an own goal to compound the Cottage faithful’s misery.
Fulham sit in 10th place with the same 11 points as Bournemouth and Manchester United.
A Bobby Decordova-Reid goal, midway through the 2nd-half, gave Fulham the victory over Everton at Goodison Park last season by a 1-0 scoreline.
The two then met at the home of the Toffees in the Quarter-Final of the Carabao Cup, with Fulham progressing after a penalty shootout, with the initial 90 minutes finishing in a draw by a 1-1 score.
Betfred offer Everton at 13/8, the Draw at 9/4 and 6/4 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Dwight McNeil Scores Anytime and 9/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
Draw 2-2- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Sunday 27th
CHELSEA v NEWCASTLE
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
If one has remembered to put their clocks back then this game kicks off at 2 PM in England, however, if one forgets then some will be putting the Telly Box on an hour earlier and thinking,
‘Where’s the football?’
Nowadays, it’s less likely that folk will forget to change the clocks in March or October, with the technology of Smartphones that does it automatically, however, back in the day, there were a few puddings who would turn up on Sunday Morning for the local football and be an hour late in March and an hour earlier in October.
Those were the days.
When one doesn’t have a ‘Fancy Dan’ Smartphone, there is a simple little saying to make changing the clock easy.
Spring Forward, Fall Back, which basically means, in March (Spring) the clocks go forward in the United Kingdom and in October (Autumn/Fall) the clocks are put back an hour.
This always occurs on the Final Sunday of March and October.
It was originally done to give a longer Daylight Time in the Winter Months.
Chelsea suffered a loss against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Nicolas Jackson did score to equalise for the Blues, however, the Reds then scored a 2nd goal to inflict the away day defeat on Chelsea by a 2-1 score.
That leaves Enzo Maresca’s boys in 6th place with 14 points from the opening 8 games.
Chelsea compete in Match Day-2 of the Europa Conference League-League Phase and face Panathinaikos on Thursday in Greece.
The travelling could be a factor for this early Sunday fixture, especially with an hour being knocked off.
Newcastle sit in 9th place, with 12 points, 2 adrift of today’s host after also suffering a loss at the weekend.
Eddie’s Magpies took on Fabian’s Seagulls and following a single Brighton goal in the 1st-half, Newcastle succumbed to the defeat by a 1-0 scoreline.
The winners today will finish the weekend higher than the losers.
Chelsea got the better of Newcastle at Stamford Bridge last season, with Mauricio’s Blues gaining the victory over Eddie’s Magpies by a 3-2 scoreline.
Nicolas Jackson scored the opener which was equalised by Alexander Isak to take both teams in level at the break.
Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk scored for Chelsea to make it 3-1 before Jacob Murphy got a late goal to give the travelling Toon Army hopes of a draw, however, time ran out leaving the home faithful the happiest.
Betfred offer Chelsea at Odds On 8/11, the Draw at 3/1 and 3/1 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Cole Palmer Scores First and 11/4 that Chelsea Win To Nil.
Home Win 2-0- Get 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
CRYSTAL PALACE v TOTTENHAM
14.00 in England
Crystal Palace remain winless from the opening 8 games following a defeat against Nottingham Forest on Monday Night Football.
After a goalless 1st-half, Palace conceded what could be considered a ‘soft goal’ which the Eagles Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, won’t be happy with and will feel he could have done better with Chris Wood’s shot.
That’s 3 Draws and 5 Losses from the opening 8 games, leaving Crystal Palace in 18th place with 3 points.
Tottenham came from behind against West Ham at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium on Saturday to gain the victory by a 4-1 scoreline.
After conceding the opening goal, Dejan Kulusevski equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Ange’s Spurs came out stronger in the 2nd-half blitzing Julen’s Hammers with goals from Yves Bissouma, Son Heung-Min and a West Ham own goal giving the home team all 3 points.
That leaves Tottenham in 7th place with the same 13 points as Nottingham Forest from the 8 games completed.
Tottenham are in Europa League action on Thursday, taking on AZ Alkmaar at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium in Match Day-3 of the League Phase.
This fixture between the two Londoners at Selhurst Park took place on the same day last year, the 27th of October 2023, however, due to this being a ‘Leap Year’ that was a Friday Night affair.
After a goalless 1st-half, Palace’s Joel Ward was credited with Tottenham’s opener, with Son Heung-Min adding a 2nd just after the hour mark.
Jordan Ayew scored for the home team in the 94th minute which ultimately proved to be just a consolation with Ange’s Spurs gaining the away night victory over Roy Hodgson’s Eagles by a 2-1 scoreline.
Tottenham got the home win too later on in the campaign, this time it was Oliver Glasner who experienced the Eagles’ loss.
Tottenham, under various Manager’s, have gained the victory over Crystal Palace, also under the guidance of different Gaffers, in the last 5 fixtures between the two.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 3/1, the Draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 4/5 for Tottenham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Dominic Solanke Scores First and 7/5 that Tottenham Score in Both Halves.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 1-3- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
WEST HAM v MANCHESTER UNITED
14.00 in England
Mohammed Kudus scored the opener against Tottenham on Saturday, however, that just kicked the home team into life, with Ange’s Spurs scoring 4 times to inflict the defeat on Julen’s Hammers by a 4-1 scoreline.
Mohammed was then shown a straight Red Card for a bit of stamping and slapping that will give the lad a 3-game ban.
It was more ‘Handbags and Gladrags’ than ‘Tyson and Holyfield’!
West Ham sit in 15th place with the same 8 points as Everton from the opening 8 games completed.
Manchester United put in one of their best performances of the campaign so far, coming from a goal behind to gain a victory over Brentford by a 2-1 score.
After conceding a Bees’ goal to trail at the break, United came out the stronger in the 2nd-half.
Matthijs De Ligt had cut his head and was gushing with blood so was told to leave the pitch.
Whilst off the field, Brentford scored from a corner, which didn’t go down well with Matthijs or Erik Ten Hag, however, the rules state that if there’s blood around, then a player can’t continue until the blooded part is controlled and the shirt is changed.
Alejandro Garnacho scored within minutes of the 2nd-half starting, which was followed up by a Rasmus Hojlund goal that gave Erik’s Ten Bobs the victory.
United sit in 12th place with the same 11 points as Bournemouth and Fulham, all having completed 8 fixtures.
Manchester United face the ex-Gaffer Jose Mourinho and his Fenerbahce team over in Turkey on Thursday.
Maybe Erik Ten Hag will come back with a full head of hair and a new set of gnashers, as well as a victory over Jose and Fred’s mates, who also include the ex-United loanee from last season Sofyan Amrabat and the ex-Noisy Neighbour Edin Dzeko.
Edin is 38 years old now, 39 in March 2025 but does like to score against United.
It’s been over a week now since news came through that Thomas Tuchel is the New England Manager.
Whilst it does appear ‘old news’ on reflection, it is probably for the best as John Newsome’s initial thoughts on that appointment weren’t very positive.
It’s difficult to not come across as ‘Ante-German’ but is it right that the England National Team has a German as their Manager?
A lot will say that the position should warrant the ‘best in practice’ but The FA (Football Association) have gone down this road before with Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello and it didn’t work.
One could say that Gareth Southgate didn’t get the best from this exceptional group of players and an Elite Manager would have done, however, Sven and Fabio had players such as David James, Phil Neville, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Chris Powell, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Nick Barmby, Michael Owen and Andy Cole.
One mentions those particular players as these were the starting eleven for Sven’s first game in charge.
Added to those, include Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, John Terry and many more class players that Sven and Fabio oversaw.
Can one say those lot are any better than today’s crop of England Internationals or vice versa?
Are today’s lot better than the likes of David Beckham, Stevie G or Wayne Rooney?
Gareth Southgate did come close, despite what everyone thinks about GS, getting England to 2 Major Finals and a World Cup Semi-Final.
To progress to the next level, an England Manager now really needs to win something, either a Euro or a World Cup or at least get to the World Cup Final in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Which means that Thomas Tuchel needs to do just that.
There’s no doubt Thomas Tuchel is an excellent and exceptional Manager, no doubt about that, however, is that really the issue?
If one wants to go down the ‘Foreign Route’ can one say that TT is the best ‘Foreign Manager’ out there?
The answer is No!
Pep Guardiola is certainly better, so is Carlo Ancelotti and throw Thomas’s German mate Jurgen Klopp into that mix.
Therefore, The FA haven’t appointed the ‘Best Manager’ regardless of being ‘Foreign’ they have employed a ‘Foreign Manager’ who is quite good and available.
Thomas won the Champions League with Chelsea, outsmarting Pep Guardiola on the day with Kai Havertz scoring the solitary winning goal.
Go back to that Champions League Final of 2021, Pep had a brain fade on the night and thought too much about the game.
If one were to ask who is the most important player at the Etihad at the moment, one would easily answer Rodri.
Rodri was left on the bench for the whole of the 2021 Champions League Final.
Obviously, Erling Haaland is up there with being the most important Man City player but Erling wasn’t a City player at the time.
It’s accepted that Mr Guardiola got his tactics wrong on the night and allowed Mr Tuchel the Champions League win.
Granted, that’s not the whole story and this is in no way wanting to diminish the achievements of Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea.
No doubt about the fact, that TT is a good Manager but is that the ethical choice for England?
Was it right that Sven Goran Eriksson or Fabio Capello became the England Manager?
In Horse Racing, there’s a system called ‘Handicap’ which has been in place for years.
What this system does is equal each ‘handicap race’ by slowing the pace or increasing the speed of a horse by adding or taking away weight.
For example, if a said horse, say ‘John Boys Nag’ comfortably wins a ‘handicap race’ by 6 lengths over ‘Macca Doobs Treats’ then in the next ‘handicap race’ ‘John Boys Nag’ gets weight added to him to effectively ‘slow him/her’ down to the same level as ‘Macca Doobs Treats!’
It’s possible that ‘John Boys Nag’ is a Mare.
(Let’s face it, John Boy has had a few Girlfriends that are Night-Mares!)
So using the said ‘Handicap System’ on the England Manager,
Thomas Tuchel (John Boys Nag) is the ‘Pedigree Candidate Manager’ (of those available and who would/have said ‘Yes! that’s not would have its would or have said ‘Yes’!) however, Graham Potter (Macca Doobs Treats) should have the weight taken off him because he is English to equal him up and effectively ‘speed Graham up’ to the same level as Thomas.
As an English person, one would rather have Graham Potter as the England Manager than Thomas Tuchel.
Is that Anglophile?
Is that not liking Germans?
Is that even being possibly a tad racist?
One would like to think that none of those 3 are right, it’s more about the ethical choice of the England National Team being overseen by a German.
How would the Germans react if Gareth Southgate took over as their National Team Manager?
Or for that matter, the French, the Spanish or even the Scottish!
Roberto Martinez, who is Spanish, took over the Cristiano Ronaldo/Portugal National Team and at the moment is getting away with the situation.
However, that is because the ex-Everton Manager is continuing to pick a 39-year-old Cristiano (who, by the way, will be 40 in February 2025.)
What will happen when Roberto decides not to pick CR7, who, as mentioned, will be 40 come the start of the Qualifying Campaign for the World Cup’2026?
Will the Portuguese public then be enamoured with a Spaniard in charge of their National Team?
Going back to the England Manager and Thomas Tuchel, it’s happened now, so no need to become negative, TT is in from January 2025 and will be there until after the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada, or Canada, Mexico and the USA or Mexico, well one gets the point.
Regular readers will know that John Newsome is an,
‘England man and what you’re looking at is a MasterPlan!’
‘We ain’t no hooligans,’
‘We are playing for England, Engerland!’
Rest In Peace, Macca Doobs!
This fixture between David Moyes’ Hammers and Erik’s Ten Bobs took place the day before Christmas Eve, which saw West Ham gain the home present of 3 points from a victory by a 2-0 score.
After a goalless 1st-half, goals from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus gave West Ham all 3 points.
Unfortunately, for the watching Bubbles, Mr Kudus won’t be on show today, due to the lad’s indiscretion against Tottenham last week.
Betfred offer West Ham at 9/5, the Draw at 5/2 and 13/10 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 15/2 that Jarrod Bowen Scores First and 11/4 that Alejandro Garnacho Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 1-2- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ARSENAL v LIVERPOOL
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Arsenal suffered a surprise defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday.
William Saliba was eventually shown a straight Red Card in the 30th minute for hauling down Evanilson which gave the Cherries a huge advantage.
‘Eventually’, as the on-field referee Rob Jones initially showed a Yellow before the dreaded VAR got involved and told Rob to upgrade to a Red.
Bournemouth made most of the extra man and scored in the 70th minute, then were awarded a penalty, which was converted 10 minutes later, to leave Arsenal with their first defeat of the campaign.
Arsenal sit in 3rd place with the same 17 points as Aston Villa who are both now 4 points behind today’s visitors.
Both teams play in the Champions League-League Phase before this scintillating Sunday Afternoon game.
Arsenal entertain Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates on Tuesday, with Liverpool heading to Germany to face RB Leipzig on Wednesday.
That could mean that the Gunners have the advantage, by way of not travelling and playing a day earlier than Liverpool giving them more time to rest.
Liverpool gained a great home victory over Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday.
After being awarded a penalty for a foul on the excellent Curtis Jones, Mo Salah converted in the 29th minute to give Arne’s Slot Machines a lead at the break.
Chelsea did score an equaliser early in the 2nd-half but Curtis Jones reestablished Liverpool’s lead soon after and with no further goals, the home team held on for the win.
Curtis had a great game and deserved the Man of the Match award.
Curtis Jones has all the letters of ‘Scouse’ in his name and as the Manchester Ball Thrower pointed out, is also an anagram of ‘Surjections’ which has something to do with Math.
The Manchester Lad has got too much time on his hands.
Liverpool sit at the summit of the Premier League Table with 21 points, a point more than Man City and 4 more than Aston Villa and today’s hosts.
Arsenal gained the home victory over Liverpool in this fixture at the Emirates last season.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring, however, the unfortunate Gunner Defender Gabriel turned past his own ‘Keeper on the stroke of half-time to leave the scores level at the interval.
Another Angel, Gabriel Martinelli added a 2nd for Arsenal before Leandro Trossard scored late on to give Mikel’s Young Guns the points from Jurgen’s Reds by a 3-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Arsenal at 23/20, the Draw at 12/5 and 21/10 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 13/2 that Mo Salah Scores First and Odds On 8/13 that Both Teams Score.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Draw 1-1- Get 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
The Scottish Premier League hotted up over the weekend with the Top Two, Celtic and Aberdeen squaring up to each other and coming away with a point apiece from a draw at Celtic Park by a 2-2 scoreline.
Celtic had taken a 2-goal lead before Aberdeen scored twice to earn a draw.
Rangers played the day after and following the result in the Green side of Glasgow, the Teddy Bear faithful must have been licking their lips at the prospect of gaining a victory over Kilmarnock (who?) on Sunday and closing the gap at the Top of the Pub League to just 3 points.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be as the ‘Gers suffered a 2nd defeat of the campaign with ‘Killy’ scoring in the 87th minute to gain the victory by a 1-0 scoreline.
The ex-Barnsley Striker Marley Watkins with the solitary winning goal.
‘Marley Watkins Baby!’
Celtic and Aberdeen sit at the summit of the SPL with 22 points from the opening 8 games, both remaining unbeaten.
Rangers sit in 3rd place with 16 points.
The loveable OzScot over in Melbourne, now 55, is distraught about his beloved Teddy Bears being rubbish, a year on from Philippe Clement taking charge, supposedly in the hopes of turning around the fortunes of the Ibrox Club.
As it stands at the moment, Rangers are going backwards instead of progressing.
There were a couple of banners unfurled at Rugby Park (Kilmarnock’s Stadium) that read,
‘The Mismanagement of Rangers Must Stop and Stop Now.’
As well as,
‘No chairman, No CEO, No Director of Football Operations, No Clue, One Scapegoat.’
The faithful are not happy with the situation at the moment which will be monitored by this EveryTip column over the coming weeks.
Celtic take on Atalanta in Italy on Wednesday in the next game of the Champions League-League Phase, whilst Rangers face FCSB at Ibrox on Thursday in the Europa League-League Phase.
FCSB are a Romanian Football Club not a Bank in the Gorbals Area of Glasgow.
Hearts (who?) face Omonia of Cyprus on Thursday in the Europa Conference League-League Phase.
The Irish Teams, Larne and Shamrock Rovers square off in a Northern Ireland versus the Republic of Ireland clash on Thursday, in the same competition as Hearts.
Wales are represented by TNS (The New Saints) who entertain FC Astana.
As for Braveheart/Kylie,
‘He’s still Spinning Around over in OzLand!’
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