The highlight fixtures for the next set of EPL matches are BRIGHTON versus ARSENAL and MAN CITY versus SUNDERLAND. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, brings you his unique and insightful previews of these and all Game Week 5 matches. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
👉 Bet £10, Get £50 in Free Bets at Betfred
Be sure to check out John’s new book, entitled “Three Days At Anfield“, a riotous and heartfelt tribute to Barnsley FC that blends football nostalgia, fan memoir, and a love letter to the beautiful game. Available on Amazon now.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Game Week-5
The Premier League enters its 5th Game Week, with plenty of talking points after an eventful Game Week-4.
Arsenal and Man City are the only teams with a 100% record after 4 games.
Leeds United, Hull, Brentford, Liverpool and Everton, all remain unbeaten.
The Bees entertain Chelsea on Friday Night Football, with the Blues conceding plenty.
Tottenham and Coventry are still searching for their first Premier League goal, while Aston Villa also head into the weekend looking for their first league win.
There are some interesting games involving the promoted clubs, with Ipswich travelling to Everton, Hull heading to Newcastle and Coventry visiting Nottingham Forest.
Sunday sees Bournemouth welcome Liverpool, with the Cherries still searching for their first league win under Marco Rose, before Manchester City entertain Sunderland and Leeds face Crystal Palace.
The final game of the weekend sees Fulham host Manchester United.
With Arsenal and Man City looking to maintain their perfect start, Chelsea trying to tighten up defensively, Tottenham desperate to finally find the back of the net and several teams still searching for their first win, Game Week-5 could provide plenty of betting opportunities before the International Football break.
Remember Betfred’s ‘Double Delight/Hat-trick Heaven’ promotion.
If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores first and then scores a second, Betfred DOUBLES the odds.
One can find all of the teams’ current Premier League position and the points on the board from the games played so far at the end of this column.
Friday, September 18th
BRENTFORD v CHELSEA
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
The good thing about this fixture is that both sets of fans don’t have to travel far in the Friday night London rush-hour traffic, with there being just over 6 miles between the GTech Stadium and Stamford Bridge.
Brentford gained a point from a 2-2 draw away at Bournemouth on Saturday, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
Kevin Schade scored both goals on the South Coast.
Keith Andrews’ Bees were on the back foot for most of the game, with just 8 shots in total and 2 on target, compared to Marco Rose’s Cherries, who had 20 shots, with 10 of those being on target.
As with most stats in football, the main statistic is the one shown in the top-left-hand corner of the screen-
‘Bou 2-2 Bre’
Brentford are still unbeaten but have drawn the last 3 games and quite possibly, could easily gain another point tonight in this West London derby.
Chelsea could consider themselves lucky to earn a point against Hull at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
After Morgan Rogers had scored early on to settle the nerves of the Blues’ faithful, Hull scored twice in quick succession to take the lead at the break.
Joao Pedro then scored the Chelsea equaliser just after the hour mark and with no further goals, both teams went home with a point apiece from another 2-2 draw.
As mentioned in last week’s column, Chelsea will score goals, having already scored 10 in the 4 games up to now.
However, the Blues will concede goals too, so Xabi Alonso needs to get his boys on the training pitch and set them up to be defensively solid.
Otherwise, it will have to be a case of-
‘We’ll score more goals than you!’
…for Chelsea to get at least a point.
Betfred offer Brentford at 15/8, the Draw at 14/5 and 6/5 for Chelsea to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 15/8 that Kevin Schade Scores Anytime and 11/8 that Cole Palmer Scores Anytime.
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Saturday, September 19th
TOTTENHAM v ASTON VILLA
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
Tottenham have not scored a goal yet in the 4 Premier League games so far but did gain a point from back-to-back 0-0 draws, this time against Everton at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The 0-0 draw was predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
There was a sign held up by one of the fans which read-
‘PLEASE SCORE A GOAL!’
The positive to take from the last 2 games is that Tottenham haven’t conceded.
However, if a team went the full season without scoring or conceding, that would gain 38 points, which more than likely would mean relegation.
West Ham went down with 39 points last term.
So, as was mentioned last week,
Roberto De Zerbi needs to get his lads on the training pitch and get them practising putting the ball in the back of the net, or, as one says in Barnsley-
‘Put the ball in t’onion!’
One could feel sorry for the 60,000-plus fans in attendance today, as Aston Villa have only scored 1 goal so far, which came in another defeat, this time against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park on Saturday.
The Brazilian Alysson (not to be confused with the Liverpool goalkeeper) got Villa’s first goal of the season.
Unfortunately for the watching Villains in attendance, Forest scored twice to inflict the loss from a 2-1 scoreline.
It’s unlikely that Unai Emery will be considered to be under pressure but if the slump continues, then the Spaniard will soon be looking over his shoulder to see if the owners are looming with the prospect of sending Unai down the concrete.
Aston Villa did get a win in the Champions League last Wednesday, scoring 3 goals away at Club Brugge, so there are goals in the team.
It’s just now a matter of getting the goals flowing in the Premier League.
This could easily be another 0-0 stalemate.
Betfred offer Tottenham at Evens 1/1, the Draw at 11/4 and 5/2 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 9/4 that there are Under 0.5 Goals and 6/5 that Both Teams DON’T Score.
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BRIGHTON v ARSENAL
15.00 in England
Brighton simply outclassed Coventry at the CBS Arena on Sunday.
Goals from Charalampos
Kostoulas, the brilliant Malick Yalcouye, Pascal Gross, Lewis Dunk and Yasin Ayari gave Fab’s Seagulls a 5-0 win over a sorry set of Frank’s Sky Blues.
It was mentioned a few weeks ago that Malick will be an exciting watch for the Seagull faithful and that’s continuing with the 20 year old putting in another fine performance.
Lewis Dunk played for Brighton in the last game against the two at the CBS Arena (previously the Ricoh Arena) back in 2011 and celebrated the 15 year return with a superb goal, which to be fair to the Big Fella, isn’t usually in his locker.
It was almost another ‘1-nil to the Arsenal’ after Bruno Guimaraes had scored a beautiful goal just before the hour mark.
However, with the clock going into the 97th minute, Bukayo Saka spoiled the iconic ditty by earning a penalty, then converting, to give Arsenal the win from a 2-0 scoreline.
If one had ‘1-0’ on their betting slips, it’s hoped a few had ‘cashed out’ before the dying embers of the game to earn a few quid.
The Gunners had conceded a penalty themselves in the 56th minute, with Ezri Konsa wrestling Dan Ballard to the ground.
Mikel wasn’t happy about the decision, however, a message to Mr Arteta,
‘Stop your players grabbing hold of the opposition in the box!’
The referees are supposedly picking up on these incidents more and should rightly award a penalty.
It’s just whether the officials are consistent going forward and continue to penalise the defenders who manhandle the opposing players, as the clue is in the title-
It’s called ‘Football’, not ‘Wrestling!’
Chelsea are the only team to score against Arsenal so far, which means that it will be a tough ask for Brighton to win, and a point is probably the best the Seagulls can hope for.
However, John Newsome can only see another ‘1-nil to the Arsenal’.
Betfred offer Brighton at 18/5, the Draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 8/11 for Arsenal to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Bukayo Saka Scores First and 15/8 that Arsenal Win To Nil.
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EVERTON v IPSWICH
15.00 in England
Everton and Ipswich come into this game with the same 6 points.
However, David Moyes’ Toffees are still unbeaten, following a goalless draw away at Tottenham on Saturday.
Everton have accrued their 6 points from a win and 3 draws, scoring 5 but only conceding 3, whereas Ipswich’s 6 come from 2 wins, with 2 losses on the record.
That said, the 2 defeats came against Manchester United at Old Trafford and Liverpool, admittedly at Portman Rd.
In that game, Liverpool scored twice in the first 10 minutes, with no further goals in the remaining 80 or so.
Following the opening-day victory over Sunderland, then the back-to-back defeats, the Tractor Boys got their 2nd win of the season in a brilliant 5-goal thriller against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Emersonn and Leif Davis scored in the 1st half after Palace had taken the lead.
The home team didn’t help themselves, with Axel Disasi making a high tackle on Jack Clarke, resulting in a straight Red Card and giving Ipswich a man advantage.
The 10-man home team did score an equaliser and with the game ticking over 90 minutes, the new signing Zian Flemming popped up with the winner to give Gary O’Neil’s Tractor Boys all 3 points from a 3-2 away win.
This is a fair old ride for the Tractor Boys faithful, who will have a round trip of 500 miles that will take up to 5 hours to get to Merseyside and 5 hours to get back home to Suffolk.
There is only the Stadium of Light (560 miles round trip) and St James’ Park (570 miles round trip) that the Ipswich fans will have to travel further to.
Getting to and from Suffolk can be a bit of a nightmare, with the A14 being one of the longest A roads in the UK, at around 120 miles (usually full of speed cameras and roadworks) once the vehicle gets to, or leaves, the M1 or A1.
The good thing, though, is that the scenery en route is beautiful, unless one has fallen asleep (hopefully not the driver) by then.
Added to that, as with the trip to and from Old Trafford, the Tractor Boys faithful will probably be wet through from the West Coast rain.
Betfred offer Everton at slight Odds On 4/5, the Draw at 11/4 and 16/5 for Ipswich to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 7/4 that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Scores Anytime and 11/4 that there are Under 1.5 Goals.
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NEWCASTLE v HULL
15.00 in England
Newcastle suffered their first defeat of the season, in devastating fashion against Leeds United at Elland Rd on Monday Night Football.
Matthias Jaissle’s brilliant start to life as the Magpies Boss, came to an end, with Newcastle losing 4-1 against a superb set of Whites who were simply brilliant.
Bazoumana Toure, who was a substitute, sent on by Matthias in the 2nd-half, scored a late consolation for the Magpies, however, the damage had already been done and the honeymoon period is over for the German Gaffer.
Matthias Jaissle doesn’t need to dwell on the loss too much, just give his boys the truth (the fact that they were rubbish) and move forward to this game against Hull.
Hull are 1 of 7 teams that remain unbeaten, following Saturday’s brilliant draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
After conceding a Blues goal, the excellent Mohamed Belloumi, scored 2 quick goals in the 28th and 34th minute, to give Hull a lead at the break.
Unfortunately for Serbej Jakirovic’s men, like a bad dog walker, Hull couldn’t hold on to the lead and conceded a Chelsea equaliser just after the hour mark.
With no further goals, both teams went home with a point apiece from a 2-2 scoreline.
The Archbishop was happy!
It was another backs-against-the-wall display by the Tigers, who had just 32% possession but did have 14 shots, with 5 of those on target.
Chelsea, despite the majority of possession, had 12 shots, 7 of those being on target.
So from the opening 4 games, it’s evident that Sergej Jakirovic’s tactics are to sit back and absorb the pressure then try and hit the opponent on the break, whether at home, or away from the MKM Stadium.
Betfred offer Newcastle at Odds On 1/2, the Draw at 7/2 and 5/1 for Hull to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 10/3 that there are Under 1.5 Goals and Evens 1/1 that Both Teams DON’T Score.
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Premier League Team of the Week-
GOALKEEPER – Gianluigi Donnarumma- Man City
RIGHT-BACK – Ainsley Maitland-Niles – Everton
CENTRE-BACK – Marc Guehi- Man City
CENTRE-BACK – Gabriel – Arsenal
LEFT-BACK – Leif Davis – Ipswich
MIDFIELDER – Bruno Guimaraes – Arsenal
MIDFIELDER – Malick Yalcouye – Brighton
MIDFIELDER – Morgan Gibbs-White – Nottingham Forest
FORWARD – Dominic Calvert-Lewin- Leeds United
FORWARD – Kevin Schade – Bournemouth
FORWARD – Mohamed Belloumi – Hull
STAR MAN – Dominic Calvert-Lewin- Leeds United
***Last Week’s Winning Tips***
Bournemouth v Brentford To Draw – 13/5
Tottenham v Everton To Draw – 5/2
Arsenal To Win – 1/2
Brighton To Win – 4/5
Man City To Win- 11/10
Correct Scores-
Bournemouth v Brentford 2-2 – 11/1
Tottenham v Everton 0-0 – 9/1
Correct Tips-
Bournemouth v Brentford –
Justin Kluivert To Score Anytime – 8/5
Kevin Schade To Score Anytime – 9/5
Crystal Palace v Ipswich –
Over 2.5 Goals – 5/6
Tottenham v Everton –
Both Teams DON’T Score – Evens 1/1
Under 1.5 Goals – 5/2
Sunderland v Arsenal –
Arsenal To Win and Under 2.5 Goals- 11/5
Coventry v Brighton –
Malick Yalcouye To Score Anytime – 3/1
Brighton To Score in Both Halves – 6/4
Manchester United v Man City-
Erling Haaland To Score First- 7/4
Leeds United v Newcastle-
Dominic Calvert-Lewin To Score Anytime- 8/5.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST v COVENTRY
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Nottingham Forest simply outplayed Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday, with goals from Liam Delap and Igor Jesus giving Oliver Glasner’s Tricky Trees their first win of the season.
Villa did score an equaliser before Igor scored the winner in the 2-1 away win.
Forest have progressed in every game so far, starting with a loss in the first game, a draw in the second and third, then finally a win in the fourth, so it appears Oliver’s tactics are starting to take shape.
Lady Godiva, is a legendary 11th-century Noblewoman who famously rode a horse through Coventry, whilst being naked, to ease taxes.
Maybe, Frank Lampard can get a modern day Noblewoman to do a similar thing to ease the woes of his suffering Sky Blues team.
Or even get a Nobleman to play up front for Cov, in the hope of scoring a goal!
The Sky Blues faithful have started singing a ditty, which takes its tune from a brilliant John Lennon song-
‘All we are saying, is give us a goal, all we are saying, is please score a goal.’
Coventry were hammered by Brighton on Sunday, suffering a devastating 5-0 home defeat in front of the fans at the CBS Arena.
Again failing to score a goal, joining Tottenham as the only 2 teams not to find the back of the net so far.
Added to that, Cov are the only team now who have not gained a point from the opening 4 games.
One can only see that trend continuing today at the City Ground.
Taiwo Awoniyi would more than likely, have been really up for this meeting against his old employers, however, Taiwo got a straight Red Card against Brighton for elbowing Maxim De Cuyper, subsequently picking up a 3 game ban, which will include this game today, the Carabao Cup fixture against Aston Villa and then the Premier League game against Newcastle after the International Break.
At least the away fans won’t have far to travel home, with Nottingham being around 50 miles from Coventry.
There might even be a woman on a horse knocking about.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at Odds On 7/10, the Draw at 3/1 and 18/5 for Coventry to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Liam Delap Scores First and 15/8 that Nottingham Forest Win To Nil.
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Sunday, September 20th
BOURNEMOUTH v LIVERPOOL
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
The Andoni Iraola Derby.
Andoni makes a quick return to his previous home after leaving Bournemouth in the Summer to take over at Liverpool.
The draw specialists host the, well, draw specialists at the Vitality Stadium in this early Sunday Afternoon fixture.
Both teams have drawn 3 out of the 4 games so far, with both having 2 x 2-2 scorelines on the record.
Bournemouth have drawn against Everton (1-1), drawn against Newcastle (2-2) and then a third draw against Brentford on Saturday, from another 2-2 scoreline.
There is a loss on the record (Man City 2-1).
Justin Kluivert scored to equalise an early Brentford goal to take both teams in level at the break.
Marcus Tavernier added a 2nd just after the restart, however, the bad dog walker was on display again, with the Cherries unable to hold on to the lead enabling the Bees to score an equaliser.
With no further goals, both teams gained a point apiece from the Archbishop’s favourite scoreline.
Liverpool’s previous games have thrown up a draw against Newcastle (2-2), a draw against Nottingham Forest (2-2) and a final draw against Fulham at Anfield on Saturday from a 0-0 scoreline.
The only difference with Andoni Iraola’s Reds is that Liverpool have won a game (Ipswich 2-0).
This should be an emotional day for Mr Iraola and it will be interesting to see the reaction from the Cherry faithful in the home end.
The result looks like it’s got 2-2 written all over it.
Thanks to Andoni, Bournemouth head to Spain on Thursday to take on Real Sociedad in the opening game of the Europa League-League Phase.
This will be the first time in the Cherries’ history that the club have competed in Europe.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 21/10, the Draw at 11/4 and 21/20 for Liverpool to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Evanilson Scores Anytime and 11/10 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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LEEDS UNITED v CRYSTAL PALACE
14.00 in England
Back in the early 1960s, the legendary Leeds United Manager, Don Revie, changed the Leeds strip to all White (previously Blue and Gold) in the hope that his team played like Real Madrid.
On Monday Night Football, Leeds did in fact resemble the Spanish Giants, with a superb display that destroyed Newcastle, who simply couldn’t cope with the Whites’ onslaught.
Ao Tanaka had a speculative shot that hit 2 Newcastle bodies before finding the net to give Leeds an early lead.
The Japan Midfielder, who did play in the recent World Cup, went running away, shouting-
‘AO let’s go!’
Dominic Calvert-Lewin then scored twice, or thought he had, however, the header for his first goal, came off Jayden Bogle, so it was Jim’s goal not Dom’s.
DCL did score the third, to give Leeds the lead at the break.
Noah Okafor, scored the fourth on the hour mark.
Newcastle did score a late consolation, however, the home team got the brilliant win from a 4-1 scoreline.
The West Yorkshire Puddings then headed off into the Leeds night sky, singing their famous ditty,
‘Marching On Together!’
Looking for the local Spoons, where several pints were ordered, with loads of straws so the Puddings could all share said pints.
There was an incident in a recent WSL game (Women’s Super League) that involved the Crystal Palace Women and the Everton Women, where the Palace manager, Jo Potter, made 5 substitutions over 4 windows.
The rule is that the 5 substitutions have to be made over just 3 windows throughout the game.
One could easily say this was because the women don’t know the rules, etc.
However, it was probably just a mistake by several people, including the officials, in the heat of the battle, with the game coming to an end and the score being 1-0 in favour of Crystal Palace.
Over the years of contributing to this EveryTip column, John Newsome hasn’t referenced the Women’s game that regularly, as, personally, John doesn’t like the game.
That’s not being misogynistic or offensive against the Women, it’s brilliant to see the Women, especially the youngsters, playing the Beautiful Game.
One’s problem with the Women in football is the fact that the Women want the acknowledgement and adulation straight away, without earning the respect.
Men’s football has over 150 years of history, with each team having their own stories to share.
One needs to keep these stories alive for the next generation.
The Women will eventually have their own stories to tell and good luck to them but for the time being, John Newsome will leave the game to them and just stick with the Men’s Beautiful Game.
Crystal Palace were on the wrong end of a 5-goal thriller at Selhurst Park against Ipswich on Saturday.
Anan Khalaili scored the opener in the 14th minute to give Palace a lead.
Ipswich then scored an equaliser to make the game level, before Axel Disasi made a high challenge on Jack Clarke, which resulted in a straight Red Card, leaving Palace with a man down for over an hour.
The away team scored a 2nd on the stroke of half-time to lead at the break.
Jorgen Strand-Larsen then scored an equaliser in the 77th minute and with 90 up on the clock, it looked like a draw was on the cards, until Ipswich scored a 3rd and ultimately, the winner to leave Palace with their 3rd loss of the season from the opening 4 games.
Crystal Palace face Lech Poznań at Selhurst Park in the Europa League on Thursday.
The Polish club have, let’s just say, a colourful set of supporters, who have the famous ‘Poznań’, where the fans link arms, turn their backs on the game and jump up and down.
The Eagle Ultras v The Poznań Ultras.
That should be a lively affair in South London on Thursday night, before the visit of the West Yorkshire Puddings.
Betfred offer Leeds United at slight Odds On 19/20, the Draw at 13/5 and 11/4 for Crystal Palace to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Noah Okafor Scores First and 7/4 that Leeds Score in Both Halves.
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MAN CITY v SUNDERLAND
15.00 in England
Man City gained a victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Derby on Sunday.
Erling Haaland scored the solitary winning goal on the hour mark.
That’s the sanitised version of events, however, here are the fun facts.
Bruno Fernandes ‘kicked’ Phil Foden in the 23rd minute, supposedly by accident.
Ok Bruno!
Phil, reminiscent of David Beckham in the 1998 World Cup last-16 game against Argentina, where David petulantly kicked out at Diego Simeone (should have kicked him harder!) kicked out at Bruno and was instantly shown a Red Card.
Message to Phil Foden-
‘should have kicked him harder!’
What was strange about the sending off was that it actually kicked City into life, with Enzo Maresca’s Blues being the dominant team for most of the remaining game.
The goal Erling Haaland scored was shrouded in controversy and gave loads of comments and column inches in the post-match media outlets.
John Newsome doesn’t want to say whether the goal was correctly awarded or not (most opinions are that it shouldn’t have been) however, the result was 1-0 to Man City and won’t be changed, so folk can argue until the cows come home but in the record books it will say-
Manchester United 0 Man City 1.
Obviously, the Red side of Manchester will be outraged by the outcome, however, maybe the Red Devil faithful should ask a few questions about their own team, as in, why did they play over 70 minutes and were unable to break down a team that had a man less?
More on that in the Fulham v Manchester United preview later.
For now, Enzo’s Blues are matching Mikel’s Gunners at the summit of the Premier League.
Sunderland suffered an expected defeat against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The game kicked off at 20.00 in England which was brilliant for all the single boys and girls who can watch the football in peace.
The unfortunate married ones, like the Manchester Dog Walker and the Little Fat Lad from Penistone have to watch some horrendous Saturday Night programmes on the Gogglebox, masquerading as ‘light entertainment!’
On Saturday, whilst Sunderland were getting beaten by Arsenal from a 2-0 scoreline, the BBC was showing ‘Last Night of the Proms’, they never mean it do they?
The Black Cats had put in a decent performance up until the award of a penalty in the 56th minute, when Dan Ballard was WWE’d to the floor by Ezri Konsa, with the referee awarding a penalty.
Unfortunately for the Black Cats faithful, Enzo Le Fee saw his spot kick saved by David Raya.
That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home team, giving momentum to Arsenal who scored their opener 2 minutes after the missed penalty.
With time running out, Reinildo Mandava brought down Bukayo Saka in the box which saw the referee award Arsenal a penalty.
Reinildo was shown a Yellow Card, however, unfortunately for Mr Mandava, that was his 2nd of the game, which resulted in a Red and an early bath for the lad.
Bukayo converted to leave Sunderland with their 2nd defeat from the opening 4 games.
Sunderland make their debut in the Europa League-League Phase on Thursday, as the Stadium of Light hosts the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.
After winning the FA Cup in 1973, getting a 1-0 victory over Leeds United, with Ian Porterfield scoring the goal, Sunderland did compete in the following season’s European Cup Winners’ Cup (which is probably the equivalent of the new Europa Conference League, being the third of the 3 European Competitions back in the day).
The Black Cats gained a 2-legged, 3-0 aggregate win against the Hungarian side Vasas in the 1st Round.
Unfortunately, for the Tyneside club, Sunderland lost in the 2nd Round against Sporting Lisbon, originally winning the 1st leg at Roker Park by a 2-1 scoreline but then losing the away leg 2-0, ultimately suffering a narrow loss from a 3-2 aggregate score.
What was an anomaly about Sunderland’s participation in the European Cup Winners’ Cup was that the Black Cats were a 2nd Division team (equivalent to the Championship) when they won the FA Cup and also whilst competing in the Cup Winners’ Cup.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 2/7, the Draw at 9/2 and 10/1 for Sunderland to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 11/5 that Erling Haaland Scores 2 or More Goals and 21/20 that Man City Win To Nil.
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FULHAM v MANCHESTER UNITED
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
This is the final fixture of the opening part of the 2026/27 season, which has culminated in 5 Game Weeks, with a break of a fortnight now for the International Football.
That reminds one of the highly popular online video game ‘Fortnite’, spelt that way.
The makers are doing a sequel to ‘Fortnite’, calling the new game ‘Three Weeks’.
Fulham gained a brilliant point from a 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, with the result being 1 of 4 draws over Game Week-4.
The stats show that the game on Merseyside was a pretty even affair, with neither team troubling the folk who oversee the Anfield Scoreboard.
Manchester United suffered a Derby Day defeat against Man City on Sunday, with a single controversial Erling Haaland goal being the difference, leaving the Numpty Neighbours with a loss against the Noisy Neighbours from a 1-0 scoreline.
There’s been a lot of talk regarding the decision to award the goal and regardless of whether it was right or wrong (it was wrong) there are a few other factors to discuss.
One’s just playing devil’s advocate regarding the controversial decision to award the goal and in no way agreeing with the official’s decision.
However, Lisandro Martinez commented that he went to challenge Enzo Fernandez, who is in an offside position, which leaves Mr Haaland free to score.
Erling Haaland is the main threat!
Why are the United defenders leaving EH on his own at the back post?
The Left-Back Patrick Dorgu was nowhere to be seen.
John Newsome thinks Luke Shaw would have been in a better position to look after Erling.
That then offers up a different conversation regarding the Back Four at United
In Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United team that started the 2022/23 season, the Back Four were Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw.
In Michael Carrick’s Manchester United Back Four that have played in 2 of the 4 games of the 2026/27 season so far, the Back Four were Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw.
This is a serious situation that needs addressing.
One hates to say this because regular readers will know John Newsome’s high opinion of Michael Carrick, however, Mr Carrick is starting to show that he’s not an elite Manager and is beginning to look out of his depth.
John thinks the adrenaline from being the Interim Manager is quickly wearing off now.
Manchester United’s opening 4 Premier League games have been against Hull (newly promoted), Ipswich (newly promoted), Everton and Man City.
Those 4 fixtures have returned 4 points, from 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses.
Before the campaign started, United would have pencilled in at least 3 wins from the 4, even dreaming of beating Man City, so at least 9 points, if not 12 from the opening 4 games.
There was a brilliant victory in the opening Champions League game, which saw United beat Sabah Baku 4-0.
Unfortunately for the Red Devil faithful, that win has masked the continuing problems at Old Trafford.
Sabah Baku, couldn’t beat Hartlepool!
The squad is simply not good enough and Michael is unsure how to get the best out of the players.
That’s not to say that the hierarchy should get rid of Mr Carrick, as there have been too many Managers over the last few years.
The problem will come, if the form doesn’t improve over the next 10 games, then the thoughts will turn to-
‘Is Michael Carrick the right person to take the club forward?’
Carlos Baleba has been injured since signing so Michael will be hoping to get the ex-Brighton Midfielder on the pitch in the not too distant future.
Betfred offer Fulham at 12/5, the Draw at 11/4 and Evens 1/1 for Manchester United to come away with all 3 points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Bruno Fernandes Scores First and 11/8 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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Current Premier League Standings
1 – Arsenal – played 4, points 12
2 – Man City – played 4, points 12
3 – Leeds United – played 4, points 8
4 – Hull – played 4, points 8
5 – Brighton – played 4, points 7
6 – Chelsea – played 4, points 7
7 – Brentford – played 4, points 6
8 – Liverpool – played 4, points 6
9 – Everton – played 4, points 6
10 – Ipswich – played 4, points 6
11 – Nottingham Forest – played 4, points 5
12 – Newcastle – played 4, points 5
13 – Manchester United – played 4, points 4
14 – Sunderland – played 4, points 4
15 – Bournemouth – played 4, points 3
16 – Crystal Palace – played 4, points 3
17 – Tottenham – played 4, points 2
18 – Fulham – played 4, points 1
19 – Aston Villa – played 4, points 1
20 – Coventry – played 4, points 0
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