EPL 2024-25

[mister d]

The Trossard-Garnacho match-up has been the only interesting thing in this match.

They remind me of each other in the energy they bring to their sides. And in how annoying both can be when calls don't go their way.

Big difference is Garnacho’s inability to match Trossard’s Weird Little Guy energy.

[garyclark]

The Trossard-Garnacho match-up has been the only interesting thing in this match.

They remind me of each other in the energy they bring to their sides. And in how annoying both can be when calls don't go their way.

Big difference is Garnacho’s inability to match Trossard’s Weird Little Guy energy.

Agreed.

[EnochRoot]

Man U, Everton, West Ham & Bournemouth are coming stateside this summer to Atlanta, Chicago and somewheres in New Jersey.

[garyclark]

Man U, Everton, West Ham & Bournemouth are coming stateside this summer to Atlanta, Chicago and somewheres in New Jersey.

I went in 2023 to see Newcastle - Aston Villa in Philadelphia the last time the Summer Series was here. Fantastic experience. Great atmosphere. Highly recommend.

[EnochRoot]

Man U, Everton, West Ham & Bournemouth are coming stateside this summer to Atlanta, Chicago and somewheres in New Jersey.

I went in 2023 to see Newcastle - Aston Villa in Philadelphia the last time the Summer Series was here. Fantastic experience. Great atmosphere. Highly recommend.

Thanks. I imagine my wife will be amenable to the NJ leg (has an old college friend in Brick).

[sancarlos]

Man U, Everton, West Ham & Bournemouth are coming stateside this summer to Atlanta, Chicago and somewheres in New Jersey.

I went in 2023 to see Newcastle - Aston Villa in Philadelphia the last time the Summer Series was here. Fantastic experience. Great atmosphere. Highly recommend.

Thanks. I imagine my wife will be amenable to the NJ leg (has an old college friend in Brick).

We really enjoyed Chelsea v. Wrexham last summer.

[garyclark]

Man U, Everton, West Ham & Bournemouth are coming stateside this summer to Atlanta, Chicago and somewheres in New Jersey.

I went in 2023 to see Newcastle - Aston Villa in Philadelphia the last time the Summer Series was here. Fantastic experience. Great atmosphere. Highly recommend.

Thanks. I imagine my wife will be amenable to the NJ leg (has an old college friend in Brick).

FYI, if they set it up the same way as last time, you buy a ticket for two matches on one day. So it isn't cheap.

[garyclark]

Massive three points for Newcastle at West Ham on Monday to launch them back up the table to 6th.

The battle for Europe is going to be insane down the stretch.

[DaveInSeattle]

Massive three points for Newcastle at West Ham on Monday to launch them back up the table to 6th.

The battle for Europe is going to be insane down the stretch.

Defector had a good breakdown of the teams in the running for the European spots: The Premier League’s Tightest Race Is For Fifth Place

This doesn't mean the Premier League is devoid of drama, though, and in fact there is one fight in the standings that looks certain to go to the very last round. I'm referring here to the race for the third, fourth, and fifth spots on the table, all of which should give Champions League qualification for next season. A quick explanation for why there will likely be five rather than the usual four continental places for the Prem: the Champions League's new format grants an additional entry spot to the league with the highest coefficient on an annual basis, and this year the top dogs are practically a lock to be the English.

Almost everyone currently in the top 10 of the EPL table is still in the hunt for one of these extremely valuable UCL spots. The margins are razor thin. A mere five points separate fifth-place Manchester City from 10th-place Fulham. With that in mind, let's break down each team's best case for why it will finish in the top five, as well as why it won't.

[garyclark]

Cucurella gets away with a clear handball. To make it even more infuriating, he made a big scene asking for a foul that wasn't there.

Easily my least favorite player, on the pitch, in world football.

[cerranoredux]

Cucurella gets away with a clear handball. To make it even more infuriating, he made a big scene asking for a foul that wasn't there.

Easily my least favorite player, on the pitch, in world football.

Concur.

[garyclark]

Cucurella gets away with a clear handball. To make it even more infuriating, he made a big scene asking for a foul that wasn't there.

Easily my least favorite player, on the pitch, in world football.

Concur.

Fofana also probably should have had a straight red on that step on Declan Rice's back thigh. Mayyybe the ref takes a look and gives him the benefit of the doubt. But what was utterly shocking was that the VAR ref didn't even ask the on-field ref to take a look. How?

Whoever was running VAR had two of the worst decisions I've seen this year.

[Shirley]

Cucurella gets away with a clear handball. To make it even more infuriating, he made a big scene asking for a foul that wasn't there.

Easily my least favorite player, on the pitch, in world football.

Concur.

Fofana also probably should have had a straight red on that step on Declan Rice's back thigh. Mayyybe the ref takes a look and gives him the benefit of the doubt. But what was utterly shocking was that the VAR ref didn't even ask the on-field ref to take a look. How?

Whoever was running VAR had two of the worst decisions I've seen this year.

I do think he was going for the ball as Rice fell on it, but I was at least half expecting him to get a red for that.

I think the Cucurella one is being way overblown. I thought he got pushed. He was already leaning and got a little shove that made him go down. I'm not sure why anyone thinks he'd otherwise dive and hit the ball with his arm when he was between his man and the ball in the box.

[garyclark]

Cucurella gets away with a clear handball. To make it even more infuriating, he made a big scene asking for a foul that wasn't there.

Easily my least favorite player, on the pitch, in world football.

Concur.

Fofana also probably should have had a straight red on that step on Declan Rice's back thigh. Mayyybe the ref takes a look and gives him the benefit of the doubt. But what was utterly shocking was that the VAR ref didn't even ask the on-field ref to take a look. How?

Whoever was running VAR had two of the worst decisions I've seen this year.

I do think he was going for the ball as Rice fell on it, but I was at least half expecting him to get a red for that.

I think the Cucurella one is being way overblown. I thought he got pushed. He was already leaning and got a little shove that made him go down. I'm not sure why anyone thinks he'd otherwise dive and hit the ball with his arm when he was between his man and the ball in the box.

Clearly a judgment call on Fofana. He took two pokes. The second one was more questionable. Fofana did himself no favors on a call that could have gone either way with the way he reacted afterwards. My issue isn't that he didn't get a red there. It's that the ref wasn't even called over to take a look.

To me, Cucurella leaned into the ball because he had misjudged it and was about to get beat. His arm movement clearly looked like he moved towards the ball in my opinion. His track record of shithousery does him no favors.

[garyclark]

Why aren't there any games this weekend? Argh. This break is too long.

[govmentchedda]

FA Cup again

[Shirley]

I'm gonna be in London for work next week. I'm really thinking hard about going to the Chelsea-Tottenham game at Stamford Bridge Thursday night. Never been to an EPL game before.

[govmentchedda]

I'm gonna be in London for work next week. I'm really thinking hard about going to the Chelsea-Tottenham game at Stamford Bridge Thursday night. Never been to an EPL game before.

You should absolutely take steps to try and go. I don't want to say there's nothing like it, but it is a singular sports spectating experience (EPL matches). That area of London is really nice as well.

[phxgators]

I'm gonna be in London for work next week. I'm really thinking hard about going to the Chelsea-Tottenham game at Stamford Bridge Thursday night. Never been to an EPL game before.

You should absolutely take steps to try and go. I don't want to say there's nothing like it, but it is a singular sports spectating experience (EPL matches). That area of London is really nice as well.

100% agree. So glad we took the train down to Brighton to catch a match. The atmosphere at the smaller stadium was so great, hoping we can get to one of the big stadiums sometime in the future.

[Shirley]

Just purchased. I'm pretty stoked.

[garyclark]

Just purchased. I'm pretty stoked.

Nice! It'll be excellent.

I'm curious. Which Swamp t-shirt are you wearing when you storm the field bottomless? I assume Blackpool, but you could also go with the original or the one with all the caricatures.

[cerranoredux]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

[garyclark]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

How did that even go in? The angle didn't make sense to me.

[+] spoiler

Massive win! And redemption from their worst loss of the season. A game in hand and one point behind City for 4th.

[DaveInSeattle]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

[DaveInSeattle]

Liverpool back to winning ways with a nervy win over Everton. Nice strike by Jota.

And Everton should have been playing with 10 men. Tarkowski should have been sent off for that tackle on MacAllistair.

[cerranoredux]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

I feel like he meant it. Based on putting his laces through it at that angle and distance, he wasn’t thinking cross. There was nobody anywhere near the other end. It was a rocket.

[garyclark]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

I feel like he meant it. Based on putting his laces through it at that angle and distance, he wasn’t thinking cross. There was nobody anywhere near the other end. It was a rocket.

Oh. He meant it. I just didn't understand the angle. Like, the math didn't compute. Or, given the E in EPL, the maths.

[DaveInSeattle]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

I feel like he meant it. Based on putting his laces through it at that angle and distance, he wasn’t thinking cross. There was nobody anywhere near the other end. It was a rocket.

Absolutely he meant it...just it was just kind of screwy how the angle was. I've watched it a few times and still not sure how he did it.

[garyclark]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

I feel like he meant it. Based on putting his laces through it at that angle and distance, he wasn’t thinking cross. There was nobody anywhere near the other end. It was a rocket.

Absolutely he meant it...just it was just kind of screwy how the angle was. I've watched it a few times and still not sure how he did it.

Apparently, Dave and I are the same person.

[cerranoredux]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

I feel like he meant it. Based on putting his laces through it at that angle and distance, he wasn’t thinking cross. There was nobody anywhere near the other end. It was a rocket.

Absolutely he meant it...just it was just kind of screwy how the angle was. I've watched it a few times and still not sure how he did it.

Apparently, Dave and I are the same person.

Could be worse.

[garyclark]

[DaveInSeattle]

Liverpool back to winning ways with a nervy win over Everton. Nice strike by Jota.

And Everton should have been playing with 10 men. Tarkowski should have been sent off for that tackle on MacAllistair.

One under-rated thing about the match that I forgot to mention: Curtis Jones did a great job filling in at Right Back for TAA.

[Rush2112]

Just purchased. I'm pretty stoked.

My son is super jealous. He's become a Spurs superfan in the middle of this horrible season. We're going to the UK next Spring (wife is running the London marathon) hopefully they're in town, or at least in the vicinity so we can catch a match.

[DaveInSeattle]

Find the Tonali goal and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Geez...what a strike.

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/ ... -brentford

So now Tonali is saying that is that it was "70% cross, 30% shot"..

'70% cross and 30% shot'

On whether he meant his goal: "Honestly, it was 70% cross and 30% shot. It was difficult for the goalkeeper and difficult also for me. Also a little bit of luck."

And heard on this morning's Guardian Football Weekly that pundit Joe Hart (the former keeper), called it a "throbby wobbler".

[The Sybian]

I prefer the MiB term, “he shassed it into the back of the net.”

[mister d]

[A_B]

More like Kevin De GONE-ay.

[mister d]

Lets assume you became a tepid Bengals fan in 1985-86 and then fully invested in 1987. If 1987 was the same year Keith Yandle joined the team, and he was a constant all the way from your shared debut through today, imagine how you'd feel when he announced he was leaving. Now multiply that by 10 because my feelings are far more complex and important.

[wlu_lax6]

One of my direct reports will be at Old Trafford this weekend.

[mister d]

One of my direct reports will ...e...at Old ...d this weekend.