League Leaders Drop Points!

Manchester derby, Arsenal and Liverpool draw, Bayern shock defeat, Real Madrid and Barca falter again and The Best Awards

Spotlight 💡

• Of the last six Manchester Derby’s in the league prior to Sunday, Manchester City had won five, so despite their recent struggles, they were still favorites heading into Sunday’s match. Things started slowly at the Etihad on Sunday, with neither side looking a threat in front of goal. Eventually, the home side jumped out to a 1-0 lead via a Joško Gvardio header just past the half-hour mark. From then on, the match was rather dull, with United having the better of the chances but failing to equalize. Then, in the 88th minute, an errant back pass by Matheus Nunes was seized by Amad. He rounded Ederson and assessed his options. However, Nunes sprinted 30 yards and made a reckless challenge on the winger, a clear penalty. Bruno subsequently dispatched the spot kick to level things at 1-1. Bernardo Silva had some harsh words for Nunes after the match, but they certainly ring true. Almost a minute later, Lisandro Martinez caught the City defense sleeping, and well, this happened:

  

• It’s the exact type of goal you would never expect City to give up, so maybe it should be expected, given how out of character they’ve been as of late. Pep’s side has a rather easy run of fixtures in the next few weeks, which gives them the perfect opportunity to course-correct before the new year. Despite United winning some Manchester Derbies in recent years (notably the FA Cup Final), they have almost never played better than the Citizens. However, Amorim’s side was clearly the better team on Sunday, which should only worry Manchester City and their fans even more. For United, it’s a nice win, but they will need to build off it to show they are legit.

Premier League Review

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Frustration at the top 😬

• In the early game on Saturday, Arsenal was held to a 0-0 draw by Everton in a frustrating day for Arteta’s side. Everton couldn’t register a single shot on target and only had 23% possession during the match. Despite this, Arsenal couldn’t find a decisive goal through their attack in a match where Saka, Havertz, and Odegaard looked off the mark.

• Arsenal’s draw meant that Liverpool could go a full 8 points clear with a win over Fulham. When Liverpool hosted Fulham last season, it ended in a thrilling 4-4 draw. It is safe to say this season’s fixture did not disappoint either after Fulham jumped out to a shock 1-0 lead inside 11 minutes after a goal by Pereira. Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool after Andy Robertson was sent off after being deemed to prevent a clear goal-scoring opportunity. There was a check for offsides in the build-up, but VAR said there wasn’t, and the red card decision stood. Despite being diminished to 10 men, Liverpool equalized early into the second half after Gakpo got on the end of a lovely Salah ball in. Liverpool had a couple of chances before Muniz eventually restored Fulham’s advantage with a lovely finish. Liverpool pried for an equalizer and eventually found one via Diogo Jota in the 86th minute.

• Though the match ended in a draw, this should seen as a victory for Liverpool: despite playing with ten men for 80% of the match, they were still able to retain 62% of the ball and record more shots and shots on goal. On top of all this, Arsenal drew as well, so Liverpool didn’t lose any ground. While some Liverpool fans will be annoyed, I see this as a win for Slot’s side.

Across the league ⚽️

• A week after things seemed to be looking up for Leicester City after the appointment of their new manager they went out and got battered 4-0 by Newcastle. It was a good day for the Magpies and they had 27 shots and 11 on target. Meanwhile, Leicester now sit 2 points out of a relegation spot.

• Newcastle was not the only team to win big at the weekend as Spurs thrashed Southampton 5-0 on Sunday. It didn’t Tottenham all of one minute to open the scoring via James Maddison. Eleven minutes later, Son made it 2-0, and two minutes after that, Kulisevski made it 3-0. By halftime, the score was 5-0, though Southampton manager, Russel Martin didn’t see the last goal as he had already gone down the tunnel. It was a bad look for the manager and it has clearly not gone over well as he has since been sacked.

• Chelsea continued their hot form with a 2-1 win over Brentford late on Sunday. Nicolas Jackson and Marc Cucurella scored for the Blues in the win. Cucurella was eventually sent off deep into stoppage time after an altercation with Kevin Schade saw him pick up a yellow card. Chelsea will be happy with the win and will be thrilled to see what transpired across the league as they now only trail Liverpool by two points (albeit Slot’s side have a game in hand) Some are even going as far as to say Maresca’s side are the best in the league at the moment.

La Liga

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• I doubt many people had Real Madrid versus Rayo Vallecano circled on their calendars. However, it turned out to be one of the games of the weekend: Carlo Ancelotti was shocked when Rayo Vallecano jumped out to a 1-0 lead 4 minutes in. Approximately 30 minutes later, the home side jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a brilliant header off of a corner. However, before the half, Real Madrid got two quick goals via Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham. So far this season, Valverde has four goals in La Liga, and all of them have come from outside the box.

  

• Early into the second half, Rodrygo hit a beautiful strike into the top corner to give Real Madrid a 3-2 lead after having once trailed 2-0. However, the home team wasn’t going down without a fight and found an equalizer in the 63rd minute after a wonderful acrobatic effort from Isi Palazón. The final minutes were tense, with both sides nearly grabbing a winner, but things ended all square in a surprisingly thrilling match.

• While Real Madrid left things wide open for Barcelona, they failed to capitalize yet again as they shockingly lost 1-0 to Leganes. It really seems that the two Spanish giants keep giving gifts to their rivals, only for the other team to say, “No, you take it.”

• The referee was, unfortunately, the center of attention in both games. In Real Madrid’s draw, Vinicius was clearly fouled in the box. However, the referee did not call a penalty, and VAR did not intervene. After the match, the referee reportedly admitted he “may have made a mistake.” In the Barcelona game, there were numerous rough challenges from Leganés defenders who did not receive cards. Barcelona also had several penalty appeals of their own. The topic of refereeing in La Liga has been a prominent issue in football media recently, and with instances like what we witnessed this weekend, it’s easy to understand why many are upset.

Bundesliga Wrap Up

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• On Saturday, Bayern Munich recorded their first loss of the season in the Bundesliga in a shock 2-1 defeat to 6th place Mainz. Lee Jae-sung scored both goals for Mainz before Sane responded late on for Bayern. It was a rough day for Kompany’s side as they could only muster one shot on target during the 90 minutes.

• Bayer Leverkusen have shown themselves to be legitimate title challengers after a 2-0 win over Augsburg on Saturday. The goals came from Terrier in the 14th minute and Wirtz and the 40th minute. The win alongside Bayern’s loss, means that Xabi Alonso’s side now sit 2nd int he league, just 4 points back of Bayern.

• RB Leipzig picked up an important 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Goals for Leipzig came from Benjamin Šeško and Loïs Openda.

• Dortmund’s struggles continue as they could only manage a 1-1 draw with 14th-place Hoffenheim. American fans will be happy to see Gio Reyna on the score sheet but there was not too much else to note from this game.

Serie A/Ligue 1

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PSG Stay On Top 💪

• In France, PSG had a pretty routine 3-1 win over Lyon on Sunday. Luis Enrique’s side jumped out to a two-goal lead inside the first fifteen minutes after goals by Dembélé and Vitinha. Lyon pulled one back before halftime causing some concern for the Parisians but the away side failed to create much after their goal. PSG then sealed the victory after a goal by Gonçalo Ramos in the 88th minute.

• Elsewhere in Ligue 1, Lille and Marseille drew 1-1 and Brest beat Nantes definitely by a score 4-1.

Shake-Up in Italy 👀

• On Saturday, both Atalanta and Napoli picked up wins, which means that Atalanta remain top of the table despite the spot being occupied by Napoli for most of the campaign.

• Despite beating Manchester City 2-0 last week in the Champions League, Juventus continued to struggle domestically (by their hefty standards). At the weekend they drew 2-2 against Venezia. It looked as if Juventus would lose the match after Venezia jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute. However, a penalty by Dušan Vlahović deep into stoppage helped Juventus salvage a point.

• On Sunday 6th Lazio were absolutely walloped 6-0 by Inter Milan. The match saw all different goal scorers. Among those on the scoresheet were Dumfries, DiMarco, Thuram, and Barella. Despite the thrashing Latauro Martinez couldn’t find the back of the net.

Inter’s win means they now sit 3 points back of league leaders Atalanta, but have played one less game meaning if they win their game in hand they would be level on points. It is shaping up to be quite the title race over in Italy with just 6 points separating 1st and 5th.

Quick News 🗞️

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• Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk has reportedly been notified by the FA that he had a positive drug test. Sources say that the Ukrainian winger will be temporarily suspended until the resolution of this situation. Mudryk said on Instagram that the notification came as a “complete shock” and that he’d “never knowingly used any banned substances”. This story will certainly develop in the coming weeks and the football world will have their eyes on it.

Here are all the winners from the Best FIFA Awards 2024 after they were announced this week:

Player: Vinicius Jr.

Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martinez

Coach: Carlo Ancelotti

Puskas Award: Alejandro Garnacho

Best 11:

• Rumors of Marcus Rashford wanting out of Manchester United have grown in recent weeks. The English forward has been on record saying that he is “ready for a new challenge.” He could be on the move as soon as January, but there is said to be limited interest from European teams. Therefore, he could ultimately be headed to Saudi. The feeling around Rashford for some time has been that he needs a fresh start. That could finally come to reality in this January window.

Across the Web 🛜

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Approximately 15 years ago Ronaldo scored this beauty…

Nicolas Jackson stopping Enzo Fernandez from taking off his shirt so that he doesn’t get a yellow card 😂

Player of the Week 🤩

Ismaïla Sarr: Crystal Palace

Sarr had two goals and an assist in Palace’s 3-1 win over Brighton at the weekend. The midfielder. The first goal was a lovely header after he met a cross at the back post. The second came off some sloppy defending by Brighton, though Sarr demonstrated lovely control and composure to all but seal the game in the 82nd minute.

Elsewhere 🌎

This past week, Cole Palmer was faced with an awkward conundrum when the mascot he walked out with was taller than him! In typical Palmer fashion, he walked around awkwardly and stood to his side rather than behind him. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen this before.

TidBit 😲

There were exactly 115 seconds between Manchester United’s against City two goals on Sunday. This is ironic since this is the exact number of charges that Manchester City face for violations of FFP rules. Football truly is a fascinating game.

Only a handful of managers have ever beaten Pep Guardiola. Ruben Amorim has done it twice in one season, with two different clubs, in two different competitions. You can say what you want about Amorim and Manchester United but it takes a certain type of manager to beat Guardiola (regardless of City’s struggles).

Weekly Poll 🤔

Next Week… 🗓️

PSG vs Monaco (Wednesday)

Bayern vs Leipzig (Friday)

Aston Villa vs Manchester City (Saturday)

Leverkusen vs Freiburg (Saturday)

Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid (Saturday)

Manchester United vs Bournemouth (Sunday)

Tottenham vs Liverpool (Sunday)